Theos-Talk Archives (August 2002 Message tt00149)

Dear Brian,

On 8/13/02 you wrote:
<PS Do not expect any reasonable reply by Theosophists to the issues brought
up in the above.>

So far, you don't seem to think others have said anything "reasonable" about
the theosophical view of evolution, so you will probably not consider this
to be any better, but I'll take the risk and try anyway in the limited time
I have.

Bart has already pointed out that Blavatsky uses the term "race" in more
than one sense, an idea to which you have not yet responded. Yet, this is
critical since she tried to show the shortcomings of the 19th Century view
of evolution, and to pioneer the concept of an evolution of consciousness,
not just of form and matter. To accomplish this, she used any and every
tool available, including the Renaissance analogy of the "great chain of
being." What she was driving at was not just a hierarchical structure, but
what Joseph Wood Krutch in the mid-Twentieth Century, and many others since,
called "the great web of life." The idea of an interrelated network of
consciousness was almost entirely foreign to the scientists of her day, and
their fundamental premise -- that matter produces consciousness -- also
appears to be yours. The theosophical world-view is that consciousness and
the "needs" of consciousness produce the necessary forms for expression --
in the words of one modern scientist, whose name I cannot remember,
"consciousness came first." And, despite your attempt to disconnect these
ideas from "any" Eastern system of thought, these are preeminently Buddhist,
and more properly, Tibetan Buddhist concepts.

I do agree with you in one respect, and that is that if we take the "chain
of life" idea too literally, it becomes easy to start "ranking" human beings
into "higher" and "lower" groups. Blavatsky was well aware of the danger,
and she argued in "The Secret Doctrine" (volume 2, page 425) "...the reason
given for dividing humanity into "superior" and "inferior" races falls to
the ground and becomes a fallacy." Any serious inquiry into Blavatsky's
views on this subject should include time spent reading this section of the
SD.

You are of course entitled to your opinion that "Blavatsky didn't know any
better," on this or any other point. However, anyone who does not sense
that there are "deeper" dimensions to life and consciousness, who has no
sense of an inner or spiritual life is probably wasting his/her time on this
board.

Best Regards,
Wes