Theos-Talk Archives (November 2001 Message tt00123)

Wednesday, November 07, 2001

Re: A survey of History and Religion in our past, as provided
from
theosophical literature: ISIS UNVEILED, and
The SECRET DOCTRINE


Dear Etzion:

Thank you for some detail of your encounter with the teachings of
Meher Baba and lately with Theosophy.

As my studies have shown me, Theosophy claims only to be a record
of the research of Wise Men who have been incessantly active down
the great ages of the past. it is therefore a 2-fold account:

1.	Historical -- of all Religions, Nations, Philosophies, and
Sciences...

2.	Scientific -- as it investigates all the laws and rules of
Nature which keeps us all alive.

They all know each other (all over the world) and formed a great
"college" which could be named the COLLEGE OF WISDOM. It still
exists (but very quietly and secretly -- the evidence for this is
to be found in Theosophy, which is non-denominational and
non-sectarian). And its members are all students of our Earth and
of the occult powers and forces that sustain its unity, its
coherence. [ see Isis Vol. II, pp 97-1-3 ] The esotericism of
the Jews is known t reside in the Kabala, and wise Kabalists also
refer to the "Oriental Kabala" saying that the true and ancient
records can only be found in the EAST. (They are no clear
where.)

They (Members of the WISE who have appeared publicly as
Reformers, Prophets, Teachers have all methodically taught wisdom
and truth about the life of mankind, its purpose, its future, or
have sought to reform various nations in the past where the
priesthood had led the people astray. And most "religions" that
we know of, can be found to have been derived from their same
basic "teachings." Every student of comparative religion is
able to demonstrate this by parallel saying and teachings. HG P
B has done this for us in the case of Krishna, Buddha and Jesus
(see ISIS UNVEILED Vol. II. pp. 537.

One needs to study several religions at their SOURCE (if possible
in the actual words of those Wise Prophets) to assure ones' self
that they all have the same WISDOM and PHILOSOPHY.

It is the "followers" and the "successors" to those great
Reformers, Teachers, Prophets, and Seers who have made of their
original words a creed and attached dogmas to the doctrines of
Nature's ways which they tried to promulgate.

I have found (everywhere) that it is the "priests" of every
religion, who learned the details of their religious history and
tenets, and then, served to conceal them from their adherent.
They have aimed to keep their "flock" ignorant of those. The
position of interpreter and intercessor gives them the Power they
desire over their ignorant "flock."

Those are the ones who eventually perverted the teachings of the
original Reformer, or the "Son of GOD" who came to inform and
save the "people" by asking them to study and think for
themselves.

Truth, and LAW do not vary. And each human being has to discover
and apply a knowledge of this for themselves, thus establishing
for themselves, again, a direct connection with "GOD." For the
Universal DEITY is in all things and is foremost in Man's own
inner HEART. There he is never apart from GOD. There he knows
and recognizes the TRUTH. There is the source of universal
brotherhood. There is ones' indestructible IMMORTALITY.

As I see it, and I may be wrong in this:

We thus find today that in Europe, the many branches of
Christianity spring from Judaism, and fragments taken from
Egyptian and Greek sources. Yet, the last copies of the OLD
TORAH scrolls were destroyed by the brutal subjugation of Judea
by the Romans around 73 A D when the diaspora was enforced, and
the Jews were again scattered to the distant places, were
rewritten from memory by Rabbi Ezra and now form the basis for
the Torah scrolls in every Hebrew and Jewish Temple or synagogue.

Christianity was imposed as a state religion around the 6th
Century by a ukase (or a Fiat) of the Emperor Constantine. He
applied it to Rome, and to all other Roman Empire provinces, and
to the central temples of the Roman Empire.

All the old religions were to be suppressed and abolished and
CHRISTIANITY was alone to be honored with survival and all the
weight of Roman Law. The entire populace (including the priests
of the local religions, were to be mass converted and the
entirety to the rites, rituals and beliefs of the ROMAN CATHOLIC
CHURCH were to be adopted thereafter under pain of death or
banishment.

Thus the Scandinavian Theogony, the remnants of the Greek
religion, the Celtic Theogonies of the Druids, in Germany,
France, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Northern Africa and
Spain were, at a stroke, outlawed and their temples seized, their
records destroyed and CHRISTIANITY was imposed under pain of
death. The night of independent research, philosophy and their
records were eliminated, banned and extinguished.

Most of the local sacred and secret writings (especially of the
Egyptians, Greeks, and the Druids, concerning the history and the
Science of their past, was destroyed, and for future historians
(us) a great darkness -- a gap of ignorance -- was imposed. The
monolithic power of the Catholic church was thus founded,
universally throughout the Roman empire that covered most of
Europe, and was ensured. All sources of wisdom other than the
Bible were declared devilish, and Satanic.

Alone the Egyptian Temples retained some independence. But soon
under the destroying hand of Caliph Omar (6 / 7th Century) Egypt
was conquered, its temples violated, monuments destroyed, and
literature burned. India and Tartary, Mongolia, Tibet, and China
alone retained independence and preserved the ancient lore.

We are all aware of a similar vast destruction of wisdom,
embodied in local scripture and sculpture was performed following
the Spanish invasion of Central and South America in the 16th /
17th Centuries A D. We all suffer from such loss.

When, around that time, (16th/ 17th centuries) in Europe, a
rebellion against some of the worse impositions and slavery by
the dogmas, rituals and beliefs of the R C Church, were
published; and Protestantism, and the subsequent Reformation
began, the need for the ancient records was made evident. Some
were obtained from Platonism, which always remained as a thread
of reason and can be traced in the Florentine Academy and the
Platonic studies of Oxford and Cambridge universities in England.

Some vague residuum remained in the re-written Kabala of the
Jewish Rabis of Spain. The Masons had some records that they
carefully guarded, and Free-Masonry sought to make them better
known. The great Republics were then modeled politically from
those sources of free=-thought, and a growing reverence for the
Rights and Responsibilities of every man.

Grecian Platonism shared in the atmosphere of reform as its
tenets and dialogs were translated into the common tongue of many
modern peoples. The urge by individuals to be free of dogma, and
to study and discover for themselves, seems to have hit a cycle
of general freedom and reform. Scientific investigation into the
rules and laws of Nature can be traced to those roots, and times.

This continues. Theosophy is perhaps the most organized aspect of
the re-gathering of ancient Wisdom into a brief literary compass.
It synthesizes, and unites the intertwined strands of Religion,
Science and Philosophy. It frees to mind from dogma and offers
investigation as a better source for learning. It encourages
freedom of choice as a basis for satisfactory proof,
individually, and, on comparison, collectively.

But the real turning point, the freeing of Science from the
church took place during the reign of Napoleon. Our Science has
been trying to rid itself of the narrow views of the church since
the 17th / 18th century, but is still not entirely free of them.

In turn Islam and Judaism are seen to have been derived in terms
of History and experience from the common records of the ancient
Semitic tribes that elected about 7,000 years ago to escape from
India when the Brahmins had in some ways made dogmatic their
ancient lore in order to rule over those tribes.

It will be remembered that in Persia the ancient line of
Zarathustras (24) [Zoroasters -- as this was a title and not a
personal name] were rebels for the same reasons against the
"Suras" or "Devas" (Brahmins) in India -- and were known then as
the "a-Suras" -- the opponents to Brahmanical lore and their
dogmatism. But much has changed since then, up to the present.

Historically, we are told that the Semites (as tribes under
various chiefs, over a period of some 2,000 years -- from about
7,000 B C, "escaped" (or emigrated) from Northern India. The
first wave was headed by Abraham (a-Brahm -- a non-brahmin) and
set out westward through the territory of Iran ( ARIA --land of
the Nobles ) to the "Land of the 2 Rivers" - Mesopotamia -- they
settled in Chaldea and were later enslaved in Babylon. [ When in
the 4th Century B C Alexander invaded and conquered Chaldea
Berosus his chief Scientist reports on the antiquity of the
astrology/astronomy of the Chaldees and the Assyrians --
extending over 40 to 90,000 years B C. Escaping this at a later
time they went further West and were again enslaved in Egypt --
the Bible gives the narration.

Judaism, and Zoroastrianism can both be found to have
similarities with the ancient texts of the Hindus -- indicating
that their roots may be traced to those ancient countries as
sources for their religious philosophies.

But there is so much that can be extracted from a study of the
books ISIS UNVEILED and SECRET DOCTRINE that each student (with
the help of the INDEXES available) ought to do that work and
verify it form themselves.

I would strongly recommend that you read and gather from H P B's
the KEY TO THEOSOPHY (HPB) the necessary basic concepts as to
what Theosophy teaches. It will make your work of translating
The SECRET DOCTRINE easier.

1.	Every being (from atom to Galaxy, including Man) is an
immortal.

2.	All are progressing over a vast period of time toward WISDOM
as a common goal.

3.	Universal brotherhood of Spirit, Intelligence and physical
matter is a fact.

4.	Evolution starts with the SPIRIT descending into mater and
inducing it to make "forms" in which the Spirit and the Mind can
dwell and work.

5.	Matter is to be raised up in its intelligence from Instinct to
Logical thinking, and thereafter to WISDOM -- which is a
knowledge (proved to ones' self) of all the rules, laws and facts
in Nature.

6.	Nature in its entirely is rules by exact and invariable LAW.

7. Doing "Good" is obeying the law of nature. Doing Evil is
breaking the Laws of nature. We do not need priests to tell us
this. We KNOW IT ALREADY, and we have to rely on our own
integrity. Each Man is a thinker. Each man is his own "priest."

8.	Our "voice of conscience" and "Intuition" tell us at all times
what the difference between "good" and "evil" is. It is the
difference between the generosity of brotherhood and the
selfishness of the isolated and perverted passionate DESIRER.

9.	The progress of each Human is through REINCARNATION. The
SPIRIT OF MAN never "dies."

10.	The goal of SUPREME PERFECTION is held to be available to
all. "A STONE BECOMES A PLANT, AN ANIMAL, A MAN, A GOD --- never
has a man lost through change and advancement -- Hermes.

These in brief are the universal concepts that theosophy
demonstrates are present everywhere. You will find them
underlying all the theosophical writings, as well as the
fundamental writings of all great ancient Prophets.

Best wishes,

Dallas

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



=================================================
-----Original Message-----
From: Etzion Becker [mailto:etvionbb@netvision.net.il]
Sent: Tuesday, November 06, 2001 10:13 PM
To: dalval14@earthlink.net
Subject: Re: Theos-World THEOSOPHY == How H P B relates to it.
WHO WAS/ISHPB?

Dear Dallas, I am mosr appreciative. I am working on the SD for a
year and a
half already. Not a small task indeed, but also not my first
difficult
project. I have been translating spiritual material into Hebrew
for over 20
years by now, mainly those by Meher Baba. I translated His entire
Discourses, which took me about 10 years to accomplish. I did
other works as
well, and most of them were published. I made my first spiritual
steps in
Anthroposophy of Steiner, and from there I was introduced to
Meher Baba,
where I found Love Divine. So, the combination of love and some
knowledge
make the right combination. I was glancing through a few other
spiritual
groups, but in general i am not a spiritual shopper, to say the
least. My
commitment is to provide the Hebrew reader with genuine, true,
spiritual
material, and i am pleased to translate the SD. I am working on
the
abridgement, of course. The whole thing might be too tough, would
take ages
to accomplish. See more comments below.


> Dear Etzion:
>
> To translate The SECRET DOCTRINE into Hebrew is a great task.
>
> If you happen to come across some passages that appear
difficult,
> I will be glad to help in the review and also consult with
others
> here -- as we have a student who for the past 4 or 5 years has
> been translating The SECRET DOCTRINE into Italian, and the into
> Spanish -- I am sure he will help give a view, at least in
> English, of the meaning (sometimes obscure) of certain passages
> in the SECRET DOCTRINE. Anyway the offer stands open in case
you
> wish to use it later.
>
> As you will note, if you are also a student of the VOICE OF THE
> SILENCE, there is the literal kind of translation, and then
there
> is also to be included in that (as best we are able) the HEART
> DOCTRINE.

***************
I am not sure what you mean by Voice of the silence, abd the
heart Doctrine.
I don't read all the e-mails which are flowing, too much indeed.

>
> And that [the HEART DOCTRINE] demands from us the fullest
> understanding of the ethics and the karmic impact of the
process
> (universal) of reincarnation, and total PERFECTION, as an
> ultimate goal for every being in the Universe -- obviously,
time
> is not an essential factor. This Perfection cannot be achieved
> except through the brotherly love of all taken as a whole.
******
sure all right

>
> The idea that we will all secure enough time to perfect our
> natures and our minds is strange to those in the West who view
> the life we are presently living as the only opportunity to
> progress and to study spiritual values. So, for many, to
> envisage the potential of immortality resident in the ATOMS or
> even a grain of sand. That -- that PRIMITIVE INTELLIGENCE
could
> eventually rise to be HUMAN ? What an idea! Yet that is the
> teaching of Theosophy and that is why the enormous periods of
> time in which experience is to be gained by all the IMMORTAL
> beings of our Universe is at all considered.
**************
According to meher Baba, the spiritual evolution starts from the
atom, and
culminates with the human. This process takes eons. Then, with
full
consciousnes, the individual ushers eventually to the spiritual
path, and
has to learn how to retain this state of consciousness, while
disposing off
the accumulated past imprints in his subconscious minds, which
force him to
keep on incarnating, till the person attains liberation. This
process is
almost impossible without the aid of a Perfect Master, because
the aspirant,
being ignorant of the spiritual path, will succumb to teptations
and
allurments on his way, like being tempted to use his powers
(siddhis), or
will get lost in one of those enchanting spheres, like the
wonderful spheres
of music, smell, sights, etc. What I perceive, is that all true
spiritual
ways lead the person to the goal, but, alas, over the decades, so
many
obstacles were added, through forms of ceremonies and prejudices.
I think
you would love God Speaks of Meher Baba. It is also the theme of
creation
and its purpose, with diagrams etc. It is also some kind of
kaballistic
book, but at least with flowing English. It is not easy, now I am
checking
its translation into Hebrew which one of my associates here
made, so
translating the SD and correcting God Speaks side by side is
quite
something.
>
> Even the idea of eventual personal immortality == which can be
> acquired by the "Personality" that becomes aware of this
> potential (as we are), that resolves to follow the laws of
nature
> and of righteousness == is very strange to most.
>
> Add to this the concept that each of us is a "Ray of the ONE
> UNIVERSAL SPIRIT" [ GOD to some ] means that the closest place
to
> GOD is within -- I mean within ourselves (as an active aspect
of
> the UNIVERSAL DEITY is included in every least "atom" and is
> therefore also present in each human -- and, this makes
Universal
> Brotherhood a FACT.
>
> No, I was unaware that you were occupied with translating The
> SECRET DOCTRINE -- that is a fine job and requires much
> patience.
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Dallas
I trust we will have a fruitful adventure. I cannot cope with
long e-mail,
and we will need to condense it to a few lines. My fellow
Theosophist here
making their first steps with the internet, I think at the moment
I am the
only one from Israel.
I have alreadu one question, (stanza 3) page 41, 3rd paragraph,
starting
with "In the Sanskrit Commentary ... In the earliest MSS." What
MSS stand
for, Manuscripts?
All best wishes, Etzion