Theos-Talk Archives (March 1999 Message tt00092)

Mar 11th 1999

Dear Gerry:

As far as I can see the Teachings about the ROUNDS, GLOBES,
RACES, etc. resulted from the inquiries that Mr. Sinnett made of
the Master during the course of their correspondence and this
concept was shown to him as a result of the fact that the
evolutionary hypothesis as then formulated was sadly in error.
It did not account for the cycle of civilization.  Nor did it
account for the fact that the Egyptian (and other) antiquities
and artifacts showed a knowledge in use which Europe and the
"western technology" had not yet reached.

Only the Puranas in Indian lore dealt with anything approaching
this concept and these had to be explained at length, as HPB did
in the S D.

Is this of value for Occultists ?

I say it depends on what you mean by "occultism."  Any thin that
I do not know now is "occult" or "esoteric" to me.  But that does
not mean I cannot acquire the necessary information for making
choices and practice.

There is a large and hazy area of confusion concerning the area
which in Theosophy is called the Astral, and the Pranic.  But the
only way t find out if Theosophy provides useful information is
for a person to read its literature
(which by now is pretty well Indexed) and seek for information
there.

Many people expect to get something for nothing, or else may
expect to pay a fee for information, or even stranger expect to
be given some secret word or a drawn symbol that they can use to
achieve some personal design.  In true occultism this does not
work very well.  There are minor "mysteries" and powers that can
be contacted.  Channeling, clairvoyance, clairaudience,
apportation, mediumship, trance reports, phenomena of various
kinds are evidence that there is more to the hidden side of man's
nature than the mere physical gives us evidence for.

Curiosity drives some to investigate.  The 3rd Object of the T S
suggests that we accumulate evidence.  It does not say
"practice."  HPB was doing to write a volume in the SD on
"Practical occultism."  Apparently her body gave out before this
could be done. And perhaps this was good for us, as I tremble to
think of what abuses such knowledge could be put to by selfish
individuals.

So, let's forget the ROUNDS AND RACES although they form part of
the overall lore of theosophical information.

As I understand it one of the keys to understanding the nature of
these mysterious GLOBES is to look at SD I 267, at the bottom of
the page she indicates the nature of the difference influences
that govern the 7 panes/globes.  SD I 166 offers the best clue
(to me) where they speak of
"they are in co-adunition, but not in consubstantiality with our
earth."
SD I 329-330, 339-40,  II-701-2 also relates to this.

I hope this might help.

Dal

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





-----Original Message-----
From:	owner-theos-talk@pippin.imagiware.com
[mailto:owner-theos-talk@pippin.imagiware.com] On Behalf Of
Gerald Schueler
Sent:	Tuesday, March 09, 1999 8:04 AM
Subject:	Theos-World Is the SD Essential for Occult Progress?

>>If one desires to make any progress into the study of occultism
then the principles set out in greater detail in the SD will be
needed.  They are basic and will be found used in the whole
scheme without any deviation.  I mean Karma, Unity of All in ALL,
Evolution of the imperishable Monads, Mind is Soul, and this is
Mankind, the 7 principles of the universe and man, the Rounds,
Globes, Races, etc... as Cycles in time, etc., etc.<<

Dallas, I agree that the three axioms discussed in the Proem
are essential for any real progress. But the vast majority of
today's occultists do not subscribe to the races, rounds,
globes, planetary chains, and so on (what I have called
the Gupta Vidya Model, since HPB never gave it a name)
as detailed in the SD. Yet somehow they seem to have
made "progress into the study of occultism" anyway.

In fact, few Theosophists subscribe to the planetary
chain model, (which I consider a shame, because I
really like it) and even fewer seem to agree on
what the globes and planes are (for example, I
believe that they are similar to the Sephiroth and
can be pathworked).

While I applaud your reverence to the SD, I don't think
that we can agree that her globes and rounds are
essential in any way for occult progress. I prefer to
think of them as a model, one of many good models
that can help our limited human minds to grasp what
is essentially ungraspable--the invisible worlds that
surround our physical solar system.

Jerry S.

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