theos-talk.com

[MASTER INDEX] [DATE INDEX] [THREAD INDEX] [SUBJECT INDEX] [AUTHOR INDEX]

[Date Prev] [Date Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next]

RE: Theos-World Re: Cayce's relevance to Theosophy/theosophy

Nov 09, 2004 09:08 PM
by W.Dallas TenBroeck


Nov. 9 2004

Dear M:

It is my opinion that THEOSOPHY is all-inclusive: both past and present and
future are to be considered as our actions and thoughts of today will
produce conditions of "tomorrow."

Imagine writing and going by what you suggest for mathematics, physics,
chemistry, philosophy, logic, etc. Is that possible? What makes THEOSOPHY
different?

Would you eliminate all consideration of the past efforts of scientists and
thinkers? 

Then why confine your suggestion to Theosophy?

As I see it THEOSOPHY comprises only that which is true in our Universe and
world. It is a statement of facts made by those Masters of Wisdom who have
actually tested all aspect and departments of life and living, for aeons. As
for ourselves, we have yet much to do and a lot of work before us. 

As I see it, it is not a matter of free opinion but also includes the laws
and settings that exist and underlie the management of the Universe in its
vast regulatory sensitivity. It also seems to me that our own questions and
doubts add to the long list of verifications, as we solve them.

I wonder why it is that we all so terribly desire to be FREE even of the
necessities that support our lives -- and those are a gift to us from
Nature. I mean our bodies are pretty much self- supporting and
self-repairing. Air, water, food, shelter make up our environment -- a
gift, as I say from Nature for all of us. 

Here is where I think "oriental psychology" comes in.

What is it, and what is it based on?

1	The UNIVERSAL ONE SPIRIT -- or PERFECTION, as an underlying fact.

2	The LAWS of NATURE are always in operation and distributed fairly
for all. They are those which link all aspects of Nature into a harmonious
symphony of many variable, even of disharmonies. These were very ancient
and may be considered eternal, just as SPIRIT and MATTER are. 

3.	There are two eternal aspects of NATURE (or extremes) in balance:
SPIRIT and MATTER. These are forever linked by the quality of MIND -- which
acts as a Perceiver and a Witness to every aspect of activity from the
beginning of time. It is in this area I sense you feel uncomfortable -- an
so do I, from time to time. But I have fond that we have the power to
analyse and to deduce the reason and causes for all that surrounds us as
well as all we are. 

3	The Immortality of the MONADS -- these are the whole host of
"life-atoms" of the Universe. They are said to have begun at the time of
manifestation when such contrasts were needed to set evolution into motion.
They are individual, always in purposeful gyratory and vibratory, harmonies
and motions, and they cause the various physical and substantial forms to
establish limits in which they can live and act. These are the "Eternal
Pilgrims." I notice that even our science calls "physical matter" the
effect, or phenomena of the REAL MATTER -- which is still being sought for. 

4	Every human being represents (we are told in THEOSOPHY ) a single
MONAD which has, through long ages of evolution reached the level and stage
of being an independent THINKER -- a MIND. All the life-atoms that aggregate
to help form our bodies are monads in search of the assistance we can give
them wherein they can progress and develop as we have. 

5	The ultimate purpose of this complex and truly enormous evolutionary
scheme which involves wisdom, law and purity of co-existence, is to achieve
in every unit such an awareness of co-dependency that there is no
possibility of an selfish or vicious feeling, thought or action. Such a
stage would be called "Sublime Perfection."
Also consider that those which are "successful" are then co-opted if they
agree, into the vast scheme of education, and begin actively assisting
Nature and the Universe in this tremendous and never-ceasing work. 

No one is asked to agree to or to accept this set of ideas. But, only to
consider their reasonableness. [See for instance, the last 10 pages of The
VOICE OF THE SILENCE. Where I believe this is illustrated.] 

If you look at both ISIS UNVEILED and the SECRET DOCTRINE you will find that

The antiquity of THEOSOPHY is emphasised and then presented in terms of
"history." 

HPB wrote in ISIS UNVEILED 

"When, years ago, we first travelled over the East, exploring the penetralia
of its deserted sanctuaries, two saddening and ever-recurring questions
oppressed our thoughts: Where, WHO, WHAT is GOD? Who ever saw the IMMORTAL
SPIRIT of man, so as to be able to assure himself of man's immortality? 

It was while most anxious to solve these perplexing problems that we
came into contact with certain men, endowed with such mysterious powers and
such profound knowledge that we may truly designate them as the sages of the
Orient. To their instructions we lent a ready ear. 

They showed us that by combining science with religion, the existence of God
and immortality of man's spirit may be demonstrated like a problem of
Euclid. For the first time we received the assurance that the Oriental
philosophy has room for no other faith than an absolute and immovable faith
in the omnipotence of man's own immortal self. 

We were taught that this omnipotence comes from the kinship of man's spirit
with the Universal Soul — God! The latter, they said, can never be
demonstrated but by the former. Man-spirit proves God-spirit, as the one
drop of water proves a source from which it must have come. 

Tell one who had never seen water, that there is an ocean of water, and he
must accept it on faith or reject it altogether. But let one drop fall upon
his hand, and he then has the fact from which all the rest may be inferred.
After that he could by degrees understand that a boundless and fathomless
ocean of water existed. 

Blind faith would no longer be necessary; he would have supplanted it with
KNOWLEDGE. When one sees mortal man displaying tremendous capabilities,
controlling the forces of nature and opening up to view the world of spirit,
the reflective mind is overwhelmed with the conviction that if one man's
spiritual Ego can do this much, the capabilities of the FATHER SPIRIT must
be relatively as much vaster as the whole ocean surpasses the single drop in
volume and potency. Ex nihilo nihil fit; prove the soul of man by its
wondrous powers — you have proved God! 

In our studies, mysteries were shown to be no mysteries. 

Names and places that to the Western mind have only a significance derived
from Eastern fable, were shown to be realities. Reverently we stepped in
spirit within the temple of Isis; to lift aside the veil of "the one that is
and was and shall be" at Saïs; to look through the rent curtain of the
Sanctum Sanctorum at Jerusalem; and even to interrogate within the crypts
which once existed beneath the sacred edifice, the mysterious Bath-Kol. 

The Filia Vocis — the daughter of the divine voice —responded from the
mercy-seat within the veil,* and science, theology, every human hypothesis
and conception born of imperfect knowledge, lost forever their authoritative
character in our sight. The one-living God had spoken through his oracle
—man, and we were satisfied. Such knowledge is priceless; and it has been
hidden only from those who overlooked it, derided it, or denied its
existence. " I U Preface vi -vii


And in the SECRET DOCTRINE we find:


" These truths are in no sense put forward as a revelation; nor does the
author claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore, now made public for
the first time in the world's history. 

For what is contained in this work is to be found scattered throughout
thousands of volumes embodying the scriptures of the great Asiatic and early
European religions, hidden under glyph and symbol, and hitherto left
unnoticed because of this veil. What is now attempted is to gather the
oldest tenets together and to make of them one harmonious and unbroken
whole. 

The sole advantage which the writer has over her predecessors, is that she
need not resort to personal speculations and theories. For this work is a
partial statement of what she herself has been taught by more advanced
students, supplemented, in a few details only, by the results of her own
study and observation. The publication of many of the facts herein stated
has been rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculations in which
many Theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during the last
few years, in their endeavour to, as they imagined, work out a complete
system of thought from the few facts previously communicated to them. 

It is needless to explain that this book is not the Secret Doctrine in
its entirety, but a select number of fragments of its fundamental tenets,
special attention being paid to some facts which have been seized upon by
various writers, and distorted out of all resemblance to the truth. 

But it is perhaps desirable to state unequivocally that the teachings,
however fragmentary and incomplete, contained in these volumes, belong
neither to the Hindu, the Zoroastrian, the Chaldean, nor the Egyptian
religion, neither to Buddhism, Islam, Judaism nor Christianity exclusively. 

The Secret Doctrine is the essence of all these. Sprung from it in their
origins, the various religious schemes are now made to merge back into their
original element, out of which every mystery and dogma has grown, developed,
and become materialised. 

It is more than probable that the book will be regarded by a large
section of the public as a romance of the wildest kind; for who has ever
even heard of the book of Dzyan? 

The writer, therefore, is fully prepared to take all the responsibility
for what is contained in this work, and even to face the charge of having
invented the whole of it. That it has many shortcomings she is fully aware;
all that she claims for it is that, romantic as it may seem to many, its
logical coherence and consistency entitle this new Genesis to rank, at any
rate, on a level with the "working hypotheses" so freely accepted by modern
science. 

Further, it claims consideration, not by reason of any appeal to dogmatic
authority, but because it closely adheres to Nature, and follows the laws of
uniformity and analogy. 

The aim of this work may be thus stated: to show that Nature is not "a
fortuitous concurrence of atoms," and to assign to man his rightful place in
the scheme of the Universe; to rescue from degradation the archaic truths
which are the basis of all religions; and to uncover, to some extent, the
fundamental unity from which they all spring; finally, to show that the
occult side of Nature has never been approached by the Science of modern
civilization. 

If this is in any degree accomplished, the writer is content. It is
written in the service of humanity, and by humanity and the future
generations it must be judged. Its author recognises no inferior court of
appeal. 

Abuse she is accustomed to; calumny she is daily acquainted with; at slander
she smiles in silent contempt. 

De minimis non curat lex. "

H. P. B.

S D I Preface vii-viii
------------------------

I think this is significant for all of us. 

Best wishes,

Dallas

==============================
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Morten 
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 10:33 AM
To: 
Subject: Re: Cayce's relevance to Theosophy/theosophy


Yeah...

I sometimes think that clinging way too much to old scriptures written 
before 1950 creates such a tendency.

What do all of you readers think?

Is such an attitude theosophical?

I personally think, that it can only reach the level of being
pseudo-theosophical.


from
M. Sufilight with peace and love...


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Pablo 
To: 
Sent: Tuesday, November 09, 2004 6:26 PM
Subject: Re: Cayce's relevance to Theosophy/theosophy




Hello Jerry!



I agree completely with your message. All of us must be very beware about 
this topic. I think that a religious-like attitude cans death the 
theosophical spirit of enquiring. And we know that mind has this strong 
tendency, don't you?

Some people don't know Theosophy and say, "all is Theosophy". This is not 
correct too, from my point of view. However, theosophical investigation is 
not a dogmatic one, and all very deep investigation must be start from the 
doubt.

Best wishes

Pablo







[Back to Top]


Theosophy World: Dedicated to the Theosophical Philosophy and its Practical Application