Theos-Talk Archives (June 2003 Message tt00028)

Tuesday, June 03, 2003


Dear Friends:


Following the lead of his teacher and friend Mme. Blavatsky, Mr.
Judge wrote for 21 weeks brief contributions to a Weekly Magazine
published by Kate Fields in Washington.

These were designed to arouse interest in Theosophical ideas and
teachings.

This will be sent as Series I and 2.

Here are some of these provocative statements that he makes
there:

---------------------------------------

Series I

Echoes Of Truth And Of Life





MAHATMAS & ADEPTS


These are wonderful persons...of immense age, and who keep
themselves secluded : "Mahatma" (Great Soul).


Mahatmas...or souls with unlimited knowledge of natural laws and
of man's history and development... They were also known in India
as : Rishees... They have preserved the knowledge of all natural
laws for ages, not only by tradition...but also by actual records
...in libraries existing somewhere in the many underground
temples in India, also in secluded parts all over Tibet...access
to them being possible only for the Mahatmas and Adepts.


[There is] an old Indian doctrine that man is a spiritual
being -- a soul...and that this soul takes on different bodies
from life to life on earth in order at last to arrive at such
perfect knowledge, through repeated experience, as to enable one
to assume a body fit to be the dwelling-place of a Mahatma or
perfected soul.


...that particular soul becomes a spiritual helper to mankind.


The Perfected Men are said to know the truth about the genesis of
worlds and systems, as well as the development of man upon this
and other planets.


...of the Dhyan Chohans and the Adepts...often give, tangible
proof of their existence. For the Adepts are living men, using
bodies similar to ours; they are scattered all over the earth in
all nations; they know each other... They have times when they
meet together and are presided over by some among their number
who are more advanced in knowledge and power


There are many Adepts living in the world, all of whom know each
other. They have means of communication...by using which they can
transmit to and receive from each other messages at any moment
and from immense distances...


...there is a Society of Adepts...which has no place of meeting,
which exacts no dues, which has no constitution or by-laws other
than the eternal laws of nature; there are no police or spies
attached to it and no complaints are made or received in it...


Adepts...have their communications, at which that One who
presides is the highest; from these latter begins the
communication with the Dhyan Chohans. All in their several
degrees do that work which pertains to their degree, and although
only to the Highest can be ascribed any governance or guidance of
nature and mankind, yet the very least occupies an important
place in the whole scheme.


...the Sages...and their disciples, carry with them the indelible
mark and speak the well-known words that show they are beings
developed under laws...






------------------------------------


UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD


The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875, with
the avowed object of forming a nucleus for a Universal
Brotherhood, and its founders state that they believe the Indian
Mahatmas directed them to establish such a society.


...the Theosophical Society receives assistance in its growth and
the spreading of its influence from the Adepts and their accepted
disciples...for unless there were some hidden but powerful force
operating for its advantage it would have long ago sunk into
obscurity...Promises were made...that assistance would at all
times be rendered...


...an eminent authority...Emile Bournouf, says that the
Theosophical movement must be counted as one of the three great
religious influences in the world today


Its history...has been remarkable, it...has drawn to itself much
consideration, stirred up such a thinking...on mystical subjects,
and grown rapidly amid the loudest derision and against the
fiercest opposition, [-- the press has been sneering and enemies
have been plotting


For the civilization of today, and especially of the United
States, is an attempt to accentuate and glorify the
individual...and the Mahatmas who guard the truth through the
ages while nations are decaying, assert that the reaction is sure
to come in a relapse into the worst forms of anarchy. The only
way to prevent such a relapse is for men to really practice the
Universal Brotherhood they are willing to accept with the tongue.



--------------------------------



ASTRAL LIGHT & ASTRAL MAN


...all men are...united...and that each nation suffers, on the
moral as well as the physical plane, from the faults of all other
nations, and receives benefit from the others also even against
its will. This is due to the existence of an imponderable,
tenuous medium which interpenetrates the entire globe, and in
which all the acts and thoughts of every man are felt and
impressed, to be afterward reflected again...with the aid of the
discoveries...respecting hypnotism, we are able to see that an
enormous hypnotizing machine is about.


Hence...the thoughts or the doctrines and beliefs of men are of
the highest importance, because those that prevail among people
of a low character are just as much and as easily reflected upon
the earth as are the thoughts and beliefs of persons occupying a
higher plane of culture.


...as the evil thoughts and deeds are the more material and
therefore more firmly impacted into the Astral Light, while the
good, being spiritual, easily fade out, we are in effect at the
mercy of the evil done.


...the evolution of the inner, astral form of man came first in
order, and continued for an immense number of years before his
physical structure was built up around it. This...is vital and
will aid much in an understanding of the complex questions
presented to us by the history of the human race, both that which
is known and that which is still resting on conjecture.

The evolution of the human being includes...the genesis of his
mortal frame, [and] ...the history of the inner man...the real
one.



-----------------------------------------



EVOLUTION


The scheme of evolution put forth...is so broad, deep and
far-reaching as to stagger the ordinary mind. It takes in with
ease periods of years running up into trillions and quadrillions.
It claims that man has been on earth for millions of years more
than science yet is willing to admit. It is not...startled by the
magnificent age of civilizations which disappeared long ago.


Starting from the great All, radiating like a spark from the
central fire, he gathers experience in all ages, under all
rulers, civilizations and customs, ever engaged in a pilgrimage
to the shrine from which he came. He is now the ruler and now the
slave; today at the pinnacle of wealth and power, tomorrow at the
bottom of the ladder, perhaps in abject misery, but ever the same
being.


The keepers of this doctrine say that they and their predecessors
lived in those older times, and have preserved not only the
memory of them, but also complete records. These records,
moreover, are not merely on perishable paper and palm leaf, but
on imperishable stone...these records relate to the physical
history of man, but also to his astral and spiritual evolution.


The records... kept by the Adepts...relate...to the birth of
planets in this solar system...also to the evolution and
development of man, through the various kingdoms of nature, until
he reaches the most perfect condition


They point to such remains as the statues twenty-seven feet high
found on Easter Island [ S D II 316-28]; to rows of gigantic
statues in Asia, [Bamian - S D II 224, 336-40] that by their
varying heights show the gradual diminution of human stature,
which kept pace with other degenerations...


The difference is that which exists between reality and illusion,
between mere ritualism and the signs printed by nature upon all
things and beings passing forever up the road to higher states of
existence.


Starting from the great All, radiating like a spark from the
central fire, he gathers experience in all ages, under all
rulers, civilizations and customs, ever engaged in a pilgrimage
to the shrine from which he came. He is now the ruler and now the
slave; today at the pinnacle of wealth and power, tomorrow at the
bottom of the ladder, perhaps in abject misery, but ever the same
being.


The grand theories of the Theosophists regarding evolution, human
races, religions and general civilization, as well as the future
state of man and the various planets he inhabits, should engage
our more serious attention


...having postulated immortality for the soul - the real
man -that immortality could never have had a beginning, or else
it would have an end.



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


IMMORTALITY, KARMA, REINCARNATION



The Wisdom Religion declares that man is a spiritual being, and
allows of no break in the chain of anything once declared
immortal. The Ego of each man is immortal; "always was existent,
always will be, and never can be non-existent"...and reappearing,
it only appears to be mortal; it always remains the substratum
and support for the personality


Within its [the T S] ranks there flourish beliefs in the Mahatmas
of India and in Reincarnation and its twin doctrine, Karma. This
last holds that no power, human or divine, can save one from the
consequences of acts performed, and that in this life we are
experiencing the results due to us for all acts and thoughts
which were ours in the preceding incarnation.


...the Wisdom Religion,...throws light...on man's emotions and
mental faculties, also on his pre-natal and post-mortem states


...the pre-natal and post-mortem states - are of vital interest,
because knowledge or ignorance concerning them alters man's
thought and action while an actor on the stage, and it is
necessary for him to know in order that he may so live as to aid
in the grand upward sweep of the evolutionary wave.



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



HIERARCHIES OF "GOVERNORS"


That there are hierarchies ruling in the universe is not a new
idea...The four archangels who guard the four cardinal points
represent the groups of rulers in the ancient system....named
Dhyan Chohans...[who] aid her, and are constantly occupied in
directing the all-pervading life in its evolutionary movement.
[20] "An army of the Sons of Light stands at each angle, the
Lipika in the middle wheel."
[ S D I pp. 31-2, 119 ]


...the Theosophical philosophy does not postulate a personal God,
whether extra- or intra-cosmic.
[ see S D I 2fn, 6fn, 139, 332, 635-6 ]


...the "middle wheel" is the center of space; and that center is
everywhere, because as space is illimitable, the center of it
must be wherever the cognizing consciousness is.



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




ADEPT SCIENCE


...the Adepts have for ages pursued scientific experimentation
and investigation... Seers themselves of the highest order, they
have recorded not only their own actual experiences beyond the
veil of matter,...but have collected, compared, analyzed and
preserved the records of experiences of the same sort by hundreds
of thousands of lesser seers, their own disciples; and this
process has been going on from time immemorial.


... nothing has been accepted except that which as been checked
and verified by millions of independent observations; and
therefore the Adepts...possess actual experimental knowledge of
what precedes the birth of the Ego...and what succeeds when the
"mortal coil" is cast away. [ see S D I 272-3]

...the Adepts are the only true scientists, they take into
account every factor...whereas Science is limited by a total
inability to perceive anything deeper than the phenomena [of]
matter. This recording of experiences still goes on...



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


MATTER PHENOMENA CHANGE


As the earth sweeps around the sun, it [is]dragged by the sun
[to] enter upon new fields in space and unprecedented conditions.
Hence the Adepts state that matter will in another million of
years show different phenomena still.


Nothing in the material world endures absolutely unchanged in
itself or its conditions, even for the smallest conceivable
portion of time. All that is, is forever in process of becoming
something else. This is an old established doctrine called, in
the East, "the doctrine of the constant, eternal change of atoms
from one state into another."


The ancient doctrine of the constant, eternal change of every
atom from state to state... grows out of, another which
postulates that there is no such thing as dead matter. At every
conceivable point in the universe there are lives...and each life
is forever hastening onward to higher evolution.
[ see S D I 289]


...matter is never perceived by the eye or through any
instrument. It is but the phenomena of matter that we recognize
with the senses, and hence, say the Sages..."matter"...is an
illusion.


This first original matter is called by Paracelsus and others
primordial matter, the nearest approach to which is in the word
mulaprakriti [the root of matter], invisible, not to be weighed,
or measured, or tested with any instrument...yet it is the only
real matter underlying all the phenomena to which we erroneously
give its name. But even it is not dead, but full of the lives
[ see S D I 148 ]


...consider the solar system...[and] the great sidereal year
covered by the sun in going through the twelve signs of the
zodiac [which is] over 25,000 mortal years, ...this immense
circuit being traversed, [as] the sun drags the whole solar
system with him around his own tremendous orbit we may [say that]
after millions of years the sun must bring his train of planets
to stellar space where they have never been before; here [will
be] other conditions and combinations of matter of which our
scientists have never [yet]...recorded one single phenomenon; and
the difference will be so great that no resemblance shall be
observed.


This is a branch of cyclic law with which the Eastern sages are
perfectly familiar. They have inquired into it, recorded their
observations, and preserved them. Having watched the uncountable
lives during cycles upon cycles past, and seen their behavior
under different conditions in other stellar spaces long ago left
behind, they have some basis upon which to draw conclusions as to
what will be the state of things in ages yet to come.




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


LIFE ENERGY


This brings us to an interesting theory...respecting life itself
as exhibited by man, his death and sleep. It relates to what is
called "fatigue." Theosophy, [says] instead of having suffered a
loss of vitality, the body, at the conclusion of the day, has
more life in it than when it waked.



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



SLEEP


During the waking state the life-waves rush into the body with
greater intensity every hour, and, we being unable to resist them
any longer...they overpower us and we fall asleep. While
sleeping, the life waves adjust themselves to the molecules of
the body; and when the equilibrium is complete we again wake to
continue the contest with life. If this periodical adjustment did
not occur, the life current would destroy us.

death of the body is due to the inequality of the contest with
the life force; it at last overcomes us, and we are compelled to
sink into the grave.

Disease...reduces the power of the body to adjust and resist.
[the life force]

Children, say the Adepts, sleep more than adults...because the
bodily machine, being young and tender, is easily overcome by
life and made to sleep.

As it is beginning to be thought that electricity is
all-pervading, so...it will be agreed that life is universal...it
is plain...that there seems to be...intelligence in the
operations of this life energy...
[ see S D I 143-4]



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



SOUL - MIND


The great Immanuel Kant said; "I confess I am much disposed to
assert the existence of immaterial natures in the world, and to
place my own soul in the class of these beings. It will
hereafter...yet be proved that the human soul stands, even in
this life, in indissoluble connection with all immaterial natures
in the Spirit world, that it reciprocally acts upon these, and
receives impressions from them."



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



MOON


...the moon is not a mass thrown off from the earth in cooling,
but, on the contrary, is the progenitor of this globe. [ see S D
I 15-4 ]





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



SPACE -- UNIVERSE


"What is it that ever is? Space, the Anupadaka. What is it that
ever was? The germ in the Root. What is it that is ever coming
and going? The Great Breath. Then there are three eternals? No,
the three are one. That which ever is, is one; that which ever
was is one; that which is ever being and becoming is also one;
and this is space." -- ...THE DISCIPLE'S CATECHISM --
[S D I p 11]


In this parentless and eternal space is the wheel in the center
where the Lipika are [and]...at the four angles are the Dhyan
Chohans, and doing their will among men on this earth are the
Adepts - the Mahatmas.

The harmony of the spheres is the voice of the Law, and that
voice is obeyed alike by the Dhyan Chohan and the Mahatma - on
their part with willingness, because they are the law; on the
part of men and creatures because they are bound by the
adamantine chains of the law which they do not understand.



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


MAHATMAS, ADEPTS, Their Work


Adepts, Mahatmas and Nirmanakayas...The development, conditions,
powers, and function of these beings carry with them the whole
scheme of evolution; for, as said by the mystics, the mahatma is
the efflorescence of an age..


They do not, will not, and must not interfere with Karma; that
is, however apparently deserving of help an individual may be,
they will not extend it in the manner desired if his Karma does
not permit it


To compel recognition of true doctrine is not the way of these
sages, for compulsion is hypnotism...they do not advance with
present material aid for the poor in their hands.


...by using their natural powers, they every day influence the
world... in every land, so that what does come about in our lives
is better than it would have been had they not had part therein.



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


NIRMANAKAYAS and Their Work



The Nirmanakayas...constantly engage in [the work of]...the
betterment of the soul of man...

They are owners of Nirvana who refuse to accept it in order that
they may help the suffering orphan, Humanity... "Step out from
sunlight into shade, to make more room for others."

Nirmanakayas...Some of them have under their care certain men
destined to be great factors in the future. These they guide and
guard until the appointed time. And such proteges but seldom know
that such influence is about them...[they] work behind the veil
and prepare the material for a definite end.

...one Nirmanakaya may have many different men -- or women - whom
he directs. As Patanjali puts it, "In all these bodies one mind
is the moving cause."

...often such men as Napoleon Buonaparte are from time to time
helped by them...The fear of...encouraging a monster at a certain
point never can deter a sage who sees the end that is best.

As a change in the thought of a people who have been tending to
gross atheism is one always desired by the Sages... it may be
supposed that the wave of spiritualistic phenomena resulting now
quite clearly in a tendency back to a universal acknowledgment of
the soul, has been aided by the Nirmanakayas.

They are in it and of it; they push on the progress of a psychic
deluge over great masses of people. The result is seen in the
literature, the religion and the drama of today. Slowly but
surely the tide creeps up and covers the once dry shore of
Materialism, for the Master hand is guided by omniscient
intelligence propelled by a gigantic force, and - works behind
the scene.



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


DISCIPLESHIP AND STUDY



Under the protection and assistance and guidance of this Society
of Adepts are the disciples of each one of its members. These
disciples are divided into different degrees, corresponding to
the various stages of development; the least developed disciples
are assisted by those who are in advance of them, and the latter
in a similar manner by others, until the grade of disciple is
reached where direct intercourse with the Adepts is possible. At
the same time, each Adept keeps a supervisory eye upon all his
disciples.


...any offender is punished by the operation of law entirely
beyond his control - his mastery over the law being lost upon his
infringing it.


Through the agency of the disciples of Adepts many effects are
brought about in human thought and affairs, for from the higher
grades are often sent those who, without disclosing their
connection with mysticism, influence individuals who are known to
be main factors in events about to occur.


...the man who has gone through probation and teaching under the
Adepts carries upon his person the ineffaceable
marks...[described] as being quite prominent and wholly beyond
the control of the bearer...since it grows with the being's
development.


...as these signatures cannot be imitated or forged, the whole
inner fraternity has no need for concealment of signs. No one can
commit a fraud upon or extract from them the secrets of higher
degrees by having obtained signs and pass-words out of a book or
in return for the payment of fees, and none can procure the
conferring of any advancement until the whole nature of the man
exactly corresponds to the desired point of development.


Nothing is forced or depends upon favor. Everything is arranged
in accordance with the best interests of a nation, having in view
the cyclic influences at any time prevailing, and never before
the proper time.


The training of the disciple by the teachers of the school to
which the Theosophical Adepts belong is peculiar to itself...


...it is a specialization of the pilgrimage to a sacred
place...and the enshrined object of the journey is the soul
itself, for with them the existence of soul is one of the first
principles.


... the life of man is held to be a pilgrimage, not only from the
cradle to the grave, but also through that vast period of time,
embracing millions upon millions of years, stretching from the
beginning to the end of a Manvantara...as he is held to be a
spiritual being, the continuity of his existence is unbroken.


One great reason for this...is that the places of pilgrimage are
centers of spiritual force from which radiate elevating
influences


...at most of the famous places of pilgrimage there is an Adept
of the same order to which the Theosophical Adepts are said to
belong, who is ready always to give some mead of spiritual
insight and assistance to those of pure heart who may go there.
He, of course, does not reveal himself to the knowledge of the
people, because it is quite unnecessary


The Adepts founded these places in order to keep alive in the
minds of the people the soul idea which modern Science and
education would soon turn into agnosticism, were they to prevail
unchecked.


...the disciple of the Adept knows that the place of pilgrimage
symbolizes his own nature ...He is supposed to concentrate into a
few lives the experience and practice which it takes ordinary men
countless incarnations to acquire.


His first steps, as well as his last, are on difficult, often
dangerous places; the road, indeed, "winds up hill all the way,"
and upon entering it he leaves behind the hope for reward so
common in all undertakings.


Nothing is gained by favor, but all depends upon his actual
merit. As the end to be reached is self-dependence with perfect
calmness and clearness, he is from the beginning made to stand
alone, and this is for most of us a difficult thing which
frequently brings on a kind of despair.


...instead of being constantly in the company of a lodge of
fellow-apprentices, as is the case in the usual worldly secret
society, he is forced to see that, as he entered the world alone,
he must learn to live there in the same way, leaving it as he
came, solely in his own company. But this produces no
selfishness, because, being accomplished by constant meditation
upon the unseen, the knowledge is acquired that the loneliness
felt is only in respect to the lower, personal, worldly self.


Another rule this disciple must follow is that no boasting may
be indulged in on any occasion, and this gives us the formula
that, given a man who speaks of his powers as an Adept or boasts
of his progress on the spiritual planes, we can be always sure he
is neither Adept nor disciple.


...hiding themselves under an exterior which does not attract
attention, there are many of the real disciples in the world.
They are studying themselves and other human hearts. They have no
diplomas, but there resides in them a consciousness of constant
help and a clear knowledge of the true Lodge which meets in real
secrecy and is never found mentioned in any directory.


Their whole life is a persistent pursuit of the fast-moving soul
which, although appearing to stand still, can distance the
lightning; and their death is only another step forward to
greater knowledge through better physical bodies in new lives.