Theos-Talk Archives (April 2004 Message tt00171)

Tuesday, April 06, 2004


Re: Mahatmas, Adepts, Elder Brothers, Rishis, Avatars, our
Teachers


Dear friends:

The passing pages of our many postings have seen of late a number of
items dealing with the foundations of THEOSOPHY and with the Teachers
thereof.

There have been claims made of corroborative or of objections raised to
certain teachings that are basic to THEOSOPHY 

May we bring all these together for consideration?

The Universe has existed for a very long time. 

Presumably it is is highly intelligent since it provides for the
well-being of an enormous diversity of living, intelligent conscious
beings, it has a definite purpose in view, and also in the economy of
management, it has established of old, a set of rules whereby similar
things and events are regulated.

Some of the vital teachings that HPB has given us. We could take note
of these carefully as they form the foundation for all Her articles and
The SECRET DOCTRINE.

>From the opening sentence of ISIS, published in 1877 she mentions THE
ADEPTS. 

Fourteen years later, in Her last article: MY BOOKS in its closing
paragraph, She says to us, in her supreme humility quoting Montagne's
verse -- She has offered us "a bouquet of culled flowers," of which She
claims only to provide a "string." 

The wisdom of those same Adepts is offered to us here. 

How, can we really appreciate it ?

Mr. Judge reminds us that HPB has called our age a "transition age." It
must then be an age of crisis, where several threads, paths, cycles,
events of future significance intersect. We are privileged to be
"witnesses" to these. Are our perceptions not made sharper by what The
Adepts tell us ?

This "transition age" seems to be particularly important inasmuch as so
much has been given by Them and Her to us. One may also observe that on
p. 613 of Vol. I ISIS, she prophecies:--

"the religion of the ancients is the religion of the future."
[I U 1 613]

In the compass of these volumes we have a survey of civilization, of its
history and of the impelling powers behind the scenes which we can find
no trace of in classical literature. We are, further, invited to join
in the work of the Adepts. To study, prove and demonstrate to ourselves
the validity of the WISDOM RELIGION.


How can we improve and widen this area of our work ? 


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

2

To distinguish between HPB and Masters' teachings of THEOSOPHY by
ourselves making a thorough study of their philosophy we are advised to
become masters of the ORIGINAL WRITINGS.

All other writings need to be measured by the ORIGINALS. Otherwise, we
become guilty of believing on faith and without proof.

I take nothing for granted.

Their claim is that THEOSOPHY is ancient and conveys both history as
well as the necessary texts and rules of occultism and esotericism. 

They start with the ABSOLUTE ALL -- SPIRIT and then explain why
manifestation and evolution in all planes is essential so that all the
many "parts" of the ABSOLUTENESS involved in these two processes may of
their own will and effort obtain a mastery over the existing rules and
conditions.

They ask us to look into all sciences, philosophies and religions. 

They ask us to investigate our present situation, physically, morally,
psychically and mentally.

They are not able to do the work for us, nor can they endow us with
knowledge we have not earned. Their schools and its rules are far more
ancient than ours today and more comprehensive. Additionally they
include as a most important basis a very strict morality based on
impeccable brotherhood exercised by our choice and disciplined by our
will ALL THE TIME.



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

I hope this may help,

Best wishes,


Dallas

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

PS

Allow me to offer for review certain basic teachings offered at first
for study in 1877 when ISIS UNVEILED was published:

We find:


SOME HINTS HIDDEN IN ISIS UNVEILED 


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

" The danger of lifting the veil of ISIS lies not in the doctrines of
Unity, Reincarnation, and Karma, but in untaught mysteries which no
Theosophist is able to reveal." 
WQJ ART. Vol. II, p. 356

" To dare, to know, to will, and remain silent was their constant
rule; to be beneficent, unselfish and unpretending, were, with them,
spontaneous impulses." ISIS, Vol. I, p.67 

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


In the study of HPB's first work: ISIS UNVEILED, one is at first struck
by the imperative nature of the declarations and definitions offered by
Her. 

Some of these, like the "Hidden Hints" that Mr. Judge found in THE
SECRET DOCTRINE (W Q. Judge ARTICLES, Vol. I, p. 599), are basic to an
understanding of Theosophy. ISIS was published in 1877.

Mr. Judge, started the PATH magazine in 1886. We may see that his
writings there, reflect the deep study that he had made of ISIS
UNVEILED, during the intervening nine years, and the careful note that
he took of the wisdom recorded there. What he wrote and taught in his
articles will be found to be in accord with what HPB taught, not only in
ISIS, but in her articles appearing in THE THEOSOPHIST (started in l879,
in Bombay, India), and later in THE SECRET DOCTRINE (issued in 1888).

Let us start with the first volume of ISIS, and among the many
important statements made, we will find:--


>From Vol. 1 of ISIS UNVEILED 
========================


INTIMATE ACQUAINTANCE WITH EASTERN ADEPTS is claimed by the author (p.
vi) who identifies them as "the sages of the Orient." 


THE "SECRET DOCTRINE" OF THE ANCIENT UNIVERSAL RELIGION is to be traced
not only in the Hermetic philosophy, but, in "the Platonic philosophy,
the most elaborate compend of the abstruse systems of old India,"(p.
vii) which "the great minds of the world are still occupied with."
"Plato taught justice," she wrote (p. xi) "as subsisting in the soul of
its possessor, and his greatest good..."she adds:--"his metaphysics are
based on a solid foundation, and not on ideal conceptions, for the old
Grecian sage there was a single object of attainment: real knowledge."
He taught that the use of insight, or intuition afforded a criterion for
ascertaining truth (p. xiii), and based all his doctrines upon the
presence of the Supreme Mind.


MIND (NOUS) IS CALLED THE "FIRST PRINCIPLE OF ALL PRINCIPLES," THE
SUPREME IDEA. on which all others are grounded...the efficient Cause of
all order and harmony which pervade the universe--the "Supreme Good," or
"the God over all." (p. xii)


THE RATIONAL SOUL OF MAN is held to have a homogeneous nature kindred
to the Divinity, and therefore capable of beholding the eternal
realities. 


"THE LOVE OF TRUTH IS INHERENTLY THE LOVE OF GOOD"...purifying the soul,

thus raising man to a participation and communion with Divinity,
becoming
just and holy with wisdom. (p. xiii)


REINCARNATION, AS PREEXISTENCE OF THE SPIRIT OR NOUS, is mentioned (p.
xiii-xiv), and "by rightly using the memories from past lives, and
constantly perfecting himself," man would be able to make himself
perfect.


"UNITY IN MULTIPLICITY" -- THE ONE EVOLVING THE MANY, AND PERVADING THE
MANY is a Pythagorean axiom to which our attention is next drawn. 


It is THE DOCTRINE OF EMANATION. The Pythagorean mystic Decad
(1+2+3+4=10) expresses this. "The universe is the combination of a
thousand elements, and yet the expression of a single spirit--a chaos to
the sense, a cosmos to the reason." (p. xvi)


AETHER IS DECLARED TO BE AN "ELEMENT," (p. xvii) along with earth,
air, fire and water. The five elements correspond to the five regular
figures in Geometry.


THE INNER, HIGHER SELF OF MAN IS HINTED AT: "that image of blinding
light that he sees reflected in the concave mirror of his own soul is
not God, but only His reflection...it is the light of his own Spirit
that the man sees. The clearer the mirror, the brighter will be the
divine image."	p. xviii


NIRVANA, THE 'FINAL GOAL' OF THE BUDDHISTS IS "PRECEDED BY NUMBERLESS
SPIRITUAL TRANSFORMATIONS...during which the entity loses not for a
second the sense of its own individuality, and which may last for
millions of ages before the final No-Thing is reached." The concept of
reincarnation or metempsychoses is used to explain this. (p. xviii)


EVERY STAR IS AN INDEPENDENT PLANET, HAVING A SOUL OF ITS OWN; EVERY
ATOM OF MATTER IS ALSO IMPREGNATED WITH THE DIVINE INFLUX OF THE SOUL OF
THE WORLD. They breathe and live, feel and suffer, as well as enjoy
life in their way (p. xxi). An intelligence is innate in each of them.


ANALOGY AND CORRESPONDENCE were found by the ancients to pervade Nature.
We can also use them in the solution of the greatest mysteries. (p.
xxii)


THE ASTRAL LIGHT is the same as the sidereal light of Paracelsus.
Physically it is the ether of science. Occultly it is the anima mundi,
the workshop of Nature. It permeates the entire cosmos. It is the
medium for never ceasing communications between beings and the stars
which surround the earth as a shell does the egg, all beings are
permeated with its and their influence. (p. xxv-xxvi)


EVERYTHING IS DOUBLE IN NATURE. The human body, as well as the earth,
planets, and stars, are subject to the double law of attraction and
repulsion. They are saturated with a double magnetism, the influx of
the astral light. The secret of the mesmerizer is the polarization of
these forces. Equilibrium is the resultant of these two opposing forces
eternally reacting upon one another. ( P. xxvi)


AKASA, THE "INVISIBLE SKY" of the Vedas, is the source of life,
reservoir of all energy. It is all-directing and omnipotent; occult
electricity, or, alkahest. It is the spiritual counterpart of the
astral light. (p. xxvii)


ELEMENTAL SPIRITS, are creatures evolved in the four kingdoms of earth,
air, fire and water, and may be termed forces of nature. They are the
servile agents of general law, never become men, and are "the principal
agents of disembodied but never visible spirits at seances, and the
producers of all the phenomena except the subjective." (p. xxix-xxx)


ELEMENTARY SPIRITS are the "disembodied souls of the depraved." They
are the 'astral souls' of purely materialistic persons of gross nature.
(p. xxx)


EVOLUTION is said with the ancients to begin with pure sprit, which
descending, assumed at last a visible form, becoming matter. Agni , god
of fire, or the Spiritual Ether, is the substance of the divine essence
of the Invisible God and is said to be present in every atom. (p.
xxxi-xxxii)


EMANATION IS THE CONCEPT THAT NOTHING CAN BE EVOLVED UNLESS IT WAS
FIRST INVOLVED, indicating that life is from a spiritual potency above
the whole. (p. xxxii)


A GREAT BUDDHA, A HIEROPHANT, IS THE CHIEF OF THE ADEPTS, known in India
as the Brahma-Atma and in Tibet as the Dalai-Lama. The initiator of
neophytes in arcane knowledge, the Mysteries--the mysterious knowledge,
which "has yet a few real votaries on earth." (I p. xxxiii ; II
98-103)


MAGICIAN, FROM MAGH, MAH, MAHA (SANSKRIT) -- GREAT. The synonym of the
honorable and reverent. A possessor of wisdom, well versed in the
secret, esoteric knowledge (p. xxxiv). Magic is also of two kinds:
theurgic or benevolent magic, and goetic, or dark and evil necromancy
(p. xliii)


MANTRA, THE "INEFFABLE NAME", VACH (SANSKRIT), OR MYSTIC SPEECH. Some
mantras, when pronounced correctly produce "an instantaneous and
wonderful effect." (p. xxxvi) Yajna, (sacrificial action) is said to be
eternal as it proceeded from the Supreme One, the Brahma-Prajapati. It
is one of the forms of Akasa and the mystic word calling it into
existence is pronounced mentally by the initiate. It is the LOST WORD
receiving impulse through will power. (p. xliv)


NABIA, SEERSHIP. Prophecy, a spiritual power; there is a distinction
between the seer, who is passive, and the magician who is active. (p.
xxxvii)


PITRIS IS A NAME GIVEN TO THE 'ANCESTORS', THE SPIRITS OF THE HUMAN
RACES. In one sense, then, we are those same spirits, now incarnated in
bodies of matter. (p. xxxviii)


SPIRIT IS THE NOUS of Plato, the immortal, immaterial, and purely
divine principle in man; whereas, Soul or nephesh, is the vital
principle, or the breath of life. (p. xli)

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


UNIVERSAL TESTIMONY of mankind a proof of truth 
IS I 414 87 121 193 IS I 221 232-4 99


ANCIENT KNOWLEDGE IS OUR FOUNDATION 
IS I 50 417 414 134-5 437-60

Books / MSS IS I 239 443 525 618-21 II
260



The CENTRAL SPIRITUAL SUN is the source of all life. 


The UNIVERSE is called His "body, soul and Spirit." 
IS I 302 297 342 426 432

-- The Spiritual Cosmos exists IS I 423 xvi 154 

-- Ancients worshiped the "Sun" as its representative IS I 535
550
IS I xxxiv 459 552-555 580 II 291 


The ETERNAL FIRST CAUSE is latent Spirit IS I 428 613



7 POWERS in Nature and in Man (2 secret) IS I 466 514
-- 7 Radiations from the UNITY 
IS I 29 114 139 137 264 275 342 514
IS I 132 208 255
270 
-- 7 Vowels IS I 514 323 II 275336 438 491
502 605


FIRE the GREAT CAUSE -- all things in flux 
-- the innate restlessness and energy of 
Nature -- a primordial force, the supreme power --
IS I 422-3 432-3 GLOS 119 IS I 5 13 348 II
276 280
IS I xxxi 125 322 526-8


WATER: hides in molecular interstices: electricity, heat, light as 
also the life principle IS I
464-6 423


LIFE'S GOAL for Nature through man, is the freeing of the
"astral soul" so that it is 
fitted for an eternal contemplation of spiritual things. 
The highest purity and chastity allows this.	IS I 430-2

-- Return to Spirit--the cognition of an Omniscient Mind IS I
434


The HIGHER SELF -- ( Spirit ) is innate in man. IS I 305-6

-- The Augoides never descends into living man IS I 315 357-8
396

-- The inner voice never deceives IS I 324

-- Communion (ecstasy) is possible Is I xxxvii 19 121 170 317
358 
IS I 431 486
491


The SOUL needs definition as there are 3: Spiritual, Human and
Animal.
-- The WORLD SOUL is the source of the man-Soul. IS I 316


The INDIVIDUALITY is permanent and immortal. The Personality
lives, 
dies and is replaced constantly. IS I
316 435


-- TRANSMUTATION and PURIFICATION of the personality
IS I 509-11


-- MEDIATORSHIP: purity -- a "human temple" IS I 357
487



The World is sustained by the LAWS of EQUILIBRIUM, 
HARMONY and 
JUSTICE on which it was built. IS I
318 330



TWO 'CERTAINTIES' : 

1. THE UNIVERSE IS. IT is ETERNAL

2. WE know IT EXISTS, and SO DO WE. IS I 341



MAN IS A TRINITY: body, astral "spirit" and immortal Spirit 
IS I 327

-- Triune nature of fire and man IS I 423 II 588-9

1. Thumos - psychical, astral soul IS I
429 432

2. Noetic - divine soul - higher mind, capable of
uniting 
itself with its Highest Entity
IS I 429

3. NOUS - Spiritual Soul, our personal God IS I
429 432

-- Overshadowing these is the Augoides, "a ray of divine LIGHT'
the "over-soul" - The CAUSE - the DEITY IS I 432 426



The ASTRAL LIGHT is invisible but permeates all matter. 
It is the plane 
of force, of energy, it is the real matter of the
Universe.

-- A "photographic" gallery IS I 385 302-4 391-6 588



Three classes of INVISIBLE BEINGS are: IS I 310

1. ELEMENTALS ( future men - PSYCHIC EMBRYOS ) 
IS I 284-6 325

2. ELEMENTARIES the astral corpses of men IS I 447-8 495

3. SPIRITUAL MEN ( the perfectly pure and wise )
IS I 488-9 494
Immortality is conditional upon adhering to the laws
of 
spiritual continuity
IS I 327


ADEPTS: scattered all over the world IS I 557-8 560 561 573 593


-- WHITE ISLAND: in Gobi (? - abode of "Sons of God" IS I 589
IS I 2 589-90
598

-- ADEPT COLLEGES: scattered 
IS I xxxvii 543 575 590 II 99 306 

-- LOST WORD: secret with the Adepts IS I
590
[ see SD II 275 281 on the "Undying Race" ]

-- SIVA: Saturn destroys to regenerate IS I
578



SODALIAN OATH of the MYSTERIES kept Plato silent 
IS I 409 301-2 555




CYCLES rule the evolutionary periods of the Universe IS I
294
-- The Universe is a series of mathematically correct
combinations.

-- "The "Deity" Geometrizes.".-- Pythagoras, Plato. IS I
318 506

-- The dodecahedron is the Universal geometrical model IS I
342 

-- "Rounds" and "Globes" hinted at IS
I 349



MAN's TASK: To disentangle himself from "chaotic matter" through
his 
will and by an incessant mental and material labor, and
to 
restore harmony and moral balance. IS I
323-4 662



SOUL PILGRIMAGE: the evolution of the MONAD through all forms till
it
attains manhood "the glorious function of which is to
confer 
self-consciousness." IS I
368



WILL and IMAGINATION: their power can be exercised 
consciously or 
unconsciously IS I xv 384 396 57-62 170 198 285 360-1
471-2 496

-- Fear: a great power, its effects IS I
384-6 396 



The EVOLUTIONARY PROGRESSION of man has to be concurrent :
physically, intellectually, morally and spiritually IS I
345-6

-- Nature never leaves her work unfinished IS I 345

-- Analogy between development man and Earth IS I 389-90



REINCARNATION for man's progress is frequently hinted at.
IS I 297 317

-- Exceptions to normal process:-- 1. Suicide IS I 344
451
(Produce elementaries) 2. Murder
3.
Accidental death IS I 447

[ NOTE in 1877 "reincarnation" was used to mean strictly the
return 
of the same astral body for use as base of a new physical

body-- this is extremely rare.] IS I 345
351

-- After-death states described IS I 432



CONSCIOUSNESS:--

- INTELLECT does not imply spirituality IS I 318

-	INSTINCT: endowment of the Spirit of the Deity in all beings 
-	automatic; in lowest animals: instinctive; in those with 
-	brains it becomes divine instinct ... 
-	IS I 423 145 305 322 432-3

-- In Man: the flickering reminiscence of a once divine 
omniscience Is I 433


- INTELLIGENCE: is divine instinct underlying all evolution --
a 
directing intelligence acting from within IS I
425 429 432-4


- REASON: an evolution of the adult material brain -- finite
IS I 145 291 302 IS I 423-5
432-5 467


-INTUITION: spiritual...unerring human instinct 
-	IS I 426 428 433
The instant and unerring cognition of an omniscient Mind
. IS I 434



VOID: There is no unoccupied portion of universal nature.
IS I 343 IS I 402 xxv 61 249 411 510



MATTER is indestructible, but only in its units (life-atoms)
IS I 328
Every insignificant atom is moved by Spirit which is one in 
essence IS I
384

-- In its essence co-exists with Spirit IS I
428-9

-- Doomed to struggle for purity against its own grossness
IS I 433

-- Karabtanos - chaotic and frantic, lusty matter IS I 300 583



UNIFORMITY OF NATURE is relied upon by science IS I 402



The LIFE-PRINCIPLE in plants and animals is "condensed 
cosmic matter"

-- A latent spark of divine Spirit resides in all forms 
IS I 328-9 432-3
425


PLANETARY INFLUENCE has been observed from antiquity 
IS I 313-4

-- The use of the will overcomes "fate" (past Karma). IS I
314

-- A thought affects the whole universe by its energy IS I
396



CREATIVE POWERS: 
"The plastic or creative potency of the Soul"
IS I 396
384-8


DESTRUCTION OF DATA has occurred when ancient 
libraries burned

Alexandrian, Ninevehian IS I 590-1 II 27-9
430

Diocletian, Alexander Severus IS I 403-6 24-5 503 511
436

Hermetic books [ 20,000 to 42 to 6 ] IS I 405-6 554 II 516
627



DEDUCTIVE PHILOSOPHICAL METHOD from 
UNIVERSALS can be 
demonstrated by reason and uninterrupted experience 
IS I 405 393 409


LEVITATION: Thousand of witnesses from antiquity to present
IS I xxii-v 100 105 115 196-8 202 204 219 225
359 374 420 
IS I 471-2 491 494-5 500
II 589


"A MIRACLE is a violation of the laws of nature" 
IS I 128 512 II 253 IS II 370 565



PSYCHOLOGY

- DREAMS: INCUBUS / SUCCUBUS: danger 
IS I 459-60 476-7 GLOS 104


- SLEEP: astral body may ooze out IS I 460 365 170 179-80
476


- "POSSESSION," "IDIOCY," "OBSESSION," IS I 351-6 363 488



MAGIC


TRUE MAGIC can only be done by the morally pure using a trained
will
IS I 320 276 461-2 615-6

-- Power of the purified WILL IS I 57-60 170 285 360-1 402 472
600
IS II 21 277 320 565 592-3 596
617-9


BLACK MAGIC can compel the presence of tainted souls. IS I
321

-- Sorcery IS I 380 593-600

Jesuits: acquired knowledge of sorcery IS I 445 II 352



MEDIUMSHIP (passivity, control by external forces) is observed
universally. IS I 320 367 488-90

-- 7 Types described IS I 487

-- Natural born -- unlimited "sight" IS I 2 593


The SPIRIT of the "dead" cannot be evoked; the astral corpse can.
IS I 227 310 321 342-5 352-3 357 362 447
493 

-- Effect of fresh blood on elementaries IS I 205 344 362 219
459



SPIRITUAL DEATH is possible for living inharmoniously with
Nature, and who are depraved. IS I 317-8
319

Jesuits: acquired knowledge of sorcery IS I 445 II 352



TALISMANS: Their power (animated statues) 
IS I 216 283 378-9 461-2 
IS I 464 471 485 612-14 II 97 25-6 351-2 600
626



ELECTRO-MAGNETISM: universal laws handle equilibrium 
IS I 496-502



SOUND and COLOR: importance, a key to symbology IS I 514
7 radiations from the Unity



HELIOCENTRIC SYSTEM: known to Egyptians IS I 532-3



ZODIAC: depicted exactly IS I
533



SMARAGDINE TABLET: translated IS I 507



SYMBOLS USED UNIVERSALLY: examples IS I 462-3 506-8 
HIDDEN HINTS 7



SECRET DOCTRINE: universal ancient wisdom IS I 510-11 574
IS I xi xxviii 148 152 289 291 328 436 466 II 94 134 182
191-2
IS II 204 217 262-89 292 306-7 319 324 361 369-70
402 409-11 
IS II 458-60 525
551 

-- Single source for WISDOM IS I
580

-- Exoteric cannot judge the Esoteric IS I
581-2

-- GREAT BOOK: (Pre-Vedic Kaballa) records all IS I 589



INITIATION IS I 319 321 365 555-6 564-5 571-3 II 103-5 107-8
113-4
-- ["Flowers of" Is I 601 ] IS II 99 118 146 313
494 



ATLANTIS: evidence of the works as Kabiri and Cyclopses all over
the
world IS I 239 558 561 ...573 591-2
594


LEMURIA: Pacific continent Is I 592 594-5 



INDIA CRADLE OF HUMANITY: covered Mongolia, 
Tibet, Asia Minor IS I 584



MONUMENTS & RUINS OF ANTIQUITY 
( Atlantis and Lemuro-Atlanteans )
IS I 350 591 II 491

CAVES IS I 349 567 573 590 II 270 323 491
580

PYRAMIDS IS I 22 35 154 156 239 296-7 517-20 523 529 567

LABYRINTHS, CATACOMBS IS I 5 522-3 553-4 590 595-6 

TEMPLES IS I 25 542 550 570-3 590 



Jews, YADUS emigrated from India with portions of Vedas IS I 444
567
A-Braham ( a non-Brahmin) 


FUTURE RELIGIONS will be again the religion of the ancients IS I
613


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