AN EPITOME
OF
From the
writings of William Quan Judge, a pioneering Theosophist and
co-founder
of the original Theosophical Society, founded in New York in 1875
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William Quan Judge
1851 - 1896
Theosophy, the Wisdom-Religion, has
existed from immemorial time. It offers us a theory of nature and of life which
is founded upon knowledge acquired by the Sages of the past, more especially
those of the East; and its higher students claim that this knowledge is not
imagined or inferred, but that it is a knowledge of facts seen and known by
those who are willing to comply with the conditions requisite for seeing and
knowing.
Theosophy, meaning knowledge of or
about God (not in the sense of a personal anthropomorphic God, but in that of
divine "godly" wisdom), and the term "God" being
universally accepted as including the whole of both the known and the unknown,
it follows that "Theosophy" must imply wisdom respecting the
absolute; and, since the absolute is without beginning and eternal, this wisdom
must have existed always. Hence Theosophy is sometimes called the
Wisdom-Religion, because from immemorial time it has had knowledge of all the
laws governing the spiritual, the moral, and the material.
The theory of nature and of life
which it offers is not one that was at first speculatively laid down and then
proved by adjusting facts or conclusions to fit it; but is an explanation of
existence, cosmic and individual, derived from knowledge reached by those who
have acquired the power to see behind the curtain that hides the operations of
nature from the ordinary mind. Such Beings are called Sages, using the term in
its highest sense. Of late they have been called Mahatmas and Adepts. In
ancient times they were known as the Rishis and Maha-rishis -- the last being a
word that means Great Rishis.
It is not claimed that these exalted
beings, or Sages, have existed only in the East. They are known to have lived
in all parts of the globe, in obedience to the cyclic laws referred to below.
But as far as concerns the present development of the human race on this
planet, they now are to be found in the East, although the fact may be that
some of them had, in remote times, retreated from even the American shores.
There being of necessity various
grades among the students of this Wisdom-Religion, it stands to reason that
those belonging to the lower degrees are able to give out only so much of the
knowledge as is the appanage of the grade they have reached, and depend, to
some extent, for further information upon students who are higher yet. It is
these higher students for whom the claim is asserted that their knowledge is
not mere inference, but that it concerns realities seen and known by them.
While some of them are connected with the Theosophical Society, they are yet
above it. The power to see and absolutely know such laws is surrounded by
natural inherent regulations which must be complied with as conditions
precedent; and it is, therefore, not possible to respond to the demand of the
worldly man for an immediate statement of this wisdom, insomuch as he could not
comprehend it until those conditions are fulfilled. As this knowledge deals
with laws and states of matter, and of consciousness undreamed of by the
"practical" Western world, it can only be grasped, piece by piece, as
the student pushes forward the demolition of his preconceived notions, that are
due either to inadequate or to erroneous theories. It is claimed by these
higher students that, in the Occident especially, a false method of reasoning
has for many centuries prevailed, resulting in a universal habit of mind which
causes men to look upon many effects as causes, and to regard that which is
real as the unreal, putting meanwhile the unreal in the place of the real. As a
minor example, the phenomena of mesmerism and clairvoyance have, until lately,
been denied by Western science, yet there have always been numerous persons who
know for themselves, by incontrovertible introspective evidence, the truth of
these phenomena, and, in some instances, understand their cause and rationale.
The following are some of the
fundamental propositions of Theosophy:
The spirit in man is the only real
and permanent part of his being; the rest of his nature being variously
compounded. And since decay is incident to all composite things, everything in
man but his spirit is impermanent.
Further, the universe being one
thing and not diverse, and everything within it being connected with the whole
and with every other thing therein, of which upon the upper plane (below
referred to) there is a perfect knowledge, no act or thought occurs without
each portion of the great whole perceiving and noting it. Hence all are
inseparably bound together by the tie of Brotherhood.
This first fundamental proposition
of Theosophy postulates that the universe is not an aggregation of diverse
unities but that it is one whole. This whole is what is denominated
"Deity" by Western Philosophers, and "Para-Brahma" by the
Hindu Vedantins. It may be called the Unmanifested, containing within itself
the potency of every form of manifestation, together with the laws governing
those manifestations. Further, it is taught that there is no creation of worlds
in the theological sense; but that their appearance is due strictly to
evolution. When the time comes for the Unmanifested to manifest as an objective
Universe, which it does periodically, it emanates a Power or "The First
Cause" so called because it itself is the rootless root of that Cause, and
called in the East the "Causeless Cause." The first Cause we may call
Brahma, or Ormazd, or Osiris, or by any name we please. The projection into
time of the influence or so-called "breath of Brahma" causes all the
worlds and the beings upon them to gradually appear. They remain in
manifestation just as long as that influence continues to proceed forth in
evolution. After long aeons the outbreathing, evolutionary influence slackens,
and the universe begins to go into obscuration, or pralaya, until, the
"breath" being fully indrawn, no objects remain, because nothing is but Brahma. Care must be taken by
the student to make a distinction between Brahma (the impersonal Parabrahma)
and Brahma the manifested Logos. A discussion of the means used by this power
in acting would be out of place in this Epitome, but of those means Theosophy
also treats.
This breathing-forth is known as a
Manvantara, or the Manifestation of the world between two Manus (from Manu, and
Antara "between") and the completion of the inbreathing brings with
it Pralaya, or destruction. It is from these truths that the erroneous
doctrines of "creation" and the "last judgment" have
sprung. Such Manvantaras and Pralayas have eternally occurred, and will
continue to take place periodically and forever.
For the purpose of a Manvantara two
so-called eternal principles are postulated, that is, Purusha and Prakriti (or
spirit and matter), because both are ever present and conjoined in each
manifestation. Those terms are used here because no equivalent for them exists
in English. Purusha is called "spirit," and Prakriti
"matter," but this Purusha is not the unmanifested, nor is Prakriti
matter as known to science; the Aryan Sages therefore declare that there is a
higher spirit still, called Purushottama. The reason for this is that at the
night of Brahma, or the so-called indrawing of his breath, both Purusha and
Prakriti are absorbed in the Unmanifested; a conception which is the same as
the idea underlying the Biblical expression -- "remaining in the bosom of
the Father."
This brings us to the doctrine of
Universal Evolution as expounded by the Sages of the Wisdom-Religion. The
Spirit, or Purusha, they say, proceeds from Brahma through the various forms of
matter evolved at the same time, beginning in the world of the spiritual from
the highest and in the material world from the lowest form. The lowest form is
one unknown as yet to modern science. Thus, therefore, the mineral, vegetable
and animal forms each imprison a spark of the Divine, a portion of the
indivisible Purusha.
These sparks struggle to
"return to the Father," or in other words, to secure
self-consciousness and at last come into the highest form, on Earth, that of
man, where alone self-consciousness is possible to them. The period, calculated
in human time, during which this evolution goes on embraces millions of ages.
Each spark of divinity has, therefore, millions of ages in which to accomplish
its mission -- that of obtaining complete self-consciousness while in the form
of man. But by this is not meant that the mere act of coming into human form of
itself confers self-consciousness upon this divine spark. That great work may
be accomplished during the Manvantara in which a Divine spark reaches the human
form, or it may not; all depends upon the individual's own will and efforts.
Each particular spirit thus goes through the Manvantara, or enters into
manifestation for its own enrichment and for that of the Whole. Mahatmas and
Rishis are thus gradually evolved during a Manvantara, and become, after its
expiration, planetary spirits, who guide the evolutions of other future
planets. The planetary spirits of our globe are those who in previous
Manvantaras -- or days of Brahma -- made the efforts, and became in the course
of that long period Mahatmas.
Each Manvantara is for the same end
and purpose, so that the Mahatmas who have now attained those heights, or those
who may become such in the succeeding years of the present Manvantara, will
probably be the planetary spirits of the next Manvantara for this or other
planets. This system is thus seen to be based upon the identity of Spiritual
Being, and, under the name of "Universal Brotherhood," constitutes
the basic idea of the Theosophical Society, whose object is the realization of
that Brotherhood among men.
The Sages say that this Purusha is
the basis of all manifested objects. Without it nothing could exist or cohere.
It interpenetrates everything everywhere. It is the reality of which, or upon
which, those things called real by us are mere images. As Purusha reaches to
and embraces all beings, they are all connected together; and in or on the
plane where that Purusha is, there is a perfect consciousness of every act,
thought, object, and circumstance, whether supposed to occur there, or on this
plane, or any other. For below the spirit and above the intellect is a plane of
consciousness in which experiences are noted, commonly called man's "spiritual
nature"; this is frequently said to be as susceptible of culture as his
body or his intellect.
This upper plane is the real
register of all sensations and experiences, although there are other
registering planes. It is sometimes called the "subconscious mind."
Theosophy, however, holds that it is a misuse of terms to say that the
spiritual nature can be cultivated. The real object to be kept in view is to so
open up or make porous the lower nature that the spiritual nature may shine
through it and become the guide and ruler. It is only "cultivated" in
the sense of having a vehicle prepared for its use, into which it may descend.
In other words, it is held that the real man, who is the higher self -- being
the spark of the Divine before alluded to -- overshadows the visible being,
which has the possibility of becoming united to that spark. Thus it is said
that the higher Spirit is not in the man, but above him. It is always peaceful,
unconcerned, blissful, and full of absolute knowledge. It continually partakes
of the Divine state, being continually that state itself, "conjoined with
the Gods, it feeds upon Ambrosia." The object of the student is to let the
light of that spirit shine through the lower coverings.
This "spiritual culture"
is only attainable as the grosser interests, passions, and demands of the flesh
are subordinated to the interests, aspirations and needs of the higher nature;
and this is a matter of both system and established law.
This spirit can only become the
ruler when the firm intellectual acknowledgment or admission is first made that
IT alone is. And, as stated above, it being not only the person concerned but
also the whole, all selfishness must be eliminated from the lower nature before
its divine state can be reached. So long as the smallest personal or selfish
desire even for spiritual attainment for our own sake remains, so long is the
desired end put off. Hence the above term "demands of the flesh"
really covers also demands that are not of the flesh, and its proper rendering
would be "desires of the personal nature, including those of the
individual soul."
When systematically trained in
accordance with the aforesaid system and law, men attain to clear insight into
the immaterial, spiritual world, and their interior faculties apprehend truth
as immediately and readily as physical faculties grasp the things of sense, or
mental faculties those of reason. Or, in the words used by some of them,
"They are able to look directly upon ideas"; and hence their testimony
to such truth is as trustworthy as is that of scientists or philosophers to
truth in their respective fields.
In the course of this spiritual
training such men acquire perception of, and control over, various forces in
Nature unknown to other men, and thus are able to perform works usually called
"miraculous," though really but the result of larger knowledge of
natural law. What these powers are may be found in Patanjali's "Yoga
Philosophy."
Their testimony as to super-sensuous
truth, verified by their possession of such powers, challenges candid
examination from every religious mind.
Turning now to the system expounded
by these sages, we find, in the first place, an account of cosmogony, the past
and future of this earth and other planets, the evolution of life through
elemental, mineral, vegetable, animal and human forms, as they are called.
These "passive life
elementals" are unknown to modern science, though sometimes approached by
it as a subtle material agent in the production of life, whereas they are a
form of life itself.
Each Kalpa, or grand period, is
divided into four ages or yugas, each lasting many thousands of years, and each
one being marked by a predominant characteristic. These are the Satya-Yuga (or
age of truth), the Treta-Yuga, the Dvapara-Yuga, and our present Kali-Yuga (or
age of darkness), which began five thousand years back. The word
"darkness" here refers to spiritual and not material darkness. In
this age, however, all causes bring about their effects much more rapidly than
in any other age -- a fact due to the intensified momentum of "evil,"
as the course of its cycle is about rounding towards that of a new cycle of
truth. Thus a sincere lover of the race can accomplish more in three
incarnations during Kali-Yuga, than he could in a much greater number in any
other age. The darkness of this age is not absolute, but is greater than that
of other ages; its main tendency being towards materiality, while having some
mitigation in occasional ethical or scientific advance conducive to the well-being
of the race, by the removal of immediate causes of crime or disease.
Our Earth is one of a chain of seven
planets, it alone being on the visible plane, while the six others are on
different planes, and therefore invisible. (The other planets of our solar
system belong each to a chain of seven.) And the life-wave passes from the
higher to the lower in the chain until it reaches our earth, and then ascends
and passes to the three others on the opposite arc, and thus seven times. The
evolution of forms is coincident with this progress, the tide of life bearing
with it the mineral and vegetable forms, until each globe in turn is ready to
receive the human life wave. Of these globes our Earth is the fourth.
Humanity passes from globe to globe
in a series of Rounds, first circling about each globe, and reincarnating upon
it a fixed number of times. Concerning the human evolution on the concealed
planets or globes little is permitted to be said. We have to concern ourselves
with our Earth alone. The latter, when the wave of humanity has reached it for
the last time (in this, our Fourth Round), began to evolute man, subdividing
him into races. Each of these races when it has, through evolution, reached the
period known as "the moment of choice" and decided its future destiny
as an individual race, begins to disappear. The races are separated, moreover,
from each other by catastrophes of nature, such as the subsidence of continents
and great natural convulsions. Coincidently with the development of races the
development of specialized senses takes place; thus our fifth race has so far
developed five senses.
The Sages further tell us that the
affairs of this world and its people are subject to cyclic laws, and during any
one cycle the rate or quality of progress appertaining to a different cycle is
not possible. These cyclic laws operate in each age. As the ages grow darker
the same laws prevail, only the cycles are shorter; that is, they are the same
length in the absolute sense, but go over the given limit in a shorter period
of time. These laws impose restrictions on the progress of the race. In a
cycle, where all is ascending and descending, the Adepts must wait until the
time comes before they can aid the race to ascend. They cannot, and must not, interfere
with Karmic law. Thus they begin to work actively again in the spiritual sense,
when the cycle is known by them to be approaching its turning point.
At the same time these cycles have
no hard lines or points of departure or inception, inasmuch as one may be
ending or drawing to a close for some time after another has already begun.
They thus overlap and shade into one another, as day does into night; and it is
only when the one has completely ended and the other has really begun by
bringing out its blossoms, that we can say we are in a new cycle. It may be
illustrated by comparing two adjacent cycles to two interlaced circles, where
the circumference of one touches the center of the other, so that the moment
where one ended and the other began would be at the point where the
circumferences intersected each other. Or by imagining a man as representing,
in the act of walking, the progress of the cycles; his rate of advancement can
only be obtained by taking the distance covered by his paces, the points at the
middle of each pace, between the feet, being the beginning of cycles and their
ending.
The cyclic progress is assisted, or
the deterioration further permitted, in this way; at a time when the cycle is
ascending, developed and progressed Beings, known in Sanskrit by the term
"Jnanis," descend to this earth from other spheres where the cycle is
going down, in order that they may also help the spiritual progress of this
globe. In like manner they leave this sphere when our cycle approaches
darkness. These Minis must not, however, be confounded with the Mahatmas and
Adepts mentioned above. The right aim of true Theosophists should, therefore,
be so to live that their influence may be conducive for the dispelling of
darkness to the end that such Jnanis may turn again towards this sphere.
Theosophy also teaches the existence
of a universal diffused and highly ethereal medium, which has been called the
"Astral Light" and "Akasa." It is the repository of all
past, present, and future events, and in it are recorded the effects of
spiritual causes, and of all acts and thoughts from the direction of either
spirit or matter. It may by called the Book of the Recording Angel.
Akasa, however, is a misnomer when
it is confused with Ether or the astral light of the Kabalists. Akasa is the
noumenon of the phenomenal Ether or astral light proper, for Akasa is infinite,
impartite, intangible, its only production being Sound. (Akasa in the mysticism
of the Esoteric Philosophy is, properly speaking, the female "Holy Ghost";
"Sound" or speech being the Logos -- the manifested Verbum of the
unmanifested Mother. See Sankhyasara [by
Vijnana Bhikshu], Preface, p. 33, et seq.)
And this astral light is material
and not spirit. It is, in fact, the lower principle of that cosmic body of
which Akasa is the highest. It has the power of retaining all images. This
includes a statement that each thought as well as word and act makes an image
there. These images may be said to have two lives. First. Their own as an
image. Second. The impress left by them in the matrix of the astral light. In
the upper realm of this light there is no such thing as space or time in the
human sense. All future events are the thoughts and acts of men; these are
producers in advance of the picture of the event which is to occur. Ordinary
men continually, recklessly, and wickedly, are making these events sure to come
to pass, but the Sages, Mahatmas, and the Adepts of the good law, make only
such pictures as are in accordance with Divine law, because they control the
production of their thought. In the astral light are all the differentiated
sounds as well. The elementals are energic centers in it. The shades of
departed human beings and animals are also there. Hence, any seer or entranced
person can see in it all that anyone has done or said, as well as that which
has happened to anyone with whom he is connected. Hence, also, the identity of
deceased persons -- who are supposed to report specially out of this plane --
is not to be concluded from the giving of forgotten or unknown words, facts, or
ideas. Out of this plane of matter can be taken the pictures of all who have
ever lived, and then reflected on a suitable magneto-electrical surface, so as
to seem like the apparition of the deceased, producing all the sensations of
weight, hardness, and extension.
Through the means of the Astral
Light and the help of Elementals, the various material elements may be drawn
down and precipitated from the atmosphere upon either a plane surface or in the
form of a solid object; this precipitation may be made permanent, or it may be
of such a light cohesive power as soon to fade away. But the help of the
elementals can only be obtained by a strong will added to a complete knowledge
of the laws which govern the being of the elementals. It is useless to give
further details on this point; first, because the untrained student cannot
understand; and second, the complete explanation is not permitted, were it even
possible in this space.
The world of the elementals is an
important factor in our world and in the course of the student. Each thought as
it is evolved by a man coalesces instantly with an elemental, and is then
beyond the man's power.
It can easily be seen that this
process is going on every instant. Therefore, each thought exists as an entity.
Its length of life depends on two things: (a) The original force of the
person's will and thought; (b) The power of the elemental which coalesced with
it, the latter being determined by the class to which the elemental belongs. This
is the case with good and bad thoughts alike, and as the will beneath the
generality of wicked thoughts is usually powerful, we can see that the result
is very important, because the elemental has no conscience and obtains its
constitution and direction from the thought it may from time to time carry.
Each human being has his own
elementals that partake of his nature and his thoughts. If you fix your
thoughts upon a person in anger, or in critical, uncharitable judgment, you
attract to yourself a number of those elementals that belong to, generate, and
are generated by this particular fault or failing, and they precipitate
themselves upon you. Hence, through the injustice of your merely human
condemnation, which cannot know the source and causes of the action of another,
you at once become a sharer of his fault or failing by your own act, and the
spirit expelled returns "with seven devils worse than himself."
This is the origin of the popular
saying that "curses, like chickens, come home to roost," and has its
root in the laws governing magnetic affinity.
In the Kali-Yuga we are hypnotized
by the effect of the immense body of images in the Astral Light, compounded of
all the deeds, thoughts, and so forth of our ancestors, whose lives tended in a
material direction. These images influence the inner man -- who is conscious of
them -- by suggestion. In a brighter age the influence of such images would be
towards Truth. The effect of the Astral Light, as thus molded and painted by
us, will remain so long as we continue to place those images there, and it thus
becomes our judge and our executioner. Every universal law thus contains within
itself the means for its own accomplishment and the punishment for its
violation, and requires no further authority to postulate it or to carry out
its decrees.
The Astral Light by its inherent
action both evolves and destroys forms. It is the universal register. Its chief
office is that of a vehicle for the operation of the laws of Karma, or the
progress of the principle of life, and it is thus in a deep spiritual sense a
medium or "mediator" between man and his Deity -- his higher spirit.
Theosophy also tells of the origin,
history, development and destiny of mankind.
Upon the subject of Man it teaches:
The constitution of man is
subdivided in a septenary manner, the main divisions being those of body, soul
and spirit. These divisions and their relative development govern his
subjective condition after death. The real division cannot be understood, and
must for a time remain esoteric, because it requires certain senses not usually
developed for its understanding. If the present seven-fold division, as given
by Theosophical writers is adhered to strictly and without any conditional
statement, it will give rise to controversy or error. For instance, Spirit is
not a seventh principle. It is the synthesis, or the whole, and is equally
present in the other six. The present various divisions can only be used as a
general working hypothesis, to be developed and corrected as students advance
and themselves develop.
The state of spiritual but
comparative rest known as Devachan is not an eternal one, and so is not the
same as the eternal heaven of Christianity. Nor does "hell"
correspond to the state known to Theosophical writers as Avichi.
All such painful states are
transitory and purificatory states. When those are passed the individual goes
into Devachan.
"Hell" and Avichi are thus
not the same. Avichi is the same as the "second death," as it is in
fact annihilation that only comes to the "black Magician" or
spiritually wicked, as will be seen further on.
The nature of each incarnation
depends upon the balance as struck of the merit and demerit of the previous
life or lives -- upon the way in which the man has lived and thought; and this
law is inflexible and wholly just.
"Karma" -- a term
signifying two things, the law of ethical causation (Whatsoever a man soweth,
that shall he also reap); and the balance or excess of merit or demerit in any
individual, determines also the main experiences of joy and sorrow in each
incarnation, so that what we call "luck" is in reality
"desert" -- desert acquired in past existence.
Karma is not all exhausted in a
single life, nor is a person necessarily in this life experiencing the effect
of all his previous Karma; for some may be held back by various causes. The
principle cause is the failure of the Ego to acquire a body which will furnish
the instrument or apparatus in and by which the meditation or thoughts of
previous lives can have their effect and be ripened. Hence it is held that
there is a mysterious power in the man's thoughts during a life, sure to bring
about its results in either an immediately succeeding life or in one many lives
distant; that is, in whatever life the Ego obtains a body capable of being the
focus, apparatus, or instrument for the ripening of past Karma. There is also a
swaying or diverging power in Karma in its effects upon the soul, for a certain
course of life -- or thought -- will influence the soul in that direction for
sometimes three lives, before the beneficial or bad effect of any other sort of
Karma can be felt. Nor does it follow that every minute portion of Karma must
be felt in the same detail as when produced, for several sorts of Karma may
come to a head together at one point in the life, and, by their combined
effect, produce a result which, while, as a whole, accurately representing all
the elements in it, still is a different Karma from each single component part.
This may be known as the nullification of the postulated effect of the classes
of Karma involved.
The process of evolution up to
reunion with the Divine is and includes successive elevation from rank to rank
of power and usefulness. The most exalted beings still in the flesh are known
as Sages, Rishis, Brothers, Masters. Their great function being the
preservation at all times, and when cyclic laws permit, the extension of
spiritual knowledge and influence.
When union with the Divine is
effected, all the events and experiences of each incarnation are known.
As to the process of spiritual
development, Theosophy teaches:
As to the rationale of spiritual
development it asserts:
As to the degree of advancement in
incarnations it holds:
1. First. That even a mere intellectual
acquaintance with Theosophic truth has great value in fitting the individual
for a step upwards in his next earth-life, as it gives an impulse in that
direction.
2. Second. That still more is gained by a
career of duty, piety and beneficence.
3. Third. That a still greater advance is
attained by the attentive and devoted use of the means to spiritual culture
heretofore stated.
4. Fourth. That every race and individual of
it reaches in evolution a period known as "the moment of choice,"
when they decide for themselves their future destiny by a deliberate and
conscious choice between eternal life and death, and that this right of choice
is the peculiar appanage of the free soul. It cannot be exercised until the man
has realized the soul within him, and until that soul has attained some measure
of self-consciousness in the body.
The moment of choice is not a fixed
period of time; it is made up of all moments. It cannot come unless all the
previous lives have led up to it. For the race as a whole it has not yet come.
Any individual can hasten the advent of this period for himself under the
previously stated law of the ripening of Karma. Should he then fail to choose
right he is not wholly condemned, for the economy of nature provides that he
shall again and again have the opportunity of choice when the moment arrives
for the whole race. After this period the race, having blossomed, tends towards
its dissolution. A few individuals of it will have outstripped its progress and
attained Adeptship or Mahatmaship. The main body, who have chosen aright, but who
have not attained salvation, pass into the subjective condition, there to await
the influx of the human life wave into the next globe, which they are the first
souls to people; the deliberate choosers of evil, whose lives are passed in
great spiritual wickedness (for evil done for the sheer love of evil per se), sever the connection with the
Divine Spirit, or the Monad, which forever abandons the human Ego. Such Egos
pass into the misery of the eighth sphere, as far as we understand, there to
remain until the separation between what they had thus cultivated and the
personal Isvara or divine spark is complete. But this tenet has never been
explained to us by the Masters, who have always refused to answer and to
explain it conclusively. At the next Manvantara that Divine Spark will probably
begin again the long evolutionary journey, being cast into the stream of life
at the source and passing upward again through all the lower forms.
So long as the connection with the
Divine Monad is not severed, this annihilation of personality cannot take
place. Something of that personality will always remain attached to the
immortal Ego. Even after such severance the human being may live on, a man
among men -- a soulless being. This disappointment, so to call it, of the
Divine Spark by depriving it of its chosen vehicle constitutes the "sin
against the Holy Ghost," which its very nature forbade it to pardon,
because it cannot continue an association with principles which have become
degraded and vitiated in the absolute sense, so that they no longer respond to
cyclic or evolutionary impulses, but, weighted by their own nature, sink to the
lowest depths of matter. The connection, once wholly broken, cannot in the
nature of Being be resumed. But innumerable opportunities for return offer
themselves throughout the dissolving process, which lasts thousands of years.
There is also a fate that comes to
even Adepts of the Good Law which is somewhat similar to a loss of
"heaven" after its enjoyment for incalculable periods of time. When
the Adept has reached a certain very high point in his evolution he may, by a
mere wish, become what the Hindus call a "Deva" -- or lesser god. If
he does this, then, although he will enjoy the bliss and power of that state
for a vast length of time, he will not at the next Pralaya partake of the
conscious life "in the bosom of the Father," but has to pass down
into matter at the next new "creation," performing certain functions
that could not now be made clear, and has to come up again through the elemental
world; but this fate is not like that of the Black Magician who falls into
Avichi. And again between the two he can choose the middle state and become a
Nirmanakaya -- one who gives up the bliss of Nirvana and remains in conscious
existence outside of his body after its death; in order to help Humanity. This
is the greatest sacrifice he can do for mankind. By advancement from one degree
of interest and comparative attainment to another as above stated, the student
hastens the advent of the moment of choice, after which his rate of progress is
greatly intensified.
It may be added that Theosophy is
the only system of religion and philosophy which gives satisfactory explanation
of such problems as these:
Is Theosophy a Religion ? By H P Blavatsky
A Textbook of Theosophy By C W Leadbeater
Outline of Theosophy By C W Leadbeater
Theosophy and the Theosophical Society
Events Information Line 029 2049 6017
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Lentil burgers, a
thousand press ups before breakfast and
the daily 25 mile
run may put it off for a while but death
seems to get most
of us in the end. We are pleased to
present for your
consideration, a definitive work on the
subject by a
Student of Katherine Tingley entitled
For everyone
everywhere, not just in Wales
Theosophy and the Number Seven
A selection of articles relating to the esoteric
significance of the Number 7 in Theosophy
The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy
The Earth Base for Evolutionary Theosophy
Quick Explanations
with Links to More Detailed Info
What is Theosophy ? Theosophy Defined (More Detail)
Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
Cosmogenesis Anthropogenesis Root Races
Ascended Masters After Death States
The Seven Principles of Man Karma
Reincarnation Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott William Quan Judge
The Start of the Theosophical
Society
History of the Theosophical
Society
Theosophical Society Presidents
History of the Theosophical
Society in Wales
The Three Objectives of the
Theosophical Society
Explanation of the Theosophical
Society Emblem
The Theosophical Order of
Service (TOS)
Glossaries of Theosophical Terms
by
Annie
Besant
THE PHYSICAL
PLANE THE ASTRAL PLANE
KÂMALOKA THE MENTAL PLANE DEVACHAN
THE BUDDHIC AND
NIRVANIC PLANES
THE THREE KINDS OF KARMA COLLECTIVE KARMA
THE LAW OF
SACRIFICE MAN'S ASCENT
______________________
Annie Besant Visits Cardiff 1924
An Outline of Theosophy
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Theosophy - What it is How is it Known?
The Method of Observation General Principles
Advantage Gained from this
Knowledge
The Deity The Divine Scheme The Constitution of Man
The True Man Reincarnation The Wider Outlook
Death Man’s Past and Future Cause and Effect
Reincarnation
This
guide has been included in response
to the
number of enquiries we receive on this
subject
at Cardiff
Theosophical Society
From A Textbook
of Theosophy By C W Leadbeater
How We Remember our Past Lives
Life after Death & Reincarnation
The
Slaughter of the
a
great demand by the public for lectures on Reincarnation
Classic Introductory Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy
By C
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
The Formation of a Solar System The Evolution of Life
The Constitution of Man After Death
Reincarnation
The Purpose of Life The Planetary Chains
The Result of Theosophical Study
The Occult World
By
Alfred Percy Sinnett
The Occult World is an treatise on the
Occult and Occult Phenomena, presented
in
readable style, by an early giant of
the Theosophical Movement.
Preface to the American Edition Introduction
Occultism and its Adepts The Theosophical Society
First Occult Experiences Teachings of Occult Philosophy
Later Occult Phenomena Appendix
theosophycardiff@uwclub.net
The Seven Principles of Man
By
Annie Besant
Theosophy has no dogma, no priesthood
or diploma elite and recognizes no
spiritual head
All ideas presented at meetings are for consideration
Please click here for Current Theosophical Events in
Cardiff
A Student of
Katherine Tingley
Katherine Tingley (1847 -1929)Was the founder &
President
of the Point Loma Theosophical Society 1896 -1929
She and her students produced a series of informative
Theosophical works in the early years of the 20th century
Elementary Theosophy Who is the Man?
Body and Soul
Body, Soul and Spirit Reincarnation
Karma The Seven in Man and Nature
Cardiff
Theosophical Society
Mission
Statement
The
dominant and core activity of Cardiff Theosophical Society
is to
promote and assist the study of Theosophical Teachings
as
defined by the writings of Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky,
William Quan Judge, Alfred Percy Sinnett and
their lineage.
This
Mission Statement does not preclude non Theosophical
activities
but these must be of a spiritual nature
and/or
compatible with the Objects of the Society.
Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky 1831 – 1891
The
Founder of Modern Theosophy
Index of
Articles by
By
H P
Blavatsky
Is the Desire to Live Selfish?
Ancient Magic in Modern Science
Precepts Compiled by H P Blavatsky
Obras
Por H P Blavatsky
En
Espanol
Articles
about the Life of H P Blavatsky
Writings of Ernest Egerton Wood
Theosophy and the Number Seven
A selection of articles relating to the esoteric
significance of the Number 7 in Theosophy
Index of
Searchable
Full
Text Versions of
Definitive
Theosophical
Works
H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
Isis Unveiled by H P Blavatsky
H P Blavatsky’s Esoteric Glossary
Mahatma Letters to A P Sinnett 1 - 25
A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
(Selection of Articles by H P Blavatsky)
The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
A compilation of H P Blavatsky’s
writings published after her death
Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The
Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric
Philosophy
Mystical,
Philosophical, Theosophical, Historical
and Scientific
Essays Selected from "The Theosophist"
Edited by George
Robert Stow Mead
From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
Series of Articles
The In the
Twilight” series appeared during
1898 in The
Theosophical Review and
from 1909-1913 in The Theosophist.
compiled from
information supplied by
her relatives and friends and edited by A P Sinnett
Letters and
Talks on Theosophy and the Theosophical Life
Obras
Teosoficas En Espanol
Theosophische
Schriften Auf Deutsch
Karma Fundamental Principles Laws: Natural and Man-Made
The Law of Laws
The Eternal Now
Succession
Causation
The Laws of Nature A Lesson of The Law Karma Does Not Crush
Apply This Law
Man in The Three Worlds Understand The Truth
Man and His Surroundings The Three Fates
The Pair of Triplets
Thought, The Builder Practical Meditation Will and Desire
The Mastery of Desire Two Other Points The Third Thread
Perfect Justice
Our Environment
Our Kith and Kin Our Nation
The Light for a Good Man Knowledge of Law The Opposing Schools
The More Modern View Self-Examination Out of the Past
Old Friendships
We Grow By Giving Collective Karma Family Karma
National Karma India’s Karma National
Disasters
Annotated Edition Published
1885
Preface to the Annotated Edition Preface to the Original Edition
Esoteric Teachers The Constitution of Man The Planetary Chain
The World Periods Devachan
Kama Loca
The Human Tide-Wave The Progress of Humanity
Buddha Nirvana The Universe
The Doctrine Reviewed
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General pages
about Wales, Welsh History
and The History
of Theosophy in Wales
Wales is a
Principality within the United Kingdom
and has an eastern
border with England. The land
area is just over
8,000 square miles. Snowdon in
North Wales is the
highest mountain at 3,650 feet.
The coastline is
almost 750 miles long. The population
of Wales as at the
2001 census is 2,946,200.
__________________________________________
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Wales Theosophy
Links Summary
All Wales Guide to Theosophy Instant
Guide to Theosophy
Theosophy Wales Hornet Theosophy Wales
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Theosophy Theosophy in Cardiff
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Theosophy has no dogma, no priesthood
or diploma elite and recognizes no
spiritual head
All ideas presented at meetings are
for consideration
Please click here for Current Theosophical Events in
Cardiff