Theos-Talk Archives (May 2003 Message tt00209)

Thursday, May 22, 2003

Re: the "School" of our Universe and our Earth.
Learning to become universally wise.


Dear Friend:

I am glad to see you have grasped the basic concepts of the
Theosophical education system. It is indeed universal. But it
also makes it clear that all responsibility is on the individual
student/seeker. He is asked to purify his motives of all
selfishness.

The freedom of information is the root of all dependable
progress. The lack of claims or of enforcement that limits
research, thought, growth are shown to be in fact non-existent.

With knowledge comes responsibility. Therefore the sharing of
information carries with it the responsibility of opening doors.
This can be very heavy. Good information (truth) placed in
unworthy hands usually ends corrupting, and that leads often to
horrors and oppression -- all totally unnecessary.

One need only reflect on Nobel who discovered a way of making
dynamite, and hoped its terrible power would stop (through sheer
horror and revulsion) wars and the evils of conquest. It did
not -- it increased them. Each war has been more horrible that
the earlier one.

[I often reflect: Who stands for the rights of the citizen, the
poor, the hungry, the little children and the ignorant innocents
of this world? Who protects, who makes victims? Let each ask
themselves this question and not direct it to current political
situations (as those are not my intended targets.) Who will
adopt as a rule of life the Buddha's words: 'Kill not, for
pity's sake, unless you stay the meanest thing upon its upward
way."]

The review that you secure of the evolution of mankind in the
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY includes the word "Race." But it is not the
ordinary use of that word, as you may have detected. It merely is
a word used specifically and technically in Theosophy, to
indicate a very large period of developmental time. During this
"time designated Race" in Theosophy, is one during which all the
various races (our ordinary usage here) live and work and
interact together. You must be reading Chapter 3. Later Chapter
14 and 15 explain more

Look at this:

Try and access p. 200 of Vol. I of The SECRET DOCTRINE on line.
There is a diagram there. On the left center, under the central
triangle you find a large circle with 6 smaller circles and one
named "GLOBE D" below them. "GLOBE D" is where we (humanity)
is presently located in this scheme.

This is a diagram of the whole evolutionary scheme as NATURE (the
UNIVERSAL SPIRIT-DEITY -- not "a God," but a PRINCIPLE, an
impersonal FACT in NATURE -- and eternal BACKGROUND for all
things.) laid it out as a plan many millions of years ago, when
plans for the Mind Development were needed. Some of the time
periods are enormous ( See for instance the tables and
explanations given in Ocean p. 125, and S D II pp. 78 to
80 ).

Let me brief

The whole circle with 7 smaller "GLOBES" included in it is a
"ROUND."

The great wave of humanity (souls as a vast group) incarnate
again and again in bodies, and they live together, learn
together, and progress at about the same level all together.

Since there are 7 faculties to be developed progressively each
division is called a GLOBE.
When learning is completed in any one GLOBE, like a group of
school children, the human souls pass on to the next GLOBE for a
series of lessons there. It is like a new class-room.

[These faculties to be developed and our learning to control
them, are: 1. physical forms, 2. astral cohesion
(elctro-magnetic forces), 3 Life principle currents and forces,
4. Desires and Passions, 5. Mind, Memory, Fore-thought, 6,
Wisdom and Moral Discrimination, 7. SPIRITUAL/UNIVERSAL
ALL-KNOWING. At the 7th stage we become endowed with the
capacities and functions of "Gods" for the assisting of NATURE in
her work. There are waves of humanity that follow us, just as we
are following our Great Predecessors. And among Those (the
Budhas and Christs) are those who remain with mankind as they
did, to act as our "Tutors."]

The time spent in learning in any one GLOBE is further divided
into 7. It is these sub-divisions that are called RACES. [ And
each "RACE" is still further sub-divided into "SUB-RACES" and
"FAMILY-RACES." But that is a long story and is narrated in a
condensed way in the 2nd Vol. of The SECRET DOCTRINE in greater
detail.

So you see: The 7 GLOBES represent the divisions of a ROUND. Each
GLOBE is divided into 7 and these divisions are called "RACES."
They are divisions of TIME and have nothing to do with the ethnic
races, or the average color of the skin, under which we classify
the surface appearance of present-day mankind. See in OCEAN OF
THEOSOPHY Chapter 15.

The completion of the vast period of SEVEN ROUNDS completes the
evolutionary program on Earth. The wave of human souls then
rests and, in time it passes on to the next educational course.
A renewed EARTH then begins to offer THE IMMORTAL SOUL-PUPILS
another series of ROUNDS, GLOBES, and RACES.

I hope this does not stagger you too much, but Theosophy is
indeed ANCIENT and covers Evolution in far vaster terms than most
myths and traditions do. Further, it explains them.

By all means come again if you hit more snags to be explained.

Best wishes,

Dallas.



-----Original Message-----
From: gmci
Sent:	Thursday, May 22, 2003 9:42 AM
To:
Subject:	(BN-study) Investigating Theosophy ROUNDS & RACES


Dallas, you appear to have great insight into these things. I for
one
have always believed that there was far more to the doctrines
that I
had received over the years, but I blindly accepted what I was
told
because it felt safe to pin my hopes and beliefs on that of
others -
it might not have been concious to me then, but I beleived that
if I
didn't try to think for myself then at least I would not be
wrong, I
could always blame it on what I was told and the people who told
me.
Boy was I wrong.

Theosophy does encourage investigation, other doctrines do also,
the
difference is that with some other doctrines you can investigate
within a closed circle and no further. Because some of these
doctrines hold that they are the ONE TRUTH and SINGLE AUTHORITY.
Investigatin and questioning that leads away from the 'received'
or 'revealed' doctrine is often interpreted as incorrect.

>From what I have learned so far about Theosophy, the forerunners
of
the 'modern movement' did not try to say that Theosophy was
theirs,
or of their making, intellect, imagination, intuition, etc.
Rather it
is the "Secret Doctrine" that has served as the root of most
religions and philosophies and has been in 'existence' from
before
time. It sees the innate value and best that these religions
offered
at their foundations, before they were influenced by Economics,
Politics, War, Social Theories, The State, etc. For our modern
forerunners their role was not to condemn, innovate or present
some
new theory that would explain the mysteries of the universe, they
were given the role of elucidating and disseminating the ANCIENT
WISDOM and SECRET DOCTRINE to man in the present.

For the time, I am reading through 'The Ocean of Theosophy' and
learning every step of the way. I have also signed up on BN and
the
Theosophical Library Online. One thing that I must ask is, where
have
all these ideas that Racism is imbedded in Theosophy come from?

Sorry to close on such a sour note.

Gar