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Mon 5 Jul 2010

SPIRITUALITY AND ITS PLACE IN COUNSELLING: PART 2 by Heathclyff St. James-Deville

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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INTRODUCTION

Part of my reasons for giving this issue a lot of attention is because there seems to be an illusion amongst those who follow a Spiritual Path that one who likewise purports to be in touch with God, the Spirit, the Universal (choose your own description) should have no need of Counselling.

Indeed, I have heard this attitude from:

· A Christadelphian – In personal correspondence

· A Third Degree Wiccan Priest

· Stuart Wilde – He stated that a woman subjected to Domestic Violence should simply ‘walk away,’ as if she were otherwise choosing such a negative life.

· A friend believes that a person who joins a cult ‘chooses’ to become enmeshed in that cult.

· A past client was ‘locked’ into her problems due to both ‘past lives’ issues and ‘Karma’

· A friend who believes we are where we are to do having to work off either negative ‘Karma’ or due to reaping positive ‘Karma.’

On the other side of the coin, I have heard:

· A woman not feeling able to express her religious feelings

· A psychologist who ignores that one’s Spiritual Beliefs has some bearing in therapeutic outcomes

· A friend who believes the “religion” is what causes a person to have problems

· Another professional who feels that one’s Spiritual Beliefs have no place in the counseling process; they only get in the way

As more and more clients present with issues impacting on their mental health and well-being, it is becoming increasingly important that counsellors take into account the Spiritual and/or Religious needs of the client. This can be achieved by undertaking to do a ‘Spiritual Needs Assessment’ Profile, listening to what a client may be saying though maybe in a veiled fashion, or by exploring with the client about their needs. The use of open-ended questions is a good way to begin this exploration. Likewise, those who adhere to any form of a Spiritual Path or Belief System need to realize that counseling does have its place in the life of a believer.

Although my talk may seem directed at counsellors themselves, the information presented here today, can be transferred to others outside of the profession. To assist this, I will discuss some definitions concerning the term, ‘Spirituality,’ and seek to address the issue of Spirituality in as far as it pertains to the counseling process. In researching this issue, I have drawn on a number of texts, both professional, and non-professional. Other texts consulted, though not standard, help to highlight the relevant arguments presented.

My talk shall address the need for counsellor awareness of a client’s spiritual outlook, the need for counsellors to respect the right of their clients to follow a spiritual path, and to increase their skills as counsellors to incorporate the three core skills of Genuineness, Unconditional Positive Regard and Empathy when dealing with clients – as found in the Person-Centred approach. A number of questions are put forward merely to assist in facilitating our own awareness of this issue.

I trust that after a Counsellor or a Believer has given deeper thought to these issues, that they will have a deeper appreciation for the need to include an assessment of client spirituality. Apart from looking at some possible real-life situations and suggestions for appropriate use of interventions, attached is a Bibliography for those interested in researching the issue more thoroughly.

SPIRITUALITY AND ITS PLACE IN COUNSELLING

A Believer is identified as a person who follows one of the major religions:- Hinduism, Buddhism, Taoism, Shinto, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. My definition also includes those who follow the Pagan Path (such as Wicca and Druidism), Theosophy, Psychism (those who attend Mediumistic Circles, Psychic Readings etc). I also include variants such as those found within Christianity – Christadelphians, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Mormons etc.

Given its broad scope, it may prove beneficial if we attempt to define what is meant by the term “Spirituality.” There are a number of definitions that all have their place and yet, collectively, when read together, add to each other and disclose a far deeper layer than if simply taken in isolation. A literature review reveals the following:

“Spirituality…is not simply the opposite of materialism. Far from it. Spirituality is an active process that is inherently purposeful. Its objectives are growth, development, and transcendence. Through our spirituality, we seek to achieve the highest and noblest in ourselves and to create a united and ever-advancing civilization…It follows that a spiritual lifestyle calls for a major review of our thinking about our life experiences and perspectives” (Danesh, 1994)

An individual’s concept of spirituality in relation to oneself is a matter of deeply going within and “finding” their place in the world. It is an active process of discovery, not a passive or neutral act of simply “accepting” that is placed on us by outside influences. Often we listen to what others are telling us and can incur problems as we bury our own authenticity so as to be accepted by our peers.

Another definition reads:

“We shall consider ‘the spiritual’ as pertaining to man’s inner resources, especially his ultimate concern, the basic values around which all other values are focused, the central philosophy of life…which guides a person’s conduct, the supernatural and non-material dimensions of human nature. We shall assume, therefore, that all men are ‘spiritual’ even if they…practice no personal pieties.” (Topper, 2003, italics are my own) – Naturally this includes women in its definition.

Here again we have a broader definition that assumes a reality of being called ‘spiritual’ yet not necessarily limited to any one particular faith, -osophy or –ism. Rather, it tries to be broad in its perspective and embraces the concept of values as a guiding principle of how we each conduct ourselves. From The Ramakrishna Order of India: “We all want our life to have some meaning, some direction, some self-evolved authority for guidance. Values give us all this, so it would be foolish to close our eyes to them.” (Vedanta Kesari, 1996).

Gerald Corey, a leading and respected counsellor (2001) points out to that whilst some clients may embrace a spirituality in the context of a formal religion, others may embrace same yet without recourse to formal religion. It shows the importance that we need to be alert, as counsellors, to the difference between Spirituality and Religion, and the nuances contained within each. It has been advocated that people fall into one of four categories (Hepworth, Rooney and Larsen 2002)

1. Spiritual and nonreligious Not a member of an organized faith or group

2. Religious and dispirited A Member of an organized faith but lacking spirit

3. Dispirited and nonreligious An agnostic or atheist can fit here, or a nonbeliever

4. Spiritual and religious In tune with God and a member of a formal group

Finally, an even broader definition can be seen in the following as addressed by the Summit on Spirituality:

“Spirituality may be defined as a capacity and tendency that is innate and unique to all persons. This spiritual tendency moves the individual toward knowledge, love, meaning, hope, transcendence, connectedness, and compassion. Spirituality includes one’s capacity for creativity, growth, and the development of a values system. Spirituality encompasses the religious, spiritual, and transpersonal” (cited in Corey, Corey and Callanan, 1998)

From the foregoing, we have a fairly wide scope in which to work by.

Within the fields of counseling it is becoming increasingly acknowledged that by addressing a clients’ spiritual and religious needs, we will assist them to be able to move towards growth and healing. By exploring such issues with our clients in relation to their presenting problems, they may be assisted in finding solutions to their struggles (Corey, Corey and Callanan, 1998). Evidence for the interest that spirituality and religion plays in a clients life can be found in the increased number of articles in this area in professional journals and in presentations at professional conferences. (Corey, 2001). The American Psychiatric Association added the term religious or spiritual problem to its diagnostic manual in 1994 to describe: “examples include[ing] distressing experiences that involve loss or questioning of faith, problems associated with conversion to a new faith, or questioning of spiritual values that may not be related to an organized church or religious institution.” (Topper, 2003 DSM-IV)

Why then is it important to understand the role of religion and spirituality in a clients life? One author, Ratliff (1996) in discussing health care settings, informs us that:

“Religious beliefs may dictate food choices, clothing styles, customs of birthing and dying, etiquette in the sick room, use of modern conveniences, invasive procedures, organ donation, reception, use of blood products, certain diagnostic tests, gynecological procedures, spiritual influences on or control of sickness and healing, the wearing of protective devices or tattoos, and the need for prayers and rituals performed by various religious specialists” (cited in Hepworth, Rooney and Larsen, 2002)

It can be understood why we need to develop awareness of, and respect for, a clients view of their spirituality and their adherence to religion and what this means to them. It is important never to assume what a client believes simply based on our own understanding of what spiritual or religious path they may identify with. For example, if a Christian man is struggling with issues surrounding his sexuality (for example, being gay), he may present with feelings of confusion, guilt[1] and/or shame[2]. These may be due to how he perceives the teachings of his Church, the Bible, and his own concept of spirituality. He may say that if he acted on his feelings of attraction to another man, that he will be barred from the Kingdom of God or, even more frightening, shall burn for an eternity in hell (yes, there are numerous groups who still teach this). I feel some of the so-called “Christian” attitudes regarding “healing” gay people to do more harm than good. For example, that a gay man is under the influence of Sin or deep-seated issues relating to emotional hurt, which may be true, in some cases (Dalbey 2003), whereas other Christian authors are at least addressing it in a more “positive” way yet remaining true as to how they see the word of God (Attridge, 2000).

Counsellors, as such, have an ethical responsibility to become aware of their own beliefs and how these affect their work with their clients (Corey, 2001, Geldard, 2003), the client’s story should be heard without any judgment.

By being able to go with the client’s “frame of reference,” and empathically listening to what is behind his words, he will be placed in a better position to be therapeutically dealt with. As a counselor, I believe a Person-centered approach is required here.

To downplay a client’s beliefs and associated fears as somehow being “too out there” or “too abstract” in no way validates the client’s worldview – with the possibility that he or she may abandon therapy, remaining “stuck” in their conflict. I would imagine that this would create further turmoil for them or even worse. As we take on the task of counseling, our own beliefs and values will be challenged as we listen to our clients and the stories that they share with us – we need to guard against being too directive with our clients (Corey, 2001) which can be extremely difficult if we do not challenge our own assumptions.

Alas, many people who may be strong in their own particular Spiritual or Religious Path, tend to add to this by judging the person who may seek professional assistance. As such, what has been said of counsellors is also true for the non-professional. I will return to this theme later.

For Counsellors to overcome such hurdles, we are consistently taught to adhere to three core concepts:- Genuineness, Acceptance (Unconditional Positive Regard) and Empathy (Sharf, 2000) as found in Person-Centred Therapy, and other allied therapies. Again, we are taught that: “The key is for counselors to be sensitive to the needs of their clients, to listen to them and let them lead the way, and to talk about areas they indicate they want or need to explore.” (Corey, Corey, and Callanan, 2001). In the case of our Christian man above, we should simply let him talk and tell us about what it means for him to be kept from the Kingdom of God, to allow him to talk as he sees his problems not as we may see them (that is, how we may perceive homosexuality in a Christian or spiritual context). We may be liberal in our own beliefs yet the client’s more orthodox views are what need to be dealt with. Conversely, we may ourself be orthodox; the client perceived as too liberal. One quick example, we may hold strong bible-based views and find it hard to accept that one who follows the path of Wicca (or Witchcraft) does not have problems that cannot be found to have its genesis in them being under the influence of Satan. When I was myself 19, a Minister of my Church, as too a visiting Minister who dealt with Demon Possession, prayed over me and tried what I think could be loosely termed ‘an Exorcism,’ believing that I was myself possessed. This was an extremely frightening experience but, luckily, my own Inner Voice (the God and Goddess) protected me and got me away from that Church quick-fast.

As we can ascertain, by exploring with a client about how they view life in a Spiritual and/or Religious context, it is this that will assist the counseling process tremendously. We should always keep in mind that: “Religious beliefs strongly influence when, how and why persons seek help for emotional dysfunction, and how others [ie. Counsellors] perceive their [clients] symptoms of emotional distress’ (Wilson and Kneisl, 1983)

By way of an example, a young Jewish man may be perceived as paranoid if he frequently were to open a female counsellor’s door yet, upon investigation we learn that his religion admonishes against his being alone behind closed doors with a woman who is not a family member (Hankoff, Blumenthal and Borowick, 1977). This could work the opposite way where a similar though less orthodox client may feel too exposed to disclose certain issues to the counsellor if she were to leave her door ajar on the assumption of this same Jewish admonition is applicable to all Jewish male clients; that all Jewish male clients would accept it.

On way to obtain a lucid understanding of our clients spiritual needs is to perform a “Spiritual Assessment of Needs” profile when first meeting the client. This shall assist the counsellor to gain a deeper awareness of the client’s needs, helping the client feel at ease in talking about their respective spiritual beliefs. Another factor to consider is that counsellors try not to see a client’s needs only linked to a psychological basis – such as low self-esteem, anger, loss or frustration.

As people, we have the four aspects of Physical, Psychological or Cognitive, Emotional and Spiritual – each with its own independent, yet interdependent needs. Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’ fits in well here (Diamond, 1994) Refer to Chart A

We all have spiritual needs such as for meaning, for hope, and for deeper connections in life and beyond. Indeed, one’s spiritual needs are a deeper perspective of and/or completion of psychological needs. (Topper, 2003). Likewise, the spiritual contains a psychological need and neither should exclude the other. All of one’s needs are required to be viewed holistically

One author describes what he calls Counterfeit Recovery (Means, 2002) where a person is treated only as a spiritual being, not one who possesses other aspects such as physical, psychological and emotional needs. He explains that “one dimensional recovery only drives the pain underground where it will later break out in some other form.” Telling a client who may present with a problem such as guilt, to simply remember, and rely upon, a set of Scriptural injunctions, will not magically solve their problem. It may certainly offer some form of comfort or respite but other interventions need to be concurrently in place, as too an exploration of the clients cognition and affect surrounding the issue of guilt. He further adds that: “Many secular psychologists have their own version of one-dimensional recovery, because they leave God entirely out of the healing equation.”

Again, this can also apply to Believers who believe that to seek outside help is akin to weakness, a lack of faith in God, not appreciating ‘past life’ experiences or Karmic influences that are simply being ‘played out.’

Let us imagine that a client has a need for connecting to a group of like-minded individuals. The psychological need might consist of the fulfillment of issues pertaining to self-esteem or a feeling of ‘belonging.’

The spiritual need: To find purpose in one’s life via connecting with others who share the same outlook, the same hopes and dreams. I follow Paganism as a spiritual path for it helps me – as an individual – to make sense of the world; it adds meaning to my life and to the life around me. Without this ‘meaning,’ I would question the purpose of life and yet to no avail – without finding a ‘meaning;’ a purpose, I feel life would lack that something for which I get up for each day. Finding the Spiritual meaning supplies my psychological and emotional needs for peace, inner strength and understanding of the ‘purpose’ of life per se. It also motivates me to action when desiring change – both internally and in the Outer world.

If a counsellor seeks to specialize in a given ‘Spiritual’ or ‘Religious’ path, such as Christian Counselling, then they need to be aware of how they deal with their clients. One example would be the appropriate use and timing when employing scripture to assist in healing (Cloud and Townsend, 2003). If a client were to present with distress concerning a pending divorce from an estranged partner – so as to remarry – yet concurrently feels “condemned” by the Bible, it would be remiss of the Christian Counsellor to say to her: “Well the Bible clearly teaches that divorce is wrong – let us turn to the book of Romans 7:2-3…[3]” Such would invalidate her feelings and simply add to her original distress. Here inappropriate use of scripture could lead to her experiencing deeper guilt, grief and loss issues, and anger at God for creating this scenario in her life. She might turn from her faith yet hanker for the loss of her faith, for her ‘meaning’ in life.

A more appropriate and timely response to her might be, “It sounds like it’s really difficult for you to reconcile your wanting to remarry with what the Bible is saying to you. Remember the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28 when he says to you: ‘Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.’ Such a response would certainly allow a different view for our client and offer her an avenue of hope as opposed to predetermined despair.

It allows her to be able to open another ‘window of opportunity” that might otherwise have remained shut (if not hidden). Here the appropriate use of scripture can be validating and, given that it is uplifting – for we have passed no judgment on her – it should add to the healing process. However, an even better approach would be to ask her if there are any bible verses that she may particularly relate to so as to gain inner peace why exploring the deeper counseling issues.

For men, more so, it is important for the Christian counsellor allow their client the opportunity to explore their wounds, not simply to seek for more strength via exhortation and admonition. (Koepcke and James Wilder, 1994) As already mentioned, using alternative Scriptures to instill hope can generate new awareness and healing. Allowing men to speak up is extremely validating and can generate a whole new emotional awareness which, often hidden, will free men from their pain. (Means, 2002; Diamond, 1994) By appropriate and timely use of scripture the counsellor may bring to awareness that which was previously hidden. Again, this can relate to any believer, of whatever Faith or Spiritual Path they may follow.

It is a bit akin to the Johari Awareness Model which, though used to represent the total person in relation to other people (Wilson and Kneisl, 1983), can be made to include an individual’s awareness of hidden thoughts – Quadrant 4: The Unknown. Chart B.

For others of different spiritual persuasions, a more eclectic ‘Spiritual and/or Religious’ outlook may need to be employed. For instance, often men who are starting out on the Pagan path tend to have difficulties relating to the God of Paganism and WICCA (Conway; 1997, Drew, 1998) for they may equate the word ‘God’ with the concept of a ‘Patriarchal Judgmental God’ as often taught in various religions. These men may feel alone as they have lost the ‘God’ of their family-of-origin faith, and finding it difficult to get over this hurdle, they can find it difficult to then embrace such a God as a Creator of Life – yet the Pagan God is many things: a creator, a protector of animals, a joker, a god of judgment (Drew, 1998). By not embracing the Pagan God, these men can feel lonely, dejected, and that there is no Male Deity with which they can turn to and model Him in love. As such, male pagans often turn to the Goddess as a Mother figure – but we men need a Father figure too. As the pagan author D.J. Conway succinctly puts it, “In spiritual terms, we create a spiritual path through the combination of our personal masculine and feminine energies.” (Conway, 1997) Both the Lord and His Lady need to be engaged so that the attributes of both become a part of who we are.

Personally, it was difficult for me to embrace the God of the Pagan ways as I had been brought up in a predominantly ‘Christian’ society and family – with all the attendant teachings about what I would incur if I were to deny the God of the Bible. Yet for me, as I have journeyed through the Pagan path, I have definitely become far more accepting of myself as a ‘Man’ – by learning more about the myths surrounding the Pagan God (Conway, 1997, Drew, 1998, Farrar, 1984), I have been able to slowly identify with His ways. His tales and mythic ways have taught me about issues relating to strength, courage, compassion, healing, acceptance, discernment, to walk in peace, to respect All Life as gifts from the gods.

When a professional counsellor can respect my right as a client to both choose and then follow my own Path – not view it as “out there” or “that’s far too abstract” – then naturally this quality causes me to disclose more deeply than what may have been my original intent. When the professional counsellor truly listens, only then can deep healing begin to be instigated.

Counsellors need to be as respectful to a Pagan’s (or others) concerns when dealing with any the person’s presently problem/s. Sadly, there is often confusion here. I was told personally by a psychologist that “People who follow your path always end up suffering problems, I know, I see them everyday!” I felt sad for this man’s limited worldview. But that was what he said – and believe me, if I were not as strong in my own beliefs as I am I would have faltered.

As a counsellor I hope to be able to simply be there with my clients and “not to make decisions for clients but to let clients choose how their own values will guide their behaviors.” (Corey, 2001)

One way that I propose Counsellors can do this is by learning more about different spiritualities and religions, yet taking on board the notion of not putting these into neat little boxes. Many organizations have useful introductory literature to help counsellors to begin learning.

It is crucial that we recognize that the spiritual domain offers solace and comfort and that it can offer great sustaining power to a person in crisis. The guilt, anger and sadness that clients experience often results from a misinterpretation of the spiritual and religious realm, which can lead to depression and a sense of worthlessness. (Corey, 2001). A fair example here is the issue of sexuality (I choose this given that one does not choose their sexuality) – If you are gay, not many religions will “truly” accept you; rather, they might tolerate you but rarely truly embrace you. Even some who follow WICCA tend to “shun” under the guise of it being a “fertility cult” whereby male-female is the rule. No wonder there is guilt, anger and sadness. These attitudes invariably will lead some to feelings of low self-esteem, loneliness and, if not healthily resolved, depression – possibly suicide. No doubt, the same can relate to divorcees, those who may join more close-knit religious circles or those who leave the faith that may be a huge part of the family.

There is often ‘a misrepresentation of the spiritual and religious realm’ as being placed on a person by another’s understanding, be it from an individual or group (family, for example), a cultural injunction or simply society. Here it again may require some research:

· How does a Fundamentalist Christian feel if their partner or child dies an atheist? How do they square it in their own mind if they truly believe that person shall go to hell?

· If I am a Pagan, should my family give me a Christian burial? Does my partner have a say in this? Or is it simply a case of being buried, with a Celtic legend of Death being read out?

· As a Moslem, am I right in sacrificing an animal when on pilgrimage (or Hajj)[4] even though I am a staunch animal activist? Am I insulting Allah by not offering a sacrifice?

· Do I feel guilt when not following through on a given religious teaching even if that teaching is contrary to my most strongest-held belief?

· Am I right in choosing my own interpretation of a given teaching?

· If I accept reincarnation, then is it wrong for me to deny the channeled teachings of my psychic when he tells me I am where I am given my past-life?

· My child dies because I put my faith in God that they would live. Am I wrong in feeling guilt about this or, indeed, apathy? Because of this, my wife has left me, I have lost my faith in God because He did not save my child. Was my faith misplaced?

· My partner abuses me both physically and verbally. As we are married I must stay in this relationship though it is destroying me. How can I leave and still be true to my faith?

· My husband hits the children with a switch as it is important that they receive discipline. Is this right? Is my husband doing the Will of God and by my submitting to my husband, am I being true to the Will of God?

· My son listens to ‘modern music’ which my Minister has told me is evil and of the Devil. Listening to my son’s records, I just don’t see it. When I told my Minister how I felt he asked me to either ask my son to leave home or I was to leave the Church. Where do my loyalties lie? If my son leaves, I’m alone; if my Church forces me out, I have not strong support network.

For a lot of clients who have experienced disaster or trauma, exploring issues with them surrounding grief and loss, anger, guilt, the concepts of good and evil, and forgiveness, can be a central part of the healing process (Hepworth, Rooney and Larsen, 2002).

Exploring such issues, though possibly anathema to some clients (an act of blasphemy), may assist them in coming to terms with whatever issue is affecting their life. But to do so, I argue that counsellors need to have undertaken some deep soul-searching themselves on these various issues. How can we deal with issues relating to a client’s anger at God if the client were to voice that “I hate and detest God with all my heart and wish Him no longer in my life,” all the while tears streaming down their face. What if I felt their anger to be most blasphemous – surely my body language (if nothing else) would convey my discomfit at the client’s need to express their anger. Yet by dealing with these issues beforehand, I feel counsellors are in a far better position to remain person-centred and to allow such displays as a natural outpouring of the client’s grief.

A person says: - “I know that there is a lot of pain in my life and it’s killing me, but that surely is my Karma – who am I to think I should not hurt – I’ve hurt others in the past?” This may be true, who really knows! However, if its causing a person pain and disharmony, and therefore they can not function as a healthy human being, surely the issues put forth by this person or client, needs to be addressed. I would ask them to tell me what they see as a goal and then to tell me about a time when this goal may have been felt or experienced in the past. This is a good technique to allow a person to see that life can be different for them, even given their current beliefs.

I remember reading somewhere that the Creator holds enough compassion to know an individual’s heart – something to remember sharing with a client who, while having feelings of anger towards God, also feels an overwhelming sense of guilt for harbouring such thoughts and emotions.

One counsellor writes: Corey (2001) “In some ways a spiritual/religious perspective and a counseling perspective have similar goals. Both perspectives emphasize learning to accept oneself, forgiving others and oneself, admitting one’s shortcomings, accepting personal responsibility, letting go of hurts and resentments, dealing with guilt, and learning to let go of self-destructive patterns of thinking, feeling and acting….Because spiritual and therapeutic paths converge in some ways, integration is possible, and dealing with a client’s spirituality will often actually enhance the therapy process [italics mine].

A client who held on to a lot of hurt had its source in unexpressed anger – she was told that her pain in this life had its roots in a past life. She was also told that she had no right to express feelings of hurt, grief at the loss of being sexually abused, or to show anger – Anger is ‘Negative’. Listening to her story was difficult as I felt her pain and evident dissatisfaction with what was being told to her. In effect, here was a woman who had been coerced into giving away her right to make a choice and, by doing so, had lost the opportunity to take responsibility for where she was both emotionally and spiritually.

We first explored the issue from its ‘past life’ perspective, and agreed that it was not possible to explore the reality of what may or may not have occurred; we needed to look at what was occurring in her life NOW. She was able to connect to the hurt that was experienced in her life as a child and later as a young adult – as such, she was able to express her grief by both voicing her feelings and by allowing the tears to flow, and by allowing her body to express its own pain. Finally, we looked at her ‘unexpressed anger.’ I told her that she had every right to own her anger and to express it, explaining that unresolved anger can lead to more problems down the line. As she was in a safe environment, she did express her anger. After a number of sessions she has grown as an individual and though losing her ‘Faith’ for a time, she eventually reconnected back to it – but with one difference. She was now in control of her Spiritual Life, Not others.

A lot of people tend to shy away from anger believing it to be a totally negative emotion; denying its positive role.

A quote by the Islamic author, Hamza Yusuf (2004), really throws a positive light on the issue on how one should envisage the emotion we call anger. The paragraph reads:

Scholars have likened anger to a hunting dog: without training, it will never retrieve what its owner needs nor will it point a person in the right direction. So anger is something that needs to be trained, not abolished, for if people completely suppressed their sense of anger, many of the injustices of the world would not have been opposed and tyranny would have gone unchecked. Without anger, people would go around with complete impunity [exemption for punishment] and commit heinous acts without any resistance from the people [the community]. Corruption would cover the face of the earth.

Following is a brief outline of some of the attributes that a Spiritual Care Giver / Counsellor should try to emulate in their counseling of clients who identify spiritual or religious needs, as given by two authors. It needs to be stated that where the term ‘God’ is employed, this is simply indicative of their own spiritual heritage yet does not detract from that which is meant to be conveyed.

· Counselors need to allow clients to tell their stories. It is imperative that counselors communicate to the client a sense of being loved by God and that they are not responsible for what happened to them as a child.

· Counselors give permission to clients to be angry, especially with God. Be nonjudgmental in allowing clients to explore spiritual issues. Counselors expressing unconditional acceptance may be a survivors only experience that demonstrates the possibility of God being able to love them in the same way.

· Counselors help clients recognize that forgiveness is not simply an act but a process that can be begun and completed only after working through the issues concerned and their accompanying feelings. Do not try to rush this process by questioning their pace or suggesting forgiveness as the first step.

· It is recommended that counselors use every avenue to give clients reassurance of their accountability before God and their place in God’s plan.

· When appropriate, counselors celebrate, bless, and praise survivors’ rediscovery of a God of hope, a God of great comfort, and a God of great respect for them

(McBride and Armstrong, cited in Topper, 2003 – slightly paraphrased)

Those who follow a Spiritual Path or Religion need to likewise recognize that people are, after all, people with strengths and vulnerabilities. We can all, at any time, and given the right conditions, experience problems that create disharmony. Without appropriate intervention, others can also be caught up in the person’s problems, such as family members, friends or work colleagues.

By simply being members of Humanity, we all experience emotional pain, grief and loss issues, depression and anxiety, disharmony with what our Path teaches us and how we may sometimes feel inside, or think about it. We can all feel anger, fear, not being accepted by ‘the group,’ anxious about the future, both guilt and shame and so forth. As such, no one should ever be made to feel that they are weak for wanting to go and talk to someone outside ‘the group.’ This is an important point that needs to be kept in mind.

An example may suffice here. A Jehovah’s Witness may seek counseling as they battle with the question concerning blood transfusion and the fact that they may have a child who, without a blood transfusion, may die. The law can override them and order the blood transfusion – the child is ‘Saved,’ yet the parent may feel that the child is lost, in the context of their own faith. The member believes that the Soul is in the blood (Lev.17:11, and v.14: “For the soul of the flesh is in the blood…The soul of every sort of flesh is in its blood”), so God treats both the Life and Blood as Sacred in the eyes of a Jehovah’s Witness.

But does this make it any easier for the parent? The parent may, as already indicated, feel that the child is lost. One can ask them: ‘Do you really believe that Jehovah would want your child to die?’ A fair question but one that it loaded with a value judgment and a question that is asked in a ‘Directive’ way, for it seeks for a specific answer. This style of questioning is something that counsellors are taught to steer away from unless absolutely necessary.

The way that I believe is far more therapeutic and more respectful of a client would be for a Counsellor to reflect back to them how that person is feeling: ‘If I am hearing you correctly, this decision before you sounds really hard for you. Do you accept what Jehovah is telling you with that of being a parent? As we explore your dilemma, are there any bible verses or prayers that you may draw strength from during this difficult period?’ One could also enquire of the person how they may see ‘Jehovah!’ If as a Father, the reflection might be: ‘It sounds difficult for you to grasp the love of Jehovah as a Father with your own feelings a love for your child as her father.’ Being non-judgmental allows the client to work through his feelings as he builds up confidence in telling you his story and by simply having someone listen to him.

To reiterate, responding in this way makes no judgment as to what the client should do. Even if the counsellor doesn’t agree the client has a difficult choice – “What you are saying is, do I choose Jehovah or do I choose my child’s life?” the counsellor steps back and is there for their client. It is important to realize that the parent, in this case, is the client; not the child, as difficult as this may be to accept.

Some may argue that the client could speak with their Bishop or another Jehovah’s Witness, but to approach the Bishop would be deemed to display a lack of faith. Another Jehovah’s Witness may not be in the client’s circle that the client trusts. It’s a tough one, I know, but it highlights the difficulties that can present themselves.

What of the Counsellor’s or Confidant’s own concept of ‘The Truth,’ in relation to the person who may be perceived as having a problem and therefore needs to be ‘Set Free.’

The best example for me is that of a Hare Krsna woman who was ‘kidnapped’ off the streets by a ‘Deprogrammer,[5]’ She was told that the Hare Krsna religion were false, was kept imprisoned for about three weeks, forced to listen to tapes that blasphemed her religion, Krsna and her Spiritual Master. She was subjected to both food and sleep deprivation. She was kept continually blindfolded. Eventually she was able to contact her husband (also a Hare Krsna) and was able to eventually return to the Temple. She later made a sworn affidavit to the kidnapping and all that followed. Her story originally appeared in ISKCON magazine, ‘Back To GodHead’ some years back.

Were those who sought to ‘deprogramme’ her right simply because they felt ‘Christianity’ was the only right way? I would have to say that it was wrong and created much distress on this lady. What if she were a Theosophist, a Wiccan, a Spiritualist, a Buddhist, a Christadelphian, a Mormon, or a member of some other ‘perceived’ cult? I’ll leave that for you to ponder over.

I have attempted to highlight the need for counsellors to be open to a client’s spirituality, religion and/or faith. To deny that such is important for the person, is tantamount to ignoring them as an individual. Even if we ourselves do not follow a spiritual path we must allow for others to have choice when it comes to the path they choose. If we cannot respect their right to this end, then I propose that we seriously must question our motivation for entering the profession in the first place. Counsellors have an ethical obligation to continually undertake professional development so as to keep up-to-date and to better understand both future trends and their clients, this includes understanding about issues relating to both spirituality, religion, ethics and values.

This talk highlights too, I trust, a number of questions for possible reflection:

· What is the counsellor’s own faith and spiritual prejudices?

· Can a strong Christian-oriented counsellor work with clients of other faiths and more so

faiths they believe their own negates – Paganism, for one example?

· How do counsellors grow in awareness of other faiths, spiritualities etc., and thus develop empathy with clients whose persuasion is of these faiths, spiritualities etc?

· Can an atheist work with a client holding deeply-held beliefs which may be seen, by the counsellor, to rule the client’s life? How does the atheist develop his empathy for such clients?

These are just some questions that I feel professional counsellors may need to muse upon in anticipation of their meeting with such clients. By thinking about issues such as these now, we shall certainly both grow in ourselves and, I believe, be advantaged when meeting with clients who may fall into the category of holding to a Spiritual outlook on life. By knowing our own beliefs more in-depth, we can become empathic, avoiding collusion in the other’s problems and their world-view.

Again, the above comments also relate to those who are simply ‘Believers,’ as it were, and some of those issues that Counsellors need to be aware of, also apply.

So if ever you find yourself in a position of ‘confidant’ or in the counseling role, please remember that it is important to allow the person to express how they are feeling; not to downplay what you may hear, as a ‘lack of faith,’ a ‘weakness,’ or to give an ‘off-the-cuff’ response. When one is hurting or confused, they need support, not a denial of what they may be experiencing.

I wish to conclude this paper on linking spirituality with counselling with the following quote that, for me, sums up best that which I have tried to convey in this talk.

“Indeed, as one comes to learn the true meaning of life, both in general terms and in relation to individual purpose, every thought, every action is recognized for the full responsibility it implies as a representative of its author. The realization, not only that everything has a purpose, but more significantly, that that purpose is the acceptance of a very special responsibility, [this] is a measure of true initiation into the secrets of the inner [spiritual] self” (Phillips, 1988)

This talk has only explored the tip of the iceberg but I hope that it has opened us all up to looking at problems that people may face – and which create that degree of disharmony which to brings them to counseling – in a way that may be new, if not innovative.

Thanking you kindly - Heathclyff

REFERENCE LIST

Attridge, C (2000) The Fruit of The Spirit, p.212 The Dawn Book Supply UK 2^nd Ed..
Cloud, H & Townsend, J (2003) Making Small Groups Work, Zondervan USA
Conway, D.J (1997) Lord of Light & Shadow: The Many Faces of The God, Llewellyn USA
Corey, G (2001) Theory and Practice of Counseling and Psychotherapy, Brooks/Cole USA 6^th Ed.
Corey, G., Corey M.S, & Callanan (1998) Issues and Ethics in the Helping Professions, Brooks/Cole USA 5^th Ed
Dalbey, G (2003) Healing The Masculine Soul, Chapter 7: Lost Among Men pp.92-112. W Publishing Group USA 2^nd Ed.
Danesh, H.B. (1994) The Psychology of Spirituality. Nine Pines Publ. Canada
Diamond, J (1994) The Warrior’s Journey Home: Healing Men, Healing The Planet, New Harbinger Publications USA
Drew, A. J (1998) Wicca For Men, Citadel Press USA
Farrar, J & Farrar, S (1984) The Witches Bible Compleat, Magickal Childe USA
Geldard, D & Geldard, K (2003) Basic Personal Counselling: A Training Manual for Counsellors, Prentice-Hall Aust. 4^th Ed
Hankoff, I.D., Blumenthal, M & Borowick, A.E. (1977) Jewish Ethno-Psychiatry, Federation of Jewish Philanthropies USA
Hepworth, D.H., Rooney, R.H & Larsen, J.A. (2002) Direct Social Work Practice: Theory and Skills, Brooks/Cole USA 6^th Ed.
Juliἁ, M.C. (1996) Multicultural Awareness in the Health Care Professions. p. 65 Allyn & Brown.
Koepcke, R & James Wilder, E (1994) ‘The Men’s Movement’, Faith & Renewal, May/June 1994
Means, P. A. (2002) Men’s Secret Wars, Fleming H. Revell Publ. USA
Phillips, D.A. (1988) New Dimensions in Health, Angus & Robertson Aust. 4^th Ed.
Sharf, R.S (2000) Theories of Psychotherapy & Counseling, Brooks/Cole USA 2^nd Ed.
Topper, C. (2003) Spirituality in Pastoral Counseling and the Community Helping Professions, Haworth Pastoral Press USA
Vedanta Kesari (1996) Values: The Key To a Meaningful Life, Sri Ramakrishna Math India
Wilson, H.S. & Kneisl, C.R. (1983) Psychiatric Nursing, Addison-Wesley USA 2^nd Ed.
Yusuf, H. (2004) Purification of the Heart. Starlatch USA

HEALING INVOLVES THE FOLLOWING INTERELATED AREAS

SPIRITUAL WORK

· Conversion and Transformation

· Forgiveness/Inner Healing

· Walking a New Path

· Practicing the Presence of the ‘God of your heart.’

· Living by the Truth of your Spiritual Path.

· Allowing your Path to guide your into Newness of Life.

· Practicing Humility, Meekness, and Mindfulness.

· Learn to be a Peacemaker – with yourself, and with the world of nature.

COGNITIVE WORK – THINKING

· Learning – Unlearning – Relearning

· Finding out what your Path or Spiritual Teachers say about your situation. This may include a Holy Text or Scripture: The Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita, Bible, Qur’an or books such as The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna, Guide for the Solitary Wicca etc. Choose your own and attempt to emulate its teachings, paying attention to the Inner Voice within.

· Renewing your thinking.

· Replacing negative self-talk with Spiritual-talk (Words of Wisdom)

· Rethinking faulty beliefs if, and when, they are uncovered. Be truthful about them.

· Telling yourself the Truth – Be it about your situation, what you learn from the Spiritual Path or from exploring your thoughts.

· Be Open to Change. Develop your Awareness and Imagination. Be Humble and Meek as you explore your new way of thinking.

EMOTIONAL WORK – FEELINGS

· Allowing yourself to feel the feelings – as you become Aware of the feelings

· Practice Emotional Honesty

· Learning a vocabulary to express your feelings – Evocative Language or Writing.

· Taking Responsibility for how you express your feelings.

· Learning to express yourself through such mediums as: Dance, Body Movement (Yoga, etc), Journal Writing, Guided Imagery/Meditation, Listening to Music etc.

· Learn to be a Peacemaker with yourself, practice Honesty and Courage. Learn to be Open and Explore, with Mercy for where you are at.

BEHAVIOURAL WORK

· Taking Responsibility for your behaviour.

· Structuring your life for behavioural change – Taking on exercise for example.

· Be responsible for doing the Right thing, making it hard for you to do the wrong thing.

· Change how you put off or put on things – Cognitive Awareness comes in here.

· Seeking help and accountability through a Self-help/Support-group, or a trusted friend.

· Learn to be a Peacemaker, practice Courage, a desire to Change and try taking ‘healthy’ risks – as opposed to ‘harmful’ risks. Think about the possible consequences of your Risk-Taking.

[1] Guilt is defined as how one feels within themself

[2] Shame is defined as how one feels their actions may impact on those around them, ‘bring shame on the family In Arab American culture, if someone disgraces the family, the whole family shares the disgrace. (Juliἁ, 1996)

[3] For a woman that has a husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he lives but if he dies she is free to remarry under the law. To remarry while the first husband is alive is deemed to be adultery. For my own part, if a person becomes a Christian and walks in ‘Newness of Life,’ are they not essentially ‘unwed,!

[4] There is no requirement on those not doing Hajj to sacrifice any animal, as is traditionally done.

[5] Deprogramming refers to a process that reverses alleged brainwashing. A small percentage of cult members leave their group or relationship by means of an exit counseling, an intervention similar to that done with someone who has a drug or alcohol abuse problem.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society - Pasadena in Melbourne in July 2010. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society - Pasadena.

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Tue 6 Apr 2010

BUDDHA: WHEN WILL HE RETURN AGAIN? by Andrew Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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WHEN WILL THE BUDDHA RETURN? By: Andrew Rooke:

THE HISTORICAL BUDDHA:

Siddhārtha Gautama, (Pali: Siddhattha Gotama), was a spiritual teacher in the north eastern region of the Indian subcontinent, who founded Buddhism. He is regarded by Buddhists as the Supreme Buddha (Sammāsambuddha) of our age. Gautama, also known as Śākyamuni or Shakyamuni (“sage of the Shakyas”), is the key figure in Buddhism, and accounts of his life, discourses, and monastic rules, are believed by Buddhists to have been summarized after his death and memorized by his followers. Various collections of teachings attributed to Gautama were passed down by oral tradition, and first committed to writing about 400 years later.

Born c. 563 BCE Lumbini, today’s Nepal

Died c. 483 BCE Kushinagar, today in India

Predecessor: Kassapa Buddha

Successor: Maitreya Buddha.

THE FUTURE BUDDHA: BODDHISATTVA MAITREYA:

Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pāli) is a future Buddha of this world in Buddhist eschatology. In some Buddhist literature, such as the Amitabha Sutra and the Lotus Sutra, he is referred to as Ajita Boddhisattva.

Maitreya is a bodhisattva who in the Buddhist tradition is to appear on Earth,

achieve complete enlightenment, and teach the pure dharma. According to scriptures, Maitreya will be a successor of the historic Śākyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. The prophecy of the arrival of Maitreya is found in the canonical literature of all Buddhist sects (Theravāda, Mahāyāna, Vajrayāna) and is accepted by most Buddhists as a statement about an actual event that will take place in the distant future.

HIERARCHIES ARE LIKE PENDANT JEWELS HANGING FROM ONE ANOTHER

↑

Hierarchies more spiritual than ours

‘Laya Centre’: Point of ‘emanation’

of energies from a more spiritual

advanced Hierarchy Divine hierarchies

Gods or divine-spiritual

INVOLUTION Demi-Gods or Divine Heroes. EVOLUTION – Spirit

Spirit manifests in Matter evolves through Matter

to become pure spirit

again but this time

Self-Aware

Heroes, Mahatmas, Ascended Masters

MEN – THE HUMAN WORLD

Men – the midpoint of

Evolution between

Elementals and pure

Spirit. ANIMALS

PLANTS - Each Kingdom is divided

into 7 groups

MINERALS

ELEMENTALS

Connection point or ‘Laya Centre’ to a lower (more material)

Hierarchy

HIERARCHIES MORE MATERIAL

THAN OURS ↓

PLANETARY ROUNDS

I A ○ ○ G

II B ○ ○ F

III C ○ ○ E

IV D ○

PLANETARY ROUNDS EXPLAINED

Humanity begins the evolutionary process in this incarnation of the Earth on Globe A, then on through B,C,D (our Earth), then to Globes E, F, and G of the manifest worlds then through 5 more unmanifest Globes to make the journey around once, i.e. = 1 Planetary Round of Humanity’s life experience.

The globes are not separate ‘out there’ in space but rather different aspects of the Earth’s constitution of which we are living and conscious of only one – Globe D.

After Humanity has gone around once there ensues a Planetary Pralaya or Night, a rest period of equal time.

The Human Life Wave (and all the others – minerals, plants, animals, demi-gods, gods), pass around the globes 7 times in order to gain every aspect of life experience that the Earth offers.

Humanity at present has just passed the mid-point of the 4^th Global Round, i.e. this is a pivotal phase of Humanity’s spiritual progress as we are now on our way back to the spiritual source.

EVOLUTION OF ROOT RACES IN THE FOURTH ROUND

DOWNWARD CYCLE ASCENDING CYCLE

Evolution of VII ROOT RACE Re-evolution or re-

physical and version of spirit- intellectual nature 6.5 uality and the gradual

and the gradual decrease of

regression of materiality and

Spirituality. mere brain

Intellectuality.

1^st Root Race VI RR

—————————————————————5.5

II RR V RR_____________________

—————————————————————-4.5

III RR IV RR_____________________

———————————3.5——————————————————————-

MERIDIAN OF RACES.

ROOT RACES EXPLAINED:

On any one Globe, Humanity (or any of the other major kingdoms of life) passes serially through 7 evolutionary phases called Root Races in Theosophy. Please note that ‘Race’ is not defined by colour or biology but by rather a group of people of shared spiritual evolutionary status.

We are members of the 5^th Root Race.

Each of the 7 Root Races reaches its maximum of efflorescence and power at about the mid-point of the Race. We are at the present time about 16,000 years away from that mid-point of our 5^th Root Race, Globe D, in our 4^th Global Round of life experience as humans on the Earth.

At around the mid-point of the root race, the ‘seeds’ of the next, or, for us, 6^th Root Race are planted.

The seeds of the next Root Race are introduced by a ‘Racial’ Buddha, i.e. in the case of the next or 6^th Root Race by Gautama Buddha.

ROUNDS AND RACES: HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE?

As far as I understand it, the theosophical explanation of evolutionary time periods is as follows:

The total lifetime of one Root Race covers two periods of 4 yugas or 8.64 million years.

The time of 7 Root Races of humanity’s experience on the Earth Globe ‘D’, is 60.48 million years approximately.

The time of humanity’s journey around the 7 manifest Globes ‘A’ through ‘G’ in the 4^th Round is 432 million years, approximately.

And looking at the longer term:

The lifetime of the Earth is 4.320,000,000 years of which we are approximately half way through.

The lifetime of the Earth is followed by an equal length of ‘rest period’ before the Earth is ‘reborn’ once again.

The life of the solar system according to the ancient Hindu timeline which Theosophy follows is 311,040,000,000,000 years! About half of this period has been completed and therefore we are at the bottom of the grand cosmic cycle, i.e. on the lowest cosmic plane.

WHAT IS THE SPIRITUAL SIGNIFICANCE OF THE BUDDHA?

There wasn’t just one ‘Buddha’. Buddhas, or ‘Enlightened Ones’ have an essential role to play in the spiritual evolution of Humanity. They are highly evolved spiritual entities – the ‘terrestrial’ Buddhas are men but vastly more spiritually evolved than the normal man in the street.

The historical Buddha that we know, Gautama Buddha, through his own massive efforts over many lives had already attained the consciousness level of a ‘6^th Global Rounder’, i.e. the, to us now, high spiritual level of the normal human being of 150 million of years into the future.

Unlike the Pratyeka Buddhas who pursue their own evolution largely heedless of those travelling along behind them, the Buddhas of Compassion like Gautama, forsake the indescribable bliss of Nirvana to aid the spiritual evolution of Humanity and other life forms.

The ‘terrestrial’ Buddhas of Compassion make rare but cyclic appearances, two for each Root-Race appearing towards the middle and end of a Root Race and two for each Global Round.

Gautama the Buddha was the 9^th in the series of ‘Root Racial’ Buddhas, that is, the spiritual instructor of our 5^th Root Race. As such, according to Buddhists and Theosophists, he is an extremely important entity in the history of man’s spiritual evolution to the present stage and forward into the coming 6^th Root Race.

WHAT ABOUT THE FUTURE ‘MAITREYA BUDDHA’?

Gautama Buddha watches over the spiritual destinies of our own 5^th Root Race because he is the first of the two who are coming in our 5^th Root Race.

The second or coming Buddha, the Maitreya Buddha, so popular in New Age Philosophy, according to Theosophy will not come until the end of our 5^th Root Race or some 4.32 million years hence!

At the present time, the ‘seeds’ of the 6^th Root Race are being developed and the Buddha inaugurated this process as one of the first duties of the first Buddha of any Root Race.

SOME ALTERNATIVE VIEWS:

Maitreya has been here already: there have been many people who have claimed to be Maitreya over the years since Buddha’s passing. Some of them have led large scale rebellions against various Chinese governments, and in the modern age such New Age luminaries as Scientology’s L. Ron Hubbard have claimed to be the Maitreya Buddha. While a number of persons have proclaimed themselves to be Maitreya none have been officially recognised by Buddhists generally. A particular difficulty faced by any would-be claimant to Maitreya’s title is the fact that the Buddha is considered to have made a number of fairly specific predictions regarding the circumstances that would occur prior to Maitreya’s coming; such as that the teachings of a Buddha would be completely forgotten, and all the remaining relics of Sakyamuni Buddha would be gathered in Bodh Gaya and cremated. Maitreya is predicted to attain Bodhi in seven days (which is the minimum period), by virtue of his many lives of preparation for Buddha-hood (similar to those recorded in the Jataka stories of Shakayamuni Buddha).

Maitreya’s coming is characterized by a number of physical events. The oceans are predicted to decrease in size, allowing Maitreya to traverse them freely. The event will also allow the unveiling of the “true” dharma to the people, in turn allowing the construction of a new world. The coming also signifies the end of the middle time in which humans currently reside, (characterised as a low point of human existence between the Gautama Buddha and Maitreya).

MAITREYA: SOME ALTERNATIVE VIEWS:

The buddha never ‘died’, he is still here: according to Buddhist tradition the Buddha died at the age of 80. Another tradition says that he ‘died’ to the outside world at 80, but lived on for another 20 years teaching his inner group of disciples. According to Theosophy, he remains on Earth in his ‘Nirmanakaya’ vehicle, i.e. with all his inner constitution intact minus the astral and physical body. He stays here out of love and pity for Humanity instilling thoughts of compassion and selflessness into the ‘thought atmosphere’ of the world to aid humanity’s spiritual progress through his messengers and ‘helpers’ in the physical world, i.e. the Mahatmans and their students. Most important, we can place ourselves in direct synchrony with the Buddha as a living force at any time if we sincerely attempt to follow the Path of Compassion.

REMEMBER, IT DOESN’T MATTER IF WE FAIL TO LIVE UP TO THE BEST OF OURSELVES EARLY IN THIS JOURNEY, AS WE HAVE BEEN INSTRUCTED BY THE BUDDHA’S ‘HELPERS’ TO AT LEAST TRY!

The above are PowerPoint slides from a lecture delivered to the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia in December 2009. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Tue 23 Mar 2010

MONEY: CAN WE LIVE WITHOUT IT? by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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A WORLD WITHOUT MONEY: IS IT POSSIBLE?

Possibly, some years ago such topic for a lecture would not even come up. Everyone knew that money is an absolutely essential part of life, that it can be relied on as a medium through which people try to reach a sense of security and satisfaction, and that it can be used for appreciation of a person’s personal effort, achievement and input into the society. If you asked: “How much a person is worth?” it meant you were asking about his or her wealth counted in money. It would mean that if a person is rich, then he or she deserves their riches and should be respected for them. It would have an underlying meaning that if a person is poor, then this person is presumably lazy or not clever enough and doesn’t deserve much respect.

The world financial crisis has changed the perception of money in the people’s minds. It appeared that banks, the rocks of security, can become insecure by themselves and require desperate measures to be salvaged. It appeared that bank accounts and other assets are not that secure as thought before.

It also appeared that fortunes can be made by deception and fraud, and by manipulation of other people (as, for example, in Maddoff’s case). Decent people, even workaholics, would lose jobs and houses, and this evidently wasn’t their fault. Quite the contrary, the CEOs , who led their banks to bankruptcy, went out of the situation with fat rewards.

Suddenly, the word “greed” appeared as from nowhere hanging in the air as the cause of all the trouble and destruction of the financial crisis. It was a very confusing statement. First, “greed” is a moral category, so, how can it be counted in terms of money? And second, the goal of maximal profit all the businesses and banks allegedly are seeking for can be understood as extreme “greed”. So what: should we drop the goal and reject the very idea of making profit, or remain “greedy” with all the crises possible?

All of this led people to rethink their notion about money and its real meaning, significance and measure. What if not money? On the one hand, then temptation for corruption, drug dealing, gambling and most of criminal activities would lose its grip over people, which would heal the society and everyone in it and save a colossal amount of time and energy for health, cultural and ecological improvement. But, on the other hand, is it possible at all? To come to the conclusion, we have to try to figure out what is real and unreal with money, what we can and what we cannot live without. Let us meditate on this subject.

We could start from the laws of nature, but money is not part of nature. People created money for their convenience; they use money as their instrument of power, and they are establishing and sometimes changing the laws and rules dealing with money. Maybe this tells us that money in itself is illusory, and its significance depends solely on the place it occupies in people’s minds? Money simply doesn’t have its own physical measure, which could be exactly counted and evaluated in conformity with the laws of nature.

In the days gone by, when money somehow reflected the amount of energy and time spent for the production of goods and the real need for them, it could serve as a measure for exchange of goods and services. But money long ago separated from the real production of goods that people need. Now, people can work long and stressful hours towards the goals of their companies and corporations, which could come just to which of the corporations wins in the competition with other ones.

The evaluation of money is nowadays rather a matter of belief and psychology (which currency or shares people trust more), and depends pretty much on the way it is used as a tool of manipulation. The more convincing is the advertising campaign the more time and energy people overall will spend to have money to buy the proposed goods and services. And the motion of shares on the stock market resembles casino, where people are gambling, and everything depends on their mood, fear and desires.

Also, money is now mostly represented in a virtual form and in this form is immediately accessible in any part of the world. In this form, it can be easily piled up in debts which nobody notices or cares about for long periods of time. All of this looks illusory, but because this illusion influences the reality of life for billions of people, it is an illusion worth of scrutiny.

More than a century ago, the renowned Russian author Leo Tolstoy investigated the problems of the world society in his work What Should We Do? The problems of poverty, homelessness and hopelessness of life appeared to be consequences of the deeply hidden problem of the social system, which was surfacing, on the one hand, as hopeless poverty, and on the other hand, as meaningless luxury. One impossible without the other like two sides of one coin.

When Tolstoy understood that the cause and means of preserving the condition of both sides of the society was money, he began examining – what was money, were did it start and what for it existed in reality. He applied to the science of economics and recognised from its statement that money was only the means for trade. Tolstoy doubted this statement and started examining real life examples to come to a true opinion. As a result, he came to the conclusion that money in fact was the means of forcing people to do that what they didn’t want to do. Money, despite its illusory nature, is power in the social system. People who possess this power can force those who don’t have it to work for their sake, i.e. they can deprive others of their freedom and turn them into slaves.

Historically, it started from personal slavery. The first democracies of ancient Greece were built up on the labour of slaves. It was like nobody would notice this condition. Even the distinguished philosophers like Plato and Aristotle were sure that life was impossible without slaves, impossible like life without the wars from where the slaves would be brought for the convenience of the people of Greece. Like life without money is impossible for our contemporaries.

The economy of another democracy, on the American Continent, also started developing primarily from the slave labour of people who would be brought from Africa. The slaves would be forced to work by physical abuse. Later on, as Tolstoy understood, it appeared that it was much easier and more effective to force people to work for gold, or money. Money appeared to be an exclusively convenient instrument for this purpose. It doesn’t need any care like slaves, it is easy to transport from one place to another, and in our time money doesn’t need to be transported because of computers.

Money is usually doing its job through the mechanism of rent, which someone pays with his or her work for the possibility of using the land and the working tools.

Tolstoy writes: “…what is the cause that the people who possess land and money can enslave the people who don’t have land and money? The answer, as common sense would see, is that this originates from the money which has a property of enslaving people… When people are devoid of the land and the working tools – this means they are enslaved.” The person who receives the rent will always try to increase it and decrease the payment for the work as much as possible.

Let us have a look from Tolstoy‘s viewpoint and ask – has money remained a means of enslaving people in our time or not? It seems to us that money became an even more clever and efficient instrument of enslaving. Where could you find, in the times gone by, a slave who would willingly work even longer hours for their boss or company, and a slave mother who would, willingly again, leave her baby to the care of others just to run to work? It became possible in our time through the medium of money. When a person needs a roof over a head, or whatever their needs are, they borrow money and afterwards have to pay it off with interest. The bigger the debt the longer hours people have to work to pay it off.

In all the countries, there is a substantial group of people who live on the edge of poverty and are forced to work only to survive. But not only poor people can be enslaved through the mechanism of money. Money gives status in society and allows making even more money. And doesn’t provoke questions like “what is the purpose of my work?” or “where am I running?” Money became a favourite “narcotic” providing people with satisfaction for their “ego”, and for this illusion they often sacrifice their real aspirations, health and parenting duties.

At the same time, any member of society is constantly bombarded by the advertisements of competitive consumerism, which often preys on the lowest people’s instincts and desires, and forces them to rotate in the constantly accelerating cycle of gaining and spending money. Everyone takes it that it is good for economy. Why should economy endlessly grow and accelerate? There is no answer. And the real part of economy producing vital goods and services for the people long ago became subordinate to the illusory part directly serving money.

Is all of this good for people? Yes, we live now a much more comfortable life than our predecessors lived, and money serves this goal. But what about out health? In the developed countries, diabetes, obesity, heart disease, allergies, mental illnesses and dementia have reached in some places epidemic proportions. Medicine is in great demand, and we are devouring astronomical amounts of tablets. Pharmaceutical companies make big money; this we know for sure, but is this the only possible way our life should develop?

Does money make us happy overall? It is also questionable because many of us live in permanent stress which we try to remove with alcohol and nicotine. Depression, drug addiction, divorces and suicide are not a rear situation in our society which makes its perfection doubtful.

Of course, these are the people and their “ego” that does all the harm and not money by itself, but as the main instrument of power money is in fact the creation of the people, of their “ego”, and is perfectly fitted towards its requirements.

The countries, which ages ago had grabbed foreign lands with their minerals (metals, oil, diamonds, etc) and appropriated the labor of the people, received the starting capital for their fast industrial and technological development. These additional resources enabled them to become well developed countries, with living standards that are much higher than these in their former colonies.

On the other end of the world society, in many of the former colonies, people are often working long hours in unbearable conditions, only to provide the basics of life for their families. These people make the majority of the planet’s population. This majority of low paid workers allow the minority to live a life where the abuse of money is not as noticeable as the convenience of using it.

In the last decades, the joint technological, informational and social development of the world has diminished differences between countries. In the majority of countries, money is working in the same market economic mechanisms. Some of former colonies are rapidly developing, and their citizens are becoming richer and gaining access to goods of which they couldn’t even dream before.

On the one hand, we can be happy for them. The world economy is developing, productivity is growing, and the opportunities of consuming are expanding limitlessly…

On the other hand, the development of economies around the world has already contaminated the planet’s land, water and air and led to varied ecological degradation. Now we face the dangers of irreversible climate change with possible dire consequences. These dangers increased when the world most populated countries, like China, India and Brazil, stepped into the circle of the intense race for productivity. Another, formerly invisible, aspect of money as a means of ecological abuse surfaced.

It appeared that while attempting to limitlessly raise productivity, using more and more of natural resources and producing more of waste, we are making valuable resources scarce and are worsening the ecological situation around the globe. The first sufferers, as usual, become these who already existed on the brink of survival. Sometimes they are literally sinking, with their islands going under water.

Every real aspect of human life is suffering in the “rat race” for money: health, family life, human relationships, but the greatest harm is done to the spiritual aspect of our consciousness. The very thought about money becoming obsessive doesn’t leave space for anything else. These who don’t have money often come to desperation and depression. And on the other end of the scale, a battle rages between corporations for even more money.

The illusion of money is covering the reality of life with its veil, and we, ordinary folk, are losing orientation in the mist of our fears and desires and become an easy target for manipulators of different kind, from advertisers to politicians. The power hungry politicians lure as with a dollar in a pocket and scare that someone would take this dollar from us. If we start thinking about the dollar, we become increasingly materialistic and may lose our spiritual properties, such as compassion and generosity.

Tolstoy suggested another goal for human life and activity – not profit, but “good”, meaning common good. He saw a human being as the purpose and meaning of society’s existence and was searching for the ways of really making people free. He supposed that it is essentially not right to force people to do that what they don’t want to do. “The only sign of good in any job is that people execute it freely. The people’s life is full of such jobs… At the same time, if people have to be forced to do a job, then because of this abuse, the job ceases to be the common duty and good.”

The need for labour and for sharing its results is inherent in a human being. As Tolstoy sees it, in an environment free from abuse, where any contribution is respected, if a person cannot or doesn’t feel able to earn a living, the “others are working for his or her sake with love”. They are voluntarily working for this person’s sake because they understand that, by acting in this way, they help this man or woman to fulfil another duty, which this person sees as important for themselves and other people, and which is also directed to the goal of doing common good.

Do we have any examples of doing not money but good in our modern society? It seems that we have aplenty. As it is known, a quarter of Australian citizens volunteer in their various individual ways. All the people working with SES (State Emergency Services) are not paid volunteers. They are doing hard, often dangerous work, and have to be ready to do it at a signal of their pagers. The same with the volunteers – fire-fighters. Other volunteers are working with old people, with disabled, dying, with refugees, disadvantaged children and youth. Volunteers help out communities in trouble, like they did in Victoria at the time of bushfires. People sometimes reverse their former direction of making profit to the opposite, and donate their money for good purposes. And receive real, not illusory, satisfaction in this way.

The history of wars, natural cataclysms and other hardships shows us that in difficult times money may turn into nothing, revealing its illusory nature, but human ability to do good saves lives. And most of all the real discoveries, inventions and masterpieces of arts, which are the treasure of humanity, were results of selfless work, not for money. While receiving and realising their ideas, the human creators didn’t and couldn’t think about money. It could later come to them as a reward for their effort, or not come at all, in any case, while working they couldn’t predict the outcome.

Now, let’s imagine: if money lost its grip over people and they became free of making money, thinking about it and working in the areas of money business, how much of natural and human resources would be released and turned towards the exploration of new ideas and creation of beauty! How much good we could do for the Earth if we started developing in harmony with nature and ceased overexploiting it! And the society would inevitably come to respect real values in people like humanity, spirituality, compassion, love and generosity. Bathing in luxury would seem possible but distasteful, and modesty and efficiency of life would become a voluntary norm.

It would be a less stressful and much healthier life also. People would feel safe not because they have a stash of money, but because they are cared for. And satisfaction from a purposeful, fulfilling and creative life in a friendly environment would be much healthier than that from a status and money.

Many problems which are impossible to solve today, including the problems of overpopulation, luck of resources and aging, would find new solutions. People would turn their eyes towards the cosmos, towards the far away worlds, as the Masters recommend through Agni Yoga.

People are naturally attracted to this way of progress. In some countries, they already created “banks of time”, where people give out their time and skills for those who need them, and receive skilled assistance when and where they need it. Modern technologies allow and even facilitate free exchange of information – every internet user knows and participates in it. And everyone knows how productive our research on any topic goes while using information freely available on the internet, and how it becomes distracted by the requirement to buy a product which we are not sure about.

If people all over the world possessed free access not only to information, but also to energy, they would produce the goods they need for life, and the problem of global poverty would be solved. And in many cases where natural resources become limited, we see that money doesn’t provide the solution, and only human good will and cooperation does. In Victoria, Australia, when several years of drought limited water supply, water usage restrictions were introduced for all households, and people were explained the situation, asked to limit their water consumption and provided with some technical devices for this purpose. The common effort allowed maintaining the necessary water supply for several years.

It seems to us that everything depends rather on human spirit than on money. Tolstoy wrote about the spiritual aspect in human life as a priority: “ it only seems to people that humanity is busy with trade, treaties, wars, sciences and arts; it has only one important job, and it does only this job – it comes to understand the moral laws, with which it is living. The moral laws already exist, humanity only attempts to understand them, and this understanding seems to be unimportant and even invisible for the person who doesn’t need this moral law, who doesn’t want to live in harmony with it. But this understanding of the moral law is not only the main, but the only job for all of the humanity”.

Tolstoy believed that humanity would understand the moral law and live in conformity with it. He predicted that humanity would change its understanding of the purpose of life. Tolstoy decided to begin the process of transformation from himself. He started from confessing that his previous way of life aimed to his personal good had been not right, and then found for himself out the answers to the question – “What should we do?”

“First: I should not lie to myself, however far away my way of life would appear to be from the right way, which my conscious mind had opened to me.

Second: I should renounce that which I thought of as my rights, my privileges, my particularities compared to the other people and recognize my guilt.

Third: I should fulfil this eternal and undoubted human law – to work with all of my strength, not being ashamed of any job, to fight whatever the nature of circumstances to sustain my life and support the lives of other people.”

Everyone can answer this question differently according to their aspirations in life. But Tolstoy is giving us a tuning fork that could be helpful for tuning our own consciousness into the high vibrations of real spirituality.

Why do we think that Tolstoy was right, and a world without money is not only possible, but inevitable, and people will eventually come to the goal of making not money but good?

In our book, The Laws of Life, we are writing about the rise and decline of civilizations as a reflection of “standing waves of time”, where every civilization is going through the stages of birth, early development and fighting for survival, intensive unabated development to full blossom, and decline. Nowadays, in the world, everything is interconnected. Almost all the world society is homogenous in capitalism and dependence upon money. It is called globalisation. So, in our investigation we can operate with a concept of global civilization, and not limit ourselves with a separate country. And this civilisation bases its activity on confrontation (competition and fighting) and division (“haves” and “have nots”). Money is serving as a medium in this process.

Where our civilization is now – are we on the rise or already on decline? We don’t know for sure. Our economies are still growing, but there are some warning signs, and the turmoil of the financial crisis was only one of them. The gap of wealth distribution between the rich and the poor is rapidly increasing and moving away from a sustainable balance to the point where one part of the population is bathing in meaningless and superfluous luxury, and the other part is stretching its precious resources of time and energy to their capacity just to maintain the speed of economy’s growth.

The French President Sarcozy recently said that to salvage capitalism we have to somehow change and improve its morals. Is it possible at all? American investment guru John C. Bogle in his book The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism stated that the former “owner’s capitalism” already mutated into the “manager’s capitalism”, where the managers of big banks, companies and corporations are using the power of money, to which they received access, just for their own sake, to make more money and receive more power.

This concentration of power in the hands of the minority is one of the signs of civilization’s nearing decline. Also, Vishnu Puranas millennia ago were predicting that complete materialisation of world society would lead to its degradation.

Wherever our civilization is positioned for now, within it, a new civilization is already born and struggling for survival. It is possible that for this young civilization money doesn’t carry the meaning it carried for the old civilization.

The young civilization, which is starting out in the situation prepared by the old one, may be unable to afford to base its development on money because of the divisive nature of money. It’s likely that the people of this new civilization will have difficult tasks ahead requiring new levels of cooperation: to feed the growing and ageing population, to offset climate change and other consequences of former thoughtless abuse of our planet’s resources, and to progress further building up a better future for the generations to come. And who knows what nature and the nature of the people is preparing for them to solve?

What do prophesies and predictions promise us in the future? St.Germain through Azena is telling: “Currency is consciousness, and currency shall pass away from this plane, for your currency will be your energy exchange directly, one unto the other.” He is predicting that people will be able to expand the dimensions of their thought and come to the condition of super-consciousness. He says:” “In order to become part of super-consciousness, it is necessary to release the desire and the need for your power over others.” “And what is the basis for power these days in your time? Money. “

His book Earth’s Birth Changes promises us upcoming cosmic alignment with a greater consciousness (which astronomy confirms in its way) and some Earth’s changes. Some prophesies promise wars and battles, and then the coming of a Golden Era. Wars and battles are going on right now, and there is enough weapons accumulated for their continuation.

Changes are always possible and now very likely to come. They will require adjustment to the new conditions in which humanity finds itself. It seems that the civilisation based on confrontation and competition has no chance of succeeding in the times of changes. It will have to change the basic understanding with which it exists from confrontation to cooperation, sharing and assistance to each other.

To meet the tasks of the future, people of the new civilization will have to find completely new pioneering solutions to the problems of life, and this leads us to the conclusion that they would need to somehow change the old system or create a new system of relationships. Every new civilization on the Earth does this. We hope that this time relationships will be based on doing common good, not money. A new system will require new instruments of interaction, and whether money will remain in some form or not, it will definitely lose its power for separating people and enslaving them.

Why do we think that this is possible? The new wave already exists inside our civilization and within every one of us as a pattern of doing good. As Agni Yoga puts it: “…giving out energy is the highest generosity and compassion.” And for the purpose of doing good “…everyone has a hidden treasure within”.

What allows us to think that history will go this way, and where can we see any signs of such a future civilisation that would be able to exist without confrontation, and wouldn’t need money? We already spoke about volunteers, creators and simply good and sacrificial people, whose spoken or not spoken purpose is good. In our opinion, they are the precursors of the new” wave of time”. And Tolstoy spoke of mothers who know how to educate their children in the best traditions of love and giving. From the beginning of the time, they are selflessly doing good for their children.

The success of our endeavours always depends on the driving force behind our actions. When we are acting in accordance with our inner driving force, then we receive the highest satisfaction. If it is accumulating money, then we are making money by working, fighting, living and dying for money, usually for money for ourselves. If our driving force is to do good, then we are doing everything in our power to do good for others, and in our way serve humanity. When the patterns of doing good will accumulate a “critical mass” in the world population, this will be the turning point to the Golden Era.

If we ask ourselves who are the people of the new future civilization, we come to understanding that they are our children. We can assist them by educating them with understanding of love and cooperation, and they will put this understanding into action becoming the real new “wave of time”. Children don’t know money until its concept is represented to them by adults; but children naturally understand the concept of good as a response to all of the love and care they receive from their parents and the environment in which they are growing up. It is easy to reinforce this concept in them and to turn it into their driving force. We adults can do it.

More than six decades ago, at the time of WW2, a Lithuanian Maria and her husband Kazimeras rescued one of the authors, Roza, a little child, from a ghetto for the Jews. Now, thanks to their selfless effort and all their love and good , a second generation of her descendants is starting to join this new wave of life and putting their effort into a better common future. Today is Maria’s 113th birthday, and this lecture is our tribute to her life and her example of doing good.

This lecture was presented at a meeting of Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 7 Dec 2009

MAN KNOW THYSELF by Amanda F. Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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Andrew has brought a picture from a record cover (from The Moody Blues CD album cover of their recording ‘Every Good Boy Deserves Favour’ - check it our on the internet with a Google image search), which he and I think sums up this doctrine, an old man presenting the precious stone of the knowledge of the divine to a little boy, both their faces perfect in their appearance, seeming to radiate with the light of this knowledge. I’ll leave it on the wall as a constant reference point for us, and will end with a poem by this group, which again sums it all up, in my estimations.

GDP speaks much about “Man know thyself”, and believes it is in the teachings of all the world’s great philosophies and religions which indicate that man’s constitution contains “not only all the mysteries in the Universe, but as containing likewise the master-key unlocking those mysteries themselves”, and in proportion, the more man learns to know himself, the more he is able to unlock the mysteries of the Universe around him, which he mistakenly thinks to be outside himself. [1] This is not to say we should be narcissistic and self-obsessed, of course, we must think outwards and live in the world.

Has anyone seen the movie “The Secret Garden”? You may recall the scene where the heroine, a little girl orphaned in India, and coming to England, explained this wonderful doctrine, condensed for a child’s understanding in a tale her Hindu nursemaid taught her. She told of a little boy who was very special, because when you looked down his throat, you could see the whole universe there. I think the boy must have been one of the Hindu gods, maybe Krishna - if you know which one, please tell me. Of course her (really odious) English cousin scoffed and said: “Don’t be silly, the universe would never fit inside him! That’s impossible”, but I think he came to believe this, from the events that unfolded later. I too hope to unfold how Man mirrors the universe, the sum of his pieces being greater than the whole. The girl was saying what HPB called “poor orphaned humanity”, was also trying to find its way home. as we’ve been told often before, the gods pondered where to hide the truth of Man’s inheritance and the truth of life, deciding to hide it somewhere he would never look for it, within himself.

Grace in her book: Theosophy in the Qabbalah, discussed the origin of the universe, which the ancients pictured in the form of a great tree, or a divine man, originator/Adam Kadmon. A similar story reflects the many varied forms of the successive avatars of Vishnu, the preserver in the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Siva and Vishnu, all emitting from Brahma originally. An avatar is a ray sent from a god, originating from a ray from the raja sun, which shines upon a very spiritual man who acts for the greater good upon the earth. (Show the chariot picture, & its details) This is pictorially summed up in this statue of Garuda, Vishnu’s “means of transportation”, a great divine eagle/man. And we are reminded of the symbolism of the chariot (the man), with its charioteer, the higher self/selves, yet drawn by a horse, the lower self, working in cooperation with its fellow-selves as one. This smaller statue better shows the morphing of the eagle with the man, perhaps our animal and spiritual nature combined. In many philosophies Man is described as midway between the animals and the angels or gods, having the body of the former and the mind/spirit of the latter. On the big statue, eagle-man’s back sits his godlike director, and below, they stand upon the back of the turtle whose segmented back mirrors the continents in the seas of the earth, and the horn on whose nose (also a representation of Mt. Meru, the original and holiest land created), was used as the twisting-peg for the rope, serpent also with a horned nose, which rope was twirled to stir the primordial oceans of milk into curds, the continents upon which men live, and whey, the oceans. There were serial creations, a series of worlds, a series of Adams or Manus, told of in Hindu and Jewish, mysticism. Vishnu in earliest tales plunged into the waters in the form of a boar, to hold up the earth on his tusks, and in later versions he has 10 avataras, ranging from the fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, dwarf, with Krishna at the 8th and the 10th who will be the Kalki-avatara (a bit like Christ of the 2nd coming, or the Maitreya Buddha). [2]

I think this eagle-man, the intercessor between godlike and animal kingdoms, is Man working in his higher nature, to achieve contact with the angelic/godlike, abodes, as in the intersecting downward and upward triangles of the Seal of Solomon. The emanator, from a single point to the plethora of points making up the manifest universe, the “ra” symbol, symbolises the inner spiritual, sutra atman, or thread-self, the bead-string and the place through which it is threaded, linking us with all the rest of Manifestation of which we are a part and which are fellow-mirrors of the greater life within life, from which we originated, and part of which is in us and everything. The dot is the Raja Sun, within the outer circle of sun we see in the sky, which is nevertheless our physical source of life.(show picture) This too is a constant reference point diagram!

Vishnu is the god sits atop the animal-man, atop the animal, a chain of being. A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion says Vishnu’s name derives from the root “vish”, “to pervade”, he manifested the solar energy, crossing the seven regions of the universe in three steps and enveloping all things with the dust of his beams; embodying mercy and goodness displayed as the preserving power, the self-existent, all-pervading spirit, as per the water pervading everywhere before Creation, coalescing in the image of Narayana (discussed in a much earlier lecture) who sleeps upon the waters, and from whom his worshippers believe all things emanate, in the form of 10 (actually innumerable) Avataras, 8th = Krishna, - succeeding in levels of spiritual actualisation. [3] This is like the doctrine of Swabhava in the Indian Sanskrit language “to become”, “to grow into something” or “self-becoming” - each being has its essential nature “Swabhavat” and that each being expresses this essential nature through garments, vehicles or bodies, which are suitable for it at each stage of its long journey of spiritual evolution. The fundamental and immortal Self sends rays of itself into the material worlds and uses appropriate vehicles to express its inner nature a bit like the Sun sending out its rays into the surrounding darkness of the Solar System and nourishing the different planets of its kingdom. [4]

The word “Man” is very similar to “manas” which means mind, and the Indian word for the Adam/Adam Kadmons, and their successive emanations, were the series of seven MANU’S, embodiments of manas, mind. We should see the “divine” not with the kama manas, but the higher triad, of which Manas is the lowest link; by living/evolving, the atman/buddhi/manas evolve more and more, and, as we do in school, we become ourselves, by knowing things, we re-coalesce in a finer form.

The enlightenment philosopher Montaigne said: “I think therefore I am”. We save and build piece by piece for ourselves, from our experiences, a mirror of the outer world within our mind and brain, made to make sense of the outside world. Studying to be a plumber, we become a plumber – “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” [prov, xxiii, 7], or in Sanskrit: Yadyad rupam kamayate devata, tattad rupam devata bhavati: - “Whatever body (or form) a divine being longs for, that very body (or form) the divine being becomes”, because “Tat twam asi” “That, thou art”. [5] That or Tat, is the Sanskrit name for the ineffable spiritual source of all. You can successfully be you, you can’t really be someone else, therefore “find your joy” and be it with all your might.

We can come to know ourselves by becoming a chela and following the Path, instructed by a guru, or just as nature designed it, gaining mastery over self through the tasks and challenges of daily life, which are amazingly esoteric in nature, and show a glimmering trace of the hierarch directing these tasks set before us (via our inner self’s “desires” for knowledge). We must remember this is a hard road, and we have to be careful what we wish for, because we might just get what we want!

GDP wrote that: “Man know thyself,” gnôthi seauton, was an archaic Greek motto written over the portico of one of the temples of the Oracle of Apollo of Delphi” He refers constantly to the body as the temple of the living spirit. In the SD it says that the Delphic Temple had in it a sacred symbol (of wood, then bronze), of the sacred numeral Five, linked with the five words written upon Christ’s akashic shining garment at His glorification, and linked to the five mystic powers on the robe of the Initiate after his last trial of three days trance. (robe meaning body, as in “coats of flesh” in Jewish and African mysticism, I think, here. – [6] HPB refers to the “Delphic Oracular vapours” (i.e. of insense from the altar?) as synonymous with the akasic light, or primordial substance – Fohat?[7] That is, the temple may have been given over to the divine gnosis, attained by intuition. This is just like the phrase: “Know ye that ye are gods, and that the spirit of the Divine dwelleth within you? For verily each one of you is a temple of the divinity”.[8]

“Know thyself is indeed the injunction; but why are you so enjoined? It is because in knowing thyself, in looking within, in marching ever inwards, in going farther and farther into the depths of your being, you come ever closer and closer – but never can you fully attain it – to the Universal Life.” [9] This is similar to CS Lewis’s The Last Battle - everyone had to go through the dreaded stable door, which led however into Aslan’s sacred land (they had died and this was their heaven), and they were admonished to go “further up and further in”, to get to the presence of their deity. Initiates as we have been told, attain this unity with their inner god when still alive.

GDP continues: “The Divine can be understood by looking within, along the path of understanding, along the path of comprehension, along the path of intuition; for the very root of man’s spiritual nature is that Divine itself, our spiritual origin, our impersonal parent, the source of our essence; from it we sprang in the far distant aeons of the illimitable past on our cycling journey downwards into matter; and to it shall we return in the far distant cycles of the future – but then as full-grown spiritual adults, fully developed spiritual Monads. Having left it in the morning of time as un-self-conscious god-sparks, we shall return to it as self-conscious divinities. It is we, and we are it. It is the inmost Self living at the core, at the heart, of each one of us; at the heart of all that is, of all entities that are; because fundamentally it is everything.

As a man thinks thoughts, which are ensouled things, because they are matter and yet spring from a spiritual being, so, speaking in symbolic form, the Divine sends forth from itself sparks of its own fire, and each one of these sparks contains in itself the root of Self, self-hood, self-consciousness, growing ever greater, ever larger, ever expanding, never reaching an ultimate, but always marching towards it in constantly growing greatness of consciousness and beauty. Man, therefore, is the temple expressing as far as he may by means of the building of the spiritual vehicle within, the vast and ineffable glories of the Divine – of the Inexpressible. In man’s inmost nature is the very heart of Deity”. [10] The soul leaves its parent, wanders through aeons of learning, finally to return to the temple of his parent deity, recognised at last as his lost son, and invited to: “Enter into thine own.” Then there is no more separation between the I and thou, the god within and its imperfect vehicle. The Divine exists everywhere, in all the monads within all the life forms (and everything is alive) in its body/universe. “Monads are spiritual beings, self-conscious, self-motivated, self-impelled god-sparks, fully self-conscious for the Manvantara,… or Great cycle of planetary life; and such a Monad exists at the core, at the heart, of every specific corpuscle or infinitesimal… all “offspring from its parent Monad, are elemental entities beginning each its upward march, as a thought will spring from the mind of man; for thoughts are things, and are ensouled”. (Gaby told me once: Angel = messenger = thought!!!) These multitudes of living entities begin the evolutionary path “in the heart of the divine Hierarch of their own particular hierarchy, pass downwards through the manifold and various stages of matter, rise again when the turn of a particular cycle has been reached, and again re-enter the bosom of the divine, from which each sprang in the beginnings of that period of evolutionary time”. [11] Evolution is about “building of a manifesting vehicle capable of expressing the innate powers of the spiritual monad. It is the unwrapping or unfolding of latent or dormant or sleeping powers. It is the building of living temples of self-expression which grow nobler with every step taken forwards. [12]

GDP thinks this aim is achievable through both daily life, and later through initiation, the key lying in our outlook, whether we can overcome overcome our illusions and selfish orientations, and therefore transmute our lower self, “to become first nobly human, and finally godlike [13] – Again in Narnia chronicles, a boy called Eustace became a dragon because he coveted another dragon’s treasure. While still a boy he donned an armband which as a dragon, caused him great pain, so he soon severely repented his “dragonish greedy thoughts”, met Aslan (i.e. God) one day near a spa-pond and was told to remove his dragonish skin so he could bathe in the curative waters; he emerged a changed boy! I’m using a child’s story, because GDP says “It is the child’s heart that we need – trusting, intuitive, and alert” because only the higher understanding lying within the higher nature “can arrive at the inner meaning of the teachings”, like that of the parables Christ gave his disciples. [14] The likeness of the body to a dragon shouldn’t make us think the body is evil and expendible, for like the garuda of Vishnu, it is our vehicle through which our divine entity does work in the world, a place where pure spirit alone cannot exist.

Anyone can enter “The Still Small Path”, once embracing selflessness and overcoming all inner illusions, making “a deliberate and actual choice with all the strength of his being, he kindles a light within, …the buddhic splendour” [15], an act which is noticed by the teachers, who accept him as a chela, who proceed to test him in many ways with tests arising from the ordinary events of life, before he knows he is accepted as a chela, chelaship meaning “trying to bring out the master living in our own being”, for he is there now, through a growth in human sympathies and life, not a lessening.[16] He will only step forward “into the more expanded selfhood which already is his own higher nature, until he learns that ‘living for self’ means descending into more compacted and restricted spheres, and that ‘living for all that is’ means an expansion of his own soul into becoming the larger life”. [17] (Remember the film: The never-ending story when the little-boy hero tries to get back to Fantasia through the mirror, on the other side of which is his heroic self, the boy-warrior Atreyu.)

The second stage, as I see it, GDP describes as initiation, attained through seven degrees, to become at one with the boundless all. The aim of initiation is to ally the human being with the gods, and begins by making the neophyte at one with his own inner god. [18] GDP says: “The core of our being is pure consciousness, and in proportion as we ally ourselves with our inner god, with that pure monadic consciousness, shall knowledge come to us naturally. Our understanding will expand, and finally become cosmic, and we shall then realise that there is another cosmos still grander (as per the mirrror in the story) of which our cosmos is but an atom. This is the path of evolution, of growth, inner and outer; it is the pathway of initiation, the pathway to almighty love and compassion”. [19] This sudden all-knowing is told of in Buddha’s childhood and youth, he was the culmination of human development known to us, and knew all languages, all religious doctrines, and excelled at all sports and accomplishments.

GDP says all the work centres around training the inner vision, the inner eye (which poets call upon, and name “the bliss of solitude”) [20] The first 3 degrees are concerned with study, but not filling the mind with other men’s thoughts, but rising instead the spiritual fire in himself which brings about an awakening of understanding, so the neophyte becomes his own initiator. The first seven with their seven sub-sections, relate to the seven great planes and sub-planes of our solar system.[21] He says all outward reception of ideas and thoughts are just stimuli arousing the inner vibration preparing for the reception of the inner light, setting up “the corresponding vibratory chord in the recipient’s psychological apparatus” through which the knowledge instantly flashes from the recipient’s own mind above. “Devotion to truth, to the point of utterly forgetting oneself, opens the channel of reception”, light and knowledge then entering the mind and heart from the inner god which begins to function. [22]

In the 4th initiation the initiant continues the study, aspiration, the living the life, and begins to lose his personal humanity and merge into divinity; “he learns to become, to be, to enter into the intimate consciousness the entities and spheres he contacts” because to fully know something we must be it and become it. [23] In the 5th we become a master of wisdom and compassion, and we make the choice to be a Pratyeka, going to nirvana, or to be a Buddha of Compassion who returns to the world to live for it and not for self, and in the 7th he meets his divine self face to face and becomes at one with it, and in contact with the Mahachohan/Silent Watcher of the human race. [24] He has it within, imprinted by experience, nothing external to refer to. He is always a learner in the school of life, evolving from one range of life to the next, forever forwards, “for there are veils upon veils covering the face of eternal Reality”[25] There are 2 dangers of consciousness – 1) “the mentality must be such that it will repel outside influences of the most persuasive character” which arise in the also-virtuous capacity for impressionability, and 2) and in “the too strong and too quick logical faculty of the brain-mind”, the mentality having to be “rigidly subordinated to the nobler attributes”, never usurping the place of mastery, “the higher mind rooted in the buddhi principle has an infallible logic as well as an infallible intuition of its own, of which the brain-mind procedures are pale and usually distorted reflections, and because of this are often most dangerous enemies”.[26]

He will already be “a sun in embryo, a child of some other sun that then existed in space” – Aham asmi Parabrahman, I am the boundless all” – beyond both space and time. This idea is the very keystone of the temple of truth. It is mother of her diviner, spiritual, psychological, ethereal, and physical reaches that is our universal home – a home having no specific location because it is everywhere”. Every aspect of this essence of the universe, is within the inmost of us, hence to go back to the beginning, the Sages say: “Man, know thyself”, going inwards in thought and feeling, ever more allying ourselves with this divine inner core, also the core of the Universe, where our home is: “boundless, frontierless Space”. [27] And this explains the deft summary in the story of the boy down whose throat you could see the whole universe.

We have seven selves, of descending grades of materiality/spirituality, and there were 4 adams, 4 worlds that he/they governed, each world having its locus in the individual human being and correspondence with one of the four basic principles of the human constitution. Even the ordinary man comes from one of four castes, and has four stages of life, the child, student, family man, and Vana prasta, the old hermit/contemplator. These selves and adams have been discussed in: Grace’s book, about the sephira, where the universe is pictured as a tree and as the ideal man, mirror image of the Adams who came to remodel humanity: and which have already been discussed already in an earlier Angels lecture. Grace has written in much detail of this, but the key I think is this:

The Kabbalah describes the Sephirophal Tree/Body of Adam Kadmon, the “ideal man”, the physical vehicle of the manifest universe, whose astral image was clothed with the receptacle of the seeds of future lives, the radiant image (Iselem), projected by the tselem of the Elohim, in the image of the ancestral pitris [1]These karmically attracted seeds of being were composed by the host of cosmic power, the Dhyan Chohans. Briefly go through the diagram, descending in order like the beings in the statue do.

The head, Crown or Kether issued forth first, the invisible, that is the first unmanifested Logos. From Kether issued two rays, at the right the male Hokhmah the duad, Ab, Father, or Yah, at the right shoulder. From Hochmah issued Binah, the supernal mother, the intelligence, insight, at the left shoulder. These three make the upper triad, from which issues the second triad Hesed, ardour, love goodness, compassion, male, the right arm, and Geburah strength, power, might, feminine, on the left arm. From these two issue tefereth (beauty, magnificence, glory), the heart of Adam Kadmon and of the sun, exuding all goodness and inspiration into the lower sephiroth, called Elohim, or mighty ones, gods, goddesses. This triad is the second countenance in contradistinction to Keth or macrocosmos. G de P says that the armies of evolving beings issue from the heart of divinity after their pralayic sleep. [1]

The second triad issue Netsah the right thigh Yehovah, Lord of hosts or armies, and Hod, the left thigh, whose divine name is Elohim Tsebach; according to the Zohar (3:296a) that through Netsah and Hod we comprehend extension multiplication, and force. The son of Netsah and Hod is Yesod (foundation) Adam Kadmon’s reproductive strength, the portal for all the potentialities into the manifested world. Its divine name Elhai means the mighty living being, lord of life. The triad parents and the son are the Sefiroth of Construction partaking of the qualities of manifestation in contradistinction to the Supernal unmanifest triad of Keth, Hokmah and Binah. 10th and last is Malkhuth, (kingdom, dominion), the carrier or vehicle of all 10 powers, the nether pole of Kether, the feet of Adam Kadmon, the bride or inferior mother, the close of the construction of the Angels, accomplished by the six immediately preceding it. It’s divine name is Adonai. [29]

The “Sephira” in the Sephirophal Tree means “number”, a doctrine also found in Pythagoras, and this tree is the symbol of man, atom, star, or any other hierarchy, showing how a series of emanations that the one or divine monad of any being unfolds from within itself in assuming full imbodiment. This parallels how Parabrahm or Ein Soph issues forth at karmic intervals, universes great and small. The boundless itself contained a series of “concealed sephiroth”, providing the potential garment for the one in thre garment of nonbeing, “Ayin or no-thing-ness, the darkness of pure nonbeing, which produced ein sof, “boundless” expanse of space, the union of these 2 bring forth Ein Sof Or, boundless or limitless light, the primal light of pre-manifestation. [30] This seems to be the ineffable source to which GDP referred initiation was leading us.

Six successive Adams remanifested from their own materials, then a seventh day of rest. They followed the law etched on the Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus: “That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below, for the performance of the miracles of the one substance”[32] Thus the 4 adams followed the law of unfoldment of the four olamim or planes, each becoming broth prototype or pattern for the succeeding Adam, the highest serving as a prototype, the latter ones serving solely as reflection or image of the higher Adams. [33](Grace, 63) Thus their luminosity is dulled by ¼ as its reflection passes down, so our humanity only perceives ¼ of truth which it foolishly believes to be the whole truth. Thus we should look to the higher Adam, source of the full truth and light. (Grace, 65) The 2nd Adam is like Krishna, “he establishes this universe with a portion [of himself] and remains separate”. The 4 Adams coincide with the 4 rootraces, going from homogenous, to protoplasmic, to the sexed humanity of this world each world having been destroyed because it couldn’t express “since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were capable”[34] and “because Man, represented by the 10 Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human forms contains every thing, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed…Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, ‘til the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms”. [35]

In this series of re-manifestations, the second Adam’s presiding influence was “the throne”, occupied by Metatron, the great teacher or angel of Adam Kadmon’s second world, the “abode of the pure spirits”.[1]At the end of this race Man ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and began to develop coats of skin, and became aligned to the lower triad and thus parts of the upper aspects were then closed to him. Under the dual influence of the retired spiritual capacity, the cloaks of the higher light, and of the physical coats of skin, these combine, energised by the Sons of Intelligence or Elohim to bring to birth self-conscious, thinking Humanity, i.e. the Manasaputras energise sleeping matter with their spirituality. [1]

A/c 2 Grace, the seven globes of a planetary chain align with the four manifest olamim or planes of existence, the three higher manifest olamin, and the lower being our earth, most material of the planes. Each globe thus distributed on the olamim correlate to a particular sefirah (or branch on the 10fold tree), the 7 lower or manifest sefiroth corresponding to the 7 globes on and in the four cosmic planes. At the same time, on each of the olamim a 10fold sefirothal tree of life is manifested, which illustrates another facet of this multifaceted conception, HPB suggesting that on any specific plane or Olam, one aspect of consciousness only is dominant at any one time, all other aspects of the sefirothal tree being present in potential, but manifesting in minor degree.[36] I think this tree of life is the one that God cast us out of Eden and guarded with a flaming cherubim, lest we also taste the fruit of this tree as well as of the Tree of Knowledge – therefore this is very sacred knowledge we’re hearing about.

The maxim Man Know Thyself”applies in the human sciences - medicine (per Fight for Life show on TV), psychology, philosophy, social work- even astrology, study of everything, because that universe was invisible inside that little boy. [37] E.g. we can learn about our own complex nervous system by studying the simple, two-branched nervous system of the squid.

The “meaning of life” to some is just doing what there is at hand to do, this is why we were put in such seemingly un-spiritual circumstances, the spirit in them is within the daily round and we find it by dealing with it successfully, “character-building” in the truest sense of the word. We were put in this physical life, so by living life we could understand it, its source, and ourselves. As Stefan Carey wrote: “Living the life to do our dharma and find out about ourselves, a ready-made Owner’s Instruction Manual to our life, we also engage the life-atoms of like minded other, smaller lives attracted to us and part of us, on their/our path of life also, the whole retinue marches along with purpose and in step!… Be human, perhaps even the best human being, only you know how to be!” [38]

Amid life’s clamour we can still take time out to hear the “Voice of the Silence” and place ourselves into sympathy with the compassionate forces which sent each one of us forth into the adventure of daily life. [39] My parents told me in Year 12, if you think you’re alone in your lifeboat drifting haplessly on the Pacific, look out and you’ll see the sea dotted with little people in lifeboats all the way to the horizon–all life-forms are in the evolution game together, we aren’t alone and could in fact enjoy the journey, deciding to be what we are to the best we can, Like Wilbur the pig in Charlotte’s Web: “You’re a very nice little pig”! and do the best you can with this vehicle/body you are in. Being all part of the one, it behoves us to act as brothers, for this is a fact in nature; all evolves together, so we should act/evolve for the sake of the conglomerate entity, not for ourselves. OF COURSE, when we think we know ourselves, we find we really don’t, and that knowing is an everlasting quest, that goes on ad infinitum, finding and becoming, the temple.

My brother Andrew has written of 10 disciplines that lead to this self knowledge: “Out of the 10 steps to the Temple of Wisdom, I think Man know thyself is an unveiled spiritual perception, (of course to be coupled with “constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta Vidya) depicts” as we must use our knowledge to selfless ends. “Behold the Truth before you: A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one’s co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defence of those unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta Vidya) depicts – these are the Golden Stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Wisdom.” In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that it is necessary for us to “be as little children” if we are to find the Kingdom of Heaven. In my opinion , this could mean stripping away the veils we inevitably build up around our inner spiritual Self over lifetimes, and attempt to get back to the direct spiritual perception of childhood when we are newly emerged from the heaven worlds. An unveiled and childlike spiritual perception would enable us to see through the outer problems of individuals and the world to look for the spirit at work in every situation. Artists and poets approach this type of perception sometimes. As a great poet once said, we should try to see God in a blade of grass or a grain of sand. [40] I hope this poem by The Moody Blues, about this quest, appeals as would a parable understandable by the childlike intuitional nature which GDP said the initiant must have: THE BALANCE: After he had journeyed, and his feet were sore, and he was tired, he came upon an orange grove and he rested and he lay in the cool, and while he rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it, and it was good. And he felt the earth to his spine, and he asked, and he saw the tree above him, and the stars, and the veins in the leaf, and the light, and the balance. And he saw magnificent perfection, whereupon he thought of himself in balance. And he knew he was. Just open your eyes, and realise, the way it’s always been. Just open your mind and you will find the way it’s always been. Just open your heart, and that’s a start. And he thought of those he angered, for he was not a violent man, and he thought of those he hurt, for he was not a cruel man, and he thought of those he frightened, for he was not an evil man, and he understood. He understood himself. Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear, it was because he was not understanding, and he learned, Compassion. And with his eye of compassion, he saw his enemies like unto himself, and he learned love, then, he was answered:- Just open your eyes, and realise, the way it’s always been. Just open your mind and you will find the way it’s always been. Just open your heart, and that’s a start. The Balance.

[1] GDP, Studies in Occ. Phil., p.374.

[2] GDP,Fountain Sources, p.492.

[3] A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion pp.360-361.

[4] The Seven Jewels of Wisdom: the third jewel: the doctrine of hierarchies, by Stefan Carey. pp.6-7.

[5] GDP, The Esoteric Tradition Vol 2, pp. 700-701.

[6] SD 2, 580.

[7] SD1, 338, 2nd footnote.

[8] John X, 34, 1 Cor 111, 16, quoted by GDP, Man in Evol, pp.314 7 130. The developmental stages of the human embryo recall recapitulates or passes through the various stages which the stock to which it belongs had passed through in preceding biological time, a sort of rehearsal in brief of former evolutionary stock-history.

[9] GDP, Man In Evolution, pp.322-323.

[10] GDP, Man In Evolution, pp.323-324.

[11] GDP Man in Evolution pp. 235-236.

[12] Gdp man In Evolution, p.236.

[13] Fountain Souces, p.15.

[14] FS,15

[15] FS,16

[16] FS,17

[17] S,199

[18] FS,55

[19] FS,54

[20] FS,56-57

[21] FS,57

[22] FS,57-58

[23] FS,58

[24] FS,59

[25] fs,60

[26] FS,61

[27] FS,62

[28] Grace,9-10

[29] Grace, pp.9,22-25, 72, 72-78.

[30] Grace,9-10

[31] Grace,9-10

[32] Mathers, p.155n, quoted in Grace, 63).

[33] Grace,67

[34] Grace,67 and Idra Rabba, Zohar, 3:148a, Ginsburg, p.103, quoted in Grace, 69),

[35] Ibid, 3:135b, Ginsburg, p.104, quoted in Grace, 70.

[36] Grace,58

[37] Eg: GDP in Man in Evolution, believes man has existed ever, without changing, being the predecessor of all other, changed, vehicles such as apes; GDP describes the “law of embryonic recapitulation”, where the “embryo passes through in its growth the various stages which the stock to which it belongs had passed through in preceding biological time…a sort of rehearsal in brief of former evolutionary stock-history whereby a fetus in its earliest stages of development has the Premaxilla bone which carries the incisor teeth which does not exist as a separate element in man, but which is shown on the face of apes by suture-lines, marking its junction with the maxillary bones. (Man in Evol, 129-130). Man has a residual tail-bone of 4 or even 5 coccygeal bones, yet gorillas, our supposed nearest predecessors, have but 3, as they stand later in evolution than Man, according to theosophy – some human babies are born with a rudimentary tail – we will continue evolving in reaction to outer circumstances, to re-become ovoid and immaterial in appearance. (GDP, Man in Evol, p.250, and Ch. 16).

[38] Stephan Carey, Emotions and Spirituality, nsltr, June 1998, No. 62, p.2)

[39] APR, Nsltr, No?Date?p.1

[40] TS Newsletter, Dec `1999, p.7, “Golden Stairs 5, An Unveiled Spiritual Perception”)

The views expressed in this lecture are those of the lecturer and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena)

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Wed 11 Nov 2009

THE DIVINE TWINS: GEMINI, DIOSCURI, KABIRI by Amanda F. Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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This talk is about the Gemini twins, As you can see, they were horsemen. I was inspired to explore this myth when a fellow student studied these colossal statues of humans and horses, which are called the “horse tamers”, situated on the Qurinale Hill in Rome, Italy. (see the illustrations on the whiteboard).

The twins, Castor/Kastore and Pollux/Polydukes, are also called the Castores, the Dioscuri and the Kabiri; I will mostly refer to them as the Kabiri during the talk. In mythology, the “twins” numbered from between two and seven, and ten.

The Kabiri are really the archangels of Christianity, but Christianity sees the Kabiri as devils. Kabiri means “mighty ones” in Hebrew, Gibborim, the pre and post diluvian giants of the Bible, the third race of mankind - the name “Kabirian” described all gods connected with fire. (1) The Kabiri were worshipped in Samothrace, Lacedaemonia (in the festival called the Dioscuria), and Asia Minor, especially in Phrygia, and in Macedonia and in other parts of northern, as well as southern Greece. (2) The name Kabiri means perhaps a derivation from Abin which is great, Ebir, an astrologer, and Kabir, an associate, and they were worshipped at a place Hebron, which is the city of the Anakes, or giants, which fits in with the size of the aforementioned statues, 20 feet tall.

The Kabiri are said to have been worshipped by Phoenician sailors, as they were protectors of all mariners, especially when at sea, and they appeared in the form of St. Elmo’s fire, that is as fireballs on the mastheads of the ships. The Kabiri were later identified with the constellation of Gemini, and in Rome came to be known as the Castores, and as the “horse-tamers”. Also known as the Dioscuri they are in later mythology usually depicted as twin brothers.

In the Iliad they sail with Jason as Polydukes is a skilled boxer and Castor a trainer of horses. During the expedition Pollux killed Amycus, king of Bebryces, in a boxing-match and they founded the town of Dioscurias in Colchis. In Greek lore, Polydukes was Hercules’ fencing-master. (3) The twins are mentioned in The Odyssey Book XI, the Book of the Dead, amid a series of brothers born of mortal mothers and divine fathers. Later historians have tried to discover whether these brothers were mortal heroes of ancient time promoted to godhood in the popular imagination, or whether they were gods degenerated through over-use, as it were, back to human-hood.

Actually this is part of the theme of the tale, of an inseparable connection between pure spirit and pure materiality, of the Omega and Alpha and of man being never quite the one nor the other, on his long climb upwards. The story has many variations of one theme, the twins are born of Leda, a mortal woman, and of Zeus, highest of the gods, who came in the form of a swan, and the offspring were hatched from two eggs. Their twin sisters, Helen of Troy, most beautiful of women and wife of Melenaus (4) King of Sparta, and Clytemnestra, wife of Agamemnon who she later murdered, were born at the same time. (Clytemnestra also murdered Kassandra, a lady assigned to the king as part of the spoils of the Trojan War; Helen seems to have originally been an ancient tree-goddess, with rituals similar to those or Erigone – (5)

Leda was said to be the daughter of Thestius, King of Aetolia, and wife of Tyndareus, King of Sparta. It is said that Castor was King Tyndareus’s true son, while Pollux was that of Zeus. Other variations include that Helen and her brothers were born from one egg, or the brothers in one and the sisters in the other, or Helen being Zeus’s daughter and Clytemnestra that of Tyndareus, or else one egg hatched Apollo and Letona. (Leto/Latona was Apollo and Diana’s mother by Zeus). Another variant gives a translation of one of the names of one of the brothers as Hermes. In Homer, both brothers are mortal, in the Homeric Hymn the brothers are immortal. (6)

Blavatsky says that as the Tyndaridae, or sons of Tyndareus, they would symbolise night and day, as they were later wedded to the goddesses of dawn and twilight, daughters of Apollo. She says however that this does not mean that the brothers were Sun and Moon, as the Greek pantheon had a god and a goddess for these functions already and the twins were only godlings. One day there was a dispute, either over some stolen cattle, or over the stolen two daughters of the brother of Leukippos, whose name curiously means “the keeper of white horses” - the twins carried off the daughters who were betrothed to the twins’ twin cousins. Pollux killed Lynceus, who could see through the whole world and whose name means that he had penetrating sight. Lynceus’s friend Idas “he who sees and knows”, wounded Castor. (7) Pollux and another combatant had been the last to battle on and were killed by a thunderbolt thrown by Zeus to bring the battle to a halt. On finding his dying brother, Castor asked Zeus if he could die too, as he would follow his brother in everything. Zeus said they could not die altogether, as they are a divine race. Either Pollux remained immortal in Olympus or became semi-mortal along with Castor, living half of the time underground and half in the heavens; thus both lived, one by day and one by night. HPB writes that they constantly die and return to life together, while it is absolutely necessary that one should die that the other live. One force is being converted into another force. (8)

Blair Moffett in the October ‘79 Sunrise, (9) about the Popul Vu, sacred book of the Maya mezzo-American Indians, said that the hero twins represent the bipolar character of the Mayan saviour deity who incarnates as a man to bring divine thought to man. His apotheosis or rising back to heaven brings about the fourth age when fully civilised humanity becomes conscious of its divine progenitors.

From the Secret Doctrine volume two, pages 121-4, Blavatsky said that the myth describes the melding of the second route race into the third, as mere astral forms began to attract more life-atoms to them, thus forming bodies. This on a grand scale produced a whole new race. The auric egg is the source of the human aura and of all the human faculties of the sevenfold human constitution. Going from the SD, she says: “When the race became old, and the old waters mixed with the fresher waters, when the drops became turbid they vanished and disappeared in the new stream, in the hot stream of life, the outer of the first became the inner of the second, the old wing became the shadow and the shadow of the wing. The old primitive race merged into the second race and became one with it. This is the mysterious process of transformation and evolution of mankind. The material of the first forms, shadowy, ethereal and negative, was drawn or absorbed into, and thus became the complementary of, the forms of the second race. The first race never died as it was made of the astral shadows of the creative progenitors and had no astral or physical body. The old became absorbed into the new, physical progeny. The wing or ethereal form that produced the shadow and image became the shadow of the astral body, and its own progeny. Man became dual, transformed from animal-man to god-man, in an animal body only, yet immortal in its possession of a fifth principle and called to life by those who had informed him of this, connecting the monad to the earth, which is Pollux, as Castor when separated from the enlivened half is only an animal again. Twinship can only continue if Pollux chooses to give a share of his own immortality”.

HPB also interprets it where Zeus is the father of the twins, as a cosmic myth of the world born from an egg. Leda herself becomes a white swan, that is, her upper triad unites with the divine swan. Six eggs of gold are laid, and a seventh of iron, which are the planets. The mundane egg symbolises the origin and secret of being. The “First Cause” was seen as an ever invisible, mysterious bird that dropped an egg into Chaos, which egg became the universe. So Brahm was called “the swan of eternity”, the Kalahansa, the swan in space and time. It lays a golden egg at the beginning of each Manvantara. The circle thus came to symbolise this earth, and the universe as a whole.

In the Katha Upanishad, quoted by Blavatsky, it tells of Purusha, the

divine spirit, “standing before original matter from which came the soul of the world, Maha Atma Brahm, the spirit of life, the universal soul, the astral light. In the Secret Doctrine, I, 360, it tells that Vishnu Purana, or intellect mahat, the unmanifested gross elements inclusive, formed an egg and the lord of the universe himself abided in it, in the character of Brahma. In that egg, oh Brahma, were the continents, the seas, the mountains, the planets, and divisions of the universes, the gods, the demons, and mankind”.

The January 1980 Sunrise article “One is one for evermore”, pp.145-152 by Manual Oderberg says that the one becomes the many through a triadic process, from one down to 10. This could fit in with the seven builders of the universe which have their counterparts on earth, as the seven or 10 Kabirim or teachers of mankind. There are seven divine dynasties, seven Lemurian and seven Atlantean divisions of the earth, and seven primitive and dual gods who came down to teach all the sciences, including agriculture. They are referred to in correlation with the race of titans, said to be born of the gods and early womankind, a race of giants which had to be destroyed. There is a connection here in that the Kabirim gods were all gods connected with fire and volcanism and the half man, half serpent titans killed in the battle with the gods were buried under Greek islands, many of which were volcanic.

The Kabirim came as gods, then merged with men and finally became divine kings and rulers. This is the same as the ‘Lunar Pitris’ or ‘fathers’ from the last ‘global’ round. They are also referred to as the “sons of the twilight” or “self-born”, who became, who issued from Brahma’s body of twilight. The Dhyan Chohans were not born as we are as they came from the third race, of sweat-born beings. They will wait to be reborn in the flesh in the seventh round. When he dies, Narada, first of these pitris, will come into a new ready-made body. Others of his race were cursed to be formed as we are for interfering in our karma, not giving spirit to man along with knowledge. These are the Christian fallen angels, according to the Book of Enoch.

The Kabirim gods were probably introduced to the Greeks from Phoenician Assyrian sources, to the Chaldees and Jews from Hindu origins, and from Hindu origins also to ancient America. They are also known as the Teraphim or serpent images given in the dowry of Dardenas, which he brought to Samothrace and Troy. They were Jewish idol oracles. There is a connection here with a practice of artificially hatching a winged serpent from a ball of incense for the initiates, to symbolise spirit-wisdom being distilled from its fleshy habitation.

The Teraphim were worshipped by Terah, Abram’s father (10) and were celestial beings of human form, with three pairs of wings, and their name meant “bright, serpents”, and they were Cabalistic angels related to severity. This would relate to their representation as horse-breakers, the Aswins of Hinduism, who were horsemen or charioteers with a golden chariot drawn by various types of animals. In Vedic literature it says they are born of the sun and the sky. They herald the dawn after the night and are young, handsome, bright, agile, and swift as falcons. They are ocean-born and crowned with lotuses, and represent the transition from darkness to light. Other sources say that the Aswins represent ancient horsemen who were refused admission to a sacrifice because they had been on too familiar terms with mankind. A horse sacrifice was practiced by the Brahmans of ancient India, who thought that the cosmos was symbolised by a horse. The Aswins’ name derives from Aswa, meaning “horse”, literally “the pervader”. Their mother was a nymph who took the form of a mare, and their father was the sun or the sky (though the Dioskuri’s father was Jupiter in the form of a swan) - the horse is an animal symbolic of the luminous deities, especially the Sun, in Vedic and in Celtic lore. The Aswins were healers and restorers of youthfulness, and both twins fathered Pandu princes (the royal family from the Mahabharata); the twin called Dasra’s son was Sahadeva, a learned astronomer, and the twin called Nasatya’s son was called Nakula who became the King’s horse-master. The Aswins rise in the sky in a golden chariot drawn by horses or birds, and are harbingers of the dawn, and as personifications of twilight, the transition from dark to light and the intermingling of both, suggests the origin of their dual nature. (11) The Aswins are therefore of dual nature, due to their alliance of light and dark, and because pure monads incarnate during this materialistic manvantara. They also represent Kumara egos, originally the seven sons of Brahma, born from his limbs, in the ninth creation. They were called virgin gods because they do not populate as a race in this sphere. That is they are the same as the Lunar Pitris mentioned before.

The Kabirim are also connected with the six Elohom which came

forth from the One. The SD, Volume one, 374-5 says that it was 6,000 years before the earth became ready to be renewed in itself. The six Sefiroth of construction are the six Dhyan Chohans or Manus, or Prajapati, synthesised by the seventh, the first emanation or logos, and who are called therefore builders of the lower or physical universe, all belonging below. The essence of these six is the seventh, the upati or the base or the fundamental stone on which the objective universe is built, that the pheneumanoi of all things. Hence they are at the same time the forces of nature, the seven angels of the presence, the sixth and seventh principals in Man, the spirito-pshcho, physical spheres of the septenary chain, the route races, all depending on the seven forms of the cranium up to the highest.

There are seven original gods, from whom branched all the rest of life. Every god contains within the realm of his auric egg, which includes his vitality and consciousness, intellect, buddhic energy and atman, the whole range of less evolved beings. We are all life-atoms in the cosmic auric egg. All the life atoms are given direction and individuality by the overseeing deity’s vitality, individuality and intellect, which wells from the heart of us through him, making us the life-atoms of the cosmos. Now when Man became enfleshed he was also subject to hope via rebirth. The egg would symbolise life eternal.

Now following the chain of worshippers from Hindu India to Asia Minor, to Greece, to Rome, certain aspects were lost and others accentuated. This wonderfully esoteric mythology seems to have devolved across Asia to Asia Minor to Greece and then to Rome, gaining a military and naval, aspect, for this conquering people, one of whose main gods was Mars.

The hill on which the statues stand is Montecavallo (”horse mountain”), otherwise known as the Qurinale, northernmost of the Seven Hills of Rome, right beside the Servian Wall. The statues are on huge stone pedestals, standing in front of the Dioscuri Fountain on the Piazza Qurinale, in turn entered from the Via Quirinale. Behind the statues the Qurinale Palace was built, in and after 1574 (firstly the summer papal residence, then that of the President of the Republic). (12)

Prior to the Romans, the Sabians worshipped Mars on this hill since remote antiquity, and “Qurinale” derives the Sabinian name for the god Mars. Mars was considered the father of Romulus, one of the other legendary twins, Romulus and Remus, who founded Rome. Mars in his aspect as Qurities, watched over the Roman citizens, and is identified with civil god Qurinus. When Romulus and Remus founded Rome; their army abducted the womenfolk of the aforementioned Sabines who gave the hill its name. (13)

The Dioscuri also have a military and naval, significance for the Romans, as their exploits in mythology, suggest; like the Greek twin gods or heroes, twins were more likely to be remarkable, and are apt to be founders of cities. The twins for example were the patrons of the presidents of public games (which were originally for training in military arts such as horsemanship), and were the inventors of the war-dance, in that their adherents “danced” in their armour to do their military exercises, in the nearby campus martius or field of Mar, (14)

As to their military exploits, as one would expect, since Helen was their (quadruplet) sister, and she had been abducted by Theseus and Pirithous, and while Theseus was in Hades (can anyone here tell me why ?), the brothers rescued her, taking her to Sparta and on the way taking the city of Athens – this was before Helen’s abduction by Paris which started the Trojan War. (15) The Dioscuri took part in the aforementioned battle with Idas and Lynceus, sons of Apareus, and helped many other warriors in the Calydonian Boar Hunt, Ovid’s Metamorphoses, book VIII, 361-399, saying they rode horses whiter than snow, and threw their spears after the boar, which retreated into impenetrable dark woods. Somewhat after this, the twins were raised to be stars in the heavens. The twins arerepresented in art with egg-shaped helmets, surmounted by stars, they carry spears, and have magnificent white horses – the helmets probably in reference to their being hatched from eggs. (16)

The twins’ importance to Rome seems to spring from a tradition that in the time transitional between the monarchy and Republic, the Latins supported the ejected tyrant Tarquinius Superbus and fought the Romans at Lake Regillus; after the battle two young warriors were seen in the Forum in the heart of Rome, watering their white horses at the Spring of Juturna, and before they left they announced a great victory, “and in this they themselves had played the leading part”. The Romans understood that the twins had been the Dioscuri and built the Temple of Castor and Pollux for their worship, dedicated in 484 B.C and traces of this temple, blocks of stone dating from early times, have been found. At the spring where the horses were watered, were later found ancient fragments of archaic statues of twin gods, copied from Greek works of the early 5th century BC, proving the antiquity of the worship of the twins there.

The twins’ prophesy resulted in a treaty between Rome and 30 Latin cities, the treaty lasted until the Latins were absorbed into the Roman state in 338 BC. In 117 BC Lucius Metellus Delmaticus financed the rebuilding Temple of Castor and Pollux, using much of the booty he captured from Dalmatian pirates (17) The Temple of Castor and Pollux is opposite the Temple of Vesta, in the Roman Forum; the twins’ temple was visited every four years, then every year, on 15th July, anniversary of the battle of Lake Regillus, by the Equites in a magnificent procession, for whom the twins were their patron. (18) The Equites were originally cavalry knights, later a youth organisation supporting the regime, they paraded in from the Temple of Mars, wearing rich clothes and olive garlands. The campus martius, where soldiers did military training, was nearby. – one can see their worship had both a military and naval, aspect – they helped win battles on land and sea, and thus they were worshipped in their martial aspect!

As to the twins’ naval exploits, and importance to sailors - The depiction of the twins with stars above their heads could also refer to their being sons of Zeus/Jupiter, as he was the wielder of lightning (his sacred tree was the oak, frequently hit by lightning and therefore thought to attract it), and St. Elmo’s fire is in a way the “son”, a lesser, more benign form of lightning, the twin lights of the electrical glow appearing in stormy weather (i.e. earthed static electricity?) (19) They’re like two poles of an electrical current, and I remember an old theosophist (Olga Buchanan), saying the word “fohat”, when I last read this talk.

Just as Zeus rewarded the twins’ brotherly love by forming them into the constellation Gemini, Neptune/Poseidon (the sea-god) gave the twins power over the waves - they were stars of good omen to ships - the constellation for the month of May, and in art are represented pulling Venus’s chariot, accompanied by the Zephyrs (i.e. spring breezes, not the cars!), and by Cupid. (20) The nearby Mediterranean was particularly tricky to negotiate in the spring, sailors avoided doing so if possible. Once, just into the Christian era, Emperor Constantius II (AD 337-61) went back to the pagan temple of Castor and Pollux, one of the main temples in Ostia, port town of Rome (down the Tiber, on the Tyrrhenian Sea). While he was sacrificing in the temple the sea calmed and gentle breezes enabled the grain ships to enter the harbour and fill the granaries. This shows that the twins helped “those in peril on the sea”. The battle-victory the twins foretold was at the now drained Lake Regillus, 14 km from Rome; the historian Michael Grant thinking the Roman version of the story was a copy of the earlier Greek tale of the battle of the River Allaro in south Italy where the people of Locri, fighting against Croton, had borrowed the aid of the twin gods from their birthplace in Sparta, Greece. So the tale came from Greece to Lake Regillus, and also to Tusculum and Lavinium, thence it could easily have passed to Rome. (21) One can also see how the twins worship passed from the east through this and other port towns, by traders who worshipped them.

Zodiacally, Gemini is the third sign of the Zodiac, its glyph looks like this: II and it symbolizes two children, The Twins, who represent a dual type of mind, of one who sees of both sides of a question and who jumps with interest to every new idea presented. The sun is in this sign from May 22 to June 21, the planetary ruler is Mercury (changeability); in the natural Zodiac it rules the Third House. It is masculine, positive, and an air sign, the element air is intellectual and communicative; its quality is mutable, meaning flexible and adaptable. This can be combined to describe Gemini as “adaptable intellect”, having the ability to see both sides of a question, thus they often fluctuate between two opposing views whilst having the gift of emotional detachment, to use their mind rather than their heart and be guided by logic and reason. (22) This again mirrors the dual, heaven/earth stance of the twins. Seeing both sides of the situation seems to lead naturally to “doing to others as you would have them do unto you”, which is the essence of theosophy and other systems of spirituality, as one twin “is”, the other, and naturally does what the other would do.

What I find particularly inspiring about these statues is how in the Middle Ages they became enmeshed within the brickwork of a small house built between the bases of the statues, as in the engraving by Lanfreri in his Speculum Romanae magnificentiae, where the equestrian statues had fallen and rested on piles of brick; these were rearranged to their present positions, in the Qurinal Piazza, in the 16th & 18th centuries. As Rome expanded and housing was at a premium, many of Rome’s old monuments were used as shelters for the hovels of the poor, built from the ruins of the Baths of Constantine that once stood on this hill. (23) This seems a very potent, and apt, allusion to their mythical cohabitation on earth and the heavens, the inner, spiritual man being held but not imprisoned, in materiality in the world, but not of it. The extremely esoteric symbology of the twins in Eastern thought, became more encased, but not lost, in later military type symbolism of the Romans – the key is still there, to find again the hidden spirit within its worldly outer concealing covering.

ENDNOTES:

1: H.P. Blavatsky, The Theosophical Glossary, Los Angeles, The Theosophy Company, 1971 p. 168, and The Secret Doctrine, Pasadena, Theosophical University Press, 1952, Vol. 1, p. 415, & Vol. II, 70, 279, 340.

2: H.P. Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary, p.102.

3: C.E. Clement, Legendary and Mythological Art, London, Bracken Books, 1994, p. 442, & Rose, A. Handbook of Greek Mythology, London, Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1974, p. 207.

4: J. Hall, Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, Icon Editions, New York, Harper & Row, 1974, p.146.

5: Rose H.J., Op Cit., p. 143.

6: Hall, H.J., Op Cit, p.192, Clement, C.E., Op Cit, p.464, Rose, H.J., Op Cit, p. 230.

7: see Fasti 5:699 ff; Theocritus 20; Hyginus 80, according to Hall, J., Op Cit,, p. 58.

8: Rose, H.J., Op Cit, pp.230-235.

9: Moffett, B., “Ancient American Theosophy”, Sunrise, October ‘79 pp.5-10.

10: H.P. Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary , p. 168)

11: Dowson, J., A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Calcutta, Rupa & Co., 1989, pp. 29-31, 214, and 272.

12: On the pedestals a print shows the inscriptions: Opus Fidiae (Phidius) and Praxiteles, famous Hellenistic sculptors, but they were by a Roman, who based one of the torsos on that of the Poseidon of the Parthenon pediment, in Athens (which was taken away and badly damaged by the Venetian admiral Morosini ’s unsuccessful attempts to remove these statues their setting. In turn Michelangelo made his David in Florence a similar height (20 feet) and a similar contraposto pose, to one of the Dioscuri, per: B. Rowland, The Classical Tradition in Western Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1963, pp.72 &. 198.

13: G. Fanfani, N. Ruspantini, Highlights of Rome, Florence, G. Ramella & Co., 1956, p.38 & Clement, C.E., Op Cit., p.465.

14: H.J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Mythology, London, Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1958, pp. 206 & 316, and Hall, p. 442.

15: Clement, C.E., Op Cit., pp. 442 & 450.

16: Hall, J., Op Cit., p.146 & Clement, C.E., Op Cit., pp.448 & 412.

17: Grant, M., The Roman Forum, London, Spring Books, The Hamlyn Publishing Group, Ltd., 1974, p.85.

18: Clement, C.E. Op Cit., p.443 & J. Hall, Op Cit., p.58, Grant, M., Op. Cit., p.86.

19: Grant, M, Op Cit., p. 86.

20: Hall, J., Op Cit., pp. 58 & 314.

21: Grant, M., Op Cit., p. 86.

22: Lofthus, Myrna A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, Nevada, CRCS Publications, 1983, pp.50-52).

23: Rowland, B., Op Cit., pp.233-5.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Blavatsky, The Secret Doctrine, Pasadena, Theosophical University Press, 1952, Vols. 1 & II.

Blavatsky, H.P., The Theosophical Glossary, Los Angeles, The Theosophy Company, 1971

Clement, C.E. Legendary and Mythological Art, London, Bracken Books, 1994.

Dowson, J., A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology, Calcutta, Rupa & Co., 1989.

Fanfani, G., & N. Ruspantini, Highlights of Rome, Florence, G. Ramella & Co., 1956.

Grant, M., The Roman Forum, London, Spring Books, The Hamlyn Publishing Group, Ltd., 1974,

Hall, J., Dictionary of Subjects and Symbols in Art, Icon Editions, New York, Harper & Row, 1974.

Lofthus, Myrna, A Spiritual Approach to Astrology, Nevada, CRCS Publications, 1983,

Ovid, Metamorphoses, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1955.

Rose, H.J.,A. Handbook of Greek Mythology, London, Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1974.

Rowland, B., The Classical Tradition in Western Art, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard University Press, 1963.

The views expressed in this lecture are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 5 Oct 2009

THE THREE TRUTHS: BASED ON ‘THE IDYLL OF THE WHITE LOTUS’ BY MABEL COLLINS by Jennifer Pignataro

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Mon 28 Sep 2009

EVERYTHING YOU DID NOT WANT TO KNOW ABOUT METAPHYSICS by William De Vere

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Man needs inwardly, in order to live his daily life, to be, as if he had settled or eliminated the great question that concerns his state.

Everyone, whether they are aware of it or not, lives by a personal system of metaphysics they believe to be true.

Hubert Benoit (The Supreme Doctrine)

…and whether we ‘know’ it or not., (author).

20^th century physics has demonstrated that the ‘things’ and the ‘substances of the universe’ are without known exception, composed of atomic and subatomic ‘particles’ or ‘waves’.

The nature of these ‘particles’, in so far as they can be observed and measured, is Movement, that is –Energy.

Because of the word ‘particle’, it is very easy to form an idea of some ‘thing’ incredibly small, which is energised. But there is no ‘thing’ which ‘has’ the energy. The so called ‘particle’ or ‘wave’ Is the energy-movement.

Some of the movements occur in millionths of a second.

It is a peculiarity of these movements that if their position is measured their simultaneous speed cannot be known and if the speed is measured, the simultaneous position cannot be known. This situation is not because of the lack of sophistication in the measuring devices, but is inherent in ‘the nature of things’ at this basic level.

It might be likened to a camera in which the light aperture is connected to the shutter speed in such a way, that setting the speed blurs the light focus and setting the light focus blurs the speed.

The significance of this is the realisation that there can be no such thing as ultimate determinism, because if the left hand of science knows what it is doing, it can’t say what the right hand is doing, and vice versa. The particles (on the other hand) seem to have solved this difficulty.

There is an experiment in which a photon (the atomic unit of light) is split to produce two units which fly off in opposite directions at the speed of light.

According to relativity, it is impossible for either photon to contact the other by any means whatsoever. Yet, when one of them is influenced by an electric field the other photon registers the interference.

The relatively recent ‘Chaos Theory’ highlights many examples of inter-action between apparently discrete event in space and time, which clearly demonstrate the inseparable relationships between ‘parts’ of the Whole.

In poetic language: “There’s not the plucking of a flower without troubling of a Star.”

The photon experiment and many others open doors to the possibility that the energy movements called ‘particles’ or ‘waves’ could in fact be the energy movements of a world mind.

Let us imagine the surface of an ocean with billions of tiny ripples.

The ripples might be thought of as ‘separate’ but they are, of course, simply the ocean movement and are of one substance. The sea water.

It could be said, that the ripples are ‘all of one mind’.

The term ‘Mind” is an apt one. It signifies presence without visibility or tangibility. It is measureless in dimensions and can not be said to ‘occupy’ space.

How much space is needed to contain a concept?

Is it more correct to say that mind is in space or that space is in mind?

It might be said that space is the ‘form’, which mind takes.

Michael Talbot in his book “Mysticism and the New Physics”, writes: “But we now must suspect that every point in the human brain is connected (via the ‘quantum foam’) to every other point in the universe.”

Note that the brain as a ‘physical’ object could not possibly be physically connected to every other point in the universe.

The brain, as well as everything else, emerges out of ‘Mind’.

Mind is not a product of a brain and Mind could well be universally ‘present

to the endless diversity of its own expressions, which we collectively call Nature.

One of the philosophies greatest conundrums, has been to decide whether everything is Mind or Matter or a mixture of both.

Like many problems, which seem to defy resolution, the fault is in the posing of the question, which in this case has assumed, that Mind and Matter are opposites.

Whoever made the comment: “Well, Never Mind, No Matter”, was close to attitudes of today’s scientists who see Mind and Matter as two aspects of One phenomenon and which can be called “Consciousness” - - an aspect of mind.

At the beginning of the chapter, the reader was reminded that ‘things’ and chemical ‘substances’ are complexes of energy.

Energy functions as vibrations, which can be very slow or unimaginably fast. The vibrations are designated as ‘frequency rates’ and constitute the characteristics of all manifestations.

Almost everyone has seen Einstein’s famous equation: E = MC² (Energy = mass times the speed of light squared.)

There is another famous equation which non technical people would perhaps never come upon.

It establishes the profound nature of frequency.

Called Planck’s Constant, it is a universal.

The symbol is ‘h’ and the equation is E = hv.

(Energy = the frequency of radiation (v) times Planck’s constant (h). The value of ‘h’ is: 6..625 * 10-27 erg seconds.

10-27 is (a minus one - followed by twenty seven noughts) this is multiplied by 6.625. It represents an Energy – Time – event so unthinkably small and yet so precise. It can provide an insight into the astonishing reliability operating in the warp and weft of the universe.

The lower frequencies manifest the Matter spectrum and the higher frequencies are experienced as the activity of the Mind.

Lower and higher are technical terms – not indicating superior, inferior.

Though Mind and Matter are two aspects of one phenomenon.

The principle must be called Mind, because matter is mind in its most condense mode.

The Mind of Man reflects the Universe which reflects the Mind of Man. More and more statements of a like nature are finding their way into science books and journals.

The ancient Yin-Yang symbol the Tao, is an excellent representation of a wholeness, which expresses itself as an apparent duality, but the Yang factor always has an element of Yin and the Yin factor always has the element of Yang.

If this is the case, which seems obvious, there is no such thing as non sentient matter, but only a position on the Mind spectrum indicating the potential to interact with the ever-changing environment – the ever unfolding World Mind.

Not the intelligence of someone, but the quality itself:- Intelligence.

Wise scientists have said, that they don’t pretend to know where the material or energy for the Big Bang came from, that their work is concerned only from the instant of the Big Bang occurrence.

Some will say, that the question is as pointless as asking “Where did God come from, assuming that there is a God?”

Here we are at the beginning and end of Metaphysics.

The question is: “Why is it, or How is it, that there is Not absolutely nothing… no space – no time – no light – no darkness – no sound – no movement – no energy for ever and ever?

And of course there would be no “Ever and ever”.

This is a consideration of the highest value because out of meditation on this question of questions can arise the tremendous impact of the fact that nothingness can not be.

The origin of Beingness, a Presence which is for ever a mystery without solution.

Buddhists call it Suchness, Hindus call it Thatness: when Moses asked for a Name of the Authority sending him on his mission, the reply was “I AM WHAT I AM”.

A statement of pure Beingness without further definition.

Beingness as the ultimate mystery, the ultimate Source, must in a very real sense be the all in all, but its expression can be seen at different ‘levels’ and in different ways.

Beingness would necessarily radiate all over “aliveness”, which would be simultaneously everywhere, like the heat and light of the Sun on planet Earth, this fundamental radiation is most likely to constitute a play of the fundamental ‘particles’ already discussed, which might be likened to the permanently active expressions of intelligence.

Intelligence, which is the In-form-ation of the particles.

They in turn perform their incredible ‘Dance of Shiva’, producing atomic structures of every kind, subject only to the nature of Intelligence itself.

Metaphysics often requires expanded definitions of certain words.

Intelligence for example, in the Cosmic context, barely resembles our day to day use, which is usually directed to particulars and personal behaviour.

Cosmic intelligence is more like an influence, which might be likened to the overseeing of order.

But the events or things to which the overseeing applies are not dictated.

It is free creation Order or Laws which can be seen throughout the whole spectrum of Creation.

The Source (Being), radiates an all encompassing Energy, which scientists might be partially reading, when observing the nature and behaviour of subatomic particles.

The Particles are not “Things” which ‘have ‘energy – they Are Energy.

As the ripples on the surface of the ocean.

Visually they might seem separate, but they are only the ocean.

The ripples are of One substance which can be likened to Cosmic Intelligence. Just as water can be experienced as a liquid, ice, a solid or steam, so Cosmic Intelligence can be experienced as a solid Matter (ice-Water), or as Mind (steam, liquid, super heated gas).

Matter is Mind in its most condensed state.

So in Metaphysics, there is no dualism of Mind and Matter, but Mind only, which is the imaginative creative movement of intelligence.

The Energy events carry the quality potential of the Beingness.

But as pointed out also from the beginning, this metaphysical understanding requires an ‘awareness’ at every level of manifestation.

Risking the limitation of analogy again, (although analogies should come very readily in a universe of a metaphysical wholeness), Being can be likened to a Sun of unconditional energy, which unconditionally radiates itself throughout space and time.

Its radiation carries the quality of intelligence which serves to prevent Chaos without meaning.

The power of illumination can be likened to the quality of consciousness which ranges from the slightest degree of warmth or movement to the blinding white hot perception of the ultimate Mystery.

In the unfolding creation consciousness would be first a state of experiencing without memory or anticipation.

From a human point of view this barely seems to warrant the term “Consciousness”, but like the spectrum of Mind, consciousness can range through every degree of its presence, to the apparent opposite of Unconsciousness. But again like non sentient matter, there can not be unconsciousness.

The question of Consciousness and Unconsciousness are dealt with fully in the teaching of the Indian Vedanta.

Just a by the way thought: How can consciousness say: “I have been completely unconscious”, when if it had been completely unconscious, there would have not been present any consciousness or memory to make it aware of that fact?

This situation implies the Presence that transcends unconsciousness.

Using the word ‘Awareness’, for a state which can transcend conscious/unconscious, makes it prior-in-principle in the sense that Awareness is not dependent on any particular parcel of consciousness, whereas there can not be particularised consciousness without the presence awareness.

Empty, silent mind is pure consciousness.

The only manifestation of full self consciousness we know of on this planet is Man.

It seems a waste of time to disagree that Mind is not brain.

But until very recently Science staunchly maintained that non sentient matter was the origin of the universe and all ‘things’ on this planet including man.

And so extraordinary explanations have been devised in attempts to make non sentient Matter the source of creation.

It has been proposed that the astonishing cavalcade of Galaxies, Quasars, Suns, Planets, and all life varieties from earth worms to Avatars, the incarnation of a Deity, have come about by the same production principles as would be the case if 20 million monkeys working 20 million typewriters for twenty million years produced the works of Shakespeare.

It is never explained whether this is achieved by taking useable word from each monkey and then allowing more monkeys to collate the words in correct sequence. Would they have then proceeded to produce the authors in correct time space sequence by swapping their typewriters for chemistry sets?

Or who would do the punctuations?

But if everything rides on probability, the monkeys would have exactly the same chance of coming up with the works of Goethe, Tolstoy, Dickens and Dostoyevsky, or any and every other known bit of writing and language ever conceived.

The situation gets sillier at each question but at least one more must be put.

“From where, oh where came the 20 million monkeys and their typewriters?

Or was it two hundred million? (See the big bang theory.)

The difficult step on the mind matter spectrum is to know whether anything at all can be said to ‘exist’ if there is no awareness, objective or subjective.

That is, if sub atomic events are not events of ‘experiencing’ and are not being registered in any other consciousness, how can they be said to exist?

The traditional answer is that non sentient matter can exist in its own right without necessity for any kind of observation.

But this statement involves putting one’s own mind back into the picture and imagining the object or event as still there.

In the 19^th century, Bishop Berkeley was maintaining that objects did not exist as such until perceived by a Mind.

A contemporary wrote a verse to the effect, paraphrase:

It seems exceedingly odd

that the old Yew tree simply ceases to be

if there’s no one about in the quad

This in turn provokes the comment;

That the old Yew tree continues to be

is not so exceedingly odd

Because I am always about in the Quad, Yours truly God.

If the term World Mind is used instead of ‘God’, the actual situation might be easier to appreciate. Remember that the World Mind is not “Out There”.

We are not in the World Mind, we are OF it.

The eye with which we seek to see the World Mind, is the same eye which the World Mind seeks to see us.

Full consciousness simply means the state of being able to say… “I know that I exist.”

Rene Descartes’ famous deduction: “I think, therefore I am”, seems to have confused the true order of things. He first had to be, before he could think.

Thinking did not produce Being.

He might as well have said: “I eat therefore I am.”

There is no particular function, which can precede being.

Thoughts are phases of consciousness, which is a phase of Mind, which is the activity of Intelligence – the manifestation of the supreme Mystery.

It has to be constantly remembered, that all this is a result of attempting to verbally understand the unfoldment of a seamless Unity.

And verbal understanding is not an understanding at all in the sense that the map is not the territory, the sign post is not the journey.

The above is the text of a lecture presented at the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 28 Sep 2009

NURSLINGS OF THE FUTURE by George Svenger

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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From history, we know that it is always just one individual that can present with various degrees of ability a new ideal that can sometimes change the course of history. Whether it is in science, or biology or sociology.

Ideals are like crystallised universal energy patterns, a language of the mind that everybody that finds and understands them can tune in to with acceptance, changing even the previous conditioning of the mind.

It could be said, that they have a life of their own, once implanted into the brain. Some philosophers and even scientists call them Memes genes. Self created strings of Energy within the brain.

They can trigger a new thought process and perhaps a more logical one than the one we were used to and which our mind has absorbed so painfully over the past.

These ideas may be realised as an undisputable platform for new philosophical concept. The motivating principle of new ideas is caused by natural desire for our species everywhere to strive for a better future.

It is this restless need for a better future that does motivate us to recognise that we may have to look at some common principles in our divisive routine of behaviour.

In social aspirations, the Communists tried unfortunately a forced system that degenerated into terror, based on dangerous mind conditioning.

In most cases traditions cannot be moved, or changed because, almost like fairytales, they are our world. Although they may last for generations, in the end they do not work. They only influence our behaviour, creating a conflict between what is, and what we think it should be. They become a fixed dream world that people accept as real.

There is a false security in this type of exclusive dream culture for all of us, and yet, we all live in some dream culture, whether it’s political, religious or social.

It does not work amicably, because it’s derived from the ideas and quality of thought based on a time in history. It will eventually change with evolution, but that can take ages.

Those traditions of thought consist of our present mind conditioning through schools, churches or parents and friends and ordinary learning.

We all find it necessary to share what is known and what is discovered, even with all unrealistic aspects intact.

The danger lies in blind loyalty to age-old norms. There is a rigidity of movement and a fear to doubt, that, which is heavily ingrained in our mind. Yet doubt can be a great purifier.

Sometimes it is necessary to have this doubt, so that we can find new pathways and sweep the old ones clean.

However loyal men may be to the great men that shaped their destiny, great savants of religion, sociology and politics, this always brings us into conflict with groups of different conditioning. In an Atomic age, we face a sudden realisation that our loyalty to a definitive idea is dangerous and the great leaders and preachers that shaped our destiny are no longer alive to modify their ideas and our convictions, so that they may fit into present day realities.

What was possible to resolve by passion and conflict is now much more biologically and universally threatening, not only to the parties in the conflict, but to the whole world at large, and its biological envelope of the planet.

It is usually not possible to lift our evolutionary consciousness, except by centuries of attrition, which eventually will force us into a way of peaceful coexistence in some distant future.

Unfortunately, we no longer have the time to let centuries decide, what is right or wrong, because it is indeed possible that a group of mind conditioned fanatics will buy an atomic weapon, or a biological weapon and use it, because the others do not share their obsolete convictions. And accumulated hatred is totally destructive and universally unreasonable.

We all know that it is the untrue and the ‘imperfect’, within our social evolution that will cause this imbalance. It is absurd to look for truth in the ninth century, or any ancient past.

It can be absurd and tragic.

But of course, we will never agree as to what is true, what is perfect.

It is even accepted, that from their ‘own’ development and from where they are standing, that the savant and the dangerous activist are really both reasonable, in their ‘own’ world of conditioned thinking.

So are the theoretical socialist, the intolerant activist, the revolutionary and the liberal democrats, the religionist and the agnostic.

From the ever-changing evolutionary global point of view, they each have just a pinch of truth, but mostly, they are most probably mostly wrong.

Some self-evident concept is needed for the lions and the lambs of this world to just exist in peace. Perhaps we can agree on some undisputable fundamentals of what actually is, with the hope that it will even out the fairy tales?

We have indeed come through a great evolutionary voyage.

What will be our next transitory step?

Will some dictatorship of some indoctrinated ‘…Ism”, trigger global madness of destruction?

Or should we look at the aspirations of our shared reality, to smooth out the differences, behind the preciously held ‘isms’ and believes?

Let us look for a minute at some recognisable facts.

Until perhaps only 60 years ago, science recognised only molecules of physical matter.

We now know about even more subtle forms of energy.

We can safely say, that everything exits within a vast ocean of energy, which may even be predefined and ‘intelligently’ organised.

Not by some ‘creator’ but by its own trial and error energy patterns.

There seems to be order behind all this, orderly form of life systems.

It can be said that reality is at the same time ‘oneness’ and plurality, because we all share the same energy fundamentals, which are the same throughout the whole universe.

We are indisputably made up of the same ‘stuff’.

Therefore to be is to be irrevocably being part of universal Energy.

The Oneness underlying all energy can be taken for granted. It makes us be and move, as we should.

The recognition of this underlying oneness in human terms is inspirational and electrifying. It can live with the established traditions of thought, even reinforce them, but with added realisation, that we all share everything, in this energy. Even our mistakes.

We can even call this energy a religious ‘Oneness’ The One.

‘This Idea is not new,” it has been more or less laid down in the ancient Greek period, to which our social evolution still belongs, with moderate successes and achievements.

What keeps the world apart, is, ignorance and lack of understanding of these energy principles, which still has not had enough time for its historical and evolutionary acceptance.

Two thousand years is simply not enough time for all ethnic and social strata of humanity to have workable philosophical principles.

Force and compulsion are still being used everywhere in this century, and have brought to the fore political and religious convictions, passionately adopted, in some regions, with all the power of mass destruction to impose them on the other.

We are indeed a semi-evolved species, competing among each other’s with obsolete religious and social concepts, to the point of destruction.

If humanity can focus on this universal Energy concept, the implications may qualitatively achieve a breakthrough in the moral and social evolution of man.

Even in our present dangerous era of culture conflicts, the energy consciousness principle could influence quite rapidly any idea of self-righteous enforcing, which then would be as obsolete as slavery.

The premise, just like a fundamental fact of natural phenomena, is very simple.

It has to be simple and self-evident.

What keeps the world in sanity is the degree of already recognising sharing of some of the energy one-ens.

What keeps the world apart is the as yet incomplete recognition and adaptation of unity due to the insufficient time for an evolutionary absorption.

Our very being is in danger of extinction, if we do not adopt common to all consciousness principles, which can qualitatively leap us all into the year 3000, with hope for our children and our lonely planet in our part of the universe. This research and this recognition would then make out of our still unevolved species, the nurslings of the future.

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Tue 1 Sep 2009

BEAUTY AND UGLINESS IN NATURE: DO THEY EXIST? by Heathclyff St James Deville

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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This Paper shall look at how the way that we view Nature – has effects that are far-reaching in terms of how we relate to the living creatures found within nature. As a follower of the Pagan Path, I likewise include here all the Elemental Beings – the Dryads, the Fai, the Water Sprites, as too the Mischievous Imps, for they all matter. It is important to note that I view the Individual Being as equal in importance to that of the group. We speak of the “Species” as somehow separate from the animal singular.

One author used as the title of his book, THE SOCIAL CREATION OF NATURE[1] which begs the question, Is Nature Created by our perception? I think not, and hope to give a reason or two, behind my thinking. For if we create Nature by our own subjectivity, then where will this take us in the future? Cloning and genetically altering plants and animals for our own ends is already one problem that stares me in the face[2], the other – the patenting of LIFE by the greedy arrogance that we are somehow ‘above Nature,’ a concept known as ALGENY[3].

[A] term… coined by Dr. Joshua Lederberg. It means to change the essence of a living thing by transforming it from one state to another; more specifically, the upgrading of existing organisms and the design of wholly new ones with the intent of “perfecting” their performance

I my view, this is akin to Eugenics. The artwork on the cover of this book really shows how we as people have put ourselves above nature, as if Nature were something distinct and separate from us. The cover of the Penguin edition is quite visual and needs to be seen. It was painted by the Polish artist, Rafał Olbinski.

We tend to describe things around us, or that we come into contact with, as either being Beautiful (attractive) or Ugly (repulsive); Good (beneficial / benevolent) or Evil (detrimental / malevolent). In relation to Nature and those who reside in Her world, these views can – and indeed do – have tremendous repercussions.

To give a useful definition of Beauty, I quote from an article, Is Beauty Relative? by Ruth Phelps that appeared in THE ROSICRUCIAN DIGEST of September 1953:

Beauty is the manifestation of the creative force in man, in others, and in the world outside man, as perceived on this second level – that is, subjectively. On this level, Ugliness is lack of Beauty; or, to put it another way, it is lack of that which is pleasing to the inner being. It is lack of creative force, or the failure to use or perceive it. ..An old building may be ugly objectively, but it may be beautiful subjectively through its inner values. A period of deep trouble is ugly if viewed objectively – that is, on the first level. But viewed subjectively, judged by its spiritual values, it is beautiful.

Ugliness, then, is lack of Beauty; it is man’s failure to use and perceive the creative force of Divine Mind. A thing is Ugly because the one perceiving it lacks the creative force

To bring this definition to a level of understanding, let me relate a short story from the autobiography of Belgian-born wildlife photographer, Armand Deniś[4]. I shall read verbatim as written in this 1963 book. The paragraph picks up from where Armand and his wife Michaelá, return to Africa and are rescuing animals:

‘Some of them were hardly the kind you would expect to make pets of. There was Voodoo the vulture for instance. We found him by chance when we were out filming. Michaelá noticed a vulture sitting motionless on the ground about a quarter of a mile from our Land Rover.

The only thing that normally lures a vulture to the ground is a kill of some sort. We slowly drove over to investigate. To our surprise the vulture did not move as we approached. To our still greater surprise there was no sign of a kill or a dead animal.

“Look,” said Michaelá, “there’s something wrong with his wing,” and sure enough, we could see that the left wing drooped slightly. He made a pathetic attempt to fly as we got towards him, but despite the flurry of feathers he could not rise…. The wing was fractured. Vultures often are surprisingly foolhardy when they feed on the kill of another animal, and many times I have seen a lion charge them to drive them away. I can only suppose that this vulture had not got out of the way quickly enough….

Normally a vulture is not a particularly sociable bird as far as people are concerned, but the remarkable thing about this one was that he seemed to realize instinctively that we were trying to help him….

This was the start of the long and agreeable friendship we had with Voodoo the vulture. ..soon he would answer to his name and come waddling over with his bandaged wing whenever we called him.

I have always been annoyed by people who speak of the “ugliness” and the “evil faces” of vultures. For me they are among the most beautiful of birds and their action in flight is magnificent.’

This author certainly paints a rather nice picture for us about a beautiful bird; a bird who sadly, a lot of people view do as “Ugly.”

I remember how sad I felt when I saw a lone vulture sitting in a cage at London Zoo – a cage that was no higher than a three-storey building, and even then, I feel that I am being very generous. In the skies, a vulture can appear as a speck when it first appears, so one can only imagine what it is like to be denied this part of the bird’s natural life.

For myself, I think this would is akin to never allowing me to get out of bed; to be denied the gift to partake of all that Life gives to me: To feel the sun, walk through a park, view the stars at night. Some may argue that, born into captivity, the bird knows no better – but I doubt that this is ever really true.

A battery hen that has been rescued from its confined cage will often, in a few hours, partake of a dust-bath (even though it may never have experienced this before) for that is a part of the bird’s inherent nature.

As an aside, the vulture was worshipped in Ancient Upper Egypt, typically associated with the goddess Nekhebet who was responsible for the Wild Birds, Creator Of Life, Death and Rebirth.

It was my reading about ‘Voodoo’ the vulture that first prompted me sit down and seriously make an attempt to explore more deeply about our language and feelings in relation to that which we see in the world of Nature.

Please do not think that I do not have an appreciation for goodness and beauty, nor regret for evil and the ugliness that evil gives birth to. What I hope to achieve here is merely one whereby we can reflect on our subjective world and expand it to the objective world, in relation to the things found with Nature, and vice-versa. Hopefully, this will move us to see animals in a better light. We may still fear the snake, the bat, the cockroach or the spider (I am particularly scared of spiders). However, when we learn to see animals as a part of the glory of the natural world, we may see the snake, the bat, the cockroach and the spider, as creatures to be admired.

Now for some concrete examples. Most people that I meet either behold something as worthy (beautiful to behold and retaining goodness in their beauty) or they discard it as unworthy (repulsive and retaining a form of evil in its repulsiveness).

Crocodiles often instill a fear in people who see them as monstrous. Thus, these reptiles are often maligned and so, to justify their purpose via conservation efforts, the crocodile is slaughtered for both its skin and flesh. On the other hand, the panda is an animal which appeals to people and we therefore will raise funds to help protect its environment that the panda may live out its natural life – why is it that we do not ranch them for their skin and meat? Some people will say because the Panda is endemic to China, but there are 23 species of Crocodile – each endemic to its range..

Both of these animals are a part of Nature and thus equally deserving of respect. Some may also argue, “But the Panda is endangered, not the Crocodile.” A fair point, yet of the 23 species of crocodilian, 17 have been hunted to the verge of extinction world-wide. Wilfred T. Neill in Last of the Ruling Reptiles (1971) wrote:

I suspect that the present book will not only be the first to deal broadly with crocodilian biology, but also the last; the last, that is, to be written by someone who had a chance to see almost all of the modern species in life, and a majority of them in their natural habitats….I doubt that any crocodilian species will persist in nature much beyond the present century.

So, if what this author wrote were to be considered as a true prophecy, then why do we not raise funds to protect the crocodile and its natural environment, as we do for the panda? The only real effort that I have come across for crocodiles is the Chinese Alligator Fund, which seeks to protect this alligator, restricted to a small province of eastern China called Anhui.

Recent surveys conducted by the Wildlife Conservation Society came up with this alarming news: there are probably less than 150 Chinese alligators left in the wild, and they’re disappearing fast. Unless things change, the creature which inspired the fabled legends of the Chinese dragon, is going to disappear from the wild in 15 years or less. It is also known as “tu long,” which means “muddy dragon.” Another critically endangered crocodile is the Ghavial, known as the Tomistoma.

The Greek historian, Herodotus (440 BC) wrote about the Nile Crocodile and how it was worshipped by the ancient Egyptians in great temples erected to honour one of the most powerful and influential of all Egyptian deities - the crocodile god Sebek; the god of lakes and rivers

“They adorn his ears with ear-rings of molten stone or gold, and put bracelets on his fore-paws, giving him daily a set portion of bread, with a certain number of victims; and, after having thus treated him with the greatest possible attention while alive, they embalm him when he dies and bury him in a sacred repository.”

Another animal much maligned is the snake. These animals are exploited in many ways. I find it too distressing even to go into this as just thinking about what befalls these animals is barbaric – the Snake evil! I say ‘Not So’ – those who take out their pleasure in relation to snakes, these are the ones who embody evil.

For anyone interested, I can lend them a short booklet (50 pages long), by Clifford Warwick, Reptiles: Misunderstood, Mistreated and Mass Marketed. I challenge anyone to read this book and not walk away in complete and total sympathy (if not empathy) for the fate of reptiles and the snake in particular. This is quite a rare booklet and not easily obtained.

The Snake has been seen as akin to EVIL, no doubt going back to days of the Garden of Eden. In the Genesis account, it was the Serpent that spoke to Eve, saying: “You shall not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” – Gen.3:4-5.

Throughout most Christian faiths, this is particularly so. Yet conversely, some cultures worship the snake and hold it in honour. However, why is that we do not simply allow these creatures to live as Nature intended?

I would add here that the Serpent was a part of the Genesis Creation, “created very good” – Gen.1:24-25. Also, the Serpent was an amoral creature, so that even though Adam and Eve were told they would die if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they did become “as like God, knowing good and evil” – Gen.3:22. So this so-called ‘EVIL CREATURE’ spoke a falsehood – ‘You shall not die’

Remember that according to the Genesis Account – death was, at that time, UNKNOWN, and it also spoke A TRUTH – “ye shall …know good and evil.” In Gen.3:22 there is reference to THE TRUTH of man becoming as “One of Us” (Elohim)

Why are some snakes maligned whilst others are worship? Both views are flawed for they originate from out of the heart of Man. According to one writer[5]:

The snake’s duality – a balance between fear and veneration –accounts for its frequent appearance in symbolism as an enemy of humankind. In its fearful aspect, it gave birth to the Dragons and Sea Serpents of Western Tradition and to Snake Hybrids that symbolize the multiple perils of human existence, typified by the Children of Echidna in Greek Legend – the Hydra, the Chimera and the snake-backed hell-hound Cerberus. Paradoxically, the snake was often used as a curative symbol

The Pirahna! According to scientists, there is evidence that the ancestors of the piranha were once plant-eaters. Many species of South American pacu fish, identified by taxonomists as being ‘very closely related’ to piranhas, use their teeth and strong jaws to eat aquatic plants, and fruit that falls from overhanging trees.

Charles Darwin (1809–1882) himself believed that the beautiful colors and diversified patterns found in the realm of Nature such as seen in butterflies, moths, fish, birds, and other creatures must be beneficial in some way. In his book, THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES[6] (1859) we find the following words:

We can to a certain extent understand how it is that there is so much beauty throughout nature; for this may be largely attributed to the agency of selection. That beauty, according to our sense of it, is not universal, must be admitted by every one who will look at some venomous snakes, at some fishes, and at certain hideous bats with a distorted resemblance to the human face.

Sexual selection has given the most brilliant colors, elegant patterns, and other ornaments to the males, and sometimes to both sexes of many birds, butterflies, and other animals. With birds it has often rendered the voice of the male musical to the female, as well as to our ears. Flowers and fruit have been rendered conspicuous by brilliant colors in contrast with the green foliage, in order that the flowers may be easily seen, visited, and fertilized by insects, and the seeds disseminated by birds. How it comes that certain colors, sounds, and forms should give pleasure to man and the lower animals,–that is, how the sense of beauty in its simplest form was first acquired,–we do not know any more than how certain odors and flavors were first rendered agreeable

As an aside, plants also use aroma as both an attractive measure (such as to attract bees for pollination) but also to proclaim its maturity (or ripeness). The latter is one that we as humans can use to gauge best when the fruit of a tree is ready for eating.

As one author, Dr David Phillips[7], explains it:

“The bounty of life is very different in its action. Plants produce perfumes to attract the picking of their fruits when ripe. They offer bright colours and create tempting flavours so that man [and animals] takes the fruit at the stage of its maximum maturity, releasing the seed for further propagation, absorbing the life force into his own [dead animals have no ‘life force’ to give!

And in the Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception by Max Heindel (of the Rosicrucian Fellowship), we find these sentiments reiterated:

Sometimes the objection is made that life is also taken when vegetables and fruits are eaten, but that statement is based upon a complete misunderstanding of the facts. When the fruit is ripe, it has accomplished its purpose, which is to act as a womb for the ripening of the seed. If not eaten, it decays and goes to waste. Moreover, it is designed to serve as food for the animal and human kingdoms, thus affording the seed opportunities for growth by scattering it in fertile soil.

Whilst the Islamic author, Harun Yahya[8], explains, in relation to colour, that:

Plants, playing a very active role, directly influence animals’ behavior patterns. They (Plants) have perfected strategies by which they direct the animals which will carry their pollen. For example, plants’ colour signals indicate to birds and other animals which fruits are ripe and ready for dispersal…and specific floral odours attract the right pollinators at exactly the right time

So, even where we may ourselves view something as “Ugly,” it is important to see that even these play an important role in their life here on earth. Take away some of these “Ugly” animals and insects and we may be kissing a given plant species “Goodbye” – and, life being interconnected, such may flow on to other plants etc.

Authors, Martin J Hodson and Margot R Hodson[9]:

All the views above [Anthropocentric, egocentric and biocentric] will result in the protection of some biodiversity, but they all tend to leave some species out because they are not “useful” or “pretty”, large enough to be easily visible, or whatever. Only when we protect biodiversity holistically for its intrinsic value will we maximize protection, and decrease loss of species.

In the bird kingdom, one reads about a bird called the Marabou (Leptoptilos crumeniferus), arguably the largest of the stork family, having a wingspan of more than eight feet. In adults, a reddish inflatable pouch resembling a thick, round necktie hangs on the throat, which often find unattractive.

But as Dr. Leon Benun, head of the Ornithology Department at the National Museums of Kenya, reminds us: “Just because the pouch looks ugly to us doesn’t mean it’s ugly to the marabou.” In the Time-Life publication, The World’s Wild Places —Africa’s Rift Valley[10], one finds the following quote: “If there is a bird of more evil omen than the marabou . . . , I have yet to meet it.” – My Reference is: - Marabou The Misjudged Bird, Awake! August 8, 2001[11]

Who cares about lice? Not many people I’d imagine. You may be interested to know that two species of lice[12] became extinct when the last of the Passenger Pigeon, named Martha, died in 1914 in the Cincinnati Zoo. So, we lost three species; not just one.[13]

Such cases as known by the term, Coextinction, first used in relation to the loss of parasitic insects along with their host.

Species coextinction is a manifestation of the interconnectedness of organisms in complex ecosystems. The loss of species through coextinction represents the loss of irreplaceable evolutionary and coevolutionary history. In view of the global extinction crisis, it is imperative that coextinction be the focus of future research to understand the intricate processes of species extinctions. While coextinction may not be the most important cause of species extinctions, it is certainly an insidious one.” (Koh et al. 2004)[14]

Do people care about the humble fly as an important part of the world; of Nature? It may interest you to know that over a 100,000 scientific papers have been produced in relation to experiments utilizing flies. Back in the 1970s there was much research carried out to produce mutant flies – bicaudal was born without a head or much of a body, Antennapedia had a extra pair of legs but they were attached to where the antennae should have been; the work of Hermann Muller.[15] In a short item from a newspaper,[16] one learns that “Flies inflicted with degenerative brain diseases are helping to unlock new treatments for sufferers of Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and Parkinson’s diseases.” Of course, most people would not see this type of research as somehow ‘bad’ or ‘negative’ as it is done to help people.

Another problem that arises from our division of Beauty and Ugly can be seen in the social problems that can cause problems with people – such as Anorexia and Bulimia, both of which affect girls and boys (though to a lesser degree) and from which they can die. Girls desire to be ‘Slender’ like the image portrayed by the modeling world; boys desire to have ‘Muscular’ bodies for they equate such as being the embodiment of ‘Manliness.’ In the United States, as many as 10 in 100 young women suffer from an eating disorder. There are numerous case studies available here.

In the Age Newspaper of 27 March 2003, there was an article published, Boys succumb to image ideal by David Rood.

The article cites Deakin University psychology lecturer Marita McCabe:- “Teenage boys try to change their body image by dieting, taking food supplements and exercise . . . There are adolescent boys adopting extreme behaviours and it will become more of a problem.”Dr. McCabe went on to say that “It’s not as acceptable for them (boys) to say ‘I want to have this wonderful body’, but that is really what they are after. It’s much messier and not as clear cut with guys, and the pressure is increasing.” Boys are becoming increasingly interested in their appearance including their hair, clothes and physique.

Personally, the increase that we are seeing in the use of cosmetics aimed at males equates with an increase in Animal Tested products hitting the market.

The issue that arises here is the one where we can begin to view our self-worth by our body image – by this I mean our Self-Worth in relation to others around us, be these our Peers, our Heroes or those that we simply pass by as we walk down the street. I call this: Non-Identifying as People – we longer relate to our self as an Individual but as a Group.

In a way, the problem is one of a Social Construct and needs to be challenged. One day when out and about, take a good look at people and there really are only some that may appeal to you. How would it be if there were no “Ugly;’ people , we surely would become quite confused as we found ourselves unable to Connect with a Partner – again, it is important that we differentiate here between ‘Attractive’ v. ‘non-Attractive,’ on the physical looks. No doubt, we have all had experiences of finding a person ‘Catching our eye,’ only to walk away once the person starts to speak. I remember talking to a guy at a party who, sadly, was being ignored by the host and other guests. It was a great conversation which we had for about an hour – yet I was told that he was “ugly,” as if his outer appearance was somehow reflective of the Inner Soul. Needless to say, I never mixed with those people again

If we learn to go beyond simply judging this outer form of a person, an animal or a plants (are there ‘Ugly’ Plants!) and instead look past this to the Inner Beauty, then surely it would be hoped that we started to treat anew that which once we found repulsive. It is high-time that we began to see Beyond the Beautiful and the so-called Ugly for, after all, they are merely subjective views, as said afore.

The Greek Philosopher Plato (c.429-347 BC) taught that:

It is the duty of religion to preserve beauty, because through beauty of the external world man can come to have greater appreciation of the better life – those things which represent the beauty of his inner nature or his soul[17]

Ramakrishna (1836-1886) say that All is Narayana, man or animal, the wise and wicked, the whole world is Narayana, the Supreme Spirit.

Thus, we see that the real Beauty or Ugliness of all Creation is contained within the Inner Life. This is very true when it comes to the Human Race for, whilst we are able to manifest the Apex of Love, Goodness and Respect, we can also manifest the antipodes of Hate, Evil and Disrespect for Life – or worse still, Indifference.

Of course, it is my belief that most people carry a mixture between these two extremes and, I pray, leaning more to the side of Beauty; Inner Beauty. As a believer in a Creator – call it what you will; Yahweh, Allah, Brahma – I feel it to be akin to arrogance to call any of the Beings that have been Created, to be called “Ugly” in the true sense of the world.

Whilst researching for this talk I found a Paper that was presented at a UNESCO Symposium on Science held in Paris on February 14, 1986. The Paper in question, is titled – IMPACT OF SCIENCE ON HUMAN CONSCIOUSNESS – wherein its author, Mrs. Maitraye Devi[18]. In it, I found the following sentiments:

Buddha said he who looks upon all the creatures of the world with the same feeling of love just as a mother looks at her only son, lives in Brahma – Brahma is a word which has not (sic) counterpart in English, it can mean eternity in this context.

Because of the vast expansion of knowledge or science we have successfully sent our greedy hands into the bowels of the earth and are taking out all its riches to feed its present generation.

We have made our land exert itself to its fullest strength to yield all the crops possible. We have made the birds produce bigger eggs to fill man’s stomach. A hen will never see a cock and a cow will never see a bull but will yield enough to drown its master. No doubt all these prove a great mastery of science. Man should be satisfied that he can eat plenty and squander away the riches of mother nature at his will. But he is gradually squeezing out the joy of life from nature.

You may wonder why I am quoting this piece in a talk such as this. It is because we seem to see some animals as Beautiful (= worthy of respect and protection) such as whales, dolphins, elephants, The Panda etc. The others, such as reptiles, fish, some birds, camels etc, less so; not necessarily Ugly but not quite fitting the bill of a Beautiful Animal – I meet very few people who see chickens or sharks as Beautiful.

And the Earth we indeed take from – Because we can. Yes, the Earth is simply Beautiful and speaks of the highest poetry if we but pay heed to Her. Sadly though, there are those who somehow miss seeing the Beauty, especially in the deserts, the flatlands, the swamps.

Some folk visit Exotic regions to see Nature in Her Beauty – but coming home, they look out of their door and:

The tree which moves some to tears of joy is, In the eyes of others, Only a green thing Which stands in the way.

So wrote the poet William Black (1757-1827)

For myself, I see the manifestation of UGLINES in:-

· A denuded landscape

· A polluted river

· A picture of a Turtle dying from having mistakenly tried to eat a plastic bag, thinking it a jellyfish

· Birds dying from an oil spill; the oil spill itself

· Sharks having their fins cut off (for Shark-Fin Soup) and then tossed back into the ocean, often still alive, to die a slow and agonizing death. Ironically, The

fins are tasteless, so pork or chicken is used for flavour. Compared to the 10-15 people killed by sharks each year; over 100 million sharks perish at the hands of humans annually and many populations may face extinction.

· Beautiful forests being destroyed

· A world of smog that blocks out the Sun.

· Light pollution – This interferes with Bird and Turtle Migration.

· The introduction of chemicals to kill so-called “Pests” – Rats killed by internal hemorrhaging; cockroaches killed by chemicals, such as silica aerogel, designed to strip the outer skeleton of its protected layer, causing it to shrivel and die; foxes killed by 1080. How scientists can even deem such control measures as OK proves the arrogance and indifference of their thinking in relation to another living thing. Non-invasive techniques, such as making the environment “less attractive,” are far more humane.

· When animals fight to the death – such as in organized dog fights. In the wild, when dogs fight to gain the role of the Alpha (or Leader), the weaker dog will bear its neck so that the other dog knows when it has gained the leadership. So, to make them fight to the death is in direct violation of the laws of Nature.

· Subjecting animals to Factory Farm situations.

On the topic of eliminating cockroaches. One technique, to kill them, is to flush them down the toilet – which I have been doing. But a few weeks, the roach did not flush away, and I saw it trying desperately to save its life (they tend to sink and cannot swim). This distressed me to the point that I grabbed it out of its watery grave, and took it outside to dry in the Sun. I stayed with it for about 30 minutes until it began to move. Since then, I have made it a rule that I will never do this again.

So, as you may gather – I consider Ugliness in Nature as synonymous with the Imbalance found within Nature, as caused by our interference, in the foregoing case, I was the Imbalance in the life of the Cockroach.

Nothing, as I believe it, is UGLY IN NATURE is NATURE CREATED; only an IMBALANCE IN NATURE can be truly Ugly.

There is a beautiful little parable about a Holy Man and a Scorpion[19] – The Holy Man saw a scorpion floating down a river, so he reached in and took it out. His reward was that the scorpion stung him. This was repeated on the second and third day. Nearby, a man was watching all that had occurred. His curiosity got the better, so he approached the Holy Man and asked, “Why do you save this scorpion each day, and each day you are rewarded with a nasty and painful bite?” To this, the Holy Man replied, “It is the nature of the scorpion to sting, and it is my nature to help. The scorpion does not give up its nature, why should I give up mine?”

Another true story concerns a dog called ‘Faith,’ a dog born with two legs, with the mother dog naturally ignoring him. His present owner Jude Stringfellew has given up her teaching post and plans to take him around the world to preach that ‘even without a perfect body, one can have a perfect soul’. Again, a story of courage and hope.

A similar goes thus: “I myself [the author] was able to observe a dog which lost both right legs in a railway accident. As soon as he recovered he was immediately able to move about on the two remaining legs with amazing skill. He was still able to run quickly up a fairly steep incline and catch a stick thrown in the air. He moved so adroitly that one had to examine him quite closely before realizing that he had lost two legs.”[20]

Is an Earthquake ugly even though it causes untold damage? I say NO! for there is NO INTENT to destroy. Is a Tornado ugly? I say NO! for there is NO INTENT to destroy.

The same goes for Floods, Storms, Volcanic Eruptions – what we might style as “ACTS OF GOD.” a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible. However, if drilling the Ocean floor creates disturbances within the Oceanic environment – affecting the life contained therein, then I would call this Ugly.

One story I heard was about a woman who invited a friend to visit her ‘Beautiful’ city – which was smoggy Detroit. Her friend asked, “How can you say this is Beautiful?” The reply, “Come visit tonight.” Going up to a look-out point atop a tall building, the friend saw a beautiful city of ‘Christmas-like’ twinkling light and understood how an Ugly view can hide something really Beautiful. Yes! Beauty is Subjective.

In the South African Theosophical Society (Pasadena) newsletter, CONTACT[21], I found the following quotation extremely apt:-

Perhaps it is our arrogance as members of this civilization that is most dangerous to our beautiful planet and to other life forms on it, we seem to imagine that we have all the answers, that we are far superior to civilizations of past times; after all, haven’t we walked on the moon….

Indeed there are those who rationalize and justify the gross exploitation of nonhuman life with the fallacious claim that, such life is mortal and soulless and so the treatment thereof is of little consequence.

And on the VOICE OF THE SILENCE, H. P. Blavatsky writes:

Help Nature and work on with her; and Nature will regard thee as one of her creators and make obeisance. And she will open wide before thee the portals of her secret chambers, lay bare before thy gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure virgin bosom. Unsullied by the hand of matter she shows her treasures only to the eye of Spirit — the eye which never closes, the eye for which there is no veil in all her kingdoms. — verses 66-67

Whilst in the Rosicrucian Digest of 1996, the current Imperator (or Leader), Christian Bernard, reminds us that:

Ecology is an integral part of mysticism, for we cannot take an interest in the mysteries of life without being concerned with the future of our planet. This explains why Rosicrucians are particularly sensitive to the problems of the environment and try to set an example in respect of nature and all living beings. We must never forget that the earth is the mother of all and our survival[22] depends on her

So it is my dream that each one of us in the rich tapestry of life extend this to ALL LIFE. The preceding 3 quotes point to us doing something to help make the Earth a better place; to learn to expand our Awareness to others – the Beautiful, the Ugly, the In-Between. Let us go away today and reflect on how we can make our Spiritual Life a life to is Inclusive – not Exclusive. So Mote It Be.

I wish to add here one more important aspect relating to The Future; to my own Dream as outlined above.

Some argue that the purpose of Life is to live in the here and now. However, to achieve a world where all life, individually and collectively – no matter its manifestation – is safe and secure, we need to put forth an effort for bringing about a better world. This can be achieved by simply meditating on a World that is in Full Accord with the Divine. I do believe in my heart that such shall interfere with what must occur – Karma, Predestination etc, I only know that we need to expand our awareness future-wise and can take as a small encouragement the words of Sri Krsna as found in the Bhagavad-gita: “One’s own dharma, performed imperfectly, is better than another’s dharma well performed. Destruction in one’s own dharma is better, for to perform another’s dharma leads to danger.” (Bg. gita 3.35 cp. 18:59-60)

If we deny the past, saying, “It has passed,” do we not miss the opportunity to learn the lessons that the past has given for our learning? And if we simply are content to live “In the Here and Now,” are we not missing the part we each must invariably play in sending forth Pure, Loving and Peaceful thoughts for the better future that I have spoken of!

In the Pagan philosophy one learns about Creative Visualization – such should be for the greater good of ALL LIFE; not simply that we may gain abundance or that which we desire for in our own lives only.

And To conclude, I can do better than repeat the following words by David Grayson, from his book, ADVENTURES IN FRIENDSHIP (publ.1910) – Chapter V The Story of Anna :

IT is the prime secret of the Open Road that you are to pass nothing, reject nothing, despise nothing upon this earth. As you travel, many things both great and small will come to you attention; you are to regard all with open eyes and a heart of simplicity.

Believe that everything belongs somewhere; each thing has its fitting and luminous place with the mosaic of human life. The Road is not open to those who withdraw the skirts of intolerance or lift the chin of pride. Rejecting the least of those who are called common or unclean, it is curiously you yourself that you reject dd

If you despise that which is ugly you do not know that which is beautiful. For what is beauty but completeness? The roadside beggar belongs here, too; and the idiot boy who wanders idly in the open fields; and the girl who withholds (secretly) the name of the father of her child.

Thank you for your time and attention in exploring these thoughts with me but, more importantly, for allowing me the opportunity to share my views with you.

[1] Evernden, N. (1992) John Hopkins University Press

[2] Roosters hen-pecked into sex change by Grant McArthur, Herald-Sun August 27, 2009 p.11

[3]Cited in the book, ALGENY by Jeremy Rifkin (1984) Penguin Books

[4] Deniś, Armand (1963) ON SAFARI, Collins Sydney pp.283-284

[5] Tresidder, J (2000) SYMBOLS AND THEIR MEANINGS, Duncan Baird Publishers UK

[6] Chapter 15: Recapitulation and Conclusion.

[7] NEW DIMENSIONS IN HEALTH (1983) p.81 – [ ] are my comments.

[8] THE MIRACLE OF CREATION IN PLANTS (2005) GoodWord Books p.37

[9] CHERISHING THE EARTH: How To Care for God’s Creation (2008) Monarch Books UK p.34-35

[10] Publ. 1984 Time-Life Books

[11] There is a great story about a Marabou Stork that was taught to catch a ball in the September 1948 issue of POPULAR MECHANICS Magazine – ‘Play Ball’ by Lynwood M. Chace

[12] Columbicola extinctus and Campanulotes defectu

[13] Hodson J. and Margot Hodson op.cit., p.74

[14] Koh,L.P. Dunn,R.R, Sodhi, N.S1, Colwell,R.K., Proctor, H.C. Smith, V.S (2004) Species Coextinction and the biodiversity problem, Science September 10, 2004 Vol.305 pp.1632-1634

[15] Brookes, M. (2002) FLY: The Unsung Hero of 20^th Century Science, Phoenix UK

[16] Fly ties to aid disease study, Herald-Sun 13 July 2004 p.11

[17] Lewis, Ralph M. (1973) YESTERDAY HAS MUCH TO TELL – Supreme Grand Lodge of AMORC - Rosicrucian

[18] unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0006/000678/067811eb.pdf. Limited Distribution.

[19] Tipple, Edith D. (2005) WHAT THE DISCIPLES SAID ABOUT IT, Advaita Ashrama INDIA

[20] Katz, D (1937) ANIMALS AND MEN, Pelican A279. pp.132-133

[21] No.78 June 2009 Permission to quote gratefully acknowledge

[22] I would add, ‘and the survival of ALL LIFE, whatever their manifestation’

The views expressed in this lecture are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Tue 7 Apr 2009

A WAY TO THE GOLDEN ERA by Roza Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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What do we call “the Golden Era”? How can we imagine this term? We can hope that this should be an entire era of peace, abundance and happiness for all the inhabitants of the Earth. An era of harmony, as for the entire planetary life, as for each and every living being.

We are used to the lines of division between the “more fortunate” and the “less fortunate” people, countries and entire continents, such as Africa, for example. Until recently, some of us earnestly thought that it was possible to separate ourselves from the hardships of the world and live a lucky life in a “lucky” country, periodically giving out a donation for the charity and being sure that everything would continue this way.

The situation has changed. The economic crisis, the threat of war and terrorism and especially the looming environmental crisis liberated us from this illusion. It appears that we are connected more than we thought before. We will either together survive, or alternatively we can destroy our planet and perish all together like the Atlanteans did millennia before us.

If we understand that all of us on the Earth are connected and interdependent, then shouldn’t we try to, before condemning someone – a person, a nation, religion or country – to look from their point, to “wear their shoes”? As we understand, this would be the way to elimination of conflicts and wars.

Is the “Golden Era” possible at all and where is the way? What should we do – what should we harmonize to appear eventually in the condition of harmony?

Possibly, we can find the leading thread in The Secret Doctrine by H.Blavatsky , in the diagram on p.300 of v.2. This diagram shows us the downward (Involution, materialization) and ascending (Evolution, reversion to Spirituality) cycles of the development of seven Root Races in the fourth Round of the Globe of Earth, in which we are now progressing.

H.Blavatsky writes: “…in the second half of the First Spiritual ethero-astral race – nascent mankind was devoid of the intellectual brain element. As it was on its descending line, and as we are parallel to it, on the ascending, we are, therefore, devoid of the Spiritual element, which is now replaced by the intellectual”. In fact, we can say that brain is the form, the material “device”, through which our human consciousness is working. It is like a wire necessary for electricity to flow. But the wire is not electricity by itself. And so is our brain – a condition for consciousness to be able of expressing itself, but not the consciousness.

Humanity obviously needed to develop its intellectual brain element to be able to make choices, to act and to analyze the consequences of its actions. And we see the results of the development of human intellect everywhere: in the scientific discoveries, technical inventions, in the technology and especially information technology, without which we cannot already imagine ourselves.

We are aware of the intellectual progress of humanity and count on it to the extent where the spiritual, moral, conscientious aspect seems to us to be secondary and in many cases not important at all. According to H.Blavatsky, even in her time, we have already “crossed the meridian point of the perfect adjustment of Spirit and Matter – or that equilibrium between brain intellect and Spiritual perception”.

What does that actually mean? Let us try to have a look at our civilization from the perspective of what is defining the direction of its movement and governing the actions of its people.

The first societies on our planet that we are able to observe (the Australian Aborigines an example) were much more homogeneous than the later ones, and the spiritual aspects of life were playing the leading role in their life. Then, in all the later types of societies, we can clearly see the division: there were free citizens and slaves, knights and serfs, nobles and commoners, dictators and the people who had to obey their orders. And through all the types of societies, the social role of spirituality gradually declined, giving up its place to intellectual calculations for advantage.

By stages, from one type of society to another, we came to the profit and productivity oriented one, where the state of economics defines our understanding of ourselves, and the market mechanism is the main global governing and balancing force.

Though in many aspects a better and more freedom oriented, this type of society is also dualistic. Where there are rich people or even countries there have to be poor ones, and further on: winners and losers, manipulators and manipulated, bathing in luxury and hungry, starting wars and suffering from war, etc. And the multitude of struggling to survive, abused and desperate people in the world – this is obviously not the society of the Golden Era. So, what is wrong with the modern type of society and what can we do to improve it?

The market mechanism, even when it is working well, is balancing only that part of life which can be counted in terms of money. And the seemingly most important goal of indefinite “growth” doesn’t pursue any harmony of development. Where the broader picture of life appears there it creates contradictions and dilemmas. For example, what should we do: consume as much as we only can to support economy or, the other way around, reduce consumption to a sustainable level to preserve the environment?

The market mechanism doesn’t take into account any spiritual values though, as it appeared, they were very much the causes at the core of the world financial crisis. We are now hearing such words as “greed” and “lack of trust” from the state leaders and leading economists, who try to explain how and why the crisis happened. Many of them are now calling to “unity” in the face of the crises that threaten us all, be it financial, environmental or the danger of world war.

In such a way, we see how the warning by H.Blavatsky about the misbalance of spirituality and brain intellect turns out for us at the start of the third millennium. And we have to understand that no way can we rely only on the technical and intellectual progress and deny our spiritual development.

Our brain intellect is a tool, an instrument for our free will. Where we are neglecting the spiritual aspects of life, such as harmony, conscience, compassion and brotherhood, there we are tempted to misuse our free will and misbalance everything in our power.

We see now that the governing in our civilization market mechanism is faltering. It used to work well at its earlier stages, when it was able to provide freedom of self-expression and therefore progress. People in common could exercise their free will, but they had no means or power for breaching the natural (cosmic) laws to the extent where it could lead to the extermination of life on our planet.

In our book The Laws of Life, we spoke about the similarities in the destinies of ancient civilizations: how material success and the gained power make the people of a civilization proud of their achievements and careless in application of their free will. Then they identify themselves with their successful material life, morally degrade, and destroy their civilization in this or another way. The healthy, spiritual, elements of the civilization survive and make start to a new civilization.

Doesn’t it resemble the current situation? Our civilization has accumulated immense powers in scientific knowledge, technologies, weapons, and organizational structures. And all this power is in the hands of the people who gained access to its application. What will they do with this power? In the market ideology, they will try to make profit for themselves and not care about other consequences of their actions. What will follow for the Earth and its people, if the harmony of the cosmic laws is seriously undermined? If the Illusion of modern life supported with all the collected power and not balanced with love and wisdom, becomes unsustainable?

In The Secret Doctrine, when speaking about the future of humanity, H.Blavatsky pronounces the word “ Kalagni”. “Kal” in Sanscrit means “Tomorrow”, and “Agni” – “Fire”. It can be the outward fire of destruction, if we become so selfish and proud, that we don’t stop exercising our free will without any attention to the possible consequences of our actions. And it can be the inner fire of our spirit, which will allow us to really build the Golden Era for humanity.

We have to understand that everything starts from the state of consciousness. We are living now in the condition of Involution, i.e. materialization. No matter how poor or wealthy we are, our attention is chained to our material condition, which we aim to improve. It is working almost automatically when we make our choices where to put our resources of time and energy. At the end, everything comes to the accepted equivalent of power - money, which we wish to gain more and spend less.

In such condition, with our materialistically aimed thought vibrations, we become magnets attracting money, some of us more and some less powerful magnets. These who pull stronger, eventually accumulate the money of those who are either weaker or not that interested in gaining. This is the common mechanism of Involution, materialization. The Vishnu Puranas predicted that this condition of human consciousness would for some time prevail and lead to countless wars and catastrophes. Is there any way out of Involution?

The circular-spiral way of life presupposes such changes and in time Involution will be inevitably replaced by Evolution. Consciousness will change its mode from the involutionary to the evolutionary, where material goals become replaced by spiritual ones. Looks as a fairy tale, but don’t we have any examples of evolutionary thinking now and before?

We know that Gautama Buddha left his kingdom for a life of a wanderer and practiced what he preached – renunciation of desires. Jesus Christ once said that it is easier for a camel to pass through the needle eye than for a reach man to reach for the kingdom of heaven. With his enormous powers, he was ready to rather suffer humiliation and physical pain than free himself through these powers’ use. And more recently, two Russian giants of intelligence and conscience, Leo Tolstoy and Helena Blavatsky, have submitted their comfortable noblemen lifestyles to work in the spiritual hierarchy and assist the spiritual progress of the people of humanity. With their spiritual ascent, they practically showed us the way to becoming a Boddhisattwa.

These are the great examples of people who were naturally predisposed to the evolutionary mode of behavior thanks to their advanced state of consciousness, but we also know countless examples of such unselfish behavior when seemingly ordinary people just do what they understand as their duty of conscience. People volunteer to care for the orphans and disabled. Others go and aid the locals in the ravaged by war and famine places of Asia and Africa. They save lives of other people sometimes at the expense of their own health and even life.

People give up their possessions for their spiritual goals when they feel that this is that what they ought to do. And it is not about just serving at a church or aid agency. Any position can be used for service or misused for the purpose of self-gratification. This is about the type of consciousness and mode of behavior of an individual. This is about our everyday choices. We saw countless examples of such selfless and sacrificial behavior in the recent Victoria bushfires.

In many cases, it was an example of real cooperation in real situation – the moment of truth. For a moment, money lost its hold over people, and everyone just tried to do whatever they could. People understood that they depend on each other, and they cannot succeed, even survive without each other. This happened before, and happens now.

If we are inclined to assist others, we are usually receptive to their call for help, if even this call is not loud and not targeted on us directly. We establish our connection with the recipient and start helping. Very often, we experience resistance, either from outside or from within. It is because through this connection, the hierarchies of Light and of Shadow can interact. We become their representative and instrument, depending on our choices.

We become fighters “on the battlefield of Kurukshetra”, as in the Bhagavad Gita. In fact, we are fighting our own shortcomings. Discrimination is the main “weapon” “on the battlefield of Kurukshetra”. The responsible and conscious way of dealing with such a situation requires us to discriminate – when helping is right and when it is wrong and may spoil, i.e. harm, the recipient of our help; when we don’t want to help because of our greed or fear, and when we just allow others to exploit us because we are too lazy to think about our real responsibilities.

Sacrifice is another important instrument on the way of Evolution. Does this mean that with our evolutionary mood we are doomed to poverty and loneliness?

When everyone cares about everyone, poverty and loneliness disappear. It will happen eventually. But, on the way to the Golden Era, there may be losses, and not only material ones. There may be misunderstanding of some friends and relatives. There may be suffering and pain, especially at the start where we are not used yet to our new state of mind and are constantly looking at the world like through a holographic picture: sometimes we see it from the materialistic point of view and sometimes from the spiritual one.

Living with involutionary, materialistic inclination, we are always attempting to secure our possessions and future welfare, and we remain anxious about how everything would turn out in the future. We invest in different funds and insurance companies, and use our thought energy mostly for the purpose of maximizing our future profits because we see in them the only base for our security.

Quite the contrary, when we change our attitudes towards our spiritual goals, we move our foundation towards the world of spirit. As in the Gospels: “Don’t store your treasures on the Earth, store them in the Heaven”. It seems unreliable, but if we dare to do this, only then we can notice the assistance of the spiritual hierarchy, of the Brotherhood of Light. This assistance usually comes to us at the last moment, when we have exhausted all of our own resources. It comes sometimes in a completely unexpected way, but always in a way which provides us with the opportunity, on the one hand, to fulfill our spiritual purpose, and on the other hand, to do our outmost for the spiritual ascent.

By the way, we notice that our magnet has changed, and in conformity with the law: “similar attracts similar” it attracted friendship and assistance of people with similar evolutionary tendencies. As Agni Yoga states, in the environment of evolutionary action, “we can see that people are mimicking such behavior, consciously or unconsciously, willingly or unwillingly. People start doing the same. Even the enemies, though cursing, are following their way.” (Agni Yoga , 375).
This type of cooperation has a much stronger base than it would be if we went just for profit, and in such a collective we can completely relay on each other.

As we understand, the evolutionary minded people and their collectives, with the assistance of the spiritual hierarchy, are tirelessly paving the way to the Golden Era for humanity. They become strong magnets attracting everything most spiritually inclined in their environment. They are also able to raise and educate children who would be naturally predisposed to an unselfish, sharing and caring, evolutionary mode of thinking and acting. Who would be able to essentially change the mass consciousness of their society and turn it into the society of intellectually and spiritually developed people.

With their combined effort (our effort!) the magnet of Evolution will become even stronger, attract more of people, and eventually prevail. Then the evolutionary way of thinking and acting will become the common way of life, and this will lead people to their Golden Era of peace, harmony and happiness for everyone.

A legitimate question arises – When will it be possible, to escape the Kali Yuga and appear in the Golden Era? Maybe, this is just a distant future, separated from our times by millennia?

We don’t know and cannot guess, but have some ideas on this subject. As we have depicted in The Laws of Life, Time is a complex category. It can be squeezed and stretched, and we are constantly changing our personal time with our actions in the same way as we are changing our personal vibrations. So, we can suppose that the Time of our modern civilization is already not the same as the Time, for example, of the Middle Ages. The inventions that have made possible travelling by an airplane and a cosmic rocket and communicating by the internet, have of course squeezed our Time. These inventions were results of creative mind and required sacrifices from their pioneers. Quite the contrary, suppression of the creative mind, greed and self-preservation, and any type of stagnation stretches the Time, as of a person as of a society in common.

So, nobody but we, the people, can answer this question – when? – with our choices and actions. It can be done en masse or personally. Or, as in the book by St. Germain, Earth’s Birth Changes, the Earth can separate into two planets, with different frequencies of vibrations (and different Times) – one of them remaining the same Earth which we know now, and another becoming a spiritually advanced planet with the Golden Era humanity. Technically it is possible, and the inhabitants of both planets will simply cease seeing each other because of their different vibrations frequencies (and confirming Times).

The example is set by the Ascended Masters, who ascended from this our planet and formed their own plane of existence, sometimes called Shambala. In the Agni Yoga, a book dictated to Helena Roerich by the same Master M. that inspired Helena Blavatsky, it is called Brotherhood.

Also in the Agni Yoga, part Supermundane 1, 127, we read, with a reference to the Puranas:

“We are sending you information about the time of the end of Kali Yuga, and many are listening. The Puranas are naming many of the observable details of the conforming world events, but the old records couldn’t point out the main conditions. They haven’t mentioned the strain of the space currents and the search for the best people around the all-creating energy. Now, these two conditions are coming to light showing us that the end of the Kali Yuga is coming.”

These words have been recorded in the 1930^th, around 70 years ago. Who knows, maybe, we are already close to the “window of opportunity” for our civilization, either in the 2012 or not far from it. It is our choice – when do we come out of the Kali Yuga; it is our karma and state of consciousness that defines our vibrations and personal times.

The Brotherhood of the Ascended Masters is encouraging us to follow in their footsteps: “The Brotherhood is no myth, and imitation of its essence will also be a decisive construction” (Agni Yoga, Brotherhood, 434). In these words, They are showing us the real Way to the Golden Era of Brotherhood.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia on April 4th, 2009. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Wed 5 Nov 2008

SPIRITUAL TEACHERS: HOW DO THEY GET TO KNOW WHAT THEY SAY THEY KNOW? by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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The short answer is: we can be pretty sure we know about the ways they get to know what they say they know, but we can be less sure they actually know it.

Its important to be sceptical about what they say they know, because there are lots of them saying they know more than us! Some even say they know the unknowable, and therefore they should be our teachers. All this clever talk can be very, very confusing.

Perhaps the real title of this talk should be these three questions:

1. What do spiritual teachers know?

2. How can spiritual teachers help us?

3. Why should we believe them?

What is a spiritual teacher?

Spiritual teachers offer us hope that there is a way out of the condition of suffering. They offer us happiness through insight and training. Some even offer with strenuous meditation and following the right path, that in seven lifetimes you can achieve Nirvana and escape reincarnation forever. Once started there’s no turning back, like a high-speed Japanese train. An appealing proposition to many, no doubt.

When I started writing this paper, I thought I could stick to these spiritual teachers: Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tse, Jesus, Masters of compassion, Mahatmas etc.

Yet, after researching the topic for ten minutes on the web, I found there are literally thousands of self-appointed spiritual teachers and gurus. They are a mix of today’s spiritual awareness built on the great awakenings of the 1970’s, partly nurtured by the Theosophical Society starting in the 1890’s. This Society’s influence in bringing Eastern thinking and ideas to the West is now widely, and publicly acknowledged.

In my research, what I did find that some mix spiritual teachings with self-help and motivational techniques — and some are making what seems a comfortable living. They run expensive retreats, lectures and even cruises. So in our thirst for spiritual teachings and perhaps someone else’s quick answers, we the consumer, have created a billion dollar industry where the lines are sometimes blurred between what is what is not genuine, and what might be of lasting value. One could argue that some value is better than none.

The newcomer hungry for ideas and solutions will undoubtedly find it confusing and difficult to see what is worth listening to and what is not. Lots of people claim to be spiritual teachers. Some take advantage and abuse their position of trust, proving they have not really learned what they preach at all. So we are right to be sceptical, and must trust our instincts, especially if there is a private jet explained away with clever words.

What are spiritual teachings?

This is a difficult definition because it is quite personal. Who am I to define for you what is spiritual when there are so many ways to express and experience the inner aspects of human reality? I am firmly attached to what I own and my work, so why listen to me?

I believe spiritual teachings help us train ourselves to help us to be more deeply self-aware. They help us cast off, and work around the shackles of the unruly mind and emotions and be at peace with the better side of our nature. The side of our nature that helps humanity, the warm affectionate unselfish side of our nature, often referred to as compassion. We learn detachment. Training ourselves to find and express the best in us in a natural and healthy way, that side of us that others respect, that children and partners look up to. At their best they inspire us with positive ideas, give us practical skills for living and instil ethical codes of conduct. Spiritual teachings are all these things. In a nutshell tools for more happiness and less strife.

At their worst they are the tools of persecution, and prompted one side of my family to flee
Holland to
Germany in the 1550’s to escape the Spanish inquisition.

Not just given by people

Before we continue don’t think people are the only vehicles for spiritual teachings. Divinity finds expression in many voices all around us: in nature itself, in works of art, sculpture, painting, in music, poetry and good writing of all kinds.

Traditions of spiritual teachings

The history of spiritual teachers for our human family is a patchwork of successful and failed teachers, schools of spiritual education and teachings: monasteries, lamas, shamans, high priests, mullahs, friars, monks, popes, gurus, gymnosophists, tribal elders, rabbis, medicine men, and more!

Some great ideas fell into dogma and pointless ritual and obscured the good stuff at the core, ending up as a poor reflection of the original inspired vision. The human family decides which ones are unfit or past their use by date.

Theosophical teachings and other commentators present the idea of a chain of teachers working in the background, a link of wisdom and understanding kept unbroken by the sincere thirst and aspirations of the public for genuine spiritual knowledge and genuine instruction. I can only hope this is the case. Sometimes we could be forgiven thinking life in a material world is an abandoned asylum in a spiritual desert full of thorns!

If we look around we see this is the case: we have Buddhism, Druidism, Gnosticism, Taoism, the Muslim religion and Christianity: these have all lasted more than 2000 years. If we accept a human generation is 30 years, we have at least 70 generations of teachers for each. But these are not really impressive numbers.

For impressive numbers look here to
Australia and its first people. If
Australia’s spiritual teachers began teaching 40,000 years ago, then 1,300 generations of teachers have handed over a largely oral tradition. When the history of a spiritual tradition reaches that far back, then today’s tribal elder knows the importance and refined nature of what they have given to pass on to others. But if we accept that Aboriginal culture goes back 200,00 years, as pollen evidence in a Queensland cave fireplace site, written in a Sunrise magazine article about 20 years ago, then we have about 7,000 generations of spiritual teachers! These are impressive numbers.

But from a larger perspective what keeps all these traditions alive?

“Since the earliest times in human history, individuals have appeared at cyclic intervals to disseminate this knowledge to help mankind during times of suffering and spiritual destitution. This process has been recorded in myths and religions worldwide. In the Greek Mystery Tradition it was known as the Golden Chain of Hermes, and in Sanskrit it is called Guruparampara - an uninterrupted succession of spiritual teachers, alluded to by Krishna when he said to Arjuna in the Bhagavad-Gita : “I produce myself among creatures, O son of Bharata, whenever there is a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preservation of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment of righteousness,” Recension by W. Q. Judge, TUP, p.14

Although the message of brotherhood is fundamentally the same, the way the Wisdom-Religion is presented changes through the ages, along with the names it goes by. The ancient Hindus called it gupta-vidya (secret knowledge), the Neoplatonists and Gnostics knew it as gnosis (knowledge), many Buddhists called it aryajnana (exalted knowledge). The name used by H. P. Blavatsky for the modern presentation of the perennial philosophy is Theosophy. Originally used by the Neoplatonists in the early centuries AD, the word translates as theo, meaning god, and Sophia, meaning wisdom - so roughly “divine wisdom”. (From http://www.theosophical.org.uk/origins.htm)

Thanks to the spiritual teachers who kept a flame alight, like the Olympic torch. More power to them I say.

How do people become spiritual teachers?

The reason why someone adopts their position as spiritual teacher are mixed.

Here are some:

· Some teachers undergo years of instruction, meditation and training to clear and tame the mind. In
Thailand for example, you will see many monks in their unmistakable robes in public: a tour guide told me that the tradition of monastic training is followed by many young men, and was once compulsory.Personal instruction and means other than reading or meditation are used. For example, some traditions have developed effective tools to help keep their message alive and transfer the traditions actual skills from one generation to the next. One real life example is the Tibetan Buddhist mind training verses. The purpose of these sixty-eight verses and 247 lines, over a thousand years old written by Atisha the monk, is to keep alive the spirit of compassion or loving kindness and be easily understood by the beginner. They emphasise selfless service. They have been passed on through generations.

Here is verse 29 from Atisha’s, Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment:

I shall not be eager to reach

Enlightenment in the quickest way,

But shall stay behind till the very end

For the sake of single being

· Some teachers become teachers simply because in their previous incarnations they have done so much self development work, that in this lifetime they emanate, without trying, such a strong energy it affects others in a positive and obvious way: spiritual teaching if you like, without words.We sometimes come into contact with these individuals and their influence on us is sometimes strong enough to convince us there is something interesting or special to be learnt. This can be a valuable lesson in itself.

· Some spiritual teachers simply listened to their teacher: Nisargadatta Maharaj says when asked by the questioner in I am that, pp149- 151

Q: Am I permitted to ask you how did you go beyond the mind?

M: By the grace of my Guru.

Q: What shape his grace took?

M: He told me what is true.

Q: What did he tell you?

M: He told me I am the Supreme Reality.

Q: What did you do about it?

M: I trusted him and remembered it.

Q: Is that all?

M: Yes, I remembered him; I remembered what he said.

Q: You mean to say that this was enough?

M: What more needs be done? It was quite a lot to remember the Guru and his words. My advice to you is even less difficult than this — just remember yourself. ‘I am’, is enough to heal your mind and take you beyond. Just have some trust. I don’t mislead you. Why should l? Do I want anything from you. I wish you well — such is my nature. Why should I mislead you?

Commonsense too will tell you that to fulfil a desire you must keep your mind on it. If you want to know your true nature, you must have yourself in mind all the time, until the secret of your being stands revealed.

Q: Right. But do I need a Guru? What you tell me is simple and convincing. I shall remember it. This does not make you my Guru.

M: it is not the worship of a person that is crucial, but the steadiness and depth of your devotion to the task. Life itself is the Supreme Guru; be attentive to its lessons and obedient to its commands. When you personalise their source, you have an outer Guru; when you take them from life directly, the Guru is within. Remember, wonder, ponder, live with it, love it, grow into it, grow with it, make it your own — the word of your Guru, outer or inner. Put in all and you will get all. I was doing it. All my time I was giving to my Guru and to what he told me.

· Some teachers are people genuinely inspired to unselfishly help others reach what they have found, or find ways to help others solve some of life’s problems.

· Some have had a genuine transcendent moment of deep insight. Quit their job, write a book. The are genuinely helpful for the right reasons. Some also have a transcendent moment where they realise it is a good way to cash in to the market.

· Some, even when teachers already, find their own teachers. One example is the Indian Buddhist monk Atisha. 1000 years ago, when already well known, Atisha travelled from
India to
Indonesia, because he had heard of a teacher who could “lead meditators to full enlightenment”. We still see the phenomenon of travelling far and wide today, except one does have to sail across the ocean and fight sea monsters and pirates, today it’s the threat of a terrorist attack on the plane instead.

· Lastly, there is most important spiritual teacher of all: our own inner teacher or guru, which we often fail to listen to or perhaps not. Sometimes life’s traumas masks the voice of this teacher, sometimes the experience brings it to the fore. Sometimes it takes an entire lifetime to hear the voice of this inner master, perhaps we may not even hear it all if we are sufficiently distracted. I’d say it takes a good teacher to see our inner teacher and get that working for us so we do not rely on the outer teacher, but the inner. My guess is that this would be difficult to find.

Some of difficulties of finding a spiritual teacher: wisdom can be a commodity

Sessions and workshops by those calling themselves spiritual teachers are freely available. It’s hard to tell what is genuine. The money we spend for a session might well be the best investment we ever make. Then again, the session, like so many others like it, might not be amazing, but somewhat useful to us. There really is no certain answer, because everyone who attends will probably learn something from the experience.

Selected extracts from Searching for a Spiritual Teacher by Alan E. Donant (Selected paragraphs from
Sunrise magazine, August/September 2002; copyright © 2002 http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/51-01-2/te-aed2.htm)

Once we find a philosophical or spiritual basis for the universe, it is only a matter of time before we decide upon a further focus for our thoughts and actions. A spiritual teacher may play an important role in this. What is a teacher? The answer in part may be: one who imparts information or skill through precept or example. Yet when we think back on our formal education, the one or two teachers who stand out are those with whom we had an affinity; those who, though knowledgeable, not so much told us truths as allowed us, under their guidance, to experience something from within ourselves that impressed us very deeply.

Turning to the word spiritual, at first we may think of places, rituals, or a divine being. But spirit is an impersonal, all-pervasive, and eternal aspect of reality. The process of spiritual awakening does not necessarily involve going somewhere, getting something, or other acts limited by time and space; rather, it is becoming aware of what is already within and around us. In this light we could say that a spiritual teacher is one who, through mutual recognition, encourages and assists us in experiencing universal reality.

Many people feel that spiritual progress requires allying ourselves with a divine being outside of us in order to be saved or to escape the consequences of our actions. In this view, the issue of personal salvation colors all we do, and teachers may try to hold us by threatening to separate us from the divine being.

However, we come to radically different choices in our search if we see a universe of continuing spiritual evolution impelled by the divine essence, of which all are unfolding expressions. In this second view, all entities, as aspects of divinity, are evolving spiritually through an infinite process: one lifetime cannot lead to eternal damnation or eternal heaven.

Life may appear as an ongoing series of rebirths, the causes and effects of which become the means not only for dealing with our transgressions but also for building upon our strengths. Here no personal devil or god is whipping us about; rather, the events in our lives unfold from tendencies within ourselves for which we are responsible because they originate in our past acts and thoughts.

Given the complexity of human nature and the minute progress made in any one life, many rebirths are needed before we complete the process of spiritual gestation. The teacher then acts as a midwife bringing to birth the pure inner nature of the student, and a number of lives may follow before the human soul blossoms into full maturity.

We each come into existence with a reservoir of unique talents and imbalances from previous lives. Spiritual training often emphasizes rituals and established courses of action, but such practices may not take into account these unique qualities of each person. Any particular system for achieving spiritual awakening, while benefiting some, may work against what others need.

A spiritual teacher recognizes this and works with each pupil accordingly. Rather than stipulating a single method for mass enlightenment, he or she may see that for one person daily duty is a sufficient training ground, while another pupil may benefit from the addition of a more formalized regimen.

Still, we should not forget that our greatest teacher lies within: our higher self or inner god. It is our own self-becoming that brings about the events of each day, which are, in actuality, the foundations for inner awakening prescribed for us by our inner teacher. In this way our friends and family, our co-workers, our fellow beings — indeed all of nature — are providing the experiences necessary for our spiritual growth.

We know great teachers have existed in the past, and we may feel they exist today and will exist in the future. There are rare individuals whose deep sincerity, devotion, and commitment to the bodhisattva ideal places them karmically under the tutelage of highly evolved instructors. To us they are adepts, for their spiritual nature has been awakened by lifetimes of effort. The stories of such teachers and their disciples stir our own yearnings, and it may seem natural to wish for such fortunate circumstances. We must, however, be honest with ourselves and ask why we want to study under a teacher.

Personal gain, increased spiritual stature, or an enhanced ego is no valid reason, and positive results will not follow. Yet in reality we are never really separated from our true teacher, for a magnetic sympathy is always there. The teacher wants us to grow, is looking for us to open our hearts, discipline our natures, and bring light out from ourselves.

It is a matter of worthiness and perception, of actualizing our inner potentials. Because so few are able to reach within themselves with sufficient purity, genuine teachers immediately fan the inner fire when the slightest spark appears in the sincere aspirant — but we must do the work. It is not by fortune, but by will, courage, compassion, and a selfless heart exercised over great periods of time that we become worthy.

In the beginning we are our own spiritual teacher, and so it is at the end, while we each are also teacher and pupil to one another. We may come across one with whom we are so very much in tune that for a time we accept him or her as a teacher. We recognize inwardly that this one comes closer to understanding things as they are than any other we have met. Although in any particular lifetime we may never meet such a teacher, this should never hinder us; a teacher does exist and is not far from us.

The first lesson of any spiritual teacher is “learn to live to benefit others before yourself.” Enormous liberating forces are activated when this precept is practiced in everyday living. Being pledged to work for the “great orphan humanity” means obeying the highest within ourselves until we have earned the right to more direct teaching. Such instruction, however, is no more profound or clear than what we can learn from our own daily lives.”

The above is the text of a lecture presented by the author to a meeting of the Theosophical Society Pasadena in

Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Mon 3 Nov 2008

BEAUTY IN ANCIENT EGYPT by Jennifer Pignataro

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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Introduction: I would like to dedicate this lecture to my recently departed Father, Raffaele. I was born and bred in a little town in the Goulburn Valley, which has the well deserved reputation as the “food bowl of a nation”. This area is dairy and orchard country with its prolific, attendant cottage industries of cheese, wine, juice, jam and bread making. The bounty is created, in part, on irrigation systems. My earliest memories in this paradise and fascination with all things related to Ancient Egypt was through the viewing of ABC documentaries on Sunday afternoons, after the morning mass and family lunch. One of the most indelible memories is that of a presentation by the late Dr. Carl Sagan on Cosmology and the Ancient Egyptians. I was hooked after that. My mother says that the first time she had taken me to the town library, as a pre-schooler, I had only taken out one library book, which was about the wonderful ancient Egyptians, and of course it was the only book I had taken out of from the library and had it re-stamped every week for at least six months. When the librarian suggested after this time that I should think about getting another book I burst into tears, sobbing….”But then someone else will take it home…” In my exploration of the Ancient Egyptians, I believed that the region in which I was living was a veritable Egypt as well, for it fashioned the same produce and weather. The other aspect which I had adored and still cherish is the Ancients’ worship of the fabulous feline! Of course, growing up as a young girl my best friends were my pet cats. I was forever finding that little lost kitties were following me home from school and the usual plaintive cry to my mother was something to the effect….”Oh please can we keep him, he needs a home, this home, here with us!” In my mind’s eye whenever I travelled with my father around the district, past open irrigation channels in the summer, with the stunning Cleopatra blue skies, I imagined sensational Egyptians flotillas on the water, exotic water animals such as hippos., crocodiles and aquatic fowl on the muddy channel banks. The more reading I did on my favourite subject matter, on every aspect of this majestic civilization, the more I longed to live in such a society. For a time I started to dig up section of my parents’ back yard in the belief that I would unearth Egyptian artefacts; I wanted to be an archaeologist. This action was inspired in part via the reading of history books which depicted the time lines of the various civilizations in the geological strata.At that stage, I had no grasp of distance and geographical location, nor conceptual notions such as time periods. I was certain that if I dug deeper, for longer, and co-opted my brothers into helping, sooner or later I would unearth a fabulous Egyptian tomb. Well, if not a tomb, maybe a piece of pottery or jewellery. Much to my dismay, my brothers were only too happy to help with the digging and then fill the excavations in with water and turn them into jungle “quick-sand” danger sites. So, as one can see, from the little that I have revealed about my foundational years, for me, Ancient Egypt has cast an enduring and enchanting spell. While there are so many aspects of the Ancient Egyptians’ lifestyle which could have considerable commentary made with reference to beauty, I have narrowed this lecture to a contemplation of how the Ancients’ aesthetic of beauty encompassed a celebration of sight, taste, and smell: aspects related to the material world with the last theme, that of religion, which deals with spiritual realms. Therefore, this paper will consider the following themes: A definition of the term: Beauty; Cosmetics; Food; Gardens; Perfume; and finally, Religion.

A definition of the term: Beauty: According to the free encyclopaedia, “Beauty is a characteristic of a person, place, object or idea that provides a perceptual experience of pleasure, meaning or satisfaction”…. The subjective experience of “beauty” often involves the interpretation of some entity as being in balance and harmony with nature, which may lead to feelings of attraction and emotional wellbeing… An “object of beauty” is anything that reveals or resonates with personal meaning”. 1 I particularly like the opening lines of the famous poem by Keats based on the classical myth about Endymion’s agonized search for an immortal goddess: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never passinto nothingness.” As we reflect on those lines, how accurate they are, for I find that thousands of years after artefacts and knowledge of the Ancients is revealed to us, that indeed, their loveliness and beauty are timeless. It is relevant to state that the essence of what the Ancient Egyptians held most dear, these being: order, balance and harmony, are epitomized by the deity Maat. It is the reason why the ancients strove relentlessly to maintain such refined sensibilities in their lifestyle and religion. Equilibrium in their cosmos was the preferred order; for the diametrically opposed forces were destructive and chaotic; states most repugnant to the Ancient Egyptians. Cosmetics: “Exfoliants, …anti-wrinkle cream. Methods for the elimination of stretch-marks, halitosis and unpleasant body odours. Hair extensions. This all sounds pretty modern, doesn’t it? It could perhaps be a list of advertisers from a fashion magazine on the news stand on the street today. Yet all of the above were also concerns and creations of ancient Egypt. In no other country or culture was the concern with beautification and body care so extensive. Their interest in beauty transcends time… Cosmetic implements, particularly eye-makeup palettes, have been discovered in the earliest graves. Cleopatra VII, last of the Ptolemies, was herself credited with writing a book of beauty secrets, an art that she was universally acknowledged as mastering. Vestiges of the ancient Egyptians’ concerns with beauty and body care linger even today. Modern Egyptian glass perfume vials may be as treasured and coveted today as were the carved alabaster pots of distant ages. Ancient Egyptian concerns with beauty and body care transcend gender lines. Women and men both used cosmetics and body oils. The need for skin protection and moisturizers in a hot, arid climate was perceived as necessary for both genders. Both sexes, of all classes, oiled their bodies regularly. Many of the ancient formulae remain to us: while some were obviously targeted towards women (there are several suggestions for the removal of stretchmarks following pregnancy), the many formulae suggesting for stimulating hair growth and eliminating bald-spots were probably directed largely towards men. Our extensive knowledge of the Egyptians’ beauty regime can be credited to their burial customs and also to the arid climate which preserves artefacts so well. The earliest graves contain cosmetic implements, not only eye palettes but also tweezers and razors. An example of the Ancient Egyptian Anti-Wrinkle Cream would use the following ingredients: Anti-Wrinkle Cream: One Teaspoon Sweet Almond Oil, Two Drops of Frankincense essential oil. We are now able to scientifically analyse and catalogue the contents of cosmetic and perfume jars. We know, for instance, that the Egyptians had access to and used some 21 different types of vegetable oils for cosmetic purposes, a vast repertoire even by our standards.” 2“Egyptians used powdered minerals in their eye makeup. Eyes were either outlined in kohl, made from black Galena (a lead ore), or with green malachite.” 3 …”The ancient Egyptians took a fairly holistic approach to the concept of eye makeup. Not only was it decorative and ornamental, the practice also served medicinal, magical and spiritual practices. The Egyptians used two types of eye makeup: Udju, was made from green malachite (green ore of copper) from Sinai. Sinai and its mines were considered under the spiritual dominion of Hathor, goddess of beauty, joy, love and women. Mesdemet, a dark grey ore of lead, was derived from eitherstibnite (antimony sulphide) or, more typically, galena (lead sulphide).

Galena was found around

Aswan and on the

Red Sea

Coast. It was among the materials brought back by Pharaoh Hatshepsut’s famed expedition to Punt and was given in tribute by Asiatic nomads. That the Egyptians decorated their eyes with great aesthetic care is immediately obvious. Eye cosmetics bestowed beauty and style as well as other gifts, perhaps less immediately apparent to modern eyes.

Galena possesses disinfectant and fly-deterrent properties. It is believed to offer the eyes protection from intense sun. The medical papyri frequently prescribe mesdemet for assorted complaints of the eye. Eye makeup provided psychic protection as well. The Egyptian word for eye-palette seems to derive from their word for “protect”. An unadorned and thus unprotected eye was believed vulnerable to the Evil Eye. Outlining the eyes thus became a personal protective amulet drawn right upon the skin, an amulet that once applied could not be lost or misplaced.” 4 Interestingly, the Egyptians were not only concerned with the external appearance of things – beauty, but also with subtle qualities such as the healing properties of the minerals. Imagine wearing malachite eyeliner as a cosmetic with the following powers according to the mineral experts I consulted with about malachite, they said: “…Noted as the most powerful protective agent in the mineral kingdom, it will protect children from bad dreams when placed under their pillow. Malachite is also thought to guard against undesirable business associates and is said to encourage both practical and responsible business transactions. Although its most important protective quality is the strengthening effect it has on the emotions, it is particularly useful to those who are sensitive to the negative thoughts and vibrations of others; it will stop the wearer from carrying other peoples’ problems. Recognised as the stone of travellers, it has the unique ability to warn of impending danger by breaking itself into pieces. Essentially malachite represents truth, hope and inner peace, but is also thought to embody infinite wisdom and focus. It will enhance meditation and elevate the spiritual and psychic. Practically, malachite will assist one to look deep within, and will make apparent any emotional factors which may be contributing to illness. It will further help to release any unresolved issues and can be used to assist in the process of hypnosis when mental blocks due to trauma are found. It regulates the bloodstream, increasing circulation and will sooth swollen joints.Malachite has been recognised to speed up the healing process when a muscle is torn. It works well when used to strengthen the immune system, and can offer assistance when cancer manifests externally as a growth or tumour. It has been used to treat asthma and because of its large copper content, it is believed to offer some relief from arthritis.” For me, the most beautiful aspect of all of the powers of this mineral is that of the qualities of Maat, these being: truth and balance. Red ochre mixed with fat or gum resin was thought to be used as a lipstick or face paint. Mixtures of chalk and oil were possibly used as cleansing creams. Henna was used as hair dye and is still in use today. Tattooing was known and practiced. Mummies of dancers and concubines, from the Middle Kingdom, have geometric designs tattooed on their chests, shoulders and arms. In the New Kingdom, tattoos of the god Bes could be found on the thighs of dancers, musicians and servant girls. 6 “Hair was a special problem. It was hot, hard to keep clean and easily infested with lice. Many solved the problem by shaving their heads and wearing a wig. The wig could be raised on small pads to allow a flow of air between the scalp and the hair and, of course, they never turned grey or bald. Women who kept their hair were told they could enhance its natural colour by rubbing in a mixture of oil and the boiled blood of a black cat or bull. It was the fashion at parties for men and women to wear a perfume on the tops of their heads. The cone was usually made of ox tallow and as time passed, melted and released a pleasant scent.” 7 In a recent article in the National Geographic entitled Nile Style, this is what it says about the ancient Egyptian penchant for cosmetics: “Egyptian eyes are back in fashion with celebrities lining their lids a la Cleopatra. Then as now, the desired effect was to make the eyes pop. In ancient Egypt, though, enhancing one’s appearance had spiritual aspects as well. A luxurious wig stiffened with beeswax, for instance, was a potent sexual symbol that linked the wearer to Hathor, the Goddess of beauty. Green eye paint or wadju may have invoked Hathor’s protection. In death, cosmetics created a youthful, fertile look deemed essential for rebirth in the hereafter. Used by both men and women, makeup may also have had earthly benefits. Black eyeliner – known as mesdemet in antiquity, and kohl from the Arabic, today-reportedly kept away flies, cut the sun’s glare and contained lead sulphide and chlorine, which acted as disinfectants. No evidence survives of any toxic results from the lead. Oils and creams, often scented, kept skin moist in the dry climate; some were even given as wages.” 8 Food: “The well-known Nile river, the longest river in the world, runs north and south through eastern Egypt and empties into the Mediterranean Sea. The

Nile

river

Valley, which includes the capital city of

Cairo, is the most fertile land in

Egypt.” 9 “There is sunshine in

Egypt throughout the year, but there are noticeable temperature differences between seasons and between various parts of the country. The climate is characterised by a two season year: a relatively cool winter from November to April and a dry, hot summer from May to October. The

Nile served as a source of food for the people of ancient

Egypt. The river teemed with different types of fish, for example, catfish, mullet, bolti, and perch. … A wide variety of wild birds, including fourteen species of wild ducks and geese as well as herons, pelicans and cranes were hunted in the marshes along the

Nile. …The Egyptians’ staple food was bread. It was made from barley and emmer wheat, their most common crops. Bread was usually baked in a conical mould that was placed over an open fire. …The main beverage of ancient

Egypt was beer, but the frequent depictions of grape arbours on tomb walls and the numerous wine vessels found throughout

Egypt indicate that wine was also popular. However, only the nobility could afford to drink wine on a regular basis. Numerous varieties of fruits and vegetables were grown in irrigated gardens. Fruits included figs, grapes, plums, dates, and watermelon. Vegetables included beets, sweet onions, radishes, turnips, garlic, lettuce, chick peas, beans and lentils.” 10

There are several taste sensation memories I will always savour from my grand expedition to Egypt in 2004. Namely I ate the biggest, tastiest, and greenest falafel I have ever devoured in my life. The Egyptian falafel is made from freshly ground fava beans (broad beans) and instead of being bite size pieces the size equivalent of a fifty cent piece, the falafel is as big as a hamburger. And the brightest emerald green! Not like the brown, burnt morsels we find in some kebab places. Also, most of the fruit I ate in

Egypt, though smaller, was fragrant, juicy and succulent, like the way fruit used to be before it became transmogrified by those people who wear white coats and work in laboratories. Actually, every time I noticed a donkey cart hauling produce, it was always something that I love, and cook at home, like broad beans, garlic, onions, watermelon, pumpkin, zucchini, aubergine, pita bread and dates. Apart from the dates, being in

Egypt really did remind me of my wholesome, childhood days living in the region bursting with the bounty of wealth and fertility. Ah, happy days, I had come home!

Gardens: “Gardens were very popular and played a large part in the lives of ancient Egyptians. Gardens meant much to them, highly esteemed, and allowing garden owners to see life nicely regulated within the large or small strip of land – one that fostered life. Ancient Egyptians designed and thrived in Garden Houses, it was not the modern architect who invented the Garden House concept. Ancient Egyptian gardens often consisted of both trees and other plants. There were about eighteen varieties of trees grown by the Egyptians. Popular trees included the sycamore, fig and pomegranate, but trees such as jujube, willows, acacia and tamarisk were also there. From an enclosed yard with a few fruit trees to botanical and zoological gardens with exotic trees, ponds, often stocked with fish, caged animals and birds, gardens are depicted in many tombs. The extensive grounds of the Maru-Aten temple complex at Amarna, are a concrete representation of the potentiality of the Creative Aten. The layout of the eastern group of the buildings is on an exact north-south axis while the east-west axis of the large lake crosses it inside the hall of the Maru, or viewing place of the sun disk.A garden with a processional alley fronts the group on the south. Here there is also a symbolic island carrying a kiosk… with a roofless central space, accessible from Maru by a bridge. A second bridge at the north end leads to an alley flanked with flower beds to a water court featuring a range of eleven T-shaped water basins on an interlocking plan. The formal layout of the Persian garden, with an artificial pond mirrored the glittering splendour of a rich façade beyond it, had already been carried out to perfection in Egypt, at least as early as the New Kingdom. Sacred gardens had ponds, papyrus, flowers and vegetables, as represented schematically in ancient tomb drawings. These were exotic trees that were brought from the new countries subdued during the New Kingdom and planted in sacred botanical gardens. In the country, the houses and palaces were set in a large garden surrounded by a wall.

Temples were provided with gardens in decorative layouts, as a source for flowers, vegetables and wine and olive oil, thus providing necessary ingredients for what went on… Models of gardens were placed in a lot of tombs. In many funerary texts, the deceased talks about walking under the trees of his garden and drinking the water of its lake. Queen Hatshepsut relates on the walls of her mortuary temple at Deir el-Bahari how she compiled with the wish of Atum-Re, her father, to have a grove or myrrh trees “for ointment for the divine limbs”. Houses, palaces, temples and chapels in the paintings of the tombs nearly always have a garden next to the building. We very often find a whole, elaborate layout detailed, and thus a good enough picture of the various types of gardens during the New Kingdom can be reconstructed from this pictorial evidence. The actual remains of gardens are very scarce. This is in part due to earlier excavators who seldom cared to look for them, and thus ruined whatever evidence might remain. …Around the mortuary temple of Rameses II at Abydos, we are told that “He planted many gardens, set with every tree, all sweet and fragrant woods, the plants of Punt:” And Rameses III describes the lake and garden in his mortuary temple at Medinet Habu, when he says: “I dug a lake before it…planted trees and vegetation…It was surrounded with gardens and arbour-areas filled with fruit and flowers…” 11 “Rameses III unlike his namesake Rameses II, was not a great builder but had splendid parks planted in his ancestor’s residence, promenades with vines and olive trees and had flowers sown alongside the holy road.I have made fruitful the whole land with the fruit of trees and shrubs. My hand did all this so that people may sit in the shade. At Heliopolis he ordered the sacred ponds dredged: “Removing all the refuse that had accumulated in them since the beginning of the world.” The Horus temple and its surroundings were refurbished: “I said let the holy forest in your temple flourish. I replanted it where it had stood formerly and was destroyed and desolate. I sent gardeners to make it bloom and grow, so there may be oil and offerings of wine.” This combination of splendid buildings and beautiful natural surroundings much impressed Herodotus: “In this city (Bubastis) there is a temple very well worthy of mention, for though there are other temples which are larger and built with more cost, none more than this is a pleasure to the eyes. Now Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue is Artemis, and her temple is ordered thus: Except the entrance it is completely surrounded by water; for channels come in from the Nile, not just joining one another, but each extending as far as the entrance of the temple, one flowing round on the one side and the other on [the other?] side, each a hundred feet broad and shaded over with trees; and the gateway has a height of ten fathoms, and it is adorned with figures six cubits high, very noteworthy.” 12 What a sensual delight such gardens must have been, which is why today we are equally infatuated with them, for they allow the senses to be fully engaged.

Perfume: “Throughout the ancient world the Egyptians were famous for their scents and perfumes. The country was considered the most suitable for the manufacture of such commodities. As the distillation of alcohol was not known until the fourth century BC the scents were extracted by steeping plants, flowers or splinters of fragrant wood in oil to obtain essential oil, which would be added to other oils or fat. The materials were placed in a piece of cloth which was wrung until the last drop of fragrance had been retrieved. Alternatively they were boiled with oil and water and the oil skimmed off. As for oils, there was a wide choice, the most commonly used being moringa, balanus, castor oil, linseed, sesames, safflower, and, to some extent, almond and olive. According to Theophrastus, who made a thorough study of fragrant substances in an essay entitled Concerning odours. Balanos was the least viscous and by far the most suitable oil, followed by fresh raw olive and almond oil. One of the most famous Egyptian ‘perfumes’ was made in the city of Mendes in the Delta, whence it was exported to Rome. It consisted of balanus oil, myrrh and resin. Dioscorides adds cassia. The order in which ingredients were added to the oil was important, as the last one imparted the most pungent scent. Theophrastus mentions as an example that if one third of an ounce of cinnamon was put in, the cinnamon will dominate. The secret of the Egyptian unguent-makers was obviously to know at which precise moment to add the various ingredients, and at which temperature. The Mendesian perfume was known as “The Egyptian” par excellence. Unlike many others, it was left in its natural colour. It had the added advantage of keeping very well: one perfumer in Greece had had a batch in his shop for eight years, and it was even better than the freshly made ‘perfume’. Once applied to the skin it lasted well, too. As Theophrastus said: “A lasting perfume is what women required”. If “The Egyptian” was found to be too heavily scented, its strong odour could be lightened by being mixed with sweet wine. Metopian was the name of another Egyptian ointment, Metopian being, according to Dioscorides, the Egyptian name of the plant from which galbanum was derived. It consisted of oil from bitter almonds and unripe olives scented with cardamom, sweet rush, sweet flag, honey, wine, myrrh, seed of balsamun, galbanum and turpentine resin. The wine apparently entered the preparations either to soak the herbs, or to give a certain point to the ointment. According to Dioscorides the best Metopian was the one that smelt more of cardamom and myrrh than of galbanum. In medicine the ointment was considered generally mollifying, heat-and sweat-producing, and it was used to open the vessels, draw and purge ulcers, and to treat cut sinews and muscles.” 13 …”The act of making perfume was considered an art form in Ancient Egypt. The craftsperson was considered to be an artist and the profession was open to women as well as men. The perfume making process of extraction can be determined by reliefs on the walls of tombs in Petosiris. These show that perfume making had an overseer, workers who completed the extraction, and a professional tester who completed rigorous testing using the sense of smell.The reliefs also pictorially detail two extraction processes. The first process shown was an ancient mechanical extraction process which was similar to wine production. This required a large bag and two staffs which were used as a press. The second was a form of chemical extraction with the assistance of heat and soaking in alcohol. The processes are early versions of modern perfume extraction techniques that have only one advanced in terms of equipment available and synthetic ingredients. The reliefs also show red berries poured from a container, which details the nature of the products used to extract different scents. The ingredients used in perfume were usually plants in origin such as henna and cinnamon. The ancient natural philosopher, Pliny the Elder, records floral scents such as iris, bitter almond, and lilies in his Natural History as being used in abundance. Myrrh which is a resin from shrubs, and other aromatic woods, were used. Animal fats such as musk are also recorded as being used in some perfumes. Some Egyptian recipes are still in existence though they are difficult to replicate. However, the Egyptians had typically exotic tastes, and in addition to home grown essences, they also imported aromatics such as labdanum from Arabia and East Africa, galbanum from Persia, and the coveted frankincense due to unsuccessful attempts to grow it in Egyptian climes. The fact that ingredients were imported even in ancient times shows the importance of perfume. The imported varieties were expensive and initially reserved for the use of the gods or export only. Excavated reliefs show that from ancient times the blend and quantity of perfume was as important as how long the scent would last. Perfume was a major export material in ancient times with various countries battling to produce the highest quality. Susinum was a particular favourite, and the competitive nature shows that in ancient times, some form of uniformity and standard was expected … Egyptian perfumes were usually named after the town of production or the main ingredient. Storage was in glass or stone vessels, with alabaster being the most coveted. The decoration was ornate and often bejewelled, with packaging reflecting modern day requirements of functionality and attractiveness. Perfume was burnt such as green incense and white incense. Perfume was worn for aesthetic reasons, in the form of oil based liquid infusions, or wax and fat for creams and salves. This suggests that there was also a medicinal purpose recognised. Perfume was mainly for the elite classes until the golden age. It was used by kings who were believed to be of divine descent as it was believed that the gods favoured perfume. High officials were anointed with perfume when they were appointed to office to call the favour of the gods. Incense was used to hide the smell of animal sacrifice during ceremonies. Balms were seen as medicinal as perfume was thought to repel demons and win the favour of the gods. Perfume was also an important part of death and burial rites. Bodies were perfumed during mummification as it was believed the soul would visit the gods and so perfume would repel demons. Interestingly, 3,300 years after Tutankhamun’s death, scent could still be detected in his tomb.” 14 “…The perfumed ointment found in Tutankhamun’s tomb was of a solid nature, although it was noted that it melted and became more viscous within the heat of the hand. Observers at the time found the aroma similar to coconut oil and also remarked that it resembled the scent of valerian… The perfume was analysed in 1926 and was found to consist of a neutral animal fat and a resin or balsam. At the time they were unable to be more specific. However, the primary fragrant component is now believed to be valerian’s close cousin, the ancient and precious spikenard. Still reasonably rare and reasonably expensive, most find spikenard’s name much more familiar than its fragrance. Its reputation is ancient. It is the much more familiar ingredient in some formulas for Kyphi, the famed sacred Egyptian temple perfume. Spikenard was also a component of the sacred incense offered in the Jewish Temple of Jerusalem. It is mentioned no less than three times in the Song of Songs. The ancient Greeks had a beloved perfume fragrance based on its prominence in the New Testament. It was ointment of Spikenard that Mary of Bethany (whether she is one and the same with Mary Magdalene, now patron saint of perfumers, is still the subject of intense debate, as it has been for centuries) used to anoint the feet of Jesus Christ, filling the entire room with its aroma. Rather than its wonderful fragrance, however, what is most famous about spikenard is its high cost. Two of the gospels comment on its price. Judas Iscariot was apparently offended at the anointing of Jesus, demanding to know why the jar of ointment wasn’t sold and the proceeds given to the poor.In the light of its discovery in Tutankhamun’s tomb, it can be appreciated that spikenard was truly a fragrance fit for a king. Why was spikenard so expensive? Because of where it grows and the difficulty in obtaining it. Spikenard is not native to Egypt, Punt or the Middle East. It is native to the Himalayas and grows at high altitudes. Its use in the ancient world is a demonstration of their sophisticated trade routes and of the importance placed on aromatic material: they went to a lot of trouble to obtain this little root. …As recently as one hundred years ago, spikenard was imported from Nepal to Egypt for use as a folk medicine, beyond various medicinal uses, like valerian, it has relaxing, sedative properties, spikenard was anciently believed to bear mystical and romantic powers. Today, spikenard is available as an essential oil. It is steam distilled from dried and crushed rhizomes and roots, resulting in a pale golden liquid. What does it smell like? Not necessarily what you might expect a perfume to smell like, if your expectations are of a floral garden. Spikenard has a profound and complex aroma, a combination of sweet/spicy/musky, a very organic, earthy scent: 15 Perfume indeed was fit for the king. The following inscription from the Pyramid Texts reveals its spiritual regard: “O King, I have come and I bring to you the Eye of Horus which is in its Container and its perfume is on you, O King. Its perfume is on you, the perfume of the Eye Of Horus is on you, O King, and you will have a soul by means of it…” 16 Religion: Truly the most beautiful aspect that the ancient Egyptians considered in their highly evolved civilization, for me, is that of their religion. That this culture was able to develop, refine and record such a sophisticated series of esoteric notions is inspirational, divine and instructional. The beautiful religious notions are the most significant for me because what they deal with are elements relating to the eternal and spiritual; which are most comforting. While the mystery of death may be frightening to some, it may only be so should one fear wrong actions committed during a life lived without a sense of ‘divine ethics’ and or a lack of faith or sense that once dead there is nothing after but everlasting, darkness and oblivion. When we consider the corner-stone story in the ancients’ religious tradition of the death and resurrection of Osiris, its allegorical significance is steeped in the sense of triumphant, everlasting life. Yes, the ancient Egyptians loved their life in their veritable paradise on earth, their foods, perfumes, gardens, friends, family, all that was on offer during their earthly existence. They cherished it all and did not believe that all was lost forever after death. “The popularity of the Osiris-Isis myth had led many scholars to try to explain its significance. Most interpretations can probably be reduced to three simple themes: Transferral of the power of kingship, Celebration of the cycle of nature and its annual rejuvenation, and Rituals for achieving immortality.Older scholars, such as E.A. Wallis Budge and James Frazer, were chiefly interested in the myth as a statement about death and resurrection. Budge, of course wrote a massive study of Osiris and did not limit himself to any one aspect of the myth, but the motif of resurrection lies at the heart of all his research. Frazer compared Osiris to the Greek god Adonis and Near Eastern god Attis in one of the most important volumes of The Golden Gough, and he concluded: “In the resurrection of Osiris the Egyptians saw the pledge of a life everlasting for themselves beyond the grave. They believed that every man would live eternally in the other world if only his surviving friends did for his body what the gods had done for the body of Osiris. Hence the ceremonies observed by the Egyptians over the human dead were an exact copy of those which Anubis, Horus and the rest had performed over the dead god.” Rudolf Anthes believes that the myth was a statement of the way ritual serves to satisfy religious needs, because the rituals associated with the resurrection of Osiris became an important part of Egyptian culture… There was great dignity in the rituals associated with Osiris and Isis, and some of the hymns and charms that have survived are literary works of considerable beauty. The myth of Osiris is intimately connected with the Egyptian view of death, according to Siegfried Morenz: “Egyptian religion, in so far as it was related to death, preserved ancient ways of ensuring everlasting life and kept on discovering new ones.” Egyptian religion maintained the beliefs that life would be prolonged in the tomb and that deceased individuals and possessions in their tombs could be rejuvenated through certain rituals. The best way for a dead king to transcend death was to become Osiris through clearly prescribed ritual that would unite the king with the god, thereby raising him above the possibility of being judged like other mortals. The myth of Osiris, then, provided a ritualistic method for overcoming death. The best way to approach this myth, as R.T. Rundle Clark has written, is to seek its symbolic value. Out of the story emerges a human-god who is the essential victim. Yet he is avenged and his passion has an end at last, when justice and order are established on earth. The other gods are transcendent, distinct from their worshippers. Osiris, however, is immanent. He is the sufferer with all mortality, but at the same time he is all power of revival and fertility in the world. He is the power of growth in plants and of reproduction in animals and human beings. He is both dead and the source of all living. Hence, to become Osiris is to become one with the cosmic cycles of death and rebirth. The myth, then, is finally seen in archetypal terms.” 17 While this may be the case, the key message which has similar threads running through all the key religious faiths is this: That on the day of reckoning, a soul will be judged on the purity and lightness of the deceased’s words, thoughts and deeds during life. This consideration alone should be powerful enough to promote a person, during one’s life to self regulate one’s thoughts, words and actions so as to be calm and prepared to be assessed for that auspicious duty. This is the most beautiful gift, that the ancient Egyptians have left in perpetuity: A legacy for future generations to aspire to such lofty and noble heights – to live according to the principles of Maat, truth, balance and harmony.

1 www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty p.1 2 www.egyptmonth.com/mag06012000/mag4.htm. 3 www.makeuptalk.com/forums/beauty-throughout-time.

4 www.touregypy.net/magazine/mag09012000/mag4.

5 Qi 743 Glenhuntly Rd., South Caulfield, 3162.

6 www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/egypt/dailylife/beautyaids.

7 www.womenintheancientworld.com/women’s%20clothing.htm

8 Williams, A.R., National Geographic, July 2008, p.32.

9 www.foodbycountry.com/Algeria-to-France/Egypt.

10 www.carnegiemnh.org/exhibits/egypt/guide.

11 www.oaks.nvg.org/sa5ra5.

12 www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/timelines/topics/zoos.

13 www.levity.com/achemy/islam

14 www/egytpologist.org/discus/messages

15 www.touregypt.net/magazine/mag

16 Pyramid Texts, utterance 687.Raymond Oliver Faulkner, 1910, The Ancient Egyptian Pyramid Texts, 2004, Kessinger Publishing, p. 296.

17 Armour, Robert A. Gods and Myths of Ancient Egypt, The American

University in

Cairo Press, 1986. 67-69.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Thu 9 Oct 2008

REINCARNATION AND KARMA by Marjorie Jackson

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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I would like to start this afternoon with one of Dr. de Purucker’s quotes from “Wind of the Spirit”, on page 245-254: “We are here on this earth because we have sown seeds of destiny, of life here, and we come back to reap them, to undo the wrongs we did in the past, to reap the rewards that we sowed in the past, and that is why we will come back to re-imbodiment in the future. We are now making ourselves to be what we shall in the future become. We are now preparing our destiny for our next life on earth.”

What do we see as the basic tenet in that quote? To me it seems that we are drawn back by the force of our own creation, and this force expresses the quality of our aspirations, motivation, knowledge and wisdom. For wisdom is the result of discovering from experience what is upgrading for ourselves to follow and what is destructive and downgrading. Once we have become aware of this truth, the awareness becomes intuitive, and prompts us to accept what is wholesome and to reject what is evil or destructive, that is, contrary to the Divine plan of spiritual growth.

Many people in the Western world find this teaching of reincarnation so foreign and abhorrent, especially if life has been hard or unhappy for them, or when they look with compassion on the apparently unjust sufferings of others. This very question was raised by one of Jesus’ disciples, when he asked Jesus: “Who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 11,2). Obviously, unless he had lived before he could not have sinned before he was born into his present incarnation. Jesus also referred to John the Baptist as the reincarnation of Elias which was for to come. (Mark 9,13). Reincarnation was an accepted belief in the Jewish teachings that the reimbodiment is part of the divine plan.

It was also taught in the Mystery-Schools of Greece, Rome, China,

Egypt,

Persia, the ancient Nordic people, and the Druids. Distortion of the mystery teachings by the early Christian fathers, together with the introduction of the dogmas of vicarious atonement and salvation by faith, have done much to retard the moral progress of Mankind, by leading him to believe that he does not have to make strenuous moral effort to reach the (Kingdom of Heaven). And so, souls continued to meander aimlessly without the awareness that their progress is of their own deciding, waiting for salvation that does not come, to lift them from their difficulties and miseries to a happier kind of life.

Everything reimbodies itself, from Universes to the tiniest Atoms. Each is ensouled or activated by a spiritual consciousness-centre, which is evolving in its own degree, and the purpose of life is to raise the mortal to the immortality. The outward form is but the vehicle through which the deathless, spiritual potency at the core of Man’s being may grow and unfold into perfection. It is not the personality which endures and reincarnates, for this is changing constantly, but the awareness-centre which is divine, and which the personality imperfectly imitates. This awareness-centre it is which yearns to express itself in intellectual, emotional and physical ways, all the potential within of which it is so aware. Who of us has not grieved because we have had to let a dream go unrealised, or sorrowed because the results of some endeavour did not reach the potential he or she intuitively knew was possible? Yet very few of us have either the opportunity or capacity to achieve divine perfection in one life. But we have created this longing to be, and of necessity must continue to reincarnate, in order to achieve our self-conscious godhead. We can all recall seeing the joy on the face of a little child who has persisted with an unfamiliar task and, wonder of wonders, triumphs over the difficulties to achieve his goal. The inspiration of self-conquest and achievement spurred him to improve and persist, and then to pass on to something more demanding of his latent talents.

And so it is with us. Far from being a heartless punishment, or a merciless treadmill of endless lives, the chance to reincarnate gives us a chance to experience, learn, expand, and to realize and live with that greatest of all truths, that we are part of a great universal plan, behind which stands the Divine Father, and we are all beings in this Universe truly brothers, made of the same Cosmic stuff and subject to the same Universal laws. The cycles we are aware of in our lives and in nature, the rise of seasons, the daylight and night, the rising and falling of the tides, are but short spans of activity and subsidence into relative quiet, which typify the Universal pattern of expenditure and revitalisation of life. Each of us, when reincarnating, is drawn back by our earth experiences of the past which have been imprinted on the Ego as it withdraws from the last incarnation. As each layer of consciousness is shed, the life-force we have given the cosmic material we have used is left behind on that plane to be collected again by the Ego as it makes its way back again to our Earth life. What we leave behind is drawn to, and used by, others who are on Earth and whose levels of evolvement are similar to our own, because this electro-magnetic quality which draws us to the parents and environment most suited to provide the opportunities and vehicle which will best serve our reason for reincarnating.

For we have had and will continue to have, ongoing relationships with the family members and friends with whom we have been closely associated in past incarnations. Like attracts like, and so does antipathy, by the degree we put our emotional or psychic energy into our thought processes. We have the continual choice of selection in our goals and ambitions and associations, but at the same time we cannot run away from our obligations or the responsibility consequences of what we ourselves have created atmospherically and left behind. It is because our vision becomes clouded by imperfect goals and values that we need to withdraw to the Divine to rest and reclothe our Egos with the Divine will or purpose. We can come back refreshed and inspired by renewed joy and resolutions to pay our debts and create in a wholesomely expanding way.

The Ego is Manas, or the thinking principle, the self-conscious intellectual element in us. When it combines with the emotional, it creates the human personality which makes each of us distinctive. The life-atoms thus imprinted create our character and because we draw them back to us when we reincarnate, we are not, despite the life-atoms having their own degree of self-direction, very different from the personality that left the earth at disembodiment or death. We do indeed pick up the threads of the life we have left behind, and move on from that point.

The Scientists among us will say: ”But what of heredity, doesn’t that control what we are, and environment create the changes?” What else are heredity and environmental impacts but two aspects of Karma and Reincarnation? What else but the psycho-magnetic forces we have created between one another, draws us back to our earth families and circumstances, as stated earlier. Depending on our values, so the conditions to which we are drawn. As we become less materialistic and selfishly emotional, so we reach out to the wonderful vistas of what is beyond our own limited awareness. The more spiritual we become by which we become more conscious of the power of love and compassion to sustain our noblest principle, so we draw closer to the God-spark within and union with the Divine Father from which we have sprung, until finally we have the choice of moving into higher realms for ever, or of holding back from our just rewards, in order to guide and encourage our less advanced brothers. Such are the Buddhas of Compassion.

There is also a brief comment I have taken, on Narada, the agent of karmic destiny, a guiding spiritual power, a protector and an inventor of Mankind, who uses men of destiny as agents for the purpose of allowing the Law of Karma to function without the complete destruction of Mankind. Destiny is held firmly in the hands of the Gods, and Narada is their agent. Through his guidance, crystallisations which check spiritual growth is broken and circumstances which could destroy or injure Mankind are stopped. He brings about or restores spiritual and intellectual stability, despite the suffering experienced which the freeing and restoration of true spiritual values necessitates, the results are regenerating and lifting to the souls involved in the experience. Thus Narada is for Mankind both a destructive and regenerative guide, the true saviour of men’s souls. This should check us from sitting in the judgement seat, no matter how the other person’s behaviour appears to us because with our limited understanding we cannot assess another’s destiny role in the universal plan of spiritual endeavour and progress.

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Thu 9 Oct 2008

MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY TO THE ANIMALS by Bernard Parsons

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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MAN’S RESPONSIBILITY TO THE ANIMALS by Bernard Parsons

When the Theosophical Society was founded the key teaching was and still is, Universal Brotherhood. This teaching is basic to the Society’s philosophy and is no sentimental emotion but a fact in Nature itself. Madam Blavatsky, co-founder of the Theosophical Society, developed the universality of this cornerstone with great brilliance and consistency until she died in 1891. In the subject of today’s study, Man’s relationship with the animals, it is possible to trace very clearly the humanising effect her work has had on the world in many countries if not all. A century ago in our country cockfights and dog fights were common, horses were spurred and whipped cruelly and wanton ill-treatment to animals went unpunished or was tolerated. We can see in the following period a growing swing of community opinion toward a more enlightened view of Man’s responsibilities to his younger brothers, the animals. First let us address the question, if we call animals our younger brothers, what do we have in common in our respective constitutions?

Enshrined within our physical body is an animal soul. These we share with the animals of this world, a body and a conscious soul. This animal soul of ours is the seat of our animal desires, our hunger and thirsts and our instinctive behaviour. Just as the animals show joy, determination and affection as well as dignity, so also do we. Enshrined within our animal soul is a human soul. This is the seat of our awareness of our self and our human desires. Enshrined within our human soul is our spiritual soul. This soul is the seat of our intellect. Enshrined within our spiritual soul is our buddhic soul. The buddhic soul is the seat of what is or may develop into our wisdom, our compassion, our intuition, our artistry. Enshrined within this buddhic soul is the Celestial Buddha or Monad – the ‘Christos’ within us all.

Now how much of this range does the animal world share? All of men and animals have a physical body and a Monad - the same father monad as we do. The animals are in truth, because of this monadic ancestry, our brothers. They are, however, not as fully developed as we are. They are following us up the ladder of life under the impulse and guidance of their own inner god. There are strong links between mankind and his younger brothers. Millions of years ago, according to ancient tradition, when Man’s body was less physical and the human form more or less spherical, the body sweated off seeds or spores of various kinds according to whereabouts on the body these sweat-born offspring exuded. Exudations seeding from what corresponds to our genitalia were true to type human in form. Those exuding from elsewhere on the body showed different characters and from these developed our animal life.

This account ascribes to us not only the role of parenting our animal world, it charges us with a responsibility toward them that is eternal and inescapable.You may object that science says that Man is at the top of the tree of evolution – the “Johnny come lately”. Well, counter to that is the point that the human being is enormously more complex, as his animal nature is now unfolded, than is his animal brother. It is therefore reasonable to suggest that Man is an older member of the evolutionary procession than even the most developed animal.

The relationship is not only one of kinship. Animals share the life forces that ebb and flow through space, appearing now as pure energies and again as units of substance – life atoms. We share these life atoms. They can flow freely and swiftly to wherever they are attracted and to where it is appropriate. The ancients held that animals should be treated with respect. The Jains of India made concern for animal life an important feature of their religious life. In Spartan Greece, a community that went overboard in imposing a fierce code of discipline on its citizens, they would punish a child who was found guilty of cruelty to an animal – characteristically if not wisely – with death. The Hindus teach that even as the humans received the divine fire of knowledge of the difference between right and wrong so many millions of years ago, so in a similarly far distant time some animals will when ready take the next step into human-like self consciousness. In the mean-time animals are our responsibility. We do this best, not by fussing too much over them but most certainly by not taking advantage of them.

I think it is monstrous that today in a country pledged to the ideal of freedom, animals are vivisected cruelly, not for the impersonal advancement of science but so that some researcher might receive praise from his peers for the results of his experiments. On a less horror-filled note, and there is plenty of horror in the subject of vivisection, many instances exist of a special rapport between certain animals and humans and certain sorts of animals and other species. Perhaps you have heard the saying that people grow to look like the pets they keep? Perhaps the link was there before those persons were born. The Aborigines of Australia at a time of initiation into manhood appoint to each candidate a totemic bird or beast. This beast he may not kill or eat, and it is said between the man and his totemic animal a bond of trust grows. There are instances in plenty of animals seeking contact with humans. On the North-West coast of Australia at a little hamlet called Monkey Mia, dolphins have for years come into the shallows to be patted, fed, and to introduce their young to the locals swimming there. A zoologist from

England studying the dolphins was packing up his gear while his son was having a last swim in the autumn evening before they left off work for the year. The dolphin the man had been particularly studying came up to the eleven-year old lad, put his head between the boy’s legs and gave him a ride round the boat harbour!

Another marvellous story is that of a farmer who had the care of an eagle that was injured in a storm. The farmer later retired and came to live in South Melbourne. The eagle had come back for short visits at the farm, but one day the farmer found the eagle sitting on the back fence of his

South Melbourne home. It had sought him out and found him, from among so many similar dwellings, at such a great distance from their original home.

I was given a strong lesson in good manners by a pointer bitch mothering five pups. As they became ready for weaning she continued to play with them a little but mostly she would jump up to a place out of reach and let the pups tumble over each other ‘til meal time came. At last there was only one pup left and mum set to work to play games with it. She chased the pup and rolled it over and ran away in pretended fright, followed by the enthusiastic pup. I saw this stately old hound doing this and I laughed. She never played with that pup again whilst I was watching and it took me a week to get her to wag when I patted her.

There is the case of swans who mate for life and such is their constancy that should one die the mate joins a group for company but never mates again. There is the case of the sun bird which will build a large oval decorated nest commonly near a house, in northern Australia. People hang ropes down in hope the birds will build on them. The birds show little fear of mankind and will fly into the house and out again without showing fear.

Many animals show flashes of almost human quality in their life. Another example is the albatross that breeds near Dunedin in

New Zealand, which has a unique courting ritual. Two birds meeting and not having room to dance on the rocky windswept cliffs where the nests are made, the two birds take to the sky. There they spread their marvellous flexible wings, flying in ever changing harmony, a soundless dance, dipping and weaving until a rapport is established. One wonders if in the misty southern oceans hunting for fish often out of earshot or out of sight, they find each other. Is this the skill they practice in the courting dance? Find each other they do. They, too, mate for life.

Just as we share our life atoms with the animals, let us hope to their advantage, so it is conceivable that we share the life atoms of the gods. It is a brave thought. Remember the saying of Jesus the Master – In as much as you do it to the least among you so shall it be done to you. This is the great Law of Karma. It applies to every being in the universe, gods, men, animals and so on. The Law of Karma is one aspect – the negative, of what Dr. de Purucker calls The Law of Laws of the Universe – Self-forgetfulness, living unto all things, not the doctrine that each species-individual must live for itself in order to develop itself.

Man is no doubt more complex in his intellect and consciousness than our animal brothers – the differences are the degree - correspondingly more responsible. This responsibility is not a matter of sentiment so that we are required by Nature to provide – say –overcoats for wild animals. Far better we do not try to play God. Better still if we become aware of the support they give us, the examples they show us of all sorts of noble behaviour and of how all beings make a complex tapestry where every thread contributes its own special part to the whole loom of life.

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Fri 5 Sep 2008

THE CASE FOR REINCARNATION by Bernard Parsons

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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When building up the case for reincarnation it is well to consider first the case for reimbodiment. The former applies to human and animal life. Reimbodiment is the general feature applying to all beings.

There are three approaches scholars use to ultimate questions that are dealt with in philosophy. The first is the concept of duality, consisting of God on one hand and the universe, His creation, on the other. The Churches offer a variety of solutions to the question of the purpose of life, the inviolability of God’s laws, justice, evolution and enlightenment. Reimbodiment is a heresy in the doctrines of many religious groups though many church goers feel that the idea has merit.

The materialist or so-called realist takes the stance that God is not essential to explain how things are. Occam’s Razor is wielded with devastating effect. It says that if a case can be argued and proven, then no other thing should be introduced into the argument. God was slashed by the razor gang. With this stern rejection of anything spiritual or mystical from the scientific basic realities went a strong scepticism of such things as telepathy, psycho-kenesis and other occult powers.

One man, learned in philosophy and a realist materialist, told me that if it could be proven that telepathy were a genuine power in human experience, then the materialists would have to make considerable adjustments to their ideas. They would find themselves in the same camp philosophically as the pantheists. I think it would be fair to say that materialists are reluctant to examine or check the experiments in these fields. They prefer to assail those who do with charges of quackery or lack of experimental rigour.

The third approach is that of the pantheists or pan entheists, as G. de Purucker called them. This idea, briefly, is that all being has a positive, yang, side, and a negative, yin, side. Socrates expressed this in terms of universal principals or forms which are real and the expressions of these principles or particulars which are shadows of the real. The ultimate principle that could be said to embody all other principles, he termed The Form of the Good.

H.P. Blavatsky taught of fundamental principles which cover the concepts of universal law, substance, life and consciousness. This teaching of universal principles has some very important corollaries. Each and every being is an expression of each and every universal principle. There is no escape.

This opens the door to a method of proof of any of the ultimate questions referred to earlier. What is the purpose of life, where is justice in life? Is reimbodiment a fact or a myth? The human being is part of the universe and all its energies, life consciousness and substances are in greater or lesser degree expressed in us. Therefore the Theosophical teacher says to the enquirer, look within. Take the inward path, that is where the truth can be found. Brood over or meditate on the implications of universal brotherhood.

G. de Purucker in Golden Precepts gives the three secret causes of reimbodiment.

(a) We hunger for light. We see dimly. We look in wrong places.

(b) We carve out our own destiny.

These three forces bring us back to birth on earth. We recognise in ourselves the spiritual side of life and desperately yearn for more of the same. What are these spiritual powers? Love of Justice, Love of excellence, rightness, Love of harmony, Love of the joy harmony brings and cooperative effort, Love of wisdom, Love of peace, Love of your neighbour: These are the spiritual powers we seek to strengthen. This is what life is about.

What assists us in these endeavours? The divinity in the heart of all things is our spiritual powerhouse. This is the inner resource we must get good at recognising in ourselves. It gives us our integrity, our destiny. It puts fire in our spiritual boilers. Outside ourselves there is the guidance of our heroes. Every one of us chooses heroes on whom we model our actions and our thinking. That is because we have free will; sometimes spiritual and sometimes not so lofty.

Reimbodiment is not an idea that is merely an interesting feature of human experience, it is part of universal law and we should be able to see it occurring in the small as well as the great in nature. There is in nature a number of plateaux of consciousness, mineral, vegetable, animal, etc., that we are familiar with. Whatever number of these levels there are, we cannot say that higher levels do not exist, only that our self consciousness experience takes us thus far. Reimbodiment means birth or change of a monad from one plane of consciousness to a lower plane. Death means the change of a monad from a lower level of operations to another.

You can observe in the human arena a wide divergence in the ability of individuals to think in general terms, to think without passion, to love impersonally, to be tolerant and compassionate. We say that this wisdom and genius that some show so clearly comes from the repeated dunkings of our monad or spirit into the material world about us.

A feature that arises from universal brotherhood apart from the obvious differences we see is the integrity of the universe. By this I understand that no one being is beyond or above the law except by being obedient, in harmony with the law. Miracles as such, for instance, may appear to break nature’s laws but in fact they use natural powers that are unusual to the observer – wonderful but not unnatural.

Another feature rising from the integrity of the universe is that the universal laws are interrelated each to the other. It is as though they spring from the same source. This is behind what Einstein calls the ”field theory” in which he seeks to express in mathematical equations, the relationship of each of the array of energies to the others. How did Einstein get hold of this brilliant concept? It is known from his daughter that he wore out one copy of the Secret Doctrine and asked her to go to the T.S. bookshop and buy him another copy.

Man has links of consciousness, of intelligence and of the whole field of energies with the whole universe and there is a path by which this knowledge can be proven is an inward journey and Theosophy will give some advice as to how to manage that process which is to develop in a natural fashion the awareness we have of life as it passes.

It is not that Theosophy rejects reason and logic. Far from it. However, it does reject the premises of a purely material universe or of a universe created by a “wholly other” God, who is ever at a distance from his creation, however benevolent he may be reputed to be. There is no lack of parallels to the concept of reincarnation. Birth, growth, maturity, decay and death are part of every being’s experiences, even the minutest particles which may switch from a being manifest as matter to living unmanifest as energy in a micro-second of our time.

We die daily, says the New Testament. Waking and sleeping are but imperfect examples of death. There are some who, with a little training, can with an effort of will, keep their consciousness of what is happening when they drop off to sleep. Thus they have a foretaste of the death experience. There are those who have had remarkable results taking subjects under hypnosis back in time to past life experiences. Theosophy acknowledges the power of the human consciousness to carry itself to places far distant or in time past, or both.

No doubt other paths to the realisation of the truth of reincarnation exist but the main basis to the structure rests on the Greatest of the Universal Laws. That law is the law of Compassion. Evolution is not a chance occurrence but an expression of nature itself, of an urge for growth that exists in all beings.

Couple this concept with the idea of a universe that is alive, inescapable and from which nothing can be lost, and you may be able to see the necessity for the cyclic program of birth, death, rest, birth, death, rest, etc. this gives the means for all relationships between humans to take on more than a passing significance. It requires also the universal feature of the act of memory. One of our higher principles, Buddhi, is an individualisation of akasa and it is in a sense beyond space-time as we know it. It looks both before and after. It is the seat of our memory, our possible future, our intuition, our spiritual will. Memory provides the instant link between cause and effect, the continuum factor. It enables us to recognise chains of causation.

As before, the way to prove this is the inward one. Many people are sufficiently sensitive to catch the atmosphere of a place. An example of using this power called psychometry, is to hold an object and if necessary place it against the solar plexus. A skilled sensitive can “see” the memories stored in the so-called inanimate object.

Memory is a spiritual power and it is through this power that as well as karma, the evolutionary impulse, the power of compassion and the cyclic character of things and events, that reincarnation as a teaching becomes a logical necessity. Without it there is no rhythm, no purpose, no justice, no economy of effort, no peace, no self-conquest.

A field for investigation within our own self experience is of the rhythms that are occurring in our life. Books are written about bio-rhythms and one of the themes of this popular study seems to be that each individual has a personal pattern of rhythms and they urge that it is important to be aware of these. H.P. Blavatsky talks of the rhythms of the spirit. Birth-death is a half cycle of such a rhythm, the proper period of which is about eighty-odd years. It is the function of our spirit to determine the time and manner of our death, not our personal desires nor our bodily state.

There are no doubt a number of spiritual rhythms one that he talks about is an hourly rhythm and it would be relatively easy to observe and make use of. That is the increase of spiritual energy in the odd hours throughout the day starting from sun-rise. Seminaries in olden times kept these divisions of the day and distributed the hours of work and meditation accordingly. I wonder if researchers and students would find evidence of this should they note the times of day when ideas flow most freely. If we do not observe we will never know. That is the whole thrust of the maxim that is offered students who ask basic questions about life and that maxim is well known to all: “Man, know thyself”.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in

Melbourne

Australia

. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Thu 4 Sep 2008

FLOOD LEGENDS – the Epic of Gilgamesh from ancient Persia, from the Australian Aborigines, the Hopi Indians from America, the Kuomboka ceremony of the Malozi people of Zambia, and from Theosophy by Sam Duband

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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Because deluge legends and mythology are so intimately interwoven, I will start the lecture with brief descriptions of the meanings of these three words. A DELUGE is a great overwhelming of water, an inundation. It is also a theme found in ancient religions, describing primordial destruction of Man, and the world, by universal deluge.

A LEGEND is a non-historical or unverifiable story, about a person, or locality, handed down by tradition, and is popularly accepted as historical. It resembles folk tales, including elements of past mythologies or explanations of natural phenomena. A MYTH is a type of story, usually concerning gods, heroes, imaginary animals and superhuman beings, in an attempt to explain some belief, or natural phenomenon, or extra-ordinary events.

Most religions have their Creation Story, and the Biblical story follows the general pattern, an attempt to explain creation by tracing it back to its source or first cause. Similarly, the folk memory of the ancients seems to have been haunted by recollections of some cataclysmic flood, way back in their ancient history. The fact that myths and legends are found in the Bible, by no means establishes any priority of appearance in history. While no enlightened person of today can read the Bible as an authentic history, neither can one afford to dismiss it as childish myth. Like other tribal sagas, the Bible tells “The Morality Epic of the Sin Flood”. Because of Man’s wickedness God, repented that he had made Man, and decided to destroy him by sending a cleansing flood. Noah the righteous man and his family found grace in God’s eyes and was spared.

The Epic of Gilgamesh describes the adventures of the great king of Ur in his fruitless search for immortality.

Ur of ancient Sumaria, in Biblical times

Babylon, is today known as

Iraq. Contained in this epic is a flood legend that is considered to be of greater antiquity than the one in Genesis (possibly 1500 to 2000 years earlier). In 1872 Babylonian tablets with a cuneiform text were unearthed in

Mesopotamia. Cuneiform letters are formed with wedge shaped characters similar to gold ball tees and of Persian-Assyrian origin. In this story the righteous man is Utnapishtim. He also constructed a sea-worthy ark. In due course the Great God Marduk unleashes the retributive flood waters. At dawn a black cloud came from the horizon. Adad the Lord of the Storms was riding, the gods of the Abyss rose. Nergal pulled out the dams of the nether-waters, Ninurta the War Lord threw down the dykes. A stupor of despair went up to the heavens, when the God of the Storm turned daylight into darkness. “He smashed the land like a cup. Even the gods were terrified, and fled to the higher heavens. The gods of Heaven and Hell wept and covered their mouths. After seven days the sea grew calm. I looked at the face of the world – Mankind was turned to clay. I loosed a swallow, a dove and a raven, I threw everything open to the four winds. I made a sacrifice. Then the gods smelled the sweet savour and gathered like flies over the sacrifice. The ark came to rest in Minisir.”

There are remarkable resemblances, and also some striking differences between the Biblical and the Gilgamesh stories. The Bible does not name a city, but Shurrudak is the other name given. Noah’s one monotheistic god, Jehovah, acted because of man’s sinful existence. Because of a break in the text of the tablets, there does not seem to be an exact reason given for the gods’ decision to destroy Mankind. The text states that, “in those days the world teamed with people, the world bellowed like a wild bull, and the Great God was aroused by the clamour. Sleep was no longer possible because of the babel.” “The gods agree to destroy Mankind.”

Compared with the Biblical description, it is more elaborate and impressive, with so many gods participating in the catastrophe. Common to both are the measurements for the arks, animal entry, righteous people being saved, releasing of birds, and the sacrifices savour for the gods, and the arks coming to rest on mountain tops.

Coming a little closer to home, the next legend concerns our own indigenous people the Australian Aborigines. The myths that concern creation and nature, are accepted as revelations of absolute truth, and form the foundations of their social, secular and ceremonial life. The story is simply called The Flood. “One time the land in all the world was joined up in one great big country. The big flood came. The world was covered. As the water began to go down, the currents divided the land up into islands There were some people cut off on one of these islands. They were great throwers of the boomerang. One man threw his boomerang so hard into the sky out of sight, it landed in Australia. These people followed the path of the boomerang and found

Australia. They split up into different tribes, and went to different rivers, and this is why the tribes talk different languages all over

Australia”. In the February 1980 issue of our magazine, Sunrise, there appears a six page article entitled “Kuomboka – Ancient Wisdom of Malozi”. The Malozi live in

West Zambia in deep

Central Africa. Annually they observe a religious spectacle of renewal and ritual when around the end of February, the

Zambesi

River floods and turns their farm lands into a mighty lake. A ceremonial procession of many small boats and canoes with the Chief’s royal barge using drums and xylophones, call their people to follow them to the safety of higher ground. This is known as Kuomboka. Their legends tell that before the time of their first Chief, there came a great flood known as “The Waters that Swallowed Everything”. In this deluge, all the animals died, and every farm was swept away. Their high god Nyambe ordered a man named Nakambela to build the first great canoe “Nalikwanda” (which means “for the people”). Before voyaging out on the stormy waters, the great canoe was loaded with every type of seed, and animal dung. At the place where this great canoe came to rest, the seeds were scattered to become the progenitors of the plants as we know them today and the animals once again sprang forth from the animal dung.

Reflecting through their philosophy one can observe a possible deeper significance of remembrance of distant past cataclysmic cycles with parallels in the philosophies.

The legends of the Hopi tribe of the American Indians cover a wide area, with creation myths for three previous worlds, and their destruction. The emergence of the Hopi in each case, exodus, migrations over the face of the earth, and arrival at a predetermined homeland – an annual religious cycle, is still being observed.

The first world was empty space. Taiowa created Sotuknang to manifest the Universe. Sotuknang created Spider-Woman who produced twins from the earth and her saliva. They were sent to the poles to keep the world rotating properly. The first people multiplied. They were of different colour and language, but they felt as one. Eventually they sinned in the eyes of the Law. Sotuknang came with a mighty sound of wind to destroy the world by volcanic fire. The chosen ones lived with the ant people in a big mound and were saved.

A second world was built. The chosen ones emerged. In due course history repeated itself. The twins were ordered to leave the poles. The world teetered off balance. The deluge came, chaos resulted and the world froze solid. Eventually the twins returned, the planet rotated and World three was formed. Once again the cycle was repeated. Laws and beliefs were forgotten, flying machines were made from shields of hides, wars came to the world. Spider Woman was ordered to cut down huge reeds to house the chosen ones with food. While the third world was destroyed with water, they were saved to people the present fourth world, known as “The World Complete”.

Theosophy teaches us that in the symbolism of many nations “The Deluge” represents chaos – unsettled matter – water, The Great Deep. Violent minor cataclysms and colossal earthquakes are recorded in the annals of most nations. Elevation and subsidence is always in progress.

Huxley has shown that the British Isles have been four times depressed beneath the ocean, raised again and peopled. The Sahara Desert was the basin of a Miocene sea – within the last 5,000 or 6,000 years the shores of Sweden, Denmark and Norway have risen from 200 to 600 feet – Northern Europe is still rising from the sea – and South America has raised beaches over 1,000 miles in length, varying from 100 to 1,300 feet above sea level. Greenland is sinking fast – Greenlanders will not build by the shore. All these phenomena are certain.

The continents in turn perish by fire and water, either through earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, or by sinking and the great displacement of water. Our continents have to perish owing to these cataclysmic processes. The conformation or structure of the Arctic and Antarctic poles have but little altered. The polar lands unite and break off from each other into islands and peninsulas, yet remain ever the same. Therefore Northern Asia is called in Theosophy “The Eternal or Perpetual Land” and the Antarctic “The Ever Living and Concealed”, while the Mediterranean, Atlantic, Pacific and other regions disappear and reappear in turn, into and above the great waters. Modern science has shown that the continents are like rafts, floating on a sea of molten rock, and these rafts sometimes crash into each other causing uprising of mountains or sinking of continents. The whole globe is convulsed periodically and has been convulsed four times since the appearance of the first race. While on our globe we pass though seven stages called root races each lasting for millions of years. Each root race is shorter than its predecessor and there is some overlapping. Great geological changes separate each root race from its successor, and only a comparatively few survivors remain to provide seed for the next root race. A figure of around 150,000,000 years is given, since the beginning of the first root race. (We are only in the fifth root race). We read in our book The Secret Doctrine that land needs rest and renovation, new forces, and a change for its soul (so does the water). Thence arises a periodical redistribution of land and water, change of climates, etc. All brought on by geological revolution and ending in a final change in the axis. Catastrophes come on slowly, continents sink through the ages, Man migrates to fresh, better, and higher lands, leaving the sinking lands behind, new races are born out of the death of the old. No one should think that in these racial catastrophes everyone is swept away in a moment, in confusion, in wild despair, without hope.

The great cycle of the fourth race, “The Atlanteans” had reached its highest point. The great continent, the father of nearly all the present continents, showed the first symptoms of sinking, a process that occupied it down to 11,500 years ago when its last island, Poseidonis, went down. “It is the submersion of the great Atlantis which is the most interesting”. It is this cataclysm that the old records “The Jewish Book of Enoch” say that the ends of the earth got loose, and upon this the legends and allegories have been built. (The ends of the earth are its poles).

The Atlanteans spread over the earth from the continent of Atlantis, which united Western Europe and Africa with

Eastern America, and built some of the mightiest civilizations. The greater part of the world’s inhabitants still belong to it. The fifth, the Aryan, leads humanity today. The Greek Philosopher-Teacher, Plato, tells in one of his dialogues the story told to him by his ancestor Solon, and told to Solon by the priests of

Egypt. “There was a time when a horde came out of the

Atlantic Ocean, to settle on the land that is now

Greece and

Italy. You Greeks are but children of a day – your forefathers gathered together and repelled the invaders The Atlanteans.” The next section concerns the velocity or speed of rotation of our planet – Earth. When the wheel of Earth runs at its usual rate its extremities the poles agree with its middle circle the equator. When it runs slower and tilts in every direction, there is a greater disturbance on the face of the Earth – the waters flow towards the two ends and new lands arise in the middle belt, the Equatorial Lands, while those at the ends by submersion are subject to a time of rest, repose, the death of one phase followed by the rebirth of its succeeding phase.

Thus the wheel, the Earth, is subject to and regulated by, the spirit of the moon, the breath of its waters the tides. Towards the close of the age of a great root race, the Regents of the Moon, begin drawing harder and thus flatten the wheel about its belt. Then it goes down in some places and swells in others, with the swelling running towards the extremities (the poles). New lands will rise and old ones will be sucked in.

While searching for an Aboriginal flood legend, I found a few lines concerning the relationship between the moon and the tides, and I quote:

“At the sunrise and sunset when the tides are high, the water runs into and fills the moon. As the tides become lower the water runs out, until for three days, the moon is empty. Once more the tides rise, the moon fills, and the everlasting cycle repeats itself”.

You cannot but agree that this relationship is so much easier to follow than the last. Our Aborigines should be called ingenious indigenous. Their Dreamtime is so uncomplicated; in this they are most fortunate.

In conclusion, I would like to impress the importance of keeping an open mind during our studies. To become dogmatic would only crystallize the mind and prevent the recognition of new concepts. I believe that in our search for truth one must satisfy the three main facets of our nature, the Religious, the Scientific, and the Philosophical, and using Logic and Intuition, results can be achieved. I also believe that Cosmogenesis and Anthropogenesis evolve unceasingly, cycle after cycle. Nature destroys in order to rebuild and advance. Mankind is nature and must overcome obstacles in order to learn and hopefully then follow a better path. If our thoughts are indeed living entities that govern our actions, would it be possible through correct living for us to try to minimize the strength of nature’s retributive forces – cataclysms? In about 20,000 years we reach the mid point of our present Aryan fifth root race. When these cataclysms should be starting, certain religions predict “the coming of the end of the world”. Our Theosophical perspectives teach renewal and growth, through Reincarnation and Karma – Karma being the universal law of cause and effect.

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Thu 4 Sep 2008

SOME THOUGHTS ON PRESENTING THEOSOPHY by Frank Walter

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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We contact Theosophy. We feel benefits from it. We join the Theosophical Society. We want to spread our benefits. That is the first object in our Constitution – “To diffuse among men a knowledge of the laws inherent in the Universe”. The second object is - “To promulgate the knowledge of the essential unity of all that is, and to demonstrate that this unity is fundamental in Nature”. Always remember that unity does not mean uniformity.

We achieve these objects by personal contacts, by writing, by speaking; especially public speaking. That is the topic for these suggestions. Nobody is being criticised or “Got At’. It is intended as a passing-on of some experience gained. Speaking publicly will impress our hearers in direct proportion to our sincerity. That sincerity will never leave us time to feel “That was well said!”

Present your truth as simply as possible. Use basic material. Material you know. Don’t rush at it. Take a deep breath, sit on it, and hold tight.

Now for some don’ts. Don’t wander from your theme. Don’t float off into the clouds and get lost in the exuberance of your own verbosity. Don’t use long words if a short one is there; or strange words, or exotic words; but if you have to use one, briefly explain it. Assume there is a simple person there – nice, but thick – and a bit deaf. Think to him. Enunciate words clearly – loud enough to reach the gallery – and NOT TOO FAST.

Keep your head up; don’t mumble into your chest. Use your own words – not long screeds from books – though a short, pithy quote is O.K. Use short sentences – long, involved sentences are confusing, causing interest to wane.Avoid unnecessary adjectives. Don’t be pedantic – or ‘precious’. If you have something to read use moderate speed, put in some expression to avoid deadly monotones. Don’t worry too much about pronunciation, it changes periodically. Words are tools not fixed templates. Meanings also change gradually but your intention will be understood. Avoid ‘and’, ‘n’, ‘er’, and ‘um’ – ‘m’.

Cultivate a cheerful manner. Use humour where possible. Remember this quote from Samuel Butler, “A little levity will save many a heavy thing from sinking”. Look around your audience while speaking. When preparing a talk, state your subject and position first. Build up a middle part with convincing material. Re-state your opening in your conclusion.

Don’t write theses for Doctorates. Try to speak off the top of your head – literally, because you know your stuff and that’s where it comes out. Nervousness is natural and very good. It stops us getting ‘cocky’. If you are afraid of forgetting something in its right order it will give you confidence to have some notes - - - just a word or two, a name, an idea, a reminder of the next logical point. Deal with that point from what is built into your memory. If you don’t know your subject you won’t be able to pass it on.

Finally: No one is going to be able to remember all these ‘do’s and don’ts’ every time they speak. You’re here because you’re interested so TRY. Paderewski had to first learn his scales!

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Tue 2 Sep 2008

SACRED BIRDS by Amanda F. Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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SACRED BIRDS by Amanda Rooke [numbers spread throughout the text refer to references from books cited at the end of the article] By way of introduction I’d like to stress that all birds are sacred, all life-forms are. However some birds seem to be “more sacred than others”, in human estimation, some birds having oracular and fire-bringing symbology rooted in their natural behaviours. Others have been given infernal connotations, rather than sacred ones. Also some American cars have names of birds! Some of these will occur to you later, I think! One reference said that Christmas turkeys are consumed then because they are a vehicle of the renewed light and knowledge, to followers of Apollo, then of Christ they are a solar bird, who brought fire to Man, and Christmas is the solstice whence the light (and Christ the light) returns to the world. 1 We’ll go into these ideas more, later, firstly from other cultures’ viewpoints, then from Theosophy.

Let us ride the Garuda bird of meditative inspiration, from a subjective point of view, so I’m going to study this marvellous analogy from externally, seeing how these attributes appear in mythology and in The Secret Doctrine. What it all seems to come down to is, in many mythologies, and in Theosophy, birds aided in the creation of the cosmos, and in our spiritualisation, they inspire us to live in the Light and in our higher triad, of which birds are a potent symbol, without going too close to the Sun, as Icarus did. Birds represent the Upper Triad [of Man’s inner constitution], its originator in and of the Hierarch, their part in the re-emergence of the cosmos from its pralayic, post-manvantric darkness, and the transmittance of the fire of the mind and spirit from Him to us. Their wings, often transmogrified onto angels and onto other creatures, carry them to the heights of this spiritual realm. In art they symbolise the soul, the element of air and are an attribute of Juno [queen of the Mediterannean peoples’ gods], when she is personifying this element, the sense of touch – a woman with a bird perched on her raised hand. 2 and they nest in a tree at the angel’s annunciation to Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary. 3 Entrapped birds, symbolise spring.4 St. Francis preached to the birds, calling them to praise God, whence they flew into the air in the formation of a cross. 5 [Maybe this was the natural, bird-shaped formation the adopt, to dodge each others’ slip-stream of disturbed air?] Once I saw a picture of a Mocche South American ceramic design of a warrior whose armour and weapons were flung aside and a man-bird flying from the battlefield – to a 13 year old it graphically illustrated the soul leaving the body upon its demise. The author of the Golden Bough writes that the soul escaping the body is often conceived of as a bird taking flight, attempted to be lured back by gifts of rice. 6 Absent Malay warriors having to be referred to as birds as part of the taboo against saying a person’s own name. We know from Aboriginal TV that they have this taboo too.7 The birds in the sacred trees of the ancient forests and sacred groves were seen as messengers between the tree-spirits and Nature gods; their flight across the vault of sky resembles thoughts across the brain in the skull, God’s thoughts and Odin’s messengers, the crows Hugin and Munin, “thought and memory”. 8 In Egypt the soul of the dead is usually depicted as a human-headed bird fluttering from his mouth at death. In Christianity they issue forth from the mouth in the form of a dove. [see appendix re hawks and other birds as souls.] Much of the symbolism particular to a species derives from that specie’s natural habits, especially in Aesop’s fables. The roles played seem dictated by their physical size and attributes, they are then given human voices and the situations are applied to their parallels in the human condition, e.g. ravens seem to be vain, eagles strong, hunting birds take the advantage, little birds are scared victims, doves are gentle, peacocks proud. There was a goose laid one golden egg per day, but its owner wanted it to lay too, throwing away his source of wealth by greed. 10 One old Theosophist from Melbourne, Olga Buchanan, said this goose was the sacred creator of the universe, which we’ll hear of in a minute. These attributes were summarised in the story of the peacock who wished she could also to sing like the nightingale. The singing bird replied: “God and providence gave each his particular gift, the peacock the greatest splendour and beauty, the eagle strength and courage, the nightingale its song and voice, which foretells things of the future, the dove has pity on the old, the crane’s cry always foretells the weather, etc”. 11

My father (A.N. Rooke) when preparing a talk for this group, said that in the Hindu creation story, the first sound was Om, from which all other wavelengths came, like variations upon a theme, - we all have our own personal wavelength, like some giant cosmic radio network - and the A.U.M. (draw this on the whiteboard) - itself made the picture of a bird, the Kalahansa of which we will hear of more, shortly. Birds figure in the creation legends of many cultures. The Thunderbird of Amerindians was a divine creature said to live above the clouds, and the flapping of its wings was the thunder, the flashes of its eyes, the lightning. 12 One myth, which I can’t find the source of, told of two hunters who climbed a hill above a lake at sunset, looked over their shoulders at the lake, and behold, the thunderbird was rising silently from the face of the waters, and flying away to the heavens. (Perhaps it was the evening mist, or the real spiritual essence of that lake?) In the Zuni myth “Who Brought the Sun?” the world was steeped in darkness, only the owl could see where to go, co-opting the soaring eagle and the clever coyote, the three journeyed to where the sun was hidden by evil spirits in a wooden chest in the sky. 13 The Cherokee say the owl brought fire to the Indians, the Ojibwa/Creek Indians say the duck dived down to the bottom of the flood to bring bit by bit, the earth back from under the waters. 14 This picture of the Manitou or Great Spirit, has a man’s face and a bird’s body, and appears to be flying purposefully across the heavens. In one of the many ancient Egyptian creation myths, the holy spirit took the form of a goose and flew across the waters of the original chaos, calling the dry land into being from the deep, and each day the temple priests re-enacted this event by releasing a goose through a special window in the temple wall, to fly across a lake outside. Thousands of years after this, some British archaeologists re-enacted this re-enactment, through the same temple window, in the late 20th century. Clébert writes that the appearance of geese in Egypt each winter solstice made it consecrated as a solar bird, the sun emerging from the primordial egg. It represented the soul of the Pharaoh and at each royal occasion they released four geese to the four points of the compass.15 As an aside, Mother Goose of childhood memory, originated in a Nordic divinity. 16

One Egyptian creation myth reads thus: “At the beginning the world was a waste of water called Nu, the home of, and synonymous with, the Great Father. He gave life to the sun god, Khepera at dawn, Ra at high noon and Atum at eventide. The god of brightness first appeared as a shining egg that floated on the surface of the water, and the spirits of the deep, who were the Fathers and the Mothers, the companions of Nu. Now Ra was greater than Nu, from whom he arose. He was the divine father and strong ruler of gods, and those whom he first created, according to his wish, were Shu, the wind god, and his consort Tefnut who had the head of a lioness and was called The Spitter because she sent the rain. In afterlife these two deities shone as stars amidst the constellations of heaven and were called The Twins. Then Geb, the earth god, came into being and Nut the goddess of the firmament, who became the parents of Osiris and his consort, Isis, and also of Seth and his consort, Nepthys. Ra spoke at the beginning of Creation, and ordered the earth and heavens to rise out of the water. In the brightness of his majesty they appeared, and Shu, the uplifter, raised Nut on high. She formed the vault, which is arched over Geb, the earth god. Then Ra created all things in the waters and the dry land. 17 Nut is pictured as a naked woman with spread wings, and is also the receiver of the dead.18 This tale is quite like the Christian version, where it has been postulated that the dove has the same meaning. The dove was above all else the symbol of the Holy Spirit, the divine spirit hovering over the primordial waters. As such the dove descended from the sky whilst St. John the Baptist baptised Jesus, the dove being flying down like a stooping hawk, rather than alighting from Him. 19 The Genesis 1, 2, story says: “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Thence the Light, and the Firmament, were created, prior to other animate life. Some have said hovered so, in the form of a dove [a Christian symbol of purity], the same dove of the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, which hovered over Christ when he was baptised in the river Jordan by John the Baptist, who said: “I saw the spirit coming down from heaven like a dove and resting upon him”, and is pictured above Christ at the Pentecost, above St. Paul at his baptism, and above Mary at the Annunciation. 20 Such a dove hovers above other holy persons, also signifying the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that which inspired the four evangelists who wrote the four gospels, the wings of the Eagle of St. John, being given to representations of the other three evangelists, to signify this inspiration for them, as well. 21 This dove also signifies the literary inspiration of a saint noted for his writings, inspiring his words. 22 A dove is represented hovering between the Father and Son, the wing-tips touching the lips of each, to show, per the Nicene Creed: the double procession of the Spirit, “proceeding from the Father to the Son.”23 The Doves of Aphrodite fed ambrosia which gave immortality to the infant Zeus, who was king of the gods, when hidden in a cavern on

Mt.

Ida. 24 Zeus/Jupiter’s symbol was the eagle, the master of thunder and lightening, king of birds and king of kings, its piercing eyesight saw all, it knew all and played an augural role; it is carved on lecterns at church, because the eagle and the lectern deliver a divine message [from reading from the Bible]. 25 The eagle symbolised the Christian neophyte who renewed his life in the baptismal water, and the eagle thus “became” Christ himself, because this bird regrew its feathers periodically. 26 Because birds symbolised the soul or spiritual, opposite of the material; Mary is represented with the dove of the Holy Spirit hovering over her; if seven doves are there, typifying the gifts of the Spirit, she is the Mater Sapientiae, Mother of Wisdom, whilst if she is reading with doves nearby they represent her gentleness and tenderness.27 We remember the exhortation: “Be ye wise as serpents and gentle as doves”. Angels are of course represented in art as winged, and so sometimes are the Apostles. In Ezekial’s vision (Ezek, 1.5), the Jews saw the four winged fiery creatures as the four archangels, but the early Christians saw them as the four Evangelists, or Gospel writers. The four beasts of the Apocalypse, were given the same explanation, and though only one, the Eagle, was winged, they all came at one stage to be represented with wings – they were given the emblem of the eagle of St. John, signifying “lofty flights of inspiration” 28 Ovid told that Venus was drawn through the air by a team of doves. 29 Her attributes because they symbolised love and constancy. 30 The dove has long been accepted as a messenger of the divine will, and signifies the activity of God. The name dove is given to oracles and to prophets. 31 The Christian symbolism draws partly from Greek and Roman myth, and maybe from Hebrew tradition, as M.P. Hall writes that true name of the dove was Ionah or Ionas; it was adopted by the Hebrews, and the mystic Dove was regarded as a symbol from the days of Noah by all those who were of the Church of

God. The prophet sent to Ninevah as God’s messenger was called Jonah or the Dove; the forerunner of The Christ, the Baptist, was called in Greek by the name Ioannes, as was the Apostle John who wrote the fourth Gospel, and the Apocalypse – 32-33 The columbine flower (from Columba, “dove”) resembles seven hovering doves whose beaks meet at the flower’s pollinaries, doves signifying the Holy Ghost, and the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit –Sapientia, Intellectus, Consilium, Fortitudo, Scientia, Pietas, Timor. 34 According to Manly P. Hall the dove represented the third person of the Creative Triad, i.e. the Fabricator/ generator of the world/lower worlds, thus being associated with the procreative deities, Astarte, Cybele, Isis, Venus, Juno, Mylitta, and Aphrodite. Because of the dove’s gentleness and devotion to its young it embodied maternal instinct, and also symbolised wisdom, as it represents the power and order by which the lower worlds are maintained. 35 In Masonry the dove symbolises purity and innocence, and in the pagan Mysteries the dove of Venus was crucified upon the four spokes of a great wheel, as Christ later would be. Mohammed drove the doves from the temple at Mecca, but he is sometimes depicted with a dove on his shoulder, symbolising divine inspiration (as in Christianity!). In ancient times sceptres were topped with effigies of doves to signify the carrier of the staff was overshadowed by divine prerogative, and in medieval art the dove is often pictured as an emblem of divine benediction. 36 It symbolises peace because it brought back to the ark, an olive branch (traditionally used as a kind of “white flag” between warring parties). 37 HPBlavatsky wrote about the universe created by a bird, and somewhat earlier than some French philosophers built a robotic duck, “Le Canard” which swam placidly on one of the large ponds in one of the public gardens in Paris; men from the machine age were postulating on a mechanistic universe. HPB in the Secret Doctrine later wrote about a universe in the form of a bird, and of an egg which it laid, the “Kalahansa bird of time”. One of the symbols of the Theosophical Society, on the cover of The Dialogues of GDPurucker, shows the winged orb, illustrated for you, which seems to trace to a “symbol of Horus at Edfu”, but the latter had ureas’s, which look like rearing cobras, on either side of the globe. Edfu was supposed to be the original home of Horus, which symbol also has a ureas on either side of the central solar disk. 38 The following story mirrors and expands upon, the aforementioned stories from other cultures. Here follows the story of the Creation and the Mundane Egg, all verbatim, selectively, according to HPB and the Secret Doctrine: Aristophanes wrote that Eros was born of the original egg, united itself with the winged Chaos, in the darkness and in Tartarus (the underworld) to engender the race of birds in a time when the Immortals did not yet exist. 39 Eros was Cupid, depicted as winged, and the consort of Psyche, personification of Mind. HPB writes about Apollo and Athena transforming themselves into the form of birds, the symbol and glyph of the higher divinities and angels, then Apollo assumes divine creative powers and the personification of Seership, when he sends the astral double of Aeneas to the battle field and has the gift of appearing to his Seers without being visible to other persons present. According to the Popul Vuh, sacred text of the Mayans, the gifts of mind were brought to Man by Quetzalcoatl, “the feathered serpent” “the god of the east”. This Mesoamerican deity conveyed wisdom, and a 9th century namesake who was a patron of learning and art. 40 A dynasty of namesake Tolteca kings followed their founder. He came from the east and his successors returned there. “The great civilizer” teacher of the arts and sciences, was also worshipped as Ehecatl, God of the Wind, Yolcuat the Rattle Snake, Quetzalcoatl or serpent covered with green feathers, corresponding with the Mayan name Kukulcán and the Quiché Gucumatz, Quetzalcoatl also being identified with the got Tohil, both being rain-gods. 41 Back to the Mundane Egg, HPB writes that the egg was revered because the creature within appeared to self-generate, and was figured to be dropped into the original Chaos by an invisible mysterious bird, which egg became the Universe. Brahm was called thus, Kalahansa, the swan in (Space and) Time who became the “Swan of Eternity” laying at the beginning of mahamanvantara a “Golden Egg” the great Circle, O, symbol for the universe and its spherical celestial bodies. 42 In it Ra, the Sun, gestated, the egg of a great hen, the egg of Seb, who issue from it like a hawk”. 43 The Vishnu Puranas call [this egg] the Hiranya or Shining Egg. HPB wrote that the Egg was the symbol of life in immortality and eternity, the glyph of the generative matrix, and the tau (T-shaped Cross) associated with it, only of life and birth in generation. 44

The ancient Greeks told the story of the birth of twin boys and twin girls from two eggs, born of Leda, a mortal woman, and of Zeus, who came to her in the form of a swan. Part of the theme of the tale is an inseparable connection between pure spirit and pure materiality, of the Omega and Alpha and of man being never quite the one nor the other, on his long climb upwards. HPBlavatsky also interprets it where Zeus is the father of the twins, as a cosmic myth of the world born from an egg. Leda herself becomes a white swan, that is her upper triad unites with the divine swan. Six eggs of gold are laid, and a seventh of iron, which are the planets. The mundane egg symbolises the origin and secret of being. The first cause was seen as an ever invisible, mysterious bird that dropped an egg into Chaos, which egg became the universe. So Brahm was called “the swan of eternity”, the Kalahansa, the swan in space and time. It lays a golden egg at the beginning of each Manvantara. The circle thus came to symbolise this earth, and the universe as a whole. HPBlavatsky says Brahma (neuter) means eternal swan or goose, and so is Brahmâ the creator, but really Brahma (neuter) is the Hansa-vahana, He who uses the swan as his vehicle, which vehicle is the Kalahansa, being both Hamsa and A-hamsa?! 45 In the Katha Upanishad, quoted by Blavatsky, it tells of Purusha, the divine spirit, “standing before original matter from which came the soul of the world, Maha Atma Brahm, the spirit of life, the universal soul, the astral light. In the Secret Doctrine, I, 360, it tells that Vishnu Purana, or intellect mahat, the unmanifested gross elements inclusive, formed an egg and the lord of the universe himself abided in it, in the character of Brahma. In that egg, oh Brahma, were the continents, the seas, the mountains, the planets, and divisions of the universes, the gods, the demons, and mankind”. The Egg gives birth to the 4 continents with the fifth, Ether, and is covered with seven covering, which become later on the seven upper and the seven lower worlds. Breaking in two, the shell becomes the heaven and the meat the earth, the white forming the terrestrial waters. Then again, it is Vishnu who emerges from within the egg with a lotus in hand, Vinata, a daughter of Daksha and wife of Kasyapa (”the Self-born sprung from Time,” one of the seven “creators” of our world”, brought forth an egg from which was born Garuda, the vehicle of Vishnu, the latter allegory having a relation to our earth only, as Garuda is the Great Cycle.46 The Mundane egg in the poem of Voluspa (the song of the prophetess), is again discovered in the phantom-germ of the Universe, which is represented as lying in the Ginnungagap – the cup of illusion (Maya) the boundless and void abyss. 47 HPB wrote that the creative duad had sacred to it aquatic plants and birds – the ibis, swan, goose, crocodile and lotus. 48 She said the aforementioned the sentence “God made the heavens and the earth” reads “In and out of his own essence as (the mundane egg) God created the two heavens, but the Christians have chosen the dove as the symbol of their Holy Ghost. 49 As we learned in the Angels talk, creation proceeded downwards from the upper triad of the hierarch, i.e. three triads and one, of the 10 part sephirophal tree/Adam Kadmon; “from the invisible Dew falling from the higher Uni-triad (leaving seven remaining sephiroths), the Head sephira creates primeval waters, i.e. Chaos takes shape and this is the first of many stages of solidification of spirit - “It requires earth and water to make a living soul”, says Moses, it requires the image of an aquatic bird to connect it with water, the female element of procreation with the egg and the bird which fecundates it”. 50

This primordial whirlwind, unfathomable darkness, is also called the “It of the Kalahansa, the Kala-ham-sa” and even the “Kali Hamsa”, Black Swan. 51 Hamsa is equal to a-ham-sa, meaning “I am he”, but divided in another way it reads “So-ham”, “he (is) I”, thus containing the universal mystery of the identity of man’s essence with god-essence, or Kalaham-sa, “I am I’, in the eternity of Time, as in the Biblical/Zoroastrian “I am that I am”. 52 (A-ham-sa, [I am he, so ham being equal to sah “he” and ahamn, “I”, a mystic anagram and permutation] It is also the “four-faced” Brahmâ, the Chatur mukha or perfect cube forming itself within, and from the infinite circle; and again the use of the 1,3,5, and 7/7 = 14, as the esoteric hierarchy of the Dhyan Chohans is explained. – 53 So the swan or goose is the symbol of that male or temporary deity who is the emanation of the primordial Ray who must serve as the vehicle for that divine Ray which otherwise could not manifest in the Universe, itself being an emanation of “Darkness”. 54 This ray paradoxically contains the other seven procreative rays or powers – the logoi or builders, and these in Rosicrucian symbology are the Pelican with its seven youngsters, the Ein Soph or primal cause being called the “Fiery Soul of the Pelican” in the Book of Numbers.55– the seven serpents may also be the seven headed serpent Sesha, mount of Vishnu, Kala is one of the names of Vishnu. 56 It appears every Manvantara as Narâyan or Swayambhuva (the Self-Existent), entering and then emerging from the Mundane Egg after incubation as Brahmâ or Prajâpati, a progenitor of the future universe into which it expands, being Purusha (spirit) but also Prakriti (matter), Prajâpati only becoming the male Brahmâ after separating into two halves, Brahmâ- vâch (the female) and mâ Brahmâ-Virâj (the male). 57 In the Hebrew Zohar, the Ein Soph or first cause, descends into Adam Kadmon (humanity) as its chariot or vehicle, for purposes of manifestation. 58 (HENCE the twins, born of the egg of Zeus and Leda!) It is seen as symbolising Divine Wisdom, Wisdom in darkness beyond the reach of men. The Hindus saying Hansa when given milk mixed with water for its food, separated the two, drinking the milk and leaving the water, thus showing inherent wisdom milk standing for spirit and water for matter. 59 This recalls how Garuda aided in the Creation by churning the waters/ milk to separate the sea from the dry land. Hansa the bird of wisdom has a parallel in Mazdean wisdom, and is called Karshipta, who brought the wisdom of Mazda (the logos), seen as “an incarnation of lightning”, its song often seen as “an utterance of a god and a revelation”; Karshpita is the human mindsoul, and the deity thereof, the soul of man, which no sooner had it entered man than he understood the law of Mazda, or Divine Wisdom; in the branches of the Biblical-like tree of knowledge of good and evil the birds lodge and build their nests, i.e. the souls and the Angels have their place.60 For the Kabalists the bird also symbolised Angel, a Soul, a Spirit, or Deva; and the “Bird’s Nest” was with both Heaven, and is God’s bosom in the Zohar. The perfect Messiah enters Eden “into that place which is called the “Bird’s Nest” 61 “Like a bird that is flying from its nest, and that is the Soul from which the Shekeenah (divine wisdom or grace) does not move away: (Zohar, iii., 278a; Myer’s Qabbalah, 217). “The Nest of the eternal Bird, the flutter of whose wings produces life, is boundless space”, says the Commentary, meaning Hansa, the bird of Wisdom. 62 Many traditions tell of birds bringing fire to Man – i.e. the light of the mind. From the bough of the celestial ash-tree (Yggdrasil) a divine bird nestled in that tree’s boughs stole the fruit from that bough and carried it to earth in its bill – Phoroneus (likened to Prometheus) is the personified bird, that brings the heavenly lightning to the Earth. 63 The “Rioletet (a thrush?) and in general all birds that have a red spot of plumage, are considered fire-bringers, the black woodpecker associated with a red mark made when it hammers on the tree trunk, also has this role. The eagle, bird of Zeus, and also the crow, brought the celestial fire to Man. 64 Garuda can be pictured as a vulture, goose, swan, or eagle, half-man, half-bird, is the mount of Vishnu, is the king of birds, and was born of Kasyapa and Vinat, one of the daughters of Daksha; he is the enemy of serpents, because his mother quarrelled with her co-wife and superior, Kandru, mother of serpents. At his birth Garuda’s lustre was so bright that the gods mistook him for Agni, the fire-god. He is said to have stolen the Amrita from the gods in order to purchase his mother’s freedom from Kandru. Indra battled for the Amrita, but lost and his thunderbolt was smashed. He looks like this figurine – eagle’s head, beak, wings and talons, man’s body and limbs, white face, red wings, golden body. (show the figurine). 65 The Amrita were the “precious things” given in sacrifice, the waters of life, and especially the Soma juice, which the gods needed for renewal of their strength after the battle. Vishnu bade them collect and strew, herbs upon the ocean of milk, which he churned using Mandara the Mountain as the churning-staff, Vasuki the serpent as the rope, Hari (Vishnu avatara’d as a tortoise) as the pivot, and as the churn to produce the drink of immortality. The first thing to be churned out of the maelstrom was a cow, promptly deified, and an eternal wellspring of milk and offerings of butter for mankind, as well as the nectar of the gods which the Suryas drank and won their battle against the demons, who had tried to obtain it for themselves, and who were thence cast into hell. 66

HPBlavatsky wrote that the half-man, half-bird Garuda, the vahan or vehicle on which Vishnu (who is Kâla or “time”) is the Indian Phoenix, emblem of cyclic and periodical time, the “man-lion” Singha. Over the seven rays of the lion’s crown, and corresponding to their points, stand, in many cases, the seven vowels of the Greek alphabet AEHIOY and omega, testifying to the Seven Heavens:. This is the Solar lion and the emblem of the Solar cycle, as Garuda is that of the great cycle, the Maha-Kalpa co-eternal with Vishnu, and also the emblem of the sun and Solar cycle. His birth-story shows this in allegory – At his birth Garuda is mistaken for Agni the god of Fire, due to Garuda’s dazzling splendour, and thereupon called “Lord of the sky”. Because he is represented as Osiris, and by many heads of allegorical monsters on the Abraxas (Gnostic) gems, with the head and beak of an eagle or a hawk (solar birds), denotes Garuda’s solar and cyclic character. His Son is Jâtabu, the cycle of 60,000 years. 67 The Hansa/Hamsa were also the original Hindu caste par excellence, living in a range in the Himalayas north of Mount Meru, called Hamsa, relating to religious mysteries and initiations.68 According to Sankarachârya, fire means a deity which presides over Time (kâla).(link to Garuda’s fiery colour, and seven snakes at beginning of time/world. – 69 In the time of Chaos, the ante-genetic period, the double Swan and the Dark Swan, which becomes white, when Light is created. The aquatic bird – a swan or goose, symbolising the Universal Principal, is a symbol found in every cosmogony and world religion 70 Because Vishnu rides Garuda/Hamsa, Vishnu is the god in space and time. 71 She says cosmogonies start either with a circle, an egg, or a head (of Adam Kadmon), and a darkness which surrounds this symbol, (Hindu, Egyptian, Chaldeo-Hebrew and even Scandinavian systems) – hence black ravens, black doves, black waters and even black flames- the black doves flew from Egypt and settling on the oaks of Dodona, gave their names to the Grecian gods, Noah lets out a black raven after the deluge, which is a symbol for the Cosmic pralaya before creation, Odin’s black ravens fluttered around the Goddess Saga and “whispered to her of the past and of the future”.72 The black birds are all connected with the primordial wisdom, which flows out of the precosmic Source of all, i.e. the head, circle or egg that we just mentioined, and all have the same meaning and relate to the primordial Archetypal man (Adam Kadmon), the creative origin of things which is composed of the Host of Creative Powers, the Creative Dhyan-Chohans, beyond with all is darkness (because un-create).73

The waters are the akasa, primordial ocean of Space. 74 The Hindus spoke of the Asvatta (tree of Life and Being, i.e. the Rod of the caduceus) which grows from and descends at every Beginning, i.e. every new Manvantara, from the two dark wings of the Swan (Hansa) of Life. The two serpents, the everliving and its illusion (spirit and matter) whose two heads grow from the one head between the wings, descend along the trunk, interlaced in close embrace. The two tails join on earth (the manifested Universe) into one, and this is the grat illusion, O Lanoo!” 75 HPBlavatsky moves from the bird as a symbol of cosmogenesis, to that of anthropogenesis, in Vol 2.HPBlavatsky also discusses the T-shaped Cross, called the Tau, in Egyptian and Mexican manuscripts, a central stem with two branches (the arms of the T), each branch bearing a triple bunch, with a bird, the bird of immortality, Atman or the divine Spirit, sitting between these two branches, thus making the seventh, representing the same idea as the Sephirophal Tree. 76 She quotes the Stanzas of Dhyzan, the Third or Sweat-born race being created. “The sweat grew, its drops grew, and the drops became hard and round. The sun warmed it; the moon cooled and shaped it; the wind fed it until its ripeness. The white swan from the starry vault (the Moon), overshadowed the big drop. The egg of the future race, the Man-Swan (Hamsa) or the later third (a) first male-female, then man and woman.77 HPBlavatsky often placed a triangle of dots after her signature, (like a “therefore” sign in mathematics), signifying the above-described divine swan which first called life into manifestation. The Swan by its grace and purity symbolised the spiritual grace and purity of the initiate; it also represented the Mysteries which unfolded these qualities in humanity. This explains the allegories of the gods (the secret wisdom) incarnating in the body of a swan (the initiate)78 Ovid tells Cygnus was changed into a swan as he mourned the death of Phaeton, who inexpertly flew the chariot of the Sun, and crashed to the ground. 79 Classical writers believed the swan loved music and uttered a beautiful song at its death, thus becoming associated with Apollo and thence certain muses, e.g. Erato and Clio, the soul of a poet supposedly entered into a swan; because of their beauty, swans drew the chariot of Venus.80 For the hyperborean peoples, the nightly journey of the sun was in a boat towed by swans. 81 The other bird extremely significant to theosophists, is the PHOENIX or BENU BIRD, as it symbolises the reincarnating ego. You’ll have seen this in Harry Potter. Clement (an pre-Nicæan Church father), wrote The Phoenix is the only one of its kind, lives for 500 [ (or 540 according to Pliny and Solon, 654 according to Suidas, or 1461 years according to Tacitus. 1461 was the period between risings of Syrius]. 82 years and when death is immanent it builds itself a nest of frankincense, and myrrh, and other spices, which it enters and dies and from its decay emerges a worm which nourished by the bird brings forth feathers, upon which it bears the nest and body from Arabia to Heliopolis, the city of the sun, in Egypt, places them on the altar of the sun, and flies back again. And having done this, hastens back to its former abode. Herodotus gave a similar account, Pliny described the capture of one of these birds and its exhibition on the Roman Forum during the reign of the Emperor Claudius, and Herodotus and Pliny noted the similarity in shape between the Phoenix and Eagle. The

Phoenix was the size of an eagle, had glossy purple body plumage and alternate blue and red long tail-feathers. Its head was light in colour, with a circlet or cone of golden plumage about its neck. At the back of its head was a peculiar tuft of feathers.83 Or: twice as long as an eagle, varied coloured wings, purple throat, vermillion claws, its neck covered in saffron coloured down, its head like that of a domestic rooster, pale yellow pupils, within a scarlet cornea, it is gilded by the rays of the sun, its feathers have the ability to stay afloat and not to sink, its song the most harmonious anyone could ever have heard, it seemed like the king of birds because all others flew meekly behind it and bent their head towards it; rapid as a bull in its advance – could be a golden pheasant, a heron? 84 Ovid and others affirm it fed on nothing but the “tears” of incense and the sap of an aromatic plant which the Romans embalmed their dead with, and perfumed their hair with.85 Its rising from the fire symbolises how Christ went to hell and rose again. 86 Harry Potter found out that the

Phoenix’s tears cured the poisonous bite of the basilisk. It was venerated at Heliopolis as the soul of Osiris. 87 Clébert wrote that according to G. Jequier (Considérations sur la religion égyptienne, p. 92 sq), the heron may have been its prototype, because of its stork-like habit of building nests on chimney-tops, and that when a pair of herons returned to Heliopolis to their old nest there, it was considered a good omen, so it was natural to regard the ashy-coloured heron as being given a divine origin, back in prehistoric times, and the renewal of the yearly calendar and the solar cycle, but at the end of the new empire the benu appeared as the ardea cinerea, the great grey heron with two long plumes trailing behind its head, and having its seat (of learning) at Heliopolis. 88 HPBlavatsky quoted Maspero that the Benu (or phoenix, the bird of resurrection in Eternity) in whom night follows the day and day the night – an allusion to the periodical cycles of cosmic resurrection and human reincarnation, was like Osiris, the Law of existence and Being – speaking of the wayfarer who crosses the millions of years, the name of One, and the great green, the primordial water of Chaos, the name of the other, one begetting millions of years in succession, the other engulfing them, to restore them back. He speaks of seven luminous ones who follow their Lord, who confers justice, i.e. Osiris in Amenti, the underworld. 89 HPBlavatsky discussed the Phoenix in relation to “the seven earths”, saying Phoenix is from Hebrew Phenoch, Enoch, symbol of a secret cycle and initiation) and by the Turks Kerkes; it lives 1000 years , then kindles a flame, is self-consumed, then is reborn from itself to live another thousand years, up to seven times seven = 49, the 49 Manus, the seven rounds, and the seven times seven human cycles in each Round on each globe. The Kerkes and the Onech stand for a race cycle, and the mystical tree Ababel – the “Father Tree: in the Koran, shoots out new branches and vegetation at every resurrection of the Kerkes or Phoenix; the “Day of Judgement” meaning a “minor Pralaya” – the Roc is the same as the Simorgh, in age and details 90 It was born cycles and cycles before Adam’s time, and saw the birth and close of 12 cycles of 7000 years, i.e. 840,000 years; Simorgh was born with the last deluge of the pre-Adamites. 91 The phoenix was regarded as sacred to the sun, the length of its life (500-1000 years) was taken as a standard for measuring the motion of the heavenly bodies and also the cycles of time used in the Mysteries to designate the periods of existence. The diet of the bird is unknown, some saying it subsisted upon the atmosphere, others that it ate very rarely but never in the presence of man. It’s described as using sprigs of Acacia to make its nest, something modern Masons should take note of. 92

The Phoenix is the Persian Roc, (said to be able to carry an elephant in its claws - and is the name for the Southern constellation, having therefore both astronomical and astrological significance. It was probably the Swan of the Greeks, the Eagle of the Romans, and the peacock of the Far East. 93 The phoenix could also be the eagle, or the pelican, spoken of by HPB, above. Christian lore says the pelican which tore open her own chest/flank to feed her seven young with her blood, just as Christ’s side was torn and the blood of the Eucharist flowed out, thus the pelican is a Christian emblem of our redemption, through Christ’s sufferings. 94 [William of

Normandy wrote that when the chicks began to grow they hit their parents in the face, an outflow of fish tumbling down, killing them. They wept over them for three days and on the third day the mother, opening her side, lay upon her chicks and bled upon them, thus reviving them]. 95 Caucasus in Arabic means pelican mountain, upon which Prometheus was pecked in the side by an eagle, like the pelican allowing his side to be opened to assure to Man the possession of a celestial divine fire.96 It’s interchangeable with the woodpecker as the bringer of fire, its name in Latin meaning “pic”. Reversing this idea, the stork was believed in Medieval bestiaries to feed its parents when they could no longer care for themselves, thus symbolising filial piety.97 In the Mysteries initiates were referred to as Phoenixes or men who had been born again, for just as physical birth gives man consciousness in the physical world, so the neophyte, after nine degrees in the womb of the Mysteries, was born into a consciousness of the spiritual world – the initiation Christ referred to when saying: “Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John iii.3). The phoenix is a fitting symbol of this spiritual rebirth. Manly P Hall thinks the eagle on the seal of the United States is actually a phoenix, a key Masonic symbol, because of two preparatory images one shows a phoenix on one side and the great pyramid of Gizeh on the other, and another, a phoenix sitting on its nest of flames. 98 The bird in the 1782 version was slenderer, had a longer neck, shorter wings, less hooked beak, and a tuft of feathers on its head found on an Egyptian Phoenix, depicted with the body of a man, and the wings of a bird, kneeling upon a “neb” hieroglyph, with hands upheld (in prayer?) with a star in front of him; the phoenix was a symbol of regeneration, so the tuft might symbolise the activity of the pineal gland or third eye. 99 This tuft might the fanned-out tail of the peacock, which according to one myth was the solar wheel, the Sufis saying God created the spirit in the form of a peacock and showed it His proper image in the mirror of the divine essence. 100 The eagle holds arrows in one claw and an olive branch in the other, symbolising both war and peace. 101 Early Christians adopted the phoenix to symbolise Christ’s Resurrection, in funerary sculpture, of crucifixion in Medieval art, and also symbolised Chastity. 102 The phoenix is the aspect of the universal spirit described by HPB’s creation stories, as seen from the human aspect of humanity’s own spirituality, the link with the spirit of the Lord that hovered over the deep at the Beginning. To conclude with a repeat of the Beginning, birds aided in the creation of the cosmos, and in our spiritualisation, and inspire us to fly near the light and live in our higher triad, of which birds are a potent symbol.

MONOGRAMS:

THE EAGLE symbolised courage. Jupiter’s eagle was the master of thunder and lightening, king of birds and king of kings, its piercing eyesight saw all, it knew all and played an augural role; it is carved on lecterns at church, because the eagle and the lectern deliver a divine message [from reading from the Bible]. Because it regrew its feathers periodically it symbolised the Christian neophyte who renewed his life in the baptismal water, and the eagle thus “became” Christ himself. 103 Perhaps due to its soaring beyond the field of vision, it is regarded as a solar bird, able to look the sun in the face, without lowering its eyelids or burning its eyes; it could hover above the hub of the world, first having travelled with the course of the sun – as the sun itself, it accumulated the functions of light and fire, it is the emblem of Zeus and often that god himself; it was the carrier of the divine fire before the birth of the master of Olympus (Zeus).104 The Greeks thought Jupiter’s eagle carried the celestial winds between its talons. 105 According to Manly P. Hall, the Eagles of Napoleon and Caesar & the zodiacal eagle of Scorpio are really phoenixes, for the latter bird, not the eagle, is the symbol of spiritual victory and achievement. They also symbolised watchfulness. 106 He figures the single and double headed eagles are phoenixes, and that to all initiates and philosophers the phoenix is the symbol of transmutation and regeneration of the creative energy – commonly called the accomplishment of the Great work. The double headed phoenix is the prototype of an androgynous man, for according to the secret teachings there will come a time when the human body will have two spinal cords, by means. 107

HAWKS: Birds were used to symbolise the vital breath, hawklike birds with human heads, with the symbols of immortality in their claws, are shown hovering as emblems of the liberated soul over the mummified bodies of the dead. To the Egyptians the hawk was the sacred symbol of the sun; and Ra, Osiris, and Horus are often depicted with the heads of hawks. 108 The Icelanders say the bustard can be seen at the foot of the deathbed if the person’s soul has taken flight. 109 Goldfinches are often depicted in the hand of a child, they were favourite childhood pets, when held by the Christ-child it presages His road to Calvary to the Christians symbolised the soul issuing from a dying person’s mouth, Calvary when a goldfinch flew over His head and drew out a thorn from his brow, being splashed on the head with a blood-drop, thus attaining this red plumage. 110 This concept is retained in Christian art, but the soul issues forth in the form of a dove. 111 A dove issuing from a nun’s mouth signifies her rising to heaven, and from the mouth of dying saints, to reach the regions of light and reward. 112 King David in Psalm 124, described the Lord delivering Israel from the teeth of her enemies, like a bird escaping its captor: “Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. HPB writes that an egg is also pictured hovering over the mummy, the promise of the hope and promise of a second birth for the Osirified dead, when the soul after purification in Amenti (bodiless state, purgatory) will gestate in this egg of immortality, to be reborn from it into a new life on earth. This relates to the hawk, symbol of Osiris-Sun’s dual significance, to both lives, the mortal and the immortal – it naturally relates back to the original winged globe at the beginning of the universe. 113 Falcons: Horus the god-master of the heavens, had one eye which was the sun, one eye which was the moon – was attributed to Ra and symbolised the rising sun; a hooded falcon represents hope and light which sustained those who live in the shadows. 114 Horus: Special protector of kings, one eye was the sun, the other the moon, son of Isis and Osiris he came to be linked with the life-giving sky and the life-giving earth; “Horus the Child” (2nd of two successive gods) was the first of the long chain of pharaohs. 115 Hawks and other hunting animals were exchanged as gifts between Pwyll, lord of Arberth, king of the Otherworld, in the First Branch of the Mabinogi. 116 [Isis, after the incorporation of her husband’s body into a tree which became a temple-pillar, flew about this pillar in the form of a swallow. 117 WR = swallow = greatness in hieroglyphics. HPBlavatsky says to the Egyptians the hawk was the bird of initiation, a scene from the temple of Philoe showing a hawk-headed god (symbolic of the Sun) and an ibis-headed god (Mercury, Thoth, god of Wisdom and secret learning, the assessor of Osiris-Sun), standing over a newly initiated candidate, pouring on his head a double stream of water (both life and new birth), which water is interlaced in the shape of a cross and full of small ansated crosses: 118 She says the Egyptians used the symbol of a serpent with a hawk’s head to allude to the North pole and also the pole of the heavens which produces the seasons according to the angle at which it penetrates the centre of the earth – and to the Kosmos which had this large fiery circle, the serpent with the hawk’s head, lying across its diameter. 119

CHICKENS AND ROOSTERS: The Rooster was a symbol of Cashmala (Cadmillus) in the Samothracian Mysteries, also a phallic symbol sacred to the sun. Symbol of vigilance and resurrection, and hence of the immortality of the soul, it was consecrated to Hermes, Apollo, and Asclepius, as well as to Ares/Mars. 120 The Muslims believe a giant rooster will awake the dead at the Last Judgement, but that the Scandinavians thought a red rooster will announce the end of the world.121 Cranes and geese also symbolised vigilance 122 [This is because in the Historia Animalium of Aristotle (9:10) cranes supposedly slept standing on one leg, the other claw holding a stone which if dropped, re-awakened the bird.]. Mercury’s chariot was drawn by cocks, or by storks. 123 Also because of the thousand precautions she takes to hide her nest or to escape from her enemies. 124 When placed in the centre of a weather vane it signifies the sun in the midst of the four corners of creation. The Greeks sacrificed a rooster to the gods at the time of entering the Eleusinian Mysteries. Sir Francis Bacon is supposed to have died as a result of stuffing a fowl with snow – perhaps a symbol of his initiation into the pagan Mysteries which still existed in his day. They are the attribute of St. Peter who thrice denied Christ ere the cock crowed, and repented, in Mark 14:66-72). The rooster or dove signify lust. 125 Chickens (of the Celtic Iron Age) were Red Jungle Fowl, imported from India or the Far East (& are notable post-Roman occupation, moderate in size but smaller than the Romano period ones), they arrived later in Britain than in Celtic Europe; Caesar saying the Britons shunned the eating of geese and chickens, but they used them increasingly during the occupation- most likely they were greylag geese and mallard ducks which both appear in funerary offerings in Gaul, and were represented in the religious iconography then too. They were newcomers to Europe in the Hallstatt times?!, thought to have been imported from

India. 126 (Miranda Green; Animals in Celtic Life and Myth, London, Routledge, 1992 - 22-24, 142) Romano-Celtic deities are depicted carrying eggs: the healer goddess Sirona at Hochscheid in

Germany carrying a bowl of three eggs, and the Genii Cucallati at Cirencester Gloucester carries eggs as fertility symbols. Caesar commented that neither geese nor chickens were eaten by the Britons, but both appear as food-offerings in Gaulish graves, and in domestic refuse-sites of Iron Age

Britain. 127 Were sacrificed along with a goat, in a

temple of

Mercury, and were associated with the Celtic Mars.

PEACOCKS: Peacock’s “eyes” on its tail-feathers symbolised wisdom; its general appearance made it get confused with the phoenix. Its flesh was supposed not to rot if kept a long time, and linked with this idea it came to symbolise immortality, because the spiritual nature of man is also incorruptible. Though seen to symbolise pride in Aesop’s fables, and the symbol of chief of the Greek and roman goddesses, Juno, whose chariot was drawn by “brightly coloured peacocks… (which) had only recently acquired their bright plumage, at the time of Argus’s death – Argus had been the 100-eyed giant, set by Juno to guard Io, illegal beloved of Jove; Argus was slain by Hermes at Jove’s bequest. 128 Thence it became a symbol of vigilance and contemplation.129 In memory Juno took his eyes and set them in the tail of her peacock. 130 Peacocks to the early Christians were thought to be immortal, their flesh never rotted. Thus they symbolised the change of life to immortality, and of Christ’s resurrection, because in pre-Christian times peacocks represented the apotheosis of an empress (it was the symbol of Juno, chief goddess of the Greeks and Romans). 131 Also: Pride. (Manly P. Hall.). It also represented resurrection because its lovely plumes moulted in autumn like dead leaves, not to regrow until spring. 132

THE IBIS was paid divine honours by the Egyptians, to kill one was a cardinal crime, even if by accident, they thought Ibises could only live in Egypt and if transported elsewhere it’d die of grief; it was declared the preserver of corpses; it drove out the winged serpents of Libya which the wind blew into Egypt; it was sacred to Thoth, and when it tucked its head under its wing the bird closely resembled a human heart (See Montfaucon’s Antiquities). It rid the banks of the Nile of many reptiles, but it was believed basilisks hatched from ibis eggs whose eggs were thus sought out and destroyed – it was a symbol of prosperity and the protector of agriculture. 133 He was the physical form of the god Thoth, patron of the the prophetic word, of warriors, enchanters and magicians, later assimilated with the Greek god Hermes, [because that god assumed this form when escaping from Typhon the evil one – SC I, p.362] has the ibis attribute, symbol of practical intellect and esoteric knowledge, thus becoming the symbol of hermetic knowledge. 134 (The black and white ibis was sacred to the moon; but all forms were revered because they destroyed crocodile eggs and crocodiles were the symbol of Typhon, (Osiris’s adversary). The moon was early identified with the white ibis-god Thout, local divinity of Khmun(u)-Hermopolis, [because the moon turns its light side towards us but its darker side away who thus became the deity of reckoning and writing and in his capacity as secretary of the company of gods acted as the judge of divinities and of men. 135 This is because the moon was the easiest regulator of time for early man. He mended or replaced the eye of the celestial god, - the moon regulates such disturbances as eclipses, and is a weaker heavenly eye than the sun. Some say the ibis’s bill is shaped like the sickle-moon. Sometimes Thouth sails like the sun across the heavenly ocean in a ship, or originally he flew over the sky in the form of a white ibis. 136 HPB wrote that the Ibis was sacred to

Isis, represented as Ibis-headed. and that the white ibis sought saurian eggs in the moonlight, sacred to

Isis. HPB feels that the underlying truth of these stories is that Hermes watched the Egyptians in the form of the ibis, and taught them the hidden arts and sciences.137 NOCTURNAL BIRDS symbolised both sorcery and the secret divine sciences, the former because it can’t function in the light of day and is powerful only when surrounded by ignorance (night), the latter because those processing the arcane are able to see through the darkness of ignorance and materiality. OWLS were thus associated with witchcraft or wisdom – perhaps because of the horn-like feathers on its head. The owl was the attribute of Hecate (queen of hell) [that with horn-like feathers on its head], but also Minerva (goddess of wisdom) [that without horns], had the attribute of the owl. 138 Lady patronesses of the arts were pictured beside an owl perched on a pile of books. 139 The creation of the former is told by Ovid – Proserpine the queen of the underworld had been taken their by force by Hades, her return prevented by a secret informant who told that she had broken her promise not to eat the food of that place – she changed the informer into “a sluggish, screeching owl, a loathsome bird, which heralds impending disaster, a harbinger of woe for mortals”. 140 Attribute of Night, and of Sleep 141 Clébert writes that the owl (Chouette) could see in the moonlight, i.e. the reflected sunlight, from which its proper reflection on the intellectual plan??? = level? – this permitted it to see beneath the mirror of appearances. Athena (goddess of wisdom) could become an owl to protect or punish people. It was a particularly silent bird, capable of astonishingly stillness, and whose stare fascinated – it became the symbol of the old student, of esoteric knowledge, for seekers after the Absolute, Alchemists or occultists. 142

THE CROW symbolised by its blackness the chaos of this chaotic darkness preceding the light of Creation. 143 Ovid told that it informed upon the indiscretions of a nymph Coronis of Larissa, the raven, the “bird of Phoebus” with snow-white feathers, accompanied by the crow, which tried to warn him he’d also be changed into a black bird for his deeds, because the crow had told that a child entrusted to three royal sisters’ care, was left to them by Pallas (Athena) and was accompanied by a snake in a locked chest (the king himself being half man half snake). The crow told this news and was dispelled from his “place as Minerva’s attendant”, and ranked lower than the bird of night”.144 Apollo shot the nymph with an arrow, tore the child from her womb, and gave it to the centaur Chiron to rear, it became the god of medicine, Asclepius 145 Phocis, a nymph pursued by Neptune, was saved by “the maiden goddess” Minerva who turned Phocis into a white crow the and carried her up to heaven to be her attendant of Minerva. 146 Thus it became Apollo’s messenger, and symbolised hope personified. 147 There is a widely told Christian story of a raven brought a loaf of bread to a holy man in the desert. 148 When Noah released first a black raven, then a white dove, this was the dark the shadows which were only dissipated by the rediscovered light. For the Celtic god of light the crow stole the sun and the celestial fire, as the bird of Prometheus 149

ORACULAR BIRDS: HPB wrote that the culmination of the mathematical calculations handed from Orpheus to Suidas, of how to see from the separated white and yolk of the egg, what that bird would have seen during the course of its short life.150 Clébert wrote that birds could reveal the secrets of the future because they are known as the receptacles of the souls of the dead ot as the ephifinies of the gods, to understand their language and imitate their voice was the equivalent to being able to speak to the gods (To understand birds was a condition essential for uncovering the secrets of the gods- to understand birds was a condition essential for uncovering the secrets of the gods; the French name for Bird, Oiseau, is from Ornis in Greek which became a synonym for foreknowledge, and their alertness and intelligence, made them the veritable instruments in service of the divinity. 151 Birds such as the parrot and raven were venerated because they could mimic the human voice and were seen as links between the human and animal kingdoms.152 The Halcyon or kingfisher is a “natural barometer” because myth says Zeus allowed it to nest at the waterside for the seven days prior to and the seven days coming after, the winter solstice, so it indicates the calm weather. The green woodpecker is a thunder-bird. The Plover’s French name is Pluvier, meaning “rainer”, announces the rain. Some birds could decide if a sick person lived or died. The Cormorant could predict bad weather when it gave a cry like an infant. The Ibis was a flood-predictor. The cuckoo announced spring and happiness, it presided over Justice and resuscitated the dead. The kite according to the Greeks, was an oracular bird attached to Apollo due to its piercing eyesight and because it flew to the high celestial spheres. The goose was a solar bird it is also a prophetic and oracular bird, the latter because of it aggressive watchfulness, on account of which the temple geese heard the invading Gauls and warned the Romans, of their approach. The bustard announced the spring, and was a messenger of resurrection. The petrel announces bad weather and storms and like the cormorant and albatross is the incarnation of the souls of sailors lost at sea. 153

THE HERON was a warrior called Turnus who arose from the midst of the ruin and confusion and his city’s red-hot ashes, its wings covered with cinders, lean and pale, uttering mournful cries, all the other characteristics of a captured town. Even the name of the city survived in that of the bird, the Ardea, changed into a heron, beats itself with its own wings, and bemoans its fate. 154

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New York, The Crossroad Publishing Company, 1993. Green, Miranda; Animals in Celtic Life and Myth,

London, Routledge, 1992, 22-24) Hall, Manly P., The Secret Teachings of All Ages: An Encyclopaedic outline of Masonic, Hermetic, Qabbalistic and Rosicrucian Symbolical Philosophy, LA, Cal, The Philosophical Research Society, Inc.,1975, lxxxix – xci) Hulpach, V., American Indian Tales and Legends, London, Paul Hamlyn, 1965. Keller, J.E. and Keating, L.C., (trans.), Aesop’s Fables, with a Life of Aesop, The University Press of Kentucky, 1993. Morley, D.G. and S.G., Popul Vuh, The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya, Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 1950, 1972. Muller, W. Max, Egyptian Mythology, London, Calcutta, Sydney, George G. Harrap & Co. Ltd., year? Ovid, Metamamorphoses, Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1955.

Purucker, G. de, The Dialogues of G. de Purucker, Covina, California, Theosophical University Press, 1948. The New Chain-Reference Bible, Indianapolis, Indiana, B. B. Kirkbride Bible Co., Inc., 1964 ENDNOTES:

1 Clébert, p. 156.

2 Hall, p.122

3 Hall, p. 48.

4 Hall, p.130

5 Hall, p.132.

6 Frazer,p.239

7 Frazer, p. 325.

8 Manly P. Hall,

9 Muller, p.174.

10 Keating, pp. 193-4 11 Keating, pp.110-111. 12 MP Hall.

13 V. Hulpach, pp. 4-28. 14 V. Hulpach, pp. 4-28. 15 Clébert, p. 268. 16 Clébert, p. 270

17 Geddes & Grosset, pp.34-35 18 Muller, p.41. 19 Clébert, p. 124. 20 Clement, pp. 19-20, & Hall, p.109.

21 Clement, pp. 19-20. 22 Hall, p.109. 23 Clement, p.12. 24 Clébert, p. 26

25 Clébert pp.26-27 26 Clébert pp.26-27 27 Clement, p.16 28 Clement, pp.18-29.

29 Ovid, p.327 30 Hall, p.109 31 MP Hall. 32-33 Bryant, Analysis of Ancient Mythology, in MP Hall.

34 Hall, pp. 72-73 & 243 35 M.P.Hall 36 Manly P. Hall 37 Clébert, p. 124 38 Muller, p.109

39 Clébert, p. 271. 40 Gossen, p.5, Pupul Vuh p.65. 41 Popul Vuh, pp.69,189 42 SD I, p.359. 43 SD I, p.359

44 SD I, p.365 45 SD I, p.20 46 SD I, P.366 47 SD I, P.366 48 SD I, p. 353

49 SD I, p. 354 50 SD I, p. 354 51 SD II, p. 77. 52 SD II, p. 78. 53 SD,p.465 54 SD II, p. 80 55 SD II, p. 80

56 SD I, pp. 407 and 427

57 SD, II, p. 81

58 H. P. Blavatsky, Theosophical Glossary, Los Angeles, The Theosophy Company, 1971, p.134

59 SD II, p. 79

60 SD II, p. 292.

61 Zohar, ii, 8b.

62 SD II, p. 293

63 SD II, p. 521

64 Clébert, pp.272, 25 and 134 65 Dowson, pp.109-110

66 Dowson, pp.12-14

67 SD II, pp. 564-565 68 SD II, p. 79

69 SD I, p. 86 70 SD I, p. 357

71 SDI, p. 422 72 SD I, p.443

73 SD I, p.443 74 SD I, p. 458

75 SD I, p. 549 76 SD II, p. 36

77 SD II, p. 131 78 Manly P. Hall

79 Hall, p. 244 80 Hall, p. 294

81 Clébert, p. 147 82 Clébert p. 300

83 MP Hall

84 Clébert p. 301 85 Clébert, p. 301

86 Clébert, p. 301 87 Clébert, p. 61

88 Clébert, p. 205

89 HPB, SD, Vo. 1, p. 312.

90 SD II, p. 617

91 SD II, p. 397

92 MP Hall

93 Clébert, p.333

94 Clement, p.4

95 Clébert, p. 296

96 Clébert, p. 296 97 Hall, p. 292

98 MPHall

99 Manly P. Hall 100 Clébert, p. 290

101 Clébert, p.290 102 Hall, p. 247

103 Clébert pp.26-27 104 Clébert, p. 25

105 Clébert, p. 272 106 Hall, p. 143

107 M.P. Hall 108 Manly P. Hall

109 Clébert, p. 288 110 Hall, pp. 330-331

111: MP Hall, and Hall, p. 330-331 112: Hall, p.109, Clébert, p.124.

113: SD I, P.365 114 Clébert, pp.186-187

115: Geddes & Grosset, p.379

116: Green, p.56 117: Clébert, p. 210.

118: SD II, p. 538

119: SD II, p. 356-7 120 Clébert, p. 125

121 Clébert, p. 125 122 Hall p.76

123 Hall, pp.72 & 292 124 Clébert, p. 201.

125 Manly P. Hall, & Hall, p. 72 & 240,

126 Hall, p.196.

127 Green, 34, 125-6. 128 Ovid, pp.45-7

129 Clébert, p. 292 130 Hall, p. 182.

131 Clement, p.4, Hall, p. 238. 132 Clébert, p. 292.

133: Clébert, pp. 214-215 134 Clébert, p. 214

135 Manly P. Hall, & SD I, p. 362 136 Muller, pp. 33-34.

137 SD I, P.362. 138 MP Hall.

139 Hall, p.210.

140 Ovid, p.130.

141 Hall, p.224, 231 142 Clébert, pp. 117-118.

143 MP Hall 144 Ovid, pp.64-65.

145 Hall, p.29. 146 Ovid, pp.65-66.

147 Hall, p.221. 148 Hall, p.260.

149 Clébert, p. 132& 134. 150 SD I, P.362-3.

151 Clébert, pp. 272 and 274, 276. 152 Manly P. Hall

153 Clébert, pp.31,303,305,125,136,256,268,288,299

154 Ovid, p.326.

The above is the text of a lecture presented at a meeting of the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne, Australia. The views are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Thu 28 Aug 2008

COPING WITH LIFE: SOME PERSPECTIVES FROM THEOSOPHY by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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Without the aid of a ‘life flight simulator’ to see how things will turn out, life is at times very tough! What we propose to discuss here today, are some theosophical perspectives on how to cope with life. Implicit in the topic title is the idea that life is, or was not meant to be, easy. I’ll add to that famous quotation and say it was not meant to be impossible either! And there are some who echo a common feeling, that life is just one damned thing after another!

But let’s not frustrate our thinking by concentrating on only the more difficult times we all at some stage encounter. Coping with life is not a new subject. If we reflect for a moment, we can see that suffering in its many forms has been here as long as we have. At the same time there have always been those few individuals, (without trying to pass themselves off as gurus) who could offer advice, practical advice, and usually similar solutions to life’s great dilemmas.

These dilemmas range as far as: “Why am I here?” “Who am I?” “Is there a God watching over me?” “Why did this or that happen to me, when I don’t deserve it?” “Why is there so much to do and not enough time to do it in!” “Should I be a hedonist or an altruist?” “Is there life after death?” “If there is life after death, how will that affect my thinking?” “What if we reincarnate, how might that change my behaviour?” “What is the difference between conscience and intuition, and how can I make wise and correct decisions?” “What is my duty as an individual; as a member of a family and as a member of society?” “What really is important in life and what are we looking for and hoping to find?”

Let’s look at conscience and intuition to begin with. This is a quote taken from the February Sunrise Magazine of 1981, by G. de Purucker:

“What is conscience and where is it located in the human constitution, and how do you make it function? As I understand the matter, our conscience is that friendly warm-hearted whispering from above which we feel as showing us the right and the wrong, and it comes from the stored-up ethical wisdom in our being. It is not in the disputatious brain-mind; it is in the heart. It is the highest part of the human ego, the treasury of ethical experience, the accumulated wisdom of past lives, garnered and treasured in our higher parts. As far as it goes its voice is infallible and powerful, but it does not go far enough to make its voice in our soul an infallible guide, because we have not had past human lives throughout eternity, and we are not infinite beings, humanly speaking. One man’s conscience is strong; another man’s conscience is weaker. The one may be more evolved and may have learned to hearken more attentively to the inner monitor; therefore its voice is familiar, strong and steady. We love that, and one reason why we love it is because it is so personal to ourselves. It is the highest part of each one of us as a human being, whispering to us admonitions of right, and denying to us the ways of wrong doing. It is the buddhi-manas (spiritual-mental) part of the human being, the garnered experience of past ages of births and rebirths, the echo of past sufferings and heartaches from which we have gleaned wisdom and treasured it on the tablets of the Self. That is the conscience. But higher than conscience is intuition. Intuition is infallible: its voice is immeasurably infallible, because it is the whispering within us of the truths of the cosmic spirit. It is a ray direct from the divine spirit in our hearts. Our conscience won’t tell us the truth about a fact of nature, nor whisper into our minds guidance along the paths of scientific or religious or philosophical discovery, because it is the garnered ethical wisdom familiar to the soul of each one of us. But the intuition will tell us instantly, it has instant vision of truth. Its voice is neither familiar nor unfamiliar. It is utterly impersonal: it is the voice of the atma-buddhi manas (divine-spiritual mind) within us.

The conscience is our own treasury of spiritual-ethical wisdom. It is infallible as far as it goes, as far as we can hear its voice; and we can hear it ever more by practice, by training, by hearkening to it, by just recognizing it and following it. But because it is our only gathered treasury, it is not infinite, and therefore in the true sense always infallible. But so far as it concerns each one of you as individuals, when your conscience whispers to you, follow it, because it will whisper only when you are in danger, or when you are seeking to do aright.”

From my own limited understanding of life and how to deal with it several things are clear:

1. Our duty: Our ability to accept that with freedom of choice comes responsibility. And I quote from Hermes, of July 1977, p.330. “There is never any need to worry. The good Law looks out for all things, and all we have to do is our duty as it comes along from day to day. Nothing is gained by worrying about matters and about the way people do not respond. In the first place, you do not alter people, and in the second, by being anxious as to things, you put an occult obstacle in the way of what you want done. It is better to acquire a lot of what is called carelessness by the world, but is in reality a calm reliance on the Law, and a doing of one’s own duty, satisfied that the results must be right, no matter what they might be. Think that over, and try to make it a part of your inner mind that it is no use to worry; that things will be all right, no matter what comes, and that you are resolved to do what you see before you, and trust to Karma for all the rest.

2. Non-separateness: All we do affects the rest of our surroundings and will return to us eventually.

3. Transcend ‘Brain-Mind’ thinking: There is more than meets the eye in this physical world, and the hunger within is for more than chocolate biscuits and coffee! There is an inner-life or vision waiting patiently to unfold. Katherine Tingley, a past leader of the T.S. wrote in the Path Magazine of 1925, in a chapter headed: “Rise Above the Brain Mind”, page 608. And I quote: “Man must rise above the merely brain-mind efforts to struggle with life’s difficulties: for where one depends upon the mental part of his nature alone, he only half lives. Of course the mind must be cultivated; scholarship is necessary. But the mind must be so trained that it is open to the higher influences of the immortal man, the soul. It must be ready to permit the light from the soul to enter in and be reflected through the mind. It is the spirit of man, his immortal self, the part of him that never dies, that he must invoke daily as energetically and as faithfully as he cultivates the mortal brain-mind, which dies when the body dies.

To advance along the path of spiritual evolution, a man must not only have a high standard of living, but he must ever aim to adapt the principles of that standard to superb daily efforts towards purity of life. He cannot live half-heartedly; he cannot play hide-and-go-seek with his principles; he cannot deceive himself; he may even deceive his fellows; but he cannot deceive his higher nature.”

4. Self unfoldment: It seems to occur when we most forget about ourselves. In the service of others, our own inner-light seems to shine most brightly. Perhaps, in recognition that selfless action is an understanding and concrete statement that all is one.

I hope that these few powerful ideas from the theosophical literature will assist in facing some of the most difficult aspects of life. Amongst these, I would include: dealing with, guilt, depression, stress, anger, and fear. These are but a few. But what good is our wonderful philosophy of Theosophy if we don’t attempt to live it, and by living it help ourselves and others to cope with many of the challenges that face us every moment in the spiritual testing ground of daily life?

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in

Melbourne,

Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Wed 27 Aug 2008

CANBERRA: CAPITAL CITY OF AUSTRALIA: ESOTERIC ASPECTS OF ITS DESIGN compiled by Evelynne Brown

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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Today I am here to bring to you what I consider to be an amazing story. I believe the information I will present to you to be most illuminating. Since it concerns our Australian national capital city of Canberra, I feel it is information that we should all be acquainted with. I know that from now on I will see

Canberra in a whole new light! And I use that word advisedly. Let me make it quite clear at the outset however, that I stand before you today simply as a messenger, a channel, a conduit. A presenter of the treasury of information and interpretation contained in this marvellous book, THE SECRET PLAN OF CANBERRA by Peter R Proudfoot. He has put together this most valuable piece of scholarship & I fully, & gratefully acknowledge, his comprehensive, insightful & definitive work. This all began when I was required to give a talk on a person/or persons who had made a significant contribution to Australia. I was fortunate enough, to see the the ABC TV Compass program on entitled Beyond Architecture. Like most Australians I had visited

Canberra several times, thought it a beautiful city, knew it was designed by someone named Walter Burley Griffin, end of story. But, after watching Beyond Architecture I was hooked, I wanted to know more! I should perhaps add here that I am a Scorpio which of course explains a lot – born researcher, seeker after truth, thirst for knowledge, - the whole box & dice. But, I hasten to add, the higher form; - the Eagle, not the Scorpion! So, I would like to share with you my great admiration for the absolute genius of 2 extraordinary people, the brilliant, inspired Walter Burley Griffin & his equally brilliant & gifted wife Marion (Mahony)

Griffin. As architects, artists & landscape designers they have few equals. Now it is time to look beyond their professional genius to the profound philosophies that inspired them both. And theirs was truly a marriage made in heaven; two more attuned individuals you could not find. Amazing! Karma! I only hope that I can do the Griffins & Professor Proudfoot justice. Let me start by reading from the introduction to Prof. Proudfoot’s book: This book has greatly benefited from discussions with Associate Professor Graham Pont at the University of NSW. The University of NSW School of Architecture assisted with a generous grant towards the cost of this publication. In 1913, a year after winning the Canberra competition, Walter Burley GRIFFIN declared, “I have planned a city not like any other city in the world. I have planned an ideal city.”

Griffin’s plan for Canberra is generally regarded as a synthesis of the city beautiful & the garden city movements which dominated town planning in the late 19th & early 20^th centuries. It cannot however be understood simply in those terms. The plan’s overarching concept establishes references to a particular sacred geometry adopted by the Griffins. It expresses a symbolic content.

Inspiration was drawn from both ancient spiritual ideas & the

Griffin’s understanding of geomancy.
Canberra therefore has affinities with
Stonehenge, sacred
Glastonbury, ancient Egyptian temples & pyramids, - even with the concept of the New Jerusalem. The decline of Christianity during the later 19^th century together with the social & technological changes created by the Industrial Revolution, brought about in many Western countries a “spiritual re-orientation”. New & influential religions emerged: ancient ones were revived. Theosophy & later Anthroposophy both drew on the ancient “Wisdom of the East” & “occult & heretical byways of Western thought”. Other movements, such as Rosicrucianism, the Swedenborg Church, & Freemasonry attained new levels of appreciation & popularity. For many, an exploration of spiritual & the occult became the next necessary step to ensure proper human development & evolution. According to Rudolf Steiner: “man was on the threshold of the beginning of a Spiritual Era, that the moment had come when esoteric knowledge can become exoteric, that is, the ability to explore the higher worlds can now be made common property”.

The modernist religions of Spiritualism, Theosophy, & Anthroposophy had deeply influenced many creative artists, including Kandinsky & Mondrian, & certainly both Walter Burley Griffin and his wife and colleague Marion (Mahony) Griffin.

Theosophy became an important vehicle which accelerated the revival of interest in the culture of the ancient world, and the relationship between religion, art and architecture. It focussed on the lost canons and sciences that Theosophists believed had directed and controlled all aspects of life in the ancient world. By the beginning of the 20thC Theosophy had become a strong cultural force that was felt in many aspects of life. It was closely linked to the art world. To quote Roger Lipsey: “Theosophy pointed artists towards a new inwardness and the possibility of translating that inwardness into visible form.” The Theosophist Claude Bragdon, with whom the Griffins had personal contact, in his book The beautiful necessity: architecture as frozen music - 7 essays on theosophy & architecture, first published in 1910, sought to revive the Pythagorean principles of number, proportion & sacred geometry in architecture. Bragdon described the importance of the Vesica, the first symbol of Christianity, and the basis of Canberra’s geometry. In 1903 Bragdon wrote: “Beneath the dense materiality of our civilisation there is fermenting a leaven of spirituality which may usher in a period of faith like that which Europe underwent in the Middle Ages, when Gothic architecture had its origin: a period in which the soul comes nearer to the surface of life.” There is a clear commonality in the works of Louis Sullivan, Annie Besant & Charles W. Leadbetter, & later Marion (Mahony) Griffin in the Magic of America.

1. Theosophy: The full extent of Theosophical influence on the Griffins during the early period in Chicago is unclear. Walter was possibly a Freemason at the time. By the 1940’s however, when writing The Magic of America, Marion openly expresses the importance of the mystical & the esoteric for Walter & herself in the early years.

Marion frequently refers to Canberra as the “only true modern city – Alpha & Omega”; as a city designed by “creative thinking”, and one that revives “the ancient science”, even though nothing was said of the esoteric nature of the scheme at the time. With regard to the competition for the design of the national capital the Minister for Home Affairs, King O’Malley and the Prime Minister Alfred Deakin, maintained that the Australian government itself, not the panel of assessors would make the final decision concerning the award. Alfred Deakin himself was involved with spiritualism throughout his youth, & all his life he was absorbed by the occult. This is illustrated in his reflections on religions which appear in hundreds of volumes of private journals and “gospels”. Deakin ceased to be Prime Minister in 1910, but in the final judgement could he or his colleagues have recognised the ancient paradigms underlying the plan? Could he have seen that the drawings, resplendent with luminous waters & glowing mountains, depicted ancient geomantic symbols? And could he have realised that the Original Report which accompanied the drawings & presented the scheme only as an amalgam of Garden City & City Beautiful principles actually veiled the true “cosmic significance” of the scheme of Canberra? At Steinway Hall Chicago, the Griffins were at the core of a dynamic movement that deeply affected all their colleagues, who were just as secretive about their work as the Griffins. It is now clear, however that Louis Sullivan’s concept of transcendental ornament, so prominent in the Griffin’s work, was influenced by the theories of the Swedish mystic Emanuel Swedenborg.

2. Louis Sullivan: was a key figure in the promotion of spiritual concerns as a design force in architecture, in Chicago, during the late 19th & early 20thC. The key in his design process was the role of ornament. Based on organic & geometrical forms, Sullivan’s idiosyncratic, light-splintering ornament in metal & glass on the facades of his buildings became symbolic of a metaphysical representation of the creation of the Universe. Sullivan was given heroic status by Marion & Walter Griffin: throughout the Magic of America he is lauded as the “founder of creative thinking in modern architecture”. Most important of all, Walter is described by Marion as the true successor to Louis Sullivan. Like Sullivan the Griffins sought a truly “Democratic architecture”, imbibed from the ideas of Walt Whitman, achievable only through the “laws of nature.” In the Canberra plan Walter & Marion’s personal cosmogony finds its symbolic expression – its geometry arising from the Vesica, and its axiality, both being clearly derived from sacred and divine traditions, and representing an order for creativity and success in the modern world.

3. Rudolf Steiner: Founder of the Anthroposophical Society believed: “that man was on the threshold of the beginning of a new Spiritual era,that the moment had come when esoteric knowledge can become exoteric, - i.e. that the ability to explore the higher worlds can now be made common property.”

4. Goethe: Marion Griffin was influenced by Goethe’s writing through its appreciation by Rudolf Steiner. For Steiner the ideal modern artist was the architect. For him,“the beautiful is a manifestation of the secret laws of nature. Art, religion & science are inseparable, & the artist unites the earthly & the divine not by allowing the divine to flow down to the world but by raising the world up into the sphere of the divine.” Another early influence on Marion was the idea, drawn from Hermetic thought, that art & religion should be unified with science. She believed that the role of the 20th century artist & architect was to “reunite the 3 into a true unity”. From her numerous references to atomic theory it is clear that this was one influence on her rendering of the splintered & crystalline forms. She believed that the smashing of the atomic forms frees the spiritual forces of matter.

5. Feng Shui: the philosophy of landscape design, is based on an understanding of “chi”. If “chi” is not treated properly the destiny of humans in relation to the site will be affected.

6. The Tower: The Capitol, a monument to the Australian people, a national archive, & a place of commemoration of Australian achievement, was to be set above the Parliament House, the judiciary, the executive & the mercantile groups. The description of the Capitol building crowning the city of Canberra as “representing the spiritual head” indicate that the Griffin’s were aware of the esoteric “tower” symbolism & iconography. The Capitol was to be crowned by a winged eagle sculpture denoting Canberra as “caput mundi” and the building itself was the “omphalos”, the symbolic centre or world navel linking the “spiritual knowledge with the abundance & depth of nature”. The notion of the tower, embodied in the Burley Griffin’s Capitol, as symbolic of the meeting between spirit & nature was used frequently at the time by such figures as W.B.Yeats, Arthur Edward Waites, and in the mystical Rosicrucian organisation of the Golden Dawn. The tower enshrined the spirituality of philosophers and mystics.

A Geomantic Model: Bragdon described the importance of the Vesica, the 1st symbol of Christianity & the basis of the Canberra geometry, to the medieval masons. He also wrote that “the geometric forms generated from the Vesica were given certain symbolic interpretations by the ancients”. For example, the square, triangle & circle are the most significant for “the circle is the symbol of the universe; the equilateral triangle of the higher Trinity, and the square of the lower quaternary of man’s sevenfold nature”. The rhombus, consisting of two equilateral triangles represents the world above & the world below, or in alchemical terms, the male and female principles of creation. The plan for Canberra expresses the continuity of the cosmic symbolism between Europe & Asia. In broad terms, for both East and West, the circle symbolises heaven, while the cross, & its related form the square, symbolises the earth. These two signs have played a very stable role in cosmic symbolism & the sacred geometry of building, and art, throughout the world, throughout history - from Athens and Rome, to Babylon, Peking, Angkor Wat, Benares and Mandalay. Cosmic geometry also informs all Islamic mosques, gardens and tomb complexes like the Taj Mahal. Among the monumental civilizations of the Aztecs, Incas and Mayas, as well as the tribal cultures of the North American Indians there is indisputable evidence of related cosmogony. The last city which reflects this system of ideas, and to be designed in the grand or cosmic manner, was Canberra. At the dawn of the 20th century it was the new religious movements such as Theosophy that drew on the ancient“wisdom tradition”. With Theosophy this tradition was drawn into the mainstream of contemporary artistic and intellectual life. Such a tradition had the power to direct its followers towards a new inner awareness, enabling them to take the cosmos into account and depict the world as an abstraction of a majestic play of energies. The importance of Theosophic thought to the work of the Griffins becomes clear as early as 1912, from the geometry of the design for the federal capital of Australia. The geometry of Canberra’s plan, based on the figure of the vesica, acts as a symbolic reinterpretation of one of the most fundamental precepts of Theosophic thought: cosmic evolution – a perpetual cycle of birth, death & regeneration as the underlying processes of the universe. The Vesica is the orifice created from the intersection of 2 equal circles, symbolically representing the intersection of the material & spiritual worlds. The nucleus of the Canberra design is generated from the sacred figure of the vesica, from which emerges 2 equilateral triangles which share a common base. The sanctity of the vesica lies in its ability to give rise to geometrical figures such as the rhombus, Star of David, or the hexagram. Thus, within ancient & esoteric traditions, it became a symbol of perceived knowledge. In Chaldean & Hindu images the circle, fundamental to the vesica, enshrines the geometrical figure of the double triangle, replicating the Star of David. The circle symbolises the spiritual origins of the universe. The triangle represented spirit force and matter; also, the upward, active male & the downward, passive female. To the Griffins, the Vesica clearly represents the true geometrical symbol of the Theosophical idea of themetaphysical state of the spirit, “the womb of the universe”, from which all processes evolve. And the double triangle is the central figure in a cosmological diagram which represents the mystical progression from matter, ie, the downward triangle, through to spirit, ie the upward triangle, as motivated by the spiritual essence of the universe. The point of intersection of the Cross in the

Canberra plan is marked by the Water Gate. Naming the axes “Land” and ”Water” parallels the juxtaposition of Earth and Water in the Chaldean and Hindu cosmological diagrams, indicating that the Griffins were familiar with Theosophical teachings on the subject. Theosophical founder, HPBlavatsky describes the deeper significance of the Cross as follows: “The Philosophical Cross …… is the basis of the occultist.” In the past socio-political idealism & democratic, symbolic intent, rather than site characteristics, have been singled out as the essential organising principles of the

Canberra plan. Such explanations fail to recognise that the

Griffin’s concept of democracy was tied to ancient Greek religious symbolism as related to landscape. In every respect in Griffins plan the eye is directed to the mountains and hills; City Hill, Capital Hill, Mt Pleasant, Mt Ainslie, Red Hill & Bimberi Peak. The Government group of buildings is organised on frontages and terraces in a horizontal order and a vertical hierarchy which culminates in the Capitol. Burley

Griffin described the structure of the parliamentary triangle and the northern parkland beyond the formal basin,as analogous to a theatre, referring to it as a “stage setting” and a “dress circle”. It is clear from the use of the site that the

Griffin’s use of these terms can be taken as referring to a Hellenistic theatre and temple complex such as

Delphi, the Acropolis, Pergamon, Lindos, Palestrina and Tivoli. Why? In her book The Magic of America

Marion reveals that she saw the ancient Greeks as a race of “creative thinkers”, and from creative thinking democracy could arise.

Marion saw her task as introducing liberty to the world.

Marion saw liberty as the function of individualistic, creative and productive cultural activity, which in

Canberra is enshrined in the concept of the Capitol. Equality, fraternity and liberty were unified in

Canberra in a triangular concept. The equilateral triangle, derived from the principles of sacred geometry, is a rich source therefore of arcane symbolism: it represents the Holy Trinity in Christian iconography, It is the symbol of the Godhead in several Cosmologies, and to the Griffins it may also have been a symbolic expression of democracy.

Chinese Geomancy – Feng Shui: Another influence on the initial plan of Canberra was “chi” and “feng shui”. The concept of “chi” appealed to Marion & Walter because it stressed good health and fortune. Well before the Canberra project Marion had acquired a knowledge of Taoist philosophy as well as experience in eastern artistic principles through the impact of the Japanese print on the

Chicago school of architects. The Japanese influence in her landscape architecture designs is well recognised, much of her work being likened to Japanese woodcuts. In Chinese landscape painting the artist was more concerned with the “chi” of an object, its spiritual side rather than just it’s physical form. “Chi”, which can be translated as the breath of life, is the cosmic energy that infuses all forms, & as such underlies the Taoist philosophy of landscape design, “feng shui”. There are a number of distinct features that characterise the Canberra site according to “feng shui” principles – the Capitol & government buildings and Capitol Hill sheltered by a high mountain range to the south (Bimberi Peak in the Brindabellas); Black Mountain (Azure Dragon) to the west; & Mugga Mugga (the White Tiger) to the east. These can all be symbolised as the manifestations of the earth’s spirits. As in the ideal “feng shui” landscape – man in harmony with the earth –there is an unobstructed view from the Capitol towards Mt Ainslie in the north, & there is a quiet Heaven Pool (in the foreground of Griffin’s Parliament House) with a curving & slow moving body of water in the distance.

Parliament House: This was built by the Italian-American architect Romaldo Giurgulo and actually responds to the original matrix established by the Griffins, although from his writings and interviews it would appear however that he is largely unaware of the ancient regime he is responding to. By extending and refining the geomantic principles underlying the original plan, Giurgola has aligned Canberra with the most potent of ancient paradigms. The great ramped hemicycles embody the “dragon” forms of “Feng Shui”. They form protective arms to the east & the west (the Azure Dragon and the White Tiger). The forecourt enclosure rises to its peak at the southern end and tapers down to ensure an unobstructed view north to Mt Ainslie. As in the ideal “Feng Shui” arrangement there is a quiet “heaven pool” in the foreground - the forecourt pool – with a slow-moving body of water in the distance. As in Greece, where the city is seen against the sacred mountain, the elevations of the new Parliament House are profiled under the curvature of the re-stated hill. Akin to Walter & Marion’s proposal for the Capitol in the initial plan the new Parliament House is intended to “personify the essence of the Australian spirit, while at the same time symbolically reflecting the cosmic order.

Canberra is therefore the “caput mundi” – the geomantic expression of the microcosm in the macrocosm – The pivot around which everything else revolves. It is designated as the centre of the world & automatically defines the origin point for any city.

Crystal iconography: is a common aspect of German Romantic theory, - Nietzshe, Goethe. In a study of the crystal-like quality of the monuments drawn by Marion for the Canberra plan –the Arsenal, the Cathedral, the Legislatures, & the Capitol, Marion has drawn in along the crucial points of the axis notional buildings – all of which are portrayed as crystals, angled, faceted, and shimmering.which are very close in spirit to the early works of the German expressionists. However, there has been no analysis of the significance of this. An exploration of the iconography of the crystal, its history and significance – as well as its extent in the Canberra project – yields a number of symbolic meanings.

Crystal iconography, symbolising spiritual transcendence and transmutation, is a further major influence & emerges as a dominant feature. The use of the crystal form can be seen as a continuation of a tradition stemming from ancient Solomonic legends,

St John’s revelation of the New Jerusalem, Islamic architecture, the legends of the Holy Grail, the Gothic cathedral & light mysticism, and the emergence of alchemy. It was iconographic tradition that crystals had the ability to effect a transmutation of the viewer from the base condition of existence to a more noble and spiritual state.

Marion makes reference to crystals in her book, The Magic of

America: “The Fairies build the vegetable kingdom but it takes the great primal spirits of mathematics to create the crystals – the Universe.” In

Marion’s drawings of the City and Environs each mountain is shrouded in a luminous, iridescent, white and yellow aura that radiates like a crystal.

Marion may have been aware of the crystal iconography beginning to appear in the work of the German Expressionist architects. In their work, & that of their mentor Louis Sullivan, glass & ornament become a light-splintering medium allowing the observer to transcend the physical domain & enter a spiritual communion with nature and the forces that shape it. The crystal form had already appeared in the

Griffin’s earlier work in

America in 1912. In their Australian work the crystal theme became the basis of a design motif: at

Newman

College it is an organising device. On the plan the dome resembles a faceted crystal of star shape. This theme reached its absolute peak in the ceiling of the Capitol Theatre.

Marion wrote in her book Magic of America that Walter “conceived a building not as a facade but as a 3 dimensional form”. This description could apply directly to the

Canberra architectural proposals, for which

Marion literally presented a number of 3 dimensional crystal forms, the suggested materials of which were marble & concrete faced with quartz aggregate or even glass or diamonds! A combination whose effect would parallel the dazzling opalescent quality of the crystal. Like the Germans Marion & Walter utilised the crystal as a symbolic metaphor of spiritual transcendence, transformation, or transmutation. The German Expressionist movement had one clear objective: to effect a “changed society”, a “political metamorphosis”, & to create a Utopian state out of the existing tangled political climate. Well, you certainly had to hand it to them for trying to do this in

Australia, - a Herculean task!

The Griffin’s Legacy: What we have now at the centre of

Canberra is the legacy of an attempt to reinstate the science which “had died out & was no longer practised”, combined with picturesque settings as devised by the National Capital Development Commission from 1958. The initial plan, however, has a character that resembles many of the geomantic axial & linear constructions in

Europe,

Britain & the

Americas, and utilises imagery symbolic of Theosophical concepts of the nature of the cosmos. Marion and Walter Burley Griffin sought abstract laws of art to express, in symbolic terms, their own world view. They created their own cosmogony out of ancient traditions, while at the same time drawing on Christian symbolism by applying the earliest symbol of that religion – the Vesica. The initial plan for

Canberra was not a wilful and impractical expression of two American expatriate architects. It can only be explained as the synthesis of many forces which were brought to bear upon the consummate artistry and genius of Walter and Marion Mahony Griffin. It must also be understood in the context of an international movement that included many of their artistic contemporaries & architectural colleagues; a movement which sought its inspiration from new forms of artistic expression in a pool of ideas whose origins were ancient and universal. The capital of

Australia, therefore, must be interpreted & re-valued within a planning tradition that reaches right back to the origins of ancient cities. In

Athens the Greeks set up temples on the Acropolis in such a way that the landscape was drawn around them. The axis of the Acropolis is the most famous geomantic axis of the ancient world. In

Rome, too, the divine and cosmic concepts are implicit in its structure. The “axis urbis” of antiquity, running along the “via sacra” through the temple of ‘Jupiter Capitolinus”, was strengthened & enriched when the Colosseum was built exactly on the axis in the sacred valley between the hills. It was further reinforced when the temple of Venus and Rome was similarly located. Thus, its two sanctuaries, placed back to back in the temple, stood Janus-like, facing both directions taken by the axis in a symbolic expression of the role of

Rome as “caput mundi”. In the initial design for

Canberra, Marion and Walter Burley Griffin depicted a construction which parallels the heroic proportions of the geomantic constructions in

Athens and

Rome. Looking at

Stonehenge, the parallels with

Canberra are uncanny. Capitol Hill, City Hill and the

lake

Park monument in

Canberra are linked, just like

Stonehenge, Grovely Castle and Old Sarum, by means of an equilateral triangle. The continuation of the axis from

Stonehenge through Old Sarum to Clearbury Ring is paralleled by the capital Hill to City Hill meridian continued along Northbourne Avenue. In addition, the nodal point at Salisbury, the double-ring of

Stonehenge could be taken as the model for the double-ringed geometry of Capital Hill. The Vesica, which is the crucial element of the

Canberra plan, is fundamental to the geometry of Stonehenge & of Glastonbury, next to

Stonehenge the earliest and most sacred site in megalithic

Britain &, later, the site of the 1st Christian church. The Parliamentary triangle of the

Canberra initial plan can be interpreted as a symbolic representation of the structure of the democratic ideal. As

Marion says in her book, The Magic of America true democracy can only be achieved through the appreciation of the values of liberty, equality and fraternity. The Capitol, a monument to the Australian people, a national archive, and a place of commemoration of Australian achievement, was set above the Parliament House, the judiciary, the executive and mercantile groups. I hope that you will have a new appreciation of the symbolism of our national capital after reading this lecture!

This is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Mon 18 Aug 2008

PLACES OF POWER by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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PLACES OF POWER by Stefan Carey

What I want to talk about today is that we owe it to ourselves as city dwellers, to know and have our own special places of power, because city life robs us of that special connection with place, our at-oneness with nature.

In this talk I’ll look at:

· what others have said about the feeling of oneness.· how modern city life takes away our feeling of oneness.· some of my personal places of power.· what others have said when they found their place of power.

Sometimes our places of power are far away, high in the mountains, the ocean or the desert. Sometimes they are closer than that, a local park perhaps. Sometimes all it takes is for us to be alone for a while in our gardens or some other private place. But why, have most of us in daily life, lost our connection with nature, the special feeling we are at one, that we are a part of your surroundings?

It’s not surprising I guess when we live so much of life in a hurry, our behaviour patterns are under pressure to speed up. Technology is just one factor contributing to what has been called the “hurry disease”. Computers are one technology making people feel they cannot keep up, and must move and think faster. A personal anecdote can help me answer the question of why we lose the connection. The telephone company rang me the other day to say how wonderful it was we’re still their customer, but they also wanted to know what communication devices we have in our home. I told them. We have a fax, an answering machine, three computers, three telephone handsets, and a mobile phone.

Thinking about the list, I’m surprised we don’t have a direct line to an inner or outer god, and that the phone company can’t offer this as their latest product! Thankfully they’ll never be able to. But the real point is, I realised we’ve gathered lots of machines to make communication with each other easy, but at the same time I’ve forgotten to look after another more important kind of communication. One for which the phone company can’t supply a special account, or piece of plastic technology.

I’ve had little time and even less lately to visit my places of power to commune with nature, and get in touch somehow with what I think is my inner self and nature. You could also call it universal mind. Or God. Or Souls, or Spirit. Or Whatever. I’ve lost the connection to nature via my places of power, the places where I feel empowered, where I feel deeply connected to something, right at home. But so much for having lost the connection, what is the connection?

Let’s hear about the oneness with nature from others, Henrietta Mann is a PhD, a Southern Cheyenne Elder American Indian. Her comments are published in this book, Native Wisdom for White Minds with comments by Anne Wilson Schaff:

“Nature if God’s greatest teacher. Man must learn to attune his higher spiritual consciousness to the harmonious flow of nature and the throbbing heartbeat of the man [in heaven] who created it for lasting duration in order to realise his oneness with nature and with God.” Dec 22.

And the author’s observation on the Southern Cheyenne Elder Henrietta’s comment is:

“Nature is my greatest teacher. When I take the time to go into nature it takes me a while to adjust to the rhythm of my surroundings. Initially what I hear is the rushing of my own heart and the pounding of my brain. It takes me a while to leave my culture behind me and begin to attune to a harmonious flow of nature. God’s messages in nature do not just enter the brain; they enter the whole being and move into a flow of consciousness that assures us of the oneness of all things with the creator. Only when the mind and the body slow down enough do I have the possibility to know oneness.” Just listen to those words: It takes time to get to feel the rhythm of nature. Another way to say this is that it takes time to feel the rhythm of universal mind or that which is nameless without form but with form. A quick jaunt to the country is helpful, but one cannot really appreciate nature without taking the time. My experience is that it usually takes about three days to wind down and relax from normal city paced living. It also seems to take nature time to adjust to us. A city dweller writing for Time Life books describes a first night out in the dunes of the Sahara: “The air was sharp and cold, and life was starting in the dunes after the dead heat of the day. I went for a short walk and surprised a fennec, a small desert fox with large ears, sitting patiently in ambush at a Jerboa’s hole. He was dazzled for a moment by the light, and his eyes glowed brightly. Then he bounded away up the side of the dune, a pale shape with its own moon shadow. I saw nothing else this first night; the dunes were not going to deliver up their secrets easily to a day visitor from the civilized world”. (p.17).

And here’s an important question. Why would not the Sahara not deliver her secrets to a day visitor from the civilised world? Why can’t you as a day visitor, read nature’s secrets? My theory is that as we no longer live in the cathedral of nature, the trivial thoughts and exasperations of daily life smother our awareness of our oneness with nature. To always be in a hurry. The city dwellers divine occupation and privilege is to fight the peak hour traffic, like David against Goliath, but with bad aim caused by an overdose of morning news and rising interest rates. Add to this the disruptive energies of other people, sent just a little bit crazier than us, by their over-sensitivity to modern city living. For example, I have a workmate, a devout Buddhist, who seems to be nearing nervous collapse, trying to please too many other people in his struggle for perfection. Sadly, his stressed out condition gets on our nerves. All these influences are at the expense of realising and knowing our inner life, our connection with nature and other people.

But what drives these influences? I think it is important to understand this. For many of us, it’s the struggle to accumulate more possessions, comforts and experiences than each other. It’s a competition. Carmakers, for example, know our egos are weak, and that we’re hooked on creature comforts; as is the appliance maker who now supplies remote controls for microwave ovens.As an American Indian, Standing Bear, of Lakota Sioux said: “The old Lakota was wise. He knew that men’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”

As an example of the way we devalue human relationships, I once heard a businesswoman in a coffee shop telling her friend that her latest “project” was to buy a nursing home. What bothered me was the way she said it – she could have been buying a newspaper to throw away tomorrow. Small wonder the elderly are frightened to go into retirement homes.

City dwellers like to collect experiences in the same way as possessions. I’ve often heard people say they will do “Europe” or they will do “

Asia” as though they were on some kind of a trophy hunt. The frenzy of modern life has turned the city to a place of spiritual emptiness and powerlessness for many individuals. It’s a rootless existence, lived in a borderless and endless urban tract. More so, when they keep moving from suburb to suburb in search of more impressive houses and supposedly better lifestyles. What this creates is a large group of people sensing they belong to nothing, no personal history of place, cut off from nature. Sometimes they turn on each other in frustration. Road rage is an extreme example of pent up frustrations and anger, fuelled of the feeling of powerlessness and discontentedness. To continue in my harsh insight into modern living and the city as a place of spiritual powerlessness, modern life also offers so little inner satisfaction and communication with the inner life, and so much frustration, that addictions of all kinds are common. They are symptomatic of a life spent in a state of denial of our authentic selves. Do I exaggerate? Look at the statistics for mental illness and prescriptions for anti-depressants, the rate of heroin abuse and teenage suicide – they are increasing. All these are symptoms of unhappiness and inner discomfort on the increase, when outer comfort increases. Yet supposedly we are living in paradise, “relaxed and comfortable” as our PM said some months ago.

So what is my solution to all this angst? When possible I go to my places of power. Here is the story of the first one I discovered when I was seven or eight. On a heavily overcast humid spring morning, I stood alone in the schoolyard. A warm wind swept the long grass. For some minutes I was the breeze, and the grass and the grey clouds above, floating across the schoolyard, waving the tassels of the ripe grasses. I can still feel this moment of awakening to Mother Nature or Universal Mind today. For many years I lost this feeling of being connected to the elements, of oneness until I rediscovered it through renewed contact with nature outside the city.

I guess that early schoolyard experience was a sign for me of a close relationship with nature. The outdoors would be important. There would always be the quest for the special feeling of being alive in a different way. To get away from the city entombed in concrete, to find the subtle shift of the breeze, the scent of the bush after rain away from the city, and the pure, cold air carrying the scent of snow in the mountains.

Today my places of power, are the river and mountain and forest. I get to them when I can, or when I am driven to them by some inner urge. The first and most important is the river. The river gives me the strongest sense of connectedness most quickly. Why? Because I find the quickest way to get in touch with natural forces and rhythms is by being on and in the river, paddling a kayak. A kayak allows me to float with the current, ride the rapids and basically feel alive again. In a kayak one is with the movements and energies of the river, there is really no other choice. One cannot think about work or anything else but being there. If you do think about other things, you lose focus and capsize. If there’s a strong current or lots of rapids, the need to focus on the natural forces outside you is even stronger. In the space of an hour I become the river, my body is an extension of the river, no longer fighting, but working with it.

Mentally you must concentrate and read the rocks and the current. This then is a sacred place, a place of moving power, because you’ve forgotten yourself and the trifles and troubles that occupy the anxious and worried, uptight, tense, nervous, stressed, annoyed, angry mind and the emotions we’re not supposed to have.

If there is one place where I am awakening a stronger special energy it is the mountains. It takes me by surprise every time. Before my eyes is a feeling of place where I somehow feel I have always been – a place of feeling “infinite and unforseen” as the singer KD Lang says. This is my connection point with the heavens. The first time I realised the power of altitude, was on a

New Zealand mountain, in the

Mt.

Cook range, 7,000 feet high, overlooking a glacial valley. A strange feeling washed over me. I was in my element. I felt all powerful, confident, expansive, and at home. Perhaps it was the magnetic forces of earth or as the followers of Feng Shui might say, Tiger energy, concentrated at the peaks and summits that caught me unawares. Perhaps it was the concentration of ions. Whatever the explanation no other place had offered this unique feeling. Even so it was a slightly dangerous place to stay. The mountaineers’ hut I stayed in that night had once been blown off the mountain by a freak gust of wind, with several people in it. Years later the feeling returned. Atop a higher peak,

Mt.

Santis, in the Swiss Alps, with the sound of three fine female yodellers at the cafeteria, I looked across an endless armada of grey peaks all the way to

Italy. Small circles of colour drifted – hot air balloons in the far distance enjoying the clear weather. Once again I got the feeling of being in a place of intense energy, a place, stirring intense emotions, a place of power. It seemed as familiar as home, as familiar as your suburban backyard does to you. I felt in tune, as though it were my special playground, my private kingdom. I don’t get there often enough. Others have been strongly affected by their connection with nature too. On the ocean, the first man to sail solo around the world, in 1898, Joshua Slocum in his book Sailing alone around the world said this:

“During these days a feeling of awe swept over me. My memory worked with startling power. The ominous, the insignificant, the great, the small, the wonderful, the commonplace – all appeared before my mental vision in magical succession. Pages of my history were recalled which had been so long forgotten that they seemed to belong to a previous existence. I heard all the voices of the past laughing, crying, telling what I had heard them tell in many corners of the earth.” (p.51)

If we have no place for peace and contemplation, we have no place, we have no sacred site where we can see and feel the true nature of our lives; places where we may contemplate, and where the soul and the body might sing quietly or loudly in unison. Do you know your place of power? Perhaps you have a vague recollection you like the sea or the mountains. Perhaps your place of power is near a waterfall where the earth’s energies are more conducive to your own special thoughts and feeling seldom felt at other times. Perhaps your place is in the desert, perhaps in a She-Oak forest, with its magical quality of soft foliage and bark on rocky slopes. Finally I’d like to finish with a true-life account of a world-famous person’s first encounter with his place of power, the ocean. The ocean frightens me, Jacques Cousteau, co-inventor of the modern aqualung, found his place of power. Quite by surprise, in fact. Jacques Cousteau suddenly realised, on his first dive with swimming goggles, that the quiet enchanted world with its “incommunicable beauty”, so close to a busy street in the Mediterranean, yet so far removed from everyday life, was his place of power:

“One Sunday morning in 1936 at Le Mourillon, near Toulon I waded into the

Mediterranean and looked into it through (Fernez) goggles. I was a regular navy gunner, a good swimmer interested only in perfecting my crawl style. The sea was merely a salty obstacle that burned my eyes. I was astounded by what I saw in the shallow shingle at Le Mourillon – rocks covered with green, brown and silver algae and fishes unknown to me, swimming in crystal clear water. Standing up to breath I saw a trolley bus, people, electric streetlights. I put my eyes under again and civilisation vanished with one last bow. I was in a jungle never seen by those who floated on the opaque roof.Sometimes we are lucky enough to know our lives have been changed, to discard the old, embrace the new and run headlong down an immutable course. It happened to me on that summer’s day at Le Mourillon, when my eyes were opened on the sea.” As they say the rest is history.

The above is the text of a lecture presented at the Theosophical Society Pasadena, Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Thu 14 Aug 2008

BREAKING THE MOULDS OF MIND by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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BREAKING THE MOULDS OF MIND by Stefan Carey

Breaking the moulds of mind is no easy task. But, each one of us has a personal responsibility to make sure that we do this. We need to stay young mentally if possible, by constantly ploughing and resowing our mental pastures. Let new crops grow there each season, at each stage of our development. From childhood, adolescence, young adulthood as learners and then as teachers, in middle life, later middle life, and retirement – each phase offers opportunities for expression of the different parts of our composite being.

Breaking the moulds or invigorating old thought habits can also be seen from a larger perspective, i.e. of nations. Remember, one of the reasons why the Theosophical Society was set up was to resist the inevitable grip of the materialism on the world. Helena Blavatsky had remarkable foresight to understand this, and create an extremely effective platform in the TS that gives the earnest seeker hope for the future. I feel we need universal ideas/concepts and truths to get a full understanding of this topic. That’s why the ideas put forward by Theosophy, based on universal propositions, can be so useful to get this understanding. Propositions which, by the way, can be found in all the major religions and philosophies if one looks hard enough.

Everyone at some stage thinks about ‘their place in space’. What we think our universe is, and how it operates, partly determines the kind of person we are. For example, we may feel the universe driven by a snowstorm of chaos, without conscience or intelligence or even divinity. We may also think the opposite – a “universe unfolding as it should” to quote from, Desiderata. I believe the universe is an extraordinary organism with multiple dimensions of being, working to a pattern of inner unfoldment. Learning, growing, in a vast interplay of cause and effect over mind boggling periods of time and space and beyond, where everyone and everything eventually gets what they deserve. Thus, my personal view of the universe, determines my thinking and our behaviour. It serves us as the foundation of our personal set of ethics. This personal picture may serve us unchanged and unchallenged for an entire lifetime.

Our ethics decide our actions in many instances – whether we are selfish or unselfish, honest or dishonest, cruel or compassionate. In very small ways, we decide the fate of the world, through our actions based on a set of ethics based on a sense of what the universe is – our faith if you like. So you can see that our thinking about all this requires time, open mindedness hopefully and the freedom to choose. We are lucky here in

Australia that we can think as we please. Furthermore; to act out a set of ethics we need thought processes to do it. Our ‘manas’ aspect (‘manas’ is a Sanskrit term meaning ‘mind’), helps us here. However, the need to survive and look after families and ourselves, and this imperative of daily life tends to lock us into certain thought patterns which then govern our behaviour, sometimes with negative effects. But, at the very most basic level, what is a thought? A thought is an energy produced by something. A galaxy has thoughts and produces star systems, as seen in the spectacular pictures from the Hubble telescope. What a concept – we watch a galaxy thinking through a powerful telescope! Thought has form, but not in the accepted physical sense. You can get some sense of thought’s semi-tangible quality by contemplating certain atmospheres where habitual thoughts seem to linger. Churches and hotels are a good example. Why is it we can sense the positive or negative atmospheres if thoughts are completely intangible? Thoughts are emanations and have a life of their own. Listen to what one of the masters has to say about thoughts in The Mahatma Letters to AP Sinnet from the Mahatmas M and KH. He starts with a general description of life on earth – the last sentence is the important one: “The lower world of effects is the sphere of such distorted thoughts; of the most sensual conceptions, and pictures, of anthropomorphic entities, the out creations of their creators, the sensual minds of the people who have never outgrown their brutehood on earth. Remembering thoughts are things – have tenacity, coherence, and life, - that they are real entities – the rest will become plain.” - from The Mahatma Letters page:48.From a

Sunrise article by Grace Knoche in Oct/Nov ’95, “Thoughts are potent and leave their indelible impress on inner planes; once a thought is released it is a living entity and becomes either an “active beneficent power… (or) a maleficent demon”. Thoughts can be transmitted to others, although this is a very basic description of what actually happens. If you want to know more our theosophical literature is an excellent resource. There is a danger that a negative thought addressed to someone else, does us just as much harm as we intended the target. In the same manner positive thoughts ‘travel’. To give a real life example, how many times have you called someone on the phone and they have said: “I was thinking about you today!” I do not believe this is chance. It has happened dozens of times. My father just sent me a copy of his memoirs, in which he describes as a young adult walking across a bridge a sharp sensation – his fiancé had just cut herself at the same moment. Not only do thoughts have this semi-tangible life, they also have a more tangible effect on the physical processes inside our brain.

Quoting again from GFK’s

Sunrise article: “HP Blavatsky said at a gathering at her

London residence ‘Ordinary intellectual activity moves on well beaten paths in the brain,’ she explained, ‘and does not compel sudden adjustments or destructions in its substance’. But because the brain is the organ of our waking consciousness, to comprehend ideas and truths larger than the ordinary takes a “new kind of mental effort… something very different – the carving out of new brain paths”. Theosophy challenges us to just this – to ponder ideas and truths larger than the ordinary, and turn these understandings into actions larger than the ordinary. And again from the same article: “Nearly a century later David Bohm, Britain’s famed theoretical physicist says that: “Powerful emotions and thoughts can permanently change the structure of the brain and cut deep grooves in it if not modified by an opposite energy of equal potency.” Each thought cuts a pathway in the brain, probably a biochemical/electrical/physical one. As we play a record the needle travels in grooves and eventually wears the groove deeper. Our thoughts cut grooves in our brain, and eventually we have thinking habits, and in some cases we have created rather deep ones where we may not want them! These are the ruts of our thinking, and we all have these to greater or lesser degree, for ‘better or worse, for richer or for poorer’ – I use this expression because it really is a kind of marriage or trilogy – our mind, thoughts and brain.

I don’t want to give the impression that all patterns or grooves are bad – there is a need for a whole range of them to remain intact if we are to survive – we need our instincts, learning, education, conditioning. This is necessarily, but if we want a better world we have to go beyond ourselves – each one of us. This requires us to occasionally bump the turntable once in a while and jump the needle out of the groove of our own limited selfish thinking.

Our Theosophical perspective, is that also that we should remain as flexible and fluid in our thinking for as long as possible, to stop our thinking patterns becoming too stagnant or crystallised. We need to challenge ourselves once in a while by saying to our reactions to things and our thoughts by saying: “Who goes there?” – stop ourselves and ask if we are becoming inflexible and closed minded, what do we cling to? Do our thoughts serve us or do we merely serve them? Are these thoughts really expressing the highest that is in us? Theosophy does not want you to accept anything blindly but to assimilate and test its ideas for yourself. The Theosophical Society is in a way, an organisation or system of thought devoted to breaking the moulds of mind that hold humanity in chains of ignorance and intolerance. Our physical body sheds part of itself each day – it is not afraid to let go of the parts that are worn out and need replacement – perhaps there are parts of our thinking we need to replace, especially if the record is stuck in place where the music is not so good.

My personal experience is that as time goes by it gets harder to change oneself, especially as one’s responsibilities for others seems to grow. I am in the middle of a process of personal change right now – but drastic actions are attractive but not practical. But, nothing stops me from changing how I think, even if I cannot change my occupation quickly. I have found doing short courses an extremely effective way of opening new areas of the brain I was dimly aware of – a recent course in graphic-design gave me a great thrill as I felt myself leaping over a creative hurdle or barrier mentally and achieving things I did not realise I could do. The same applies to a sculpture course I did and a screen-printing course. Even a new book or friendship influences us in a positive way. The key is to never stop learning, and as a friend from

Western Australia said, tolerance seems to be an important way to stay open-minded and alive. Try not to be threatened or afraid to try out new things. Be aware of too much rigidity and predictability in our lives – this is like living with curtains drawn on a sunny spring day! Theosophy is about open enquiry, fearless open enquiry, and has helped me expand my horizons immeasurably. On a personal level there is a natural resistance to any constant self reinvention and probably a healthy one – the human psyche is at once fragile as it is agile and tough. We need a basic makeup to survive as entities on this globe, and to completely redefine ourselves all the time would send us to the madhouse. There are basic things we must do to earn a living, keep a job, be a parent. These are useful moulds. Nonetheless, it seems to be in the nature of things that they change – and that if they are not prepared to change they will be obliterated – look at any species now extinct – is it because of an inability to change, to adapt? A Chinese saying says “the flexible will survive”.

I recently bought a wonderful book of wise sayings called, Bag of Jewels. A short quote is relevant today: “Sometimes a crisis event shatters all the anchors that hold our lives together”. There are also many films about this process of re-evaluation and breaking the moulds of mind – “Hook” being one of them, the businessman who forgot to live. Also, when we face death in some form, we re-evaluate our most basic assumptions about how we live.

Some of the moulds of mind we need to change on national scales are is an ability to destroy nature without thought for the future, the need to dominate others through war or other means of aggression, the inability to allow freedom of thought through political oppression or religious oppression, the view that only objects and not relationships give happiness – materialism. Fundamentalism of every kind. On a national scale these are powerful moulds of mind because they affect the cultures of entire populations, and the social conditioning of millions of people – something the Buddha said we will find very hard to resist. We all have a part to play nonetheless.

We are truly pilgrims or universal travellers in consciousness, with our little stick and knotted handkerchief with a few possessions resting on our shoulder as we walk the byways of manifestation. This is a good way to travel – we must travel light – those who travel lightest travel furthest, not tied down by too much mental baggage. Children are a living example of this approach.If we look at ourselves as children, we were spontaneous, open minded, naïve and inexperienced in life. The trick is to hold on to the more positive aspects in our later years, and let go and refine other parts. And to keep learning – I was amazed at a recent high school reunion, the first in 20 years, by how the ageing process had affected some and not others – the youngest thinkers also looked the youngest!

Even our own physical body knows when to let go of itself. Every day hair, skin, cells etc disappear, to be replaced by new invigorated structures. So in effect we are never the same person we were yesterday - we are not static. We need to keep the habit of exploring the new, the unexplored, otherwise we tend to get lost in our own fear and procrastination. This is hard to do with the demands of an ordinary life. But, worrying about changing ourselves and being really alive is also a good excuse for inaction!

Finally, we began by talking about a big picture, and we’ll end this way. You and I are energy centres – a group of energies combined, in a river of life, inseparable from a cosmic breath extending into countless millions of years. We exist now in multiple dimensions in infinite and limitless space. I think it is important to find the greatest picture of reality we can grasp. Tiny it may be. And then, stop and ask, from time to time; what is this picture I have formed? Does it need polishing? Expanding? Simplifying? Revising? This picture is a reflection of you, your inner awareness. This is all extremely important because if we always listen to the inner self and censor its message, we will cling to the same old things – slowly hardening inside, preventing the flow of life’s wonderful energies from the higher parts to the more human parts of our nature. Breathe life into your own thinking with open mindedness if you dare! And don’t forget, you can be an influence for a better and more compassionate world.

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Fri 8 Aug 2008

WHAT IS TRUTH? by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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WHAT IS TRUTH? by Stefan Carey

What is truth? It has been defined as something to be relied on, firm, established, honest, faithful (Etymological Dictionary, 669.)The question is very tricky perhaps because of its utter simplicity. Jesus was asked, “What is truth?”, by Herod, but he did not answer – perhaps because Herod was not the kind of person who would understand even if an answer were given, but I wonder if Jesus’s non-answer is an answer in itself. However I am not going to cheat and say that “Truth is”… and make this the end of my article.

Truth is. Yet each of us perceives the universe differently – that is a truth is it not? This is a paradox, but a workable one for it keeps life interesting and keeps you guessing as to what reality is all about! Truth is relative to the beholder, i.e. its perceptions depend on the mind, however our perception cannot change the truth itself. For example the law of cause and effect as expressed by gravity we accept as a truth – ignoring it will not make it disappear. Theosophy is an attempt to pass on what is described as a golden thread running through all the ancient and modern religions and philosophies. It is an attempt to define the inner workings of the universe – beyond what you can see or perceive. It is an attempt to keep alive a great tradition called the wisdom tradition, to pass on teachings that are open to questioning, examination and exploration without creating an authority who says you must believe so and so.

“Just because there is no way of perceiving truth or of interpreting nature, just so there ought to be as many different visions of theosophy as there are theosophists, balanced with the idea that the task of the society is to transmit the teachings as we have received them. Paradox again: on the one hand the Theosophical Society has no creed or authoritatively proclaimed beliefs or tenets to which an applicant for Fellowship in the organisation must adhere; the only prerequisite for joining the T.S. is an acceptance of the principle of universal brotherhood, the implication being that a member is expected to support its philanthropic and humanitarian goals, even if he does not become versed in the philosophy of theosophy. On the other hand the doctrines – imbodied in theosophy are the modern heirs to an ancient heritage of imparted truths, a living, wisdom-tradition that is ever young because renewed time and again as it is rediscovered and reinterpreted by every seeker and original thinker with “inspiration of his own”. (Grace Knoche, General Letter, page 4, July 1983.) It is also worth mentioning here that no-one else can do our growing for us, no-one else can enlarge our consciousness for us – we have to do it for ourselves. Theosophy attempts to provide some of the answers to our big questions, but asks that each person consider and weigh up all the possibilities for themselves. Theosophy does not dictate the terms of our understanding. It presents (with no apologies) what it believes to be a fundamental explanation of reality through three propositions. Theosophy is not a science, a religion or a philosophy, but explores and expresses all three, and definitely does not wish to start a new religion. Basic to all the ideas in theosophy is the idea of a universal brotherhood. Theosophy is altruism. But, before we discuss this serious side to the determination of what is fundamental to the workings of the universe, let us turn our minds to a more personal side of the question. How do we approach this search of ours for the answers? What attitude of mind should we have? What ideas could we consider, to help us to be open minded about what we are and what we see? I would like to quote from several inspired pieces of writing, the first from John P. van Mater which appeared in December 1978 Sunrise: “Truth will never die”, secondly his paper titled, “Is the Universe Alive?”, and the third from a Sunrise article of Jun/July 1987 titled “Revelation and the Hunger for Truth”, by Jules van Bergen. All these are available from our library in Melbourne.

Quote 1: “In today’s life one of our great lacks appears to be a grasp of the wholeness of knowledge of truth. At the present time our general outlook is dominated by the views of rather materialistic scientists, i.e., when we consider the structure, origin, and destiny of the cosmos and man, we usually have in mind a mixture of various of the physical and life sciences. Few indeed in the West turn to religion or philosophy when discussing this subject. The result is that when we read ancient works on cosmogenesis, etc., we are scarcely in a position to appreciate the meaning of their succession of gods and goddesses describing how the universal being came to birth, breathing forth the suns in vast recurring cosmic cycles. And when it is added that man is a spark of this central fire and had his origins in the primal genesis of our earth, we feel all this to be highly metaphysical – indeed imaginary! Yet, in truth, when these ancient cosmogonies are properly understood they do not contradict any scientific facts – though they may conflict with many materially based theories devised to explain these facts. We shall be in a far better position to understand the principles of the ancient wisdom expressed and symbolized in archaic cosmologies, if we accept the premise that in former eras the cosmos was considered as real spiritually as it is tangible physically.” (‘Truth Will Never Die’ John P. van Mater.

Sunrise, December 1978: p. 105.)

Quote 2: “The real factors or – elements that make up most of what we term life or living things are invisible to us – such as consciousness, for example, which is the motor behind all our actions and comprehensions – our drive to be and to know. The inner nature even of our best friends cannot be seen. We can feel their inward presence, sense the love and comradeship – We see the faces we know so well. But we cannot see into the inner space – the thoughts and aspirations and perhaps rightly so. These qualities are there, nonetheless, even though we can only vaguely sense them. They are unseen to our everyday eyes. Yet these hidden thoughts and aspirations within all of us are the most important factors that shape our character and our lives. This same reasoning can be applied to the cosmos. The actual laws governing its structure and its operations are also invisible. We become aware of these laws only because of the manner in which they organise and regulate nature and the world around us. The laws themselves we cannot see. From out of the visible flows forth the visible. Consider, for example, the birth of a human, being: Where was that invisible entity before it overshadowed a fertilised germ cell and gradually unfolded and proliferated it into a human being? A human being is a veritable cosmos of lesser lives: atoms, molecules, cells, tissues, not to mention feelings, thoughts, activity, and conscious awareness. The same may be said of all seeds of life, each at its own level – whether animal, vegetable, or even minerals.” (‘Is the Universe Alive?’, John P van Mater.)^{Quote 3: “Not long after the war, in a time when no one thought about pollution of the environment or atom bombs, and we were filled with the feeling that we would be able to work for a better world, there was a theosophical youth camp in Ommen. One sunny afternoon a game was organized. A number of posts were set out on a route through the fields and woods. Maddy and I were stationed at such a post and we received at intervals the small groups of children who had to learn a watchword from us in order to continue on their way. The watchword was simplified for the children, and was whispered to them because it was a secret Seek this wisdom by doing service, by strong search, by questions, and by humility. We repeated this so often that afternoon, and the words made such an impression on me that I have never forgotten them. They are from the Bhagavad-Gita. In the years that have passed since then, those words have been faithful friends; they have never lost their potency. On the contrary, their magic has continued to reveal itself. In his Fountain-Source of Occultism G. de Purucker talks about the manner of instruction in the Mystery schools:}^{‘The method is not to fill the mind of the learner full of other men’s thoughts, but to arouse the spiritual fire in himself which brings about an awakening of the understanding, so that in very truth the neophyte becomes his own initiator.’ ‘What one receives from outside in the way of ideas, of thoughts, are merely the outward stimuli, arousing the inner vibration preparing for the reception of the light within… Devotion to truth, to the point of utterly forgetting oneself, opens the channel of reception, Light and knowledge then enter the mind and heart – from oneself, from one’s inner god…; and it is in this wise that the man [person] initiates himself. – pages: 57-8. When you read this for the first time, it is rather surprising and you have to really consider whether you can agree with it. One afternoon at the beginning of summer we were discussing this passage and, while I was busy with the coffee, my friend Menno suddenly said: “The sparrows are gone. Do you know that the sparrows are gone?!” My immediate reaction was: “Yes, you’re right.” Though I had not seen them for a good five weeks, until that moment I had not missed them. But I did not have to reflect: the knowledge was there at once. The gulf between that which happens in the outside world and the springing up of it in one’s consciousness is bridged so quickly that it can scarcely be distinguished – it appears as one and the same thing – and we think that reality is outside of us. The sparrows showed me how imperceptibly knowledge is stored, knowledge that later emerges at the right moment. Coming out of an endless past, we have stored an infinitude of knowledge in our more perfected higher principles. When we learn to tap that source, all knowledge will be within our reach. It is our “dreams of matter” that keep us from that knowledge. We mistake the road-map for the road, we take the dead-letter for the truth, and the life of our personality for the true life. (Jules van Bergen ‘Revelation And The Hunger For Truth’}

Sunrise February/March, 1987: p. 95-96.)This distinction between our consciousness and the outside world by the last author is a fascinating point and I would like to discuss this further with you later. But what are these three axiomatic ideas of theosophy I mentioned at the beginning. First that the universe has an unknowable cause or principle beyond the grasp of the human mind, which underlies all existence.

Second the eternity of boundless space as the ground for the emergence and disappearance of numberless universes and their inhabitants in accordance with cyclic law. Third, that all beings are fundamentally identical with the universal spirit and must reimbody repeatedly in all types of forms in order to evolve forth their full potentials. The ideas are expanded in many of the books produced by the Theosophical Society – the Secret Doctrine here on the table before me now is but one of the most famous. But for me they are not the only useful and fundamental truths as far as I can see, there are the workings of the universe, but what about our immediate problems of human existence? Long ago a man sat under a tree in a park and spoke to his friends. He had something rather useful to say to them, as it was the product of endless incarnations of experience: the four noble truths” From Douglas Palmer’s article in 1988 August/September Sunrise, I quote: “Immediately after his enlightenment under the Bodhi tree, tradition affirms that the Buddha went to Benares and in the Deer Park gave his first discourse, in which he expounded the celebrated Four Noble Truths. “One thing I teach, O Bhikkhus, sorrow and the end of sorrow,” said the Buddha, and also: “It is through not understanding these Four Noble Truths that we have wandered so long around this cycle of rebirth, you and I.” The First Noble Truth concerns the problem we all face as human beings: the fact of suffering. Old age, disease, and death are the most obvious physical forms, but we also suffer mentally from sorrow and grief. The actual word used is duhkha and in most texts this has been translated as suffering. This does not imply that all life is suffering, and some writers have suggested a better translation would be “frustration” or “unease”. The Second Noble Truth deals with the cause of suffering, that is trishna variously described as desire, clinging, or grasping. We are “always struggling to get things that are pleasurable and avoid things that are painful, to find ease and security, and generally to manipulate people and situations to be the way we want them. And because the rest of the world does not necessarily fit in with what we want, we often find ourselves cutting against the general flow of things, and getting hurt and disappointed in the process” (Christmas Humphreys). It must be clearly understood that desire is neither good nor evil, for it is the motive force behind samsara (the cycle of births and deaths), the phenomenal world, and produces what the Buddha called “the unrolling and rolling up of the worlds”. As the late Dr. D.T. Suzuki remarked, “desire rightly directed leads to compassion”. The Third Noble Truth states that “suffering and frustration can be ended.” How? By the attainment of nirvana. This Sanskrit word has been interpreted as the blowing out or extinction of a flame and as the cessation of the whirlings of the mind – this is the aim of Raja Yoga, as defined in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

In the Fourth Noble Truth Buddha described the means whereby this state may be attained. This is known as the Noble Eightfold Path, each aspect of which is preceded by the word samyak meaning perfect, complete, or right. It is a series of graded steps commencing with right viewpoint or belief and ending with right meditation, contemplation, or Samadhi. Little can be said in words about this final stage. It is a non-dual state of mind – thinker and thought, subject and object cease to exist as separate entities. The state of Samadhi is the ground from which we may take an existential leap into satori or nirvana. In Zen, it is the last foot of the Hundred Foot Pole which we gradually climb, and from which we finally jump off! But long before we reach this supernal state, we have to make a choice. Whether to seek liberation for Self alone; or, having reached the threshold of Nirvana, to turn back as the Buddha did, and inspire wayward humanity to tread the Path of Enlightenment.” [See Stefan’s lecture on this site on ‘Two paths of Spiritual Development’]. To end this topic I would like to mention the viewpoints of other thinkers, my wife included, who made a rather profound comment this morning after we were discussing universal laws over coffee. She said: “Universals laws are a form of conscience”. I’d be interested in your reaction to this idea!

From Krishnamurti (Commentaries on Living, p.46, J. Krishnamurti.)we also have a very interesting perspective: “Truth is not an idea, a conclusion. Is God to be found by seeking him out? Can you search after the unknowable? To find you must know what you are seeking. If you seek to find, what you find will be a self projection; it will be what you desire, and the creation of desire is not truth. To seek truth is to deny it. Truth has no fixed abode, there is no path, no guide to it, and the word is not truth…” This article goes on for quite some time, and ends up in saying that truth comes where there is no resistance, no searching!! From Jesus: Through a dark glass darkly – Jesus addressed the Corinthians – referred to the blurring of the primal vision, the elementary self obscured by the experiences and vicissitudes of normal daily life. From the Buddhist tradition: Truth is like a diamond that fell to the earth and shattered allowing many different refractions and reflections. Because truth is not a thing – it is the very inner nature of the universe itself, how much of this is revealed to us depends on us. How noble the truth is – but our finite minds cannot embrace the infinite – we are advised by the wise to keep our conceptions of the universe and infinitude or the boundless all simple – ‘never ending life and consciousness in unceasing motion everywhere’ – the ancients recognised the reality of being and let it go at that. To end, I’ll quote from the work of the late Ainslie Meares, the famous Australian psychiatrist, in his book The Wealth Within, who bravely attempted to define the boundless: “And what of this other thing that comes in the eye of the storm and in the stillness of the night, yet resides in a drop of dew? Cherish it, for it is born of the spirit and transcends all else”.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in melbourne Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Sat 26 Jul 2008

THE NATURE OF THOUGHT by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE NATURE OF THOUGHT

This paper is titled ‘The Nature of Thought’. I have tackled the topic from a purely theosophical standpoint, and have ignored an enormous amount of valuable information on the subject available from other perspectives. I have done this because I believe theosophy delivers an essential alternative insight into the nature of thought, I have not found elsewhere. I have borrowed substantially from our own literature and thrown in a few ideas and observations of my own.

We think from the moment we rise, and if we are conscious enough;we can be conscious of our thoughts in our sleeping hours. We can see the various kinds of thought as different aspects of our being coming into play and influencing the mind. I remember spending a whole day once simply watching my own thoughts as they entered my mind. What a boring and long day it was! So many thoughts rushing where only fools dare, and where angels fear to tread! I won’t be doing that again in a hurry!! However, this exercise of observing our thoughts appears essential, and many systems encourage us to undertake it. The Upanishads for example, say the mind is the enslaver and the liberator. Here are some thoughts by some of the greats. It’s all food for thought!

Schiller says “Intellect is brain force”.

The Buddha says “All that we are is the result of what we have thought… If a man acts with pure thoughts, happiness follows him like a shadow that never leaves him”. Emerson says “Thoughts rule the world”.

Chinese proverb “The mind is the emperor of the body”. Sivanandra says “Thought moulds your character and shapes your destiny. Therefore centre your thoughts on God and sublime truths”.

From an unknown source “Thought is a tremendous living force, thought gains strength through repetition”.

The state of our mind and the thoughts we entertain profoundly influence our health. Positive healthy thoughts about ourselves and others I believe, make us much happier and healthier. Also, do you notice that we can project our thoughts into a situation and change the way we see it even though the situation is unchanged? Remember the example of the person who calls the glass of water half empty and the other person who calls the glass of water half full. If we can project positive thoughts, the rest of our world usually reciprocates. Smile and the whole world smiles with you.

What are thoughts? Can we control our thoughts? What would our thoughts look like if we could see them? Where do thoughts come from? What form do the thoughts of the gods take? Whose big idea is the universe? What responsibility do we have for our thoughts? What is the impact of our thoughts on our future selves?

The chief message of this paper is to suggest that thoughts are actuallybeings. That’s right, beings, on a very basic level as far as their experience goes, with their own will and their own divine inner selves. The Mahatma Letters describe thoughts as things – “they have tenacity, coherence, life, - …they are real entities…”

This is an interesting thought. The idea here is that each thought has alife of its own, and is a ‘learning being’. The thoughts we produce are an energy or an individual form of consciousness in themselves. A thought or ‘elemental’ is surrounded by its own thought form or body. We create these elemental beings all the time just by thinking.

So our thoughts, as evolving human beings, are living entities, embryosouls developing and moving forward on the pathway of evolutionary growth, their divine aspect is a product of our thinking. So in this simple act we are godlike – we create life. Thus, it is important to try and control and guard our thinking processes. But how can this be achieved and what are some of the practical aspects of all of this?

Thoughts can grow stronger every time we have them, and even moreso if there is some force behind them. Examples of these powerful thoughts are anger, jealousy, compassion, etc. “When a thought has left the mind it is impossible to withdraw the energy with which we charged it, for then it is already an elemental being, beginning its upward journey. If neutralising thoughts are sent forth immediately, the two coalesce, the effects of the evil ones are made harmless”…“When we mix the mind with animal passions we create vices – our aim should be if possible to control the mind and not be controlled by it. It is after all a tool of the inner self or higher ego or our more material aspects. It’s our choice. The mind is discoloured by whatever the mind focuses on. Also to be avoided, are the influences coming from the presence of others, from our training and education and our desires. The best thought or ‘correct’ thought comes from the higher ego or our spiritual being”.

Habits are thoughts or beings that hunger for nourishment, to stayalive, that is why the more energy we put into a habit the more difficult it is to break it. After long enough the, ‘habit becomes the person and the person becomes the habit’.

‘If we are having problems with thoughts we can do without, think ofthe opposite of the thought that is annoying us – this strengthens the will, clears the vision, refines the emotions, stimulates the heart’s forces and the general strength and nobility of character.’

Let’s turn to the Buddha, for some more practical advice: “When eviland unworthy thoughts arise in the mind, images of lust, hatred and infatuation; the disciple must win from these thoughts other and worthy images. When he thus induces other and worthy images in his mind, the unworthy thoughts, the images of lust, hatred, infatuation, cease; and because he has overcome them, his inner heart is made firm, tranquil, unified and strong”.

If we now move to a larger perspective, do you realise that everyhuman being is the thought of their own inner god? An imperfect reflection of an inner splendour, nevertheless a child of the thoughts of the divinity within.

This is all worth a great deal of reflection as it explains our origins – your inner god is the result of the thought of another self conscious being. In the far distant past you were thought into being, just like we think our own thoughts into being. Can you see the profound relationships working here?

Extend this thinking to a cosmic scale and we have the creation ofgalaxies. Highly evolved beings or consciousnesses or gods, created this universe in an apparent organised matrix of matter and consciousness by thinking it into being. To borrow a thought, I imagine the more complex the galaxy the more complex the thinking and experience behind the consciousness or being that created it.

I am glad that I am not a member of a galaxy that was a result of someGod’s hangover! If the big bang is a correct approximation of the creation of this universe, then don’t let’s be around when that consciousness loses its temper!

Once in a while I think it pays to confront our thinking habits. Whatdrives us? What are our aspirations? Ever stopped to wonder why our aspirations are what they are? Or perhaps you have asked who you are? Recently I realised much of the person I am now is the person I created from the child I once was, no-one else did this, although some people were glad to help in their own way.

I would like to end this paper on a positive note. “Man is indeed a

mystery: under the surface and behind the veil there is the mystery of selfhood, individuality, a career stretching into distant eternities”. Man is essentially a godlike energy enshrouded by veils.

The person we are to become is like an unopened bud, waiting for usto create the right conditions for it to blossom. This is self directed evolution. This is what our thoughts also do, they create our future circumstances, our future karma. This is because they precede all our actions. Our thoughts therefore create our future selves just as our current self is the result of our past thoughts and action.

“If we can try every moment to be selfless, we shall forget our personalwants, and eventually free the spirit from the crippling bonds of self-centredness, and eventually merge into universal consciousness. By understanding the power of thought we can transform our entire being and move towards a more intimate union with the cosmic divinity at the centre of our solar system. When we lose personality, we release the hold the unprogressed elements have upon our real being. The importance of understanding the power of thought, does not only mean understanding the force of thought or the power of thought in a mechanical sense. It also includes the understanding of the nature of thought. And this understanding is what I have tried to convey in giving this paper.

Evolution is simply the unwrapping of the layers surrounding the entitybe it god, human, or thought. We human beings were elementals in some far bygone cosmic ‘Manvantara’ [cosmic lifetime] and we have evolved at present the first faint light of spirituality. However imperfectly it may be, we are beginning to sense the working of the divine flame within, which is the influence of the inner god.” Just one final thought about thought – “thought in all its forms is themost fleeting and uncontrolled action of all.” But it is something we eventually must understand, and something we will need to eventually control.

The above is the text of a lecture delivered to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Fri 25 Jul 2008

TWO PATHS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: Pratyeka Buddha and Buddha of Compassion by Stefan Carey

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THE TWO PATHS OF SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT: the Paths leading to the Pratyeka Buddha and the Buddha of Compassion by Stefan Carey

At work there is a desk calendar with a profound quote from the Indian spiritual classic, The Bhagavad Gita: “Perfection is not attained by inaction”. For a lazy bones like me, what was required was a day of complete rest and dare I say inaction. So, I swung into action and took the day off – to think about this awful challenge. “Perfection is not attained by inaction”. Perfection. Buddhahood, Nirvana. To achieve these good bottom-line results of spiritual development it looked like I had my work cut out for me! I sweated over the prospect of no more sloppy thinking and behaving. No more drifting. Perfection, Buddhahood and Nirvana are important goals, I’d always seen that, but never paid much attention or made much of an effort. Why not want to be there when the gold medals are being handed out? Let’s get serious I thought, after all, the pressure is on for impressive achievements material and otherwise. But how to reach there? And then an important, uncomfortable question arose in my otherwise sloppy thinking. “Who is spiritual development for?” If Buddhahood and Nirvana means losing the grip of self i.e. all the things in me that say this is “Stefan” or “Henrietta” in the next lifetime, when I have reached a relative perfection and lost the “self”, who or for what part of “Stefan” or “Henrietta” will I have got there for? Who is this for if there is no self left? Questions, questions, questions! This paper is about deciding for ourselves which of the two main pathways of spiritual development we want to tread: Buddhahood and Nirvana. In simple terms, the point at which we do not need to learn any more on earth in a physical body. And the question I want you to consider is will you develop spiritually for yourself only, or for the rest of humanity? That is assuming the rest of humanity has nothing to teach you first! Of course there is no pressure from anyone to do either. In technical terms the two paths of spiritual development are about your choice about being either a Pratyeka or a Bodhisattva Buddha. At the end of the day, you will choose one or the other. It will be fairly obvious by the end that I recommend one pathway. But don’t take my word for any of this or anyone else’s – for a start I have only read about these things, and these are just my opinions, my interpretations. The journey of spiritual development and who you are making it for is a decision only you will make. The Theosophical Society attempts to put the right knowledge about this in our hands as best as it can. The Theosophical Society has no authority. None. The real authority and responsibility rests with you. I wonder perhaps you are thinking now as I would “How can I ever reach Nirvana, some sort of “perfection”?”, a wobbly term at the best of times, but let’s take it to mean the point at which the human part of you does not need to learn any more. “How can we be thinking and talking about these abstractions if we are so bogged down in the day-to-day to develop spiritually?” We feel – at least I do – too busy and too imperfect to even start any serious sort of spiritual development. One day you have more time, more time to concentrate with fewer distractions. My sincere apologies, it won’t happen like this. Spiritual development happens when you are not looking. Development is the slow unfolding of the limited consciousness to unlimited consciousness, it is limited consciousness to unlimited consciousness, it is a natural process. Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary gives us at least two definitions of development: “1. to expand by a process of growth, to cause to grow and differentiate along lines natural to its kind, e.g. rain and sun developed the grain, or: 2. to become gradually manifest.” Picture this: our spiritual growth, is like a tree growing and reaching out into the fabric of humanity, the earth around us, the oceans, the mountains, the night skies, the planets, the atoms – tiny movement by tiny movement, nourished and prompted by the divinity within. The paradox is the connections were always there. Slowly, as pure consciousness or intelligence, we will become self-consciously infinite. And sometimes you will go backwards, but mostly forwards. So, I expect there are no excuses for putting this off for too long. No excuse for inaction for what is in fact a very natural process that can be accelerated by the application of the will in the right direction, a will hopefully directed to the purpose of building Universal Brotherhood, now the main purpose of the Theosophical Society. Let’s go back again to the two main spiritual paths of spiritual development, the two main choices. The first is the Pratyeka Buddha or the path of the one who decided it is “everyone for himself” – the spiritual economic rationalists if you like. The term Pratyeka is not important, but is a Sanskrit term.

The Pratyeka, after eons of self development and no more to learn on earth readily accepts a long rest, a blissful rest in Nirvana. It is the thought behind the term Pratyeka Buddha that is important, because the thought behind it is like a compass of spiritual development, guiding the individual. This Pratyeka Buddha is on a, what we theosophists call the right-hand path, or a path of light. There is no darkness associated with the Pratyeka Buddha path. As Dr. de Purucker says of the Pratyeka Buddha in Fountain Source of Occultism: “He raises himself to the spiritual realms of his own inner being where he enwraps himself, not heeding the call to return and help mankind. He is a very pure and holy individual otherwise he could not possibly reach Nirvana.” (Fountain Source of Occultism, p.517). Pratyeka Buddha is still a great wondrous achievement. But it benefits no-one but the Pratyeka Buddhas themselves. My interpretation is that it is an intellectual self-interested form of spiritual attainment. And I can understand why Pratyeka is an option. Can you picture yourself as having learnt all you can on earth, relatively perfect, ready to step over the threshold into one of the many kinds of Nirvana? It is only natural and fair I suppose, that you would like something like a Nirvana at the end of all this hard work. However, I admit I feel this seems to be out of accord with nature, out of accord with the fundamental precepts of universal brotherhood, something we could use a lot of right now. To be honest, I am surprised you can get this far, walk into Nirvana, stop incarnating and ignore the rest of humanity. This is something for us all to ponder upon. The other direction on your spiritual compass is the great path, a noble path, much, much harder path. I feel it is more in tune with nature - it is the path of the Bodhisattva Buddha In Sanskrit the ‘Amrita Yana’ or the Immortal Path]. This is the Buddha who on the verge of the end of incarnating on earth, looks back and says “No”. “He puts all that lives before him”. (Fountain Source of Occultism, -.518). Nirvana will have to wait. Cancel the ticket, forget the refund. (And the way Bodhisattva literally means “one whose essence has become intelligence”, imagine your essence becomes pure intelligence – what a concept!) This Bodhisattva is the path of the one who entirely forgets the self, expects no reward at the end of a seemingly endless road of incarnations. The spiritual development is undertaken for the benefit of others. Again the term is unimportant. The thought behind the word is what counts – living for the benefit of others. The Bodhisattva Buddha, after cancelling the ticket to Nirvana and dumbfounding the travel agent at Nirvana travel agency, then waits patiently for the rest of a confused unhappy and misguided humanity to catch up them, prompting, eventually invisibly helping, understanding, teaching and guiding. This is the key. In the theosophical literature there is a fair bit of technical explanation about all the different kinds of buddhas, and what happens to the various aspects of the human constitution and above, if you happen to become a Bodhisattva Buddha in some future lifetime. To get yourself ready for this moment I suggest you read pages 517 – 528 of the Fountain Source of Occultism before then. This eleven pages is an inspirational and eye opening read about Bodhisattvas, and about Gautama the Buddha. We are very fortunate to have this information in such an easy to read form and a record of one who has done this. It helps us to understand and prepare. And did you realise we are on the road to being Buddhas of one kind or another already? You may not think so. As Dr. de Purucker says in his book Fountain Source of Occultism: “Each one of us is an unexpressed Buddha”. (p.519) It is up to you – no one else in the universe – to decide what kind of Buddha you will express… Pratyeka or Bodhisattva. As we said earlier it does not seem we are anywhere near any kind of spiritual development. Yet, there are training grounds in daily life we overlook. As an example parents and spouse forego themselves daily, in the smallest trivial ways that you would expect lead to anything terrifically glorious like becoming a Bodhisattva. Having a family with children is like this. Daily sacrifice over many lifetimes, trains you, refines you, tests you. Every human being is tested in many ways in one day, in millions of moments each lifetime. Another example of a training ground is that of someone in public office whose main interest is that of the public – a selfless teacher, a community lawyer, an inspirational politician or an environmental activist. All around us we see examples of self sacrifice, from the small to the great. All is preparation for the noble ideal of the Bodhisattva. Spiritual development is the awakening gently of the higher nature and allowing its influence to get stronger in daily life. Small steps of self sacrifice – small steps slowly weaken and transform your passionate and lower self. Allowing the splendid self the compassionate Buddha nature to shine forth, the inner teacher made external to the world. But remember compassion to be real, to be genuine is not an intellectual fantasy and something we do only when we are in public – it must be a personal and private too. To end I would like to repeat small acts of kindness light our faltering steps on the path of spiritual development. Grandiose moments do not occur along the way. Enlightenment is a slow sunrise. Nirvana is not attained in a weekend. Buddhahood is not obtained over the Christmas holidays or even a few lifetimes. In each human being there is a small point, a spark of light shining, burning, sitting with you and us today in your room as you read this, trying to raise the rest of your nature. Trying lifetime after lifetime to awaken and elevate a stubborn passionate human nature to the reality of the golden fire inside that it is infinite nature. In this process of raising ourselves to a higher level of consciousness, we may self consciously become at one with the universal self. The world will see in due course what you will turn out as. Pratyeka Buddha or Bodhisattva Buddha. But today is as good a day as any to start thinking about who and what you will develop spiritually for. And remember, as the Bhagavad Gita reminds us: “perfection does not come from inaction”

The text of the lecture above was delivered to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne

Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society

Pasadena.

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Mon 14 Jul 2008

THE DIVINE LANGUAGE OF VIBRATIONS by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE DIVINE LANGUAGE OF VIBRATIONS by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

When reading and trying to understand what HPB meant under the term of “human principles”, we may face some difficulties in imagining Atma and Buddhi to the extent where we would be able to practically work with them. What are these principles indeed? Are they just abstract expressions or they have some association with the physical world, like the term “Sthula Sarira” – with the physical body? And how can human principles be operated, for example, the higher freed from the lower ones, if they are just abstract ideas?

Something can be united or separated from something when they are of the same origin, for example, idea from idea or matter from matter. So, what about the common origin of the higher and lower principles?

These questions may also come to us as questions about the Prima Materia – the source of everything – and the very mechanism of the appearance of the worlds from Prima Materia. How do they appear? What is the fabric, out of which they are so intricately woven? At a glance, the question may seem too difficult to answer.OK, if it’s difficult to find out about the “fabric” of the higher principles and the spiritual world, let us look at the material world and our physical body. It is a shape consisting of smaller shapes – cells, and the latter ones consist of even smaller ones – molecules and atoms.

Once, atom has been accepted as the corner stone of the universe, indivisible and unchanging. From that time onwards, physicists found out that atom can be divided into even smaller parts and particles. And it is known that the vast majority of the atomic space is filled with the vibrations of energy. In The Secret Doctrine, HPB wrote about “the infinite divisibility of the atom”, so, that no particle can be found which couldn’t be divided into smaller ones till they are already not particles, but waves, vibrations, of energy – a photon (a particle and simultaneously wave of light) an example. In this way, it appears that the primeval fabric even of our physical bodies is a vibration, wave, of energy. And we can understand our solid material body as a spectrum of different frequency waves, as a “standing wave” of life.

So, it appears that everything in the universe is made out of the “fabric” of vibrations. Then, what is a vibration, and how can be anything “made” out of vibrations?

Take a sound of a bell – the sound is a vibration. Throw a stone into a pond – the ripples will be vibrations. Look at the flame of a candle – the flame, the fire are vibrations. Light is vibration. Electricity that we switch on, and it lights up a room, is vibrations of electro-magnetic energy current through the wire. Our thoughts are vibrations. And all of these vibrations differ in their frequency. The higher frequency the finer, subtler and more powerful they are. Those who work in the radio and TV industry know this.

The only way of creating a vibration is by starting it with an impulse of energy, be it by throwing a stone or by producing a thought, an idea. “In the Beginning was the Word and the Word was God”. Was it a “Big Bang” or an almighty fiery “OUM” capable of starting the universal process of creation? In any way, the Source of Life, call it God, Prima Materia or Brahma, started all the following vibrations of the Universe by the primeval vibration of Its consciousness. And all the life, all of its elements, is “spoken” in the Divine language of vibrations. We can find this language in the DNA of the genes and in human languages, in the sounds of wind and colors of plants, in the shapes of the shells and forms of letters and figures, everywhere.

The recent findings of a Russian biophysicist and molecular biologist Pjotr Garjajev show us that human DNA is a virtual biological internet. It stores data and communicates it throughout the body cells. The genetic code follows the same rules as all our human languages. And the conclusion was that living chromosomes function like holographic computers using DNA laser radiation. Simply as it is – we now know how our languages appeared and why they are as they are. They were spoken in the Divine vibrations; these vibrations have formed us as we are, and we are continually mimicking and applying them in our languages.

We call this language Divine because its exquisite complicity, universal efficiency and beauty reflect the properties of the creating Source which we can find no other definition or words to name.

In our book The Laws of Life [please see: http://www.trafford.com/robots/03-2170.html for further details], we explore the ways of how the world of vibrations could have originated from the Source, or Prima Materia, as HPB defines it. At the foundation of our exploration, there are esoteric sources of different origins, and we widely draw on the channeled in 1992 in

Russia book Kalagia, which is in fact a book of esoteric physics. According to Kalagia, the highest frequency vibrations of primeval Fire, Fohat, and Light, gradually lowering their frequency, formed the universe as we see it now. And all the Life had been shaped as a holographic projection of the highest Divine Consciousness, of Divine Thought. Everything, including ourselves, originated from the vibrations of Light and consists of energy vibrations. Our seemingly solid bodies and all the solid surroundings can be imagined as “frozen” vibrations, like ice, which is in fact a form of water - frozen water - and even double frozen evaporated water – steam, gas, a cloud. The first Races of human beings, according to The Secret Doctrine, were less solid and more cloud-like than we, the people of mostly fifth highly materialized Race. What does it give us, to know that we are vibrations, holograms of Light? It completely changes that what we thought as being “us” as a solid body and therefore changes the point from which we are looking at our possibilities of creating, healing, teaching and even transportation. It shows and enhances our abilities of healing with the sounds of music and language because the living DNA substance reacts to their vibrations – we have to only correctly choose their frequency. It shows us also that there is nothing impossible in appearing simultaneously in two spots in space. And a wave is much more flexible than a solid body when learning new skills at any age.

In a broader sense, it helps us to understand how we collect and balance karma, which also consists of vibrations. In fact, when we think or do anything, we produce vibrations of thought and simultaneously change the frequency, and hence the colors of our vibration spectrum. Our spectrum changes under the influence of any our subtlest thought or intention! It can be seen in our aura which then changes its colors.

It also enables us to understand our unity, the interaction of our vibrations, where we cannot completely cut ourselves off from the rest of the world – with vibrations this is impossible! And hence our responsibility for the state of the common vibration spectrum that we produce in our communities, society and the whole of the world. Can you imagine the stormy seas of vibrations which we produce when fighting and arguing!

We are beginning to understand the wholeness of the world and the Wholeness of the Truth of our Source. This Truth is all-dimensional, and we, less-dimensional beings, are only capable of seeing the facets of this Truth through the “windows” of our consciousness. So, one of us sees the Truth through Christianity, another through Buddhism, and the third one through the materialistic science. If all of us understood that the whole Truth is just One, and we perceive its vibrations as we can and were used to, then we could try to look through the others’ “windows” also, and find some additional waves of thought and beauty, which we haven’s seen before. We tried, and The Laws of Life came out as a result of this experience.

When we start understanding ourselves not as finite compact bodies, but as waves of life, lifestreams, living through incarnations, then the idea of immortality becomes clearer to us – when the lower frequency vibrations of the cells of the physical body froze till they completely lose energy, the higher frequency vibrations – the higher principles – are free to separate from them and join the world of similar frequencies.

All the frequencies can be divided into octaves, as it is done in music. We, human beings, also have our octave of vibration frequencies, in which we can exist in our physical bodies. The vibrations of our principles are as such in conformity with the condition of our consciousness, of the vibrations of our thoughts. When we uplift our consciousness to the extent that the vibrations of our principles (you can say also “energy bodies”) rise to the frequencies of a higher octave, then it happens that we ascend into these frequencies and turn from human beings into ascended beings, Ascended Masters, or Dhian Chohans, according to HPB. Hence the idea of ascension in case our vibrations are purified from karma enough and able to join the higher octaves of Light of the spiritual Hierarchy.

This is a spiritual process that is going on for many incarnations, where at the start we unconsciously continuously accumulate karma, lowering our vibrations. At a certain stage we spiritually awaken and begin to consciously search for the way of raising into the higher octaves – of balancing karma and purifying our vibrations from their low manifestations, which, in conformity to Buddha’s teaching, are usually connected with our desires. In our book, we described this process as The Return of the Prodigal Son because this in fact is the return of our soul to its Source, to the starting point of all of the vibrations.

Question: Can the higher vibrations harm the lower ones in case they meet each other?

Comment: Can the Sun harm our physical body in their direct interaction? Of course, the power of the higher Octave vibrations is able to incinerate the body of Earthy vibrations. A direct meeting of a person with an Ascended Master can be compared to a meeting with a lightning bolt, and this is one of the causes why these High Beings don’t usually directly come to us in our physical bodies. What is more, the farther we are going into materialization (Involution), the less we are capable of meeting Them. The only way towards them is purification and Evolution towards the higher Octaves of existence.

Question: Why do some people have an ability of predicting the upcoming events or of restoring the lost past?

Comment: Time is also a coil, a spiral, a wave, a vibration, and some people can appear in different from” now” points of the wave of time.

The following is the text of a lecture given by the authors to a meeting of the Theosophical Society Pasadena in

Melbourne,

Australia, on the 5^th of July 2008. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society

Pasadena.

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Wed 30 Apr 2008

REINCARNATION, CIVILIZATION, AND HISTORY: by John van Mater

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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REINCARNATION, CIVILIZATION, AND HISTORY: by John van Mater

The material for these remarks may be found in H.P. Blavatsky’sSecret Doctrine, supplemented by the writings of Dr. de Purucker, who was a most profound student of her works. This is not to imply that we would make a dogma of The Secret Doctrine, or claim that it contains all the law and all the prophets. But this remarkable work constitutes a major restatement of the principles of the ancient wisdom or esoteric philosophy. One could speak at length about the manner in which The Secret Doctrine was conceived and written, and how it might be studied. Suffice to say the principles it expounds and the mysteries it implies add up to infinitely more than we students may encompass in a single lifetime. Studying it leads to a larger awareness of the structure and operations of the cosmos and man’s relationship to it. These few words are designed to let you know where my roots are. Now the story of man cannot be understood without considering the birth of the planet of which he is an inseparable part. As man and the other kingdoms achieve their evolution, so does earth achieve its form and its reimbodiment. The elemental forces, the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms, and the kingdoms of the gods – all are essential to one another and to the whole. We are to earth what cells, the life force, and thoughts are to man. Thus from the very beginning of our planet’s reimbodiment all the kingdoms were present, not as they now are, but as seeds about to unfold. So let us for a few moments consider in the roughest outlines the manner in which the ancients described the birth of worlds, which they looked upon as cosmic beings, whether speaking of universes, suns, or planets. When such a birth commences, as is the case with man, there is no form, the energies and characteristics of the systems of worlds about to come forth have been inrolled, dormant, sleeping for ages. The Hindus and other cultures give figures for the lifespan of planets and suns and other cosmic entities. Planets, they said, live for 4,320,000,000 years, and this lifespan is called their manvantara. The time spent in its rest period or death or pralaya is also given as 432,000,000 years.

When the time arrives for our world to reawaken, it does so on a very ethereal level. First the godlike beings and the elemental forces issue forth, laying the ethereal pattern for the inner and outer aspects of the earth to be. This is followed by the awakening of the lower kingdoms, human, animal, vegetable, laying the tracks, so to say - all this still on the higher planes. The life of a planet takes place in a series of pulsations or rounds. There are seven such rounds. We are presently in the 4^th round, the most material of our planetary life cycle. Henceforward our earth will grow increasingly less material until the end of its lifespan. As the lesser kingdoms build for themselves more and more appropriate bodies to work through, the earth itself assumes its shape, its circulations, and its energy flow, inner and outer, that we associate with this living planet of ours, of which we and all the lesser lives are the living parts. The birth of a world is directly analogous to the birth of a human being. Just imagine, out of a single cell or vital centre, sometimes termed in Hindu nomenclature a laya centre – through this centre flow all the living forces that will produce in time an adult human being with all his or her inner and outer circulations, intelligence, feeling, consciousness. It is astounding, it is not – all this unfolding from within or rather through a microscopic germ cell. A human being reincarnates. Not by happenstance, but by law, following steps and stages laid down in the inner fabric of the human stock ages and ages ago when man was evolving his present form from the astral, globular shape it once had. Earth achieves its expression by means of all its lesser lives, just as man achieves his physical incarnation by means of all his atoms, molecules, compounds, cells – all contributing to form the fluids, tissues and organs of his bodily phases, all energized by the life forces or prānas and infilled with emotional and mental activities; and all of these in turn energized by the indwelling consciousness. And so it is with the planet. As its kingdoms alter, evolve, grow more material, so does earth achieve the various phases of its reimbodiment. We will be taking a long journey, backwards and forwards in time. We will be discussing questions I have lived with most of my life. I have found them interesting. I hope you do too. These questions are such as What is history? Who are the historians? What is civilization? What qualifications are needed to assess the accomplishments of the past? We will go into these subjects and shed the light that I believe reincarnations throws upon them. For reincarnation does explain history and civilizations in a manner that opens up doors. In defining what civilization is, we have to be very liberal. After all, some tribe up in the Amazon

Basin has its customs, morals, and self-sufficient life, and on its level that is its civilization. If we ask what is a high civilization, here again we have to be very careful. We would like to think that high civilizations produce great art, buildings, literature, as indeed they do. But what about some nomadic people grazing their flocks over the hillsides, leaving no great structures; but a kindly people with a high moral code. They might live their long span and disappear leaving scarcely a trace. Yet in all those things that make life sane and worthwhile, they are civilized. So we have to be careful in defining civilization. But I believe we usually associate high civilizations with eras that produced lasting creations of one kind or another. In order to contact the past we are dependent upon historians. So we have to ask a number of questions in this regard. History is the ebb and flow of civilization over the long millennia. Tracing it, seeking to understand and record it – that is the job of the historian. It can be asked, however, can an era be confined in a book? To what extent can any book reflect the age it pretends to describe? Writing history is an enormous undertaking. The historian is after all not omniscient. He would have to be a student of literature, an engineer and scientist, an expert in law and government, a connoisseur of the arts, a linguist, one familiar with the worlds’ religions, myths, and symbols: one who grasps and understands all the ramifications that civilizations expand into, in order to do justice to an age. The historian is limited in a number of ways. First and foremost, by the preconceptions of our own time. Each age wears its particular glasses, tinted with its preoccupations. We can see this clearly if we think back a few hundred years, when it was held that the world was created some 7 – 8,000 years ago. So that our outlook upon earth and man and our dating of history had to be limited by that stricture. Science put an end to this insofar as earth and the life of earth is concerned, now saying that earth is perhaps 4.3 billion years old, and the life of earth perhaps hundreds of millions of years. Now, however, we have a different set of strictures. Now we believe life sprang from non-life and clings precariously to the surface of our dead world, which like a billiard ball floats around the sun. The original protoplasm by its own unaided efforts, in contact with its environment, and in competition with its fellow enzymes (or whatever they were), has proliferated over the millions of years into all the life we know through the various kingdoms, growing more and more complicated, organizations of matter and organizations of organizations. What is now being said, if you boil it all down, is that in the last analysis man is an aspect of matter. Matter is the reality; consciousness, mind, creativity, the ethical instinct – all these things are aspects of matter. When the body dies, that is the end. Thus man, as the crowning glory of the evolutionary process has to be the most recent production of the evolutionary procedure. Hence in dating early civilizations, we cannot push things too far back in time, 10-15,000 years at most, otherwise it would not fit into the picture of humankind groping its unaided way upward from savagery to civilization in very recent times. So every age has its preconceptions and strictures – you can see from what has been said that we are not exempt. Indeed not, even though we are not conscious of it. Today matter is king, everything is a byproduct of matter. Therefore when we go back to study an earlier civilization that may have had other premises than ours, we encounter difficulties. These earlier people, let us say, may have held that consciousness is the reality, matter an illusion. They may have looked upon this as a living world, a living universe, including the forces that animate it and the laws that guide it. Now it would be very difficult for a scientifically trained researcher or historian to quite understand such an era with all the ramifications that such beliefs would have proliferated into. He would, perhaps without realizing it, damn it with faint praise. Who can be free of preconceptions when looking into the past. It is not easy. Often the main problem is lack of evidence. Man is one of the main destroyers of this evidence. When the classical world ended with the onset of the Christian movement and later that of the Arabs, much of its literature was burned and many of its other achievements shattered. It is estimated that between 80 and 90% of the output of the classical mind was burned when the various great libraries were consumed. Imagine heating the baths at

Alexandria with this priceless heritage! Three-quarters of a million scrolls – history, philosophy, religion. It was like pulling a shade down between us and what went before. So man is one of the main destroyers of his own history. Of course nature does her share, shaking down our structures, bringing on changes of climate, raising some lands, flooding or submerging others. If man uses up the soil, desert may encroach, leaving a barren wasteland where once a great people lived and flourished. There were of course notable historians among the ancients themselves, and their works are particularly valuable, where they have survived, for they were on the spot, so to say. I would like to point out another source of history now much downgraded. The myths and legends of mankind, often passed on by oral tradition for 100’s perhaps 1,000’s of years. These come down to us like a racial memory. We should study and compare them. They all speak of man’s immense age, of sunken lands formerly occupied by civilized man, of superior beings who taught mankind. The universality of these legends and epics coming down to us out of the darkness of prehistory has to be explained. If they were merely the products of human fancy, they would have diverged in a bewildering fashion. Instead from all parts of the world, among cultured and so-called primitive peoples, we find human and cosmic evolution described. They speak of divine kings who taught early man the arts and sciences and other aspects of civilization. Every people had its flood story, its Ark and Noah; every land its Prometheus or Lucifer. So we should study seriously these ancient accounts of our prehistory. Now we will get into the subject about the rise and fall of civilizations. Civilizations like all things are born, wax powerful, reach a zenith in creativity and power, undergo their Victorian era, so to speak, and finally the seeds of their own decline make their appearance or spring up in the newer generations, and they slowly ebb away. Or perhaps they may rumble up and down for a while, but eventually they disappear. Or they may be overrun by a people less civilized than themselves. This has occurred many times in history. All human institutions do this, all organizations, all beings — even suns and universes. All are born, live out their lives and finally die — and as the old traditions teach, are eventually reborn. Corporations, you may have noticed, achieve success, but eventually, if they fossilize, become unable to cope with new conditions and are swept aside by the ongoing life. Even you and I as we grow old tend to fossilize- if we are not careful, and finally retreat or retire into the background with comments on how life and people are not what they used to be! We have to ask ourselves: Where is the evolution in the rise and fall of civilizations? Take the classical world here in the West, which had its flowering first in Greece, then in

Alexandria, and then the

Roman Empire. As

Rome declined the light of civilization gradually died, culminating in the onset of the so-called Dark Ages, a period which by comparison with what had gone before was dark indeed insofar as human achievement, education, artistry and creativity were concerned. From civilization into abject ignorance, where is the evolution in that? If as science maintains our own evolution is from parent to son to grandson, and so forth, our genetic inheritance, in other words, you would think there would be a continual rise in civilization. But instead we find all cultures are born, achieve a zenith, and die, replaced often by a people far lower in their civilized efforts — but not always. Is there such a thing as the evolution of civilization? I have thought long and hard on this and have concluded that we do not have enough historical overview to judge this matter. We have high periods here, high there, but often with no genetic connection. It is unfair and unjust to compare the high points of one culture with the low point of another, which we often do in our unconscious arrogance. Now let us bring reincarnation into this picture to see if it will give us some insights. Reincarnation is simply the idea that we live many lives, and that in any life we are what we have made ourselves in former lives under the law of cause and effect or karma. Our blemishes we put there, our talents we have earned. And what befalls us, if we believe in law and not in chance, is also of our own making. We are OURSELVES, in other words, and are now making ourselves into what we will one day become in this and in future lives. All this presupposes that there is an enduring part that lives in each person, each planet, each atom, something that survives and gradually evolves through repeated reimbodiments, something within, in the case of man a higher self or reincarnating ego, in which is stored the wisdom of experience. Evolution, thus, is the process by which the potentials of this divine essence may unfold. We humans have unfolded that which makes us human; we are at the human stage of our evolution. The animals have unfolded that which makes them animals, and so forth. Someday in a future planetary cycle the higher animals may develop from within themselves that which will make it the natural step to slip over into the human kingdom, as many did in the early part of this present planetary reimbodiment, according to H.P. Blavatsky. Let me say that these ideas are not laid upon you. They are thrown out for your consideration. We have no wish to try to convince anyone of anything. We feel it worthwhile to discuss ideas such as these, for they are valuable, insightful. We are all learners, and we learn from each other. Often religious and philosophical ideas are looked upon as sacrosanct, not to be discussed in mixed company. Perhaps we should bring them out into the sunlight and share them, see what they truly are, these beliefs that make up or are supposed to make us our most cherished views of life and death. Well, that is quite an aside; let us return to our theme. Evolution from the theosophic point of view extends through repeated reimbodiments or reincarnations. Not only in the human kingdom, but among animals, plants, even atoms and worlds. It is not a scientific heresy to describe that a sun is born, lives, and dies. The only heresy might be to describe, as we do, that the sun will in time be reborn, with its worlds visible and invisible. Just as man has his invisible parts, so also the sun with its systems planetary and other worlds and their inhabitants. This is a living universe, and we are living parts of it. Now let us see what insights reincarnation may give us in the study of history and civilization. In the first place, it is my belief that an age is the people living in it and the destinies or karma they are working out. The great souls of the Periclean Age in Greece are what made the Periclean Age. Had those creative minds not been present, there would not have been a Periclean Age. That is a fact with nothing essentially unscientific about it. Every stage in the unfoldment of a civilization offers opportunities for the development or expression of the souls coming into incarnation. Souls with great creativity will naturally be drawn to eras where they may express that creativity, unless karma forbids it for one reason or another. So in each era people express what they are, and thus each age assumes the tone and characteristics of the people in it who are expressing what they are. If the preponderance of souls are primitive, it will be a primitive age, and so forth. With respect to scientific evolution, there are what I feel are rather telling arguments against the notion that we inherit our SELVES from our parents. I do not believe I inherited my SELF from my parents. I am my SELF. Souls are attracted to parents with whom they have karma to work out, previous associations, deep, intimate relationships. These souls coming in select from the gene potentials of their parents what is necessary to express what they are, modified by karma, of course. There is no chance involved. Thus the ten children of a large family will be ten different people, talent-wise, character-wise. Ten different souls coming to birth, each with its own characteristics. There may even be a wide diversity physiologically, that is, in appearance. All this does not downgrade the role of the parent. Here are two people who long for a child and now have one, an old friend from out of the past. The parents are given the great opportunity to give this soul a proper start in life, an environment and a training that will allow the child to unfold its potentials and creativity. I believe such a view enhances the role of the parents. Now another thought in passing: If reincarnation is a fact, then we were some of the ancients. Sometimes when we look back in history the people of those times look strange to us. Perhaps they seemed to believe differently than we do today, different customs, different lifestyle. But if we were the ancients, then these ancients must have been very much as we are. And I believe this is true. I think the average person from age to age is very much like we are today. He has his loves and his hates, his trials and his problems. But he is trying to do the best he can with what he has and is. That is, the average decent human being. Civilizations in many ways are like fireworks on a new year’s eve celebration. They blossom into flame, illuminate their eras. They last a certain time, but eventually die down and night takes over. In the meantime, other efflorescences have taken place around them. The problem is there often appears to be no connection between their blossoming or civilization and those that went before or came after. Even those in close proximity, such as Greece and

Rome. We say Rome just took over much of the Greek culture, and that is certainly true in part. But the Greeks expressed their civilization as Greeks, quite separate the different from the way

Rome expressed itself.

Rome did take over some of the beauties of the Greek world, but

Rome made its own mark. It was a different set of souls, not Greek souls, but Roman souls, with a Roman stamp. Thus though civilizations may influence one another, each has its own birth and flowering and does its own thing, so to say. The nations to follow will be an entirely different set of souls, often with no genetic relationship. I am an outdoor person, and every year I go to the same river for a few days if I can manage it. I find the same pools are there, somewhat modified by the Spring runoffs. But the river is essentially the same from year to year. One wades in the coolness or sits on the bank, and the water is flowing by, and it has often occurred to me that this that I am so fond of, this beautiful river — well, its substance is flowing away constantly, yet it remains the river. Human races are the same, I think. The individuals of the race are constantly being born and dying, the substance of the race is coming in at one end and going out the other without pause. Yet the race retains its stamp, its marked characteristics. It may change slowly, it may evolve, rise to power or sink into obscurity, but it retains a certain individuality. It is all very interesting and mysterious. So civilizations are like streams, the souls come and go, but the nation remains for its span of time. Mankind consists of a wide variety of souls. We have those who are perhaps below the norm, or maybe greatly so, even depraved. Then the forerunners who are geniuses in a variety of fields — literature, art, science. And above these are those developed in many ways in an all-round fashion, the wonderful Goethes, Schweitzers, van der Posts, and more like them in every age. Then the great spiritual philosophers, Plato, Pythagoras, Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry — to name a few from our classical West — whose ideas have affected their own and succeeding ages in a most profound manner. Above these, even, are the great teachers, those superb examples of human evolution. Those Buddhas and Christs, who represent what each of us may one day achieve in the course of many incarnations of evolution — in the spirit of the words of Jesus, that: “These things that I do, ye also shall do, and even greater things.” It is difficult to imagine what would have been the fate of mankind if these great ones, these “Compassionators”, had not given of their essence for the sake of us all. So there are many types of souls connected with the human race. We might ask ourselves: Why the ups and downs of civilization? They seem to rise only to die, as the flowers do, as everything in this manifested world seems to do. But why is this the case with civilizations? Well, it strikes me that when a civilization is born or a nation emerges, it attracts to itself those souls that have that karma and those abilities to express. When it is a time for pioneering, those types come in. Hardy souls like those in our country that worked their way across the wilderness. The administrators come in at the appropriate time, come in by karma. Also the law-givers, artisans and artists, and the creative efforts begin to flower. The military also enters into the picture. In time the nation reaches its zenith of power and influence. Now the citizens no longer have to struggle for their ideals and freedoms. They suffer from a surfeit of worldly things. These come to them on a silver platter. A new type of soul comes to birth, softer, more effete. Gradually the seeds of decline set in, and in due course the nation will ebb away. I believe reincarnation sheds a wonderful light on this subject, because at every stage in the development of a nation, the souls come in whose destiny is such as to fulfil the destiny of the nation at that point. This also applies to the nation’s decline. In the decline of Rome some of the Caesars were actually depraved. Caligula, who had his favourite horse raised to the consulship and given a golden stall. It is difficult to conceive of the head of a huge empire behaving in such a fashion. Of course

Rome was so well built that it took a long time on the way down, Centuries. Civilizations simply cannot continue to rise and rise for very good reasons, the way I see it. Take the hordes that followed Genghis Khan when he slaughtered his way across Asia, hesitating (luckily for us) on the borders of

Europe. Then there was his grandson Tamerlane who swept through

Asia Minor pulling down some of those grand old cities stone by stone. Can you imagine such a thing? Now these often cruel souls who followed their cruel leaders were human souls like we are. They will reincarnate, and when they do, they will bring themselves and their karma. It will not be sweetness and light. The seeds they sowed were not seeds of calmness, deliberation and forbearance. Their seeds were seeds of violence, and they will bring on violent karma. Now if civilizations continued to rise and rise, where would be the place for these types with different brands of karma. That is why the world is fragmented at times. Here a high civilization, but over there more violent types expending themselves. Hence we have the rise and fall, the birth, growth, zenith, decline, and death; sometimes a violent death, but not always so. It seems to be nature’s way. Everything follows these rhythms: seeds sprout, grow, flower, and in the Fall wither and die. Nations, corporations, suns. But when they die, that is not the end, for the souls return to build anew. It is my understanding that although there are a finite number of human monads or souls connected with the family of man, only a small number are in incarnation at any one time. The vast majority are undergoing their after-death states, which may last many, many times longer than the years spent in incarnation. But the population of earth varies considerably within certain limits. At present souls appear to be crowding in, which may continue for a while. But there are other times when large portions of earth lie fallow, and mankind is reduced in numbers. From the standpoint of the reincarnationalist mankind is very, very old indeed, millions of years old. His civilizations stretch back into legendary times. If we would study comparatively the myths and epics of mankind and give some credence to them, we would find these old accounts describing civilizations on continents now sunken. They contain many types of suggestive material that should be taken seriously; not always literally, but the spirit of them, the essence. These legends are the only memory we have of these older periods obscured by intervening catastrophes, natural and human. They have survived with all the races by oral tradition. For any records would have been destroyed in the often violent interregnums that have intervened. H.P. Blavatsky held that these old myths were designed by teachers, adepts, who wove into them the teachings of the ancient wisdom. They may therefore be interpreted on many levels. She mentions seven ways or avenues of understanding locked up in them: spiritual, intellectual, psychological, physical, and so forth. Place against this outlook the words of prestigious Sir Moses Finley of Cambridge, an exponent of “scientific history,” in one of his books. “…Few anthropologists view the invariably oral traditions of the people they study with the faith shown by many ancient historians. The verbal transmittal over many generations of detailed information about past events or institutions that are no longer essential or even meaningful in contemporary life invariably entails considerable and irrecoverable losses of data, or conflation of data, manipulation and invention, sometimes without visible reason, often for reasons that are perfectly intelligible. With the passage of time, it becomes absolutely impossible to control anything that has been transmitted when there is nothing in writing against which to match statements about the past. Yet what about the universality of these accounts located at the antipodes from one another?”Ancient History, by M.I. Finlay, Viking Penguin, NYC, 1986, page 16. I believe present day conceits are perhaps the greatest barrier to understanding older cultures. We should be more open to the way other peoples have thought. Every age believes that now at last we are in the full sunlight of understanding. Now at last we know how it all happened — having downgraded or even disregarded other types of evidence that may be staring us in the face. We shall have to rise above these limitations if we wish to know the mysteries of our ancient past or the intricacies of the ancient mind. Another more specific reason why it is sometimes difficult for researchers to understand ancient civilizations is, I believe, because these older peoples taught almost without exception that this is a living universe, that life is everywhere, in the atom and the sun, in the wind and in the majestic oceans. Today we hold that this is a dead universe, life an accidental byproduct of matter that has somehow struggled forth. We desperately need a broader definition of life, for it would give a perspective on our place in the universe and on this earth, and enlarge our concept of history. If our universe is a living being, and our sun and earth also, we then see ourselves as children of the living cosmos, blood of its blood, life of its life. This implies that there are beings above man and beings below the plant kingdom. If man enshrines a divine spark, we can truly believe we were present when the earth was born and the morning stars sang together, as it says in the Book of Job. We would realize that hierarchies of beings superior to us, gods if you like, form the inner fabric of the cosmos. Without their guiding and sustaining influence, nature would become a meaningless chaos. They instigate or ideate the design of nature’s working and are the forces behind its inbuilt healing system or ineluctable return to harmony, sometimes termed karma. Fortunately evolution is in wiser hands than ours — thank Goodness! At this point I would like to digress for a brief discussion of the races of man and their subdivisions as given by H.P. Blavatsky and Dr. de Purucker. The ancients divided the human history into many cycles related to the cosmic clock — Root races, sub-races, family races, tribes, nations, cycles of 500, a thousand, many thousands of years. Let us go briefly into this subject. The life-cycle of humanity on this physical globe of ours is divided into seven great root races. Each root race is divided in turn into seven sub-races, and each sub-race into seven family races. These in turn consist of seven national race cycles, each of which is built of seven tribal races consisting of seven of what we normally look upon as nations, termed by HPB a tribal generation. One of the ways by which the Hindus calculated the races and their subdivisions was to start with the figure for the ideal life of a human being, some 72 years, somewhat as follows: seven generations of men make up a nation, a cycle of some 500 years. Seven of these nations in turn go to form a tribal race, which endures some 3,600 years. Seven tribal races form what HPB termed a national race, enduring for a precessional cycle of 25,920 years. The term national race is misleading, for she it not referring to a nation as we normally understand that word, but a whole congeries of nations within the span of seven tribal races. Seven of these national races constitute a family race, which endures some 180,000 years. Seven such family races form a sub-race, and seven sub-races form a root race. We shall give examples of these later. We are presently in the fifth root race nearing its midpoint or iron age or kali yuga. The fourth race which preceded us was termed by the Greeks the Atlantean race. And the third root race is called Lemuria, a word devised by a scientist named Sclater, who in his effort to trace the origin of the Lemur, an apelike creature, found they existed in

Madagascar and also in

South-East Asia. He concluded that a continent must formerly have existed where the

Indian Ocean now is. And he named this sunken continent Lemuria. The first two root races were more astral than physical, and their life span was much, much longer than the third, fourth, and fifth root races. During these earliest root races man’s bodily phases were in the process of being evolved. All this is described in the Secret Doctrine, as well as in the various Purānas of India. By the middle of the third root race this process was completed and several remarkable events took place. There occurred the division into the two sexes, something remembered in the Bible, the Popul Vuh, in fact in nearly all the religions and mythologies throughout the world. It is worth recounting another important event that took place just before and following the middle of the third or so-called Lemurian root race. Physical man was ready, and the time arrived for his inner nature, in particular his mind, to be awakened. This was achieved by the incarnation in man of his own Higher Self, thus inflaming his nascent mind into self-consciousness, a characteristic that differentiates man from the higher animals. The Hindus termed this event the descent of the mānasaputras or sons of mind. Among the Greeks you will remember how Prometheus stole fire from the gods, the fire of mind, and brought it to man, for which he was punished by Zeus, chained to Mt.

Caucasus. He was eventually freed by Heracles, who symbolically represented perfected man. For it is only as man perfects himself that he will free his inner god or higher self. The Christian traditions treat of this same event in a most interesting manner. We have Adam and Eve representing the human race leading an idyllic but mindless life in the Garden of Eden. Comes now Lucifer, the so-called fallen angel. What a marvellous word is Lucifer, meaning light-bringer. Matches used to be called lucifers, strike them and light comes forth. Well, comes now Lucifer to the Garden who tempts Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and she and Adam did eat thereof. Thus early humanity achieved self-conscious mind through the intercession of a higher being, the Promethean Lucifer. After this awakening there could no longer be an

Eden, for man now had the power to choose, he knew right from wrong, he was responsible, he could sow and reap karma in a far more potent manner than heretofore. In a surprising and interesting manner this event in human history was instituted by a famous anthropologist. Dr. Loren Eiseley speaks of going down a hall in one of our great museums of natural history. On one side of this hall were depicted the supposititious ancestors of man, commencing with some higher primate and ending up as modern man. Dr. Eiseley was not convinced. Somewhere along the way, he said, there must have occurred a sudden mitosis of the brain cells. Before this event man was no more than a superior animal; after it he became a self-conscious, reasoning being. Nearly all ancient traditions speak of this era as the time when divine instructors lived among men, impressing on their plastic minds certain root ideas that remain to this day. They also taught man the arts and sciences. These superior beings or adepts are sometimes termed Divine Kings, ruling by the right of their own effulgent divine nature. But the cycle was still on its downward swing into matter, and gradually as the fourth race came on, these instructors withdrew, at the same time founding the Mystery Schools which preserved the noble wisdom. Tradition has it that these schools exist even today, although in our time they are not as openly professed as they were in the classical world of the West and in other places. It is said that the Atlantean or fourth root race was the most material of the races. They produced magnificent civilizations. Some of this is hinted at by Plato in one or two of his Dialogues. As Atlantis approached its midpoint, the seeds of our present or fifth root race began to appear. It is from the midpoint of the previous or parent race that springs the following race. This midpoint is sometimes termed the Iron Age or kaliyuga, a time when life grows increasingly intense. Time presses and the lower and higher elements separate out. Finally the seeds of the race to come are isolated geographically, while the old race in ever diminishing numbers runs out its course. The seeds of our fifth root race had its home in Central Asia, and in the course of thousands of years a congeries of civilizations flowered during the halcyon time of its Golden, Silver, and part of its Bronze age — to term these cycles as did the ancient Greeks. Hesiod of Greece who lived some 800 B.C. wrote that we are now in the fifth race just entering the Iron Age thereof. A rather amazing confirmation of what other cultures have also said in different parts of the world, including

India and

Central America. We are approaching the midpoint of our fifth root race and have entered our kali yuga or iron age, which commenced according to the Hindu figures with the death of Krishna in 3102 B.C. The iron age is due to last 432,000 years. In the course of time forerunners of the sixth root race will begin to appear and come on in increasing numbers. In contrast with the fifth root race where the fifth or mental principle predominated, the sixth race will unfold more of the buddhic principle or spiritual insight. Hence the phrase the sixth sense. Before closing this aspect of our subject, it might be interesting to try to figure just where we are in the fifth root race. According to Blavatsky we are in the fourth sub-race; and the family race that is now predominating is the Caucasian. The national race to which we belong is the European, which has run through 9,000 of its 25,920 year cycle. The tribal race presently dominating is the Germanic, and of its life span of some 3,600 years it would seem that somewhat over 1,000 years have elapsed. H.P. Blavatsky and Dr. de Purucker give some examples of the various types of races which may clarify the subject. Examples of a family race would include the original inhabitants of the so-called

New World, that is, pre-Inca, pre-Aztec, and Mayan. This American family race in its 180,000 year life span must have included all the lesser cycles we have discussed before. No doubt as the final islands of the Atlantean civilization began to sink, immigrations into the New World may have come from both the Atlantic and the Pacific, bringing an influx of languages and customs, which undoubtedly accounts for the fact that according to Dr. Kroeber North and South America “contain more native language families than all the remainder of the world.” It is patently absurd to believe that all these diverse peoples could have come across the Bering Straits and worked their way southward for thousands of miles and still preserved the language diversity that the discoverers of the

New World found here. Another example of a family race would be the Mongolian taken on a large scale, including the Chinese, Manchus, Japanese, Lolas, Tibetans, Burmese, and so forth. Still another example would be the coloured peoples of Africa, which form an amazing diversity of languages, cultures, and physiological types. Examples of the national race of 25,920 year cycle would be the European, now one third done, including all the races of Europe — Poles, Germans, French, Swiss, Russians, Greeks, Bulgars, English, Scandinavian, Netherlanders, Spanish, etc. A tribal race would be such as the Slavic, which would include the Russians, Poles, Czechs, Bulgars, and so forth. Still another example of a tribal race would be those New World civilizations in full swing when

Columbus came to the

Americas. Another tribal race is the Teutons, such as the Germans, Scandinavians, English, French, plus the Goths, Visigoths and Vandal strains that settled

Italy and

Spain. Now H.P. Blavatsky’s teachers mention how complex is the subject of cycles, for races overlap races; and the new race is born from the midpoint of its parent. This means that the old race and the new co-exist side-by-side for a time. In other words the transition is not cut and dried, but blurred and gradual. All great civilizations result from the mixture of peoples. There is no such thing as a pure race. The English, for example, are a mixture of indigenous inhabitants, plus the Celts, Romans, Saxons, Norse,

Normans, plus others, I am sure. And even coming into that Isle may have already been an admixture from heaven knows where! The congeries of civilizations in

China,

India and the

Middle East all resulted from a mixing of racial strains. Our own country and the

New World in general is in process of creating new races of various types. Perhaps another family race of 180,000 years will arise, or possibly a cycle of 25,920 years will commence, composed of various tribal and national units, each of which will have its day in the sun. It is well to bear in mind that often as the midpoint of a cycle approaches, especially the midpoint of a larger cycle that nature conspires to give earth a rest. She accomplishes this in all the ways familiar to students of geology, such as soil depletion leading to the creation of deserts; also changes of climate, even submergences of portions of lands, the flooding of others, or the raising of lands and consequent changes in climate. As the European culture approaches its midpoint, H.P. Blavatsky speaks of such changes occurring in the Old World. On a much larger span of years, the lands now occupied by our fifth root race as it approaches its midpoint will unquestionably undergo vast changes, some gradual, some catastrophic, just as did the old Atlanteans as described by Plato, whose continents broke up over the long millennia and were replaced by new lands clean and free of the old emanations. It seems to me more likely that it is the characteristics residing in human souls working out the karma they have in common that produces the stamp of a nation or the characteristics of a racial family. We are drawn together by karma. This implies other lives in which karma has jointly been sowed and reaped, perhaps many times. So that the builders of nations, for example, are not so much making something for the first time, but remaking together what they had previously participated in creating in the past — hopefully this time along more generous and peaceful lines. We can easily see from these remarks how long it will take the human family with its wide variety of incarnating souls with their divergent karma — how long it will take to advance or evolve into more grand and brotherly areas. Here and there, as in the past, there will be golden ages, but interspersed with darker times, often violent and involving suffering for all concerned. On the positive side, we must not ignore the power of spiritual leadership. I personally believe leadership has influenced history enormously, with its power to inspire and to build, or on the negative side to tear down and destroy. But the time will surely arrive when, as W.Q. Judge wrote, the climate of human life here and there will draw into incarnation the old jñanis, initiated ones, adepts, wise men, to assist in raising our earth life to a higher level. Meantime mankind must reap what it sows, each individual facing himself. For the greatest god in the highest heaven cannot step between man and his karma, between cause and effect, although the great ones, it is said, seek always to ameliorate the situation as karma permits. Earth has seen many flowerings of man’s greatness; earth has had to suffer many of man’s depredations. But mother nature is still in command. In time she will strike her balance. If man abuses earth, then parts of earth will become unliveable. Think of the titanic forces humankind is sending forth: the diverse forces of our technological civilization, man’s hates, antagonisms, jealousies, greed. Also great emanations such as the forces of love, forgiveness, brotherhood, generosity, understanding. Nature absorbs it all and will eventually react. No wonder there are times when earth seems to shake man like a dog its fleas. Because it is the end of a time, and a new time must emerge. Perhaps a glaciation will occur covering a whole hemisphere under thousands of feet of ice, lying fallow so that it can become revivified. Or portions of continents may slip under the oceans and/or others rise. So when the ancients spoke of man they were meaning man and all the life of earth, including the earth itself, the sun and universe. Thus when researchers go out into the forests of

Central America and see a Mayan stele standing there like a lonely sentinel, they read upon it about the age of man into the millions of years. And these scientists say: “These Mayans were a wonderful people, highly developed in astronomy, medicine, architecture. They recorded the phases of Venus, and had a calendar superior in many respects to our own. But when it comes to man’s history, one can see how superstitious they were, for they gave man’s age into the millions of years.” It is a lack of communication. These Mayans were talking about the history of the world and man as a part of this living world from the outset. When you look at it from their point of view, it is all quite logical. It is a valid counter explanation to the one that scientists put forth, which restricts man’s civilized life to a mere 15,000 years or so. The substance of history is the souls of mankind that appear again and again, reaping and sowing from life to life, from age to age. What is the future of mankind? Well, just as it has taken the reincarnating souls of humanity a long, long time to reach where we are now, so it will take many, many more incarnations for mankind to realize its destiny. The human race will begin gradually to achieve its potentials. The time will one day come in some era in the far future when a true brotherhood will be realized. The future of man is to become truly human. Even more, to bring into human life the wise influence of his innate divinity. The examples of the Christs and Buddhas, as said earlier, illustrate what we too may one day achieve. If you will bear with me, I would like now to add a brief postscript to these remarks. H.P. Blavatsky writes that “The universe exists for the experience of the soul.” These words are so very profound and like all droplets of wisdom appear so very simple. They summarize the cosmic process. The universe exists for the experience of the soul. Amid the rise and fall of empires, with their leaders both wise and depraved, the common ground is that all are souls on the pathway of unfoldment. We hear only of the large figures, some inept, some golden with wisdom and love. The greatest heroes are never known. These are the common persons from age to age. One does not need to be notorious to grow, merely sensitive to his noteworthy Inner Self. There is more genuine spiritual growth in a parent who had learned to live for others, than there is in the tyrant preening himself before the public gaze. Actually civilization seems to be more the work of men’s hearts and aspirations implemented by intellect, and this usually produces the fruits of art, literature, and law. Aids to more comfortable living may also be devised — though this last is very relative indeed as can be seen in our present technological excesses; and by no means is such the sole yardstick of genuine achievement. Our material accomplishments will contribute their good share to the inheritance of posterity, but meanwhile it is they, strangely enough, which often stand in the way of our appreciating the true stature of ancient peoples, as well as some of our fellow men today. Back of gadgets, back of culture and civilization, even, is man. And the greatest and most enduring contributions of modern times may turn out to be the world-wide extension of individual human rights and the bringing together of all mankind into a brotherhood of thoughtful reciprocity. Of all the civilizations which have flashed their lights across man’s horizon — all that we can remember at least — our own may be unique in its global recognition of what is due each human soul. The very struggles which appear to be shaping are reflections of the awakening spirit of all men; and this pressure from below is breaking up the confining crust of tyranny, formalism and orthodoxy, much as growing seeds burst through the earth.

We can add depth to our thinking by allowing the man-made barriers between us and the ancients to dissolve; by climbing down from our pedestals and identifying ourselves with all people in all times who, to be sure, were engaged in the same purposes that involve us today. What may be needed perhaps is a fusing of the science of history with the poetry of history, a merging of the factual approach with the imaginative and spiritual. He is mistaken who feels those ancient builders in far off lands were savage folk urged on by crude and distorted beliefs into a life quite foreign from our own. Suffering and pain were as poignant then as now; and the starry sky gladdened the heart of Homer’s shepherd thousands of years ago, just as the far-flung constellations awaken reverential music in our hearts today. There is genuine value in looking at history as a stream of individuals like ourselves flowing out of the legendary past down the centuries to the present. Indeed, many believe these ancients were ourselves. And why not? Perhaps man does not return again to the scenes of his striving, bringing back his genius, which is himself; returning with the blemishes and talents, adolescence and maturity, which mirror themselves in the rise and fall of civilizations. Waves of culture sweep in and ebb away; darker ages succeed those in which the light of progress has shone resplendent. A living tapestry of magic and meaning. The past beckons to us in pantomime, its figures insulated by those glassy and often opaque walls which time, prejudice and human limitation put between the present and what has gone before. We see ancient legions moving, the lines of battle are drawn, but the clash is muffled, the cries of agony stilled. Crusades are launched, races enslaved, empires formed, great cities built, but the panorama is voiceless. Yet today’s sun was shining then. In olden times there were gentle breezes and falling rain and growing things, loves and hates, hunger, happiness. It is said that time softens — how true! In time all the sharp outlines melt away, the living sounds are quiet. We inquire: what makes up our civilization, what is the real stuff of it? It is the brotherhood of the people — the suffering, warring, laughing, praying, loving people. In days gone by it was the same. Well, we have made a long journey here today, backward and forward in time, as we said earlier. We have attempted to show the rise and fall of man’s cultures against the background of a living earth and a living cosmos, guided by superior beings. We have suggested that reincarnation gives us insights into the panorama of history, for it pictures man as an immortal pilgrim with a spark of the divine in his heart of hearts. All the potentials of this divine source reside within him — and also in all other beings and even forces and worlds: in the bird winging its way through the blue sky, in the lightning and the storm, and in our beautiful earth so patiently nourishing its kingdoms. It occurs to me to add that the knowledge of our divine ancestry and the brotherhood of all life brings with it responsibilities. Those of this persuasion can no longer go through life impulsively and unthinkingly. For we have put our feet on a path, and the first step on this path is to live not for ourselves, not for our own aggrandisement, but to benefit mankind.

The above is the text of a lecture given to the Theosophical Society Pasadena. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Fri 18 Apr 2008

AMMONIUS SACCUS by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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AMMONIUS SACCUS by Stefan Carey

Why bother with someone like Ammonius Saccus from so long ago? Because it was his inspiration that began something of a fire in the minds of those in Alexandria at the time, where a smorgasbord of philosophy was to be had. Neo or the ‘New’ Platonism, was expounded by Porphyry in the third century AD, after being a student of Plotinus, a student of Ammonius Saccus. None of Ammonius’s students were supposed to reiterate the teachings. We can only guess if the Plotinus’s final exposition resembles the one given from the lips of Ammonius. Was Ammonius a neo Platonist, a philosopher, a theosophist, or all of these? What is Neo Platonism, what was the world like in 300 AD in the Mediterranean region? Ammonius wrote nothing yet taught influential minds such as Plotinus, Origen, at Alexandria. The only way we may study his ideas is through his students. Plotinus came to

Alexandria looking for inspiration from the many teachers available there. As he might be today, he was severely depressed at what he found. He left the public lectures saddened and discouraged. A friend to whom he opened his heart divined his temperamental craving and suggested Ammonius. He heard Ammonius Saccus speak and stayed with him for eleven years as his student. He must have absorbed a great deal, as Plotinus is credited with having reformed the philosophical and ethical thinking of the 3^rd century. As an historical backdrop, at this time Buddhism was being introduced into China, the first ‘hallelujahs’ were being sung, the first compass was being trialled in

China, Christians were finally given tolerance in the edict of Miolan, Pappus of Alexandria describes the machines in use at that time as, “the cogwheel, lever, screw, pulley and wedge”. Public gladiatorial battles were banned by

Constantine. The Christian teachings were waxing in their power as they took hold of popular imagination, casting aside the paganism probably by now degenerate and idolatrous, because of the appealing practical code of conduct for daily living they offered. Let’s introduce Ammonius Saccas in the words of another author: “This philosophical system underwent some changes when Ammonius Saccas taught with the highest applause in the Alexandrian school about the conclusion of this century. This learned man was born of Christian parents, and never, perhaps, gave up entirely the outward profession of that divine religion, in which he had been educated. As his genius was vast and comprehensive, so were his projects bold and singular. For he attempted a general reconciliation of all sects, whether philosophical or religious, and taught a doctrine which he looked upon as proper to unite them all, the Christians not excepted, in the most perfect harmony. And herein lies the difference between this new sect and the eclectics, who had before this time, flourished in Egypt. The Eclectics held that, in every sect there was a mixture of good and bad, of truth and falsehood, and accordingly they chose and adopted out of each one of them, such tenets as seemed to them comfortable to reason and truth, and rejected such as they thought repugnant to both.

Ammonius, on the contrary held that the great principles of all philosophical and religious truth were to be found equally, in all sects, that they differed from each other only in their method of expression, and some opinions of little or no importance; and that by a proper interpretation of their respective sentiments, they might easily be united into one body. It is further to be observed, Ammonius… maintained, that all the gentile religions, and even the Christians, were to be illustrated and explained by the principles of this universal philosophy; but that, in order the fables of the priests were to be removed from paganism, and the comments and interpretation of the disciples of Jews from Christianity. The central platform of Neo-Platonism, referred to by one author as “transcendental pantheism”, is that of a Platonic philosophy, with a “penetrating insight into first principles, into our own nature, bodily and spiritual, and the nature of the universe around us.” Neo-Platonism not only seeks to give men clear knowledge, but also make them enter into a higher state of feeling, or ecstasy. This is achieved by “long exertion, application to philosophy, self purification and contemplation of the divine”. This is somewhat different from the approach taken by others in cultivating or knocking down the lower self. Reality according to the Neo-Platonists consists of three principles or dimensions: the One; the intellect or spirit, and the soul. The One encompasses all, and is a supreme sphere or range of being, beyond human comprehension, beyond differentiation, beyond thought and language, and the source of all the UNIVERSE. The One is also described as the infinite, the unconditioned, the absolute, the simple or just the Good. It is not even the first cause, “standing above this”. I will not bother to go any further with absolute or I’ll get absolutely lost and infinitely confused and embarrassed! He insisted that to describe it was to “point the mind towards it only, not to actually explain or describe it”.

Second we have the intellectual principle, or the “universal intelligence”. In human terms it “is the highest principle knowable”, and it is suggested the word spirit can be used as a substitute. I quote from the Enneads: “the intellectual principle is the earliest form of life: it is the activity presiding over the out-flowing of the universal order – the outflow that is of the first moment, not that of the continuous process:.. “Imagine a spring that has no source outside itself: it gives itself to all the rivers, yet is never exhausted by what they take, but remains integrally as it was; the tides that proceed from it are at one within it before they run their several ways, yet all, in some sense, know beforehand down which channels they pour their streams”.“Or: think of the Life coursing throughout some mighty tree while yet is the stationary Principal of the whole, in no sense scattered over all that extent but, as it were, vested in the root: it is the giver of the entire and manifold life of the tree, but remains unmoved itself, not manifold but the principle intellectual principle in the most intoxicating way: “But possess yourself of it by the very elimination of being and you hold a marvel. Thrusting forward to this, attaining and resting in its content, seek to grasp it more and more understanding it by that intuitive thrust alone, by knowing its greatness by the beings that follow upon it and exist by its power”. Heady stuff indeed, with my instant recognition of Taoism: others here will see perhaps the inspirational strands of their favourite philosophy of religion being conveyed here.

Third we have the All Soul or Universal Soul, as an emanation of the second principle we have just discussed and can also be described as the cause of movement and of form in the universe. i.e.: it creates, orders, and maintains the universe. People may ascend in spirit to the level of universal soul, become that whole they are potentially, and in soul, attain to become that whole they are potentially, and in soul, attain to Intellect, or they can isolate themselves on the lower, shutting themselves up in the experiences, desire and concerns of the lower nature. The conversion to a higher state of being and to the One can come only by turning away, by a tremendous intellectual and moral effort, from the life of the body, dominating and rising above its desires”. Note here the use of the word ‘dominating’. Through contemplation of the one, and going past the body, and the soul, man, as potentially divine, might get to taste mystical union. As Plotinus says, “waking to another way of seeing”. In the human being the soul can be described as the interpreter between the higher and lower worlds, or the worlds of intellect and sense. In defining Virtue he says of this relationship: “As speech is the echo in the thought of the soul, so thought in the soul is an echo from elsewhere: that is to say, as the uttered thought is an image of the soul thought, so the soul thought images a thought above itself and is the interpreter of the higher spheres”.

The above levels of being Plotinus says are distinct but not separate, but interwoven and emanate from each other. As he says the aim of the method, or discipline, is to see the “final truth” of the nature and relation of all things, a final insight into reality behind the veil of the physical. The above three principles are strikingly similar to the three fundamental principles set out by HPB. Some examples of the other topics discussed by Plotinus in the Enneads are:On Virtue The Upward Way, On Beauty, On Happiness or the Authentic Good of Life, The Origin of Multiplicity, How Souls Take Bodies, Why The Supreme is a God, The Divine triad as a unity, The One, The Intellectual Principle, The All soul, Evil and Matter: and so on…

Again, all of this paper defends by default I suppose, that Ammonius has said this or that, which can never be proven, so the work of a student has to be taken for what it is. Also, it may well be that there was a close knit inner group which never spoke of these matters to others: we can only speculate and take from it what may inspire us. I think the general message was to comprehend not only the world with reason, but to partake of the hidden side of nature with ecstasy as the by-product. This is also a Taoist ideal! But different I wonder in the way it is to be attained. This system appears to be a “take the kingdom of heaven by force” regime. Forcing and raising the consciousness past the intellect, a daily character modification. Mencius however, an ancient Chinese philosopher, would not agree, saying the grass seedlings are not made to grow faster by pulling at the shoots!

Also, another criticism levelled at the Neo-Platonists was that their philosophy had no practical application in the affairs of daily life, it was too theoretical, and the dictum that one should retire into the inner sanctum of peace within, left many confused believing this was a state of laziness or withdrawal with no real results, some calling it a “slothful and indolent life”. But this was not the Neo-Platonist ideal: rather it was to combine with the Godhead as it were, by forcing the consciousness upward. Thus the Christians believed that this was reason for their success in the times, a popular, approachable system, no doubt watered down for the masses, with the more profound teachings kept quiet. So far so, that one author criticised the Neo-Platonists for making some ideas too obvious; saying that “the principle truths of Christianity that had been revealed with the utmost plainness, and were indeed obvious to the meanest capacity…”

Another historian wrote of the “extravagant attempts of Ammonius did not cease here because he tried to reconcile the popular religions of different countries, and particularly the Christian: 1^st: by turning into allegory the whole history of the gods, 2^nd: that Christ’s only intention had been to purify the ancient religion, 3^rd: that his followers had manifestly corrupted the doctrine of their master. Extravagant attempts indeed! Ammonius Saccus obviously was highly evolved, possibly a Master of Wisdom. He produced memorable influences on such towering minds as Origen, and Plotinus. His new brand of Platonism was extremely popular although too theoretical for some, with influences from many sources, some say even Buddhism, and the Chaldean Oracles.

In concluding this paper, we note an important dictum of his school was, that truth was foremost – “his whole sect was required to keep in view that truth was to be pursued with the utmost liberty, and to be collected from all the systems in which it lay dispersed”. But there were some conventions which they all nonetheless appeared to hold, “the existence of God; as the foundation of all things, the eternity of the world, the dependence of matter on the supreme being, the nature of souls, the plurality of gods, the method of interpreting the popular superstitions, etc.” In comparing the Neo-Platonists with the modern theosophy we find the reference in the entry of the Encyclopaedia Britannica under ‘Theosophy’ useful: first we find a reference to Plotinus among many others as a theosophist. Next we see in a definition of theosophy in its broadest sense that theosophy is an “ancient mystical tradition, an affirmation of a deeper spiritual reality, that can be attained by intuition, meditation, revelation; with the second understanding; that; there is a hidden meaning in the sacred texts and inner meaning in all the historical world religions, that occult phenomena are real, and that all reality is of one principle”. What this definition of Britannica does is confirm some of the similarities between Ammonius’s sect and our own modern interpretation of theosophy. Does Neo-Platonism mention a Universal Brotherhood? If not specifically, then it does by inference, when the unitary nature of reality is explained. As Plotinus is said to have said: “…inner peace is to be found by any living thing”.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Thu 17 Apr 2008

BROTHERHOOD by Lo Guest

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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BROTHERHOOD by Lo Guest

Brotherhood is one of those words that convey a wealth of meaning when pronounced, but become most elusive when it comes to the point of defining them concisely. How wide, and how narrow is the meaning of Brotherhood. Perhaps, it is one of those words which each and every one of us interprets differently. Before I carry on any further, let me say that I am using the word “Brotherhood” in its widest sense. Talking to people about this lecture, I was told a few times: Brotherhood, nice topic, but what about the women? I think we all know, that in the widest sense of the word, Brotherhood knows no sex discrimination, is not restrictive to any group of people, nation or creed. To express this sentiment however, I do not know of any other word in the English language that carries this all embracing meaning, and therefore have no option, but use it. After all, what is a word over and above the meaning we put into it? Ludwig van Beethoven, in the choral of his 9^th symphony embraces all the millions of this world with his music and to give vocal expression to it, he uses the poem, written by his contemporary Friedrich Schiller. Beethoven makes his music speak of Joy, the divine spark, the daughter from Elysium, whose magic unites all those, who are normally, by custom and tradition strictly divided. But Joy, the daughter of Elysium, unites all mankind, so that all men will be brothers, wherever, her gentle wings touch. The music was written by Ludwig van Beethoven, the poem by Friedrich Schiller. Both these great men belonged roughly to the same generation, and both had felt the impact of the French Revolution, which erupted across borders into Germany and

Austria. The Brotherhood of man, was a goal for which both Schiller and Beethoven fought, each in his own way, as long as they lived. Neither Beethoven nor Schiller achieved their aspirations of a Brotherhood of Man, but what they did achieve was that for a few minutes of listening to the 9^th Symphony, all of us can refresh our hope that eventually there will be a Brotherhood of Man. After all, these two great men only reiterated this age-old belief once again. We must remember that Beethoven was already going deaf when he composed this music, and was totally deaf when it was first performed. The music he created was pure inspiration. No wonder this symphony ranks as one of the greatest achievements of the human spirit. Beethoven tried to show us that Joy can be the unifying factor in which man can realize humanity’s dream of ‘Brotherhood’. I think I am right in saying that the same applies to the opposite side of the coin and that is – sorrow or tragedy. When tragedy strikes an individual or a nation, how often have we seen that differences, even ancient feuds, have been forgotten in the desire or the more fortunate part of humanity to help its stricken brother? A sense of compassion overcomes all hurdles and the helping hand is extended. It is unfortunately another facet of human relations that as soon as the emergencies have abated, we revert back to our old ways of feuding and fighting and forget all about brotherhood. If we look around us, each and every one must acknowledge that we, homo sapiens, the animal that walks upright on its two feet, and is capable of thinking if it so desires, have one common factor which is undeniable and that is: we belong to the human race. This in itself should be enough to make us accept the fact that we are all brothers and accept our diversities. After all in each family, consisting of parents, a number of siblings and relatives, you have diversity. Within its small circle, you find the stronger and the weaker ones. The ones who are more advanced than the rest and you also find those who need help, who have not learned as yet how to cope with life. Under normal circumstances you will find that the members of this small circle show tolerance and compassion towards each other, and other family circles they come in contact with in their daily lives.
I cannot help asking you and myself the question at this point: “Are the Nations of this Globe anything else but different families?” In an old little book, entitled “What is Theosophy” the definition of Brotherhood is given in this way:
“The Brotherhood of Man is not a sentimental theory…; It is a fact in nature and Nature will ultimately compel us to accept it, even if it takes ages of suffering to bring it about. Theosophy calls to all men of good will to discover for themselves that the fundamental law of the Universe is Love and Harmony and that he who breaks it is swimming against the stream”. Everywhere in the world over the millennia, people have talked about Brotherhood. We have heard of the Brotherhood of the Monks, the Brotherhood of various religious sects, often sects of exclusivity formed within one religion or other. We have had the Brotherhoods of Universities, of the Guilds and so on. Not all the Brotherhoods were formed with the ideas of contributing good to mankind. Brotherhoods, conspiring to do evil, to destroy instead of building, to practice Black Magic, have also always existed. However, all these groups have one thing in common. They have all been, and are to this very day, by their very exclusiveness, restrictive, and have lost the full, underlying meaning of the word Brotherhood. All these various Brotherhoods compound in their own peculiar way the human Ego, for each one thinks that they are better than their neighbour. There do exist however, since time immemorial, ‘Brotherhoods’ which have managed to preserve the true spirit of human Brotherhood. We do not know where they are, we, the ordinary folk, do not know where they are, which is just as well. Humankind at the present time is not ready to meet them face to face, for we would destroy them, being frightened of not being able to live according to their Truth.

You will ask me, how can you talk so positively about them, if you do not know where they are or where they reside? Throughout all the mythologies in this world, within every religion, is the concept of the “Wise Men” who are the keepers of the Truth. Sometimes they are called Yogis, sometimes they are called Initiates, sometimes they are called Teachers. In the Mahatma Letters to A.P.Sinnett, the Mahatma K.H. outlines the dangers facing the real Brotherhoods when he writes: “…As you now see, connection with the outside world, can bring but sorrow to those who so faithfully serve us, and discredit to our Brotherhood.” It is only on rare occasions, that one of them makes himself known to mankind, trying once again to teach the Truth to men and make man aware of the underlying Brotherhood of Man.

We are all aware of the Mahatmas [or Masters of Wisdom] and the work they were promoting during the last centuries. They were well aware of the difficulties the ideas universal Brotherhood faced in our world and K.H. did not hesitate to express them. He said in one of his letters: “Every Western Theosophist should learn and remember, especially those of them who would be our followers – that in our Brotherhood, all personalities sink into one idea – abstract right and absolute practical justice for all. And that, though we may not say with the Christians, “return good for evil” – we repeat with Confucius – “return good for good; for evil – JUSTICE.” The sceptical nature of man appears to wish for constant proof that an idea, particularly an abstract, or spiritual one shows proof. Perhaps more in this century than in any other we tend to become impatient if we do not see immediate results of our efforts. After all, as somebody said so nicely, we are living in the ‘instant’ age. Instant Coffee, instant heat, instant cold, etc. I don’t think there is a shortcut to spiritual knowledge, at least not for the ordinary human being. Both K.H. and M. of the Mahatmas stressed this point again and again, warning against accepting practices in the belief of furthering one’s knowledge of the Universal Truth.Perhaps the Buddha expressed the way humanity should follow with his ideas of the eightfold path of:

Right ViewRight AspirationRight SpeechRight ConductRight Livelihood Right EffortRight MindfulnessRight Rapture. Thinking about how these eight guidelines to living in peace and harmony in this world they seem to be so plausible, and so universal that it is strange that they have to be even said, and yet we find them reiterated again and again basically in every religion. What is so sad about it is the fact that we cannot adhere to them. I was discussing this with my secretary one day and she did not seem to be at all surprised about this. She said to me: “I don’t know why you are so surprised, my mother always says to me when I talk about the inhumanity of man to man, that there is too much “I-Itis” in this world and that makes people forget that the ones they are hurting are people like themselves.”

“I-Itis” I think is a wonderful word. It expresses the idea of our Ego so well, and at the same time also the fact that we have not yet learnt to control if. Over the last 200 years, the advances made by Science have been enormous. It has brought with it good and evil. One of its dilemmas is that the risk of war has become so great that the continued existence of our species has become incompatible with the new scientific methods of destruction. As Bertrand Russell says with regard to Scientists and their discoveries: “…But inevitably he finds himself casting his pearls before swine. Men who do not understand his scientific work can utilise the knowledge that he provides. The new techniques to which it gives rise often have totally unexpected effects. The men who decide what use shall be made of the new techniques are not necessarily possessed of any exceptional degree of wisdom. They are mainly politicians whose professional skill consists in knowing how to play upon the emotions of masses of men. The emotions which easily sway masses are very seldom the best of which the individuals composing the masses are capable. And so the scientist finds that he has unintentionally placed new powers in the hands of reckless men… He, (the scientist) knows that science gives power and the power which it gives could be used to increase human welfare; but he knows also that very often it is used, not so, but in the very opposite direction. Is he on this account to view himself as an unintentional malefactor?”

Bertrand Russell carries on his ideas of Science and this world, and finishes on this note which expresses the need for a Universal Brotherhood of understanding: “It is to progress in the human sciences that we must look to undo the evils which have resulted from a knowledge of the physical world hastily and superficially acquired by populations unconscious of the changes in themselves that the new knowledge had made imperative. The road to a happier world than any known in the past lies open before us if atavistic destructive passions can be kept in leash while the necessary adaptations are made.” “Fears are inevitable in our times, but hopes are equally rational and far more likely to bear good fruit. We must learn to think rather less of the dangers to be avoided than of the good that will lie within our grasp if we can believe in it and let dominate our thoughts.” Science, by whatever unpleasant consequences it may have by the way, is in its very nature a liberator, a liberator of bondage to physical nature and, in time to come, a liberator from the weight of destructive passions. We are on the threshold of utter disaster or unprecedentedly glorious achievement. No previous age has been fraught with problems so momentous…”

Russell finishes this last sentence with the words: “And it is to science that we must look for a happy issue.” At this point I think Bertrand Russell if falling short, for science alone is not responsible for a glorious achievement but the spirit of man has to apply to the scientific achievements the principle of his higher nature as expressed in the eightfold path I just quoted before. Most probably one of the most poignant reminders of what happens to humanity if mankind forgets that we are all brothers, can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this Epic can be found all the trials and tribulations that man creates for himself, as hatred of his fellow men and greed and the lust for power rule him. He forgets that not only does he destroy his enemies but basically and foremost he destroys himself.

n the Mahabharata, we find the armies of the Bharatas, uncles and cousins and other relatives in the two opposing camps. In a deeper underlying sense than the actual story told in the Epic, it depicts the struggle of humanity of good against evil and in this battle we find Brother pitched against brother. Yet, the battle has to be fought, for as Confucius said, as I quoted before: “Evil must be returned with Justice”. In this battle in the Epic finally humanity is annihilated, yet there is hope, for the grandson of Arjuna, born posthumously after the death of his father survives, and will build again.

Perhaps this Epic tries to bring home to us how over the millennia we have failed to reach the brotherhood of men, and having failed, must try again and again until we are capable of achieving it. The greatest pity is, that all of us, whatever creed, colour or religion we belong to have received from earliest youth on the same basic message from our spiritual guidance. If we can ever manage to live by it, happily and joyfully, then we have fulfilled the teachings of the eightfold path, the teachings of Confucius, Jesus, Moses and all the other teachers mankind ever had. There will then be no need for our wise men, the Keepers of the Truth to remain hidden, for all of us will have reached full understanding. We will all have learnt tolerance and compassion and the real meaning of Brotherhood. I am sure you all know what the saying is that I am referring to and which is so universal. It is nothing else but: “Do unto your neighbour, what you would like your neighbour to do unto you.” Sources:

Isis Unveiled by H.P. Blavatsky,The Mahatma Letters to AP, What is Science, by Bertrand RussellWhat is Theosophy, by Charles J. Ryan, The Mahabharata.

The above is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne, Australia. The opinions expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society

Pasadena.

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Thu 10 Apr 2008

THEOSOPHY IN THE MODERN WORLD by Lo Guest

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THEOSOPHY IN THE MODERN WORLD by Lo Guest Perhaps

It would be a good idea and the best way to start this article for me to define a few expressions which we use constantly. For instance, what do we mean by the vague expression ‘the modern world’? Do we intend to convey that it is an age different to every other age? Or perhaps that people are different? Or, that suddenly the world itself has changed and with it our surroundings? Perhaps we all tend to think that way a little bit. However, if we take a slightly closer look at the ages preceding ours, we find that every generation prior to ours has thought of itself as the ‘modern ones’, the ones living in “the new age” which was exciting and destined to change the world in one short generation. In all the different “modern times” which have occurred over the millennia our globe has seen peaceful times, turbulent times, and evil times. It has seen times of total destruction, times when people were despairing of the future and believed that doomsday was just around the corner, a matter of a few short weeks, months, or at the most years away. From legends surviving from ancient times, we know that humanity has managed to destroy its civilizations and the bulk of humanity by steeping itself into evil practices, which caused natural upheavals of immense proportions, as told in the story of the Deluge in Genesis and in the legends of every other civilization in existence on this globe today. Legends however also tell us that humanity survived these upheavals, and started to build again and go forward in its evolution. Little has survived from the ancient times of the things that man built for himself or fashioned, except one thing: the age old wisdom of truth, which has been taught to mankind over and over again particularly at times when it stood in danger of forgetting it and by forgetting it, became capable of destroying itself. But always, as it is to this very day, the choice of accepting the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom or turning one’s conscience away from it, was a choice that each man had to make for himself. This brings me to another word that might need explaining once again, for we are all apt to get lost, lose track of what we say to each other simply by semantics, the way in which we use words to try to make ourselves understood. How often has it happened that we have meant the same thing as our neighbour, and simply by the fact that the words we used to each other were misunderstood, feuds have developed. This other word which I think needs an explanation once again is the word Theosophy. Where better can I go for an explanation but to the source, which tried to explain the meaning of theosophy to us in the last century. I am referring to Mme. Blavatsky and her book The Key to Theosophy. The name Theosophy is explained therein as ‘Divine Wisdom’, wisdom as possessed by the Gods. The term Theosophy, is many thousands of years old. It was perhaps recoined in the third century of our era by Alexandrian philosophers, called lovers of truth, Philaletheians. Under whatever name Theosophy might have been known its ancient message which tries to bring to mankind great moral truths has not changed over the millennia. The words might have differed, the meaning has always been the same, sometimes hidden and obscured to avoid its misuse by the ruthless and unscrupulous ones, and at other times its words could be head loud and clear.

I can hear many of you think: but we live now, not 130 years ago, so let us now take a look at our own time. We live in a turbulent, often violent age, when older values seem to crumble, and however desperately we search, we find little to put into their place. In many instances it is fear which motivates us, fear of the horror that our mind can conjure up for us, when we think about it that mankind once again has the power to destroy itself to a large extent. But surely fear is not the only thing that the modern world of today has brought to us. I am fully aware of the fact that there are many advances in the maintenance of the physical body, which allows many of us to live much longer. We have made technical advances in many fields. We know how to fly, we know how to walk on the moon, we can photograph the universe and even beyond our known universe and slowly our scientists are discovering for themselves the truth in some of the ancient scriptures that there exist, universes beyond universes as well as our own. We can even split the atom now and therefore have got the means to destroy ourselves. How did the ancients know so many things which we are just starting to discover? It is possible that this modern age is the age when the time has come for man to start to think, to take stock of himself and try to understand himself and what life is all about?. There has been a growing interest in the ancient scriptures of the East in the Western world. Maybe the interest in them is so great because the Western world recognizes, perhaps unconsciously so, that it is rediscovering its own heritage, which it had forgotten and lost over the centuries in its search for power and material gains. This search was fostered by unscrupulous men who corrupted the ancient teachings to suit their own purposes. It is no use to blame those who are unscrupulous and power-hungry, for it is others, in their way just as corrupt and out for their personal gain, that give them the opportunity to gain power initially. If we look rationally and logically at the achievements in the physical and material world of the 20^th Century, or as some like to call its second half, the Aquarian age, we can be proud of the discoveries we have made, for every one of these discoveries can be used to benefit humanity. If we chose to use them evilly and destructively, we can only blame ourselves. Now, that the ancient teachings are available again, the same thing is happening and people who are unscrupulous and thirst for power are trying to use the ancient teachings for their own use. They try to exploit the people who are looking for a change in lifestyle, a new set of values, for love and peace in this world. They are often exploiting the fact that on the material level we have become used to and expect to have instant happenings such as instant meals, instant cash, instant communications, etc. Many of the new sects now promise on the spiritual levels instant cures, instant enlightenment. This urge of ours to expect instant results if blinding us to the fact that the evolution and growth of humanity on this globe is taking many, many generations, and this generation, like all others before and after it, has to decide for itself how to deal with its Karma and remember that the world it helps to shape today might be the world it has to inherit tomorrow.

Theosophy never has, and never will promise an easy way to understand what life is all about. Perhaps that is one of the reasons why Theosophy in its original meaning has not got a great following of men, and yet serves as the source for many of the ideas current in today’s society. Theosophy in its quiet way, with its rejection of dogmas, is like a spring that continues to flow against all odds. Many of theosophy’s ideas have been distorted once again, partly because they are misunderstood, and partly because people are not prepared to think and read and study for themselves. The ideas of Karma and Reincarnation have deep meanings. One of their most basic ideas is the idea of brotherhood of men. This is hard to understand in its full meaning and still harder to live by. We realize this, for our mind tells us that if we understood this concept properly, who would then want to hurt his brother? Theosophy in this modern age has to be within us, in our dealing with people around us. Having the awareness of what Theosophy is all about puts a burden upon man which he must be willing to accept and try to abide by. There is nobody to tell him whether he has done right or wrong except his own conscience. He does not need to attend classes in self-analysis, for he does it himself by not allowing the excuses we make for the wrong we do to cover our conscience. Theosophy in this modern world is a hard road to follow. There is nobody to praise you, the pitfalls are many but if our deeds and thoughts can be like the little stone that wanted its message made known. It dropped into a pond and created waves in thee still waters which then carried the message of the stone to the furthest shores of the pond. If we can be a bit like the little stone and quietly, without any dogma or force let people know about the ideas of theosophy, we have done a little bit about showing people what theosophy is all about. Theosophy in this modern world serves the purpose of quietly, without power and glory, helping to keep alive the ancient truths without which humanity cannot life. There is nothing spectacular about Theosophy, there is no promise of instant enlightenment, of contact with other worlds etc. The teachings of Theosophy are there, more easily available today perhaps than for many centuries before, but it is up to each one of us to find them and once we find them to try and understand them for nobody can tell anybody else what is right for him. Each one of us has to be his or her own judge always remembering that life and Karma is cause and effect. One of the lessons theosophy teaches, and which is so sadly missing in this modern world, is to avoid excesses of any kind. The middle path is perhaps the hardest path of all to tread for it demands tolerance and understanding and above all love for our fellowmen. It also demands of us that we keep our equilibrium particularly under stress. Perhaps there is no better way to finish this talk for me than to quote out of ‘Expanding Horizons’ by James long who concludes his book as follows: “The present confusion of ideals has brought us to a dangerous pass – And I am not referring to the perils of missiles and rockets, satellites or bombs. Those are symptoms, and alarming ones in the hands of the wilfully destructive; but they are symptoms only and do not constitute Man. Should the much-feared destruction of civilization eventuate – which I very much doubt will occur – we will have to rely on the simple yet all-inclusive truth that you may destroy the body but you cannot kill life. Man will survive; he will face and surmount every cataclysm that may be in store, whether by flood, fire, outer space – or himself! Nations and races, as such have time and again passed out of existence, but the egos that once inhabited them incarnate anew, in other lands and in other racial strains. If we can grasp that larger vision as far as is humanly possible, this will not remove the dangers, but it will help us to meet whatever comes with fortitude. So let us take courage and join hands with those clear-sighted and strong individuals in every country who are quietly working to keep the wheels of progress moving forward.” Here in a nutshell, I think we have not only what Theosophy is in the modern world, but also a statement of its task, which is to quietly but sincerely give love, compassion and understanding to our fellowmen.

This is the text of a lecture presented to the Theosophical Society Pasadena in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society Pasadena.

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Tue 8 Apr 2008

THE INFINITE DIVISIBILITY OF THE ATOM: theosophical perspectives by Clive Bellgrove

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THE INFINITE DIVISIBILITY OF THE ATOM: theosophical perspectives by Clive Bellgrove

In 1888 HP Blavatsky’s theosophical masterwork The Secret Doctrine was published in both London and Washington. In my opinion it is probably the greatest work on genuine Occultism ever printed. On pages 519-520 of the first volume of that work there is a discussion regarding “the infinite divisibility of the atom”, at a time when the scientific world proclaimed that the atom was solid and indivisible, comparing it with a miniature billiard ball.

Mme. Blavatsky died in London on 8^th May, 1891. Between the date of publication of THE SECRET DOCTRINE and her death this lady received visits from and had discussion with many eminent scientists. Among them was one man who, it seems, particularly attracted her attention. During their discussion she informed him that before the end of the nineteenth century a discovery would be made which would change material science forever. Six years later it was that scientist, J. J. Thomson, who discovered the electron, the nucleus of every atom being a positive charge and the orbiting electron/s of negative charge, thus proving that the atom was in fact divisible.J.J. Thomson became a director of the famous Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. At the early age of twenty-four a New Zealander, Ernest Rutherford, joined Thomson at Cavendish; and it was Rutherford who succeeded in splitting the atom for the first time. Thus it seems reasonable to claim and draw attention to the enormous debt that modern science and the present day world in general owes to Theosophy.

Subsequent work by many scientists in many laboratories around the world on the atom and its particles has revealed a vast amount of information on both atomic and nuclear physics. Many and varied particles have been discovered. I have been told that at a recent count the number had reached over fifty; and who will suggest that the last of them has been found? It is worth pointing out here that, when such a new particle is discovered, the scientists concerned find that Nature has had it working quite efficiently in its appropriate field of activity for who knows how many ages past; which appears to underline the fact that Nature knows far more about these matters than do the foremost present day investigators!

It has been said that there are two exact sciences. One is Mathematics, and this is accepted indisputably. The other is Logic; not mere rhetorical logic, but fundamental logic. Nature works on the principle of cause and effect; nothing exists without having had a preceding cause; and every effect automatically becomes a cause of a yet succeeding effect, and so to infinity. Pure fundamental logic deduces from any set of circumstances the only possible outcome of those circumstances; that outcome produces further problems that must be solved, and these solutions produce yet more questions. Eventually the solution of the problem is reached through deductive reasoning, and is found to work in harmony with the operations of Nature.

A scientist in his laboratory and a cook in his kitchen both know that if they use the identical components and conditions they will obtain identical results from their efforts. When there is some unexpected variation in the results the scientist and the cook can think back and usually find error in their own procedures. But sometimes, with the scientist in particular, something entirely unexpected emerges. An investigation is made, sometimes locally, sometimes worldwide, and as a result something previously unknown to science is discovered. But that discovery is made because it is accepted as a fact that Nature is dependable in being accurately repetitious, and never in any circumstance capricious, undependable. Every question rightly put has its solution bound up within itself; and the answers can be found through the right use of logic. Nature wastes nothing. Eventually everything is used over and over again. Therefore all the rest of infinite space can scarcely be thought to be left totally empty, void.

In the very room where you are sitting reading this, there is not only atmosphere and light, but a great many radio and television waves, with sound, colour and movement; all utterly invisible to you, but which can be interpreted with man-made instruments so that we hear speech and music, and see colour and movement. It is so much easier to understand these things nowadays than it was in the 1880s when Mme. Blavatsky first drew attention to the infinite divisibility of the atom. We can more readily understand that beings, self-conscious and non-self-conscious, manifest throughout infinite Nature. It is theosophical teaching that infinity is full of manifesting beings on every stratum of space, and that our known universe exists on only one of those strata. It teaches that it is divinity which in-fills all space, not as an abstract principle, but as Divinities, higher in degree, medium, and lower, in each “direction” to infinity. Here it seems appropriate to draw attention to a statement in the Christian New Testament, (John 10-34) that the teacher Jesus is recorded as having said: “Is it not written in your law, I said Ye are gods”. But anything and everything that has life in it must inevitably have divinity at the apex of its being; not only other human beings, but animals, insects, plants, the mineral kingdom, and all. Logically also there must be divinity ordering and controlling the activity of every atom and particle of every atom, and further. As our galaxy is the appropriate field of manifestation for what to us is a super god, and as our Earth is a sufficient field for us who are gods in our highest aspect (though manifesting little of that quality at present), so the field of activity of an atom, with a life period of millions of billionths of a second of our time, is appropriate in size and all other conditions for the infinitesimally small beings who live on these particles and sub-particles.

If, then, Rutherford split the atom, he proved that the atom was divisible. Logical reasoning then arrived at the conclusion that the particles of atoms must also be divisible. This is the area, beyond nuclear fission, that is presently engaging the attention of researchers, who have come up with their suggestion about the so-called Quarks, which they hope to find are the ultimate building blocks of the universe. But, since Nature is infinite in its ramifications, can anyone ever find the absolutely original basis or foundation of infinity? Atoms, particles, sub-particles: Where does the process stop? It may be said that smallness must stop somewhere. But does it have to? We human beings live in one stratum of space, in which we see ourselves and one another, the Earth, the solar system, our home universe or galaxy and, with the aid of telescopes and photography, millions of other galaxies. The existence of these other galaxies was confirmed by Hubble of Mt. Wilson Observatory in 1923/5. As a result we can now think of space as extending directionally forever. Similarly we now understand that Time, as we understand it, has its limitations; and that it is a portion of infinite Duration, which has no limitations. But there is something more than direction and duration, and that is Degree. The spectrum of light in which we see everything that is visible to us has its ceiling with the violet at one end and red at the other. But we know that there are ranges of vibration higher than violet and lower than red. There are radio, television, frequency modulation, heat, and sound (not, of course, in that order of descent) and then the sub-sonics. Above there are X-rays, gamma rays, and cosmic rays. All manifest through waves or vibrations. And who will say with authority that vibrations cease with the presently known cosmic rays or the sub-sonics? It has been said that Time as we understand it, is a division of Duration commensurate with the degree of self-consciousness which we are manifesting at the present stage of our evolution. The same can be said of size. Our size as human beings fits well with the physical conditions of the solar system and planet on which we at present live and have our being.

Where, then, are all these thoughts leading us? What is the purpose of all this reasoning? Infinite space is filled full with divine beings, among whom are ourselves. While infinity itself cannot evolve, all beings within it can and do evolve; but at the commencement of evolution on any one of the strata of space, they commence in a state of nescience, non-understanding, and the purpose of life and lives is to give an opportunity to commence causes and to reap effects until the time eventually comes when we beings manifesting in that stratum achieve self-conscious divinity, and move into a higher range to repeat the same process.

Thus, those whom we look upon as the gods are also learning in their realms of existence, and will evolve yet higher. The point is that those whom we look upon as being gods have, countless ages ago, been the equivalent of ourselves, and therefore have a right to “return, descend” and teach us the ethics and altruism which Nature requires of us, and them.

Look at it this way. Our physical bodies are composed of unthinkable billions of atomic particles, forever dying and being reincarnated. To them, and the beings living on them, we literally are gods, ordering their lives and wellbeing by our modes of living; going where we go, experiencing the results, the effects, of our thoughts and actions. Thus the theosophical doctrine about individual and personal responsibility. As we live our lives from day to day, moment to moment, a near-infinity of lesser beings are being affected for good or ill; and we, as their hierarch, have an overriding responsibility towards them. “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” (2 Peter 3.8.) Theosophy teaches that all infinity impinges upon us now, at this moment; that we are inherently divine, and that because of Nature’s law of cause and effect we are individually responsible for our thoughts and acts, reaping eventually the benefit of those that are good, and relentlessly having to redeem the effects of those that are wrong. Pythagoras taught that god geometrizes. We live in a totally logical infinite universe. It is we, not Nature, who lack that quality for which Solomon is said to have asked, - - an Understanding Heart. Please note that the views expressed are those of the speaker and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society - Pasadena.

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Wed 2 Apr 2008

THE LAW OF KARMA: can we escape the circle of necessity? by Clive Bellgrove

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE LAW OF KARMA: can we escape the circle of necessity? by Clive Bellgrove

Karma is the all-pervading law of Infinite Nature, and it manifests its purposes through Cause and Effect, Action and Reaction. There can be no effect without a preceding cause, and no cause without a succeeding effect, however delayed the result may be. A circle in itself is very interesting. It cannot create itself. Somebody has first to want to draw a circle; then proceeds the placing of a point on paper and, with compass and pencil, drawing a circle. The circle is both a finite and an infinite line, and constitutes the limit beyond which the central point cannot expand, its “ring-pass-not”. The Ancient Wisdom teachings show that the sphere, an extension of the circle, is the most perfect form in Nature, because the periphery is everywhere equidistant from the centre. The surface of the sphere is both a finite plane as well as being infinite, starting nowhere, ending nowhere. Infinity is a continuum, full of Conscious Entities. There is no emptiness anywhere, there are no hiatuses. Every entity within Infinity is obliged through past karma to reimbody. After a period of rest the entity desires to reimbody to gain more experience and to strive further along the pathway to spiritual enlightenment. “Desire first arose in the heart of the Absolute”, and within every other entity that reimbodies. But each entity can manifest only on planes of Being that are appropriate for its development. It cannot reach higher into spiritual planes than it karmically deserves; and it has already evolved out of and beyond the limitations of those planes of Being lower than itself. Coming into manifestation in the planes of Being appropriate to itself, it does so in a state of ‘nescience’, of unknowing. As its evolution proceeds, always in strict accordance with its karma, it makes many mistakes through its ignorance, and later by choice. By the time the ability to discriminate between right and wrong has been reached there is a load of karma that it has been gathering, and which will be added to all the unfinished karma from past times that brought us back into incarnation.

The Law of Karma is relentless, but it is also absolutely just. Saint Paul in the New Testament, explained the doctrine perfectly when he wrote: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked; butwhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap”. Nature calls upon all beings to redeem only such wrongs as they have thought or done; never more, never less. But Nature ensures that, whether we like it or not, we do the redeeming ourselves. To aid us in our endeavours we have the guidance and inspiration of great sages who, however great their stature now, have lived through and triumphed over the experiences equivalent to our humanhood, and who therefore are entitled to teach because of that experience. As everyone knows, or comes eventually to know, we learn more quickly and certainly through our mistakes than through mere lecturing and book learning. These latter touch the mind; but the former become ingrained in the soul. We have lived thousands of lives on Planet Earth already, and will live thousands more before our association with this sphere ends. There has never been a time when we did not exist, and there will never be a time when we will cease to exist, in some form or other. Is it possible, then, to escape this present Circle of Necessity? The answer is emphatically yes; and just as emphatically no! Both are true. Let us take this paradox in two stages. No one, no Being, comes into imbodiment without countless strands of karma from the past. No human being reincarnates with a load of karma too heavy for him to bear, for Nature is fundamentally compassionate, and seeks to nurture her products, not destroy them. But a human being can, through wilfulness, so add to a load of karma during a lifetime that the burden becomes insupportable. It is at this stage that people begin to look for ways and means to avoid their problems and difficulties, their sorrows and sufferings. They turn to one or more of the many diversions such as tarot cards, astrology, tea cup reading and a host of other such means by which they hope to learn something of the future, and thus be able to avoid further problems and difficulties, and perhaps learn a few solutions to present ones. In fact, they are tying to avoid the working out of their own karma, the results of their own thoughts and actions in the past. Nevertheless they readily accept, without question, the “good” things that come their way. As a result of past actions they have deserved these “good” things too, and Karma, being thoroughly impersonal and impartial, brings these as well. One can suppress the working out of “unfortunate” karma for a while; but when it comes naturally it comes when conditions are best for coping with it. When put off, and the longer it is put off, it becomes progressively more difficult to handle. The lesson, then, is to learn how to accept one’s karma as it arrives day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute, and to meet it with the strength of character, such as it is, that one has developed over many lifetimes and the ages. By this process the development of strength of character continues ceaselessly. With what result? One of the early lessons learned is that, in hurting others, one eventually hurts oneself most. So one learns not to harm other people by word or deed; and then to help others when one can without interfering in their karma; for they are learning entities also. Nevertheless “inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.” But one must remember that one does not help others by allowing them to impose upon oneself.

The great sages have given, over the ages and in many languages, teachings as to the best way to live harmlessly and helpfully in the world, how to live wholesomely, how to cleanse oneself physically, emotionally, mentally; and since Nature abhors a vacuum, as the lesser qualities are overcome and flow out of one’s character, they are replaced by the higher and yet higher mental and spiritual thoughts of a person living in a wholesome physical body. Somewhere along the line of this spiritual progress one has become a student of the wisdom teachings, eventually to attract the attention of some chela or teacher or sage, who teaches the searcher how to triumph over the lesser part of his character, and how to redeem more and more of his past karma through good works. The eventual result, as some will have read or heard, is that the aspirant will have the opportunity and duty to undertake the experiences of genuine initiation. During that event he will survey all the events of not only his present life, but many others on this Planet Earth, and know the absolute justice of all that has happened to him in the past; and, returning safely from those experiences of initiation, he will have overcome his karma and his Circle of Necessity will be finished. Nevertheless he can thereafter, as and when he wishes, return to imbodiment on Earth and help and teach retarded humanity, some of whom are beginning the struggle on the upward path to spiritual enlightenment and attainment; others, indeed the majority, who are unaware of the splendour that lies ahead of literally everyone who walks the face of Earth, eventually. Thus, one sees, it is impossible to escape the Circle of Necessity. But what happens next? Infinity is a continuum, and so there must be a consequence to this initiatory attainment. He who triumphs can return to imbodiment to help and teach and encourage lesser mortals. Or he can enter a prolonged Nirvana and rest in the sublime conditions which he has earned through his own efforts. But, as with heaven and ‘Devachan’, there is an end to Nirvana for every entity experiencing it. That ‘Nirvanee’ finds himself in a higher world of manifestation, beyond the understanding of our present humanity; but still a realm of Being where the Law of Karma applies, as it does throughout all infinity. And so our Nirvanee finds that, having escaped from one circle or cycle of necessity, he has, after a long rest period, entered another one which, though next higher than that in which we present humans function, still has its “ring-pass-not”, its zenith or apex beyond which he cannot soar until a far higher initiation takes him into that next higher sphere; its nadir impinging on that realm of existence which he has just left behind in his march of evolution, but in which we still at present function. And so we see that one Circle of Necessity is replaced by a higher one, on and on through infinite time and space. And although the Law of Karma is of infinite application, because of that fact it can never finally be overcome; which explains the paradox.

The text is from a lecture delivered at a meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 31 Mar 2008

PSYCHIC POWERS: THEIR USE AND MISUSE by Clive Bellgrove

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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PSYCHIC POWERS, THEIR USE AND MISUSE by Clive Bellgrove

This subject is a very complex one, giving rise to endless thought, study, discussion and writing. Many hours could be spent on a fascinating subject such as this; and since we have only a limited time to devote to it, the subject matter must be brief and condensed. There are several premises with which we can commence:-That Psychic Powers exist, are a fact in nature, and therefore beyond dispute.That Good and Evil are co-existent throughout Infinity. That there are Seven Principles to every human being:-

ATMAN: Divine essence.
BUDDHI: Compassionate spiritual nature.
MANAS: Mind principle.
KAMA: Desire principle.
PRANA: Vitality.
LINGA-SARIRA: Astral double.
STHULA-SARIRA: Physical body.

Nevertheless I shall try to speak about as many aspects of these as possible in the time available, and almost wholly from my own experiences. There are such things as psychic epidemics; there was one occurring in the latter years of the last century; there was one that commenced about the middle of the nineteenth century; soon after, in 1873, Mme. H.P. Blavatsky was sent by her Teachers to the United States of America to work with the Spiritualist Movement and explain the manifestations to them. There have been a number of epidemics in history, one of the most notable being the dancing craze at a time during the Middle Ages. There have been periods when so-called Witches were prominent and punished often with death. We little realise that we are using Psychic Powers all the time. Our five senses, sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell, are all located and manifest in our Astral body, not in the physical, which latter is made up of the lower and coarser atoms in which we function as human beings. Therefore all these five senses are actually Psychic Powers which we are using continually and normally. For there is a normal use of these powers, which are used not only by the human kingdom, but also by the beast kingdom. One’s heart beats continually, not needing our constant attention and direction; a baby knows its own mother among many women; a lost lamb will find its mother sheep among an entire flock; a lost dog or cat can sometimes find its way home over hundreds of miles; birds and animals migrate over thousands of miles by their unconscious use of psychic powers. All of these five senses have their limitations; there are ceilings and bases to each of them beyond which we cannot normally function. Animals can frequently hear sounds and see things that are beyond human capability, and among human beings there are variations of these two extremes. Nature has placed these limitations upon our senses for our own protection; because we have developed the capacity to cope with these manifestations within the limits of our present development in evolution we are safe. The moment we endeavour to penetrate these normal barriers we strike problems and difficulties, and often dangers. We humans possess the power to discriminate between right and wrong. If our endeavours are directed towards spiritual evolution which, after all, is the entire purpose of life, lives and living, then progressively we are aided in our search, finding the right book, person, meeting or other incident that will give us the opportunity of taking the next step “onwards and upwards”, if one may use that expression. But if our attention and activities are directed towards finding out how the various psychic powers operate, we become involved in one or more of the occult arts or practices, ranging from clairvoyance and clairaudience, psychometry, automatic writing, telepathy, to medium-ship, and many other categories. Persisted with, the searcher can destroy the barriers that keep one “safe”, to use the above expression; and having destroyed these barriers, they cannot be repaired in the same incarnation. As is said in the New Testament, why cast out one devil, and let seven others in? For the doorway, once opened by the spiritually inexperienced, it cannot be closed again, and any of the dark forces that inhabit the invisible realms that surround us can enter and take control, without hindrance. From the age of about five or six I began to hear stories about ghosts, knockings, apparitions, automatic writing, apports and hypnotism, so that the mysterious world beyond the normal physical life became part of my everyday thinking. When I was about ten my mother, who suffered greatly from migraine headaches, found that if I placed my hand on her head the headaches soon went. Thus many times when other members of the family were out playing, I was helping my mother rest and sleep and recover from these headaches. A few years later an elder brother returned from the first World War with his English bride. She had served in France as a W.A.A.C., and had suffered bombing, and was in a highly nervous state; she was also expecting their first child. Further, she sometimes became hysterical, which was a problem for everyone. Again it was found that if I put my hand on her arm she immediately became calm. Apparently my psychic energies had a soothing effect. When I entered the business world, another manifestation began. We lived fairly close to the city and I used to walk to and from the office. Soon I began to hear music inside my head; beautiful music; long sustained chords that evolved from one to another and continued until I got home. I have since learned that every atom has its own particular note; every plant, every animal, every human being, every planet, every solar system, every universe has its own sound. The music of the spheres of Pythagoras is a fact in nature. Then began streams of poetry, all in Homeric couplets, dealing with ancient history, philosophy, religion; and this was later followed by seeing, while walking along the street, ancient, medieval and modern plays, all with a variety of characters, all beginning on some theme, and working through stage by stage to the end. There were times when all these three manifestations were combined; but the moment I tried to remember any of them, they vanished. This was most interesting entertainment; but as I grew older and responsibilities increased I realised that I could spend the whole of my life listening to and seeing these manifestations, but to what good? I had to be practical, so made the decision to stop these experiences, and for years was without them. As a boy I had been taken to some spiritualist meetings and had heard and seen how readings were given by attending mediums. And so began my search for the meaning behind these mysterious happenings. In my early twenties I was invited to attend a so-called developing class for mediums. At the first sitting I saw so many visions, hundreds of them, that I was bewildered; but from that I learned how unstable the Astral Light is. At some of these meetings I began to see the lesser side of the subject; a medium crawling around the floor lowing like cattle, and such like. Mediums had been brought to our home for private sittings, and it had been prophesised that I would not live beyond fifty. I began to visit mediums for readings and had many experiences. On one occasion I had paid my money and sat down when I heard a clink. Looking down I saw the medium moving away behind her skirt and secreting a beer or wine bottle. I was not favourably impressed. Another time I visited a so-called trumpet séance. I had read about them, and knew how the trumpet floated around the circle and the guides spoke through them to various sitters. To my surprise, this trumpet lay on the floor. I could see by the luminous paint on it that the wide end of the trumpet was pointing towards the medium. To my further surprise I found that it was the medium who did the talking, she herself giving the messages. Later, again to my surprise I saw the trumpet rise a little, and then jump into the air and fall with a clatter on the floor. After the meeting, when the lights were put on, I picked up the trumpet and, again to my surprise, found the marks of shoe polish inside the wide end of the trumpet. Again I was not favourably impressed. Soon I began attending regularly various spiritualist churches, as they were called, and eventually began lecturing for them, not on phenomena, but on ethics usually based on some quotation from the Bible. And this I did for a number of years, until, in fact, the time when I made my first contact with theosophical teachings, from which I gained the explanations I had been seeking for years, but which I had thus far been unable to find; for spiritualism has no philosophy of its own. For instance, half the spirit guides believe in reincarnation, and the other half insist that there is no such thing; only their Summerland. Earlier in my search I had been invited to attend a private séance, held in a house in Albert Park, a suburb of Melbourne, Australia. It consisted of about eight people. At first the meetings were harmonious and pleasant, and informative. There was a lady who had trained for opera, and a young man about twenty who had a good singing voice. These two often joined in singing music, making up the sounds and words as they went along, and harmonising excellently. This was indeed interesting. Various of the sitters gave messages to one another, and sometimes someone would take trance and give an oration on some subject. For myself, I have never taken trance, or lost or given up control of myself in my life, for reasons which I shall explain later. There was one young man who attended, and he was in his early thirties. I later found that he was perhaps the finest young member of his profession in

Melbourne; a brilliant mind. We became friendly. Later again I found that he had lived in both the

United States of America and

Europe, practising his profession. But I also found that, as he told me, he had lived a very unsavoury life as well; and that when he met me he had decided to try to reform his life. He was now a dreamy person, given to relaxing all the time and getting no exercise. At one meeting I felt the urge to “give him a treatment”, as we were encouraged to do; this I thought to be right usage of psychic powers. So in the dark I left my chair and went around the outside of the circle and stood behind his chair; then, after a few moments, I put the tips of my fingers over his closed eyes. It was not long before the most ghastly feeling came over me, and I quickly withdrew and went back to my chair and, the only thing I knew, began to pray as hard as I could for protection. Instead of imparting my vitality to him, I was attracting his condition to myself. In a few weeks’ time his health broke down completely; he was lodged in Mont

Park mental asylum, and spent the rest of his life there. The combination of his former mode of life, the drain of sitting in those séances, and his efforts to reform combined to deprive him of his reason for the rest of this incarnation. Another manifestation at that circle which I seldom discuss and never describe is something I saw one night. It was not long before I ceased attending that or any other séance. There appeared before my closed eyes a dark figure so evil in its expression that I was horrified, and silently commanded the figure to go away, which it did. There was a period about this time when I used to hear a lot of chattering in my ear, as though someone was just behind my head talking incessantly; but I could not understand a single word of what was being said. This went on for many months, until at last I got completely tired of it. I remember that one day I was walking down Collins Street past Georges’ department store, when all of a sudden in exasperation I stamped my foot and said, silently, with all the emphasis I could: “Go away! Leave me alone!” This manifestation ceased immediately. There was one medium whom I visited in Albert Park. She used a glass crystal ball which she covered in black velvet. This she placed in my hands, one holding it, and the other covering it. She then placed her hands one under and one above mine, and thus we sat for about twenty minutes during which she gave me various messages. Then she took the crystal ball from me and drew back the velvet until there was an uncovered spot about the size of a ten cent piece. She looked into this for a few moments and then handed the covered crystal to me. I was seated about three feet in front of her. At her suggestion I took the crystal and looked into it through the uncovered spot. She asked if I could see anything, and I said: “Yes, I can see the face of a woman”. She asked if I could recognise the face and I replied, “No”. She then took the crystal back again, and we repeated the former process for a few minutes, and when I looked into the aperture again I saw a small torn piece of paper with a date written on it in pencil. She asked if the date meant anything to me, and again I said, “No”. In each instance she made no contact with me while I was looking into the crystal, and in each case the picture vanished in a few moments while I was holding it. Knowing something about the amount of psychic energy required to produce such phenomena, I thought to myself that she was expending so much that she could not continue doing it and live another six months. The head of one of the local Christian churches had visited her so many times to see this phenomenon that, as she told me, she asked him not to come back again. She did in fact die within six months. When I was about fifteen, an elderly member of the family offered to teach me hypnotism. He was a remarkable healer, and Mr. Leadbeater [a former leading figure of the Theosophical Society (Adyar)] had visited our home to interview him, but happily at a time when I was at school. This relative of mine, in earlier years, had used hypnotism frequently, and had one particular subject with whom, from his viewpoint, he worked very successfully. Came the time when he was to leave for Adelaide, a prolonged journey in those days, on a bowling tour. A friend of his, a medical doctor, also interested in hypnotism, asked if he could borrow his subject for further experiments. This was readily agreed to. On his return to Melbourne some weeks later he asked his medical friend how the hypnotic experiments had gone, only to be told the poor woman had died of a burst blood vessel on the brain, that he had written her death certificate and she had been buried. Well intentioned though these two men were, nevertheless they knew nothing about the clash of magnetisms, which proved fatal in this instance. When I was offered the chance to learn hypnotism I remembered this and a number of similar stories, and declined immediately and finally. In the sphere of pure occultism it is forbidden for a student either to be hypnotised or to hypnotise anyone else; to do so places that student outside the scope of the high teachings for at least the remainder of that incarnation, and possibly many more. I have some photographs and newspaper cuttings which anyone interested may see after the close of the meeting. One is of a Swiss man who had advanced far in yoga. The picture shows him standing, bare to the waist, with a sword run through his back and protruding through his stomach. He was able to have a metal pipe pushed through him, and a hose fitted to one end so that water poured out from the other end. He could also have a dagger pierce the front of his skull so that the point passed behind his eyes and came out under his chin. All these wounds were immediately healed as soon as the instrument used was withdrawn, though it took him some minutes to steady himself after the ordeal. When doctors in one Swiss hospital saw some of these phenomena, some of them ran from the theatre because what they saw was against everything they had learned. When moving pictures of these events were shown in a London picture theatre so many people fainted that the police compelled the withdrawal of the film. The Swiss man claimed that he was doing these acts in Vaudeville shows in order to get together enough money to start some work for the benefit of mankind. When I came across these pictures and knowing, as said above, the great amount of psychic energy required to perform such acts, I thought that the man would be lucky if he lived another six months. I was wrong. He lived about twelve months, his planned benefits for mankind unfulfilled. There are so many instances of the misuse of these powers within my own experience or knowledge that it would take hours more to tell them. Lastly, towards the end of the nineteenth century and the beginning of this one, there was a group of gentlemen who met in Melbourne for séances. They had their own medium, and a spectacularly successful one he was. These séances were held in the home of Thomas Weldon Stanford, and among the small group of sitters were the then head of the Melbourne Harbour Trust (from recollection of what my elderly relative told me when I was a boy, his name was John Bligh or Blythe); there were also David Syme, the owner of the Melbourne Age, Alfred Deakin, Prime Minister of Australia, and this elderly relative of mine. When they met it was their practice to paste paper over the door, windows, ventilators and any other apertures in the séance room, so that nothing could be brought into it after the meeting started. The male medium sat on a chair on top of the long heavy table, which was usually covered with a huge table cloth that came down almost to the floor. When they took their seats and the lights were extinguished the phenomena started. Into that room, through the solid walls, were brought a profundity and wide variety of solid objects. There were Chinese embroidered silk robes, beaded aprons used by African natives, flowers, grass skirts, birds’ nests, and even birds in cages, pictures of which I have seen, and some of which objects I handled when visiting Stanford

University in

California. Every school boy knows that there is as much space relatively in an atom as there is in the solar system, so that there is space enough for solid matter to pass through solid matter if you know the process. But I could not understand how a cage full of small birds could be “disintegrated”, brought through the solid wall, and then reconstructed into living birds again. I knew this to be an impossibility, but was puzzled, so asked one of the professors at our Headquarters for an explanation; and he replied that it was not the birds that had been “disintegrated”, but the wall! The whole affair became complicated when some Babylonian clay tablets, covered with Cuneiform writing, began arriving at these séances. Because of newspaper reports it became known to the local Customs authorities that these tablets were arriving from time to time. Those authorities felt that, as antiques, customs duty should be paid on them. The recipients thought otherwise, and the case came before the courts and was fought out there. The Customs authorities lost the case, and the clay tablets were eventually sent to Thomas Stanford’s brother Leyland “for your University”. I have seen the published letter received from Mrs. Stanford acknowledging receipt of the tablets. During the San Francisco earthquake in 1906 they were destroyed; but I have with me photographs of some of these, and I also have translations of some of the inscriptions. On one occasion when visiting

California, I visited

Stanford

University to research in their Archives; and they found to their surprise that I had vastly more information on the subject than they did; and I was able later to augment their collection. During the visit I asked if they had any of the apports that had been brought into those séances, and they produced two boxes of them for my inspection. I was shocked to see such a collection of rubbish, which I thought fit only for the incinerator. I asked the archivist what had happened to the many beautiful and valuable things that had been brought into the séance room, and was told that many people had seen these objects over the years, and the best of them had been stolen and only the rubbish left. A few moments was enough for me, and I asked that the boxes be taken away immediately. One other manifestation in that séance room was the bringing into it of a large quantity of seaweed, with salt water pouring out of it so that it drenched the table cloth and the trousers of the sitters. No one could have brought that quantity of substance into the room surreptitiously. The sitters were all notable and honourable men, and unlikely to allow themselves to be deceived by the medium or anyone else. To make the fact clear to my relative, he had to take home one might the bowling shoes which he had not brought there with him. He at least needed no further proof of the facts of apports and psychic phenomena. In other areas there are practitioners who claim that they can levitate and float around a room, betimes bumping into one another or the walls. There are those who strive to learn how to stimulate the various chakras, and kundalini. There are those who through inquisitiveness rather than the spirit of investigation, delve into black magic and its dread practices. There are those who take drugs to gain otherworldly experiences; but no one can penetrate spiritual realms by means of practices of the dark side of nature. One therefore comes to the point when one asks what is the purpose of practising the use of psychic powers. There is the right and natural use of some of these powers, and these are hemmed in with the safeguards which Nature knows are necessary for human beings in their present stage of development. For those aspiring towards higher ranges of consciousness, there are and always have been available the pure teachings of the Brotherhood of Compassion, to be found in all major cities of the world in this day and age as readily, possibly more so, than in any or most of the mystery schools of the past. All these teachings warn the beginner to have nothing to do with manifesting psychic powers; to do so is to exclude oneself immediately, and for who knows how many incarnations. If a chela has some work do to in the world that requires the use and display of psychic powers, these can be conferred on that messenger, and withdrawn when the need is finished. This happened in the instances of Colonel Olcott and William Quan Judge, co-founders with Mme. Blavatsky in the Theosophical Society. When they were in

India they were endowed with the ability to heal. It is clear that the people healed by them had it in their karma to be so healed. But in time, and in both instances, those powers were withdrawn, and thereafter they could do no more physical healing. There are many other instances of the use and misuse of psychic powers which could be mentioned if there were time. There are such matters as transfiguration, and protection. There is the form of manifestations such as exhibited at the famous hauntings at Borley Rectory in

England, with an elemental that played with fire. There is vampirism, and also the widespread psychism of the Atlantian period of human development. There are the dangers. Those who undertake to tread the pathway to wisdom are forbidden to become entranced; they are forbidden to hypnotise others, or to allow themselves to be hypnotized. They may not take alcohol or hallucinatory drugs, all of which stimulate the emotional nature. Even anger, or violent rage, does the same thing, and are impediments on the path, and must be overcome and cleansed from one’s nature. The hypnotist pushes one’s consciousness to the outside edge of one’s being, and replaces his own to fill the vacuum. In trances more or less the same thing is achieved, and the medium has little choice as to what type of entity is going to take over his or her consciousness for the time being. It is our inalienable right to live in our own body, without the intrusion of other consciousnesses; these latter can be only of a lesser quality or degree of development; the good will never intrude, but will seek to evoke, slowly and progressively and without danger, the splendour, veiled in varying degree that exists within every one of us, that is already part of us, the pinnacle of which is the spark of divinity within. In this brief survey of the good and the wrong sides of psychism, it has been my hope that any who may be attracted to the lesser side will realize the enormous dangers associated with such an approach, and turn their thoughts (which after all are also a psychic manifestation) to the pure, splendid and exalted teachings of the right-hand path, the end of which is spiritual enlightenment. However strongly people may feel that they can control themselves and the darker side of psychism, they will eventually realize that they are working against the laws of Nature, and come to know that unless they cease Nature will destroy them, at least for the time being. The purpose of all Nature, our purpose in being human beings, is the infinite, universal, urge towards spiritual evolution and attainment, on whatever plane of being each entity may be manifesting. However long it may take, this attainment will be achieved by every member of the human race, and all else besides. We live and work in eternity; although we live in realms where good and evil are co-existent it is infallible that good, in every instance, will triumph in the end. How can descent consciously into the darker side of being aid us in the onward and upward struggle? Perfection is not handed to one on a platter; it must be earned. The entire lesson regarding the use or misuse of psychic powers can be summed up in the one phrase by the great teachers of the human race: - “YOU CANNOT TRIFLE WITH OCCULTISM.”

This is the revised text of a lecture given by the authors at a public meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne. The views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Thu 7 Feb 2008

IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE ACCORDING TO ESOTERIC PRINCIPLES IN A TOUGH WORLD? By Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

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IS IT POSSIBLE TO LIVE A GOOD LIFE ACCORDING TO ESOTERIC PRINCIPLES IN A TOUGH WORLD? By Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

To be able to give a motivated answer to the main question of the lecture, we have to primarily define – what is “life”, and then – what we understand as “good life”. As this is, and always was a question of questions for every thinker in the world, we can find some meditations on this subject in the works of prominent thinkers of different cultures. The famous Russian author and philosopher Leo Tolstoy, who searched for the definition of “life” in the works by Confucius and Lao Tzu, by the Brahmins, Buddha, Greek Stoics, Jewish Sages and Jesus Christ, chose the following: “Life is love of god and of your neighbour, giving people the good”. He chose it because in his opinion this definition embraced all the other of them. Tolstoy understood, “god”, as universal consciousness, the source of life. He understood, “neighbour”, to mean any other human being. Though we are seemingly separate and different from each other, but in the universal, divine, consciousness we are united. The more we feel such unity to be a fact in our understanding, the closer we are to the universal consciousness. And Tolstoy came to the conclusion that if a person really wishes to live a good life and bring the good into the unity of life in his or her own way, then this person should understand the others’ good as important, sometimes even more important than the person’s own wellbeing. This means love to all the other manifestations of life, coming from the sense of unity with them. Easy to say, but usually difficult to achieve, as so many obstacles stay in the way of our sense of unity and our love! These obstacles are within us: fear, touchiness, selfishness, anger, attachment to habits, including the habits of mind, and so on. Fortunately, within us, we can also find something that may help us to balance these properties – it’s our conscience. When we listen to our conscience, it will always tell us what is best for us to do in given circumstances in order to produce the Good. If it were the only voice we are listening to there would be no problem. The main problem appears when we listen to the voices from outside which are many and varied. Each such voice lusts to impose its opinion on us! Sometimes these voices belong to the tradition which we are used to and cling to. Sometimes they are the voices of the state authorities and we forget that it were we who had elected them and provided them with the status from the height of which they are now telling us their point of view! Very often these are TV voices which render for us the images of how we should look, feel and think. It is good to receive information for our knowledge and choices. But the problem appears when these voices tend to lead us in the opposite direction than that in which our conscience tells us to follow away from the sense of unity and manifestation of love. They may scare us with the presumed intentions of the “neighbour” which might be aggressive and potentially dangerous for us. And we forget about unity and start thinking in the terms of “us” and “them”.Such many and varied voices may appeal to our ego and try to assure us that we deserve that what we enjoy and shouldn’t be “too generous” and compassionate to the less fortunate – if they are in such condition, then they obviously also deserve it, and shouldn’t be of concern for us. But, as Mother Theresa used to say, “When someone is hungry, it is not God who doesn’t provide for him, it is us who refuse to give him a piece of bread”. By behaving in such a way, we obviously violate the esoteric principles of unity and love, and accumulate the conforming karma. Can this be defined as a “good life”? So, why do we listen to all of these voices at all? Why do we submit to their manipulation? Why don’t we call our conscience to our defence in all the circumstances of daily life and ask it to discriminate the good from the bad? Maybe, sometimes it is because these voices tell us that what we would like to hear? Or maybe, it is easier and seemingly safer for us to conform than to take our own decisions and be responsible for them? And there is also the sense of “belonging” which often makes us to believe that “we” are right and “they” are wrong, and that, in any case, our leaders know better what is “good” for us. But, if we are courageous enough to listen to our conscience and our sense of unity and love and resist the temptation of trusting others to make important decisions for us, understanding that the main responsibility for our actions is still with us, then our knowledge of the esoteric principles assists us immensely in building a deep and firm foundation for our decision making. It leads us to the way of life that is devoted to “the endless transmutation of death into the growth of Spirit, into the concentration of Its possibilities”, as life is defined in Kalagia by Alexander Naumkin. Then the toughness of the world and our own weaknesses become this “ore”, “raw material”, which we should by our effort and sacrifice transmute into the growth of our inner spirit. The more ‘toughness’, the more ‘challenges’, the higher the tension, the more of opportunities for transmutation. We can say that according to esoteric principles, the “good life” is life which is devoted to transmutation of any manifestation of “death” into the “growth of Spirit”. And that in fact we can only transmute “death” when we have it, i.e. when our way is tough! Further articles and art works related to this subject are available at the authors’ website at:

http://www.essays.riaikkenen.com/

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Thu 7 Feb 2008

EVOLUTION: SOME BASIC IDEAS FROM THEOSOPHY by Frank Walter

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EVOLUTION: some basic ideas from Theosophy by Frank Walter

Evolution is such a wide-ranging doctrine that it covers all others in Theosophy. It’s governed by karma and in a way it is karma. Let’s see what Encyclopaedia Britannica says about evolution. I quote: “A natural history of the cosmos, including organic beings, expressed in physical terms as a mechanical process”, and we couldn’t have anything very much further from the theosophical explanation of evolution. It doesn’t go very far in agreement with our teaching. It stops at the area of matter and it ignores other trains of evolution. There are many other such ‘trains’, mainly the psychical and the spiritual. But Encyclopaedia Britannica doesn’t mention these other aspects of evolution at all. In Theosophy on the other hand, the ‘lower’, or more material, grows into the ‘higher, or more spiritual, on all these planes. The planes themselves coexist by interpenetration. The only implication of their differences is where the self-consciousness of the individual is located. That is the only way you can differentiate from one plane or another. Most peoples’ consciousness is now on the physical plane, and we are conscious of it, all around, all of the time during our waking hours. We’re not conscious of the other planes of the universe most of the time. Consider the etymology of the word “evolution”. It starts with a verb, an action word, a karma word, ‘to evolve’, that is the action word with which all begins. It’s from the Latin “evolvere”, to unroll, to unwrap, to bring out from within. From the action word we look for the recite word, the noun, “evolution”, and that is what I’m talking about. We are today expressing ourselves in English, an Indo-European language which takes us back to the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit. It becomes obvious that the teachings related to spiritual aspects of evolution are incredibly old. It goes right back to the beginning of things. Evolution is the oldest doctrine of mankind, it tells for what purpose we are here, the nearest word I have found, in Sanskrit, to evolution, is ‘Pavriti’. This word is closely linked to ‘Nivriti’ which is involution, the two go together. If with evolution something is unrolling - coming forth. Remember that nature abhors a vacuum, if something is going forth something must be going back! Something must be going back at the same time and that is involution. Another Sanskrit word, very closely connected, is Svabhava. Svabhava is “character or qualities” that we bring with us as reincarnating egos at rebirth. Our svabhava goes back into recess while we have a bigger sleep, a longer sleep, than usual, at life’s end, but it waits as a potential of the next life. It’s held in abeyance. Svabhava has another meaning when it’s analysed. Svabhava is the becoming the self, the higher self, the word literally means “self-becoming”. Now that is the individuality as compared with the personality. That word “potential” is very ‘potent’ as a thought because in evolution it is the potential that is unrolled, and brought forth. We’re a microcosm of the macrocosm, we are parts of the whole. The part cannot be greater than the whole but it does contain the potential of the whole. In the Jewish mystical book, The Kabala, it says that the stone becomes a plant, the plant a beast, the beast a man, and the man a god, logically the stone becomes a god. How come? It takes place in steps because it had that potential, right from the beginning.

At the risk of tiring you I would like to revert to my favourite reporter’s adverbs, those are the words “who”, “what”, “why”, “when”, “where”, and “how”.

Who or What evolves? Absolutely everything evolves, the all evolves. From realms below the atom to realms to beyond the visible cosmos.

Why does it evolve? Because growth and progress is the opportunity given us by nature. To be static is to be going nowhere but where we are now is an acute vibration. I would remind you that we are now in ‘Kali Yuga’, that is the Black Age, the Iron Age, the age where we have greater opportunity than any other age to improve ourselves, quickly. Please see the article: What is the Kali Yuga? http://www.theosophydownunder.org/ifensterl.php?newsletter.php for a detailed explanation of Kali Yuga. To evolve is why we are here, karma will see that we avoid, or evade, nothing.

When do we evolve? During those periods of time required and provided by karma. It will be during a cycle and remember that a cycle never returns to the exact point of its departure. It forms a spiral and finishes slightly away from the starting-point. I wouldn’t say up or down, but it’s away, it’s not just where it started from. There would be no point in going round and round in a complete circle we would learn nothing that way!

Where. Where do we evolve? Whatever plane that our consciousness is centred upon at the time. At present we’re on the physical plane. In vast ages to come we shall function on the plane of mind. Still later, untold millions of years hence we will reach the spiritual plane.

How will we evolve. Evolution is a dual process. It needs involution as well. Which came first? That is the chicken and the egg all over again. Or perhaps, examining both sides of a coin is a more apt analogy. Which is the obverse and which is the reverse? Evolution and involution are two names for two phases of the same procedure. We unwind the potential and then it’s wound up again - ever onwards and upwards. You may have noticed that I have not at any time mentioned Charles Darwin, but I assure you that I have the greatest admiration for the work he did for science, so meticulous, so patient, and under such discomfort, hardship, and even danger. However, although popularly associated with evolution he doesn’t use the word himself, not in my copy of The Origin of Species, it’s not in his index, he doesn’t mention it as a chapter-heading, Darwin just doesn’t use the word! His publisher does, because a lot of his contemporaries took his ideas and adapted them to their own conceptions. But that is another matter altogether, that is not the evolution of which I am speaking. So since this lecture has been about the ancient doctrine of evolution in the spiritual sense, it did not seem necessary to bring in Transformism. That was a French term used by Lamarck and was never intended to represent evolution. Well, I found a loose form “specialisation”, that is the giraffe having a long neck, the elephant having a tail at both ends, well one’s his trunk and the other one is his vanity-case I suppose! Or “accretion”, now there’s another word that is sometimes used, and by accretion we mean building-bricks, brick upon brick, like a house. That is not evolution in the sense I have in mind.

I have tried to give you a basic introduction to the theosophical definition of evolution. Everything evolves, but most important to us now, is the human monad – spiritual self and we as human monads are evolving. For those interested in a deeper explanation of spiritual evolution, please see Evolution and Creation: a Theosophic Synthesis by Will Thackara available at: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/52-02-3/sc-wtst3.htm

The text is from a lecture delivered at a meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 4 Feb 2008

THE POWER OF MAGNETISM by Clive Bellgrove

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THE POWER OF MAGNETISM by Clive Bellgrove

Ask any school age child what they know about magnetism and they will respond immediately with remarks about the curved pattern made by a magnet on powdered iron filings on a sheet of paper or a plate of glass and that is about all most of us know, or wants to know about the subject. After much reading in the scientific and theosophical literature, and much greater thought, I realised what a vast subject it is! Before us is a pair of magnets actually from an old telephone. Now, placed alongside they are just ordinary magnets, but hold them out and reverse the poles of that one, hold the magnets out at full length and try and put the opposite poles together, and the power is so great that it’s almost impossible. The power between those attracting and repelling poles is so intense it demonstrates the fact that invisibility has within it powers beyond our vision and comprehension and of course it was part of the teachings of Theosophy that all infinity is filled with such powers, almost all being beyond our comprehension with any of our senses. HP Blavatsky said that electricity and magnetism, each is the alter-ego of the other self, of the other one. Now, electricity will not pass through glass, glass is a perfect insulation for electricity, but magnetism will move that steel pin around as though there was nothing between it and the pin, or the needle as the case is, showing that it’s a different quality of power that flows through, from the magnet to the pin through the glass, different in degree but apparently in degree only, from electricity. And of course in another place HPB takes the matter further and say that even light, and ‘Fohat’ , come into the same expanded ramifications of magnetism. Placed alongside each other there appears to be no reaction, by reversing the poles of one of the pair, powerful opposition is revealed, and here let it be said and stressed, the intense power that keeps the opposing poles apart if invisible to our eyes, therefore this is an excellent illustration of the fact that invisibility can be and is, filled with powers immense in both variety and strength, all of which are invisible to us, here I’m reading the wrong set of papers which haven’t been amended. (finds other set) As everybody knows, it was Sir Isaac Newton who first propounded the theory of gravitation in our relatively modern world, although it has been known for ages to students of the ancient wisdom. But gravitation is only one half of the pair of the opposites of attraction and repulsion. Were gravitation the only force operating in nature, all substances in infinite space would already have been attracted into a small, densely compacted mass, with all the rest of infinite space devoid of manifestation of any kind. That as well as gravitation there is the equal and opposite force of repulsion. The operation of the laws of magnetism are not confined to material things. Everyone knows how a lamb, a calf, or a kitten, even a human baby, knows its own mother among a number of other females, without ever having to be taught to do so. Again, at some unheard signal hoards of birds and animals and insects know when it is exactly the right time for them to migrate, often from one continent to another, using magnetic pathways unknown to humans. Fish, and eels, leave their customary habitat, swim down streams and rivers to the open sea to find their natural breeding grounds, they and their progeny know how to find their way back through oceans, rivers and streams to places where their parents, and ancestors, have lived for who knows how many ages. Homing pigeons find their way home to their nests over hundreds of miles. But they’ll lose their way if a small magnet is fastened to their wings. One learns that through magnetism the great Hierarch of a galactic universe attracts to Itself all the beings with which he has been associated through vast periods of time, so that karma, which he and they have generated in the past and not yet equilibrated, that he and they may manifest once more and work to achieve a greater quality of harmony and equilibrium in conformity with the laws and principles of nature. It is magnetism that attracts us human beings to our own past karma, and no one else’s, through the working of cause and effect, of sowing and reaping, of attraction and repulsion, we learn how to calm the stormy waters of the great ocean of life in which we are immersed. In the process, we rise to a better understanding of both ourselves and our fellow human beings, whatever their degree of evolution, and to respect and work with, the laws of nature. More than that, eventually we learn the meaning of the saying that “when the student is ready, the master is waiting”. It is the student who has to attract the teacher. At that stage the student has doubtless has had some contact with that teacher, or the teachings he follows and lives, in other and past incarnations, his attraction has been engendered in other times and places and is not satisfied until in the present incarnation he finds either his former teacher, or the same teachers again, in this present life. Where, when and how does this attraction recommence in any particular life? That pinnacle of our being, our inner divine spark, knows that the time has come for all the lesser parts of our being to return to lesser phases of its being and desires to return so that they may gain their further experience and opportunity to evolve, and not only materially but intellectually and more still, and more importantly, to evolve spiritually. And so that divine spark descends, metaphorically but not literally, reclothing itself in all the various grades of vestures and habiliments which it has previously left behind, step by step, on its return home after the previous death of the physical body. Having magnetically attracted all these substances, which are its own, on the downward path, it enters Earth’s atmosphere and sphere of influence, there it awaits the time when its future parents with whom, either as parents or other relatives, or friends and close associates, it has lived before in many incarnations, and they are magnetically attracted to each other. The returning entity comes to the period of time, the race, the country, the social conditions, the parents, and no other, best suited for the returning entity to learn, understand, make some reparations for past thoughts and actions, and benefit from others in its past, and take a few more steps on the upward path toward wisdom. All the nutriment that the returning entity receives both before and after birth, and throughout life, all the atomic particles and sub-particles of food and water, even of the air we breathe, come to us through psycho-magnetic attraction, many of these substances have been used, also by others, both during our lifetime and in the period between death and rebirth, but some of them are particularly our own, but as we follow the pathway toward wisdom we take many of these other and lesser beings along with us, as far as we and they are capable of travelling. There are several other instances of the mysteries of magnetism that should be mentioned. All comets within our solar system obey the law of attraction and repulsion in that they return to their parent star, our sun, repeatedly. Gravitation draws them back to the sun, but repulsion by the sun not only causes the comet’s tail to be directed away from the sun, while the comet is skirting it, but also propels the comet away on its orbit that takes it far out into the confines of the solar system, to between the orbits of the planets Uranus and Pluto, there the energy or propulsion and the attraction are balanced and the latter takes over and draws the comet back to the sun, in the instance of Halley’s Comet, after a period of approximately 76 years. Another instance is the moon, the gravitation pull of the moon causes the rise and fall of the tides of ocean, but as well there are the tides of atmosphere, first discovered by scientists when beam radio waves were reflected back to earth by what later came to be known as the “Hepiside, layer”, named after its discoverer. There is also a tide of the crust of the earth, which rises and falls three and a half feet every day. Again, everyone will remember instances where they have been looking for something they have mislaid, have searched long and painstakingly for it without success, eventually finding it lying on the table in front of them all the time. The explanation for this phenomenon is that the polarity has been reversed, but whether it is the polarity of the object, or of the searcher that has been altered, or the method of making the change, is not explained.

Now there is also the attraction of friendship and the opposite repulsion where there is no friendship or likelihood of friendship, or where friendship that once existed has been lost. There are countless other instances of the working of magnetism within our observable experience, but there is an entire field of abstract thought on the subject known only to relatively few students, and understood only to real initiates in esotericism and occultism and their high Chelas. On page 78 of the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, the Mahatma KH in the letter dated July, 1882, to his lay Chela, Alan Octavian Hume, in discussing the globes of the earth’s planetary chain, refers to the infinite ramifications of the number seven, and adds that he had just been permitted, for the first time, to give you the right figure. In commenting on this matter, Dr. de Purucker produces a diagram of 12 globes on seven cosmic planes. Seven of the globes, A,B,C and D, and D is our physical earth, with which we are all familiar, then E, F and G. These are on the lower four cosmic planes, and above and are called the Rupa Globes, that is the globes of form, above these are five globes on three cosmic planes, making seven cosmic planes and 12 globes, making the total of those globes as 12. The superior five are described as being arupa or formless, arupa and formless only to our consciousness which has neither the ability, or if we had the ability, the words, to frame and understand the meaning of those five higher globes. G. de P. then explains that each of these globes transmits magnetic forces tothe earth, that each of those magnetism differs in quality, strength, power, and degree, and that only one of the 12 is known to us, and within our experience.It also appears that there are other streams of magnetism flooding the Earth, continually, the major power base for earth is naturally the sun, but other great sources are the so-called 12 houses of the zodiac, which are constellations of stars within our home galaxy, begirt as it is by the Milky Way, but beyond thesolar system. These 12 streams of magnetism appear to be directed to the also so-called signs of the zodiac, which are areas within the auric egg of our earth, and which it seems, on the basis of genuine spiritual astrology, a carefully guarded secret of the ancient wisdom, and also of everyday popular astrology which knows comparatively little or nothing of the vast play of forces on the planets by the solar system and the variety of beings associated with it. The sun is the beating heart of the solar system, sending out, as each human heart does to all the ramifications of the physical body, a constant stream of energy, nourishment, that vitalises and revitalises it, the sun’s progeny. The sun has brought its progeny into manifestation and must support them until it’s, the sun’s, term of existence draws to a close. As for the earth, this stream of magnetism, this river of lives, this flood of consciousness, enters the earth at the North Pole and passes directly through to the South Pole. From there it flows around the surface of the earth, towards the North Pole, at that point to be recycled in the same way again and again. However, some of that energy leaves the earth at the South Pole and returns by the rivers of lives, the circulations of the cosmos within the solar system, to the sun, there to be refreshed and again sent forth through the arteries of the body and the solar system, to continue its work in the various planets of the solar system and eventually, of earth. There appear to be many manifestations of various forms and qualities or degrees of magnetism affecting the earth, otherwise how could such a variety of physical things, formed, the surface of the earth, why should the atmosphere of mountains be so refreshing and exhilarating unless it be that so much of earth’s magnetism is sent up these high points into the upper atmosphere. It is said that all infinite space is filled with positive particles, the source from which galaxies, solar systems, even atoms, and all other phases of manifestation, are composed, that great reservoir of substance to which everything returns after it has fulfilled its purpose and dies, disintegrates, resting, and then at the appropriate time recommencing the process of re-embodying. In one of the appendices at the end of Blavatsky’s Letters to A.P. Sinnett, is the statement that: “polarity ends”, or “polarity ceases”. Surrounding our earth is that continent of meteoric matter referred to, for the first time, by one of the Masters in the Mahatma Letters, it is the play of forces between the continent of ionised substance, invisible to our eyes because they have been constructed to see through it without perceiving it, that causes the many and various changes of seasons, the storms, the movements of atmosphere, going on continually above earth, in earth’s lower atmosphere. It is said that lightning is largely caused by human beings, and is nature’s way of seeking and achieving equilibrium. Everyone knows how refreshing the air is after a thunder storm.

There are countless other aspects of magnetism that could be mentioned but time places limitations on what can be said in a lecture. We as individuals are ceaselessly receiving, and sending out, magnetic emanations. The Master points out how one can be affected, even by shaking hands with an impure man, that is on page 462 if anyone wants to look it up in the Mahatma Letters. Again, he says, they know of no phenomenon in nature entirely unconnected with either magnetism or electricity. It acts in all planes of being, throughout the totality of infinite space, it ensures that all the karma of the past will continue into the future, and that the future can never end, thus, magnetism seems to be synonymous with infinity, karma, light, and enlightenment, the entire field of action and reaction, of good and evil, and of aspiration and exhortation. Thus far, nothing has been said about the dark side of magnetism, though there is something that should appropriately be mentioned. After the great physicist Sir JJ Thompson discovered the electron in 1898. The New Zealander Lord Rutherford became his student and later collaborator, at the Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University in England. It was Rutherford and his co-workers who, in 1938, succeeded for the first time in splitting the atom. In his opinion it seemed, not a very great achievement, having been done on a small scale. The fact was that it was not the atom that had been split, but that was something that had been done countless times before, every atom is losing and receiving replacement particles with what has been called, by G. de P., vertiginous rapidity, present day scientists speak in terms of millions of billions of times a second. What

Rutherford had achieved, in a small way, was the disruption of the cohesive magnetism of the nucleus of the atom, and, after only seven years, two atom bombs, using the principles which he had discovered, were used to destroy two cities and many human lives. The power of magnetism is enormous and comprehensive, but we humans have inbuilt protection against those forces which we are incapable of controlling now. All space is filled with this teeming energy and vitality, filled also with endless forms of manifestations, beyond the ability of our senses to recognise. Nature strives for equilibrium within every galaxy, every solar system, and every atom, and, we can only surmise, throughout infinity, photographs of at least some of the galaxies show that there is evident balance in their composition. One particular picture shows a galaxy in the form of a perfect sphere, with a plane of rings around it similar to those surrounding our planets Saturn and Uranus, and the Van Allen belts surrounding our Earth. It also shows what appears to be an equal and balanced distribution of its contents. With reference to the expression “polarity ceases”, it seems that by such means, positive and negative attraction and repulsion cease in a particular location within the home galaxy, where all substance is reduced to a waveless homogeneity, unable to transmit the light of stars beyond them, and the stars we see are between those areas which astronomers refer to as a cloud of dust, and ourselves. But since nature wastes nothing, these areas will be used again and again, and the Hierarch who formally functioned there, after an appropriate period of rest, will return from Its appropriate heaven or para-nirvana, and declare and give the divine command: “Let there be light”, and manifestation to the same unchanging process of collecting substance, the hosts of lesser beings that formally used that substance and aiding their evolution for countless ages yet to come, as is happening in all the ceaseless sky with which we are familiar, for whether we understand or appreciate the fact or not, every human being and indeed every other being in infinite space is taking an active and appropriate part in this great cosmic drama of ceaseless unending spiritual evolution.

Perhaps synonymous with that striving for evolution, and the alternative striving for harmony and equilibrium, is the meaning of what Gautama Buddha referred to as “the middle way between extremes”, that same condition which Dr. de Purucker referred to as “the cement of the universe” and which the teacher Jesus is said to have stated as being “the fulfilling of the Law, cosmic Love”.

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Fri 1 Feb 2008

THE BEATITUDES AND THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT by Sam Duband

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE BEATITUDES AND THE RESOLUTION OF CONFLICT by Sam Duband

I would like to examine with you, two old and much-revered systems, to see if I am right in the assumption that the peace-keeping methods are identical with the conflict resolving processes. The two systems are the Beatitudes from the Gospel of Matthew, and the Eightfold Path of the Buddha. I’ll make and I hope you will too, passing references to modern thought on the subject. I am indebted to the Rev. William Barclay, a former moderator of the Presbyterian Church of Scotland, for a magnificent exposition of the Beatitudes and I draw very largely from his learned exposition. First, a quote from James, 4.1-3: “What causes wars and what causes fighting among you? It is not your passions that are at war in your members? You desire and do not have, so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain so you fight and wage war. You ask and do not receive because you ask wrongly or spend it on your passions”. Man has desires on the one hand and needs on the other. Needs must be met, or men fight or seek new pastures. Basic needs are for food, clothing, shelter, sex, as well as for love, mental stimulation, responsibility (self image), and for a challenge. If any of these are not available the real cure is to see that the basic need is satisfied. Some people are more volatile and liable to explode into expressions of protest than others, if needs or desires are thwarted. The

Middle East, would not be an easy place to govern, and it seems that in the last 3000 years has not been so, therefore it is of value to look at the thoughts of Jesus on these matters for he was of these people. First, the New Testament tells us that Jesus ‘sat down’. This indicated he had something of importance to say. To this day we talk of a professor’s position as a chair of whatever subject he/she is teaching at university. Next it says: ‘He opened his mouth’. This means he opened his heart and mind, without reservation from spirit to spirit: he taught, not preached, he explained. To his disciples, the committed ones, he had these points to make relevant to life and living. The beatitudes begin: “Blessed are”, Hebrew: ‘Shalom’, Arabic: ‘Salaam’. It is a sort of cry of joy such as “Oh!” the blessedness; the serene and certain joy that must follow as a result of this path and cannot be taken away.

1. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. This statement does not glorify grinding poverty. Rather it means a humble attitude no matter our outward circumstances. He who has come to terms with the frailty of his personal soul, the volatility of his passions, his lack of strength or purpose, can make an honest self judgement. This brings to mind the seventh of the eightfold path where the Buddha urges that we develop right mindfulness or self-awareness.The value of this exercise in handling a crisis of hostility is this. Having made an honest appraisal of our own personality we will find just so many weaknesses as will make us have fellow-feeling, compassion, for our potential adversary. The first step to the resolution of hostility is a determination to find the path.

2. Blessed are they who mourn for they shall be comforted.

Those who are callous and thus without the ability to mourn, can express little joy and little sorrow. It is suggested that we do not desensitise our nature so that we can look at our own cruelty or others’ calamities with indifference. Compassion is a noble sorrow and is not selfish. Tears are not the end. The final result is courage and comfort. That is the challenge – to be aware of others’ needs and to be prepared to sacrifice on their behalf.

3. Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.

‘Meek’ in ancient Greek is ‘praus’, and is the middle between two extremes, the happy medium between too much and too little anger. Moses, Jesus, and most of his countrymen could be angry but the ideal put forward was unselfish anger when injustice was done to others or a principle was involved. Compare this with the ‘Middle Way’ of Buddhism, the great strength of Buddha’s appeal has been this teaching of moderation.

4. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness’ sake, for they shall be satisfied. Amongst the poor, the desert dwellers in many lands, there is a tradition of sharing with the stranger. This rather refers to those who have a blazing desire to find out what the just and proper course is and to see that it is done. We have to put principles before passions and that is not easy. It requires that the soul yield its clamouring to the quiet peace of the spirit. He who truly loves the truth will be left with none of his desires unsatisfied.

5. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy. This is echoed in the Lord’s Prayer – “forgive us our wrongs in proportion as we forgive others”. Buddhism and Hinduism both teach that Karma is a universal law. The results of our action are inescapable until we turn at last to the light of the next stage of development beyond the human, and then there will surely be another kind of ‘karma’. We shall continue to owe a debt to those who have suffered as a result of our selfishness or lack of forgiveness. In our life we often perch ourselves with great aplomb on the seat of judgement and condemn this robber or that basher to be summarily hanged (mentally or verbally of course). Mercy is an unpopular plant to nurture in the jungle of our soul yet it is the one which most separates us from the animals or brutal elements of the human tradition.

6. Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.

Ritual purity is not enough! Cleansing, fasting, abstinence for a period of time, and the performing of respectable charitable and devotional acts are not enough, though these are demanded in Hindu, Islamic, and Judaic law. No, more is needed.

Murder was forbidden in the Old Testament.Murderous anger was forbidden in the New Testament. Adultery was forbidden in the Old Testament.Lust was forbidden in the Old Testament. I think that Moses might protest a little at this for how can you love your neighbour as yourself and think murderous or adulterous thoughts? We must not be filled with internal conflict to be at peace. The charitable or spiritual side of our nature must be active and becoming more and more in charge of our human animal soul. Such a person can have what psychologists term a good self-image and the power that sustains it is this ‘shalom’ power – the power of joy, confident calm serene joy, in the rightness of law, of compassion, of beauty, of truth and of life.

7. Blessed are the peace makers for they shall be called the children of God. Peace here is ‘shalom’, the positive cry of Joy. Oh the joy of it! It is not merely the cessation of hostilities, it is creating a dynamic state of joy, harmony and balance. This state comes by striving to attain or apply the message of the other beatitudes.

8. Blessed are they who suffer persecution for justices sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Those who ‘dig their toes in’, as they stick up for a principle. We live in a vast slurry of persuasion and set opinion that would have us conform to the agreed–upon, the acceptable. We are expected to be partisan. There is a great social pressure to go along with the crowd, the mass media, to follow this code or that. Finding principles is hard. It is being righteous and it is difficult. Conflicts occur on all sides all the time. Folk would have you belong to this sect, this party, this group, follow that fashion, eat such and such. It is endless. The more trivial, it seems that the greater frequency of the conflict. The Romans in their Empire had followers of many religions. They tried to achieve unity by making their Emperor a god. All that was necessary was to toss a pinch of incense into the flame or murmur the emperor’s name, and you were then allowed to worship your own Gods. This seemingly small act of obedience to the Emperor, the Christians refused to do, and thus persecuted by the Roman authorities. This was a conflict over principle. There was no other way for the Christians as they saw it, than to dig their toes in and resist persuasion and compulsion for righteousness’ sake. That is the application of the 8^th beatitude. How do we apply the others to the infinite variety of confrontations and demands we meet in daily life? If we meet someone who is very demanding of attention and love to the extent that they are greedy, well if you say: “Be meek” you won’t get far, but you can ask that they try to get by with a fair share and show moderation. Psychologists find many who display anti-social behaviour are afflicted with the problem of a very poor self image. Their hostility arises from this. It would be different, I’m sure, if they realised that within each of them there was a ray of divine life, and its engine or transformer is the human spirit. I think that this is basic to all efforts to raising the sights of the average human being. That divine-spiritual side of our nature is the source of our joy in our heart, it gives us wisdom, discrimination, conscience, a sense of fair play, integrity, a love of the truth, sensitivity to the needs of others, a love of beauty, it gives us ‘shalom’: peace and joy out of this world.

The text is from a lecture delivered at a meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in

Melbourne,

Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (

Pasadena).

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Wed 30 Jan 2008

THE HEART DOCTRINE: INTELLECT versus INTUITION by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE HEART DOCTRINE: INTELLECT versus INTUITION by Stefan Carey

As I see it, the subject of the Heart Doctrine focuses our attention on the conflict between the intellect and the intuition. In some ways the topic is about how we can come to terms with our own inner searchings in a world of apparent chaos and perhaps combine these two aspects of ourselves, the mind and the heart, in our search for inner understanding. Carlos Castanada says when talking of the life choices we have to make, to choose a path with a heart, his simple statement says more than many books. Choose a path with a heart.

How do we find the path with the heart? By tuning into our finer uplifting side of ourselves, by allowing ourselves to be the best we can be. Listening to our inner monitor is the first step. The doing is probably even harder. The mystery behind many ancient ideas is a potent force, but this is hard to sense when the words get in the way. This is where the intuition can be so useful: it can get past all the cogs and wheels of the mind and target the nucleus of the ideas immediately - to revive the inspiration if you like.

Intuition as commonly understood represents the whispering from within, that for example on the most basic level; one should watch one’s back when walking down a dark road, or that the petrol is empty or some other warning; a danger signal from within. I suppose that this is intuition in its basic form; an agent looking out for us on our behalf. But it extends much further than this. Going a level further, intuition is also a channel to our better self, our universal self. This is the major difference between the intellect and the intuition or the heart. The mind is always on the lookout for itself, grasping and limited to the perception of the senses, often unable to go any further in understanding than satisfying our own needs and desires. We seem to have forgotten that the mind is a powerful tool only and not the driver. I wonder if this misunderstanding prompted the phrase often quoted in theosophical discussions: “mind born illusion”, as it describes the individual caught up in the senses and the mind as the only way of seeing.

To see with vision is to use intuition. As the Buddhist sacred book, the Dhammapada, suggests in its introduction, there are men who have no vision, and yet speak many words. Intuition is also described as the whisperings of the cosmic spirit, from a source higher than that of the conscience. Remember not to confuse intuition and conscience! The conscience is our own personal store of wisdom, built from our experience, lifetime after lifetime. Intuition on the other hand comes from a limitless spiritual source; it’s like tapping into a power generator instead of the power point at home! This generator is powered by universal consciousness, not coal! My main point is to get us to see the value of heart doctrine and this I think is achieved by intuitive thinking. No one can genuinely offer quick fixed here: all I can suggest is that the intuition is an undervalued resource, and is in fact a means to what many might call inner understanding, albeit a slow means.As always, there are no fast track solutions that don’t involve effort on the seeker’s path, and the development of the intuition or unfoldment as it better describes the process, is no exception.

This all raises a question; does intuition offer any benefits to our modern style of being, which is undeniably self centred and egotistical? Personally I find the intellectual side of my nature to be reliable enough to get me through the day – most of the time. I must admit that I am too fearful and too unsure of the consequences, to let myself be driven by the intuition alone. Most of us agree with this. Many see the intuition as illogical, emotional and unreliable. Risky thinking at best. Although, the real situation, I feel, is this, it takes real courage to take a risk, to take a chance on the promptings from within and begin to trust this inner mentor of ours.

Some will argue that the intellect serves us well, why change things? But then if I look at the world around me I am not so sure. Do the intellect and the brain intellect, brilliant as they are, serve us so well as a species, or is our sense of fair play increasingly squashed under the heel of cool level-headed rationalism? Have our lives become a form of trivial pursuit with no real understanding? Are we information junkies with no depth? The best way to test this is to look at how we treat the planet and each other.As far as the planet goes, it really seems that the intellect has let us down badly here. We waver on the edge of an environmental nightmare, the sea and the skies are in a poor shape, we really are starting to get the kind of planet we deserve! The intellect has no conscience, little time for the broader implications of action and no inclination to see things holistically. Yet when you look at the structure of the brain, surprisingly each part of the brain cannot work without the other parts. It functions on the basis of wholeness but inculcates the ideology of separateness. Strange idea, crazy thought!

Look where the ‘eye doctrine’ or intellectualism has brought us: anything we do to the Earth, can be rationalised comfortably and neatly, satisfactorily and empirically. For example, the current (2008) controversy over the slaughter of whales in the Antarctic oceans in the name of scientific research. The only ‘research’ this involves is the research on the palate of the connoisseur! We feel that we are competent masters of the world. We feel that we have nature firmly in our grip. Our technology often appears to demonstrate this. But as temporary guardians of the Earth – ‘empire ‘Terra’ - we are rather lax, and it might more truely be said we are “in Erra”! Because our technology has become so advanced with the intellect in control and not so much ethics we have weapons such as chemical weapons; the impact is now far greater when things go wrong. This I guess is not a big surprise. The materialistic outlook, i.e. the separateness of the individual, and, for example the lack of trust of any thing not scientifically provable has been a major cause.

What has created this scenario, is a complete lack of understanding. We think and act in isolation, in the dark; we do not see with light if you will, or the spiritual intelligence of the heart, just the mind. Logic does not allow for compassion or empathy in the management of our affairs. Business is business as we say. We must begin to understand there is possibly no separateness between matter and spirit or God or whatever.

If we look even closer matter is condensed energy. The illusory aspect of nature as the mind sees it is sometimes explained by the materialists themselves. The world according to the brain is not all it seems when you consider that there is more space between atoms than there are atoms, the solar system illustrates the relative dimensions of this fact. Even some of the world’s religions have adopted the concept of the separateness of matter and spirit: they extend this notion to discover where God actually resides. In some cases they appear to tell us that God sits off afar on a great throne and moulds matter in the image of His likeness, to create and destroy. Make sense? Of course not! The energy that drives the universe works through matter not from afar but from within.

To be wise we might try to understand what we are made of, what energies and attributes the human constitution is made of, and then try to balance the lot. For example if you drive a car with the handbrake on, you don’t go so fast and the car wears out. The car has expended enormous energy because we are ignorant of how to operate it correctly. Ignoring the intuition is like living with the handbrake on: we waste energy and get nowhere. The heart doctrine is a fuller understanding or a willingness perhaps to soften up a little without becoming an imbecile and rely on the more intuitive part of us, the kinder part of us. Because when it all comes down to dust, all that matters is how we treat others; very simple yet, boy do we have a lot of trouble with that!

The heart doctrine is all about ethics and morality. Can we rely on each other or trust each other any more? Look at what happens on the roads each day. “By their fruits ye shall know them”, not a bad indicator I think. We fail that test of the heart, of ethics. Our supposed business and political leaders also seem to have let us down in so far as providing an example. But can we send men to the moon, or deliver missiles with pinpoint accuracy? Yes, we pass this test with flying colours! It seems that the doctrine of the eye or the perception of the world with the brain and the intellect is the creator of many of our problems as well as the saviour in many instances. Perhaps in addition to logic we are so fond of, intuition offers a broader perspective of the way we need to act.

This ‘enhanced’ mode may well be the only way out of many of our problems. Yes, it will be technology working with the more sympathetic side of us that will help us from the morass. For example, current efforts to produce alternative fuelled cars such as Hybrid, hydrogen, or even compressed-air driven cars! However, I am sure that what will gently and surely occur, is a movement away and perhaps a drift towards a forced recognition of the inner dimensions, which will slowly have its impact on the outer. What we will discover is that the intuitive side of our nature is also the source of the understandings that will allow us to become more responsible in the management of the planet and of ourselves in the world. We will appreciate the lifestyles of some of the simpler people of the world, who seem to have the answers when it comes to enjoying life and by keeping things in perspective and avoid all our modern urban diseases; e.g. drug abuse, depression, stress, etc. Our heartless behaviour will slowly turn to a recognition that each person however strong or humble cannot walk the earth and not consider anything or anybody else. This does not mean that we become witless and soft-hearted fools. No, it means to open up an eye which we have covered well with our greed and our fear, and to use all our faculties.

Let’s look at a couple of quotes from the theosophical literature: “The brain mind is a good instrument when trained and guided, but is a tyrant when left to its own devices and impulses, for it is always selfish.”

“Strive always to find the ethical values of truth – I mean the moral value of the intellectual teaching. Get that inner consciousness that a thing is right, as well as the intellectual sense that it is right. A person may have an intellectual perception of a truth but be cold hearted, with no urge to help others, no urge to pass on the light to other”.

Interesting comments on the moral value of the intellectual teaching. The doctrine of the heart appeals to the person who decides the universe tends towards the side of fair play and justice for every speck of consciousness. If we have to, the hierarchs of the universe could be said to be wearing white hats! To be successful in this life we are expected to follow the well worn path of financial acquisition, at the expense of our competitor and the other few billion people who share the globe. Just look at the aggressive capacities of some of the world leaders and their use of them in overpowering other smaller nations. This is an extension of the success ideology inflicted on a planet.

Only an unbridled consciousness, that allows the light from within to shine through, without the intellect having the full control, will advance along the path to spiritual fulfilment. Thus the materialistic outlook does not allow the presence of the inner divinity and the value of the intuition or the higher reason to go unchallenged and in most cases doesn’t allow these qualities to any ‘air time’. A part of this process is to tap into the intuition and to read the intellect not as the final arbiter of reality and behaviour, but as an obedient servant to the spirit. As has been said, we are all unexpressed buddhas, each and every one of us here now. Our potential for buddhahood; waits patiently for us to awake! Learning to trust our inner hunches, and slowly to become more aware of our inner resources so we may be better people for it. Isn’t that what it is all about? This is the ‘heart doctrine’ applied to the torrid exam room of daily living.

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Fri 25 Jan 2008

WHAT IS THE INNER GOD? by Clive Bellgrove

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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WHAT IS THE INNER GOD? by Clive Bellgrove

There are a great many references to this matter spread throughout the theosophical literature; but there are necessarily very few real details. There cannot be. It is a subject which cannot be approached through empiricism, the searching for and testing of facts; for what is there about Divinity of any kind that can be handled, inspected, tested? How much does anyone here present know about Divinity? Do any of us know what shape Divinity is?

We can approach the subject only through Reason, and we have been encouraged to reason from analogy; this we shall endeavour to do. When I was in my late teens two interesting matters dealing with the subject of this paper came to my attention. First, a wise old man I knew used to speak about the “Order, Method and System in all Nature.” Secondly, I was encouraged to read the Bible for the first time, and commenced with the Book of Revelations, which horrified me. The next book was the Gospel According to John, in which I read for the first time the astonishing words “Ye are gods.” I could not reconcile the facts of being a god and a human being at the same time. I went back to the “Order, Method and System” statement, and reasoned that where these occurred there must be a conscious intelligence working who ordained and governed these manifestations. I reasoned that, wherever one looks in visible Nature, there are so-called Laws of Nature in operation; Laws which clearly allow for some degree of latitude, but which, overall, are relentlessly precise. There is an ancient Greek saying, attributed to both Pythagoras and Plato, that “God geometrizes.: Geometry, Mathematics, is a precise science. One could see the application of this in the teaching about “Sowing and Reaping.” The seasons followed each other in regular order. Nature ensured that water always flowed downhill. In nothing was this mathematical regularity so conclusively proved to the modern mind than in the discovery of the planets Neptune and Pluto. Perturbations in the orbits of the known planets indicated that the regularity of the Solar System was disturbed by some unknown quantity. An English astronomer calculated, mathematically, that there should be a stellar object at a certain place in the night sky at a certain time. He communicated his ideas to other astronomers throughout

Europe; and within, it is said, a matter of hours the cause of the perturbations was found, the planet

Neptune. Similarly, and for the same reasons, in 1930 the planet Pluto was discovered. And it may be added that, also for the same reasons, astronomers are searching for yet more planets beyond the orbit of Pluto to account for the known disorder in the orbits of planets in the solar system. This process demonstrated the precision with which nature works. Philosophically, it would be impossible for such precision to operate in some areas of Nature and not in others. Above all things, Nature is consistent, ultimately. These – Order, Method and System – must be, and are, of universal application; not only in visible nature, but surely throughout universal Nature to infinity. These Laws, these methods must apply, always appropriately, to collections of galaxies, to galaxies, to universal solar systems, to solar systems, to human beings, to the members of the beast kingdom, to the vegetable kingdom, to the mineral kingdom, and to all phases of manifestation either above or below these just mentioned. Every atom in existence, whether on our visible plane, or higher or lower, is in motion; there is nothing static in all infinity. There being nothing static anywhere in all infinity, there must logically be varying degrees of intelligences to oversee, organize these varying manifestations. It is therefore reasonable to believe that the beings on one plane of manifestation would look to those who are on a higher plane as being Gods. Thus those who are gods to lesser beings, are themselves lesser beings to higher Gods who control their destinies. In a non-static infinity, there clearly is Motion everywhere. Where there is motion there must be Life, living intelligences to retain the repetitive action of such motion. And there can be no such thing as a reservoir of intelligence existing apart from conscious intelligences, intelligent beings. In the instance of a human being, ourselves, an area in which we can apply some measure of the principles of empiricism, we know that we are more than the mere physical body which we see in a mirror. We know that there are differences between the wakeful body and the inert, sleeping body. We know the difference between the live physical body and a dead one. We know that there must be reasons for these differences, and every human being has his or her own opinions about those differences. The multitude of atoms that make up the physical body, each with a life cycle of millionths of a second, ceaselessly dying and being replaced, are held together in an enduring framework, so that we see ourselves from day to day as the same person; yet physically not the same person that we were millionths of a second previously. According to theosophy, the vehicle or ‘body’ that holds all this multitude of atoms in place and functioning properly is the Astral Body, which itself develops from an infra-microscopic spec into, eventually, a fully matured and then aged body. Within these two, the Astral and the Physical Bodies, manifest many and varied emotions, which we know are not our total consciousness; because we can think in terms higher than mere emotion. And we know that Mind, our ordinary everyday thinking process is not the crown of our being which, in an everyday sense, is Idealism. We know that Mind is not the ceiling of our being, because we are able to change our mind, change our thought processes, and that therefore some part of our makeup, higher than mind, must have the ability to do this. We know that higher than Idealism, higher than ordinary, everyday thought, are Inspiration, Conscience and Intuition, characteristics which clearly must reach us from a source higher than the ordinary human mind. Into this higher realm enter the qualities of devotion, dedication, selflessness and all other altruistic characteristics, called by some the Christ-quality, by others the Buddhic Splendour. And at this point it is surely not difficult to reason a step further and envisage a being who manifests the highest qualities as a normal part of its being, in other words, a God. All great philosophies, all true religions, have taught the existence of Gods; and the plural has been and is used far and wide, even in the Christian teachings.

Conversely, we see that Gods come into manifestation, both for their own reasons, and because they are subject to the Laws of Nature, which call for descent into lesser ranges of manifestation to gain experience and to triumph over difficulties, then to evolve to a range of being higher than they had attained before. Astronomers see and photograph the night sky, and observe stellar systems and bodies in all-various stages of manifestation; some coming into existence, some in their babyhood, some in childhood, some in youth, some in maturity, some in old age, and some dying. They also see areas in space where systems or stars have been, but which are now “empty”, the entity that was there having died and withdrawn, temporarily, from manifestation. In all these areas of space empiricism applies; these things can be investigated, assessed, and checked. We can do the same with mankind, with the animal kingdom, the vegetable kingdom and the mineral kingdom. We see order, method and system throughout. Why should the process cease at those frontiers, higher and lower, which set the limit to human penetration? A divine being calls a galaxy into existence; a lesser divinity manifests as a universal solar system; lesser gods come into being as individual stars, planets, and in their early stages, comets. At the apex of the structure of each human being is a divinity, who manifests on a planet such as ours as the tip-end of a ray. That divine ray draws together the parents of the incoming entity and the substance it will need for the commencement of manifestation as a new-born babe. A comet does the same with the birth of a stellar body. Analogically and reasonably, where there is life and motion, there must be divinity in manifestation. It is not difficult to reason that a God who manifests as a galactic universe is, to use a term which I prefer and frequently use, a “Co-ordinator” of all the vast system of which he is the hierarch; which he emanates forth from himself, and eventually indraws into himself after an appropriate period of experience in the many and various planes of being in which he (or it) has functioned. He has brought into existence all the immensely powerful great “king” or “raja” suns, which govern the destinies of the lesser suns or stars, vehicles in which lesser gods “live and move and have their being.” As with all the stars in all the galaxies, visible and invisible through all Space, surely there is for each star an individual divinity who sends his life and energy throughout the system which he, too, emanates forth from himself, forming planets (still lesser divinities) and their races of humans, beasts, vegetable life, mineral life and entities less than these; imbuing atoms with their characteristics, and so on and on throughout the vast ranges of being of even a mere star! Similarly, each human being, commencing each phase of existence as the tip-end of a ray of a solar divinity, brought into manifestation by a god seeking further experience and evolution, has at the top of that ray a divinity in its own right, which organizes the entire existence over countless lifetimes of each such human being, from alpha to omega, from first to last, from beginning to end. Reasonably also, this process must apply to the beast, to every specimen of plant life, to every particle in the mineral world, to every atom, and to every items in every phase of manifestation less than the atom.

For myself, I see Divinity everywhere, and think of it as existing throughout infinity. I see “an impress of an invisible order on visible realities” (Schure 2/77). I see everywhere the delegation of power, authority and responsibility. Everywhere do I see co-ordination, Order, Method and System. Scientists with their spectroscopes can see the coloured lines which show that the elements of Earth exist also in the furthermost visible galaxy and the nearest star. Where there is such harmony, such co-ordination there clearly must be a Co-ordinator, a Divinity working. In his essay “Essay on Man’ Alexander Pope wrote “Man know thyself, presume not god to scan; the proper study of mankind is man.” This saying puzzled me for many years, until I realized that in understanding himself, man could understand all other beings, through analogical reasoning. For, surely, man himself is a god, governing the destinies of all the vast multitude of lesser beings who make up not only his physical body, but of all the other bodies or vehicles which house the other aspects of his entire being; his astral body, his emotional body, his mind, lower and higher, and that Christ quality, that Buddhic Splendour, that is within each and every one of us. The privilege, the responsibility of parenthood are immense, mysterious, beautiful and wonderful beyond the ability of words to frame. An entity is returning to earth life after so recently having been reunited with its parent God, whose habitat is the returning entity’s own Parent Star, one of the vast system of stars within our own home galaxy. How true the ancient Greek saying that “we entertain the gods unawares!” Far from being miserable sinners as is so often taught, we humans are splendid beings in our own right. By our mistakes in past lives we have drawn veils over the face of our Inner Divinity, and it is the purpose of our repeated existence in earth life to lift those veils, ultimately to see the face of our own Divinity “face to face.” In the meantime, that Inner Divinity strives to draw us, self-consciously, to a higher quality of life. It is not the Divinity within that errs; but rather the lesser thinking, emotional part of our being. Each and every human being, without exception, has great dignity within him, and endless resources to call upon if he will. Already we have evolved to our present phase of existence, but there is far yet to travel on the pathway to spiritual illumination.We, who start out on that pathway which eventually leads to the foothills of the

Himalayas of the Soul, hopefully eventually to scale the very Everests of Consciousness, help in their development all that vast universe of lesser beings to whom we are a god, already, now! Thus with this sort of reasoning I found my understanding of the expression “Ye are gods!” I could understand the meaning of the words “The Inner Divinity in

Man.” Perhaps these thoughts may be beyond the ready understanding of many people. At the entrance of the famous Institute at

Crotona, in

Magna Graecia where Pythagoras taught, there stood a statue of Hermes, the Messenger of the Gods. And on its pedestal were engraved the words “AWAY, YE PROFANE.” The profane never attempted to enter, such was the respect for that teacher and his school. But those who were ready, who had evolved beyond being merely profane, were welcomed and were taught these great cosmological teachings, and more. At Point Loma,

California,

U.S.A., (the former headquarters of our Theosophical Society (

Pasadena)), early in the 20^th century, Katherine Tingley taught her pupils and once wrote these words:-

“OH MY DIVINITY! thou dost blend with the earth and fashion for thyself

Temples of mighty power.

OH MY DIVINITY! thou livest in the heart-life of all things and dost radiate a Golden Light that shineth forever and doth illumine even the darkest corners of the earth.

OH MY DIVINITY! blend thou with me that from the corruptible I may become Incorruptible; that from imperfection I may become Perfection; that from darkness I may go forth in Light.”

The text is from a lecture delivered at a meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The views expressed are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena).

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Mon 17 Dec 2007

ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION by Jennifer Pignataro

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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ANCIENT EGYPTIAN RELIGION by Jennifer Pignataro

There is a wealth of information about Ancient Egyptian Religion and it would be very easy and interesting to dwell on an inventory of the various gods, their personalities, qualities and appearances.

My intention in today’s lecture is to consider particular aspects of this civilization’s religion. Principally I would like to discuss the following:

· The Cults of Ra and Osiris

· The function of Maat

· The Ka and Ba · Mortuary Customs · The Court of the Underworld

This paper comprises large references to a range of writers. While I have read widely and selected the most illustrative quotes I have not attempted to give an interpretation or additional discussion on these references. My objective is to present ‘information’ about particular aspects of Ancient Egyptian religion in the hope that this audience may use it as a springboard into a wider private research.

The Cults of Ra and Osiris

Ra was a version of the sun god, and Egyptian art most often represented him with the solar disk – a circle drawn over the head of deities associated with the sun. The story of creation that was developed in ancient

Egypt expressed the view that the first of the gods, Ra, evolved out of disorder and chaos in the universe. Parallel to creation stories in other cultures, the ancient Egyptians believed that in the beginning were only primeval waters. Ra willed his creation and existence and arose through the darkness and contained the dual principles of male and female.The great Ennead (a group of nine) focussed on Ra as the first principle with the evolution of the remaining eight gods. The family tree of the gods is as follows:

1. Ra (sun god) 2. Shu (god of air) 3. Tefnut (goddess of mist)

4. Geb (god of earth) 5. Nut (goddess of sky) 6. Osiris (god of the dead)

7. Isis (wife of Osiris)

8. Seth (enemy of Osiris)

9. Nephthys (wife of Seth)

For the ancient Egyptians, the sun was the source of all life. It was vital, life-affirming, and with its dawn and sunrise, epitomised the concept of renewal, rebirth and rejuvenation. The sun – Ra, took pride of place in the pantheon of gods and deities. The character of Ra is described in a hymn as evidenced in the, Book of the Dead:

“You rise, you rise, you shine, you shine, you who are crowned king of the gods.You are the lord of heaven;You are the lord of the earth;You are the creator of those who dwell in theHeights and of those who dwell in the depths,You are the One God who came into being in the beginning of time. You did create the earth, you did fashion man,You did make the watery abyss of the sky.You did form Hapi (the Nile at flood).You did create the watery abyss,And you do give life to all therein that is.You have knit together the mountains, You have made humans and the beasts of the fieldto come into being. You made the heavens and the earth.Worshipped be you whom Maat embraces at morn and at eve.You travel across the sky with heart swelling with joy…”

Osiris

Osiris was one of the five children of Nut and was king of Egypt. His brother Seth represented evil in the universe. Seth murdered Osiris and himself became the king. After killing Osiris, Seth tore his body into pieces, but Isis rescued most of the pieces for burial beneath the temple. Seth made himself king but was challenged by Osiris’s son – Horus. Seth lost and was sent to the desert and became known as the god of terrible storms. Osiris was mummified by his wife and became the god of the dead. Horus, his son, became the king and from him descended the pharaohs. A version of the tale, according to Plutarch, is that Seth made a chest into which only Osiris could fit. ^{2 “}Seth invited Osiris to a feast and at the banquet made a bet that no one could fit into the chest. Osiris was the last one to step into the chest, but before he did, asked if he (Seth) could hold Osiris’s crown. Osiris agreed and stepped into the chest. As he lay down, Seth slammed the lid shut and put the crown on his head. He then set the chest afloat on the Nile.

Isis did not know of her husband’s death until the Wind told her. She then placed her son in a safe place and cast a spell so no one could find him. When she searched for her husband, a child told her a chest had washed up on the back and a tree had grown up. The tree was so straight the king had used it for the central pillar of his new palace.

Isis went and asked for her husband’s body and it was given to her. The god of the underworld told her that Osiris would be king, but only in the underworld.” The burial customs we most readily relate to the ancient Egyptian practice of embalming and mummification have their origins in the cult of Osiris. After

Isis reclaimed the body of her husband, she had asked Ra to breathe life into him so that he be resurrected. While

Isis was to have one last night of love with her resurrected husband, the next day he died and was embalmed by Anubis. Hence, Osiris was the first mummy. Function of Maat

The philosophical and ethical principle underpinning the goddess Maat is one which permeated every aspect of behaviour in life and death of the ancient Egyptian. The general translation of the word maat is truth. The vernacular meaning was…”that which is straight”. ³Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote in his essay “Nature” that one of the uses of nature is to provide metaphors for moral behaviour … Straightness, which is a physical, geometric term, was perceived as symbolic of moral rectitude… Straightness implies order, and the presence of Maat stamped order on chaos at the moment of creation. As Morenz suggested, when looking at ancient religions, one is always justified in asking whether belief in the gods carried implications for human moral and ethical behaviour. In Egyptian religion and politics the answer for the concept of Maat was clearly yes; Maat reflected an attitude that order in law was influenced by truth and justice, and that respect for order, truth and justice was required for positions of authority… The moral concepts Maat represented were as primordial as Ra and the waters from which he created himself. Maat also played a role in the underworld. During the trial of the deceased soul, Maat was always present. In some drawings her feather sat on top of the scales to guarantee fairness, and the heart of the deceased was always weighed on the balance against the feather…If the heart were found to balance perfectly, the dead person was to have passed the first test and to be nearing immortality. Then the deceased progressed to the Hall of Maat, or Hall of Judgement. Here, the soul had to give 42 denials of sin and identify the magical names of the various parts of the door. Maat supervised these activities and had the soul completed the said tasks correctly; Maat deemed that the soul was ready for admittance into the presence of Osiris for final acceptance.”

Ka and Ba

It was believed that a person had a Ba (or soul) which was depicted as a bird with a human head. It was also believed that a person had an invisible twin called the Ka. The Ba was in contact with friends and family of the dead and the Ka went back and forth from the other world where the deities of the dead reigned. ⁴“The purpose of preserving the body through embalming is clearly shown in the two components the Egyptians thought built up a man’s personality. In both cases the physical body was essential for their existence and an eternal life for the deceased. The Egyptians believed that every person (both during and after life) was followed by an invisible double called – ka. He was created at the moment of birth and stood for “force of life” for the person. He could not be seen or depicted but all big tombs had a “blind door” for him to use. After death a transformation of rebirth took place and every night he was released to give his dead master a spiritual travel to the land of the living. The travel itself was made by his soul – Ba. This was the link from the tomb to life on earth that was supposed to go on for ever. The poor commoners who could not afford an embalming were offered small simple statuettes of mummies to give their Ka someone to stand beside in the life beyond and thereby please their life-long companion and get eternal rest themselves. During life, the Ba was his master’s conscience and after death he was himself protected from being misled by evil spirits through rituals and prayers from The Book of the Dead, performed by priests or relatives. A correct behaviour in both worlds was essential to the Egyptians. After death he was released from the mummy every night and could fly back to the world of living to check things out. Before sunrise he was back within his master who thus never lost contact with the world he had left.” In the stunning article in Sunrise magazine [April/May 1985] written by Immanuel M. Oderberg, a former member of the Theosophical Society, entitled Light from Ancient Egypt, another layer shrouds our discussion on Egyptian religious thought and practice. [If you wish to read this article please click on: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/34-84-5/re-imo2.htm] This veil to which I refer is that of the notion of rebirth, renewal, or better known as reincarnation. This concept is central to Ancient Egyptian Religion and is the reason why the ancients were so concerned with what we may consider the macabre practice of embalming. ⁵…Herodotus, the Greek historian (5^th century BC) wrote that: The Egyptians were the first to teach that the human soul is immortal, and at the death of the body enters into some other living thing then coming to birth; and after passing through all creatures of land, sea and air (which cycle it completes in three thousand years), it enters once more into a human body, at birth.)

Reincarnation has been connected with the rites of Osiris, one of the mysteries or cycles of initiation perpetuated in Egypt. The concept of transformation as recorded in the Egyptian texts has been interpreted in various ways. Herodotus writes of transmigration, i.e., that the soul passes through various animals before being reborn in human form. This refers not to the human souls but to molecules, atoms, and other components that clothe it. They gravitate to vehicles similar to qualities to their former host’s, drawn magnetically to the new milieu by the imprint made by the human soul, whether it be fine or gross. It is quite clear from The Book of the Dead and other texts that the soul itself after death undergoes experiences in the Duat or the Underworld, the realm and condition between heaven and earth, or beneath the earth, supposedly traversed by the sun from sunset to sunrise. A text translated as part of doctoral thesis by L.H. Lesko, entitled The Ancient Egyptian Book of Two Ways considers the evolution of the soul. The scripture deals with ritual connected with initiation from one level of self-becoming to another. The Ancient Egyptian Book Of Two Ways considers sacred scripture which deals with rituals assumed to apply to after death conditions – similar to the Book of the Dead. Moreover, Lesko paints a picture that emerges of the deceased or candidate for initiation reaching a fork offering two paths called “The Two Paths of Liberation.” They involve different experiences. One path, passing over land and water, is that of Osiris or cyclic nature and involves many incarnations. The other way leads through fire”,… “a direct or shortened passage. In symbolism, fire stood for the higher mind. The experiences gained on the shorter path are related in the myth of Horus inscribed on the walls of the temple at Edfu. This is also known as the Winged Disk myth, it tells of the contest in which Horus (light) overcomes Seth (darkness).” This myth represents the duality of human nature, of the battle which must be fought for the transmutation of lower attributes into the more lofty. There is reason to believe that the after-death adventures met with the soul through the Duat were also undergone by a neophyte during initiation in the temples.

Mortuary Customs

The purpose of mortuary preparation was to ensure the deceased a successful passage into the next world. ⁶“The religious belief was that the body should be preserved intact for the soul to occupy in the next world. Without a physical body the soul had no place to dwell and became restless forever.” ⁷“When an ancient Egyptian died, he was not buried in the ground, mourned and then forgotten…the ancient Egyptians believed that ritual existed which would bring sensory life back to the deceased’s form, enabling it to see, smell, breathe, hear and eat…The ritual that would re-animate the deceased was called The Opening of the Mouth ceremony. It was an important ritual in both funerary and in temple practice. The Opening of the Mouth originated as a ritual to endow statues with the capacity to support the living ka, and to receive offerings. It was performed on cult statues of gods, kings, and private individuals, as well as on the mummies of both humans and Apis bulls. It was even performed on the individual rooms of temples and on the entire temple structure. The effect of the ritual was to animate the recipient. The ritual allowed the mummy, statue, or temple to eat, breathe, see, hear and enjoy the offerings and provisions performed by the priests and officiants, thus to sustain the ka. The earliest Old Kingdom textual references to the ceremony date to the early 4^th dynasty and the decoration of the tomb of the royal Metjen. At this time, the ritual seems to have been performed solely to animate statues. The captions of the scenes in Metjen’s tomb mention that the ritual is performed four times, in conjunction with censing and transforming the deceased into an akh. In the Pyramid Texts and later Funerary Texts, the rites are also said to be performed four times. It was not until the sixth dynasty that the statue ritual was incorporated into an Opening of the Mouth ceremony already developed independently as part of the funerary ritual. This ritual itself may have been a symbolic re-enactment of the clearing of a baby’s mouth at birth. The earliest implements used were probably the priest’s fingers, later replaced by finger-shaped iron blades. Some texts refer to these as the fingers of Horus, son of Orisis and Isis. Earliest references to the ritual come from the Pyramid Texts, inscribed on the burial chamber of the Pyramid of Unas, dating to the end of the 5^th dynasty. One set of Pyramid Texts referring to the use of the fingers to open the mouth are translated by Faulkner as:

“…your mouth is split open by Horus with this finger of his with which he split open the mouth of his father Osiris.”

Other implements besides fingers were added, as indicated by Spells 11-15 of the Pyramid Texts. They describe the Opening of the Mouth ceremony using the foreleg of a bull and an iron wood-working adze. Other inscriptions give an offering ritual in which two blades of meteoric iron are said to open the mouth. Faulkner translates this spell as:

“O Osiris the King, I split open your mouth for you – god’s iron of upper Egypt, I ingot; god’s iron of Lower Egypt, I ingot”.

The ritual would thus be performed with various implements, most commonly a wood-carving adze, which were touched to the lips by the officiating priest. An adze was an arched metal blade fastened across the top of a wooden handle with leather thongs, used in woodworking. Implements used in the Pyramid Texts ritual continue to appear in private tombs of the Middle Kingdom, but a rather different version of the ritual also appears in the Coffin Texts. Now Ptah (his dominant role was that of creator, he was the origin of intelligence and the means of communicating it) joins Horus to open the deceased’s mouth,, then Ptah and Thoth (god of wisdom, writing, and science) transform the deceased into an Ankh and Thoth replaces the heart in the body so that the deceased remembers what has been forgotten and can eat bread as desired. The ceremony was conducted in the House of Gold. Once the deceased had arrived at the tomb, the rituals were performed to bring about his transfiguration. The rite consisted of many acts, the opening of the mouth being just one, but central. The first part was the washing. The deceased’s mummy was first set up on a clean mound of sand, facing south, He should be purified with water poured from jars and his mouth especially purified with balls of natron from Upper and Lower Egypt. The deceased should then be fumigated by incense. This part of the purification harks back to the Pyramid Texts, such as spells 16-29 where perfume was used. The priest was dressed in his panther-skin garb. The priest identifies himself with Horus and opens the mouth of the statue with his fingers rather than with the adze. The ox-bull is butchered and the heart presented to the deceased, its foreleg is severed and pointed towards the deceased. The hieroglyph for foreleg denoted strength and perhaps it was considered that the foreleg transferred the life-force of the bull to the recipient of the Opening of the Mouth. The mouth is opened. An ostrich feather is presented, the knife is presented and more aromatics are burned. The mummy is animated, the ceremony is done.

The Court of the Underworld

This part of the lecture will unpack some of the stages associated with the journey to Paradise. In summary, the seven stages were:

The Seven Stages to Paradise:

1. Crossing the celestial river to the “Land in the West”

2. Passing through gates and labyrinths by answering questions

3. Being let into the great Court of the Underworld

4. Addressing a jury of 14 judges about the deeds during life on earth

5. Taken by Anubis to “Balance of Truth” to weigh his heart for sins

6. If the heart wasn’t heavy, brought by Horus to Chief Judge Osiris

7. Entering the “Fields of the Reed” (Paradise) and get eternal life.

⁸“When a person died he was taken to the Underworld where his deeds in life were taken to the Court of Osiris for the final judgement. Since this place also was called “The Island of Fire” it is obvious that the Egyptians had knowledge about the burning interior of the earth though they had no volcanoes in their own country.

Before coming there the dead person had to pass a labyrinth of gates and doors and answer questions correctly to enter. The lion-god Aker let him through the last gate and he was facing the fourteen members of the jury in the Tribunal Hall. There he was allowed to speak about his behaviour on Earth. Then Anubis took him into the courtroom presenting him the scale where his heart would be put in balance with the feather of Maat, deity of truth and harmony. The procedure was recorded by Thoth – god of writing and wisdom. Sometimes Thoth’s animal (a baboon) was sitting on top of the scale ready to adjust the result using a sliding weight. If the heart of the deceased was not too heavy with sins from his life on earth, he went through and could continue his journey to the afterlife and was granted a plot of land in the “Fields of Reeds”. This was the paradise for the ancient Egyptians – to grow crops for eternity in a land that was the very image of the

Nile

Valley they just had left. If he failed the test on the other hand – his heart was immediately devoured by the beast sitting under the scale. In that case, the dead faced the most horrible future imaginable for the Egyptians – he was denied an eternal life in the land of the West and his would be restless forever”. According to Immanuel Oderberg,…” for the rest of mankind, the way (a reference to the “Two Paths of Liberation”) is slower, progressing certainly, but more gradually, through many lives. The ultimate achievement is the same: to radiate the highest qualities of the spiritual element locked within the aspiring soul”. To conclude this lecture, I would like to share a hymn found in the Coffin Texts, (1,197) which was inscribed on the interior of coffins. Appropriately, it echoes Oderberg’s sentiments about releasing and illuminating the celestial enclosed within each soul.

_ENDNOTES:

_{2. Fergus Flemming: Alan Lothian (1997). The Way to Eternity.}

_Amsterdam_:_{Duncan Baird Publishers, p.82.}^{3. Robert A. Armour, (1986) Gods and Myths of Ancient}

^Egypt^.^The

^American

^Universityⁱⁿ

^Cairo^{Press, Pp. 133-135.}^{4. Ottar Vendel, The Spirits of Nature – Religion of the Egyptians www.}

^{5. I.M. Oderberg. Light from Ancient}

^Egypt^.

^Sunrise^{Theosophical Society}

^Pasadena^.

^{6. Ottar Vendel.}^{7. Marie Parsons The Opening of the Mouth Ritual.}

^{8. Ottar Vendel.}

Now you are a king’s son, a prince,

As long as your soul exists, so long will your heart be with you.

Anubis is mindful of you in Busiris,

Your soul rejoices in

Abydos where your body ishappy on the High Hill.

Your embalmer rejoices in every place.

Ah, truly you are the chosen one!

You are made whole in this your dignity which is before me.

Anubis’ heart is happy over the work of his hands and the heart of the Lord of the Divine Hall is thrilled when he beholds this good god,

Master of those that have been and Ruler of those that are to come.

This is the text of a lecture given by the author at a public meeting of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) in Melbourne, Australia. The ideas expressed in all our public meetings are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the TS (Pasadena).

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Thu 6 Dec 2007

THE SECRET DOCTRINE by HP BLAVATSKY: what does it all mean? by John P. Van Mater

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE SECRET DOCTRINE by HP BLAVATSKY: what does it all mean?by John P. Van Mater.

H.P. Blavatsky’s [henceforward referred to as HPB] great work The Secret Doctrine in two volumes was issued in the Fall of 1888. The first volume is titled Cosmogenesis and treats of the birth of worlds – universes, suns, planets – but more particularly our Earth with all its kingdoms, stretching from the elemental lives or forces, up through the mineral, vegetable, animal, and human kingdoms. Above these HPB speaks of the ‘Dhyani-chohanic’ kingdoms; and beyond these the great cosmic gods whose immanent activities constitute the law and harmony not only of our Earth, but of the cosmos as well. All these lives are born with and form part of the expression of the larger being in which we live and move and have our being. The second volume treats of Anthropogenesis, the origin and destiny of the human race in conjunction with all the other kingdoms with which we are familiar. This volume discusses the three rounds of life that preceded our present or fourth round. As Earth and its kingdoms awakened from its ‘Pralaya’ or rest period, it started at a very ethereal or spiritual level, gradually solidifying into the physical globe we see around us. Prominent in this second volume is a discussion of the awakening of man’s mind and the part the ‘Mānasaputras’ or ‘Elohīm’ played in bringing this about. The universe surrounds and enfolds us on every side. It has a structure. It operates in certain unerring ways. It was born as we were born, has its life, and one day, like us, will die, rest, and, as the old tradition has it, will then, after a lapse of cosmic time, seek its rebirth. It therefore has a history and a destiny over and above that which we now see and investigate; and the same is true with man. What is the relationship between man and the all-embracing cosmos, man the microcosm of the macrocosm? This in brief is The Secret Doctrine.Man in a very real sense is a universe: an over-dwelling consciousness that in mysterious and wonderful ways emanates and organizes billions of atoms, molecules, cells, into tissues, organs – a functioning system. A system which to one living on an atom would appear to be as extensive as our universe appears to us as we look out over the fields of space from our small planet. How little we really know about human physiology, especially human birth, from the consciousness standpoint. Our observations and deductions are constricted by our limited senses. The human being who is incarnating seems unaware of the transformations taking place as a single fertilized cell proliferates into a vast system, thus achieving its own incarnation. There comes a time after birth and during growth when our human consciousness has built for itself a vehicle, a brain and other faculties, which allow us to explain how to speculate on our own genesis. Even so, we cannot either remember or explain how the complicated structure of ourselves was built or even how it functions. Turning now to the birth of worlds, let us now consider the three propositions given by H. P. Blavatsky in volume I of The Secret Doctrine. These deserve our most careful attention, for they summarize the basic thoughts wrapped up in the so-called creation stories found the world over, which describe how the cosmos was born out of chaos, and how man was born from the cosmos. The First Proposition projects a picture of the ALL, the ultimate eternally unknowable Cause, from which everything is born and to which all things eventually return. Quoting from The Secret Doctrine: “An Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable PRINCIPLE on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude. It is beyond the range and reach of thought –in the words of Mandukya (Upanishad) “unthinkable and unspeakable.” (Secret Doctrine Vol.1 page:14) Ancient peoples refused to give attributes to this principle. The Jews called it ‘Ain-Soph’, the Boundless. The Hindus THAT or TAT. It is all things, and in all things, and the cause of all things, and all things are in IT. It is the unknowable God of Paul, which he refused to personify. IT cannot be called beautiful or ugly, good or evil, for these terms apply to finite things. It is BENESS rather than Being. The Second Proposition HPB phrases as follows: “This second assertion of the Secret Doctrine is the absolute universality of that law of periodicity, of flux and reflux, ebb and flow, which physical science has observed and recorded in all departments of nature. An alternation such as that of Day and Night, Life and Death, Sleeping and Waking, is a fact so common, so perfectly universal and without exception, that it is easy to comprehend that in it we see one of the absolutely fundamental laws of the universe.” (Secret Doctrine Vol.1, page:17) The first proposition conveys a picture of the boundless source of ALL, aspects of which are given as Infinite Space, Eternal Duration, and Unending Motion. The second proposition sets the pattern for all manifested existence, whether atoms, men, gods, universes. These issue forth or manifest from their inner essence, live out their life-span, and then withdraw, rest, only to reappear again. Many of the old traditions speak of a ray from the Unknowable that fecundates chaos or the Mother principle, and out of chaos is born the cosmos, the manifested worlds. Here we have the trinity — Father, Mother, Son; Father, Holy Ghost, and Son (as correctly given in the Greek Church); Osiris, Isis, and Horus in Egypt; Parabrahmnan, Mulaprakriti, and Brahman (or the manifest universe) among the Hindus. Against the background of unending time and space these ‘Manvantaras’ [times of manifestation/life] and ‘Pralayas’ [times of non-manifestation/death], these comings and goings of worlds, would seem like twinkling lights. In this setting there can be no ultimate beginning or ending. All births, therefore, no matter how cosmic or super cosmic, are rebirths; and all deaths are intervals between reimbodiments, or as in the case of man reincarnations. From out of the infinite unknown, how is the finite born. Why are we urged to try to picturate or grasp the infinite if it is beyond the finite mind? It is because, in the words of Katherine Tingley: “Thinking towards the unthinkable is a wonderful, spiritualizing force; one cannot think toward it without a disposition either to think more or feel more –without opening up the inner consciousness of man. And when that inner consciousness is awakened, the soul finds itself closer to the infinite laws, closer to THAT, to that Great Centre that no words can express.” G. de Purucker: Fundamentals, page:14. In the heart of our hearts there resides a Spark, a link with the unutterable. Reaching towards it we seek to transcend our ordinary selves and gain insights that are more in the nature of experience than mental concepts. What we aspire towards are larger understandings, and understanding is the ‘buddhic’ principle flooding the mind. The Third Proposition may seem like a mouthful – which it is. Yet it pertains to those aspects of life with which we are the most directly involved. Quoting HPB: “The fundamental identity of all Souls with the Universal Over-Soul, and the obligatory pilgrimage for every soul – a spark of the former—through the Cycle of Incarnation (or “Necessity”) in accordance with Cyclic and Karmic Law…In other words, no (divine soul) can have an independent conscious existence before the spark…has passed through every elemental form of the phenomenal world and acquired individuality, first by natural impulse, and then by self-induced and self-devised efforts, (checked by its karma), thus ascending through all the degrees of intelligence, from the lowest to the highest, from mineral and plant, up to the holiest Archangel (Dhyani-Buddha). The pivotal doctrine of the Esoteric Philosophy admits no privileges or special gifts in man, save those won by his own Ego through personal effort and merit throughout a long series of metempsychoses and reincarnations.” (Secret Doctrine Vol.1, page:17) Let me try in a small way to elaborate this basic statement of the cosmic ladder of lives. The range of beings stretches from the tiniest sub-atomic particle and below to the grandest universe or clusters of universes and beyond. And since every unit is a consciousness, according to ancient thought, a monad of infinite potential, we see the cosmos as infilled with divine intelligences of every conceivable type, all seeking to unfold themselves through evolution by means of repeated reimbodiments. The higher beings, call them gods, if you wish, form the inner planet, sun, etc., just as man’s spirit, intelligence, consciousness, mind, emotions, life, infill and make up what we know as Mary Jones or Frank Smith. Without these inner qualities and forces and substances there would be no Mary Jones or Frank Smith, nothing but the material shell. And so it is with the universe. It too is ensouled with hosts of informing intelligences at all levels. HPB sought to re-introduce the concept of the living universe governed by cause and effect or ‘Karma’. When we humans are born, we come freighted with karma out of the past. We are that karma. In previous incarnations we have made ourselves what we now are, and are in the process of making ourselves what we shall one day become, in future incarnations. Now when a universe, a sun or a planet is reborn, it seeks its rebirth by means of all the lesser lives of which it is composed, just like man and his atoms and lesser units when he reincarnates. The new universe is the karma of the old universe. Its newly awakened lives at all levels bring themselves, each such lesser life being the karma of its own past. Collectively they form the expression of the vaster being of which each living atom is an integral part. All beings, then, are sparks of the universal essence or over-soul at various stages of this Cycle of Necessity, various levels in their self-unfoldment or evolution, which takes place through repeated reimbodiments. When the scroll of Earth unrolled (as the Hebrews would phrase it), all the lives of Earth were unrolled with it, starting at a very ethereal level. How could it be otherwise? Earth was reimbodying itself, and achieved it by means of all the lesser lives, which includes ourselves. Just as man incarnates by means of all the atoms, molecules, cellular, and other lives which form his ethereal and material bodies, so when Earth commenced its long process of reimbodying, all the kingdoms of Earth took part. However neither Earth nor the kingdoms of Earth resembled even remotely what we see about us today. For then everything was ethereal, spiritual, astral, not physical as now. With each succeeding pulsation or cycle or round, however, Earth and the lives of Earth grew more material until its most material phase, which is roughly where we are today. We call our present Earth-cycle the fourth round. In this round on this physical globe of ours each of the kingdoms has successively dominated Earth. At one time mineral activity was most intense, for millions of years producing world-changing volcanism, followed by long intervals of metamorphism, then volcanism, then change, again and again. As the mineral efflorescence subsided, the lives of the plant kingdoms began to come in, eventually becoming dominant, covering the globe with its greenery, and for millions of years successive generations died and renewed themselves, thus laying down the fossilized energy from which we are still benefiting and paying a heavy price for with global warming. Overlapping and gradually superseding it was the incursion of the animal life-wave or kingdom of multi-myriad types. The reptilian era of gigantic creatures and insects climaxed and declined, giving way to a new resurgence, our own human life-wave. At this point it would clarify the picture to quote from The Secret Doctrine, volume two, where H.P.B. sets down some guidelines, three additional propositions, regarding human evolution on our physical globe during this present or fourth round. We shall be going into some detail about the root races. This is necessary in order to illustrate how truly remarkable are H.P.B.’s second set of propositions. Quoting HPB: “As regards the evolution of mankind, the Secret Doctrine postulates three new propositions, which stand in direct antagonism to modern science as well as to the current religious dogmas: it teaches (a) the simultaneous evolution of seven human groups on seven different portions of our globe’ (b) the birth of the astral before the physical body: the former being a model for the latter; and (c) that man, in this Round, preceded every mammalian – the anthropoids included—in the animal kingdom” (Secret Doctrine Vol.II, page:1) The first three propositions given in volume I of The Secret Doctrine deal with the birth of worlds. Now from the unknown darkness finite worlds are born – cosmic entities which achieve their reimbodiment by means of all the lesser lives of kingdoms of which they are composed. In the case of planets like our Earth, this takes place in a series of pulsations or rounds. H.P.B. speaks of seven or possibly several more of these rounds. As planets like Earth proliferate outward over a certain portion of inner and outer space, they grow more and more physical until a climax has been reached, and then they begin to etherealize stage by stage until eventually they die, withdraw, together with all their lives onto higher planes, sometimes leaving moons or remnants called ‘Kāma-rupas’, on the various cosmic planes they once occupied. Our own moon is an example in point. These moons have an enormous influence on their parent planet now reimbodied, and H.P.B. speaks of this in several places in The Secret Doctrine. [Please see the lecture: THE MOON: Queen of the Night, available at this website for more detailed information on the Earth’s Moon from an esoteric perspective] The three new propositions given in Volume II of the Secret Doctrine have to do with life on this physical globe of ours in this fourth round. As said earlier, our globe in this round has seen various kingdoms dominate one by one: the mineral, vegetable, animal; and now the human life-wave is dominant, all the other kingdoms being recessive. HPB speaks first of the seven great root races that were born simultaneously. As the chapter continues we note that although the seven primeval races did appear simultaneously, they did so in seed or germ, and one by one flowered, each on its own continental system. These are described by H.P.B. When we study these accounts of earlier races, we should bear in mind that we are reading about ourselves. For those past races were the scenes of our previous striving. We were the Hyperboreans, the Lemurians, the Atlanteans. It is the story of our own past. The second additional proposition of Volume II is most important, for it explains that the astral body is formed before the physical and is a model for the physical body. This principle may be applied to individual human or other birth, as well as to the entire series of root-races, or for that matter to the planetary chain as a whole. As pertains to the individual, we learn that physical birth takes place as the nascent physical body follows on the physical plane what is ensuring on the astral plane, as the astral or pattern body unfolds cell by cell. This key given by HPB speaks to the question raised earlier as to how the single germ cell proliferates into a full-grown adult. As applied to the seven races, H.P.B. asserts that the individuals of the first race were more astral than physical, like gigantic cells. The second race was also astral, but the rudiments of the organs began to appear. These two races extend back many millions of years. Each race flourishes upon its own system of continents. The first race continent was termed the “Sacred

Imperishable

Land” and was located at the North Pole. The second race, called Hyperboreans by the ancient Greeks, occupied a horseshoe shaped continent in the far north. The Lemurians and Atlanteans, the third and fourth races, inhabited continents large portions of which may now be under the oceans, buried under deserts, or may be still in use as parts of existing continents. Because root races endure for millions of years, the continents they live upon varied greatly during their own lifespan. Each race is born from the midpoint of its parent race, from its dark age or kali-yuga, as the Hindus term it. When a race has entered its kali-yuga or most material cycle, the seeds of the next race begin to appear and come on in increasing numbers. Eventually as these seeds become numerous, they are separated geographically, and portions of the old continents become unliveable and begin to break up or submerge. In the case of our own fifth race,

Central Asia was the cradleland for those fleeing from Atlantean depravity. There in

Central Asia our young race enjoyed its Golden and Silver ages in a series of splendid civilizations. Our own race is now entering its kali-yuga, its midpoint. Returning to our theme, the first race reproduced by simple cell-division, hence it is said that its individuals knew no death. The second race towards its end reproduced by budding. The third or Lemurian race as it grew more and more physical commenced reproducing by what the Puranas describe as being sweat-born, that is, by casting of, or sweating, vital cells. Later these vital cells congealed and the third race became for a time oviparous, egg laying. And finally, with the division of the race into the two sexes, the present form of procreation commenced. We see how the patterns are laid down by nature. For the embryo human being starts out as a single cell (1^st race), and as it unfolds it undergoes procedures that are memories not only of former races, but back into previous rounds when the human kingdom, seeking to build an appropriate body for itself, went through a series of forms that we now associate with the lower kingdoms. This is all remembered in the embryonic stages. Perhaps the most important evolutionary event insofar as humanity is concerned took place in the third or Lemurian race, and it is remembered in all the world’s religions and legendary histories almost without exception. When the human vehicle or body was ready, there occurred the awakening of man’s heretofore slumbering mind. You will recall the story of Prometheus, who stole the fire of the gods, the fire of mind, and brought it to man. In the Far East there were the ‘Mānasaputras’, sometimes termed the ‘Sons of Mind’, who incarnated in man and thus awakened him into mental life and self-awareness, qualities which distinguish the human from the animals. In Christianity we have the story of Lucifer, the Light-bringer, who was on the right hand of God and was (symbolically) cast out, the War of the Gods, so to speak; and who made his way to the Garden of Eden: Lucifer, the Christian Prometheus, who tempted Eve with the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Thereafter humans possessed the power to choose; they could sow and reap karma in a far more potent manner than heretofore. There could no longer be an

Eden or idyllic mindless life, for man now had self-conscious mind. An interesting sidelight: Dr. Eiseley, the famous anthropologist, while going through a museum wherein the supposititious ancestors of man were depicted on the walls, found himself strangely disappointed. Somewhere along the line, he felt, there must have occurred a sudden mitosis of the brain – one moment a higher mammal and in the next, thinking man. Alfred Russel Wallace felt that man’s evolution was not so much bodily as mental; his evolution took place primarily in the mind and its vehicle the brain. Wallace also believed that no evolution could take place without the intercession of superior beings. The legends of superior beings, divine teachers, instructing early mankind in the arts and sciences – legends found all over the world – taken in conjunction with the incarnation in man of his mānasaputra, or higher self, would certainly have brought about spectacular physiological changes, separating man from all the other mammals. This is confirmed by embryology, for the human brain trebles in size during the first year after birth, something no other mammal succeeds in achieving. A memory from the far past. We see here how physiology confirms man’s history. How the old myths can be found to have a basis in scientific fact. We have no time to develop these intriguing topics, including all the attendant activities that took place in human evolution just prior to and following the awakening of mind, such as how the ancient teachings describe the origin of the mammals, who in a strange and interesting fashion took their initial physical birth by means of man’s cast off vital cells. It is suggested by H.P.B. that before mind was awakened, men united with certain of the higher mammals, thus producing among other creatures, the simians or monkey-like races – this act was called by H.P.B. “the sin of the mindless”. Later, elements of the 4^th or Atlantean race united, consciously so, with some of these simians, and this depraved act produced the anthropoids, which thus have two or more drops of human blood in them, so to speak. Hence the Anthropoids came from man, not the reverse. Thus, as H.P.B. suggests, man preceded all the mammals, including the apes. The common ancestor in this case was man himself. The newly “created” mammalian creatures by reason of their own nature became physical more rapidly than the human stock. Hence some geological finds may show certain mammalians seemingly older than man, which was not the case, however. I must close. We have made a long journey here today, from kosmos to atom to man, taking thoughts from these two wonderful volumes. My earnest hope is that these remarks will convey some small idea of the scope of HP Blavatsky’s magnum opus. It should be added that HPB was not content merely to voice these principles, but she culled the literatures, sciences and mythologies of the world to illustrate that the principles she was re-expressing have been known and taught throughout immemorial time. She insisted that these ideas were not her own; simply what she had been taught. Here and there in The Secret Doctrine, in both volumes, re interspersed wondrous insights into sciences now asleep or only partly awake in the modern consciousness, such as the many-layered interpretation of legend, myth and symbol. The sciences of Alchemy, Augury, and Divination. The story of initiation and the Mystery Schools which existed in all parts of the world, places where stage by stage, first by instruction, discipline and purification, and later through actual experience, the aspiring disciple might achieve within himself the birth of his inner god or ‘Christos’, an achievement which over the many rounds and races every man may aspire to, and will in time succeed in bringing about, if not in this cycle or manvantara, then in a subsequent one. The theme of this lecture has been to illustrate by analogy how the history of mankind and the globe on which, or, in which he lives, may be read in the story of how a single human being achieves his birth. Our past is compressed. All of it is engraved upon nature’s secret processes, unseen, but part of Earth’s memory. And our futures may be discerned in the patterns of the life waves as they pass through the various globes in the unfolding rounds.

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Tue 4 Dec 2007

AKASHA and the AKASHIC RECORD by A. Norman Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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AKASHA and the AKASHIC RECORD by A. Norman Rooke

To begin with, it starts with Mula Prakriti, the root of nature, or Amula Mula, the rootless root. The Sanskrit root of the word is ‘Akas’; to be bright, light, suggestive of luminosity/radiation – the latter because this spirit material is too refined for our present stage of evolutionary development. It is the reflection of the unknowable which is the first fundamental posed by HPB in her Secret Doctrine Vol. 1 in the ‘Proem’. It is not light as we would see it in this room; it is not subject to any breaking down or decay; it is very primal, the first stage of Brahma in the cosmic sense; it is the beginning, the father-mother, bipolar aspects of material as it begins to develop into the evolutionary cycle. It is absolutely everywhere, the vehicle (Sanskrit: Upadhi), the carrier in this sense of the Divine thought. It permeates the levels higher than the physical; our bodies, the air, the world, throughout larger formations, planetary systems, solar systems, galaxies, throughout billions of galaxies, throughout space and the spaces of space, and into the inner spheres. So it is tenuous in the extreme. It is also what the ancients used to refer to as the aether; scientists refer to it as ether, out in the place they don’t quite know where, a force or capacity to build universes. So Akasa or Akasic record, is the record of the building of the Universe and of all that it contains in every plane. The Akasa itself is eternal and persists right through the Manvantara to the Maha Kalpa, the huge period of 311 trillion and 50 billion years, and the Pralaya which is an equal period of time and inactivity; it does not have an evolutionary period in its existence. So we have it as the virtual alpha and omega of being, and referred to by various names such as universal soul, and in references to the spaces of space as the sunyata, the ‘void’, and the (Greek) opposite term, the ‘pleuroma’ or fullness. Once again it is two opposites, in order to express the idea that the whole of the manifest Universe is really basically Akasic light, that is, light as radiation or the essence or sources of power which expresses itself by streams of energy, a radiating throughout the Universe. In the solar Universe we have the Sun as a visible object which is really a chimera, a visible evidence of the heart of the sun, behind which is the Rajah Sun. This follows the teaching that evolutionary forces come from inner expressions of an energy, all coming from the expression of the Divine thought. Since it permeates everything it is a carrier. It puts me in mind of the story recorded of theosophical founder, HP Blavatsky, who reputably drew in the sound of an orchestra playing on the other side of Paris into the room where she had met with a group of seekers after phenomena. The story doesn’t say it, but perhaps the medium through which it came was her control of natural phenomena which included the Akasic record upon which the music was being impressed, as upon the lower realms of the astral light, and she was bringing it in as on a carrier wave. However, we are certainly not here to gain such powers as these. The Akasa permeates all the planes of the Universe through which we manifest: Mental, Buddhic, and Atmic. It exists for ever. Under another term it is ‘swabhava’, the reservoir of being, which does not manifest in itself; it does not need to change. We work towards this by expressing our swabhava and growing towards a conscious understanding of that. The Akasa is the fifth cosmic principle, going up from the lower to the Upper, and is basically Cosmic Mind stuff. It is the carrier, that holds the Universe together from what it is actually built. Hence, due to its interpermeability, when one picks up thoughts from other people, it is from the Akasa, because the smallest action is impressed on the Akasic light which is in the lowest realms of the Astral light. This latter contains the records, and the Linga Sarira or Astral body is the model body which is the imprint or model in the Astral light upon which we are formed. Thus we have our higher aspects which affect the higher degrees of the Akasic record. Therefore, if the Akasa is impressed with everything that is said and done by us, in the speaker’s view this would equate the Akasa with Karma or Karman itself, the harmonic adjuster. Scientists historically have called the fullness or emptiness of space the aether. This is a crude term for the source of power of all kinds throughout the Universe. It has various aspects such as magnetism, heat, light, electricity, sound, music; all expressed through radiation which is in turn elemental force, and the basis upon which the Universe it built. We are all little Universes, and are built of this basic material. In its higher ranges it is spirit matter which is indissoluble. (Sanskrit: Alaya: “A, negative of: Lee, the root of the verb for dissolve), therefore meaning not dissolvable. It is equated with a conscious realisation of the oneness of everything, and this is the object of all manifestation, or evolution, or involution if one is consciously working towards one’s inner self. In HP Blavatsky’s book, Isis Unveiled p.144, Akasa is described as Will. This would be the Divine will being impressed in manifestation. If we as individuals are capable of consciously directing this power within ourselves, and are driving at becoming consciously at one with the Universe and to work harmoniously with Nature, Prakrat, and, speaking here of Akasa which is Mula Prakrati or the Root of Nature, you are using Akasa in your own body and own light, and it is the Will being expressed down to the individual. To finish up, it is all obviously connected with auras. A more modern development is Kirilian photography of the radiation from living bodies and apparently inert bodies. The teachings say that all matter is organic and alive in some form or another. This would be one of the best evidences that we have that the basic statement is correct, since there is energy in a dead leaf or stone, things we would normally take to be inert.

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Mon 3 Dec 2007

TULKUS, AVATÂRS and other high spiritual teachers by Clive Bellgrove

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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TULKUS, AVATÂRS and other high spiritual teachers by Clive Bellgrove

Tulku is a Tibetan word which, in one rendering, means Bodhisattva; and in another rendering means “Transference”. In Tibetan teachings the word has very wide and comprehensive meanings, closely paralleling the Hindu-Brahamanic word AVATÂRA. AVATÂRA means a passing down of celestial energy, in other words the overshadowing or illuminating of some human being. But an Avatara is a synthetic entity, composed of a divine being, who uses an intermediate “soul” loaned by a Buddha, and functioning in a physical body prepared and made available willingly for use; and this body is usually that of an unborn child. In all the records of the ancient races of mankind, and in many of their traditional religious or philosophical teachings, there are countless references to either God or Gods who make appearances or perform acts and impart teachings of high spiritual nature, but usually conforming to the degree to which the race or nation concerned is capable of receiving and understanding the teachings so given. Some two thousand years ago, perhaps rather less, the young Christian church adopted the religious books of the Israelites; which books, together with the so-called Gospels and various letters which form the New Testament, make up what is familiarly known as the Bible. In Genesis, the first book of the Old Testament, it is said that “God created the heaven and the earth”; and in the opening verses of the Gospel according to John, in the New Testament, it is said that “All things were made by him; and without him was not anything made that was made.” Then in Genesis 3.8 we read “And they (Adam and Eve) heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden (of

Eden) in the cool of the day…….” This is but one of many references in ancient literatures to the supposed fact of God or Gods manifesting on Earth, walking, talking and performing many and various acts, sometimes for the benefit and sometimes to the detriment of human beings. It seems reasonable to question how it would be possible for a God who created an Earth out of, or from himself, to be later to manifest physically and walk on the surface of that Earth. Similarly, so with the Gods and goddesses of

Olympus; with those of ancient

Egypt, with the Hindu Gods of India, and every other area where the supposed activities of divine beings on physical Earth are recorded. On one hand, the enquiring mind is faced with impossibilities; and this is one of the reasons why many people discard completely all conception of Gods. On the other hand some enquiring minds sense that there must be an explanation of these age old traditions, as to what really occurs; and some of these enquirers and searchers find acceptable answers. These answers belong to a realm of esoteric teaching which for ages was reserved exclusively for highly trained people engaged in the search for spiritual teachings and development; but in this present day and age, as we know, a vast amount of high and formerly secret teaching is being given out in our Theosophical literature because, in my personal view, it is the only antidote to the greatly increasing materialism of the world of thought of the present day. What, then, is the explanation of this idea that Gods manifest on Earth? The words TULKU and AVATÂRA, when understood, cover as much ground as we are likely to be able to cope with. Not all Tulkus are Avataras, and vice versa. There are apparently grades of Avataras, but they are all headed by a divine being; there are many types of Tulkus and few appear to be derived from divinities. It would be impossible in a short paper to survey each and every type hinted at in our literature. In the ancient Indian religious book, the Bhagavad-Gita, Lord Krishna, says: “Whenever there is a decline of virtue in the world, I incarnate a portion of myself.” A PORTION OF HIMSELF. The process appears to be this: Upon the Earth there is somewhere an unborn child, derived from “a pure and fortunate family” the incoming entity of which volunteers to make that body available for the prospective Avatara; the Buddha provides the intermediate soul, and the ray from the divinity blends with the intermediate part and comes into manifestation in the proffered physical body, and performs his responsibilities as the Avatara. There is not the slightest compulsion in any part of this process, but all is achieved voluntarily and willingly. With an Avatara, such an overshadowing by a divinity may last an entire lifetime, as is said to have occurred with Jesus. The process is not unlike using a telephone. A voice speaks through the handset, and the recipient of the message can discuss and talk back to the speaker. But the speaker is not IN the telephone handset, nor in the instrument, nor in the Telephone Exchange, but is an entity speaking through the established system. Thus the receiver of the message infilled, whether for a lifetime or for shorter periods, with the ray of a “God”, is like the handset of a telephone; he hears the message, can perhaps discuss it, but will hand it on to the others AS HE HAS HEARD IT. Occasionally, it seems that it is possible for the recipient to incorrectly hear or to translate the message heard, and therefore relay an incorrect message. By such means God, or the Gods, have always been able to communicate with human beings, without themselves actually manifesting physically on the face of the Earth. Which, if one thinks about it sufficiently, one sees to be impossible; for if spirit could manifest in matter, it would cease for the time being at least to be spirit. TULKU is an aspect of this mystery, for mystery it is. There can be a succession of Tulkus, each one passing on to his successor the responsibilities of the work to be done. We have the instance of the Hermetic Chain of Teachers consisting of the many entities collected under the name of Hermes Mercurius Tresmigistus of ancient times. There are the former Tashi or Panchen Lamas, and the Dalai Lamas of Tibet; possibly also the line of Zoroasters of ancient

Persia. There is also the line of 100 year Messengers established by Tsong-ka-pa, who was both a Bodhisattva and a Tulku, and who was the very highest of the Nirmanakayas. So far as is known, all the earlier lines of Tulkus have ended. Perhaps the work they came to do has been completed; or it is possible that the intended work could not be achieved and it became fruitless to spend more energy in the effort. But the line of 100 year Messengers established by Tsong-kha-pa continues, as we understand. There have been many individual Teachers of great eminence, who clearly have been illuminated by vastly greater spiritual entities than themselves. Prince Siddhartha eventually was illumined by his own inner Buddhi becoming known as the Buddha of history. Pythagoras was in a position to establish the Sanctuary of Apollo at

Delphi, where a succession of Pythonesses were able to give the answers of the “God” to enquirers who put questions to them. It is said that Mahomet was an Avatara of a “lesser kind”, but with clearly his own particular work to do. The Old Testament of the Bible does not appear to give any indication of a line of Tulkus, though there are many individuals, the Prophets and the Patriarchs etc., who must have been illumined by some high spiritual entity, perhaps their own Higher Selves. Any human being who is greatly inspired receives his inspiration from realms which to us are invisible and beyond our everyday knowledge and understanding. It is said that Shakespeare was “brushed by the wing of a Nirmanakaya”; and a Nirmanakaya is a spiritual being more highly evolved than even the Brothers of Compassion; and even of the latter we know very little. Mozart must have been inspired by some great entity, perhaps his own Higher Self, to have been able to produce so much wonderful music.The architects of the Great Pyramid of Egypt, of Stonehenge, of the Glastonbury Zodiac and other such marvels of mathematical precision; the builders of the Periclean Age of ancient Greece, of the Ankor Wat of Cambodia; the writers of books such as the Vedas, the Sybilline Books, the Popul Vuh, all the Hermetic literature, and a host of other incomparably wonderful secret books of the past, must all have been inspired by great spiritual entities. In our own day and age we possess writings such as The Secret Doctrine and the Mahatma Letters. A wealth of teaching, so much of it previously secret, has been given to the world through the writings of H.P. Blavatsky, who unquestionably was a Tulku, acting as such on many occasions, but at other times merely her normal self. Every human being who listens to his Conscience, his Intuition, or is Inspired, is, for those moments in time, acting as Tulku to some high entity, almost certainly his own Higher Self. It is well to understand that, while all Avataras have a divine source, not all Tulkus necessarily are derived from sources of high spirituality. Humanity is surrounded by many invisible entities not all of them good. One’s life is moulded by the inclination of one’s thoughts: “As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he.” Dark entities are able to use the Tulku process. There have been many individuals in history, both ancient and modern, who as a result of great powers of rhetoric and other such means have brought terrible suffering and great destruction to large sections of the human race; they appear to have acted as Tulkus to powerful dark forces. Again, in the relatively modest range of activity known as Hypnotism, the hypnotist and his subject are acting in a condition of Tulku, where the consciousness of the latter is, often without permission, pushed aside completely, the vacuum being filled by the consciousness of the hypnotist who can, if unethical, cause the subject to carry out this will whatever it may be. This is dark magic. Perhaps this paper will help us to understand the meaning of the old saying that sometimes we “entertain angels unawares.” Above us, above every human being, is his Higher Self, which is the “light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world.” Throughout our evolution from the first dawning of consciousness we have been open to be imbued with that light, or we have been attracted to the shade cast by that light. The vast mass of humanity is unaware of these two sides to their nature, and few realize their spiritual potential; for with the least evolved as well as the highest, the Higher Self is with us “even unto the end of the world.” When a Mahatma wishes to give a message to the world, he may appear as a Mayavi-Rupa, which is a form of Tulku; or he may send a ray of himself into the body, willingly provided, of a neophyte-messenger, for a period of a lifetime, or for shorter periods of time. H.P.B. frequently imbodied the very life of her Teacher; but when his influence was withdrawn she became again the everyday Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. When the Tashi and Dalai Lamas transferred their incarnation from one body that had just died to another, invariably the body chosen was of an infant who was just on the point of death. When the assumption was completed the body of the child revived and usually lived many years, though there are instances where the incarnation of one or other of these Lamas lasted only into youth or young manhood. In the writings of travellers in

Tibet there are many references to Tulkus and Living Buddhas, but it would be well to be guarded about such statements. As the two lines of Tulkus with the Tashi and the Dalai Lamas became established, it became the ambition of many of the great and powerful monasteries in

Tibet to have, also, their own Tulkus of Buddhas; and it is not unreasonable to suppose that these were mere inventions, and not actualities. Great spiritual entities are continually endeavouring to impart to human beings high ethical altruistic teachings, the doctrine of Universal Brotherhood, and the latent divinity in every human being, In their ceaseless work they use intermediaries, some of very high development, some of intermediate development, and others of still less development, though these latter are nevertheless, from our standpoint, illuminated messengers. Among these we can include H.P. Blavatsky, Damodar, W.Q. Judge and others; all of whom are motivated by compassion for their fellow men. They work ceaselessly, and without reward of any kind, so often without even appreciation for their efforts. We will do ourselves a great service if we recall the compassion that has motivated the great ones, of whatever degree, who with such intensity have sent or brought into the world the vast amount of teaching over the past hundred years, which we are free and at liberty to study and discuss openly; if we understand and appreciate the self-sacrifice and dedication of each and every one of them; and if we in return not only study and endeavour to live those high teachings, but also in quiet moments feel some gratitude to them for all their efforts on our behalf.

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Mon 5 Nov 2007

THE MYSTERY OF SIN by Arthur Swan

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE MYSTERY OF SIN by Arthur Swan

On a superficial level, one could be surprised at the suggestion of any mystery at all - we all know what is right or wrong, at least, most of the time, and we usually try to keep our transgressions from being noticed by others. In my early years, I can remember wondering why the Creator, the All Mighty, allowed it to happen. After all, if He did create everything that is, then obviously He must have created him who is said to lead us into sin – Satan – and if this really is so, then why did God do so? This very question did worry earlier generations, and medieval scholars gave their answer which, translated from the Latin was “The Devil is God upside down”. This may seem suspiciously like answering a problem with a riddle, but actually it is a very clever answer and quite easily understood. We all know that the elements of creation are:- Earth – representing dense inert matter Water - “ the material emotions, with their capacity To surge and be rough Air - “ the mental processes Fire - “ spirit From time immemorial, man had noticed that, when the sun shone on a body of water that was perfectly calm, the reflection of the sun on the water would be perfect to, but that, the more disturbed the water, the more disfigured would be the image of the sun. By a process of analogy, which is almost a lost art nowadays, these scholars likened the sun to Divinity and postulated that when we imagine seeing an evil influence, what we really see is the face of God terribly disfigured by the error with which we surround ourselves. One is reminded of the 53^rd chapter of Isaiah “ —-he hath no form nor comeliness - — that we would desire him” and of the prayer of the Psalmist”— lead us beside the still waters—“. There is obviously a great truth here, so it would seem that my early thoughts were on the right track. The great religions of mankind show some fundamental differences in their attitude to sin. For example, in Buddhism, which once comprised nearly half of all the people in the world, the notion of sin is not stressed as it is in Christianity. Buddhism does not regard man as inherently evil, but it does recognise that he will stray from the “noble” path. This straying, it says, is due to error or ignorance, which can only be overcome by leading him to divine wisdom. The Mohamedan religion also does not regard man as inherently evil, but it has a very comprehensive and rather rigid code, for breaches of which, in some countries even today, the penalties can be really severe. It had its rise among the Arabs, who trace their descent back to the Old Testament prophet Abraham, so it has been influenced by the later Jewish prophets. However, even in the 12^th century A.D., the Sufi poet Omar Khayyam complained about the “jarring sects” – 72 of them, and this applies to some extent still, seemingly indicating a fundamentalist outlook which does not look like helping us in our search for the Mystery of Sin. Christianity, of course, arose out of Judaism and, indeed, Augustine, the “father” of Christian theology, wrote that Christianity really originated when God spoke to Adam the first man, but that it was not called Christianity until after Jesus Christ came. While it is certainly true that Christians have always used the Old Testament, a Jewish book, as their guide to the centuries B.C., the similarity between the two faiths, which Augustine described as applying before his time, certainly did not continue afterwards, and both have made big changes within themselves in the nearly two thousand years since. It does not take much reading of the Old Testament to realise that the life of the Jew of those days was ordered in great detail, and there is no doubt that laws announced by Moses are still observed today. Christianity took up this mantle, and there is reason to believe that, in translating books intended for its New Testament, some of the interpreters had their eyes on Old Testament prophecy, to make sure “that it was fulfilled”. Christianity added new rules of its own, even declaring that each of us is born in sin and is inherently evil until saved. This rather beclouds the question, making it difficult to determine which “sins” really should be avoided, and which are only man-made. The latter are caused by poor scholarship misreading ancient writings, and it is one of the big tragedies of western civilization that one cannot get the best out of the Bible without going outside the Church for the keys. One of the most profound and cryptic of the Bible stories is that of The Prodigal Son. You will recall that a man had two sons, and the younger went to a far country where, after some riotous living, he had to live among the pigs. Realising that his true place was in his father’s house, he returned home and was welcomed joyously by his father, who killed the fatted calf by way of celebration. The elder brother reproached his father that a fatted calf had never been killed for him, even though he had loyally worked for the father all along. The father dismissed the complaint, insisting that the return of the son who had gone away was reason for great rejoicing. It would be hard today to find a father and sons who would act in the way described in this story, and we can even feel some sympathy for the complaint of the elder son, but one cannot help but ask why a simple homely story like this has come down to us through nearly two thousand years. After all, of the Prodigal who returned from the far country, where he had “wasted his substance with riotous living” (Luke 15/13), one could say that his return was simply forced upon him by the pressing need for basic food and shelter - hardly an edifying motive – and this parable if too often judged by its superficial meaning and therefore found lacking. In search of a clue to a likely deeper meaning, let us turn to another story about Jesus, not a parable but ostensible history. John the Baptist had been preaching the immanent coming of One “whose shoes I am not worthy to bear” (Matt. 3/11), and Jesus presented himself for baptism by John, who claimed that he was not worthy to do so, but Jesus insisted “for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matt. 3/15) This scene by the River Jordan is most instructive. We have first the natural man, John, representing each one of us when we start life on the material plane, and we have the spiritual man, Jesus, representing what each of us can, and will eventually, become, and the spiritual man insists on being baptised by the natural man, “to fulfil all righteousness”. It is obvious that Jesus wanted to be baptised by John, so we must make the equally obvious inference that the physical world is actually necessary for development of the full potential of divinity. There is an interesting parallel to this in our own experience. We all know that the rays of our sun give the light and heat which are essential for all life. When the astronaut goes out into space, however, even in the direction of the sun, he finds a cold, black void, proving that the sun’s rays can give their blessings only with the cooperation of Mother Earth. With the help of analogy again, (as above, as below), we can now see that Jesus knew that divinity could reach its full potential only after a successful partnership with matter. It also follows therefore that the father of the Prodigal Son wanted his son to go to the far country (which is our life in the physical body), and, indeed, we have come close to discovering why the Creator created the physical world at all. Indeed, the Bible says repeatedly “god so loved the world” that the attitude of so many Christians, even today, that everything is sinful, is unconvincing. In the book of Job, which is one of the oldest in the Old Testament, and which is often regarded as being an account of initiation, we find the Lord and Satan appearing to confer as to what test should be given to Job. This calls to mind the work of G. de Purucker in his STUDIES IN OCCULT PHILOSOPHY (p.71) “—coming into incarnation involves a downward arc into material spheres, which is an essential step in evolution, but it is not the physical body which sins. Sins are committed by wrong choices of the mind—“ On the same theme, H. P. Blavatsky in ISIS UNVEILED (2,480), writes about sin “—the dark side of nature, the shadow of the Light — a force antagonistic to but essential for the vitality, evolution and vigour of good. Just as plants need night to alternate with day to give them healthy growth, so goodness would not flourish if it were not alternated by its opposite. In human nature, evil denotes the antagonism of matter to the spiritual, and each is purified accordingly —“ We know from everyday experience that, if good results are to be achieved in any activity, be it business, health, marriage, career, garden, hobby, etc., there is no royal road – we must provide the necessary work, planning, skill, etc. The athlete in the gymnasium would not be able to increase his muscles if the equipment did not resist his push or pull. Likewise, we too would be effete if we did not bestir ourselves and manfully face the challenges which will confront us from time to time. They are, so to say, the tools of our evolution, which may be likened to a spiral staircase. On some curves of it, we will see sights which tempt us, but if we can pass them by, the next time they appear to us, we will be on a higher curve of the spiral and therefore better able to resist temptation. Therefore, let us not fret that we were born in sin, nor that there is an evil entity out there, variously called Satan, the Prince of Darkness and other titles, who has power over us. The only Sin which exists is due to our very own error, and our divine destiny is assured, so that when we are eventually called to account in some judgement hall, we can confidently say, in the words of the Orphic poem of ancient Greece “I am a child of Earth and Starry Heaven, but my Race is of Heaven alone.”

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Mon 5 Nov 2007

THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY GRAIL by Arthur Swan

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE LEGEND OF THE HOLY GRAIL by Arthur Swan

When mention is made of the Holy Grail, one automatically thinks also of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, who searched for the Holy Grail, so our study today seems to fall quite naturally into three parts:-

1. What part of King Arthur’s story, if any, is true to history? 2. What is the story, even if not reliably historical, of the Holy Grail?3. What significance does the Grail story have for us?

It should be noted that the Grail story has come down to us over manycenturies, and that, during the early parts of this long period, the story was passed down by word of mouth only, so it is easy to imagine that, in the several centuries which might elapse between an event and the appearance of a scholar capable of writing an account of that event, the original story could, and no doubt did, become distorted and probably also embellished. The scribe might have few written records to guide him, and he might also have constraints of a political kind, such as the need to please, or not displease, his bishop, or even the king of the day. Later writings even dispute some of the earlier ones, alleging that the earlier ones had been tampered with in order to make them state as alleged fact certain stories that would add to the venerable reputation of Glastonbury Abbey, so our short study will have to try to steer an impartial course through the maze. Beginning with King Arthur then, such a man did indeed live in England in the middle of the fifth century A.D. as depicted rather fancifully in the 2004 film ‘King Arthur’. Most of England had, by then, been part of the Roman Empire for about five hundred years, and that had been the British, who were then Celts, enjoy as high a standard of civilization as most other parts of the Empire. However, due to troubles nearer home, Rome withdrew her armed forces in 410 A.D., and this left a vacuum which the Celts were too slow, and probably too disunited, to fill. In any event, when the Saxons began invading the east and south coasts, the Celts were quite unable to cope and had to retreat westward, abandoning large tracts of country. Obviously, something had to be done to curb these Saxons, and this was where Arthur proved to be the man for the crisis. His real name seems to have been Artorius, and he was a Celt who had been educated by the Romans, and he knew some of their military history. He knew that Roman generals had originally used armoured foot soldiers mainly, with only some few cavalry on the flanks, but that they had been forced by a serious defeat by cavalry to include more cavalry in their armies, so he organised and trained some Celtic cavalry for use against the Saxons. This was an instant success and is undoubtedly the basis of Arthur’s later reputation as a famous leader of knights. He was justifiably famous in his own time and had a title roughly equal to our commander-in-chief, but he was never a king. He was so feared by the Saxons that, when he was eventually killed in battle, his death was kept a secret, so that Celtic morale remained high, and the Saxons were still wary. It was an easy extension of this story to the story that Arthur had only gone away to some fabulous place to recover from his wounds, and that he would return if ever

Britain ever stood in great danger. This idea that Arthur might return and rule was still so strong seven hundred years later that, in 1190, to reassure King Stephen, whose claim to the throne was disputed by some, the monks of Glastonbury Abbey exhumed a skeleton which, they said, was that of Arthur – an announcement that greatly added to the fame of

Glastonbury. Turning to the Holy Grail story itself, there were a number of scribes down the centuries, up to the eleventh and twelfth centuries, when there were several, in Britain, France and Germany. The British one was Sir Thomas Malory, a colourful character, who wrote his Le Morte d’Arthur while in gaol. This was about seven hundred years after Arthur and, about seven hundred years later still, Tennyson wrote his beautiful version of Le Morte d’Arthur and The Idylls of the King, but Tennyson sanitized Malory’s version, so as to make it fit for the drawing-rooms of Queen

Victoria’s

England. The Grail story begins with the life of Jesus Christ, whose disciples were all poor men. The crucifixion was on a Friday, and two thieves were crucified at the same time, and the Jewish priests were quite concerned that the three bodies should be taken down from public view before the Sabbath (Saturday) started. A necessary first step was to make sure that the victims were really dead, the usual method was to break the legs, and this was done to the two thieves, but, as Jesus was obviously already dead, his legs were not broken. John’s gospel 19:36 says that this fulfilled scriptural prophesy. However, a Roman soldier named Longinus, apparently thinking that the dead body would not bleed, pierced Jesus’s side with his spear, and bystanders were surprised to see two issues, one of water and one of blood. Nearby also was Joseph of Arimathea, who had secretly been a disciple, and he managed to catch in separate receptacles some of this blessed water and blood. At this point, we may be permitted to wonder whether there are certain implications in this story. The Romans would not have known of the scriptural prophesy, and the Jews would not have conceded that the prophesy applied to one whom they regarded as a gross blasphemer, so why was Jesus treated differently from the others? One is reminded of an aspect of some initiation ceremonies, where the notional thrust of a spear into the candidate’s side was deemed to kill the physical man, and so allow the spiritual man to be born and function free of the flesh. As for the two streams from Jesus’ side, this reminds one of the labours of Hercules in cleansing the Augean stables. When all defilement of the animal had been removed, there were two streams, signifying the two facets of our life here – spiritual and material. Returning to our original theme, Joseph had also managed to save the cup which Jesus had used at the Last Supper and had obtained permission from Pontius Pilate to inter Jesus’ body in a new tomb which Joseph had had prepared for himself. A point to note here is that this secret disciple, Joseph, who is able to provide a new tomb, is obviously a man of some wealth, and the tradition is that Joseph was indeed a rich man, having made his money in trading in tin from the mines of Cornwall. One version has it that, on one or more such journeys, Joseph took with him the lad Jesus, still a teenager, and we will refer again to this in our final section. It is historically true that a big trade was done from south-west Britain at that time, in the reign of Cymbeline, but this trade fell away later, when the Romans developed tin mines in

Spain. After the resurrection and assumption of Jesus, we find Joseph setting off from Jerusalem with a party comprising the Virgin Mary, Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Zebedee and mother of James and John, Lazarus and others. Dropping the others off in the south of France, where we shall leave them temporarily, Joseph continued on to England, where he founded a chapel at Glastonbury, to house the sacred relics which he had brought with him, viz: the Cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper (the Grail), the Spear (or Lance) of Longinus, which had pierced Jesus’ side, the two phials containing the Blessed Blood and Water, and a number of other so-called Hallows, which need not concern us here, as the various scribes differ. The actual date of this journey is also open to question, because scribes differ, and the use of A.D. years had not then begun, but we can for our purpose take the word of the earliest British scribe Gildas, A.D. 425-512, that Joseph’s journey occurred in the last year of the reign of the Emperor Tiberius, A.D. 37. Even here, there is a gap of nearly four centuries, probably ten or twelve generations, so there would be plenty of time for the story to change. In due time, Joseph is succeeded by his son, Joseph II, as keeper of the Grail and other Hallows, and the latter has his life lengthened by divine intervention, so that he can await the coming of somebody worthy, to whom the Hallows can safely be entrusted. Joseph II has quite a long wait, but eventually King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table come on the scene. These Knights lead very busy lives, jousting, and rescuing damsels in distress, righting wrongs, etc., all with the aid of liberal portions of magic, but their lifestyles mostly fall somewhat short of the purity required of one who could be entrusted with the sacred Hallows. Even King Arthur fathered a son, Mordred, by his half-sister, and this incestuous liaison was to dog the King to the end, as it was Mordred, himself mortally wounded, who inflicted the blow from which the Kind died. In actual history, the real Arthur was, it seems, on bitter terms with his son. The only Knight who proved to be worthy was Sir Galahad who, by a birth in special circumstances and a chaste and blameless life, was accepted by Joseph II, who handed the sacred Hallows to Sir Galahad. Joseph II was then free to depart this life, and Sir Galahad, with the sacred Hallows, departed for “Sarras, the spiritual city”. Reverting now to the Holy Family whom we left in the south of France, they were made welcome by the locals, and the men of the party embarked on missionary work. This party too had some sacred relics, chief of which were the Holy Grain (not a cup, as in

England, but a marvellous jewel representing the third eye), and (surprisingly), the Spear of Lance of Longinus. We reported earlier that Joseph had taken the Spear of Longinus to

England, and the literature does not explain, so we leave our readers to decide for themselves which report is correct. Anyway, the Spear in French hands certainly worked wonders, as it is credited with giving the Frankish King Charles Martel a miraculous victory in A.D. 732 over the Arabs invading

France from

Spain. In the following centuries, the Spear was credited with many victories won by German princes of the

Holy Roman Empire. By Napoleon Bonaparte’s time, the Spear was in Nuremburg, and Napoleon made plans so seize it, but he was thwarted when the Spear was smuggled out to

Vienna, where it stayed for nearly a century and a half. By 1914, with the Great War soon to start, the Kaiser thought that the Spear would be a useful talisman in the coming conflict, so he asked the ageing Emperor Franz Joseph in Vienna for a number of historical items of regalia, including the Spear, to be loaned for a Pan-German exhibition in

Berlin. One of the Kaiser’s confidants knew that the Kaiser intended to keep the Spear, and not return it, so he secretly warned the Emperor, who sent a curt note saying that those articles could not be loaned. The Kaiser was extremely surprised by the note, but never found out the reason for the refusal. The next national leader to want the Spear was Hitler who, as an unemployed youth, had spent hours gazing at it in its glass display case in Vienna, so almost the first thing he did after the annexation of Austria in 1938 was to take the Spear back to Nuremburg, from where it was returned to Vienna by the U.S. army in 1945. Finally, let us look at the significance of these Holy Grail stories, we must not fall into the error of taking the first word “Holy” as indicating that these stories are of Christian origin, because they had their beginning very much earlier. The Cup, Spear, Sword and Disc or similar objects occur as magical combinations in ancient Egypt and China, and they even appear as the four suits in the Tarot cards which gypsies have for centuries used for fortune-telling. The word “Grail” means a receptacle like a deep dish, but there is no difficulty interpreting this as a cup or chalice. On the few occasions when King Arthur’s Knights were granted a vision of these objects, the Cup was made of some precious material, the Spear or Lance had blood dripping from its tip, they were carried by beautiful maidens of a celestial appearance, and those present had a great feast. This suggests the ancient fertility rites, which often had phallic overtones. The whole idea was that there was something worth striving for, above and beyond the visible church or temple, with its ritual that could be performed perfunctorily. What can this mean, but the higher initiation, with the Grail stories an attempt to preserve the esoteric core at the heart of Christianity, as of all religions? Another popular misconception which a study of the Grail stories dispels for us is that Rome brought civilization to

Britain under Julius Caesar in 54 B.C., and Christianity under Augustine in 597 A.D. It is true that Caesar brought technical expertise that was new to

Britain, but the Celts of Britain and northern France (

Brittany) were led by their priests called Druids, who were highly organised and trained. Indeed, the Druids’ main centre at Glastonbury was a highly-respected shrine of learning where “they expounded the physical as well as the spiritual sciences, the harmonious progress of the heavenly bodies, the formation of the earth, and the immortality of the soul” (Isis Unveiled 1: 18). The wisdom of the Druids was highly praised in the writings of Julius Caesar, Pomponius and Pliny, and at least one scholar from ancient Greece is said to have gone to Britain to study in about 200 B.C., while even the great Pythagoras, 5^th century B.C., acquired his great knowledge by travel to the East and to the barbarians - ? Druids. The Druids called themselves Snakes, which reminds one of Jesus’ dictum “Be ye wise as serpents” and there are good grounds for believing that when Patrick (born 390 A.D.) went to

Ireland to convert them to Christianity and he also rid the country of snakes, the term “snakes” referred to the Druids. Historians generally agree that the great

Stonehenge structure long pre-dates the Druids, thus indicating an earlier civilization still. As for the coming of Christianity, Augustine in 597 A.D. did not bring it, he was only trying to bring into the family of the Pope of Rome a Christian Church which had flourished in Britain for about five hundred years. The

British

Church was very proud of the fact that it had been established even before

Rome, and this primacy was asserted even centuries later. William the Conqueror at his coronation would allow no Roman Catholic participation, and five hundred years later Henry VIII, when he cut the tie with

Rome, was not lacking in local support. Even his daughter Mary 1, who was Catholic and would have liked to reverse her father’s act, still defended the primacy of the Church in

England. Three centuries later still, the sentiment was still alive, and William Blake composed the beautiful poem which would have served admirably as a national anthem:- And did those feet in ancient time Walk upon England’s mountains green And was the Holy Lamb of God

England’s pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine Shine forth upon our clouded hills?

And was

Jerusalem builded here Among these dark Satanic Mills? Bring me my Bow of Burning Gold

Bring me my Arrows of Desire

Bring me my Spear: O clouds unfold

Bring me my Chariot of Fire

I will not cease from Mental Fight

Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand

Till we have built

Jerusalem In

England’s green and pleasant Land. On the continent of Europe, as in

Britain, the story of the message of the Grail had a long life. In the centuries when literacy did not extend far outside the ranks of the clergy, the medium was the minstrel or troubadour, and it is interesting to note that this word troubadour comes from the French word ‘trouver’ to find – surely an allusion to the idea that the Grail message pointed to where one could ‘find’ if one would only seek. The poet and the composer have always suspected that there is something beyond the superficialities of everyday life. Mozart obviously had this idea in his MAGIC FLUTE, while Wagner, with his well-known passion for Germanic legend, included in his operas themes which fit very well with Grail legends. Of particular interest to us here in his opera PARSIFAL, for which he drew on the writings of a medieval scribe. The hero is really each one of us, an aspirant for initiation some day and, like each of us, he fails in his first attempt, because he fails to ask the appropriate question when seeking entry to the Grail castle. To ask the right question would, of course, have proven that he had developed and attained the necessary compassion and wisdom and, on his second visit, he is able to do this, thereby gaining entry to the higher reaches. There is a lesson for all of us in this.

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Sun 4 Nov 2007

GNOSTICISM: perspectives from Theosophy by Arthur Swan

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OUR DEBT TO THE GNOSTICS by Arthur Swan

The word “Gnostic” comes from the classical Greek word meaning “know”, and what these people “knew” was the basis of man’s relationship to his world and to its Creator. Such knowledge was rightly deemed to be divine wisdom, and one who sought it was a Philosopher, which latter term is a combination of two Greek words meaning “lover of wisdom”. We have a modern echo of these thoughts when a person who cannot really decide what he thinks on such matters is said to be Agnostic, meaning “without knowledge”. A complete study of Gnosticism would involve tracing philosophical thought for a period of about a thousand years and, to do so in this one paper, would be like trying to give an adequate account of English history from the reign of Alfred the Great (10^th century) right up to the present. This being so, we will have to deal fairly briefly with earlier centuries and concentrate more on the later centuries when the Gnostics came under pressure from the Church of Rome. Our review can begin in ancient Greece in the 5^th Century B.C., which saw the flowering of Greek genius under men like Plato. Greek scholars had learned a lot from ancient Egypt, but the latter’s scholarship was by then past its zenith and, indeed, was in decline, but the Greeks put their own stamp on it, so that the discourses of Plato, Pythagoras, and others, are even today still read with great respect. In common with the rest of the ancient world, the Greeks were convinced that divine wisdom had to be preserved as a sacred trust, to be revealed only to those who had proved themselves worthy to receive it. To this end, there were the mystery schools, the Lesser and the Greater, but as those who attended were sworn to the strictest secrecy, our knowledge of the proceedings is necessarily rather sketchy. However, from various writings that have come down to us, we can infer that the Lesser Mysteries admitted suitable candidates who were instructed in basic teachings, on completion of which they achieved the Lesser Initiation. Thereafter, it was possible for the most outstanding candidates to progress through the Greater Mystery School to the Greater Initiation. Such initiates were deemed to be “seers”, because they would have seen the ‘gods’.

The term “initiation” is instructive here as, with us, “to initiate” means “to begin”, and we would do well to remember that this is exactly what initiation meant to the contemporary of Plato. To him, initiation was not an end in itself, indeed it was not an end, in the sense of completion, at all, but very much a beginning, in the long process of refining and sublimation of the coarse vehicle of the flesh, so that the divinity within could more fully express itself. TheGreece of the 5^th Century B.C. is sometimes depicted as an idyllic state which was the cradle of democracy. This was, in fact, true, but only to the extent that democracy applied only to the free class, and not to the substantial section of the population who were slaves. The latter were, of course, illiterate, as one would expect from those days, and this fact alone, quite apart from any lack of social standing, completely disqualified the slave class from participation in any of the mysteries, even at the lowest level.

In all societies and in all ages, it has always been a problem for those wishing to disseminate some form of philosophy, how to provide meat for the strong, milk for the babes, and something adequate for those ranking in between. The ancient Greeks understood this and, for the unlettered populace, plays, pageants, etc were provided periodically, at which the educated people attended as a matter of public policy. It is obvious, therefore, that the mystery schools were definitely elitist, and this probably contributed to their eventual decline.

By the time the A.D. centuries dawned, there had been a general decline of scholarship, which led to some ancient writings being interpreted literally, instead of allegorically. There had also developed a vigorous exchange of ideas between Greece, Asia Minor, the Near East, Alexandria in Egypt and even India, but unfortunately ideas received from outside were sometimes not fully understood. For example, the Jewish idea that a Messiah would come was, in our opinion, that this would be achieved when we, each of us, have graduated to a state of perfection, but it was taken by some to mean that a man would be born who would become King of the Jews and liberate Jerusalem and its temple from the conquering Romans. Poor scholarship like this beings restricted vision, and we are not surprised to find that outgrowth of many sects, who no doubt bickered among themselves about trifling points of doctrine.

About this time too, there came into use the word “Christos” and its variants, based on the word “to pour” in the sense of anointing, and adherents of these sects were generally known as Christian or ‘Chrestian’. In the Christian Bible, there are a number of epistles by the Apostle Paul to several “churches” in Asia Minor and Greece, and one would naturally assume (and is probably meant to assume) that these churches were followers of Jesus, the man born in Bethlehem, but H.P. Blavatsky says quite specifically in “Isis Unveiled” that these churches had no knowledge of a Saviour literally born as a man. For the first three centuries or so A.D., there was a massive ferment of ideas, and the number of writings multiplied enormously, many describing in great detail the author’s idea of what the life on earth of the Christ would have been, if he ever really came. Naturally, as these people were writing fiction, they were completely free to write whatever seemed to them to be appropriate, so the early Church had to make a selection when assembling what we now know as the Holy Bible, and it is interesting to find Irenaeus, the Bishop of Lyons, writing in about 185 A.D. that, out of a multitude of descriptions of the earthly life of the Saviour, only four were chosen, because there are four winds of heaven and four points of the compass. These four are still with us as the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, and they were evidently chosen because they best supported the young Church’s conviction that the Saviour had literally walked and preached in Judea early in the first century A.D., but even these four disagree on some points, which is perfectly understandable, given the fictional origin mentioned above. While these early centuries were mostly a time of poor scholarship, there was a great flowering of philosophical writing by men who, in their own times, and ever since, have been called Gnostics. They tried to revive and enlarge upon the ideas of Plato, and later scholars have called them Neo-Platonists. Their basic teaching was that the Christ, by whatever name he was known, was the ever-coming one – indeed, he was each one of us as we can and eventually will become in some future incarnation. He was an Exemplar, to show us what we could achieve, if we would but try. They believed that the Greater Initiation was essential to our spiritual progress, and that if a really virtuous man were to die without having achieved that Greater Initiation, his reincarnating ego would be infallibly guided to rebirth in a body which would have that opportunity. Some of them said of the Saviour that he never closed his eyes – an idea which probably came from India, where it was said that the god never sleeps, but this idea hardly fits a physical body as we know it. Another description is of Jesus answering questions from a group, and most of the questions come from the women, which would be frowned upon by some churchmen, even today. As practically all the above points are in direct conflict with orthodox Christianity, it is not surprising that when the Emperor Constantine made Christianity the official religion of Rome in about A.D. 338, the Church lost no time in destroying all writings of the Gnostics that could be found. As a result of this, we know literally nothing at all but some of the Gnostics themselves, and all that we know of their writings has to be gleaned from the criticisms of the Church Fathers, chiefly Irenaeus, about A.D. 185 and Hippolytus, some fifty years later. As the Fathers all display varying degrees of hostility, one is entitled to wonder just how reliable their quotations from Gnostic writings really are.

Fortunately, about 130 years ago, several codices were discovered, and an excerpt from one known as the Acts of John is given below:- (The Lord had appeared to John on the Mount of Olives, whence he had fled from the crucifixion)-“Our Lord stood in the midst of the cave and filled it with light and said ‘To the multitude below, in Jerusalem, I am being crucified and pierced with lances and reeds, and gall and vinegar is given Me to drink; to thee now I speak, and hearken to my words. Twas I who put it in thy heart to ascent to this mount, that thou mightest hear what disciple must learn from Master, and Man from God.’ And having thus spoken, He showed me a cross of light set up, and about the cross a great multitude, and therein one form and one likeness; and on the cross another multitude, not having one form, and I saw the Lord Himself above the cross, not having any shape, but only a voice; and a voice not such as was familiar to us, but a sweet and kid voice and one truly of God, saying unto me ‘John, it is needful that one should hear these things from me, for I have need of one who will hear. This cross of light is sometimes called the Word by Me for your sakes ……This is not the cross of wood, which thou will see when thou hast descended, nor am I He that is upon the cross, whom now thou seest not but only hearest a voice….. the multitude of one aspect that is about the cross is the lower nature…..” This, you will agree, is both lofty and perceptive, but it also called for a good education and the breadth of vision which goes with a cultivated mind. Also, it is much more suggestive of a ritual like initiation than of an actual historical occurrence. As such, it was elitist and quite out of the reach of the illiterate masses. Indeed, this illustrates the very weakness which was mentioned earlier in our discussion of the ancient Greek mysteries. Christianity as we know it did not come to the Roman Emperors from professors or other learned men – that would have been coming in at the top. What it did was creep up from the bottom, through the scullery, kitchen or stables. An emperor would probably first hear of Christianity from his barber or valet or the groom of his favourite horse.

Such underlings were regarded with disdain by educated Romans like Pliny, but those masses did need a philosophy of some kind, so Christianity rose through the social scale, gradually taking over from the so-called pagan beliefs. The father of theology as we know it today is generally conceded to have been Augustine who, it is interesting to note, had originally been a pupil of the Neo-Platonists. His whole-hearted espousal of the new creed may to some seem like a step downward into crude fundamentalism, but perhaps we should credit him with a compassionate desire to provide a philosophical benison for the masses. Of necessity, this had to be quite simple, even simplistic, and it is a great pity that some way was not found to preserve something on a higher level of thought. About the best that has come down to us through the Church are the Epistles of the Apostle Paul, whose writings have a strongly Gnostic tone and do not seem to know a literal Jesus of Nazareth. When the Christian Church first received recognition as the State religion, it became the first organisation in history to claim to have a monopoly of truth – a breath-taking assertion which really only proved a very limited understanding of such matters. However, the Church had the full support of the Emperor Constantine, who ordered the closing of all the academies (similar to our universities), which eventually led to the Dark Ages that later closed over Western Europe. This was a serious blow to Gnosticism, which faded out in Rome, but continued a little longer in Alexandria, until even there it was extinguished by the invading Arabs newly converted to Islam.

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Sun 4 Nov 2007

THEOSOPHY CAN HELP DOUBTING CHRISTIANS by Arthur Swan

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THEOSOPHY CAN HELP DOUBTING CHRISTIANS by Arthur Swan

Australia is nominally a Christian country, and Christian festivals are marked by public holidays, special postage stamps, etc., but, in common with similar countries overseas, there has been a marked decline in church attendances, and even of interest in the teachings of Christianity. The train of thought seems to be that the Bible stories of miracles, virgin birth, resurrection and other wonders simply do not bear scrutiny in the light of modern knowledge, and that even if one grudgingly conceded that just possibly an All-Mighty Creator did do some one-off acts for a special purpose, such acts have no apparent relevance to our lives today. The latter point can even raise the query why the Creator should, about two thousand years ago, and at no other time, suspend the normal working of the universe and perform these miracles with the aim, allegedly, of “saving” mankind. After all, civilised man had lived for many more centuries before Christ than he has lived since, and a doubter would surely have wondered what happened to all the generations B.C. who were too early to be “saved”. Even one of the Christmas carols remarks “Late in time, behold He come…”. To these and other questions, it seems obvious that the churches today cannot give satisfactory answers, with the unfortunate result that all ideas of religion or philosophy are discarded altogether by such a doubter. Such a person may not notice any great lack, particularly if the life-style is fairly trouble-free, with an interesting job and adequate recreation. This would apply to most young people, but for them the easy ride can come to an abrupt end by a calamity such as a disabling accident, unemployment or even a bereavement. He asks “Why did this happen to me?” and feels the need to call on any inner resources that may help to sustain him in his trouble. For the older person, the change may come in middle life, when his world ceases to have much novelty for him, and he says, in effect “There must be something more than this”. Both these people are seeking and should be helped to find, and the churches should be the ones to do this but, as already noted, they appear to be unequal to their task. There is, indeed, a certain irony in this, as the religious message for our race was the Bible, which the churches have preached for nearly two millennia, and it is reputed to be a best-seller among books. It must also be about the least-understood of all books, yet the King James version is one of the literary treasures of our culture, ranking with Shakespeare as a peak of the English language. By contrast, theosophical literature teems with explanations of the hidden meanings of Bible stories, which meanings not only, in many cases, rescue the Bible story from sheer fatuity, but also can shed a flood of light where previously there was only befuddlement. About the only redeeming feature of the present sorry situation is that the Bible is still held in great respect. This being so, any Theosophist who has the chance of helping a seeker would be well advised to support his advocacy of a theosophical tenet by a reference to the Bible, which can be done as shown later. This approach utilizes a recognised facet of human psychology, beloved by advertising agents and known instinctively by the born salesman, namely Association of Ideas. In other words, you will make much better progress if your case is supported by a source which is already respected by your listener. The most obvious first subjects would be the twin doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation, which combine to teach us that everything in life is perfectly just and, by corollary, that we must have within us the capacity to master any trial that besets us, otherwise it would not have been put in our path. Surely, this alone will give great encouragement and a new philosophy of life to our seeker. For a Biblical endorsement to these two wonderful tenets, let us take first KARMA, which would have come first in the divine scheme. As Karma is a Sanskrit word, it does not itself appear in the Bible, but the concept is undeniably there and is usually called the Law. The Bible begins with the Creation story, and we are told that, on its completion, God “saw that it was very good”. (Gen. 1:31). This is a gratuitous statement, which can of course be taken as simply an embellishment of the Creation story, but further reading suggests otherwise – that God had, as it were, wound up the great clock of the universe so that, from then on, the pendulum has swung Cause and Effect, Cause and Effect, relentlessly, implacably, infallibly just. When Adam and Eve first come, it is to the Garden of Eden and, until they eat of the forbidden fruit, they have no knowledge of good or evil, nor even know that they are naked, so they are above the Law, but when they do eat the fruit, their fall is to the human plane, which is ruled by the Law. They had been warned that they would die, and we may note here that their survival on the material plane is explained by the fact that “death” in the Bible usually means the “burial” of divinity in the trammels of the flesh. Thus, the Apostle Paul says (Rom 7:9) “For I was alive without the Law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived and I died”. This text alone could teach us volumes, but only if we have the necessary keys to its cryptic message. Quoting Paul again (Rom.8:6) “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace”. For the Karma concept of our getting our just deserts (good and bad), we have Paul (Rom. 12:19) “…Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord”. Indeed, a mature understanding of Paul’s Law and the Bible meaning of “death” will eventually replace the erroneous doctrine of Vicarious Atonement, which has done so much damage to Christian thinking over the centuries and has probably greatly troubled our seeker. Next, let us look at REINCARNATION. Here again, this actual word does not seem to be in the Bible, but application of its principles gives wondrous meaning to some otherwise inscrutable sections. When Jesus himself asked the disciples who people said he was, and they answered that some said he was John the Baptist, Jesus did not condemn the concept. Likewise, in the case of the man born blind, Jesus was asked was this because the man had sinned – if the man was born blind, then his sin must have been in a previous life, yet here again, Jesus did not criticize, so that our only conclusion must be that reincarnation was accepted as a fact by those with sufficient instruction. In the Old Testament, we find in that beautiful 53^rd chapter of Isaiah, verse 9 “… and he made his grave with wicked, and with rich in his death…:. It is not generally known that “death” in that verse was plural “deaths” in the original Hebrew, which can only mean more than one incarnation. Indeed, it is worth noting here that the early Christian Church did believe in reincarnation for about the first five centuries A.D., when the doctrine was discarded. While the poor scholarship of the time would probably partly explain this basic change, which has no Biblical authority, it can also be inferred that the Church had begun to have difficulty in getting people to obey orders. It was easier to secure obedience when the subject believed that a terrible punishment could be incurred at the end of this life. This is a good illustration of the reason why pre-Christian scholars kept such truths hidden from those who had not proved themselves worthy to hear them. In contrast to this, the early Church took the stand that everything should be open, not understanding that, when one tries to level anything, it has to be downward, just as the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. It is possible that Jesus had some such idea in mind when he said not to cast pearls before swine. Anyway, as a result of that fifth century action by the church, following generations of Christians have paid a terrible price in disillusionment and misery when, dismayed by the lot into which they were born, they have plaintively asked how a benevolent Heavenly Father could treat them so, and no answer was available to them. We speak of the Dark Ages as spanning about a thousand years, 500-1500A.D., but even today, there are millions of people who are not much better placed, philosophically, and it seems fair to say that this unfortunate state of mind is probably a basis cause of many of our drinking and drug problems today. The authors of the Bible were either priests or religious leaders, and they followed the pre-Christian practice, noted above, of revealing divine wisdom only to those who had proved themselves worthy and fit to receive it, and Josephus, the Jewish historian born A.D. 38, says that Moses, the reputed author of the first five books of the Old Testament, wrote “some things wisely but enigmatically, and others under a decent allegory, but still explains such things as required a direct explication plainly and expressly”. As later authors would almost certainly take their cue from Moses, there are good grounds for assuming that there is little if any history in the Bible at all. Indeed, there is strong support for this in the categorical statement of the Apostle Paul (Gal. 4:22-24) that the story of Hagar, the bond-woman who bore Abraham’s first child, is an allegory. One device for veiling the truth was the use of glyphs or symbols, and we have already noted that the term “death” really meant the descent of divinity into matter, where the infant Christ was swathed in swaddling clothes, almost like an embalmed corpse. Another glyph for divinity enclosed in the trammels of the flesh was sleep, and we find Paul writing (1 Cor. 15:20/21) “But how is Christ risen from the dead and become the first-fruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead”. Perhaps the latter verse would support a proposition that there is in fact no such thing as death in the sense of total extinction or annihilation – it is but a translation which is necessary, salutary, even desirable. Again, we have Paul (1 Cor:15:36) “…that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die”. This new perception of death will not only help the seeker in his view of our present life-span, it will also give a logical meaning to what had been previously told to him as miracles, in which the citizen of the twenty-first century usually finds it impossible to believe. Interpretation of Bible stories is sometimes like trying to open an old chest – you may have to try more than one key. Let us take the first topic of the Bible, that of the Creation, when God in six days made the world, all its wildlife, and even the first man and woman. This human couple had three sons, but no daughters, and the third son eventually takes a wife. Some editions of the Bible even gave the approximate date of all this as 4,000 B.C. Our summary has had to be brief, for reasons of space, but it includes all points necessary for our discussion, and there are two points to be noted. The first one is that of the six days, which does rather strain one’s credulity, though we do know some people would say that, with God, all things are possible. Perhaps that is so, in a strictly legal sense, but it is somewhat out of character in an ordered universe. The second point is that the third son’s wife – where did she come from? The obvious conclusion is that the story simply cannot stand as literal history, in the eyes of people today, so we must resort to whatever key is available. Taking first the six days, which were followed by a seventh day on which God rested, it is absolutely undeniable that, as a lapse of time in the literal sense, these seven days are simply not believed by millions of people, so either all those people were wrong, or the word “day” is a glyph which has another meaning. Now we must remember that, as these ancient scribes were not, and did not try to be, historians, it is quite possible that they had no interest in the ‘when” of the creation and were solely concerned with the “how”. Let us therefore postulate that “day” in this story does not mean a period of time, but a stage of development. The Genesis account gives brief details of each stage of Creation, and the final act of the great work is the creation of Man himself, in the image and likeness of God. He is named Adam and is given dominion of all other creation. Man in the divine image, therefore, was the crown and pinnacle of creation, and Theosophists know that Man has seven principles so, in describing The creation of which Man was the supreme product, might not these ancient scribes have been really referring to Man’s seven principles, but, to veil the truth, they said “seven days”? Let us test this theory. The line dividing Spirit and Matter can for convenience be called the horizon, and below this we have the three lower or material principles, namely Mineral, Vegetable, and Animal. When creation reached this stage, there was a race of animal man which lacked the potential to become god-like. Their only interest to us here is that they provided the wife for Adam’s son. When, in the fullness of time, God decided that animal man could be given access to the Spiritual principles, this was a great lift to animal man. From his original three principles, he now had a fourth, the Human, which bestrode the horizon, so that he then had contact with the three higher principles, Manas, Buddhi, and Atma, who may be likened to the three Wise Men who came to worship the Babe in the Christmas story. Therefore, Man in the divine image then had three Material principles, the Human principle, making four, Manas and Buddhi, making six, to correspond with the six “days” on which God laboured, then comes the seventh principle, Atma, which being pure spirit needed no creation, so that on the seventh “day”, God was able to rest. This interpretation has a timeless grandeur which could commend itself to you all. In conclusion, there is need for some further comment on the fourth or Human principle, as this is the area in which we conduct most of our everyday life. Here, we must arbitrate between the desires, which sometimes conflict, of our higher and lower selves, and this will be the scene of the last great battle, Armageddon. We must preserve a reasonable balance, rendering unto Caesar those things that are Caesar’s, and to God those things that are God’s In the Egyptian Book of the Dead, the soul of the deceased is brought before a deity and has to show that he has ploughed equal areas on either side of the horizon. This showed a mature understanding of the need for balance, if we are to progress spiritually. Our physical body is an animal, which our higher self must discipline and train, but the body, which Paul called a temple, is entitled to respect in its own right. For spiritual renewal, we must temporarily still the animal and go into our inner room in the higher mind. The Bible warns that narrow is the way and strait is the gate that leadeth to the Father, but all are eligible, irrespective of education or social class. In trying to describe their ineffable experiences, the Old Testament prophets refer to a time and times and a dividing of time, meaning the three and one half principles above the horizon, while John, the author Revelations makes several references, e.g. three and a half days, forty and two months, which equals three and one half years, and a thousand two hundred and three score days, which also equals three and one half years, all to the same meaning. I hope that these few thoughts on interpretation of the Bible have been of some help to you and, perhaps, improved your opinion of that great old book.

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Sun 4 Nov 2007

CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM: perspectives from Theosophy by Arthur Swan

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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CHRISTIAN MYSTICISM by Arthur Swan

The choice of title for this lecture was certainly not intended to imply that Christianity has had any monopoly of Mysticism. Indeed, Mysticism has occurred world-wide since before Christianity even officially began, sometimes without the apparent help of a religious organisation, or even or a place of public worship. Before embarking on a detailed discussion of Mysticism, it is necessary to explain what Mysticism is not. In many minds, the word Mystic is considered to be synonymous with Occult, but we must make a sharp distinction. There is a small irony here, as the word Occult comes from the Latin, and Mystic comes from the Greek, and in those original languages, those original words did each have the same meaning as one another, but, with the complexity of modern life, these two words have, as it were, drifted to opposite ends of the spectrum. Today, the word Occult covers many activities outside our usual everyday duties. Such activities often need some training or study, and the motives which attract people to them range through attributes like curiosity, greed for money or notoriety, and other more obscure aims, all of which aims are more or less selfish and have therefore to be labelled worldly or material.

With Mysticism, on the other hand, the aspirant needs no study or training and need not even have any education, while his motives, if any, are certainly not selfish in any worldly sense – his desire is only that of the Prodigal Son yearning to return to the house of his Father. Therefore, we may summarise the difference between Occult and Mystic that Occultism is an Outward path, while Mysticism is the Inward path. Having declared what Mysticism is not, we now come to the challenging task of describing what Mysticism is. One is here reminded of what scholars have said of attempts to define God – that whatever statement is made, that statement will be so far short of the complete truth as to deserve the label ‘untrue’. Therefore, being fully conscious of the hazards of our undertaking and of our own limitations, an attempt can still be made to formulate certain conclusions which may be helpful.

For a start, Theosophy teaches that the human person comprises seven principles – three material ones in varying degrees of density and three non-material in varying degrees of spirituality. Between these two sets of three is the human link, which bestrides the dividing line, so that each of us has three and one-half principles earth-bound and three and one-half principles which came from the house of the Father and are destined ultimately to return there. There is full Biblical sanction for this, as the three and one-half is referred to enigmatically in both the Old and New Testaments.

However, the human being is not yet able to function on all seven principles, and this is especially so under the pressures of the modern world, so there come times when we are, in the words of Jesus ‘weak and heavy laden’. Where does one turn? Jesus did say that if we came to him, he would give us rest, but he is not among us now, as a person, and there is no holy shrine to which we can journey to obtain the help we need. This brings us to a salutary lesson which every seeker must take to heart. We all recognise that, on the material plane, pain is a blessing, in that one is made aware that some part of our body needs attention or protection, so it is with the other trials of life – they teach us that it is our birthright to seek help and that the only path is inward. On this inward path, the Mystic Path, the seeker attempts to tap the resources of our three spiritual principles. Just as we are all different from one another in material endowment, so we are all at different stages on the Mystic Path, but, as a general statement, it is probably fair to say that most of us have not graduated very far up through the lowest of the spiritual principles – what in Sanskrit is called ‘Manas’ or ‘Mind’. There is a veil, apparently of our own making, caused by our too-close preoccupation with material interests, which screens us from contact with our two highest principles, and it is drawing aside this veil which is the ultimate purpose of true yoga.

Individuals who have achieved this have difficulty in finding words adequate to describe the experience, so our own attempt at description is likely to be even less adequate, but if there is one theme which emerges from such testimonies, it is that of a great peace – no doubt ‘the peace that passeth all understanding’ mentioned in the Bible. Gone are the tensions which previously beset them, as they no longer feel alone and vulnerable in this turbulent material world. For us ordinary mortals, even the simple knowledge that certain people have been blessed in this way will lift our spirits. There is no need for one to travel to some distant holy city, nor even to a local place of public worship, each of us has at the very core of his own being that spark of divinity which will abundantly bless us.

Actually, mystics have indeed left certain guidelines for the sincere seeker. There are, it seems three stages, the first of which is Purgation. As the word denotes, this means the cleansing of the channels needed for progress on the Mystic Path. The veil mentioned earlier is not a material thing, it comprises the many unworthy thoughts and selfish desires which usually inhabit the mortal mind. One is reminded here of the Noble Path of Buddhism. This may cause one a period of considerable doubt, if any long-cherished ideas need to be discarded, and we find an enactment of this in the story of Jesus wandering in the wilderness.

The next step on the Mystic Path is Enlightenment, when the seeker is brought face to face with his real Self (with a capital ‘S’) his Reincarnating Ego, which has had many, many incarnations and will have many more, and is, in the words of the Egyptian Book of the Dead, a persistent traveller on the highways of heaven. It is nearly impossible to describe the seeker’s feelings at this stage, but a poor example from the material world might be those of a dispirited foundling youth who has suddenly discovered that he is of royal lineage. An interesting point here is that this sixth, or second highest principle of our constitution is called in Sanskrit ‘Buddhi’, which itself means Enlightenment.

The final step is Union, when the seeker really enters the house of the Father and finds that which his material life had caused him to forget, namely, that he is no mere cipher on a treadmill of fate, but is literally at one with the Father. This seventh principle is the highest one in our constitution, being the seventh ‘day’ of creation, when the Father was able to rest from creation because no creation was needed, as our highest principle is pure spirit. Those who have blessed with this ineffable experience testify that everything around them seemed to bathed in a wondrous golden light, and sometimes that that light seemed to come from within themselves. For such people, the need for faith has been banished, as faith calls for belief in something which one cannot fully understand, whereas these people have had the full revelation, for which in ancient times they would have received the noble title of ‘seer’.

To make an adequate survey of Christian mysticism down the ages would be a stupendous task, but it came both to men and to women, and to all classes, whether educated, lay or clergy, though the actual numbers at any one time were few. Naturally, the persons so called were products of their own times, and their visions were frequently peopled by Jesus, Satan, devils, angels, etc., of which they had learned in the religious teachings of their time. Occasionally, visions began to be experienced without any obvious initiative by the subject, and such seekers were usually lay people.

Some examples are:-Jakob Boehme: 1575-1624, a farmer’s son, first a shepherd, then a shoe-maker. He left a number of writings, which some found abstruse, but which had a big influence on later men like Isaac Newton and William Blake. Emanuel Swedenborg: 1688-1772 did not begin to see visions until aged 55, after which he was author of a number of books, some allegedly dictated by automatic writing. He also founded a church [represented in Melbourne], which taught that judgement takes place in this world, not the next. His teachings were later the basis of the Balzac novel Seraphita. William Blake: 1757-1827 had visions even in childhood and later learned much from Boehme and Swedenborg. He insisted that the Ultimate was revealed in everything – ‘To see a world in a grain of sand. And a heaven in a wild flower’Many poets show by their writings that they were keen seekers on the Mystic Path, even if they did not reach the final ecstasy. Examples are: Shelly died 1822, Browning 1889, and Tennyson, 1892. In Church circles, there were a great many mystics, and we find that, despite the many shortcomings of the clergy, which eventually sparked the Reformation, the mystic was invariably held in great honour. Many later founded religious orders. A short list of Christian mystics, in order of the dates of their deaths, is: Clement of Alexandria A.D. 215

Augustine 430

Scotus of Erigena 877 an Irishman

Bernard of Clairvaux 1153

Francis of Assisi 1226 first to experience stigmata

Thomas a Kempis 1471

John of the Cross 1591

Teresa of

Avila 1582

The two last named, John and Teresa, were Spanish and represented a sincere desire among some of the clergy to reform the Church of Rome from within – the Counter Reformation.

After the Reformation in Northern Europe, there was an increased interest in science, and hence in material things, so that interest in spiritual matters was not so evident, but we have noted earlier some examples from the 17^th, 18^th, and 19^th centuries.

Coming to the 20^th/21st centuries, it is more difficult to judge living people, but one example which did surprise and please me was the late Dag Hammarskjold, Secretary-General of the United Nations, who perished in an air crash in 1961. From his diary, published posthumously, it was clear that he had read widely about the mystics of the past, and he even had The Imitation of Christ with him at his death. It seems obvious that he had had some great mystical experience, for he wrote:

‘ I don’t know who or what put the question.I don’t even remember answering, but at some moment I did answer YES to Someone or Something, and from that hour I was certain that existence if meaningful and thattherefore my life in self-surrender had a goal.’

On what finer thought could this lecture end?

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Sat 13 Oct 2007

ANGER MANAGEMENT: The tinder box of strong emotions: personal suffering and anger by Stefan Carey

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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The tinderbox of strong emotions: personal suffering

and anger by Stefan Carey

Once I saw a real tinderbox used to start a fire. An old man with a beard held a metal case with a pile of fluffy material inside, and struck a flint against metal. It made a surprisingly big spark, the fluffy material quickly began to smoulder, and then with a strong breath, a burst of golden flame. Fire. Wikipedia’s definition of tinderbox is as follows “the term “tinderbox” refers to something is s o dry that it could catch on fire with the slightest provocation, perhaps even spontaneously [1]

But today’s definition of tinderbox is something different, I am bending the definition so a tinderbox is a simple metaphor for anger. When the circumstances strike the flint in the right way (or perhaps that should be the wrong way) we get a flame, and if we are not careful, or the spark overpowers our better judgment. For lots of complicated and simple reasons flames of strong emotions are set alight; sometimes spontaneously. The tinder is always there, and the spark will always be ready.

Before we get going, a word of caution: I do not pretend to have any qualifications in this area, so please don’t take what I say as advice; it is just general information and some reflections of my own.

Anger is frightening, dangerous, righteous, violent, unexpected, simmering, glowering, brooding, sullen, silent, infectious, justified, raging, controlled, sometimes not, an expression of frustration, or torment or a long suffering patience exhausted, or most often unheard personal suffering. It is a form of energy. The way it works is complicated, because some anger is fuelled by long past events, and some is not. Some anger is well hidden inside us. Anger is a big topic, and very complicated. I have written this paper because I felt there was a side to anger not well understood, so this is my attempt to shed a little light on it. It might help others to lessen the sting of this thorny question we all struggle with. And anger gets a mention in the bible. To condense several biblical references her is a useful definition from

Easton’s biblical dictionary: “Anger: The emotion of instant displeasure on account of something evil that presents itself to our view. In itself it is an original susceptibility of our nature, just as love is, and is not necessarily sinful. It may, however, become sinful when causeless, or excessive, or protracted.” [2] I like this definition because it gives permission to be angry, but says, its one thing to get angry, but the out-of-control, destructive anger, hurtful to others is another thing When writing this paper I found a lot of fascinating material on deep-seated and persistent anger and anger patterns, where strong anger revisits us and destroys our relationships with others, or our anger is “causeless, or excessive, or protracted”. This type of anger is often fuelled by past personal suffering and pain, and some kind of trigger event, but is something we may not even be aware of. So I will spend a lot of time picking this to pieces. Why should we dig so deep? Because as a theosophist I was ever aware of the need to set a good example, to be a good person, and on a good day, a Mahatma, but I think some of this thinking might have been misdirected to the point I was out of touch with who I was and living a life of emotional denial. We will also spend the last third of the paper talking about the kind of upsetting anger we encounter on a day-to-day basis that happens when the wires between us and the people we know get tangled crossed and short out. We will see some unusual and simple techniques we can use do to help solve this kind of anger in general.

We won’t be talking much, if at all, about trivial anger, like being late for work because we missed train or got a flat tyre, or when toast falls butter side down. I won’t be discussing karma, as I think it complicates a topic like this with too many ifs, buts and maybes.

To help me today I will present or should I say rehash in my own jumbled way, four thinker’s views – an anger counselor, a psychologist and two Buddhists monks, on where anger comes from and what we can do. So when we get really angry, where does it come from, this big black emotion? Are there different types of anger? Can we control this runaway horse? How? Why should we? What should we do when someone else is angry? Is anger ever justified? When? Should we smother anger like a blanket on a fire? Or should we run the risk of this emotion transforming the energy into another nasty human condition, the German theologian Paul Tillich warned us about when he said: “Depression is rage spread thin.” Our first expert witness is Frank Donovan. I have great respect for this Australian anger consultant, and his 1999 book Dealing with Anger[3]. Why? Because he was the first writer I had come across with enough common sense and practical advice to help me understand and respect what anger is. He explains the reasons for anger in a simple language with compassion. He once wrestled with a serious anger problem, so he comes to the topic with first hand know-how.

According the author: “Anger is largely the natural emotional response to our experience (or perception) of threat, assault, attack of harm. These experiences can be physical, emotional, intellectual or spiritual. I call these “assaults on selfhood” or “assaults on the self” because they challenge and diminish our own sense of who we are, what we can do and who we can become.

I believe this is central to our discussion today, so I will repeat it. He defines the self as “that inner set of experiences, hopes and fears of what is to come”, an “emotional biography” as he calls it, to which we add new lines daily. Our inner or authentic self he says is a project we are working until the day we die: I agree and I think you will agree we all have great hopes for it! The key to understanding anger, in this instance anger that gets out of control, he says, is that we have an inner-self wanting free expression, but among other things, it can be distorted by older unresolved pain and fears, and these can hang around as the fuel for anger if it seems to us that similar circumstances are happening again. Anger, the author says, is an intense emotional experience, it “is what we feel, not a reaction to what we feel”. The anger might come from an assault on the self, or others, or it might even be the result an accident, for example, slamming a thumb with a hammer. Anger is the way we “express our pain, fear and sense of powerlessness”: so we can say that anger is an intense clearing of the energy inside — with or without control. This is important, because if we hold on to this expression, which literally means a ‘pressing out’, the energy stays inside unless we have terrific self control, which I don’t and we re-frame the entire event, which I believe can be a clever form of suppression, and not transformation at all. And even more important is the distinction he makes between anger and violence. Anger is “what we feel, and violence is what we might do”. This I think makes for an intriguing definition. Therefore, he says you need to heal the pain and fear that drives anger. One must look inside, way down below the heavens so to speak, and work with anger to see where it is coming from, so one can control it and direct it in a less destructive direction than at a partner, child or workmate. Or a innocent bystander. Or another nation. A simple example is this, lets say as child we had a violent, abusive parent, if we see the same behavior today as an adult it will automatically trigger an overly strong emotional reaction, and perhaps even some of this anger I believe, is anger coming from the injustice we felt as children, when there was nothing we could do about it, but we suffered. I think when we were younger we did not have the life experience to realize what was happening, or perhaps even the ability to express our pain and fear, so this personal suffering and negative energy might be locked inside. As children we also have an innocent view of the world and are not expecting the world and life to be difficult or to let us down. And as adults we better understand the consequences of not defending ourselves against some form of attack on ourselves. About anger the author makes three general comments:

Anger is a normal human emotion, all over the world

When it produces violence, threatens or harms those around us, assaults other’s selfhood, it is a problem.

Anger, especially men’s anger, is less and less acceptable.

Anger also affects men and women in different ways. Women, he says can bottle anger up for years, “which they feel guilty for feeling!” Men another author points out, have an anger pattern that can easily spiral into ‘natural fight to the death anger’. I think our culture is getting confused about anger in general. The “unexpressed personal pain and unresolved fears of a lifetime” can be buried in the interests of looking strong and even spiritual. We are trained, sometimes at a young age, perhaps just by parental example, to be ashamed of getting angry, for all the right reasons, and this blanketing of all anger gets in our way sometimes. His comment on this approach of suppression is that we are “cutting off large parts our emotional selves and potentials is one of the most destructive assaults we can suffer. Yet we, by blocking out what we [really feel, we] …do it to ourselves daily, the way others did it to us as we grew up” So what is the way out? The author goes on the say that we must first own the anger, in other words face up to the fact that we have it, something less easy to do if we are well trained to hide from our anger, especially if we think all anger is sinful or a moral failure. And then he suggests these simple techniques. I have done some of these and they worked for me. To summarise this author’s thoughts, our unwanted anger patterns flourish on the “old, dry fuel of unhealed and easily rekindled pain”. We can do something about it if we develop the awareness; the mindfulness to act in a positive way and not pretend it is not there. One can defuse anger using these techniques. What does it feel like when solved? It feels like an over-inflated tire has had the extra air removed, and the road of daily life as a result is less bumpy. The Dalai Lama also mentioned deep-seated unresolved past fear and pain, but he said it as leaves what he calls a bad mark in our minds. Here’s what he said at

Sydney’s Darling Harbour Convention Centre earlier this year, with a few extra words added by me to help the readability:

“I think some of the troublemakers in our society, including among religious people, sometimes I usually describe ‘mischievous people’. So those mischievous people, I think if we study about their upbringing, I think most of these people grown up in the atmosphere of fear, or sense of insecurity. “Usually as children, particularly young age…feeling of peace and security, a sense of satisfaction, that’s basic nature, but those children who are lacking at that period, I think, I feel, some kind of bad mark in their mind, that remains their whole life. “So now the point is, the positive emotions, or constructive emotion, bring us tranquility or peace of mind. With peace of mind, difficult life can be handled more realistically, more practically. Disturbed mind often creates unrealistic method, including using force. The strong anger, or suspicion, fear, jealousy, these emotions bring unrealistic actions.” I find his comments fascinating. Notice we now have two experts on human nature telling us that past experiences leave a mark, making it harder for us to stay with positive emotions, one suggesting the bad mark of a lack of affection will be there forever, causing a lack of the inner feeling of peace and security, a lack of a sense of satisfaction with life. They are not the only ones who say this. Dr Phil is up next, with some thoughts on why our inner view of ourselves is important, and where it comes from. I think you’ll find Dr Phil agrees with the first two speakers, but he just has a different way of saying what amounts to the same thing, When we react to circumstances and other people’s actions, and sometimes with unnecessary anger, it’s often a result of our self-concept. This is the script or internal dialogue we have with ourselves about who we are, what we are saying to ourselves about how we will cope with things, and what we expect to happen. I see it as the way we pre-filter all life’s events, moment by moment. One common self-concept says “life is a great journey” where another’s self concept says is “life is to be endured”. Put simply, we build a large part of our self-concept from what he calls ten life defining moments and seven life defining decisions. Some of these life-defining moments are positive, a simple example is I used to win a lot of spelling bees in primary school: I therefore believe forever after that day, I can spell. And some of these life-defining moments are very painful. A simple example might be being sent to boarding school against our will and forced to stay for all the right reasons (and some wrong ones too). The result might be that that person is forever afraid of abandonment, even to the point where being on one’s own brings feelings of dread when the husband has taken the car and the wife is left at home. What this is all leading to is that anger, the strong destructive emotion, can appear inexplicably if we are in a situation that somehow reminds us of a life defining moments where we have been emotionally or physically violated, we suffered, and our authentic self was helpless to fight back. There does not seem to be a good reason at the time for such a strong reaction, but its there.

None of this is an excuse for destructive anger, it is an explanation. It is in our nature to resist whatever is happening today if we think we are under attack to try to stop it happening again. We will be more prone to strong emotions and anger if we do not have the calm centre and a positive script playing on the inside to work from.

How do we get to know our own inner causes and the signs, and create some way to get past them if we want to? The answer Dr Phil suggests is to identify these life events, carefully document what they were, and see if they reveal about our self-concept, and what limitations we might have put on thinking. This he says can help you get past their influence, back to your authentic self.

Notice the importance of identifying buried pain and personal suffering, this exercising mindfulness and clarity, is not just pop psychology. I like this approach because his aim is to help reach back into the authentic self, not plaster over everything with an autocratic veneer of synthetic positive thinking.

Here we are at the last part of the paper, and we are turning our thoughts to our daily relationships, and using mindfulness in a very practical way.

Thich Nhat Hanh is a Buddhist monk from

Vietnam, Dr Martin Luther King once nominated him for a Nobel Peace Prize. In his marvelous book Anger: Wisdom for Cooling the Flames (reviewed in a past

Sunrise magazine) says we go should “take care of our anger because it is unheard suffering” and if one suffers, how can they or others be happy? What an extraordinary idea. I would take a guess at this point and say most of us are quite hard on ourselves when we get angry. I know I am. It is worst when I have been angered when at home, because the usual risk is that anger at home is displayed at its most carefree and perhaps at the height of its flames. I always advise a couple - when they are angry with each other, they should go back to their breathing, their mindful walking, embrace their anger, and look deeply into the nature of their anger. And they may be able to transform that anger in just fifteen minutes or a few hours. If they cannot do that, then they will have to tell the other person that they suffer, that they are angry, and that they want the other person to know it. They will try to say it in a calm way. “Darling, I suffer, and I want you to know it.” And in

Plum

Village, where I live and practice, we advise our friends not to keep their anger for more than twenty-four hours without telling the other person. “Darling, I suffer, and I want you to know it. I do not know why you have done such a thing to me. I do not know why you have said such a thing to me.” That is the first thing they should tell the other person. And if they are not calm enough to say it, they can write it down on a piece of paper. The second thing they can say or write down is, “I am doing my best.” It means “I am practicing not to say anything, not to do anything with anger, because I know that in doing so I will create more suffering. So I am embracing my anger, I am looking deeply into the nature of my anger.” You tell the other person that you are practicing holding your anger, understanding your anger, in order to find out whether that anger has come from your own misunderstanding, wrong perception, your lack of mindfulness and your lack of skillfulness. And the third thing you might like to say to him or her is, “I need your help.” Usually when we get angry with someone, we want to do the opposite. We want to say, “I don’t need you. I can survive by myself alone.” “I need your help” means “I need your practice, I need your deep looking, I need you to help me to overcome this anger because I suffer.” And if I suffer, there is no way that you can be happy, because happiness is not an individual matter. If the other person suffers, there is no way that you can be truly happy alone. So helping the other person to suffer less, to smile, will make you happy also. [4] After I read this I was shaking my head and wondering, how is it that such practical wisdom and understanding of the human being is so rare? Again we are hearing how anger must be taken care of, not suppressed or silenced, but creatively tended with compassion. “In Buddhism we speak of the practice of deep listening, compassionate listening, a wonderful method by which we can restore communication—communication between partners, communication between father and son, communication between mother and daughter, communication between nations. The practice of deep listening should be taken up by parents, by partners, so that they can understand the suffering of the other person. That person might be our wife, our husband, our son, or our daughter. We may have enough good will to listen, but many of us have lost our capacity to listen because we have a lot of anger and violence in us. The other people do not know how to use kind speech; they always blame and judge. And language is very often sour, bitter. That kind of speech will always touch off the irritation and the anger in us and prevent us from listening deeply and with compassion. That is why good will to listen is not enough. We need some training in order to listen deeply with compassion. [5]

I suspect the author of these ideas on how to tell someone you are angry is spot on: it really does take a special kind of person to be able to listen deeply with compassion, even therapists get burnt out hearing nothing else but the problems we ourselves have given up trying to fix ourselves day after day with self help books like the ones here on the table, so finding some one with this skill is not going to be easy. One has to be able to listen to the feelings behind the words.

How can we summarise? As with all papers like these, the writer probably learns more than the listener. (I hear the same applies to consultants). It is a difficult topic. It asks us to look at the events that have shaped us, and respect ourselves enough to admit that personal suffering is a cause of anger, and like a crying baby, we need to look after this anger.

Stefan Carey October 2007: This talk should not be used as a advice; it is just general information with some reflections of my own.

[1] www.wikipedia.com

[2] (Matt. 5:22; Eph. 4:26; Col. 3:8). (anger. Dictionary.com. Easton’s 1897 Bible Dictionary. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/anger (accessed: September 17, 2007)

[3] Frank Donovan, Dealing with Anger, Finch Publishing,

Sydney, 1999

[4] Think Pieces: Thoughtful Essays and Other Think Pieces Pertaining to the State of Our World, A Public Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh at the

Riverside

Church,

New York, September 25th, 2001

[5] Thoughtful Essays and Other Think Pieces Pertaining to the State of Our World,

A Public Talk by Thich Nhat Hanh at the

Riverside

Church,

New York, September 25th, 2001

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Fri 12 Oct 2007

THE COSMIC MAGNET by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE COSMIC MAGNET by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

In the Cosmos, everything is connected and held together thanks to the ever acting force of attraction. When closely observing this force, we find behind it the mechanism of magnetism. Helena Roerich’s spiritual Teacher gave her an understanding of this mechanism communicated to us through her book, Agni Yoga, especially the section of this book called “Infinity”.Agni Yoga tells us: “Everything corresponds to each other. Everything is mutually attracted and everything is reflected in the bottomless ocean of creativity.” (Agni Yoga, Infinity, part 1, 26).The Mechanism of the Cosmic Magnet: Any Essence in the entire Cosmos is manifested as a hologram of the Spirit. Any Essence contains the “core of the Spirit”, as it is called in Agni Yoga. This “core” is a cosmic magnet attracting other “cores” in conformity with the quality of their vibrations (“Similar attracts similar”). The power of attraction depends on the spiritual might or “momentum” of the Essence, and the latter – on the level of its vibrations’ frequency. The higher vibrations, the mightier the Essence.In the multi-dimensionality of the Cosmos, the highest frequencies of Fire energy vibrations belong to the Essences of higher and larger Consciousness, which expresses itself also through a larger number of dimensions. The Divine Hierarchy becomes composed in conformity with the law of the Cosmic Magnet. Every Essence takes a place according to the momentum of its Magnet.In fact, the Cosmic Magnet is the mechanism of the law of Unity. Its action tends to reconnect everything that has been separated as opposites in the process of Involution, in conformity with the similarity of their purposes. These opposites are parts of the Unity; therefore their separation creates the strain of magnetism. The opposites, like “plus” and “minus” in a permanent magnet, attract each other because they tend to become united, to come to their Wholeness. But their separation is continuing, and the power of attraction is creating strain. This strain is the creative force of the Universe.The Results of the Magnet’s Action: Creativity of the Spirit in Cosmos and learning through creativity is the purpose and the meaning of life and magnetism of every Essence. “The combination of cosmic transformations is called cosmic creativity. When the Cosmos displaces powers, the balance of spheres is broken. When the equilibrium of powers is eliminated, then the powers of space become attracted to the new tension, and the Cosmic Magnet strains cosmic symmetry. ‘Infinity’ is created in such a way.” (Agni Yoga, Infinity, part 2, 623).The final result of the Cosmic Magnet’s centripetal action is unification. Striving for the centre, which is in the nature of the Cosmic Magnet, becomes reflected in different forms. For example, in the manifested Universe, the law of the Cosmic Magnet is acting as the law of Gravitation. We can see how the mechanism of this law is “fastening” the Essences in Space.We can also see manifestations of the cosmic magnet in the micro-world of electrically charged electrons and other particles, which are held together by the electro-magnetic forces. “As above, so below”.The resultant effect of the centripetal action of the Magnet could bring all forms of Existence into one point without any time or material extent, but there are other cosmic laws and forces in the Infinity, which prevent this occurring during the Manvantara, or period of manifestation. There is a constant flow of the divine Love energy realising the Spirit’s centrifugal tendency of creation and manifestation. Therefore, immense tensions and pressures appear at every point of Infinity. Together, these forces bring the Essences to rotation.The cyclic processes from the Prima Materia till the Solid World are examples of manifestation of the law of the Cosmic Magnet. The essence of these processes is the universal process of Involution and Evolution. The Trinity of the cosmic laws: the law of Love (the flow of divine energy), the law of the Cosmic Magnet and the regulator of the law of Karma together form a great “cosmic converter”, which is relentlessly generating and creating in the Infinity of Cosmos, in a multitude of manifestations.“The Celestial Bodies in their rotation attract and draw energies into their orbits; therefore, the creativity of Celestial Bodies saturates the Universe. The characteristic of the core of spirit is established for the entire Manvantara and makes an identical essence with the Celestial Body. Certainly, the monad is also saturated by Celestial Bodies, because it makes the core of the spirit.” (Agni Yoga, Infinity, part 2, 328). We, humans, experience the attraction of the Cosmic Magnet from the Celestial Essences through their Rays, meaning the Rays of their Consciousness. This energy is coloured with spectrums of vibrations of the Rays. In response, we send our thought energy, connecting to the Magnet of the higher Essence with our attitude and aspiration. In such manner, we realise our combined creative efforts.Human Monads and the Cosmic Magnet: Every human Monad, as the Spirit’s particle, under the power of the Cosmic Magnet, generates fine signals, a kind of “energy instinct”. These signals dictate the direction for the human aspiration. Everyone can hear them. When our spiritual “ear” is clear and sensitive enough, we feel the attraction of the Cosmic Magnet in our life. We meet people and circumstances that help us to fulfil our spiritual purposes. We literally become attracted to each other. The Cosmic Magnet is attracting us to the circumstances where we are obliged to make our choices and, in conformity with them, either to collect or balance our Karma. “When the Cosmic Magnet attracts parts that are predetermined to be amalgamated, then all obstacles become obliterated by the power of attraction. Therefore, overcoming obstacles leads to the predetermined result. The currents of the Cosmic Magnet are immutable. Indeed, the holy Magnet is the might of Being!” (Agni Yoga, Infinity, part 2, 528).The Cosmic Magnet in the Planet’s Life: Not only individuals, but also entire Global Races communicate and replace each other in conformity with the action of the Cosmic Magnet – the mechanism and force of Unification (Evolution). Therefore, according to Agni Yoga, cosmic magnetism withstands forces, which confront Evolution, and supports those that go in a harmonious direction. This mechanism is working automatically, and becomes particularly important in the time of planetary changes. Agni Yoga reveals the importance of understanding the essence of the Cosmic Magnet in this day and age:”Awareness about the Cosmic Magnet will help humanity to understand all radical planetary changes. When spirit can accept the essence of the Magnet, then it is able to penetrate into the high spheres. Knowledge of the law of Magnetic attraction in its application in life will grant understanding of the highest spheres. When the Cosmic Magnet predetermines a planetary phenomenon, then this law strains all the surrounding layers of Cosmos. When the layers of people’s deeds wrap into gloom, then the Cosmic Magnet establishes the conforming phenomenon. Therefore, the Celestial Entities surrounding the planet are acting in collaboration with the Cosmic Magnet.” (Agni Yoga, Infinity, part 2, 511).The Power of Human Magnet: Celestial Bodies representing the spiritual Essences of Light, assist our planet and us humans in our aspiration to Evolution, with their magnetic power. Imagine the tension of fire inside the stars! This is the condition of their Magnet’s action. If we want to create in cooperation with them, our own magnet has to be strained also with the maximal power possible for us. A weak spirit doesn’t attract and create. Strain is a compulsory condition of creation. That is why we need to set ourselves difficult tasks and be not afraid of dire circumstances that may accompany their fulfilment.Contemporary civilisation has established different means and mechanisms allowing people to avoid pain and strain. We can take tablets and buy the assistance of health professionals, replacing our own efforts of balancing Karma and our spiritual development, instead of combining our own effort with the assistance we receive. In such a way, we delay our karmic responsibilities and deprive ourselves of the state of challenge, which is the only circumstance that can bring us to the level of creative strain necessary to increase the strength of our Magnet. Conversely, when we accept our responsibility and challenge our weakness and darkness, then we create through our efforts. The contemporary generation inherited some cultural treasures that came from on High through the devotion and strain of their authors. The beautiful books by Leo Tolstoy and Helena Blavatsky, the paintings by Rembrandt and Van Gough and the music by Mozart and Beethoven are examples of such treasures of culture. The tense and stressful life of these creative people gives an example of devotion to the manifestation of spiritual Light. As a result, their great works pass on to us the inspiring flow of divine energy that has been attracted by the authors’ Magnet. Sometimes we don’t even suspect the level of pain and patience that allowed the creation of such Beauty!These are the examples of the eternal action of the Cosmic Magnet in humans, where their selfless application of this powerful mechanism produces Beauty. Quite the reverse, when the human Magnet becomes applied for selfish purposes, then it produces Karma.Buddha opened for us the main mechanism of the Kali Yuga – the mechanism of desires. People would do everything to gratify their desires, from the simplest and most insistent, like the desire for food and energy in common, to the most sophisticated desires for different means of self-indulgence. And yes, it works! The Magnet can attract everything to which we are striving. This is why it sometimes seems that our desires are the only possible engine driving our life.Buddha wasn’t hiding from us the other side of the Magnet’s action – the karmic mechanism of redemption through suffering. It is going together, hand by hand, gratification of desires and subsequent suffering from the accumulated Karma. Buddha advised us to renounce our desires, but we are free to choose where and how to apply our mighty tool, with which every one of us is endowed, - our Cosmic Magnet. We will attract the people and circumstances, which conform to our choice and the power of our personal magnet. In fact, all of us form certain centres of magnetic attraction, which together make the pattern of humanity’s destiny.Question: Why does my destiny constantly return me to the same difficult situations, or into the same places, or to the same people that were in some way connected with my past?Comment: The Space Memory contains the records of your spiritual qualities that have to be mastered in the current incarnation. For this purpose, certain situations have to provide options for your choice. The Cosmic Magnet attracts you to people, places and events which lead you to the points of choice and provide you with the opportunities to fulfil your spiritual duties. Sometimes your choice balances Karma, and the spiritual task becomes solved. Sometimes, quite the reverse, your choice collects new Karma, and it has to be balanced in the future. Then the law of Karma may force you to return into a similar situation, or to the same place or people. It depends on the lesson that has to be learnt through your experiences. In the place, where you have been before, you have left – a trace of your magnetism. The Cosmic Magnet attracts you to it, if Karma is yet not worked out and the necessary spiritual duties aren’t fulfilled.

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Thu 11 Oct 2007

THE REACTOR OF EVOLUTION by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE REACTOR OF EVOLUTION by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

What do we understand as human Evolution? For the answer, let’s undertake the adventure of travelling to the very core of the Existence.We understand that everything originates from one source, which we can call Spirit, Substance-Principle, Prima Materia, Brahman or simply “the Source”. Let us call this Source Spirit. Spirit is the source of any energy and the energy itself. It is creating universes with the vibrations of this energy, starting from the primordial Fire and Light (Spirit’s Consciousness). The finest vibrations of Fire and Light are the “building material” of the first holograms of Matter. As vibrations lessen their frequency, their holograms solidify. In such a way, through the process of its Involution, Spirit is forming the holograms of Matter, starting from the finest of them, almost pure spirit, and ending with those which we see as solid matter.When we look at us, human beings, we can see that we, resulting from the process of Spirit’s Involution, reflect all the stages of this process. We possess a solid physical body, intermediate fine bodies (like astral, ethereal, etc, there are different naming systems), and our spiritual essence, which is pure Spirit.We understand as human Evolution the process of returning to Spirit – our spiritual ascent. In this process, we are purifying and refining our vibrations until all of them come to the pure condition of Spirit.How can we do this? Aren’t we let into our world and then lost without any idea of how we can return to our Father – Spirit? It appears that we have been provided with a powerful instrument for our return – the “Reactor of Evolution”, which every one of us carries within – the acing reactor of our Monad. This is a real reactor, with energies much more powerful than those in the man-made nuclear reactors. They are of the same nature, matter-to-energy transformation, but the reactor of Evolution is operating with much finer vibrations of primordial Fire.This is a very brief picture of the core mechanism of human Monad. You can find a more detailed description and also the symbolic picture of the “Reactor of Evolution” in our book The Laws of Life at: (www.trafford.com/robots/03-0600.html). The picture of the “Reactor of Evolution” shows us the process of manifestation of the higher dimensions of Spirit in the Monad and the seven layers-envelopes of the Monad’s Body. Three highest levels correspond to the deepest layers of the “Reactor of Evolution”. These are levels of the Fiery World of Spirit – the levels of Spirit, the Logos and the Monad. The Monad is like a spiritual “seed” of any living entity, abiding in its sacred depths and connecting it with Spirit.We could draw some notion of the Monad’s mechanisms from different esoteric descriptions. Stanza IV in The Secret Doctrine by H.P.Blavatsky shows the differentiation of the One “into the septenary hierarchy of conscious Divine Powers, who are the active manifestations of the One Supreme Energy”. Other esoteric writers say that the seven energy centres of the Supreme Being radiate the seven Energies, or Rays, which create and control every shape in the manifest Universe (perhaps, the term “hologram” rather than “shape” would be more precise).The seven energies, or rays, organize seven energy centres in every hologram and repeatedly appear in every “cosmos”, from the macrocosm of a Solar Universe to the microcosm of every great and tiny entity living within it.We found the most precise and detailed description of the “Reactor of Evolution” in Kalagia, an inspired book of esoteric philosophy written down the 1990s by Alexander Naumkin in

Russia. Kalagia is available only in Russian language except for the portions of it translated into English in our book The Laws of Life. As Kalagia explains: “We can symbolically call the Monad an energy capsule filled with Information and Fire that make the human Essence.” The Monad is “enveloped” in seven “envelopes” that manifest the Monad’s multi-dimensional “body”. The frequencies of the “envelopes’” energy vibrations conform to the frequencies of vibrations of the seven layers of the human spiritual (energy) body.Kalagia writes: “Inside the Monad, the Fiery Core of the human Spirit is in a state of dreaming. We should awaken it, to be precise – awaken a human being for the activity of the Fiery Core of his Spirit.” H.P.Blavatsky also referred to people being “lost” or “asleep”. When an awakening human being begins the journey along the spiritual path, penetrating into his or her “Reactor of Evolution”, then the Monad’s “envelopes” begin to open and the spiritual body, the Soul – to flourish. The deeper in the “Reactor of Evolution” the higher the frequency of energy vibrations, the mightier their power, the finer and more beautiful their manifestations.As the seven Rays have formed our consciousness and human form, so, on our Path to Unity, we receive the assistance and guidance of the Planetary Spirits, Lords of the Seven Rays, and the opportunity of spiritually developing through our service to these Rays.We can find information about the Lords of the Rays and descriptions of their assistance and our duties on the Path in the books of Agni Yoga by Helena Roerich and other eminent esoteric writers who have been inspired by Theosophy. The spiritual path leads us eventually to unity. We follow in the footsteps of the Mahatmans, or Masters of Wisdom, through the mystery of Initiation and, if we run the race of spiritual evolution successfully, eventual Ascension to a higher state of consciousness.One of the Masters of Wisdom says that when a man anchors his consciousness in the Highest and requests assistance from the Higher Powers, he can receive a boundless flow of pure divine energy. Human aspiration to the heights of the Spirit becomes the guiding thread, arrow, or vector, applying this energy for Ascension.On each level of spiritual development, a man is undergoing his trials. The temptation may arise to wander from the spiritual path when the impurity of the remaining low human vibrations in the constitution of the spiritual aspirant begins to attract similarly impure entities from invisible lower worlds. Sometimes a man is tempted to apply occult powers to satisfy the self-centred desires of his Lower Self. As H.P.Blavatsky writes in one of her letters, in this case “these capacities running riot, controlling instead of being controlled, using instead of being used, lead the student into the most dangerous delusions and the certainty of moral destruction”. As a consequence, a man becomes entangled into another cycle of terrestrial experiences and trials. He accumulates Karma by using divine energy for his low desires. He thus contaminates his own energy body, and eventually, after much suffering, comes to an awareness of his spiritual duties and returns to his spiritual path. The method and mechanism that allows man to avoid this repetition of trials is connected with constantly improving his energy vibrations and attuning himself to the multi-dimensional vibrations of the higher levels of Existence (the deeper levels of the “reactor”). “Tuning” is possible through our sensations and feelings in our own octave of Existence.There are seven notes in the octave, seven colours in the rainbow and seven main Chakras (energy centres) in the human energy body, which serve as instruments for this tuning. With these instruments, we are capable of perceiving direct assistance from Essences whose consciousness reaches seven dimensions, i.e. the real kingdom above humans – the various grades of what many cultures have called Gods, or Dhyan Chohans, as some grades of them are known in Theosophy, – seven levels of awareness. They are helping us on the seven Rays. Each of these Rays has its note and colour, and helps us to develop certain spiritual qualities that we need if we intend to reach the next level of consciousness. We are capable of gradually reaching the fourth, fifth, sixth and, finally, seventh dimension of consciousness. Then we will be capable of “jumping” into the next octave of higher vibrations that are inconceivable from our contemporary state of consciousness.Elizabeth Haich calls “seven” “the main number of the three-dimensional world” in her book Initiation. In Russian, the word “family” is pronounced as “seven I”. Perhaps, the number “eight”, from the standpoint of the three-dimensional man, means transition into the next octave of dimensions. It denotes the state of consciousness where the seven ascend to their Higher Selves and come to unity on a higher level of the spiritual hierarchy.This is the Path to Unity with Spirit within the “Reactor of Evolution”. Plato described this as the process of “unforgetting”. This means that because a person contains all the planes of the Universe within, a person has an “Inner God”, or “Buddha”, already fully aware within. All we have to do is to remove the barriers to such a Buddha within.The process of “unforgetting” is leading our consciousness to the centre of the “Reactor of Evolution” – to Spirit within our Monad – by the means of gradually removing the energy barriers and appearing in the higher energy layers. An opposite process of “forgetting” is also possible. In this case people begin to build complementary energy barriers, “cocoons”, in their consciousness. These barriers envelope their consciousness from Spirit, and they eventually “forget” about their spiritual purpose. After “forgetting”, their consciousness exists almost completely within the Illusion (Maya) of these “cocoons” until the moment of spiritual “awakening”, changing the direction of development and aspiring to the unfolding of the envelopes of “cocoons”.

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Wed 10 Oct 2007

AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RELIGION: perspectives from Theosophy by Bernard Parsons

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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AUSTRALIAN ABORIGINAL RELIGION: perspectives from Theosophy by Bernard Parsons

I propose to read a poem and a story by way of introduction to this talk.I am told the Aborigines used words having different levels of meaning. There was the ordinary everyday level then at a certain initiation the same word was given a further meaning, and at a further initiation a third meaning was added.The poem needs atmosphere, rhythm sticks, a didgeridoo grunting and groaning and a tropical night with the tribe assembled.

Song of the Wonguri-Mandjigai People.

-Up and up soars the Evening Star hanging there in the sky.-Men watch it, at the Place of the Dugong, the Place of the Clouds, the Place of the Evening Star,-Far off, at the place of the Mist, the Place of Lilies, the Place of the Dugong-The Lotus, Evening Star, hangs there on its long stalk held by the spirits.-It shines on that Place of the Shade, on the Dugong Place, and the Moonlight Claypan.-The Evening Star shines back toward Milingimbi, over the Wulamba people…-Hanging there in the distance toward the Place of the Dugong.-The Place of the Eggs, of the Tree-Limbs-Rubbing-TogetherPlace of the Clay-pan…-Shining there on its short stalk, the Evening Star; Always at the clay pan, the Place of the Dugong-There far off, the long string hangs at the Place of the Evening Star the Place of Lilies.-Sway there at Milingimbi…at the Place of the Full Moon, Hanging above of that Wonguri headman:-The evening Star goes down across the camp, among the white gum trees…-Far away in those places near Milingimbi…-Goes down among the Nguruwulu people, toward the camp and the gum trees,-At the Place of the Crocodiles, Place of the Evening Star,away toward Milingimbi…-Evening Star going down, lotus flower on its stalk…-Going down among all the Western clans…-It brushes the heads of the uncircumcised people…-Sinking down in the sky, the Evening Star, the lotus…-Shining onto the foreheads of all those headmen…-On to the heads of all those Sandfly People…

-It sinks into the place of the white gum trees at Milingimbi.

The story I have to tell is not one of the secret initiatory type but one told around the campfire. Like the poem it comes from a northern tribe.

The Beginning of the World.

This story comes from the Aboriginal people of Northern Australia. They believe that in the beginning all was darkness. The earth was featureless. No hills or valleys broke its flat surface. No birdsongs were head on its trackless surface. It was a silent world.The time came when Kara, ancient and blind, clasping three young children to her breast rose out of the ground and started to grope her way from place to place in the dark. As she did this, a sea of water bubbled up in the tracks she left behind her. After some days of wandering over the earth she last of all made a channel that separated the island of the Tiwi people (

Melville Island) from the Australian mainland. After that blind Kara decreed that the

island of

Tiwi should be tree-covered, with animals and tiny spirit children so that her own family, whom she was leaving on the island, would have sufficient food and children to populate the land. No-one knows whence she came or where she went to continue her creative tasks.The three children of Kara were two girls, Wuriu and Murapa, and their brother Purupu. They soon grew up and Purupu found the spirit children and brought them to his sisters, so that could become mothers.Years went by, many other children were born and grew up to be men and women.In those early days there was neither light nor heat, the Tiwi people had to feel round in the darkness for food and when they found it they ate it raw.One day there was a great storm with thunder and lightning. Two men were feeling their way through the forest when they saw a light where the lightning had struck a log. This sight puzzled them so the men watched it closely for a long time.To see what would happen they covered it with dry strips of bark and leaves. They were astonished to see the glowing embers burst into flame. This spectacle frightened the two so much that they ran to Purupu and asked him to destroy this evil monster they had found. However Purupu, when he saw the blazing wood and felt the heat of it understood that his friends had discovered something that would give people something to lighten the darkness and give warmth against the cold and means to cook their food.So that the people of the Tiwi should never again be without fire, Purupu gave both his sister Wuriu, and his friend Japara, a torch of blazing bark. Japara’s torch was much smaller than Wuriu’s.When the torches were passed to them he also gave them a most solemn command that the two torches must always be kept alight.Life was very much more pleasant with the coming of fire. The people of the Tiwi grew in numbers and spread, further out from their first camp until they were everywhere on the island.At about the same time Purupu married a young woman called Bima, and it was not long before he brought to her a spirit child which later was born an earth baby.Purupu was immensely proud of his infant son Jinimi, and spent many hours talking to him and playing with him. Every morning Bima took Jinimi into the jungle whilst she collected food. When evening came she brought him back to camp to the joy of his father.Japara, carrying the smaller torch would often follow his friend’s wife Bima. They would leave the baby Jinimi, in a tree shaded place and sneak off into the jungle together. One day when the sun blazed hot in the sky they stayed in the jungle too long, and when they returned the shade had moved and Jinimi was dead.When Bima took her dead baby back Purupu was very angry. He beat Bima about the head with his wooden club and after he had chased her into the jungle, savagely attacked Japara her lover. The two men fought fiercely for hours, until both were severely wounded and collapsed with exhaustion.Purupu, after he had rested a little, picked up baby Jinimi’s dead body and still firing curses at his faithless wife and his friend, her lover, walked backward into the sea and drowned himself. Today in that place there is a whirlpool of such strength that any Aborigine who tried to cross it in his canoe would certainly drown.The death of Purupu and his son brought the creation period to an end. It was also the signal for the people to gather for the elaborate burial rites which are still performed by the Tiwi. At the end of the ceremonies all the descendents of the old woman Kara, when they returned to their camps transformed themselves into one or another of the creatures, plants or heavenly bodies.Japara with his torch rose in the sky and became the face scarred moon man. Bima the sad unfaithful wife became a curlew and still roams the forest at night wailing with sorrow for the loss of her baby and the trouble she brought on the world. Wiriu with her large torch changed into the sunwoman. Every day she travels across the heavens giving light and warmth.The first light of dawn brings the soft tuneful call of Tukimbini to wake the sleepers and taking their spears or dishes hunt game or gather food for all to eat.During the hottest hours of the day the fire by which Wiriu the sun-woman cooked the food she had gathered during the morning becomes to hot that all Aborigines to into the cool jungle to rest until it is cool enough to hunt again. Soon after Japara the moon-man rises in the east to lighten the darkness of night.

Early nest morning Tukimbini’s sweet notes again waken the people to their daily tasks and so the cycle goes on again.

From listening even to these very typical selections from the Aboriginal culture you can see evidence of a considerable sophistication of concepts.There are the high gods – Kara, and low – Purupu, architect and builder.There is a hint of this story of the cyclical nature of life as the Aborigines saw it. You noticed the whirl-pool?Reincarnation is an Aborigine belief that conveys this characteristic.From this story of the beginning of the world you are probably wondering how much the Aborigines have of the ancient teachings. How much do they teach of the Path that is so beautifully set out in the Gita and the middle way (Eightfold Path) of the Buddha.If your thoughts whilst reading this have a theme or trend in a particular direction, I would suggest it is this. Most of the Aborigines deprived of their ancient sacred trails and holy places when the last of their initiates died, feel that all is lost. The old path is gone for ever. My suggestion is, the true path is one of many levels. There is a spiritual way as well as the path set out on mother earth. If you ask the question “were the Aborigines aware of the spiritual significance of the rainbow serpent whose pathway they used to ceremoniously follow at the appointed times?”, I can only tell another story.They taught that at death man dissolved into his parts. The life and atoms of his body became the life atoms of his totem animal; the life atoms of his soul go to his tribal totem, his spirit goes to its home. It meets the male and female aspects of a god and is tested. The male tries to make him laugh. If the spirit under test can maintain its equanimity it goes on home to father sun. If not the spirit goes no further.This story, it seems to me, suggests that hints of deep understanding are there in the Aboriginal tradition.There would be, I suggest, tremendous value for the Aborigines in the realisation that their ancient tradition is a fine one.It is akin to the major religions of the world.It has, as we do, a belief in a continuum of life and spirit. That the universe is a wonderful infinite organisation of living being – a brotherhood.It shares belief in the four elements with Buddhism and the Greeks.It has a very ethical tradition. At the time of initiation, the young man was instructed in his obligations by an old member of the tribe, man or woman. Dr. Donald Thompson listed these instructions.1. Do not be greedy, share.2. Do not steal.3. Respect old people.4. Respect strangers.5. Respect women. Do not stare at them.6. Keep a clean mouth – Do not lie or swear.7. Have courage.Inter tribal warfare was almost unknown as was considered a type of suicide.The Aborigines have been laughed at and patronised for their quaint beliefs. I

suggest that far from being quaint they are very often close to the truth.

The Inquest and the Four Elements.

To find who is “responsible” for the death of someone the Aborigines go through a strange process. Even though the cause of death may seem to be obvious. For instance if someone felling a tree accidentally cause it to fall on and kill another man, the tree felling act was the instrument of death and not necessarily its cause.At a meeting of the tribe for the purpose four objects are put out in the centre of the tribal gathering – a piece of charcoal, representing fire; a feather, air; a stone, earth; and a shall, water.Everybody watches for a sign. Something always seems to happen. A puff of wind might move the feather or a beetle cause the stone or shell to move. The sharp eyes of the old women and men see the sign and declare that someone from the portion of the tribe indicated by that sign is guilty.Further tests will determine who is the person who thought a death wish and so caused the death.

Having pronounced the name of the guilty one, no more action is usually taken. While the method of divination is strange to us, we theosophists do recognise the power of our thoughts to harm or bless someone and this feature is the outstanding feature of the practice.

An extract by H.C. Coombs, discussing the future of the Australian Aboriginal people gives a good summary of Aboriginal philosophy.

“In his own world the Aboriginal did not see Man as one thing and Nature as another; he was of Nature. He saw the Earth itself, plants, animals and men, the clouds and the stars, indeed all natural phenomena, as a living system of social life. It was not just a scientific or philosophical system, but one with which and by which Man must live consciously and reverently. Long before Terrance said “nothing concerning Man can be alien to me,” the Aboriginal was asserting and living by the faith that nothing in all Nature can be alien to me. It is true but inadequate to say of Aboriginal life that it was in harmony with Nature. The harmony came from Man being in thought, word and deed of Nature itself. Over at least 30,000 years Aboriginal society was instinct with the understanding that its highest, most religious purpose was to help Nature be itself, to be unchanging, to replenish it. From this replenishment, Man himself was nurtured, and his kind perpetuated as successive generations inherited an environment as rich, as beautiful and as spiritually alive as that of their ancestors. To this purpose were dedicated the great ceremonies in all their richness. Their life, it is true by our material standards may seem to have been excessively simple and in some respects, poor, but it was not unduly arduous, and there was time for the less immediate but more fundamental purposes of human existence”. He goes on to mention the hunting skills, “and also that there was time for games, stories, song and dance, drama, and the great ceremonies, sacred and profane. Almost every day was one of journeying, sometimes only for hunting and food gathering, sometimes to visit a neighbouring group to share good things, sometimes to come together with other related groups to share the experience of ceremonial life. Indeed, it was in these shared experiences that much of the purpose, justification, and fulfilment of life itself were founded. There was within the social groups a complex pattern of relationships which was both source of support and of mutual obligation. The outcome of the hunt and the food gathered were shared in accordance with firm tradition. No person was uncared for or unsupported when care or support was needed and no-one was without obligations to others. This pattern of complex mutual relationships with a strong sense of personal, as well as social obligations, gave to their care for children and for the aged, a warmth by comparison with which the impersonal social service benefits of our society seem poor indeed”.

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Mon 24 Sep 2007

MAN KNOW THYSELF by Amanda Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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MAN, KNOW THYSELF

Amanda Rooke

I have brought in the cover of the CD of British rock band,The Moody Blues, album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour. I think this illustration sums up the doctrine of ‘Man Know Thyself’ - an old man presenting the precious stone of the knowledge of the divine to a little boy, both their faces perfect in their appearance, seeming to radiate with the light of this knowledge. I’ll leave it on the wall as a constant reference point for us, and I will end with a poem by this fantastic group, which again sums it all up, in my estimation.

Theosophical writer, Dr Gottfried de Purucker,[GDP] speaks much about “Man know thyself”, and believes it is in the teachings of all the world’s great philosophies and religions which indicate that man’s constitution contains “not only all the mysteries in the Universe, but as containing likewise the master-key unlocking those mysteries themselves”, and in proportion, the more man learns to know himself, the more he is able to unlock the mysteries of the Universe around him, which he mistakenly thinks to be outside himself. [1] This is not to say we should be narcissistic and self-obsessed, of course, we must think outwards and live in the world.

Has anyone seen the movie The Secret Garden? You may recall the scene where the heroine, a little girl orphaned in India, and coming to England, explained this wonderful doctrine, condensed for a child’s understanding in a tale her Hindu nursemaid taught her. She told of a little boy who was very special, because when you looked down his throat, you could see the whole universe there. I think the boy must have been one of the Hindu gods. Of course, her (really odious) English cousin scoffed and said: “Don’t be silly, the universe would never fit inside him! That’s impossible”, but I think he came to believe this, from the events that unfolded later. I too hope to unfold how Man mirrors the universe, the sum of his pieces being greater than the whole. The girl was saying what HPB called “poor orphaned humanity”, was also trying to find its way home. As we’ve been told often before, the gods pondered where to hide the truth of Man’s inheritance and the truth of life, deciding to hide it somewhere he would never look for it, within himself! Grace Knoche, in her book: Theosophy in the Qabbalah, discussed the origin of the universe, which the ancients pictured in the form of a great tree, or a divine man, originator/Adam Kadmon. A similar story reflects the many and varied forms of the successive avatars of Vishnu, the preserver in the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Siva and Vishnu, all emitting from Brahma originally. An avatar is a ray sent from a god, originating from a ray from the raja sun, which shines upon a very spiritual man who acts for the greater good upon the earth. (At this point in the lecture a wooden carving of Vishnu riding a Garuda bird, which was carved on the island of Bali in Indonesia was shown. Also and illustration from the indian epic The Bhagavad Gita, illustrating Krishna and Arjuna in their chariot)) This is pictorially summed up in the statue of Garuda, Vishnu’s “means of transportation”, a great divine eagle/man. And we are reminded of the symbolism of the chariot (the man), with its charioteer, the higher self/selves, yet drawn by a horse, the lower self, working in cooperation with its fellow-selves as one. Another smaller statue [of an eagle/man, also from

Bali] better shows the morphing of the eagle with the man, perhaps our animal and spiritual nature combined. In many philosophies Man is described as midway between the animals and the angels or gods, having the body of the former and the mind/spirit of the latter. On the big statue, eagle-man’s back sits his godlike director, and below, they stand upon the back of the turtle whose segmented back mirrors the continents in the seas of the earth, and the horn on whose nose (also a representation of Mt. Meru, the original and holiest land created), was used as the twisting-peg for the rope, serpent also with a horned nose, which rope was twirled to stir the primordial oceans of milk into curds, the continents upon which men live, and whey, the oceans. There were serial creations, a series of worlds, a series of

Adams or Manus, told of in Hindu and Jewish, mysticism. Vishnu in earliest tales plunged into the waters in the form of a boar, to hold up the earth on his tusks, and in later versions he has 10 avataras, ranging from the fish, tortoise, boar, man-lion, dwarf, with Krishna at the 8th and the 10th who will be the Kalki-avatara (a bit like Christ of the 2nd coming, or the Maitreya Buddha). I think this eagle-man, the intercessor between godlike and animal kingdoms, is Man working in his higher nature, to achieve contact with the angelic/godlike, abodes, as in the intersecting downward and upward triangles of the Seal of Solomon. The emanator, from a single point to the plethora of points making up the manifest universe, the “ra” symbol, symbolises the inner spiritual, sutra atman, or thread-self, the bead-string and the place through which it is threaded, linking us with all the rest of Manifestation of which we are a part and which are fellow-mirrors of the greater life within life, from which we originated, and part of which is in us and everything. The dot is the Raja Sun, within the outer circle of sun we see in the sky, which is nevertheless our physical source of life.(show picture) This too is a constant reference point diagram!

Vishnu is the god, sits atop the animal-man, atop the animal, a chain of being. A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion says Vishnu’s name derives from the root “vish”, “to pervade”, he manifested the solar energy, crossing the seven regions of the universe in three steps and enveloping all things with the dust of his beams; embodying mercy and goodness displayed as the preserving power, the self-existent, all-pervading spirit, as per the water pervading everywhere before Creation, coalescing in the image of Narayana who sleeps upon the waters, and from whom his worshippers believe all things emanate, in the form of 10 (actually innumerable) Avataras, 8th = Krishna, - succeeding in levels of spiritual actualisation. [3] This is like the doctrine of Swabhava in the Indian Sanskrit language “to become”, “to grow into something” or “self-becoming” - each being has its essential nature “Swabhavat” and that each being expresses this essential nature through garments, vehicles or bodies, which are suitable for it at each stage of its long journey of spiritual evolution. The fundamental and immortal Self sends rays of itself into the material worlds and uses appropriate vehicles to express its inner nature a bit like the Sun sending out its rays into the surrounding darkness of the Solar System and nourishing the different planets of its kingdom.

The French philosopher and mathematician, Descartes, said: “I think therefore I am”. We save and build piece by piece for ourselves, from our experiences, a mirror of the outer world within our mind and brain, made to make sense of the outside world. Studying to be a plumber, we become a plumber – “For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he” [prov, xxiii, 7], or in Sanskrit: Yadyad rupam kamayate devata, tattad rupam devata bhavati: - “Whatever body (or form) a divine being longs for, that very body (or form) the divine being becomes”, because “Tat twam asi” “That, thou art”. [5] That or Tat, is the Sanskrit name for the ineffable spiritual source of all. You can successfully be you, you can’t really be someone else, therefore “find your joy” and be it with all your might.

GDP wrote that: “Man know thyself,” gnôthi seauton, was an archaic Greek motto written over the portico of one of the temples of the Oracle of Apollo of Delphi. He refers constantly to the body as the temple of the living spirit. In the The Secret Doctrine by HP Blavatsky [HPB], it says that the Delphic Temple had in it a sacred symbol (of wood, then bronze), of the sacred numeral Five, linked with the five words written upon Christ’s akashic shining garment at His glorification, and linked to the five mystic powers on the robe of the Initiate after his last trial of three days trance. (robe meaning body, as in “coats of flesh” in Jewish and African mysticism, I think, here. – [6] HPB refers to the “Delphic Oracular vapours” (i.e. of incense from the altar?) as synonymous with the akasic light, or primordial substance – Fohat?[7] That is, the temple may have been given over to the divine gnosis, attained by intuition. This is just like the phrase: “Know ye that ye are gods, and that the spirit of the Divine dwelleth within you? For verily each one of you is a temple of the divinity”.

“Know thyself is indeed the injunction; but why are you so enjoined? It is because in knowing thyself, in looking within, in marching ever inwards, in going farther and farther into the depths of your being, you come ever closer and closer – but never can you fully attain it – to the Universal Life.” [9] This is similar to CS Lewis’s The Last Battle - everyone had to go through the dreaded stable door, which led however into Aslan’s sacred land (they had died and this was their heaven), and they were admonished to go “further up and further in”, to get to the presence of their deity. Initiates as we have been told, attain this unity with their inner god when still alive.

The soul leaves its parent, wanders through aeons of learning, finally to return to the temple of his parent deity, recognised at last as his lost son, and invited to: “Enter into thine own.” Then there is no more separation between the I and thou, the god within and its imperfect vehicle. The Divine exists everywhere, in all the monads within all the life forms (and everything is alive) in its body/universe. “Monads are spiritual beings, self-conscious, self-motivated, self-impelled god-sparks, fully self-conscious for the Manvantara,… or Great cycle of planetary life; and such a Monad exists at the core, at the heart, of every specific corpuscle or infinitesimal… all “offspring from its parent Monad, are elemental entities beginning each its upward march, as a thought will spring from the mind of man; for thoughts are things, and are ensouled”. (a friend told me once: Angel = messenger = thought!!!) These multitudes of living entities begin the evolutionary path “in the heart of the divine Hierarch of their own particular hierarchy, pass downwards through the manifold and various stages of matter, rise again when the turn of a particular cycle has been reached, and again re-enter the bosom of the divine, from which each sprang in the beginnings of that period of evolutionary time”.

Evolution is about “building of a manifesting vehicle capable of expressing the innate powers of the spiritual monad. It is the unwrapping or unfolding of latent or dormant or sleeping powers. It is the building of living temples of self-expression which grow nobler with every step taken forwards.

GDP thinks this aim is achievable through both daily life, and later through initiation, the key lying in our outlook, whether we can overcome overcome our illusions and selfish orientations, and therefore transmute our lower self, “to become first nobly human, and finally godlike [13] – Again in Narnia Chronicles, a boy called Eustace became a dragon because he coveted another dragon’s treasure. While still a boy he donned an armband which as a dragon, caused him great pain, so he soon severely repented his “dragonish greedy thoughts”, met Aslan (i.e. God) one day near a spa-pond and was told to remove his dragonish skin so he could bathe in the curative waters; he emerged a changed boy! I’m using a child’s story, because GDP says “It is the child’s heart that we need – trusting, intuitive, and alert” because only the higher understanding lying within the higher nature “can arrive at the inner meaning of the teachings”, like that of the parables Christ gave his disciples.

The likeness of the body to a dragon shouldn’t make us think the body is evil and expendable, for like the Garuda of Vishnu, it is our vehicle through which our divine entity does work in the world, a place where pure spirit alone cannot exist. Anyone can enter “The Still Small Path”, once embracing selflessness and overcoming all inner illusions, making “a deliberate and actual choice with all the strength of his being, he kindles a light within, …the buddhic splendour”, an act which is noticed by the teachers, who accept him as a chela, who proceed to test him in many ways with tests arising from the ordinary events of life, before he knows he is accepted as a chela, chelaship meaning “trying to bring out the master living in our own being”, for he is there now, through a growth in human sympathies and life, not a lessening. He will only step forward “into the more expanded selfhood which already is his own higher nature, until he learns that ‘living for self’ means descending into more compacted and restricted spheres, and that ‘living for all that is’ means an expansion of his own soul into becoming the larger life”. (Remember the film: The Never-Ending Story, when the little-boy hero tries to get back to Fantasia through the mirror, on the other side of which is his heroic self, the boy-warrior Atreyu.)

GDP says: “The core of our being is pure consciousness, and in proportion as we ally ourselves with our inner god, with that pure monadic consciousness, shall knowledge come to us naturally. Our understanding will expand, and finally become cosmic, and we shall then realise that there is another cosmos still grander (as per the mirrror in the story) of which our cosmos is but an atom. This is the path of evolution, of growth, inner and outer; it is the pathway of initiation, the pathway to almighty love and compassion”. This sudden all-knowing is told of in Buddha’s childhood and youth, he was the culmination of human development known to us, and knew all languages, all religious doctrines, and excelled at all sports and accomplishments.

GDP says all the work centres around training the inner vision, the inner eye (which poets call upon, and name “the bliss of solitude”) The first 3 degrees are concerned with study, but not filling the mind with other men’s thoughts, but rising instead the spiritual fire in himself which brings about an awakening of understanding, so the neophyte becomes his own initiator. The first seven with their seven sub-sections, relate to the seven great planes and sub-planes of our solar system. He says all outward reception of ideas and thoughts are just stimuli arousing the inner vibration preparing for the reception of the inner light, setting up “the corresponding vibratory chord in the recipient’s psychological apparatus” through which the knowledge instantly flashes from the recipient’s own mind above. “Devotion to truth, to the point of utterly forgetting oneself, opens the channel of reception”, light and knowledge then entering the mind and heart from the inner god which begins to function.

In the 4th initiation the initiant continues the study, aspiration, the living the life, and begins to lose his personal humanity and merge into divinity; “he learns to become, to be, to enter into the intimate consciousness the entities and spheres he contacts” because to fully know something we must be it and become it. In the 5th we become a master of wisdom and compassion, and we make the choice to be a Pratyeka, going to nirvana, or to be a Buddha of Compassion who returns to the world to live for it and not for self, and in the 7th he meets his divine self face to face and becomes at one with it, and in contact with the Maha Chohan/Silent Watcher of the human race. He has it within, imprinted by experience, nothing external to refer to. He is always a learner in the school of life, evolving from one range of life to the next, forever forwards, “for there are veils upon veils covering the face of eternal Reality”[25] There are 2 dangers of consciousness – 1) “the mentality must be such that it will repel outside influences of the most persuasive character” which arise in the also-virtuous capacity for impressionability, and 2) and in “the too strong and too quick logical faculty of the brain-mind”, the mentality having to be “rigidly subordinated to the nobler attributes”, never usurping the place of mastery, “the higher mind rooted in the buddhi principle has an infallible logic as well as an infallible intuition of its own, of which the brain-mind procedures are pale and usually distorted reflections, and because of this are often most dangerous enemies”.

He will already be “a sun in embryo, a child of some other sun that then existed in space” – Aham asmi Parabrahman, I am the boundless all” – beyond both space and time. This idea is the very keystone of the temple of truth. It is mother of her diviner, spiritual, psychological, ethereal, and physical reaches that is our universal home – a home having no specific location because it is everywhere”. Every aspect of this essence of the universe, is within the inmost of us, hence to go back to the beginning, the Sages say: “Man, know thyself”, going inwards in thought and feeling, ever more allying ourselves with this divine inner core, also the core of the Universe, where our home is: “boundless, frontierless Space”. And this explains the deft summary in the story of the boy down whose throat you could see the whole universe.

We have seven selves, of descending grades of materiality/spirituality, and there were 4

Adams, 4 worlds that he/they governed, each world having its locus in the individual human being and correspondence with one of the four basic principles of the human constitution. Even the ordinary man comes from one of four castes, and has four stages of life, the child, student, family man, and Vana prasta, the old hermit/contemplator. These selves and Adams have been discussed in: Grace’s book, about the Sephira, where the universe is pictured as a tree and as the ideal man, mirror image of the Adams who came to remodel humanity: and which have already been discussed already in an earlier Angels lecture. Grace has written in much detail of this, but the key I think is this:

“When the Boundless Ein Sof wished to exhibit an aspect of itself, this three in one veil of nonbeing contracted or “concentrated its essence” into a single point called Sephirah, primal number or emanation. From this contraction it again expanded into a universe of 10fold character. At this point in writing, I had to go and fold up the socks, inverting their into themselves, (demonstrate this) I realised this is just like the ra-symbol for the emanation and contraction of the universe, a dot within an encompassing circle, the raja sun within the bodily, visible one, and a symbol of “man know thyself”. (See The Secret Doctrine, especially first few pages of Vol 1, Cosmogenesis where she explains the unfoldment of Parabrahm from an initial point). The Kabbalah describes the Sephirophal Tree/Body of Adam Kadmon, the “ideal man”, the physical vehicle of the manifest universe, whose astral image was clothed with the receptacle of the seeds of future lives, the radiant image (Iselem), projected by the tselem of the Elohim, in the image of the ancestral pitris [1]These karmically attracted seeds of being were composed by the host of cosmic power, the Dhyan Chohans. Briefly go through the diagram, descending in order like the beings in the statue do. The head, Crown or Kether issued forth first, the invisible, that is the first unmanifested Logos. From Kether issued two rays, at the right the male Hokhmah the duad, Ab, Father, or Yah, at the right shoulder. From Hochmah issued Binah, the supernal mother, the intelligence, insight, at the left shoulder. These three make the upper triad, from which issues the second triad Hesed, ardour, love goodness, compassion, male, the right arm, and Geburah strength, power, might, feminine, on the left arm. From these two issue tefereth (beauty, magnificence, glory), the heart of Adam Kadmon and of the sun, exuding all goodness and inspiration into the lower sephiroth, called Elohim, or mighty ones, gods, goddesses. This triad is the second countenance in contradistinction to Keth or macrocosmos. G de P says that the armies of evolving beings issue from the heart of divinity after their pralayic sleep. [1] The second triad issue Netsah the right thigh Yehovah, Lord of hosts or armies, and Hod, the left thigh, whose divine name is Elohim Tsebach; according to the Zohar (3:296a) that through Netsah and Hod we comprehend extension multiplication, and force. The son of Netsah and Hod is Yesod (foundation) Adam Kadmon’s reproductive strength, the portal for all the potentialities into the manifested world. Its divine name Elhai means the mighty living being, lord of life. The triad parents and the son are the Sefiroth of Construction partaking of the qualities of manifestation in contradistinction to the Supernal unmanifest triad of Keth, Hokmah and Binah. 10th and last is Malkhuth, (kingdom, dominion), the carrier or vehicle of all 10 powers, the nether pole of Kether, the feet of Adam Kadmon, the bride or inferior mother, the close of the construction of the Angels, accomplished by the six immediately preceding it. It’s divine name is Adonai. The “Sephira” in the Sephirophal Tree means “number”, a doctrine also found in Pythagoras, and this tree is the symbol of man, atom, star, or any other hierarchy, showing how a series of emanations that the one or divine monad of any being unfolds from within itself in assuming full imbodiment. This parallels how Parabrahm or Ein Soph issues forth at karmic intervals, universes great and small. The boundless itself contained a series of “concealed sephiroth”, providing the potential garment for the one in thre garment of nonbeing, “Ayin or no-thing-ness, the darkness of pure nonbeing, which produced ein sof, “boundless” expanse of space, the union of these 2 bring forth Ein Sof Or, boundless or limitless light, the primal light of pre-manifestation. This seems to be the ineffable source to which GDP referred initiation was leading us.

Adams remanifested from their own materials, then a seventh day of rest. They followed the law etched on the Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus: “That which is below is like that which is above, and that which is above is like that which is below, for the performance of the miracles of the one substance” Thus the 4 Adams followed the law of unfoldment of the four olamim or planes, each becoming broth prototype or pattern for the succeeding Adam, the highest serving as a prototype, the latter ones serving solely as reflection or image of the higher Adams. (Grace, 63) Thus their luminosity is dulled by ¼ as its reflection passes down, so our humanity only perceives ¼ of truth which it foolishly believes to be the whole truth. Thus we should look to the higher Adam, source of the full truth and light. (Grace, 65) The 2nd Adam is like

Krishna, “he establishes this universe with a portion [of himself] and remains separate”. The 4 Adams coincide with the 4 root races, going from homogenous, to protoplasmic, to the sexed humanity of this world each world having been destroyed because it couldn’t express “since they had not as yet the perfect form of which they were capable” and “because Man, represented by the 10 Sephiroth, was not as yet. The human forms contains every thing, and as it did not as yet exist, the worlds were destroyed…Still when it is said that they perished, it is only meant thereby that they lacked the true form, ‘til the human form came into being, in which all things are comprised, and which also contains all those forms”. In this series of re-manifestations, the second Adam’s presiding influence was “the throne”, occupied by Metatron, the great teacher or angel of Adam Kadmon’s second world, the “abode of the pure spirits”.[1]At the end of this race Man ate of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge and began to develop coats of skin, and became aligned to the lower triad and thus parts of the upper aspects were then closed to him. Under the dual influence of the retired spiritual capacity, the cloaks of the higher light, and of the physical coats of skin, these combine, energised by the Sons of Intelligence or Elohim to bring to birth self-conscious, thinking Humanity, i.e. the Manasaputras energise sleeping matter with their spirituality. The seven globes of a planetary chain align with the four manifest olamim or planes of existence, the three higher manifest olamin, and the lower being our earth, most material of the planes. Each globe thus distributed on the olamim correlate to a particular sefirah (or branch on the 10fold tree), the 7 lower or manifest sefiroth corresponding to the 7 globes on and in the four cosmic planes. At the same time, on each of the olamim a 10fold sefirothal tree of life is manifested, which illustrates another facet of this multifaceted conception, HPB suggesting that on any specific plane or Olam, one aspect of consciousness only is dominant at any one time, all other aspects of the sefirothal tree being present in potential, but manifesting in minor degree. I think this tree of life is the one that God cast us out of

Eden and guarded with a flaming cherubim, lest we also taste the fruit of this tree as well as of the Tree of Knowledge – therefore this is very sacred knowledge we’re hearing about. The maxim “Man Know Thyself” applies in the human sciences - medicine, psychology, philosophy, social work- even astrology, study of everything, because that universe was invisible inside that little boy. E.g. we can learn about our own complex nervous system by studying the simple, two-branched nervous system of the squid. The “meaning of life” to some is just doing what there is at hand to do, this is why we were put in such seemingly un-spiritual circumstances, the spirit in them is within the daily round and we find it by dealing with it successfully, “character-building” in the truest sense of the word. We were put in this physical life, so by living life we could understand it, its source, and ourselves. As Stefan Carey wrote: “Living the life to do our dharma and find out about ourselves, a ready-made Owner’s Instruction Manual to our life, we also engage the life-atoms of like minded other, smaller lives attracted to us and part of us, on their/our path of life also, the whole retinue marches along with purpose and in step!… Be human, perhaps even the best human being, only you know how to be!”

Amid life’s clamour we can still take time out to hear the “Voice of the Silence” and place ourselves into sympathy with the compassionate forces which sent each one of us forth into the adventure of daily life. My parents told me in Year 12 of secondary school, if you think you’re alone in your lifeboat drifting haplessly on the Pacific, look out and you’ll see the sea dotted with little people in lifeboats all the way to the horizon–all life-forms are in the evolution game together, we aren’t alone and could in fact enjoy the journey, deciding to be what we are to the best we can, Like Wilbur the pig in Charlotte’s Web: “You’re a very nice little pig”! and do the best you can with this vehicle/body you are in. Being all part of the one, it behoves us to act as brothers, for this is a fact in nature; all evolves together, so we should act/evolve for the sake of the conglomerate entity, not for ourselves. OF COURSE, when we think we know ourselves, we find we really don’t, and that knowing is an everlasting quest, that goes on ad infinitum, finding and becoming, the temple.

Andrew Rooke in Golden Stairs to the Temple of Wisdom [published on this website], has written of 10 disciplines that lead to this self knowledge: “Out of the 10 steps to the Temple of Wisdom, I think Man know thyself is an unveiled spiritual perception, (of course to be coupled with “constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta Vidya) depicts” as we must use our knowledge to selfless ends. “Behold the Truth before you: A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one’s co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defence of those unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta Vidya) depicts – these are the Golden Stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Wisdom.” In the New Testament, Jesus tells us that it is necessary for us to “be as little children” if we are to find the

Kingdom of

Heaven. In my opinion , this could mean stripping away the veils we inevitably build up around our inner spiritual Self over lifetimes, and attempt to get back to the direct spiritual perception of childhood when we are newly emerged from the heaven worlds. An unveiled and childlike spiritual perception would enable us to see through the outer problems of individuals and the world to look for the spirit at work in every situation. Artists and poets approach this type of perception sometimes. As a great poet once said, we should try to see God in a blade of grass or a grain of sand. I hope this poem by the British rock band, The Moody Blues, about this quest, appeals as would a parable understandable by the childlike intuitional nature which GDP said the initiant must have:

THE BALANCE: After he had journeyed
And his feet were sore
And he was tired
He came upon an orange grove
And he rested
And he lay in the cool
And while rested, he took to himself an orange and tasted it
And it was good
And he felt the earth to his spine
And he asked, and he saw the tree above him, and the stars
And the veins in the leaf
And the light, and the balance
And he saw magnificent perfection
Whereon, he thought of himself in balance
And he knew he wasJust open your eyes
And realize the way it’s always been
Just open your mind
And you will find
The way it’s always been
Just open your heart
And that’s a start And he thought of those he angered
For he was not a violent man
And he thought of those he hurt
For he was not a cruel man
And he thought of those he frightened
For he was not an evil man
And he understood
He understood himself
Upon this he saw that when he was of anger or knew hurt or felt fear
It was because he was not understand
And he learned compassionAnd with his eye of compassion
He saw his enemies like unto himself
And he learned love
Then, he was answeredJust open your eyes
And realize the way it’s always been
Just open your mind
And You will find
The way it’s always been
Just open your heart
And that’s a start [from the album A Question of Balance by The Moody Blues viewed on 24/9/07 at: http://www.davemcnally.com/lyrics/TheMoodyBlues/TheBalance.asp ]

[1] GDP, Studies in Occ. Phil., p.374.

[2] GDP,Fountain Sources, p.492.

[3] A Classical Dictionary of Hindu Mythology and Religion pp.360-361.

[4] The Seven Jewels of Wisdom: the third jewel: the doctrine of hierarchies, by Stefan Carey. pp.6-7.

[5] GDP, The Esoteric Tradition Vol 2, pp. 700-701.

[6] SD 2, 580.

[7] SD1, 338, 2nd footnote.

[9] GDP, Man In Evolution, pp.322-323.

[10] GDP, Man In Evolution, pp.323-324.

[11] GDP Man in Evolution pp. 235-236.

[12] Gdp man In Evolution, p.236.

[13] Fountain Souces, p.15.

[14] FS,15

[15] FS,16

[16] FS,17

[17] S,199

[18] FS,55

[19] FS,54

[20] FS,56-57

[21] FS,57

[22] FS,57-58

[23] FS,58

[24] FS,59

[25] fs,60

[26] FS,61

[27] FS,62

[28] Grace,9-10

[29] Grace, pp.9,22-25, 72, 72-78.

[30] Grace,9-10

[31] Grace,9-10

[32] Mathers, p.155n, quoted in Grace, 63).

[33] Grace,67

[34] Grace,67 and Idra Rabba, Zohar, 3:148a, Ginsburg, p.103, quoted in Grace, 69),

[35] Ibid, 3:135b, Ginsburg, p.104, quoted in Grace, 70.

[36] Grace,58

Ch. 16).

[38] Stephan Carey, Emotions and Spirituality, nsltr, June 1998, No. 62, p.2)

[39] APR, Nsltr, No?Date?p.1

[40] TS Newsletter, Dec `1999, p.7, “Golden Stairs 5, An Unveiled Spiritual Perception”)

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Sat 22 Sep 2007

THEOSOPHY: What it means to me Jennifer Pignataro

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THEOSOPHY: What it means to me Jennifer Pignataro

When I was asked to do a lecture for this meeting on “What Theosophy means to me”, I must say, at the time I approached the task with some concern. After all, I had not really considered what this topic means to me personally. I have considered myself a ‘life-long learner’ in this area. It is very easy to attend lectures at this group, take in that with which I agree, consider new, ‘out there’ propositions, have a cup of tea and a convivial chat after the meetings. It is very easy to be relatively passive in the sense, that what is discussed in these meetings is all very interesting, but to actively consider a quite ponderous and most broad question is daunting, especially when one is asked to formalize one’s thoughts and present them in a lecture. The task of organizing one’s thoughts is always a worthwhile activity, for it requires the coherent, self exploration of feelings, with a view to illustrating with appropriate language and reaching an audience who hopefully will at least grasp what it is that one is hoping to convey. Whether members of this audience agree with what I am about to convey is not the issue. My aim firstly is to get clear about what this topic means to me, share it with you and hopefully to prompt a response from you. After some reflection on the theme, even now, I can honestly say, I’m not altogether sure, what Theosophy means to me but the process of writing a coherent piece portraying some ruminations on the topic has at least helped me sort out in my mind what I have found to be ‘true’ for me. Also, let me further qualify this statement by placing it in the context of time. That is, these are my current views, and like everything in life which occurs in a context, that in time, these views most certainly will be modified in the fullness of experience. So what theosophy means to me is very much a ‘work in progress’. Firstly let me state that some of the texts I have referenced are:“The Key to Theosophy” by H.P. Blavatsky “Expanding Horizons” by James A. Long, numerous sites on the World Wide Web, as well as the various lectures I have attended here in the past which have influenced in some manner this discourse. For the purpose of this paper, I propose to look at the following:

Some definitions of the term Theosophy.
A consideration of the symbolic significance of the Theosophical Society’s seal
A consideration of the T.S. Objectives.

Theosophy is not a syncretistic philosophy-religion-science, a system of thought or belief which has been put together piecemeal and consisting of parts or portions taken by some great mind from other various religions or philosophies. This idea is false. On the contrary, theosophy is that single system or systematic formulation of the facts of visible and invisible nature which, as expressed through the illuminated human mind, takes the apparently separate forms of science and of philosophy and of religion. We may likewise describe theosophy to be the formulation in human language of the nature, structure, origin y and operations of kosmical universe and of the multitudes of being which infill it.” In Blavatsky’s Theosophical Glossary , p.328, she states that: “Theosophy is the substratum and basis of all world-religions and philosophies, taught and practiced by a few elect ever since man became a thinking being., In its practical bearing, theosophy is purely divine ethics…” I personally identify with the definitions given by the theosophists themselves, such as Blavatsky and Purucker, as they embody a heartfelt, intuitive, personal and real interpretation of the word. Their definitions attempt to give some practical application to the aspiring theosophist. Key words for me are “divine ethics”. I will discuss later the concept of reincarnation and the creation of karma to practice and refine “divine ethics”. For me Theosophy and its application of strategies for living, as espoused by the Society’s five objectives, attempts to direct one’s endeavours towards a life of “divine ethics”. This is a personal, individual attainment. I hasten to add, difficult to live by, but a noble attainment, regardless. What I particularly appreciate about Theosophy is the lack of dogma, any sense of an organized religion with its attendant ritual and regalia. I applaud the fact that it always encourages the individual to freely and personally consider what is “truth” and to discard that which one feels is irrelevant. It encourages one to be the seeker of truth for oneself. It fosters the quest of the independent search for this “truth”. There are no gurus, leaders, messiahs. In fact, the seeker of truth must determine for oneself what this “truth” is, and allows one, over time, to re-evaluate whether this “truth” has currency. This principle links directly to the notion that no god is responsible for ones’ fortunes. I especially relate to the notion of being responsible for my own salvation, based on my thoughts, words and deeds. Being aware of this notion, one can not but be made consciously mindful. I find it useful in understanding this notion to regard past civilisations’ images. The one which is the most striking for me is that of the Egyptian “Weighing of the Heart” Judgment scene. In that society’s belief system, even thoughts were scrutinized at the day of reckoning.

I also find it insightful and instructional considering the ‘wisdom, truth, knowledge, science and philosophy of civilizations over the ages as such information relating to human endeavor has much to teach us, and is current and universal. As a student of the ‘human condition’, wondering and searching for answers to the eternal questions such as “Who am I?”, “How did I get here?”, “Is there life after death?, concepts and objectives of Theosophy (which I shall consider later in this paper) greatly comfort my fertile, inquiring mind. While various philosophies such as Existentialism consider such questions, I don’t feel that they give valuable strategies for living a purposeful life. Nor do they offer adequate mechanisms for exploring responses from the ancients about what constitutes “truths” and the ancient wisdom. As stated earlier, it is instructive to note how our forebears considered these same matters, the big mysteries of life, because all of the world religions have repeatedly demonstrated the essence of what constitutes the “Eternal Truth”. Significance of the Seal of the Theosophical Society As one who is curious of most things, especially in semiotics and the practice of symbolism in art and religion it is of interest to consider how the emblem of the Theosophical Society integrates a number of the prominent religions into a single seal. On the basis of design to convey the multiple messages of the key spiritual movements, the Seal adeptly relays these. The Seal of the Theosophical Society was adapted from the personal emblem of Madame Blavatsky before the Society was founded in 1875. The five prominent symbols in the Seal are:

The Star of David
The Ankh
The Swastika
The Ouroboros (Serpent swallowing its tail)
Aum

The Swastika (Crooked Cross): The Swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, however, it is widely known and used as a symbol of Nazism. The Hindu version is often decorated with a dot in each quadrant. It is one of the 108 symbols of Vishnu and represents the sun’s rays. The motif was first used in Neolithic Eurasia and was also used in Native American cultures. The symbol has also been found in Greco-Roman and Gothic Art and architecture.Essentially it represents good luck. The Indian word shubhtika meaning: good mark, first appears in the classical Sanskrit epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics. It was incorporated into the Seal of the Theosophical Society due to its Hindu and Buddhist links. The Ouroboros (Serpent swallowing its tail): is Greek for the word “tail-devourer”. It is one of the oldest mystical symbols in the world. Plato described the serpent swallowing it tail when describing the first living thing in the universe. It is represented in Aztec, Chinese, Native American, Norse, Christian, Hindu and Hermetic culture, mythology and literature.It symbolizes them cyclic nature of life, the eternal unity of all things, the absolute, un manifested universe containing the potentials of all form, regeneration and reincarnation. Aum (Om): It is the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, representing the infinite Brahman and the entire universe. It is considered to be the first sound. In Hindu belief, the world is viewed as vibration or rhythmic waves. It is the sacred symbol of the Trinity of Brahma (the Creater), Vishnu (the Sustainer) and Shiva (the destroyer).The written form of Aum signifies the triple state of man’s consciousness, the waking state, the unconscious state and dream state.Aum is the source of all existence. We are reminded of the statement in Genesis which says: “In the beginning was the ‘Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God”. Aum is a word of power and should be uttered with great reverence. Encircled around the Seal is the Theosophical Society’s motto: “There is no religion higher than truth” which is the quest of every theosophist. I like the Seal of the Theosophical Society as it succinctly incorporates the validity of all the major religions. Each of the symbols point to the eternal, unity of all major quests, the search for divine truth and divine meaning.

4. To learn knowledge about ancient and modern religions, science and philosophies. 5. To study the inner powers of people.

1. To give people an awareness of the laws of the Universe: The essence of the laws of nature are, that all is unity. Everything originates from Spirit and returns to Spirit. Moreover, that the knowledge of “ancient truths” are timeless and universal.

3. To promote an active brotherhood amongst people regardless of race, creed or color: I understand this to mean that a Theosophist must consider every person that they meet as having a “divine spark”, that they have come from spirit and that every one is at some stage of evolving along their path of “becoming”, of reaching their potential. While some people that we meet may seem “unevolved”, they hone our power of discrimination. Yet, we must not let race, creed, colour, age nor gender initially prohibit us from demonstrating one’s innate “divinity”. One should be able to help those among us by illuminating a path, by way of illustration; by acting with right intention, and mindful of one’s thoughts, words and deeds which daily create one’s karma.I feel that this is the road that leads to “divine ethics”.

5. To study the inner powers of people: This is the magical, alchemical process which occurs when a Theosophist earnestly searches for meaningful truth via the study over a life time, of “ancient wisdom” and universal laws. When the Theosophist applies some of the universal, ancient laws in the practical areas of his life, such as the aims espoused by this Society, then one’s sense of divine origins and strengths become further refined. Ultimately, one is aware of creating his own Karma and so may became a beacon of light, hope and inspiration to others.

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Fri 21 Sep 2007

PRAYER: perspectives from Theosophy by Andrew Rooke

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PRAYER: perspectives from Theosophy Andrew Rooke

Throughout history prayers have been offered by individuals or congregations to beings considered to be more elevated than the human condition. Prayers of ancient nations are recorded on monuments throughout the world expressing aspirations similar to those which motivate millions to seek this form of inner communion today. We might summarize the motivation of most prayers as follows:

1. Prayer formulae for specific occasions when people wish to draw close to divinity, ‘Liturgical Prayer’, e.g. church services which emphasize a particular aspect of faith or aspiration, and commemorative rites such as mortuary services or public offerings in honour of remarkable events.

2. Prayer offered, perhaps with the aid of some device like a mantra, prayer wheel or incense in order to create a harmonious atmosphere in which people can feel close to divinity.

3. Prayer as a private act of faith and inner communion in an attempt to seek spiritual security especially in times of stress. This type of prayer has become more common in the Christian churches since the time of the Reformation.

4. Action or power orientated prayer designed to achieve a desired end such as is common amongst the fundamentalist Christian churches for healing.

5. The most common type of prayer which encompasses aspects of the four other types mentioned above, is selfishly orientated prayer in which we importune some modification of divine will for what is perceived to be our personal advantage. This type of prayer is most common precisely because the majority of humanity at present lives an intensely personal, self-centred existence within what Theosophy calls the “kama”, or “desire” nature. It is my hope in this talk to discuss the true nature of prayer and meditation as an attempt to reach inward beyond the trammels of the desire nature towards the light of the inner divinity. Great religious teachers throughout the ages have emphasized this aspect of prayer and meditation as paramount. In St. Luke, Chapter 11, 1-13, Jesus explained prayer to his followers. One of his disciples said to him: “Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.” After reciting for them what is now called the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus continued: “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? Or if he shall ask a fish, will he offer him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him?” Note that Jesus was at pains to stress that the reward for prayer was not worldly goods but the gift of the Holy Spirit, or consolation in the inner divinity.

The need to build inner strength:

Theosophical literature provides a deep understanding of the nature of the attempted identification with the Inner Self that lies at the heart of every individual’s spiritual search. It is insistent that prayer which is directed towards selfish motives can severely undermine the need for an individual to build spiritual strength by personal effort. By that I mean that when we are faced with problems, one should develop the habit of cultivating your intuition rather than seeking solace from an outer source in order to develop one’s inner resources by such exercise. It is said that one’s fate or karma never faces one with a problem that is beyond one’s inner resources and therefore by earnestly seeking solutions within, surely the answer will come and the individual will be stronger for making the effort. My understanding of theosophical teaching is that by such inner searching and consequent character building, an entity progresses spiritually. He is therefore in a position to contribute to the welfare of others by both having the inner spiritual strength developed by individually facing problems and by being able to empathize with others who are suffering similar trials. To quote from one theosophical writer, G. de Purucker, on the necessity of building inner strength: “It is in the silence that the soul grows strong, for then it is thrown back upon its own energies and powers and learns to know itself:…“One of the first rules that a neophyte is taught is never to ask a question until he has tried earnestly and repeatedly to answer it. Because the attempt to do so is an appeal to the intuition. It is also an exercise for strengthening powers.” (From: The Fountain Source of Occultism). In making what must seem to be rather harsh comments about the engrained religious habits of millions of good and faithful people, I do not wish to denigrate their sincerity in the Path that they follow. At all times we must try to respect that another’s approach to spiritual matters must necessarily differ from one’s own and that all are equally valid for each individual on the great journey in which we are all engaged.

Krishna expresses this truth in the Bhagavad-Gita when he says to his friend and pupil Arjuna: “In whatever way men approach me in that way do I assist them; whatever the path taken by mankind, that path is mine.” Prayer and the Law of Karma: The question naturally arises – to whom or what do we pray? This question is easily answered by those who follow defined religious traditions in that they have a clear personal vision of their God, Gods, angels, saints, or other types of higher entities who will hopefully intercede on their behalf. However, it is worth considering that even if higher entities were able to be reached by selfishly directed thoughts, which, because they are tainted by the personal element, would surely not reach the higher planes of perception, they would not interfere with a lesser developed entity’s karma or freedom of thought or action. When we ask for a modification of divine will, we assume that we possess the wisdom and insight into the intricate workings of karma to justify our petition. Surely the vast majority of humanity does not possess such knowledge and before we petition too strongly we should consider whether the answer to our prayer might not be a potentially disastrous interference in our individual duty to build inner strength by facing the comparatively minor problems of daily existence. The ancients were more aware of the power of prayer in this regard than we are today. For example, when one of his disciples questioned Pythagoras (the ancient Greek mathematician and Initiate) concerning the advisability of supplicating the Gods, the great sage recommended that only the wisest men should ask favours of the deities. He explained that only those who had outgrown personal ambition and prejudice would be likely to pray for the good of others. Pythagoras wisely explained that most men will pray for what they want, but only the Gods understand human need. If an unwise prayer be granted, he taught, disasters only multiplied. A modern theosophical author, Jim Long, puts this ancient truth another way in his book Expanding Horizons: (p.28):

“While intense prayer of the personal-will type might temporarily divert the effects of specific causes, and in that sense only could we say that our “credit is extended”, we can be mighty sure that the effect of every cause will, in time, catch up with us – and often with interest compounded. For let us not imagine that any amount of prayer will nullify the action of the great law of balance. There is no ‘remission of sin’ in the sense commonly understood. Neither prayer nor ‘forgiveness’ can alter the inflexibility of nature’s universal working, and effect will follow cause, no matter how great a span of time may intervene between the one and the other.” I have read that the higher entities closely associated with the development of the human life-wave are themselves subject to some sort of higher karma and that their gerater understanding of the laws of the universe restrains them from altering a lesser entity’s individual destiny in most cases. They are said, however, to serve humanity by spreading its karmic load more evenly so that our accumulated rebellions against the harmony of nature do not overwhelm us instantly as would otherwise be the case. For this, and numberless other services to humanity arising from karmic responsibilities between more spiritually advanced entities and men, we owe the “Gods” grateful thanks rather than the supplication expressed in most prayer formulae.

The mechanism of prayer:

The thought naturally occurs in any discussion of prayer as to what actually happens when we pray. The mechanisms involved in prayer, in my opinion, are intimately related to the habits of building impersonal and self-reliant thought. This is because the mind will assume the form of the object contemplated, whatever its quality. Therefore if one is in the habit of directing the will towards achieving things at a personal level, then the mind will flow in that direction and the resultant energy will perhaps help to actualize events on the material plane. Grace Knoche in an article in Sunrise magazine comments on this aspect of prayer (Vol. 31 (2) p.57): “Prayer, aspiration, meditation are effective in that they set up a vibratory response throughout nature: the more ardent the aspirant the greater the power they have to unleash noble – or ignoble – energies, both within the individual as well as in the auric envelope surrounding the earth, which ranges from the lowest to the loftiest heights of aspiration.” Hence the importance of cultivating the habit of thinking impersonally, so that the mind will naturally flow toward the divine aspiration within. It is said that this “exercise” is especially important before one sleeps at night, which is interesting because this is the time most people pray and when we encourage children to pray. The reason for this is that as the ordinary “brain-mind” consciousness falls away in sleep, the “soul” automatically follows the impetus of the last thoughts given to it. So it is possible, by thinking on the aspirational lessons learned from the day’s activities that the consciousness, or “soul”, will ascend to higher levels of consciousness during sleep. This will serve to elevate and strengthen the “soul” by confabulation with the energies resident on the plane of noble aspirational ideas. All great religious teachers stress the importance of engraining the habit of selfless thought and motivation because such is aligning oneself more closely with the evolutionary currents of nature, e.g. the concepts of oneness and consequent karmic responsibilities in Indian philosophy; “love thy neighbour as thyself” in Christianity; and the dominant aim of universal brotherhood in the Theosophical Society. The study of occultism in the highest sense of that word reveals the pattern, or science, behind the necessity for incorporating the truth of this concept in daily life and stresses the ideal of impersonality in searching for, and expressing, these high ideals. In my opinion it is the sacred duty of everyone to cultivate the habit of expressing one’s aspirations for the better whether at a personal or universal level, such as most often happens in prayer, by raising one’s consciousness to an intuitional or aspirational level.

Grace Knoche expresses this sentiment far better than I:

“True prayer is indeed aspiration, a “breathing inward” the divine, an elevating of the mind and heart to the highest, and as such is an essential need of the soul. We should pray, we should aspire, so as to orientate our lives toward the light emanating from our inner god – call it meditation if you like. But let us be careful that we are not led into detours of a self-seeking nature which tend to focus attention on our own advancement, our own stature. After all, where we stand – spiritually or otherwise – is not important compared to the quality of our contribution to the whole The real question is: Are we giving the best of ourselves to this world so that we bring warmth and courage instead of chill and gloom to our surroundings?” (Sunrise, Vol. 31 (2) Dec. 1981/ Jan. 1982 “Not my will but thine” pp. 56-58)

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Sat 15 Sep 2007

ANIMALS AND PEOPLE by Amanda F. Rooke

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I’m going to take this from my experience, that of other traditions, and of Theosophy. The title “Animals and People” suggests a link between these two kingdoms of nature; they’re on adjacent rungs of the evolutionary ladder as in the Kabalistic axiom: “A stone becomes a plant; a plant, a beast; a beast, a man; a man, a spirit; and the spirit, a god.” ^¹ Thus there is a kinship between the kingdoms and everyone can testify to this, and I’m going to talk about this link today. My parents and I found this out when were setting out in a glass bottomed boat with some other tourists, to look at fish in their habitat. The wind sprang up, the sea got choppy, we thought we’d see nothing, but while the tour guides were adjusting to these conditions, we noticed some large, curious, intelligent, black eyes looking back at us from the shallows, a “school” of squids had come to study the tourists! We were literally on either side of an almost invisible dividing line, and had more similarities than differences, when working in the higher mind and spirit like that. The link is particularly close since these kingdoms adjoin one another. ^² This barrier disappears when the entities behave as friends - when a cat goes to sleep in your lap or a dog puts his head comfortingly on your knee, they’ve won you over completely!

Epileptic people can be given dogs which can sense when their owner is about to have a fit, other dogs can detect cancers due to the chemicals released from the skin of sufferers. In California deaf people can be given Hearing Dogs to tell them when the doorbell rings or an ambulance siren is sounding near their travelling vehicle. ^³ They also helped some old alsheimic ladies who saw a picture of a dog on a patch on a patchwork rug, and their director said: “The rugs are fantastic, thank you very much for all your effort. The little details are wonderful and one of the ladies was really taken with the little dog scrap and started chatting about it. I am going to showcase the use of them for dementia specific use at the next organisational meeting I attend. …” Somehow a person’s love for their dog stirred memories of this warm relationship which rather than degrading her or holding her back, stimulated the higher faculties which are actually within all living things. It was like the distinct image of a living thing somehow focussed her mental faculties to re-awaken the capacity for symbolic thought. This ability to communicate with language supposedly distinguishes us from animals who nevertheless communicate with body language, eye contact, emotions, and non-linguistic sounds - dolphins can understand sentences with variations and correctly respond to requests to bring the frisby from the right to the fountain on the left, or invent their own way of saying they couldn’t bring the ball and put it in the basket as no balls were in the pool - he brought the empty basket to the scientist in his own way of saying this to him.

Working with children entering into literacy and numeracy (aged 4-5), showing pictures and pairing them with written words or the letters they start with, and reading stories aloud to the children, helps build the tracks on which the busy highway of thoughts enter and exit their brain. Information enters through the sensory doorways, to the brain where there is an inner version of this sense - the auditory and occipital areas of the brain process sound and sight information and lay down an inner map of the outside world, inside the person’s consciousness. We refer back to this information through memory, and extend our experience constantly with new information gathered from both sensory, and mental, apparatus. Animal intelligence is based on augmented sensory input too, being what David Attenburgh called the ability to use natural skills beyond the borders of the conditions these would be used in and solve problems not presented in nature (so Kia’s, big New Zealand parrots)can find butter inside a tube within another tube, better than a toddler or dog). Lieh Yu-kou, a great follower of Lao Tse, said animals and humans are similar in that they have innate intelligence, desiring to live, love their mates, and care for their young. All have Buddha-nature. ^⁴

Animals cannot always communicate in a way understandable to us, but fables ^⁵ and their predecessors the Jataka tales, always seem to use animals acting like people, to tell pre-literate people used to the oral tradition way of passing knowledge from one generation to the next, or to the youngest generation. Children can effect dementure patients in the way the dogs pictured on the rug, did, triggering the same primal nurturing instinct shown to our pets and parenthood is mostly about selflessness. When reaching out of our Self and its prison of problems and miseries, to help others, the soul is free a while to do spiritual, kindly things. This is what Buddha was encouraging in us, to combine intelligence with compassion to evolve out the Atman and combine it with our intelligence, as Buddha said to do in one of the 8 paramitas: show loving kindness to all living things.

Once a Rabbi, Judah ha-Nasi was sought out by a calf to save it from being led to slaughter - he did not help and so the Rabbi had toothache for 13 years, until he stopped his servant from sweeping a nest of weasels from a corner of his house, saying“(God’s) tender mercies are over all His works” - because of the Rabbi’s compassion for animals, God had compassion on him and healed him. ^⁶

Jains follow “Ahimsa”which is not killing or not harming, or non violence to living things. “Whatever beings there are, whether moving or non-moving, you shall not harm them, knowingly or unknowingly - for all beings desire to live”, and Asoka Rock Edicts of c. 261 BC decreed that he desired all animate beings to have security, self-control (of their fate), peace of mind and joy. ^⁷ Plutarch strove for justice and humanity for animals as some other writers said animals are not intelligent or rational and therefore don’t have any rights - we are still fighting for these rights for animals today. ^⁸

When a boy, Gautama Siddhartha (later the Buddha’s) brother Devadatta shot a swan but Buddha healed it; after the enlightenment, Devadatta tried to kill his brother by loosing a rogue elephant on the path Buddha planned to take, but upon the point of attack, Buddha regarded it with love and tamed it with this love so it became quiet and gentle, he showed loving kindness to all living things. ^⁹ There is a collection of Siddhartha’s animal tales - many about his prior lives as an animal. We have all, even the Buddha, incarnated as animals, so it behoves us to be kind to them, your dog might be the Maitraya Buddha in the making!

Once the Buddha was living in the form of a dog, in a great cemetery and leader of many hundred dogs. One day the king went riding and left his harnessed horses in the rain so their leather bridles etc. became wet. The king’s dogs came from their home and gnawed the leatherwork, then telling the king that it was some dogs who had come through the sewer outlet. The king decreed all dogs be killed, but the dog/Buddha knew none of his dogs could get past the palace guards and that the palace dogs must be the culprits. He came to the palace and crept under the king’s throne, saying he knew who did it, and to give the palace dogs grass in milk to drink, so they cast up their illegal leathery meal. “Why”, said the king, “it is like a judgement of a Perfect Buddha himself” and in homage conferred kingship for a while on the dog, commanding that all creatures’ lives should be safe from harm and treating all dogs as he treated himself, abiding by the Buddha’s teachings and spending his life in charity and other good deeds so he was reborn in the world of the gods. ^¹⁰ When Buddha was a woodpecker he pulled a bone that was blocking a lion’s throat and although the lion didn’t repay the kindness later on or give him reward or thanks, the bird acted only in order to end the lion’s pain - “It is enough that I helped my friend. - kindness regards everyone as a friend”, the bird said.^¹¹ In these tales, the Buddha returns as the embodiment of great compassion, to ease the suffering of living beings, and demonstrate the power of action motivated by compassion, wisdom and love practised for the sake of the world ^¹² for selfless action gives rise to goodness of such power that it spreads in ever-widening circles, uplifting all forms of life.^¹³

Practising this, we will see (according to the preamble of Friends of all Creatures) “that (the universe) is not a collection of separate, living or non-living objects at all but rather a web of continually changing energy patterns - a single, unbroken, living Whole, whose “parts” are but fluctuating ripples on an endless sea of energy. Even more remarkable, each part, in its own way, seems to reflect or contain the whole…(with) no clear-cut distinction between the observer and the observed; the universe, appear(ing) to be a kind of looking-glass that mirrors, at least to some extent, the state of mind of the observer,” where consciousness pervades the whole and everything affects every other thing; the universe is a spiritual reality, wherein a moral law sustains the whole. ^¹⁴ Hence William Blake’s couplet:

“A skylark wounded in the wing,

A Cherubim does cease to sing”. ^¹⁵

As Sally Dougherty said “The unity of nature and the interdependence of its kingdoms is also reflected within each individual. While its ultimate root is oneness, each entity exists as a collective being, its structure deriving from that of the more spiritually evolved beings of whom it forms a part.^¹⁶ St. Francis of Assisi called all living things “brother” or “sister” because, according to his biographer St. Bonaventura, they came from the same source as himself, God’s light shining through the different creatures in different ways, so we should see, hear, praise and love God in all creatures. ^¹⁷

Thus scientists shouldn’t think they can experiment on animals in the name of science, and suspend moral laws in the interest of their own “Higher” ends, as animals have certain innate rights as mentioned earlier - according to K.T. “the vivisector…is hardening his inner and finer sensibilities - tearing down a part of the better structure of his being - misusing his mind and insulting the higher qualities of his nature…shutting the door against the higher knowledge which would come if his efforts were on higher lines…always the key to the Higher Self is compassion.” ^¹⁸ “When we feel disgust for animal mistreatment we will no longer be estranged from other life-forms on earth, recognising the intrinsic worth of every being, we will find our own natural role in the life of the planet, nurturing the lower kingdoms even as we are sustained by beings whose spirituality and love transcend the human”. ^¹⁹

Native peoples who live on animals but wish to preserve nature’s balance to ensure their supply, treat animals with respect. An Inuit from Barren Grounds said the trouble was all human food consists of souls, as animals, like us, have imperishable souls which must “be propitiated lest they should revenge themselves on us for taking away their bodies” - thus his tribe made a myth about their children turning into geese, so they would treat geese with as much respect as their own offspring. ^²⁰ The Waswanipi Cree have the responsibility to repay the gifts of the north wind and the animal spirits by: using what is given completely, acting responsibly towards the body and souls of the animals by observing the highly structured procedures for retrieving the animal, butchering it, consuming it and disposing of the bones and remains, making the kill swift and without undue suffering for the animal, and if men came by the means to kill more than he is given, not to show the ultimate disdain for his prey which is to kill for fun or self-aggrandisement. ^²¹ The Dhewong of Malaysia see man not as superior to all other creatures and have no name for the non-human creatures as a group as each animal has its own identity, each seeing the world in its own way according to its unique sensory apparatus. ^²² Theosophy, too, says that we don’t have right of life and death over the animals lower than us, or to torture them, just because Nature’s evolved us as a temple for an immortal rational soul or nous - animals like all life forms have a soul.^²³ Theosophy believes animals came from us, they thence evolved separately, and we have to train them up to take our place in our evolutionary niche, this is our evolutionary dharma.

According to GDP, in the 2nd and earliest 3rd root race humans “bodies” threw off vital cells like dried skin containing living and dead cells, which like spores from a plant, grew and became individuals and each “followed its own evolutionary development after its left the parent body” and reproduced its own kind. The beings who sloughed off the cells were semi-corporeal and humans’ cells came from the “wandering germ centre or vital core - of no fixed place in this ethereal body, but the mammals came from body cells. ^²⁴ 4th round Man’s cells produced the mammals; the amphibia, birds, reptiles, fish are the resultants of the 2nd and 3rd round, astral fossil forms stored up in the auric envelope of the Earth and projected into physical objectivity subsequent to the deposition of the first Laurentian rocks. The human form was more variable then than now and many evolutionary dead-ends were born out of time and therefore unable to live -e.g. after the globular, non corporeal 1st Race came men with dog like faces, or fish faces and 4 arms and 4 feet, and one eye, which remained as the 3rd eye, when our 2 frontal eyes developed later.^²⁵ The mammals began to specialise on their particular line of evolution, away from the original type, to which Humankind’s separate evolution remained more true and when arriving at the time for becoming truly human by the inspiriting by the manisaputras, our cells could no longer bud in this way. All life forms have gone from less materialised to more materialised forms, ^²⁶ but all life forms shrank during the 3rd Race as the world grew colder,^²⁷ though Man must have been equal in size to the dinosaurs, he being around at the same time as them.^²⁸ Animals corporealised before Astral Man and separated into the two sexes earlier too, c. 18 million years ago during the 3rd root race in the Triassic and earlier Jurassic part of the 3rd root race during this our 4th round, when humanity was more or less physicalised but not as material as in the 4th root race Atlantean era.^²⁹ The animals had fallen into matter faster than we did when they appeared on this Globe D on the downward arc, because they were a more material type, the attraction of the material globe was stronger.

When we die our upper triad goes onward and upward, our lower elements, the astral body and the astral dregs of the physical man, become the principles - not the latent higher but the intermediate principles - of the beast world, lodging in the appropriate lower life forms to “watch over” and hopefully improve, whilst we are non-corporeal prior to re-incarnation. ^³⁰ This idea (metampsychosis/reincarnation) led to the much misunderstood doctrine of transmigration into animals. ^³¹ But all life has a sutra atman, the thread of higher self, because part of the whole entity that reincarnated itself when the “anima mundi”, the first reawakening germ into which all was withdrawn at the end of the last manvantara, rushed through the interface and downwards through all the lives of creation, ensouling everything equally because it is all part of the whole “corporate entity”. Thus everything is ensouled as it is all “corporealised light” ^³²

Thus “every diamond, every crystal, every plant and stone has its own individual soul, besides man and animal…^³³ “Animal” means a living being, which is ensouled, though we use the word for brutes or beasts, a brute is a being which hasn’t yet been raised to a self conscious entity, “brute” meaning heavy gross and hence irrational and incomplete. “Animal” however could be used by the ancients re stellar, solar and planetary bodies, they are “animals” in the sense of being living things, with a physical corpus or body, but nevertheless animate or insouled: in the mystical teachings of the Esoteric Philosophy they are insouled things, as indeed every atom is, every tiny universe, or tiny cosmos”. ^³⁴ -anything which has an anima or living soul. We are an animal in that we have this soul; our vital physical body is a beast and it works in and with a human soul through a beast-or vital soul, enlightened by a spiritual soul. ^³⁵ The beast soul or vital astral soul is the Kama-Prama whose quasi-egoic centre is the beast ego, that elementary principal of egoship in the beast which holds it together during its existence. Each class of being has a soul appropriate to its class, so beasts have beast souls.^³⁶

Man and animals differ because the former are ensouled by “principles” potentially, the latter actually. ^³⁷ Our monads or Jivas are fundamentally identical to those of animals, but there is an impassable abyss as to mentality and self consciousness, as the human mind in its higher aspect is not only a portion of the essence and in rare cases of incarnation, the very essence of a higher being from a higher and more divine plane (our manisaputra).^³⁸ We were only endowed with Manas at the mid point of the 3rd Root Race. The lower animals, from the amoeba to man, had received the monads which contained all the higher qualities in potential. In animals this principle is paralysed, except the 2nd Vital and 3rd astral and the rudiments of the 4th Kama, desire, instinct, whose intensity and development varies and changes with the species. ^³⁹

There are animal monads in animals, and animal monads in men. The animal monads in animals will humanise themselves through evolution to no longer feel attracted to incarnate to the animal kingdom and will then seek embodiment psycho-magnetically in the lowest specimens of humans and become the animal monad in men. This is what we did on the moon chain and hence became the humans on this earth chain.

But as we climb rung by rung the ladder of self-evolution, every round will have fewer and fewer animals able to make the grade upwards and climb higher as the spiritual self conscious nature hasn’t evolved forth from their monads to provide a sufficient attraction upwards, and they are held down as the calls of matter will be too strong. “Each class of monads as it passes to the next globe leaves behind it, as seed for the next round, sishtas or remainders to serve as the 1st vehicles for the first incoming monads on that globe. ^⁴⁰ Thus at the end of the 5th Round on Globe D, the sishtas of animals will be found because they will be in their Nirvana… Only the apes will remain …semi humanised and they will go up into the lowest part of our kingdom. Animal bodies, there being no monads to incarnate, die out. This is because the “door” into our kingdom shut, mid 4th round and the animals now are just hanging on as it were because of the impetus or momentum from the dawning of mind in some of them, they got in coming down the descending ark, a momentum which has carried them up to the present, will carry them onward even into the 5th and 6th (rounds) where they will die out, as have the grossest ones, already. ^⁴¹ The “beasts” on globes F and G and almost so on Globe E, are 100s of times more highly evolved than men are on this earth, because these globes are ascending and therefore more evolved, both as to the kind of entities there and as to their status ^⁴²

As stated before, Man in this round preceded every mammalian - the anthropoids included - in the animal kingdom. ^⁴³ There were 7 creations, (I think they are really still occurring because there are 7 rounds, 7 aspects of the Self, and 7 root races and we’re only part way through the globes (lowest on the arc), so creation is continuing too). There are 7 creations symbolised by 7 animals. ^⁴⁴ Much different Manu’s or Adams brought forth from the earth the bodies of the 7 types of living thing, one brought forth the grain and vegetable life, another the reptiles, snakes, etc.^⁴⁵ HPB wrote: God brought forth the animals and birds from the ground and brought them to Adam to name (Gen ii, 19) But in Gen I, the animals mentioned are the signs of the Zodiac, while the man, “male and female,” is not man but the Host of the Sephiroth, forces, or Angels, “made in God’s image and after his likeness”. The Adam, man, is not made in that likeness, and the second adam is esoterically a septenary which represents 7 men, or rather groups of men.^⁴⁶ Man in the preceding round was a gigantic ape-like man, and in the first 2nd root races he wasn’t as he is today. ^⁴⁷ There’s no missing link^⁴⁸ and in the times of the Ramayana apes were more human than now, they had their own systems of government, formed armies, and understood written intelligence; but like all animals they go towards extinction as they approach the luminous arc upwards and they are degrading intellectually and physically. Ape souls needed an evolutionary niche to fill, and the bodies for these were provided by the lowest humans of the 3rd root race breeding with animals just below them and their kingdom. Then in the Atlantean 4th Root Race repeated this “sin of the mindless” so there were 2 drops of human blood in the progeny, the apes. They’d the glimmerings of mind and by aping or imitating their human “minders” learnt language etc. But the Atlanteans realised their error and made wars of extinction on them. ^⁴⁹ Only the very animal apes were left, which deteriorated more, becoming less human still.

But apes are still similar enough to be the only animals to go on through the “door” and will have just touched the human stage at the end of the 7th round when the animals will have died out, except for a few which had just reached the human stage and were ready to enter it just as the 7th round was closing. But the kingdoms don’t rise, just the individuals passing through them; nature keeps them and each at its own level for the monads coming up from below to reach up through. They rise, by bringing out from within themselves those spiritual, mental attributes which would enable them to climb up to the next kingdom, from the very essence of that higher being. When an animal is ready to go into this door it does so only when its “baby ego” has become ready to do so, ie. is more or less human. Then it enters our kingdom by attaching itself because of karmic links of the spiritual past when an embodying human at some stage of that human being’s destiny and thus because an animal monad of that human. There are many intermediate stages of mental and physical growth that must be passed through before an animal monad can become a true human. The various animal monads in the human, are the intermediate stages between them and us. ^⁵⁰

Animals do reincarnate, because they are like all of the individualised and animate entities, a ray from a reimbodying monad. But animals’ egoity is only awakening. ^⁵¹ They possess will power or free choice, intellectual discrimination, judgement, and moral instinct to guide its choices for good or ill, but only latently. ^⁵² Animals as themselves make no karma self-consciously as man does - what they do carries no moral stigma whereas a man, being so much more evolved, if he did beast-like acts he would have great moral iniquity from this, as he knows better. But every kingdom has karman and is caught up in that of the time of which they are a part. The animals on the 4th Globe “are suffering degradation and have fallen from a higher state because of karmic defects in that higher state in past manvantaras”.^⁵³ Animals’ sufferings are karmic consequences of actions done in previous universes or rather in previous embodiments of the Solar System. If I stuck my finger in the fire, the skin atoms on it would perish though I made the decision to act; they were nevertheless there at the time, and by this karman. ^⁵⁴

We may accelerate the evolution of our pets, and humanise them, drawn near by ties of affection and companionship but this doesn’t help the animals go through the door into humanhood as they lose their animal instincts and survival skills - we will pay for this dis-service! ^⁵⁵ The monad of the animal is as immortal as that of Man, yet the beast knows nothing of this, living a life of sensation just as the first humans prior to manisaputrising in the 3rd race. ^⁵⁶ As we remove our divine selves from our animal (sexual) instincts they’ve been separated out into animalism and sensuality, the animal soul and sensual desires, and classified as original sin - it wasn’t our original sin that thence made the animals procreate, either. ^⁵⁷ The separation occurs in daily life, in initiation, and also the post-mortem separation of the divine from the animal man. ^⁵⁸ Thus the animals (passions) shut up in the ark symbolise the human passions we had to overcome and typify certain ordeals of initiation and many nations’ initiation mysteries commemorate this allegorically. ^⁵⁹ The horse was an emblem of the sun or solar powers, the Bull, of the moon and the mysterious functions of the initiate undergoing the dread trials of initiation - overcoming the animal self/moon powers. Hence Mithraists slew bulls, and Virgil’s reference to bees hatching from the carcass of a bull, refers to initiates (gathers of the honey of wisdom) as bees emerging from the death of the moon-self. ^⁶⁰ In the Syrian mysteries, outsiders were called swine and dogs (because they are despised in the Orient), betrayers were called wolves because wolves are cruel and lacked conscience, and those who tried to enter the mysteries unlawfully were called foxes because foxes are cunning ^⁶¹ -speaking of animals’ bad skandas or qualities.

With all this evolutionary process, one may think humans and animals are/have become irrevocably separate - if so this is only temporary. Since they’re our “spin-offs” we owe them full parental responsibilities, at all times, and should cease to hasten their demise and not think “good riddance” instead. We will be the devas next round and the animals now will be the humans, with their own brood of lesser stocks, the new animals, to nurture up to humanhood and then godhood. If we follow the conscience of our ever evolving higher self, this growing-process will evolve in us mind linked with compassion. It is after all this love for animals which benefits humans because it engenders compassion via the sutra-atman in all things, thus going upward to join and become part of the great Sutra-Atman and becoming a selfless part of the greater organism which it is, and whose body all living things combine to make up.

1 SD 1, 196-7.

2 SB Dougherty, “Animals and Man”, Sunrise April/May 1990, p. 113.

3 Friends of all Creatures, pp. 115-6.

4 Friends of all Creatures, p. 39.

5 Buddhist Birth-Stories (Jataka Tales) Trans from Prof. V. Fausboll’s edition by TW Rhys Davids, Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1973.

6 ibid, p. 27/

7 Friends of all Creatures, pp. 11 and 19-20.

8 Friends of all Creatures, p. 25.

9 Friends of all Creatures, by Rose Evans,Sea Fog Press, Inc., San Francisco, 1984. pp. 15-17.

10 Jataka Tales Tr. by HT Francis and EJ Thomas, Jaico Publishing House, Bombay, 1956, pp.14-16.

11 Ibid. (The best of friends).

12 The Best of Friends. A Jataka Tale. 1989, Dharma Publishing USA, illustr. by Rosalyn White, p.1. Buddhist Birth-Stories (Jataka Tales) Trans from Prof. V. Fausboll’s edition by TW Rhys Davids, Indological Book House, Varanasi, 1973.

13The Best of Friends. A Jataka Tale. 1989, Dharma Publishing USA, illustr. by Rosalyn White, introduction, p.1.

14 Friends of all Creatures, by Rose Evans,Sea Fog Press, Inc., San Francisco, 1984. p. 1.

15 William Blake, “Auguries of Innocence”, quoted by S. B Dougherty “Animals and Man”, Sunrise April/May 1990, p. 113.

16 SB Dougherty, op. cit, p. 112.

17 Friends of all Creatures, p. 57.

18 Katherine Tingley, The Gods Await, pp. 66-67, in SB Dougherty, op cit, pp. 113-114.

19 SB Dougheerty, op cit, p. 116.

20 Wisdom of the Elders, p. 85.

21 Wisdom of the Elders, pp. 77-78.

22 Wisdom of the Elders, pp. 89-90.

23 SD II, 279.

24 GDP, Dialogues III, 176-8.

25 SOP 123.

26 SD !! 289.

27 SD II, 329.

28 SD II, 219.

29 ET, pp. 323 fn, 324 and 325.

30 Fundamentals of the ET, p. 447.

31 SD II 552.

32 Fundamentals, p. 447.

33 KH, Mahatma Letters, p. 56?

34 Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy, 63.

35 ET, 199.

36 ET, 227.

37 Key, 104.

38 SDII 81.

39 SDII 255.

40 Fountain Sources, 352

41 ET 680-1.

42 Fountain sources 352.

43 (SD II 254)

44 SD II 254.

45 SD II 259

46 SD II, 1.

47 SD II, 261

48 SD II, 260.

49 SOP, p123 or ref before this on my page?

50 Dialogues, 69-70.

51 ET II 699-700.

52 ET II, 699.

53 ET II 341.

54 Dialogues, III, 56.

55 Dialogues III, pp. 339-43, & ET, II, 821.

56 SD II 525.

57 SD II 412.

58 SD II, 496.

59 Isis II, 447.

60 ET II, p.848, fn.

61 ET, 233.

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Fri 14 Sep 2007

THEOSOPHY: what it means to me by Jennifer Pignataro

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THEOSOPHY: What it means to me Jennifer Pignataro

Some definitions of the term Theosophy.
A consideration of the symbolic significance of the Theosophical Society’s seal
A consideration of the T.S. Objectives.

In discussing these aspects I will attempt to illustrate how these have influenced my evolving perspective of Theosophy. Some definitions of the term Theosophy. According to the Wikipedia, the free Web encyclopedia:“Theosophy is a body of ideas which holds that all religions are attempts by man to ascertain “the divine” as such each religion has a portion of the truth”. A formal definition from the Concise Oxford Dictionary describes Theosophy as: “any of various philosophies professing to achieve a knowledge of God by Spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition, or special individual relations, esp. a modern movement following Hindu and Buddhist teachings and seeking universal brotherhood”. According to G. de Purucker’s definition in Occult Glossary on p. 176-7 “Theosophy: is a compound Greek word ; theos a “divine being”, - god, Sophia , “wisdom”, hence divine wisdom. Theosophy is the majestic wisdom-religion of the archaic ages and is as old as thinking man. It was delivered to the first human protoplasts, the first thinking human beings on this earth, by highly intelligent spiritual entities from superior spheres. This ancient doctrine, … has been passed down from guardians to guardians through innumerable generations until our own time. Furthermore, portions of this original and majestic system have been given out at various periods of time to various races in various parts of the world by those guardians when humanity stood in need of such extension and elaboration of spiritual and intellectual thought. Theosophy is not a syncretistic philosophy-religion-science, a system of thought or belief which has been put together piecemeal and consisting of parts or portions taken by some great mind from other various religions or philosophies. This idea is false. On the contrary, theosophy is that single system or systematic formulation of the facts of visible and invisible nature which, as expressed through the illuminated human mind, takes the apparently separate forms of science and of philosophy and of religion. We may likewise describe theosophy to be the formulation in human language of the nature, structure, origin y and operations of kosmical universe and of the multitudes of being which infill it.” In Blavatsky’s Theosophical Glossary , p.328, she states that: “Theosophy is the substratum and basis of all world-religions and philosophies, taught and practiced by a few elect ever since man became a thinking being., In its practical bearing, theosophy is purely divine ethics…” I personally identify with the definitions given by the theosophists themselves, such as Blavatsky and Purucker, as they embody a heartfelt, intuitive, personal and real interpretation of the word. Their definitions attempt to give some practical application to the aspiring theosophist. Key words for me are “divine ethics”. I will discuss later the concept of reincarnation and the creation of karma to practice and refine “divine ethics”. For me Theosophy and its application of strategies for living, as espoused by the Society’s five objectives, attempts to direct one’s endeavours towards a life of “divine ethics”. This is a personal, individual attainment. I hasten to add, difficult to live by, but a noble attainment, regardless. What I particularly appreciate about Theosophy is the lack of dogma, any sense of an organized religion with its attendant ritual and regalia. I applaud the fact that it always encourages the individual to freely and personally consider what is “truth” and to discard that which one feels is irrelevant. It encourages one to be the seeker of truth for oneself. It fosters the quest of the independent search for this “truth”. There are no gurus, leaders, messiahs. In fact, the seeker of truth must determine for oneself what this “truth” is, and allows one, over time, to re-evaluate whether this “truth” has currency. This principle links directly to the notion that no god is responsible for ones’ fortunes. I especially relate to the notion of being responsible for my own salvation, based on my thoughts, words and deeds. Being aware of this notion, one can not but be made consciously mindful. I find it useful in understanding this notion to regard past civilisations’ images. The one which is the most striking for me is that of the Egyptian “Weighing of the Heart” Judgment scene. In that society’s belief system, even thoughts were scrutinized at the day of reckoning. I also find it insightful and instructional considering the ‘wisdom, truth, knowledge, science and philosophy of civilizations over the ages as such information relating to human endeavor has much to teach us, and is current and universal. As a student of the ‘human condition’, wondering and searching for answers to the eternal questions such as “Who am I?”, “How did I get here?”, “Is there life after death?, concepts and objectives of Theosophy (which I shall consider later in this paper) greatly comfort my fertile, inquiring mind. While various philosophies such as Existentialism consider such questions, I don’t feel that they give valuable strategies for living a purposeful life. Nor do they offer adequate mechanisms for exploring responses from the ancients about what constitutes “truths” and the ancient wisdom. As stated earlier, it is instructive to note how our forebears considered these same matters, the big mysteries of life, because all of the world religions have repeatedly demonstrated the essence of what constitutes the “Eternal Truth”. Significance of the Seal of the Theosophical Society As one who is curious of most things, especially in semiotics and the practice of symbolism in art and religion it is of interest to consider how the emblem of the Theosophical Society integrates a number of the prominent religions into a single seal. On the basis of design to convey the multiple messages of the key spiritual movements, the Seal adeptly relays these. The Seal of the Theosophical Society was adapted from the personal emblem of Madame Blavatsky before the Society was founded in 1875. The five prominent symbols in the Seal are:

The Star of David
The Ankh
The Swastika
The Ouroboros (Serpent swallowing its tail)
Aum

Each of the symbols are very, very old. After some research into the origins and significance of them I was stunned to realize that all of them have been prominent throughout the major civilizations and religions of the world. Madame Blavatsky selected wisely from the ancients when designing her personal emblem which ultimately influenced the Seal of the Theosophical Society. Each of the symbols are representative of “divine, spiritual” principles. The Star of David: Also known as King Solomon’s seal, in India known as the seal of Vishnu and viewed by Pythagoreans as the symbol of creation. The interlaced triangles signify the polarity of nature and spirit, male and female, light and dark. The six points of the star reach toward the serpent of eternity, changing and evolving through time. The Ankh: This was an ancient Egyptian symbol of resurrection and immortality. The cross shape represents matter or the world of form, while the circle above it represents spirit. It can denote the embryonic universe , or spiritual egg or germ hovering over the cross of matter. Astronomically it is the sign of Venus, earth’s sister-planet and guardian of humanity.The Ankh situated in the centre of the triangles suggests divine immortality. The Swastika (Crooked Cross): The Swastika is a holy symbol in Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism, however, it is widely known and used as a symbol of Nazism. The Hindu version is often decorated with a dot in each quadrant. It is one of the 108 symbols of Vishnu and represents the sun’s rays. The motif was first used in Neolithic Eurasia and was also used in Native American cultures. The symbol has also been found in Greco-Roman and Gothic Art and architecture.Essentially it represents good luck. The Indian word shubhtika meaning: good mark, first appears in the classical Sanskrit epics the Ramayana and the Mahabharata epics. It was incorporated into the Seal of the Theosophical Society due to its Hindu and Buddhist links. The Ouroboros (Serpent swallowing its tail): is Greek for the word “tail-devourer”. It is one of the oldest mystical symbols in the world. Plato described the serpent swallowing it tail when describing the first living thing in the universe. It is represented in Aztec, Chinese, Native American, Norse, Christian, Hindu and Hermetic culture, mythology and literature.It symbolizes them cyclic nature of life, the eternal unity of all things, the absolute, un manifested universe containing the potentials of all form, regeneration and reincarnation. Aum (Om): It is the most sacred syllable in Hinduism, representing the infinite Brahman and the entire universe. It is considered to be the first sound. In Hindu belief, the world is viewed as vibration or rhythmic waves. It is the sacred symbol of the Trinity of Brahma (the Creater), Vishnu (the Sustainer) and Shiva (the destroyer).The written form of Aum signifies the triple state of man’s consciousness, the waking state, the unconscious state and dream state.Aum is the source of all existence. We are reminded of the statement in Genesis which says: “In the beginning was the ‘Word and the Word was with God and the Word is God”. Aum is a word of power and should be uttered with great reverence. Encircled around the Seal is the Theosophical Society’s motto: “There is no religion higher than truth” which is the quest of every theosophist. I like the Seal of the Theosophical Society as it succinctly incorporates the validity of all the major religions. Each of the symbols point to the eternal, unity of all major quests, the search for divine truth and divine meaning.

I feel the following objectives of T.S. can give adherents a practical road map for living, if you like. What exactly do each of these aims mean and how does one attempt to aspire to such noble objectives? I would like to walk you through each of them with my interpretation and application of them in daily life or “the karmic script”. The Theosophical Society’s objectives: 1. To give people an awareness of the laws of the Universe. 2. To spread the knowledge that there is unity to be found amongst all things, because unity is the basis of Nature. 3. To promote an active brotherhood amongst people regardless of race, creed or color. 4. To learn knowledge about ancient and modern religions, science and philosophies. 5. To study the inner powers of people. 1. To give people an awareness of the laws of the Universe: The essence of the laws of nature are, that all is unity. Everything originates from Spirit and returns to Spirit. Moreover, that the knowledge of “ancient truths” are timeless and universal.

2. To spread the knowledge that there is unity to be found amongst all things, because unity is the basis of Nature: I like to think of this objective as meaning that everything is connected, that there is no such thing as “chance”. I believe that all civilizations over the eons have believed this, and grasping this principle may lead the seeker of truth to a sense of reconnection with the “divine”. 3. To promote an active brotherhood amongst people regardless of race, creed or color: I understand this to mean that a Theosophist must consider every person that they meet as having a “divine spark”, that they have come from spirit and that every one is at some stage of evolving along their path of “becoming”, of reaching their potential. While some people that we meet may seem “unevolved”, they hone our power of discrimination. Yet, we must not let race, creed, colour, age nor gender initially prohibit us from demonstrating one’s innate “divinity”. One should be able to help those among us by illuminating a path, by way of illustration; by acting with right intention, and mindful of one’s thoughts, words and deeds which daily create one’s karma.I feel that this is the road that leads to “divine ethics”.

4. To learn knowledge about ancient and modern religions, science and philosophies: As I have stated earlier in this lecture, even a cursory glance of past civilizations and their human endeavors in the fields of science, art, religion and philosophy points to timeless lessons of truth, for while man has evolved over millennia, his search has not altered. That is, the perennial questions remain, which, can lead the individual to search for meaningful truth. Such a quest, once the adherent encounters it, sets him on a journey of great discovery. The fruits of such a journey, leads the seeker to a greater understanding of self, of those around him and that of nature and the environment in which he finds himself in his current incarnation. 5. To study the inner powers of people: This is the magical, alchemical process which occurs when a Theosophist earnestly searches for meaningful truth via the study over a life time, of “ancient wisdom” and universal laws. When the Theosophist applies some of the universal, ancient laws in the practical areas of his life, such as the aims espoused by this Society, then one’s sense of divine origins and strengths become further refined. Ultimately, one is aware of creating his own Karma and so may became a beacon of light, hope and inspiration to others.

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Thu 13 Sep 2007

CATS: in foklore and religion by Jennifer Pignataro

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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CATS: in folklore and religion

Jennifer Pignataro

Today’s lecture considers one of my most favorite topics, that of cats. I will be considering the following:

physical information
cat proverbs from around the world
feline folklore and mythology from around the world
cats in Ancient Egypt

The human-cat relationship has been a long and at times during the evolution of man and cat, difficult and shameful one. Of course, my relationship with cats pretty much began as early as I can remember being around them and being conscious of them in my home environment. I have always, as most cat lovers, been in awe of them. For me they are poetry in motion, skillful predators, funny little creatures with their wonderful purring sounds, interesting facial expressions and endearing personalities. If I sound biased, then be in no doubt that I love this species, both domestic versions and the wild big cat varieties. I’ve managed to source a great deal of literature from the web concerning both cats in folklore and their role in
Ancient Egypt so what I wish to do now is read out a range of statements which I have found interesting and hope that you find them equally amusing.

Physical Facts:

Ailurophobia, aelurophobia, felinophobia and gatophobia are various names for the fear of cats.
Even though humans are 15 times larger than the average cat, the human skeleton has 206 bones but domestic cats have 230 bones.
The domestic cat is the only species able to hold its tail vertically while walking. Wild cats hold their tail horizontally, or tucked between their legs while walking.
Cats have more than 100 vocal sounds, while dogs have about 10.
Cats purr at 26 cycles per second, the same as an idling diesel engine.
The reason cats respond to catnip is because catnip actually smells like the urine of a dominant female cat. When cats smell this scent, they believe the dominant female is around so they roll around and become docile to impress her!
After cats eat, they immediately bathe themselves. Their instinct tells them to get the food scent off of them so that predators will not smell the food and come after them.
A group of cats is called a clowder.
A cat has no ability to taste sweet things.
A cat’s jaws cannot move sideways.
The cat uses it’s tail like a tight-rope walker uses a long pole – as a counterweight to aid balance. Even though the tail is useful for this, it is also used for communication purposes. Cats born without tails do manage, though. There are other methods for balancing.
Kittens are born both blind and deaf, but the vibration of their mother’s purring is a physical signal that the kittens can feel – it acts like a homing device- signaling them to nurse
Kittens can clock an amazing 31 mile per hour at full speed and can cover about 3 times their body length per leap
A curved tail on a cat is usually an indication that the cat is feeling curious.
A wagging cat tail does not mean the same thing as a wagging dog tail. If a cat is wagging it’s tail, if often means that the cat is in the middle of making a decision about something.

Cat Proverbs from around the world:

Nobody can truly own a cat - English.
A cat’s a cat and that’s that.
A cat sleeping with all four paws tucked under means cold weather ahead.
If a cat washes behind its ears, it will rain.
Curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back.
Dogs remember faces, cats remember places.
Dreaming of a white cat means good luck - American.
A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes.
A cat sneezing is a good omen for everyone who hears it – Italian.
A cat pent up becomes a lion.
Old cats mean young mice.
To kill a cat brings 17 years of bad luck – Irish.
Beware of people who dislike cats.
A strange black cat on your porch brings prosperity – Scottish.
When the pupil of a cat’s eye broadens, there will be rain – Welsh.
Happy owner, happy cat. Indifferent owner, reclusive cat – Chinese.
When the cat and mouse agree, the grocer is ruined – Iranian.
If stretching were wealth, the cat would be rich – African.
The cat was created when the lion sneezed – Arabian.
He that denies the cat skimmed milk must give the mouse cream – Russian.
The cat laps moon-beams in the bowl of water, thinking them to be milk – Hindu.
Books and cats and fair-haired little girls make the best furnishing for a room – French.
It is better to feed one cat than many mice - Norwegian.

Feline Folklore and mythology from around the world:

Early Christians: believed that if a cat was seen on a grave, the buried person’s soul must be in the devil’s power.Two cats seen fighting near a dying person, or on the grave shortly after a funeral, are really the Devil and an Angel fighting for the possession of the soul.

Noah’s Ark: According to one story, at the time of the flood, Noah took pairs of rats and mice which multiplied very quickly. After a while the Ark became infested by rodents. Noah consulted the lion who, as king of the beasts, created the solution. The lion sneezed and from his nostrils, a pair of ready made domestic cats came out, and they instantly set down to work, having a natural instinct for being ‘verminators’.Another legend is that of how the Manx cat lost its tail. Evidently it was unpunctual in its arrival to the Ark and the careless Noah closed it’s tail in the door of the

Ark.

During the Middle Ages: cats were affiliated with witches, particularly black cats. They were viewed as supernatural agents as cats are nocturnal and roam at night. They were also considered to be agents of the devil. Mostly single, adult women were viewed with suspicion by the authorities if they owned or lived with these creatures, which were considered to be the ‘witch’s’ familiar.Pope Gregory 1X denounced black cats as Satanic in his 1233 Bull ‘Vox in Rama’ and this launched the extermination of many cats. Subsequently thousands of cats were burned alive. This lead to the culmination of the Great Plagues which befelled England and Europe. The oppression of cats also occurred during the downfall of the Knights Templar. Under torture, the Knights Templar were compelled to confess to heresy, renouncing Christ, and in some instances, the worship of cats. This probably speaks volumes about the view the Church and its view of cats at that time.

In Japan: there is a myth that cats turn into super spirits when they die. According to some Japanese Buddhists, the body of the cat is the temporary resting place of the soul of very spiritual people. Also in Japan we find the origins of the Beckoning Cat or manekineko. This cat, long ago, stood in the door of the GotokujiTemple and raised her paw in the traditional Japanese beckoning gesture to a feudal lord who was passing by.The feudal lord followed the cat into the temple and instantly, a lightening bolt struck the place where the lord had been standing. Thus, the cat had saved his life. From then on, the manekineko was considered as an incarnation of the Goddess of Mercy.The

Gotoku-ji

Temple now houses dozens of statues of this cat and owners of lost or sick cats stick up prayer boards with the image of the Beckoning Cat in this temple.

In business the manekineko is said to bring success. This is because her raised paw beckons in customers. It also welcomes in personal happiness and harmony. Beckoning cats are often sold as money boxes and in a house they are supposed to beckon in good friends.

Islamic countries: cats are considered to be very clean animals. The Prophet Mohammed is said to have kept cats himself, and popular legend tells that one time, the Prophet had to respect the call to prayer but his cat was sleeping on the sleeve of his robe. Rather than awake the cat, the Prophet simply tore his sleeve and went off to prayer.

Burma and the Sacred Cat: the Siamese cat has its own legend. It was said that when Siamese kings died, their souls pass on to a Siamese cat, so that he could be present at the coronation of the succeeding king before attaining heaven. This cat would have been treated as part of the Royal family and would have resided in the palace.Another myth worth telling is that there are some Siamese cats who have a kinked tail. These types of Siamese are considered auspicious in theFar East. It is said that an ancestor of this breed voluntarily kinked its tail so as to provide a safe place for the princess’ rings while she was bathing. She used to slide her rings along the cat’s tail and there was no danger of them becoming lost, as the kinked tail preventing them from falling. Cats in Ancient Egypt: Thou art the Great Cat, the avenger of the gods, and the judge of words, and the president of the sovereign chiefs and the governor of the holy Circle; thou art indeed the Great Cat. Inscription on the Royal Tombs at

Thebes.

The cat was probably domesticated around 2000 BC in Egypt and most modern cats are the descendants of the cats of ancient Egypt. Not only were cats the most popular pet in the ancient Egyptian house but the cat’s status rose from sacred animal to one of the most esteemed of deities.Tomb paintings with cats as part of family life began to emerge during the

New Kingdom - about 500 years after the first attempts at domestication. During theNew Kingdom (1540 – 1069 B.C.), there were many tomb scenes depicting cats as part of everyday life. Many of these scenes depict the cats on hunting excursions in the marshes, to retrieve fowl and fish.Cats were valued as good mice and vermin hunters too as the Egyptian grain stores attracted dreaded rodents and snakes.Cats were valued also for their mysterious and supernatural qualities and because of these they became sacred animals. It must be remembered that most feline gods and goddesses in ancient Egypt were in fact big cats, mainly lions and lionesses. The Sphinx for example is a representation of a lion, and is one of the earliest works of Egyptian art. The Sphinx has the head of the pharaoh, and the body of a lion, showing the pharaoh’s power and importance. Amongst the list of Egyptian feline goddesses we find the following:

Mau, a personification of Ra as a cat (Mau being the Egyptian word for cat).

Tefnut, a lion headed goddess whose name means Moisture and represents one of the most primeval forces of creation.

Mafdet, a goddess of protection. This is the earliest feline cat goddess recorded. She is described in the Pyramid Texts as killing a serpent with her claws. In an Ancient Egyptian spell which repels snakes the protection of Mafdet is invoked: ”O cobra, I am the flame which shines on the brows of the Chaos-gods of the Standard of Years. Begone from me, for I am Mafdet!”

Bastet, was often depicted as having the body of a woman and the head of a domestic cat. She was associated with the Eye of Ra, acting within the sun god’s power. The Egyptians loved Bastet so much that she became a household goddess and protector of women, children and domestic cats. She was the goddess of sunrise, music, dance, pleasure, as well as family, fertility and birth.

Sekmet, is the evil counterpart of Bastet. Sekmet represented the cat goddess’ destructive force. She is known as the goddess of war and pestilence. She was tamed by Ra and she eventually became the powerful protector of humans. Together, Bastet and Sekmet represented the balance of the forces of nature.

The penalty for killing a cat 4,000 years ago in Egypt was death.

When a cat died, people shaved off their eyebrows as a sign of respect.

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Wed 12 Sep 2007

THE MOON: Queen of the Night by Andrew Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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THE MOON: Queen of the Night

Andrew Rooke

What if the moon did not exist? Astrophysicist Neil F, Comins of the University of Maine attempted to answer this question recently by examining the close relationship between the earth and the moon and found that the very conditions for life on our beautiful planet are only possible because of the existence of our moon. For example, if the Earth had no moon, our day would be only eight hours long due to the increased speed of its rotation. The rapid rotation of our planet without the moon to slow it down would continually subject us to hurricane-force winds, and because there would be no appreciable tides mixing the building blocks of life in our oceans, life itself might not exist yet, and when life did arrive it would have a very different biology than what we are familiar with today.* [*Comins, Neil F. What if the moon did not exist! Voyages to earth’s that might have been New York: Harper Collins, 1993] If we are so dependent on the moon for our physical environment, how much more so must this dynamic relationship be on the inner levels of being? Theosophy confirms that indeed this is the case, with one theosophical writer stating: “The relationship of the moon and the earth is so close, so far-reaching, that it affects every atom of the entire body of the earth: more, of every globe of the earth planetary chain as well as of the lunar chain.” [G de Purucker The Fountain-Source of Occultism page 345]. Scientific writers often refer to the earth and moon as ‘companion planets’ as the moon is one quarter the size of the Earth. Most other planets’ moons, with the exception of Pluto’s moon Charon, are only tiny in comparison to their planet. Whereas the contemporary scientific view of the moon’s formation is that it was formed as the result of the earth being hit by a Mars-sized object early in its history, spewing out molten rock as a result of the collision into space which quickly congealed into what we now know as the Moon. Theosophy prefers to call the earth/moon system ‘parent and child’ as it teaches that it is rather the earth that is an outgrowth on many planes of being of the energies once manifest on the moon when it was a vibrant, living world – the former incarnation of our planet. Now the moon is a dead world, a planetary corpse, ghostly ‘kama rupa’, or sinister ‘Dweller on the Threshold’, circling around its child, our earth, once every month gradually transferring its energies and lifewaves including humanity to our home planet. According to theosophy, the physical remains of our once parent planet have long since disintegrated into cosmic dust. What we see as the moon in our sky at night is the astral remains of our parent planet, which we can see as a material body because we now exist on the ‘child’ earth, one cosmic sub-plane higher than we did when we lived on the moon chain of globes. We witness the moon’s immense influence on the physical earth with the regular high tides in our oceans twice each day, the precession of the equinoxes, and the transfer of rotational energy from the earth to the moon meaning that the earth slows down 1.5 milliseconds each century and the moon speeds its rotation and moves 3.8 centimeters inches further away from the earth each year! A series of spacecraft and manned landings since the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft gave us our first view of the ‘dark side’* [*’dark’ only because unknown until recently. Actually both sides of the moon receive equal amounts of sunlight and darkness, except for the depths of a few craters at the poles which are in permanent darkness] of the moon in 1959, have added immeasurably to our understanding of our moon. The first manned landing to the moon was on July 20^th, 1969 [do you remember what you were doing that historic day?] when US astronaut, Neil Armstrong, guided his tiny ‘Eagle’ lander to the desolate surface of the Sea of Tranquility on the nearside of the moon, and the last manned landing was in December 1972. During these manned landings, astronauts collected samples of moon rocks and dust so that the moon is the only extra-terrestrial body from which samples have been successfully collected and returned to the earth. Earthlings now have no less than 382 kilograms of rock and dust samples from the moon dated to 3 to 4.6 billion years old giving invaluable insights into the early history of the earth and the solar system. [‘The Moon’ from The Nine Planets http://www.nineplanets.org/luna.html] In the summer of 1994 the moon was extensively mapped by the US Clementine spacecraft that successfully orbited the moon for 71 days. Clementine made a topographical map of the entire moon for the first time, giving us a more complete such map than we have for the earth! Intriguingly, Clementine included an improvised radar experiment which uncovered evidence that perhaps as much as 10 billion tons of water ice exists in the permanently shadowed areas near the lunar south pole. NASA spacecraft Lunar Prospector went into polar orbit of the moon in 1998 confirming the detection of water ice near the south pole of the moon and additional deposits deep in the craters of the north pole.* [*Spudis, Paul D. ‘The new moon: recent lunar missions have shown there is still much to learn about Earth’s closest neighbour’ Scientific American December 2003 pages 58-65] These potential reservoirs of water may be useful to future manned expeditions for drinking water, production of fuel and insulation of living quarters from harmful radiation from the sun. A final determination of the existence of water ice on the moon will probably come from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter scheduled for launch in 2008. Though water ice may exist on the moon in isolated pockets at the poles, modern science confirms the moon is a desolate environment from a human perspective – truly a dead world. The moon has no atmosphere and no global magnetic field , and unlike the earth, the moon’s interior is no longer active. The pictures from the Apollo landers show a mostly cold, desert-like grey landscape of heavily cratered highlands and relatively smooth and younger ‘maria’, or plains. These are the dark [basaltic maria] and bright areas [highlands] that you can see making up the face of the ‘Man in the Moon’ when you look up at the moon from your backyard. The maria or plains areas, which comprise about 16% of the moon’s surface, are, from a scientific point of view, actually the remains of huge impact craters where meteors have struck the moon with terrific force. Later these craters were flooded with molten rock created by the force of the explosive impacts. For some reason that is unknown, there are more maria, and the moon’s crust is much thinner on the side of the moon facing the earth, but the largest crater in the entire solar system at 2,600 kms diameter and 12 kms deep, the South Pole Aitken Basin, is on the dark side. Most of the surface of the moon is covered with ‘regolith’, a mixture of fine dust and rocky debris resulting from the continuous meteor and meteorite impacts over billions of years as the moon has no atmosphere to absorb the shock of such ‘shooting stars’ as we call them on the earth. Theosophy has a different view of the function of these craters which typify our picture of the surface of the moon. We are taught that the moon is the corpse, ‘kama rupa’, or even the earth’s dread ‘Dweller on the Threshold’, once a living planet, the parent of our earth. Being a dead body, similar on a massive scale to any dead animal body we can think of on earth, the moon has been undergoing decay and disintegration for billions of years. Some of the appearances on the surface, particularly the craters, may be due to the gradual disintegration of the body of the moon with internal decay welling up to the surface through craters like pustules on a decaying animal body, but escaping earthward in the case of the moon. We are further taught that the moon will disintegrate into the ‘blue ether’ by the time of the earth’s seventh planetary round [we are currently just over half way through the fourth] millions of years into the future. Interestingly enough, modern science has found the crust of the moon facing the earth is much thinner than on the dark side, and that the moon’s centre of gravity is displaced 2 kms towards the earth indicating the tremendous gravitational and ‘psychomagnetic’ attraction of the child-earth feeding on the remains of its parent world. Also interesting are statements by theosophical teacher G de Purucker in 1934 indicating his speculation that the surface of the moon would prevent easy travel because it is disintegrating into dust. [Fountain-Source of Occultism page 342] In fact, one of the greatest hazards to past and future manned expeditions to the moon is the ubiquitous finely ground, glassy, sharp-edged moon dust which makes it difficult for astronauts to move around on the surface, penetrates into clothing and habitats, and even has given some astronauts a moon version of hayfever, though apparently according to Gene Cernan, Apollo 17 astronaut, it has a nice taste and a smell not unlike gunpowder!!* [*‘The smell of moondust’ ScienceNASA http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/30jan_smellofmoondust.htm?list89034 ] What is the nature of this influence which streams forth from the moon to the earth every nanosecond? In religious traditions around the world, the moon is called the Lord and Giver of Life, and paradoxically, also the producer of death. In many cultures it is pictured as a nurturing feminine deity governing both birth and growth – the *Queen of the Night in Celtic culture [*Nicmhacha, Sharynne Queen of the night: the Celtic moon goddess in our lives Weiser Books, 2005], Selene, Artemis, Diana, Juna, Hecate or Isis in the Mediterranean. Some cultures, such as the Hindu and Scandinavian, view the lunar influence as masculine, however, all lunar deities have two aspects – supernal and infernal, spiritual and maternal, good and evil. The influences flowing from the moon have ever been known and utilized by magicians and sorcerers, from the familiar Disney portrayal of the ‘sorcerers apprentice’ with stars and moons on his pointed hat, to the witchdoctors or ‘nganga’ of central Africa whose very name means ‘the moon’! Of this dual life-giving/death dealing influence of the moon on the earth and its inhabitants, G de Purucker says: “As the giver of both physical and astral life, the moon is also the transmitter of the lower material and psychical vitality. But it is full of the energies of death as well. It is a decaying body. Every atom that leaves the moon rushes earthwards, impregnated with lunar influences. The effect of the moon in these respects is deleterious and even death-dealing…The lunar vitality not only stimulates the grosser forms of our physical existence, but can likewise by that very action cause decay and disease in other parts of the human constitution.”* [ *Fountain Source of Occultism page 341] The moon is injurious to earthlings because it is the astral dregs of our former home planet which was then at a lower stage of spiritual evolution than we now enjoy. The lunar chain of globes: “…was not a good chain of life; it was a vicious chain, and we humans were amongst those who made it so.” [G de Purucker Fountain Source of Occultism page 343.] Hence the moon is the ‘Dweller on the Threshold’ of the earth, infilled with the, to us now, evil magnetism which both holds the moon together, but is continually attracted to the earth: “…by reason of its affinity it continues to haunt our globe and its inhabitants.” [G de Purucker Fountain Source of Occultism page 342] The moon is therefore the giver/transmitter of life and mind of a lower form to the earth and its inhabitants, whereas the sun is the giver/transmitter of life in general to the solar system and of the higher aspects of mind. In this dual character of the Lord of Life and Death, the moon was/is closely associated with the initiatory cycle, regular occasions when suitable candidates were/are subjected to tests on the inner planes of being to awaken their potentials of mind and spirit. Such initiations were/are only conducted when the moon is waxing or growing in strength. It was/is considered a generally necessary principle only to begin a new major undertaking, journey, marriage, etc. when the moon is waxing as Nature is then expanding, or growing with you, though, of course, there are occasions when this cannot be done and one should act regardless of the phase of the moon. This lunar influence or ‘soma drink’ as it was referred to in India, has a dual influence, one of darkness and decay, and the other of light and life. Of the heady ‘soma drink’ of the genuine initiation ceremonies, HP Blavatsky has to say: “A ‘soma drinker’ attains the power of placing himself in direct rapport with the bright side of the moon, thus deriving inspiration from the concentrated intellectual energy of the blessed ancestors. This ‘concentration’, and the moon being a store-house of the Energy, is the secret, the meaning of which must not be revealed, beyond the mere fact of mentioning the continuous pouring out upon the earth from the bright side of the orb of a certain influence. This which seems to be one stream (to the ignorant) is a dual nature – one giving life and wisdom, the other being lethal. He who can separate the former from the latter, as Kalahamsa separated the milk from the water, which was mixed with it, thus showing great wisdom – will have his reward.” [HP Blavatsky ‘Thoughts on Elementals’ Lucifer May 1890, page 187] There are times in the solar universe, when humanity generally outside of the context of the initiatory cycle, is subjected to greater concentrations of the moon’s energies. Eclipses of the moon and the sun are such times when we are subject to the combined effect of the sun and moon, or earth and moon pulling together upon the earth or moon. This gravitational and ‘psychomagnetic’ pull, produces great surges of vital energy between the respective bodies at those times. One theosophical writer said of eclipses: “Eclipses can be quite unhealthy for the human race, because at such times there is often an added stimulus to man’s emotional and passional nature.” [L. Gordon Plummer and Charles J. Ryan Star habits and orbits: astronomy for theosophical students page 89] Ancient cultures knew of this connection and used to consider eclipses as a bad omen, a sign of catastrophes to come. For example, in Japan they used to cover wells and potteries thinking that the weather would be poisoned. Indians used to shut down their houses in fear of harmful moonlight. Scandinavians thought that diseases would float in the air during the solar eclipse. Babylonians assumed that catastrophes and diseases would come under a solar or lunar eclipse, so they made sure to lie down with their faces to the ground to avoid foul influences if caught out of doors. Each nation faced this phenomenon in its own way. Eskimos used to sacrifice animals to satisfy their gods. Mexican Aztec Indians sacrificed human beings to convince the moon to return and the sun to appear. In Korea, Japan and China, where they thought that dragons eat the moon during eclipses, people used to gather to make loud noises to scare the dragons and stop them from eating their meal! All these bizarre customs are faint remembrances of actual facts of nature to which theosophical writers refer. [see ‘MrEclipse.com’ at http://www.mreclipse.com/ for more detail on lunar and solar eclipses] The beautiful but desolate landscapes transmitted to earth by spacecraft sweeping over the surface of the moon, bring to mind the teachings of the ancient wisdom regarding the seven or twelve sacred planets. Theosophical writers affirm that the solar system is alive with many more planets, moons and suns than are visible currently to science. The seven planets with which the destiny of our earth is most closely connected are called the seven sacred planets. [See G de Purucker Fountain Source of Occultism ‘The twelve sacred planets’ pages 317 to 325 for more information on the sacred planets] One of these ‘planets’ was said to be the moon symbolically representing an invisible planet standing close to the physical moon we can see. This invisible sacred planet is sometimes called in theosophical literature, the ‘Eighth Sphere’, or ‘Planet of Death’. Orbiting close to the moon, this planet is too dense materially for us to see, it is currently in retrograde motion compared to most of the other bodies in the solar system, and it is in its seventh or final round of planetary life. Its function in the universal economy of the solar system is to serve as a receptacle of negative influences or, in the case of humanity, irretrievably evil individuals from earth who are there given the environment for a new beginning in their spiritual evolutionary journey. Theosophical writer indicate that this world operates for the solar system something like a sewerage or drainage system does for our great cities, removing poisonous influences from the proximity of the general population. [See G de Purucker Fountain Source of Occultism ‘The Planet of Death’ pages 346 to 349 for more information on this subject] The sacred planets, including this, to us, terrible place, are ‘sacred’ to us because they, as conscious entities, cooperate in the building and subsequent evolutionary history of the earth. Curiously enough, theosophical teachers tell us that, although the dread plant of death is more grossly material than the earth, as a conscious entity it oversees the building of Globe ‘G’, or the most spiritually advanced of the seven ‘rupa’ globes of the earth chain of globes, we at present being on Globe D, our beautiful earth. [See G de Purucker Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy page 548] In the far distant future when Globe G is our home, the moon and its influences will have disintegrated into atomic stellar dust, and this secret planet will then become the satellite of the earth in place of the moon, but that planet will not be a true moon, but a mere satellite. [G de Purucker Fountain Source of Occultism page 526] For theosophy confirms that each planet in our solar system has but only one true moon in the inner sense, and those planets with many moons, such as Jupiter with 63 known moons and Saturn with 34, have gravitationally captured the others from the greater environment of the solar system. Walk out into the backyard tonight and stare up in wonder at the great and timeless works of universal nature circling above you. Bathing in the starlight, ponder upon the inner significance of the great orbs shining in the tapestry of the living universe which is the night sky. We can then appreciate what HP Blavatsky says of the brightest of these orbs – the Moon, Queen of the Night: “…the cold chaste moon…stands in closer relations to the Earth than any other sidereal orb. The Sun is the giver of life to the whole planetary system; the moon is the giver of life to our globe; and the early races understood and knew it, even in their infancy. She is the Queen and she is the King, and was King Soma before she became transformed into Phoebe and the chaste Diana.” [HP Blavatsky The Secret Doctrine 1, page 386.]

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Tue 11 Sep 2007

FOLLOWING KARMIC SIGNALS by Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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FOLLOWING KARMIC SIGNALS

By Roza and Margarita Riaikkenen

No-one living being on our planet could exist without the signals which direct its attention to the moment of choice. For example, thirst and hunger signal us that we are in need for water and food to replenish the chemical energy of our physical body. Pain alerts us that something is damaged or going wrong with our health. Remove these signals completely, and we will not survive. There are also signals aimed to directing us towards our collective survival and development as a system of life on our planet Earth. The climatic condition of the Earth, the condition of mental and physical health of its population, their peaceful or war-like attitudes – all of this expresses itself as signals which should speak aloud to anyone with conscience, caring for the future life on our planet.What happens when we don’t listen to the signals, when we are deaf to them? In fact, the people of our civilization did everything to turn the proverbial deaf ear to even the loudest and naturally insistent of the signals, like pain or hunger, not saying about the finest signals of conscience. We have invented painkillers to eliminate the signals of pain, and appetisers, which tempt us to eat long before we feel any hunger. We like the comforts of our life, even at the expense of the life on the Earth itself, and we trust any voice that lulls our conscience.As all human beings are like cells in the organism of life on our planet, it is obvious that we support our common life by harmoniously interacting with each other and with the planet itself. We receive plenty of true signals, both from inside and outside, for our interaction – we should just listen to them and be ready to change, to sacrifice and to care. If we learn to distinguish these signals from the destructive signals of selfishness, greed and fear; if we follow the urge of the true signals for compassion, generosity and courage, we will eventually be able to establish the Golden Era of peace and love on the Earth. And who knows, maybe the cells of our bodies will follow the trend of our consciousness, and our health, as common, as individual, will significantly improve.So, how can we better understand our personal signals aimed to directing us towards our spiritual purpose – towards our role in life’s harmonization? As our spiritual purpose is indissolubly connected with our karma, we call them “karmic signals”. We analyse the karmic signals in our book The Laws of Life, and describe the method of working with them in its sequel The Return of the Prodigal Son (both books in one volume, The Laws of Life, www.trafford.com/robots/03-0600.html).None is exempt from the Law of Karma, and we start our current incarnation from the state which we achieved before. We can ask: “Are we a result of our past Karma?” And find the answer: “Yes, we are. But simultaneously we are also our future achievements. In the oneness of Unity we are Spirit, we are God… Everything in one point of Time, past and future, “here and now”. And from this point, from our future, we receive possibilities for our spiritual growth, for our purpose that attracts us from this future. We receive possibilities for our spiritual purpose, choices of their application, and signals. These signals show us whether we are on a right way to our Evolution or we have deviated from this straight Path of Harmony.”In our book, we analyse what are the karmic signals. “Every Monad incarnates as a human being on Earth to fulfil a spiritual purpose. It voluntarily chooses the necessary for spiritual maturation conditions and experiences. While we are going through these experiences, the subtlest, but most insistent signals come to us from within, from our spiritual Essence that is aware of our Path.” Whatever we call this: intuition, subconscious, the voice of conscience or otherwise – this is the voice of our inner real Essence. It may signal us in different ways, but anyway we understand that we cannot deny this signal. Its urge is so strong that people under its influence sometimes make strange decisions, from the materialistic point of view, when they sense that these decisions are right in the True Reality of Spirit. If in accordance with Cosmic Law, such decisions would appear to be perfectly valid.“The Divine Hierarchy is communicating with us constantly. Not by talking with us as such, but rather by signals that we can appreciate from within. When we completely trust these signals, they are able to assist us on our way. If we remain clean and disinterested in the results, then these signals come to us without distortion. But when people try to acquire psychic powers or amusements, especially by using psychedelic drugs and special practices, they attract signals from the lower Astral World, from entities whose energy vibrations are similar to theirs. Then their practices can turn into a nightmare and lead quite literally to madness. The only means to avoid this sad fate is purity. Purity of heart, purity of mind and purity of intent. Purity doesn’t have any attraction for dark entities that can potentially harm us.”The most usual versions of karmic signals are the signals that we receive as our life experiences. We can notice them daily as unexpected changes and unplanned events in our life, and as the so-called “coincidences”. These signals often concentrate at the times of inevitable change in our life, when we have to make decisions defining our future development. It is very important to have a mental “tool”, a method, which would help us to notice, to understand and to work with the karmic signals in these cases.So, how can we work with Signals? In The Laws of Life we explain:“There is a common mechanism – what you concentrate upon that you develop. When you receive a signal in your daily life, you choose your own explanation – whether from the materialistic or from the spiritual viewpoint. If you concentrate on its physical material meaning, then you attempt to improve the material conditions of your life. You don’t care about how your decisions will affect your spiritual aspects of life. The related unbalanced Karma may bring you similar experiences in the future. Usually, their signals become even stronger. Eventually, you should hearken to them and ask yourself what they mean! When you focus your attention on the spiritual meaning of a karmic signal, then you improve your spiritual condition, balance Karma, and the physical conditions of your life undergo changes in conformity with your new spiritual state. To explain: we know that all problems in human physical body are effects of spiritual karmic causes. For example, the problems of teeth and jaw are often connected with tensions in the area of mouth. When we feel toothache, we go to a dentist to treat decay. Temporarily, we fix the problem by physical means, but how many times do we visit dentists throughout our life!When we focus on a possible spiritual cause of our toothache, then we understand that, perhaps, we unconsciously misused the mighty spiritual mechanism of feeling and speech. Maybe, we were angry and unwisely focused on our anger, causing tension in the mouth. What is more, maybe, we expressed our anger in words, and let the low vibrations of irritation to use the channel which has been meant for the sacred sounds of prayers and mantras.The higher the spiritual level, the higher responsibility for the words and ideas we communicate to others. For an advanced human being, any empty chatter is acting as energy contamination, collecting the Karma associated with the misuse of the sacred channel of communication. When anything happens, i.e. we receive a karmic signal, we usually ask “why?” and look for answers into our past. We should also ask “what for?” Then we will be able to find out the purpose of this signal, balance the related Karma and annihilate the very cause of similar signals. By constantly working with karmic signals, we begin to better understand the spiritual purpose of our current incarnation on the Path of Evolution.”The Method of Karmic Signals (see The Return of the Prodigal Son) helps us to understand and apply the signals for our soul’s learning. This method requires attention to any event in our life. This method requires also observing everything with expanded consciousness from the standpoint of Spirit and not just through earthly considerations, which is most commonly the case.The method of karmic signals is a practical method of diagnosing human activity, based on observation and analysis of karmic signals. When applied together with the method of “widening of consciousness” and other means of spiritual improvement, it helps to increase the efficiency of life and avoid many karmic troubles.A karmic signal can be likened to “traffic lights” telling us we are approaching an “intersection”, where we should make our choice – in which direction to move further. On the road we observe all the signs and signals before choosing our way. Similar observation and vigilance to all the signals is necessary if we want to rightly direct our life. In our life situations, we often have too little information for a right decision and choice. But we know that every our step will be followed by a signal: “the way is unfolding or not” and “reward or punishment”. If we notice these signals, we can continue forward having observed the consequences of our first step. Then, from the state of analytical meditation, we are able to decide, either it is right to continue in this direction, or not.There may be various obstacles on the path. If you feel yourself like being at a deadlock, then, perhaps, you should change your direction. But when it is only resistance to your motion, the obstacle may provide the necessary strain for your “magnet”. By overcoming difficulties, you increase your spiritual momentum.The way may “spread” for some time, with only rewards and success, and then suddenly – obstacles occur and success finishes. What does it mean? Possibly, we have already exhausted the possibilities of this particular way for our spiritual development. We have passed all the necessary experiences on this way and have to change the direction or coordinate of our movement, but we continue to cling to our old habits and fear to change anything.Any signal comes into human life as a call to develop consciousness because the state of consciousness defines all our thoughts, actions and feelings. The human mind often tries to live with the past and maintain the past opinions and points of view. In our imagination, we may see the future as a projection of the past. That is why life seems so tough, when we encounter a sudden change of situation. But we desperately need these changes to make choices on the path and to develop our Soul. Helena Roerich writes in Agni-Yoga dictated by her Teacher of Wisdom from the Hierarchy of Light: “People prefer all would be done, as usually, by old means. But We prefer sudden actions and the same effects. People feel happy, when anything ‘pleasant’ is made in their ordinary condition, but We desire a greater success. You have to learn to consider the true harm and benefit of all events. It is difficult to send people the currents of a particular achievement, when they avoid particular ways. We are all familiar with people surrounded by prosperity, but what if they knew the spiritual treasures they deprive themselves of by prosperity? People want to fulfil their ordinary habits, forgetting that the habits of the body instil the habits of the spirit as well. The spirit becomes weak and begins to be careful of bold actions.” (Agni Yoga, 262).So, according to Agni Yoga, we receive assistance from on High and “the currents of a particular achievement”, when we respond to the signal in a creative way and are courageous enough to choose particular and difficult ways.In the True Reality we are in Unity. We receive signals from this Unity and its parts, for example, other people. We receive back the consequences of our own actions. This helps us to understand our mistakes and spiritually improve. In addition, through seemingly negative signals we can penetrate the roots of our problems. If we face an obstacle, we look for the lesson it tries to teach us. Our Ego can consider obstacles as unpleasant circumstances or limitations, but the Higher Self is aware of their spiritual purposes.How do we apply this method? In our usual social goal-oriented existence we are unaware of our spiritual goal in the Unity. We don’t know what kind of connections and consequences will follow our actions. If we are confronted with the reality of life, we feel resistance, we try to “break the situation” and reach our target. In time we and, maybe, our descendants will suffer from the karmic effects of our disharmonious willpower. When one adopts the method of karmic signals, he can avoid future actions, aggravating his Karma, and consequently their effects. This method works also in the case where one decides to correct his previous mistakes. If he interprets every unpleasant event as a karmic signal (in reality it is true), he receives the opportunity of making the retrospective analysis of his actions, thoughts and emotions. In some cases, if one is already spiritually mature enough, he is able to extract the moment of the karmic choice from the past, become aware of his misdeed and repent. Perhaps, this is an only meaningful way of applying to the past.After sincere repentance, in the case where a man has found the real cause of the signal and tries to improve, he balances Karma. The signal (disease or another trouble) becomes unnecessary and disappears together with the related Karma.Like with any spiritual technique, we need some practice to successfully apply the method of karmic signals. When we expand our consciousness and understand any possible technique as a part of our common spiritual education, then it begins to work and assist us in every manifestation of our life.

Some questions we have been asked which involve a knowledge of karmic signals:

Question: My friend is a successful tradesman. I was much better at school and university, and helped him with his projects. So, I hoped to succeed too, but when I decided to follow him in his trade, I failed to make profit. Everything I do goes wrong and I can’t understand why?Comment: You have your own spiritual way different from your friend’s path. Maybe, you are under a grosser demand from on High? Your belief that you must make money like “all people do” lowers your vibrations and closes the channels of connection with the Divine Hierarchy. Therefore, you receive negative signals about your wrong choice. They will become stronger and stronger until you make a right choice leading to your spiritual development and service. Search for your own unfolding pathway!Question: I was involved in a car accident, and I cannot understand why. I know I am not the world’s best driver, but now am scared – maybe I shouldn’t drive at all?Comment: Fear closes us from the divine energy and produces wrong thoughtforms. The method of karmic signals gives no prohibitions but only invitations to corrections. The question “why?” relates to the past. Of course, we can analyse our past thoughts and actions, and find different aspects of karmic connections. But when we are searching for the solutions for our future, then the main question of this method is not “why?” but “what for?” So, “what for” was the accident? What are the contents of the lesson you received? How could you use this condition to transfer from self-preservation and fear to creativity and joy?If we turn every signal into the invitation to co-creation with Spirit, we acquire skills and speed our spiritual development. No doubt, this is the right way from the standpoint of the True Reality.Question: How is it possible to exact the circumstances of a karmic “mistake” (if there is such a thing) when the cause may lie in a previous life? Maybe it is best to leave this in the past and get on with living more enlightened life now?Comment: What is the existence of the lifestream consisting of many incarnations like? It is like a school where we are passing our experiences, making choices and, through these experiences and choices, mastering the necessary background for enlightenment and the development of spiritual qualities. What happens in a situation where we have missed a chance of drawing spiritual lessons? Then, whether we call it a karmic “mistake” or not, in conformity with the law of Karma we have to face a similar situation later again. But we face it in different circumstances, sometimes even in different lives, where the conditions to face this situation may be less advantageous than now. Therefore, it is best to tackle our problems, no matter how difficult, at the time they appear, and not put them off until later.When a student leaves a question from his past studies unresolved, he will create problems for himself in the future. He will be finally forced to return and clarify the subject he refused to study earlier. The same applies in our life studies. We should be interested to examine our recurring problems, so that we may find the spiritual characteristics that we have to acquire. In such a way, the method of karmic signals can forward our purification and enlightenment.

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Fri 10 Aug 2007

GOLDEN STAIRS TO THE TEMPLE OF WISDOM by Andrew Rooke

Posted by Andrew Rooke under Theosophical Lectures
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GOLDEN STAIRS TO THE TEMPLE OF

WISDOM

Andrew Rooke

We often say in the theosophical discussions that our aim as theosophical students is to eventually join those highly developed examples of the human race known in the Buddhist tradition as the Bodhisattvas. These wonderful people vow to help suffering humanity though, through their own efforts they have attained the right of entry into the blissful state of consciousness known as Nirvana. Perhaps for us ordinary people, it would be the equivalent of a normal human being choosing to live fully conscious in the animal kingdom to help with the welfare and spiritual advancement of animal entities. The attainment of this high state of consciousness and sacrifice may seem far off, but the Masters of Wisdom say that this road stretches at our feet every moment of our lives now as we make the seemingly small choices that compose our daily lives. How can we be sure that we are directing our lives in such a way that we can eventually join the Compassionate Masters in their ageless work to help Humanity progress?

We are fortunate to have advice from our spiritual elders in all the world’s great religions. The “Noble Eightfold Path” and “Paramitas” of Buddhism through to the “Sermon on the Mount” and the Beatitudes” of Christianity, the message is basically the same. Deceptively simple rules of behaviour based on the principles of brotherhood and concern for others. Easy to read and repeat this advice prayerfully – but try applying these rules every moment of your life in their completeness as is required of the accepted students of the Masters!

The chief founder of the Theosophical Society, H.P. Blavatsky, gave some of these rules of enlightened living in her circular letter entitled the ES Instructions in 1890. HPB said these rules are actually derived from the Book of Discipline used in the Schools of Dzyan for millennia by students of the Secret Science or “Gupta Vidya”, as it is known in the Sanskrit language of

India. Amongst the many rules and guidelines given by HPB for the lifestyle of “chelas” or accepted students of the mystery tradition, is one paragraph where the Masters attempt to sum up various measures we can take here and now to follow in their footsteps to the

Temple of

Wisdom. These have become known amongst Theosophists as the “Golden Stairs” and here they are:

“Behold the truth before you: A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one’s co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it, a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defence of those unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the Secret Science (Gupta Vidya) depicts – these are the Golden Stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Wisdom”.

Let’s take a little time over to climb each of these stairs in turn and see if we can’t all learn something more together about this journey we are travelling.

GOLDEN STAIRS: First Step – A Clean Life:

Cleanliness covers all aspects of life and is given prominence as the first step towards all that follow. A clean life extends from purity of thought and moral behaviour through to bodily cleansing in various ways.

A clean life is necessary to harmonise our life in the world with the life of our Inner God as much as we have the will and the opportunity to achieve this aim. In his own words, one of the Masters of Wisdom who founded the Theosophical Society, says: “That the first of the steps of gold which mount towards the

Temple of

Truth is – a clean life. This means purity of body and still greater purity of mind, heart, and spirit”…

“How many of them [editor’s note: meaning us ordinary searchers for truth] violate one or more of these conditions (of the right path), and yet expect to be freely taught the highest wisdom and sciences, the Wisdom of the Gods. As pure water poured into the scavenger’s bucket is befouled and unfit for use, so is the divine truth when poured into the consciousness of a sensualist, of one of selfish heart and a mind indifferent and inaccessible to justice and compassion.”…”There is a very, very ancient maxim, far older than the time of the Romans or the Greeks, more ancient than the Egyptians or Chaldeans. It is a maxim all theosophists ought to remember and live accordingly. And it is that a sound and pure mind requires a sound and pure body. Bodily purity every Adept takes precautions to keep…Most of you theosophists know this.” He further adds…”the six and ten transcendental virtues, the Paramitas, are not for full-grown yogis and priests alone, but for all those who would enter the Path.”

HPB adds in explaining this first step of a clean life…”Gentle kindness to all beings, strict honesty (not according to the World-code, but that of Karmic action), virtuous habits, strict truthfulness, and temperance in all things; that these alone are the keys that unlock the doors of earthly happiness and blissful peace of mind, and fit the man of flesh to evolve into the perfect Spirit-Ego.”

A tall order you might say and we have only taken one step! How to apply these demanding principles in the rush and bustle of everyday life? One simple but effective way to start is to follow a time-honoured meditation which leads one to learn what is good and “clean” from our life experience every day.

Before going to sleep at night, briefly run through the events of the day in your mind searching for those things that were good and helpful to your spiritual advancement, and those aspects of the day which were not. This strengthens our approach to life as a learning experience for the good of ourselves and others. It has magical powers to strengthen our determination to live a better life when we arise next morning to face the challenges of a new day.

GOLDEN STAIRS: Second step – An open mind:

As the old saying goes “an open mind does not mean a hole in the head”. One should be open to the perspectives of other people but this doesn’t mean we abandon the principles we hold dear at any particular point in our spiritual journey. As we grow in spiritual understanding, doubtless our fixed views of the moment will change and modify as we begin to appreciate wider perspectives.

The important thing is not to get too bogged down in the limited view of the Truth we have now and not to succumb to the temptation to stop listening to others. You will note that the Theosophical society lays great emphasis on the fact that it has no dogmas and does not demand a particular viewpoint from its members other than a commitment to Universal Brotherhood. This does not mean that Theosophy doesn’t have valuable perspectives on all aspects of life – it does – but it is up to us to use our own gifts and our own perspectives to appreciate those Truths and enrich the theosophic tradition in our own way and in our own time. As a friend once said, “You can’t learn mathematics by looking up the answers at the back of the book”.

We have to work our way through countless opinions and byways of thought over many lifetimes before we can start to appreciate the great Truths that the Masters of Wisdom have taught through the Ages. As the master ‘M’ (one of two who together with HP Blavatsky were the motive force behind the TS), says in one of his letters: “Out of one thousand aspirants hardly more than one in fact becomes a ‘Chela’ (this means an accepted student of the Mysteries). This is owing to the great point that all depends upon the student himself…If his motive is right – he is all right. His views are not of the slightest consequence, for as a Chela he will change them as he learns the Truth, which only the true students of the mysteries find. He had better have no fixed views until later, but be ready to change as he passes on”.

GOLDEN STEPS: Third step – A pure heart:

The Masters of Wisdom who founded the Theosophical Society, often spoke of the right motive as being of primary importance in spiritual work. Motive flows from our attitudes, and from there perspectives on any field of life are derived. If our life is based on sincerity and an honest concern for others then we are exhibiting a pure heart. A couple of examples spring to mind of pure motive in relation to spiritual training. In one of their letters to an Indian follower, A.P. Sinnett, one of the Masters speaks of a young Catholic priest who worked amongst the lepers of

Hawaii in the 19^th century helping them unceasingly until he contracted the dreaded disease himself. The Master said that this priest stood high in their estimation and represented the purity of motive that qualifies one for further training in the mysteries. A contemporary example of purity of heart is the mother of a friend of mine. She is 70 years old and without formal training, works voluntarily as a grief and trauma counsellor for the State Emergency Service in country

Victoria. Recently she was called out in the middle of the night to counsel a father who had lost his son in an accident on the

Hume Highway

. After working all night with the grief-stricken family, she attended a family birthday function the next day and you would be none the wiser to what she had been doing all night! Frequently in the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett it says that the Masters are looking for the light of compassion shining in the hearts of aspirants wherever they are around the world. When they find this “Buddhic Light’ they watch and guide those who demonstrate a genuine purity of heart and motive in relation to helping Humanity and at the right time their direct training can commence, perhaps after life-times of testing or “probation”. In one of her writings HPB said that she had met high students of the mysteries at temples in

Tibet who were not enormous intellects but who in goodness and purity of heart outshone all others. Purity of heart aligns us with the Inner God and from there knowledge and wisdom can flow at the appropriate time and not just via intellectual training. The harmonisation of the Inner and Outer man leads to a profound joy and happiness because are working closer and closer to Nature’s purpose. These rules or features of the spiritual life should not be seen as they are by many as a dreary and sterile puritanical path devoid of humour and happiness. Just read the letters of the Masters themselves and you will see a keen sense of humour and wit. When they point out the foibles and frailties of their students, they do so in an attempt to help us understand the challenges along the Path to the

Temple of

Wisdom.GOLDEN STAIRS: Fourth step –An eager intellect:

“An Eager Intellect” does not mean you have to have an IQ like Einstein but rather an eagerness and willingness to think issues through with the intellect we are each blessed with. Theosophy follows the Buddhist tradition in encouraging students not to necessarily accept what they are told by even the highest spiritual authorities. We are encouraged to test every statement against what you feel to be true within yourself. This obviously means that theosophy is for thinkers and ponderers on life’s mysteries

Theosophical Lectures

INTRODUCTION

REFERENCE LIST

The short answer is: we can be pretty sure we know about the ways they get to know what they say they know, but we can be less sure they actually know it.

Its important to be sceptical about what they say they know, because there are lots of them saying they know more than us! Some even say they know the unknowable, and therefore they should be our teachers. All this clever talk can be very, very confusing.

Perhaps the real title of this talk should be these three questions:

1. What do spiritual teachers know?

2. How can spiritual teachers help us?

3. Why should we believe them?

What is a spiritual teacher?

When I started writing this paper, I thought I could stick to these spiritual teachers: Buddha, Mohammed, Lao Tse, Jesus, Masters of compassion, Mahatmas etc.

What are spiritual teachings?

This is a difficult definition because it is quite personal. Who am I to define for you what is spiritual when there are so many ways to express and experience the inner aspects of human reality? I am firmly attached to what I own and my work, so why listen to me?

At their worst they are the tools of persecution, and prompted one side of my family to flee Holland to Germany in the 1550’s to escape the Spanish inquisition.

Not just given by people

Before we continue don’t think people are the only vehicles for spiritual teachings. Divinity finds expression in many voices all around us: in nature itself, in works of art, sculpture, painting, in music, poetry and good writing of all kinds.

Traditions of spiritual teachings

The history of spiritual teachers for our human family is a patchwork of successful and failed teachers, schools of spiritual education and teachings: monasteries, lamas, shamans, high priests, mullahs, friars, monks, popes, gurus, gymnosophists, tribal elders, rabbis, medicine men, and more!

Some great ideas fell into dogma and pointless ritual and obscured the good stuff at the core, ending up as a poor reflection of the original inspired vision. The human family decides which ones are unfit or past their use by date.

But from a larger perspective what keeps all these traditions alive?

Thanks to the spiritual teachers who kept a flame alight, like the Olympic torch. More power to them I say.

How do people become spiritual teachers?

The reason why someone adopts their position as spiritual teacher are mixed.

Here are some:

Here is verse 29 from Atisha’s, Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment:

I shall not be eager to reach

Enlightenment in the quickest way,

But shall stay behind till the very end

For the sake of single being

· Some spiritual teachers simply listened to their teacher: Nisargadatta Maharaj says when asked by the questioner in I am that, pp149- 151

Q: Am I permitted to ask you how did you go beyond the mind?

M: By the grace of my Guru.

Q: What shape his grace took?

M: He told me what is true.

Q: What did he tell you?

M: He told me I am the Supreme Reality.

Q: What did you do about it?

M: I trusted him and remembered it.

Q: Is that all?

M: Yes, I remembered him; I remembered what he said.

Q: You mean to say that this was enough?

Commonsense too will tell you that to fulfil a desire you must keep your mind on it. If you want to know your true nature, you must have yourself in mind all the time, until the secret of your being stands revealed.

Q: Right. But do I need a Guru? What you tell me is simple and convincing. I shall remember it. This does not make you my Guru.

· Some teachers are people genuinely inspired to unselfishly help others reach what they have found, or find ways to help others solve some of life’s problems.

· Some have had a genuine transcendent moment of deep insight. Quit their job, write a book. The are genuinely helpful for the right reasons. Some also have a transcendent moment where they realise it is a good way to cash in to the market.

Some of difficulties of finding a spiritual teacher: wisdom can be a commodity

Selected extracts from Searching for a Spiritual Teacher by Alan E. Donant (Selected paragraphs from Sunrise magazine, August/September 2002; copyright © 2002 http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/51-01-2/te-aed2.htm)

The tinderbox of strong emotions: personal suffering

At their worst they are the tools of persecution, and prompted one side of my family to flee
Holland to
Germany in the 1550’s to escape the Spanish inquisition.

Selected extracts from Searching for a Spiritual Teacher by Alan E. Donant (Selected paragraphs from
Sunrise magazine, August/September 2002; copyright © 2002 http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sunrise/51-01-2/te-aed2.htm)