Theos-Talk Archives (July 2001 Message tt00240)

Monday, July 23, 2001

Re: Raja Yoga or Occultism

Dear Jerry:


The articles assembled of H.P.Blavatsky's in RAJA-YOGA or
OCCULTISM have to be read with the "Heart Doctrine" in mind, I am
sure you do that.

If so then what is the difficulty?

"Magic" means WISDOM. It can be used and abused depending on
motive and hence it is either helpful or dangerous. Again a
matter of DISCRIMINATION -- where are we directing ourselves ?

Who is the "WE" that is doing the experiencing, the thinking and
the directing?

"Yogis" (self-proclaimed, are of many kinds. As I have learned,

THEOSOPHY is very deep once it shows us how to plunge our thought
into the depths of cause and adduce all factors to the study of
any specific subject.

But, then PATANJALI is also a " Yogi." And that is what I read
from his sayings and aphorisms. So was the Buddha a "Yogi" --
the greatest of them all in recent centuries.

Are you so sure He had nothing to do with starting modern
Theosophy ?

Dal

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

-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry S
Sent: Sunday, July 22, 2001 2:07 PM
To:
Subject: Raja Raja-Yoga or Occultism (Book)


Dallas
<<<For instance, some of the most
valuable of H.P.Blavatsky's articles have been put together and
have been for years available for close study -- they were
gathered together in a little book titled RAJA-YOGA, or OCCULTISM
(originally published by the Theosophy Co. (India) Ltd. in
Bombay.>>>


Jerry:
Dallas, I have the 1959 2nd Edition, which I bought new back then
and have
since read numerous times. I agree, its a good book although the
title is
somewhat misleading as there is nothing per se about raja yoga in
it.

In this book, she gives us somewhat mixed views: she has a
"defence of
magic" (her words) in the article "The Science of Magic" and yet
warns us
against "Lodges of Magic" in the article by that title. This
confused me
greatly at the time, because she seems to have loved magic and
practiced it
herself but did not want to teach it or have the TS teach it, and
so I have
had to learn over the years where she was coming from. I cut my
teeth, back
in my teens and twenties, on Raja Yoga, but I had to do so from
books
written by yogis, not Theosophists.

Jerry S.