Theos-Talk Archives (March 2005 Message tt00095)

Mar 5 2005

Dear Friends:  

Considering what was written here (below), perhaps this view, as ascertained
from the ORIGINAL WRITINGS AND TEXTS OF THEOSOPHY will prove useful.

MASTERS AND THEIR WORK


STUDIES and ANSWERS TO SOME THEOSOPHICAL QUERIES

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


1
MASTERS AND THEIR WORK


QUESTION: Is it possible that Theosophy is only a
"reconstruction" based on a wide study of world religions and
philosophies so as to create the appearance of a very old system?


ANSWER:

Is there anywhere in HPB's writings or in the Mahatma Letters
a statement that the Occult Brotherhood to which they belong, set
about "reconstructing" the Primitive Wisdom Religion some time from
1785 onwards, as some have suggested?  

The answer is definitely NO.

Is there anywhere in HPB's writings or in the Mahatma
Letters a statement of the opposite view: That the Knowledge
currently held by the Occult Brotherhood, to which they belong,
is that knowledge which has been passed down through generations of
Adepts in an UNBROKEN, UNINTERRUPTED form since the time of the early
Instructors of the Third Root Race.  

The answer is clearly YES. [ see S D I 272-3 ]


QUESTION: Is it likely that the Chiefs of the Occult Brotherhood were 
seeking for someone with a nature such as HPB had, to serve as a
"messenger ?" In other words, whose nature would be suitable so a to
diffuse the
"Reconstructed" Wisdom Religion that you say they did not think about
reconstructing till the 19th Century?  


ANSWER:	

No. That is not likely at all.


With regards to HPB's and the Masters statements made in the
Secret Doctrine that such an Unbroken, Uninterrupted teaching
could be passed down through the ages - you reject this on the basis 
of what? -- on the basis that you personally do not believe such a thing 
can happen?  

This answers nothing, and doesn't help at all.  


What we are trying to ascertain here is not what HPB and the Masters did 
according to you, but what they actually did according to themselves. 


Whether you and I agree with them is besides the point, for the
moment. They are saying the teachings in their possession came down to
them UNBROKEN and UNINTERRUPTED from the Divine Primordial 
Instructors (Divine Kings) of the Third Root Race. [S D I 266-7;   
S D II 29, 201, 328, 349, 605, ]


In ISIS UNVEILED, HPB writes:

"The mysteries of Life and Death were fathomed by the great master-minds 
of antiquity; and if they have preserved them in secresy and silence, 
it is because these problems formed part of the sacred mysteries; 
and, secondly, because they must have remained incomprehensible to the
vast majority of men then, as they do now."	ISIS II 451


Here we have secrets of the ages "preserved in secresy and
silence" as incomprehensible to the majority NOW as they were in
the past. This is not a reference to records that are reconstructed from
various fragments. Who are we to say whether the sacred mysteries
"preserved in secresy and silence" remained unbroken or not.

All those passages I put forward from HPB and which you say you
did not have time to read show very clearly that the Teachings
giving out on behalf of this Brotherhood were not reconstructed but a
portion
of that Knowledge which has always been in the possession of that
Brotherhood of Adepts. Do make the time to read them.

Yes HPB says in ISIS, and the KEY that Ammonius Saccas (circa 250 AD) was
the first to teach that every religion was based on one and the
same truth. But does that piece of information in any way indicate that the
Occult Brotherhood "reconstructed" the Wisdom Religion from what ever
remaining fragments they could find sometime after 1785 as you suggest?
No, it does not. Besides, many Initiates may have known it but not taught it
openly.

In that particular section in ISIS she had just been talking
about St. Augustine, who was quoted, saying: "there is no false religion
which does not contain some elements of truth." HPB then goes on to
say that this was merely a repeat of what Ammonius Saccas had said 140
years earlier. Ammonius said it first. Yet Ammonius himself maintained 
that this was also the mission of Jesus. He said:

".the whole which Christ had in view was to reinstate and restore
to its primitive integrity the wisdom of the ancients."

And what was the Wisdom of the Ancients, according to Ammonius
Saccas?

"..every religion was based on one and the same truth; which is
the wisdom found in the Books of Thoth (Hermes Trismegistus),
from which books Pythagoras and Plato had learned all their philosophy. And
the doctrines of the former he affirmed to have been identical with
the earliest teachings of the Brahmans -- now embodied in the oldest Vedas."
(ISIS I 443-444)


In another place in ISIS we find:


"Ammonius, speaking of his philosophy, taught that their school
dated from the days of Hermes, who brought his wisdom from India.
It was the same mystical contemplation throughout, as that of the Yogin: the
communion of the Brahman with his own luminous Self -- the
"Atman." ISIS II 342


Now this is another place in which the "reconstruction theory" 
falls down in a very major way. For Ammonius is saying the
esoteric doctrines came from the Initiates of the East. That is, those
Initiates 
of India who were in the possession of the "oldest Vedas".  

According to Ammonius this is the Wisdom of the Ancients, 
the common source of all the other teachings. But surely, 
he has just located the source in that very body of Initiates, the
Occult Brotherhood to which the Masters belong. 
They maintain they have been in possession of the Ancient Wisdom all along.

Why then would this Brotherhood need to go about "reconstructing" 
their own teachings?

As they say themselves in the SECRET DOCTRINE:

"Every old religion is but a chapter or two of the entire volume
of archaic primeval mysteries - Eastern Occultism alone being
able to boast that it is in possession of the full secret, with its seven
keys." SD I 318


These 'keys' have been in possession of the Occult Brotherhood 
for long ages, and were not recently "reconstructed." is a statement
that can be found in the following passage. Speaking of the Teachings 
given to Sinnett by the Mahatma KH and used in his book 
"Esoteric Buddhism", HPB writes:

"But even the latter, though giving out many fundamental tenets
from the SECRET DOCTRINE of the East, raise but a small corner of
the dark veil. For no one, not even the greatest living adept, would be
permitted to, or could - even if he would - give out promiscuously, to a
mocking, unbelieving world, that which has been so effectually concealed
from it for long aeons and ages." SD I xvii


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


2 ADDITIONAL REFERENCES 



If you can believe in the existence of Masters who belong
to an existing Occult Brotherhood or Association, why is it so
difficult or "impossible" for you to believe that this SECRET
ASSOCIATION has been in existence for centuries if not untold
millennia and that the existing occult, esoteric, theosophical
teachings of this brotherhood as found in THE SECRET DOCTRINE and
THE MAHATMA LETTERS has been preserved unaltered for that same
period of time?

Of course, you may differentiate between the knowledge of the
current day brotherhood of adepts and the primitive wisdom
religion.

Well here again is what HPB writes in the Oct. 1889 issue of
LUCIFER, and following that I have placed a number of 
other quotations from ISIS, the SD and the Mahatma
Letters to help in reading and study. I believe the same
recurring theme is to be found in all these quotes spanning 
1877 thru 1889. Seems very consistent and reasonable to me.


First, HPB in 1889, wrote:


"... what I do believe in is:

(1), the unbroken oral teachings revealed by living *divine* men
during the infancy of mankind
to the elect among men;

(2), that it has reached us *un-altered*; and

(3) that the MASTERS are thoroughly versed in the science based
on such uninterrupted teaching.."
(Blavatsky: COLLECTED WORKS, vol. 11, pages 466-467)


Now here are some more quotes for study and comparison:


"The Secret Doctrine will show what were the ideas of all
antiquity with regard to the primeval instructors of primitive
man and his three earlier races. The genesis of that
WISDOM-RELIGION, in which all theosophists believe, 
dates from that period.

So-called "Occultism," or rather Esoteric Science, has to be 
traced in its origin to those Beings who, led by Karma, have 
incarnated in our humanity, [S D II 167] and thus struck the key-note 
of that secret Science which countless generations of subsequent 
adepts have expanded since then in every age, while 
they checked its doctrines by personal observation and 
experience. The bulk of this knowledge - which
no man is able to possess in its fullness - constitutes that 
which we now call Theosophy or "divine knowledge."  
BCW X: 166


"Fear not; although we do "cling superstitiously to the relics of
the Past" our knowledge will not pass away from the sight of 
man. It is the "gift of the gods" and the most precious relic of all. 
The keepers of the sacred Light did not safely cross so many ages 
but to find themselves wrecked on the rocks of modern scepticism."  
KH in Mahatma Letters


Notice here that Master KH writes that "our knowledge" is the GIFT OF
THE GODS. What "gods" is he referring to? Notice that Master KH writes
that the keepers crossed "many ages."

"If, for generations we have "shut out the world from the
Knowledge of our Knowledge," it is on account of its absolute
unfitness; and if, notwithstanding proofs given, it still refuses
yielding to evidence, then will we at the End of this cycle
retire into solitude and our kingdom of silence once more. . . .
For countless generations hath the adept builded a fane of
imperishable rocks, a giant's Tower of INFINITE THOUGHT. . . ."
KH in Mahatma Letters


"So far as we know the corroboration of it by modern science
receiving but little consideration -- so far as the highest 
Planetary Spirits have ascertained (who remember well have 
the same relations with the trans-cosmical world, penetrating 
behind the primitive veil of cosmic matter as we have to go 
behind the veil of this, our gross physical world --)
the infinite mind displays to them as to us no more than the 
regular unconscious throbbings of the eternal and universal pulse
of Nature, throughout the myriads of worlds within as without 
the primitive veil of our solar system.

"So far -- WE KNOW. Within and to the utmost limit, to the very
edge of the cosmic veil we know the fact to be correct -- owing
to personal experience; for the information gathered as to what
takes place beyond -- we are indebted to the Planetary Spirits,
to our blessed Lord Buddha."	KH in Mahatma Letters


We are indebted to the Planetary Spirits, Master KH writes. What are
other terms for these beings?  

And what are the implications of Master KH's statement to this effect?


"And to show you how exact a science is occultism let me tell you
that the means we avail ourselves of are all laid down for us in
a code as old as humanity to the minutest detail, but everyone of
us has to begin from the beginning, not from the end. Our laws
are as immutable as those of Nature, and they were known to man
an eternity before this strutting game cock, modern science, was
hatched. If I have not given you the modus operandi or begun by
the wrong end, I have at least shown you that we build OUR
PHILOSOPHY upon experiment and deduction -- unless you choose to
question and dispute this fact equally with all others."  	

[Caps added] KH in Mahatma Letters


"...from the first ages of man, the fundamental truths of all
that we are permitted to know on earth was in the safe keeping of
the adepts of the sanctuary; that the difference in creeds and
religious practice was only external; and that those guardians of
the primitive divine revelation, who had solved every
problem that is within the grasp of human intellect, were bound
together by a universal freemasonry of science and philosophy, 
which formed one unbroken chain around the globe."	
ISIS UNVEILED, Vol. 1, Pages 37-8.


"The Secret Doctrine is the accumulated Wisdom of the Ages, and
its cosmogony alone is the most stupendous and elaborate system.
. . . It is useless to say that the system in question is no
fancy of one or several isolated. That it is the uninterrupted
record covering thousands of generations of Seers
whose respective experiences were made to test and to verify the
traditions passed orally by one early race to another, of the
teachings of higher and exalted beings, who watched over the
childhood of Humanity.  

That for long ages, the "Wise Men" of the Fifth Race, 
of the stock saved and rescued from the last
cataclysm and shifting of continents, had passed their lives in
learning, not teaching. 

How did they do so? It is answered: by checking, testing, 
and verifying in every department of nature the traditions 
of old by the independent visions of great adepts;
i.e., men who have developed and perfected their physical,
mental, psychic, and spiritual organisations to the utmost
possible degree. 

No vision of one adept was accepted till it was checked 
and confirmed by the visions -- so obtained as to stand
as independent evidence -- of other adepts, and by centuries of
experiences."
The Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 272-273


Who are the "higher and exalted beings, who watched over the
childhood of Humanity"?


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


3	MANAS AND THE MONAD


Considering that the "Soul" in each of us is the 'Higher Manas"
and along with the Buddhi and ATMA the three form in incarnation
during periods of manifestation the triple MONAD. -- An
immortal entity.

There is a connection between the Higher Manas and the Lower
Manas -- a slender thread of consciousness -- we recognize its
presence as intuition or the Voice of Conscience. If we recall
that the Buddhi is as an active aspect of the ONE the "recorder"
(in the Akasa) of all events, then we can see why it is also
called the highest discrimination -- as it constantly draws on
the experience of our (its) post. It is in us the witness to
KARMA. It sees ours as a potential, and when we propose (as
free-willed choosers) to make a choice that will cause a
repetition of error and subsequent painful and corrective
karma -- it sends a warning. If we listen to it, good.

Why say all this? It is because we are immersed when in our
waking consciousness in the petty and selfish affairs of
Kama-Manas -- or the Lower mind which is almost overwhelmed with
the demands of our feelings, hopes and personal responsibilities.
So much so that we give very little time to idealism or even
figuring out what would be the optimum choice to make when we
decide.

A person like Mahatma Gandhi is called by all a "Great Soul," is
for the reason that he listened consistently to his HIGHER SELF
to the Buddhi-Manas that is in all of us illumined by ATMA, and
carried out its behests without flinching. But we wince often,
when we are presented with a moral choice that appears to be
painful or troublesome to our selfishness. We rarely listen to
it, or make use of its ideals.

And so, we either set up, or maintain the old barrier of
indifference, if not of dislike, between our "waking
consciousness" and our Noble Self, which sees that aspirations
(if translated into actions) are that nobility which we honor in
others -- such as Gandhiji. We can only make ourselves noble by
being noble (and doing it quietly and without advertising).

If Brotherhood is a fact -- because of the Spiritual ONE SOURCE
of all manifested "things" -- this causes a certain universality
of all things and underlies their immortality, then every living
thing (whether it is an atom, a plant, animal, human, a world or
a galaxy) is a brother to us, then we ought not to act selfishly
ever.  

If we harm others we distort the sensitivity of the MORAL
UNIVERSE that interpenetrates the Physical Universe at all
points. It is those distortions, that we set up and carry into
being as acts, which are preceded by feelings and thoughts that
set up Karma. The feeling and thoughts we have are the huge
motors that cause Karma -- they are moral force-fields and they
do not "die out."

Every change of whatever kind (as an act) starts with a "desire."
It then moves into the "planning stage." There, the MIND and
thinking take over. If the motive we employ is selfish, we do
harm and eventually we suffer, inescapably. We all know that in
our inner consciousness. It is the fear of retribution that
sends the parishioners to the priest in the hope that he may be
able to interceded with God (karma) and get our sentence reduced.

But the great Law of nature says: THERE IS NO PARDON, NO
EXCUSING. The only mitigation lies in setting the wrong right
with the people we have harmed. They are the victims. We have
to make our peace with them and try to heal their hurt. The
greatest harm in the world is done by our attempting to keep our
hurt-doing secret.  

And the priests, the sacerdotes of all faiths, are the ones 
who foolishly try to convince people that with a little 
sacrifice of money and a few prayers the Universal
Justice of GOD may be appeased.  

BUT WHO TENDS TO THE VICTIMS?

And how do the priests expiate their lies? The whole distortion
is based on the theory that we live only a single life -- and if
so there is indeed no JUSTICE in nature. But that is not true
taking the long range and interdependence into account. I see
that HPB and Judge have tried to make this quite clear in the KEY
and the OCEAN and in several of their Articles. It is for us to
seize the logic, and test that with our minds to see if it is
reasonable -- and then we can choose to make it our own guide and
support -- then we can all be "great Souls" together -- and so we
will eventually, but, why take so long and so painful a time?

When we act selfishly, we destroy the harmony and structure of
living entities (those forms of energy which are the
"life-atoms") we call them elementals. In turn they go out to
others in the World and eventually cycle back to us, bringing to
us the exact impression we laid on them -- a cumulation of those,
gives us painful circumstances and suffering. It is Nature's
infinite tender mercy to attempt to show us how we only hurt
ourselves and needlessly make ourselves the agents of Karma in
inflicting suffering on others.  
See also SD II 304 - 306; I 641 - 645.


A great Soul has learned not to do this inflicting of pain on
others. he sees a great deal of the intentions and harmony of
Nature. He acts as his Highest CONSCIENCE dictates, regardless
of consequences that might be painful to himself. He knows that
in his inner Self he is an immortal and this takes precedence
over the purely mortal personality and its anxieties and fears
and hopes. We instinctively respect his dedication to the HIGHER
SELF that we sense is in us, also. How d we develop the courage
to serve it openly, before all? How do we change uncertainty and
fear into actual knowledge?

Consider the power that we all know is present in Jesus' words in
the SERMON ON THE MOUNT. If we are going to call ourselves
"Christians" then why not practice those? What difference would
it make if we did that fearlessly and let others decide if they
wished to be Christians also. It is fearful thing to look over
the weekly outpourings of sermons and platitudes which tend to make the
average person dull to the exact implications of what Jesus taught. the
only
change arises when we learn to challenge ourselves to live and act as
the mortals we are.


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


4	WISDOM -


Let us all look on: THE UNIVERSE AS A SCHOOL 

and : HUMANS AS IMMORTAL PUPILS  



As I understand it, WISDOM implies a knowledge of all things,
both the visible and the invisible worlds and planes, as well as
all the Laws of Nature that may be involved at any time in any
thing.

It is quite impossible to do this in a single life-time hence the
concept of the Immortal Student-Soul is used to convey the fact
of reincarnation and Law (Karma) under which all live. The Real
Human being is the IMMORTAL, ETERNAL MONAD or ATMA-BUDDHI. The
Mind (Manas) is the link between it and our world of material
concepts and errors and limitations.

We all know that there is such a thing as absolute knowledge --
which we call WISDOM. Somewhere, sometime we determine to seek
and secure it. Theosophy is the record of those who have, and
are, doing this. It is a definite system and offers its findings
to those who desire to seek it.

The Masters of Wisdom are those who have achieved universal
knowledge and apply it universally all the time. They are the
actual helpers of nature and fulfill many of the functions as
needed and as described in Vol. I of the SD -- in regard to the
re-formation of the Worlds and the providing of a regulated
process of development for the hosts of MONADS that are working
their way through the various kingdoms towards HUMANITY and the
individualization of the MIND faculty.

Theosophy considers the Universe to be an eternal learning
experience and the pupils, if we may call them that, are you and
me and all the rest of vast host of Mind-beings -- you and me.
We are all learning each at his or her level of knowledge right
now and we cannot avoid this.

Behind the Mind stands the THINKER, the PERCEIVER -- or THAT
which uses the Mind. IT has been called THE HIGHER SELF. It is
a wise interior mentor which is always ready to respond to
appeals from the embodied mind and provide a response if we learn
how to approach it and how to ask. Theosophy deals with this,
but first there is a learning period and effort as in all new
attempts to learn what is hitherto not known by us.

If one goes to SD I 157 one finds there a table of Principles in
Nature and in Man which covers the Theosophical explanation of
the way in which our world, ourselves and the Universe functions,
operates and develops. [For the Universe there is a further table 
on S D II 596].  

If one goes to the KEY TO THEOSOPHY ( see the text between
pp. 91 to 176) one will find that HPB devotes over 80 pages 
to explaining the nature of human consciousness, mind,
wisdom and the scope of evolution. All these factors need to be
considered.

Yes, it takes time to assimilate this information and to mull it
over and see if it is reasonable. theosophy does not ever ask us
to take anything on faith, or for granted. it always provides
reasons for its statements. it deals with facts and respects
each mind that approaches it by considering each of them to be an
immortal part of ITSELF, and therefore each is owed all the
explanations they desire to secure.

To better secure the meaning of WISDOM as used Theosophically,
let us use HPB's definitions and say that the SPIRIT in order to
perceive on our material plane needs the link of Buddhi. Buddhi
is called WISDOM. It is the record and key to all knowledge.

The mind links Atma/Buddhi to our plane of material consciousness
through the personal mind (Lower Manas).

The Lower Manas is you and me, here and now, and it aspires to
become wise. Theosophy is a record of the history of the study
of wisdom down the ages.

The Masters of Wisdom stand as the "Professors" of a University
might to us, and we stand to them as do freshmen entering
college. The theosophical ORIGINAL TEACHINGS by HPB are the
Text-books. If we desire to learn Theosophy we will have to
study them carefully. As in any science or discipline time will
have to be devoted to this if we determine to be successful. It
is not a pressure course nor are there any "cribs" or short-cuts.
Each portion fits into the rest and each has to be accepted or
rejected by us based on our ability to think and reason....If we
have not had practice in logic and thinking, then our work will
be a little harder, but once we acquire that facility, and employ
it, the Path becomes much easier. Also there are always students
around who are willing to share what they have learned, but, they
might not have too much time for arguments unless those are very
serious.

Everything hinges on the basis that one starts from. In the SD
you will find that HPB sets this at the outset in Vol. I on pages:
14 to 19.

All who desire to learn can do so, the path is the same for all
of us and the information is also the same in regard to WISDOM.
Of partial knowledge, misinformation, and opinions there are many
millions of concepts -- if WISDOM is sought for, then the
disciplines that lead to wisdom have to be adopted. It is a hard
mistress.

This applies everywhere in our world and in our educational
system as well.


I hope this may prove of use.  

Best wishes, 

Dallas

=====================================
 
-----Original Message-----
From: Anand 
Sent: Saturday, March 05, 2005 10:40 AM
To: 
Subject: Path of Occultism 


" Sometimes this realisation of the worthlessness of earth
and heaven is at first but a flash in consciousness, and the external worlds
reassert their empire and the glamour of their illusive joys again laps the
soul into content. Some lives even may pass, full of noble work and
unselfish achievement, of pure thoughts and lofty deeds, ere this
realisation of the emptiness of all that is phenomenal becomes the permanent
attitude of the soul. 

659. But sooner or later the soul once and for ever
breaks with earth and heaven as incompetent to satisfy his needs, and this
definite turning away from the transitory, this definite will to reach the
eternal, is the gateway to the probationary Path. The soul steps off the
highway of evolution to breast the steeper climb up the mountain side,
resolute to escape from the bondage of earthly and heavenly lives, and to
reach the freedom of the upper air. 

660. The work which has to be accomplished by the man
who enters on the probationary Path is entirely mental and moral; he has to
bring himself up to the point at which he will fit to "meet his Master face
to face": but he very words "his Master" need explanation. There are certain
great Beings belonging to our race who have completed Their human evolution,
and to whom allusion has already been made as constituting a Brotherhood,
and as guiding and forwarding the development of the race. 

661. These Great Ones, the Masters, voluntarily
incarnate in human bodies on order to form the connecting link between human
and superhuman beings, and They permit those who fulfil certain conditions
to become Their disciples, with the object of hastening their evolution and
thus qualifying themselves to enter the great Brotherhood, and to assist in
its glorious and beneficent work for man. "


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


In regard to the last (above # 661) we find the SECRET DOCTRINE stating:


S D II 167-8

We now come to an important point with regard to the double evolution of the
human race. , or the spiritual Dhyanis, had become "intellectual" through
their contact with matter, because they had already reached, during previous
cycles of incarnation, that degree of intellect which enabled them to become
independent and self-conscious entities, on this plane of matter. They were
reborn only by reason of Karmic effects. 

They entered those who were "ready," and became the Arhats, or sages,
alluded to above. This needs explanation. 

It does not mean that Monads entered forms in which other Monads already
were. They were "Essences," "Intelligences," and conscious spirits; entities
seeking to become still more conscious by uniting with more developed
matter. Their essence was too pure to be distinct from the universal
essence; but their "Egos," or Manas (since they are called Manasaputra, born
of "Mahat," or Brahma) had to pass through earthly human experiences to
become all-wise, and be able to start on the returning ascending cycle. 

The Monads are not discrete principles, limited or conditioned, but rays
from that one universal absolute Principle. The entrance into a dark room
through the same aperture of one ray of sunlight following another will not
constitute two rays, but one ray intensified. It is not in the course of
natural law that man should become a perfect septenary being, before the
seventh race in the seventh Round. Yet he has all these principles latent in
him from his birth. Nor is it part of the evolutionary law that the Fifth
principle (Manas), should receive its complete development before the Fifth
Round. 

All such prematurely developed intellects (on the spiritual plane) in our
Race are abnormal; they are those whom we call the "Fifth-Rounders." Even in
the coming seventh Race, at the close of this Fourth Round, while our four
lower principles will be fully developed, that of Manas will be only
proportionately so. This limitation, however, refers solely to the spiritual
development. The intellectual, on the physical plane, was reached during the
Fourth Root-Race. Thus, those who were "half ready," who received "but a
spark," constitute the average humanity which has to acquire its
intellectuality during the present Manvantaric evolution, after which they
will be ready in the next for the full reception of the "Sons of Wisdom."