Theos-Talk Archives (March 2006 Message tt00533)

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Looking At The World Today:

DOGMATIC RELIGIONS, WARS, TERRORISM  --
AND THE ORIGINAL TEACHINGS OF THEOSOPHY

Carlos Cardoso Aveline

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo


Dear Friends,

As we look at the daily acts of violence in Irak, Afghanistan, and 
Israel/Palestine;  as we see  Iran’s nuclear preparations challenge the IAEA 
and United Nations;  and as we think of  the possibility of Al Qaeda using, 
say,  a “dirty”, primitive nuclear bomb in the future --   perhaps we are 
but dealing with the consequences of not having  struggled enough, since 
1891,  against religious dogmatism,  as we had been invited to do by H.P.B. 
and the Masters of the Wisdom.

Let’s examine this.

In the famous “Prayag Letter”, whose authenticity is now universally 
accepted by theosophical groups, one of the  Himalayan Mahatmas says that 
the gods of  Hinduism,  Christianism,  Islamism  and all other dogmatic 
religions are not quite just “fiction”: they are, or they have a connection  
with some real  “Chohans of Darkness”, the Ma-mo Chohans, a materialistic 
sort of intelligences.

Through dogmatic religions these false gods contrast and hinder, to some 
extent,  the action and influence of the Dhyan Chohans, the “Chohans  of 
Light” that stimulate human evolution toward Truth.

“All in the Universe is contrast”, says the Master in that ground-breaking 
document.(1)

The content of  this decisive Letter is not an isolated fact, in the 
original teachings of Theosophy. The text  confirms the remarkable position 
taken by the Masters with regard to dogmatic religions in various other 
Letters, besides books and writings signed by H.P. Blavatsky (2).

In the Theosophy of Masters and H.P.B.,  dogmatic religions are clearly 
described  as a “plague”, very much in the way Sigmund Freud calls them in  
his courageous essay “The Future of an Illusion”.  Those who can examine 
these two remarkable texts will see that “The Future of an Illusion” is 
strikingly similar, in content, to the  Mahatma Letter 10,  
non-chronological edition (Letter 88, chronological edition).  (3)

One of the most serious mistakes done by Annie Besant -- when she abandoned 
the original programme of  the Theosophical Movement in order to start 
promoting her own ritualistic illusions --  was to make the movement stop 
critizing the dogmatic religions.

This mistake is not exclusive to Adyar, it must be said.  Probably for lack 
of courage and “virya”, the  unconfortable task of struggling to free 
humanity from dogmatic religions was abandoned, or half- abandoned, by other 
theosophical movements and institutions as well.

“Being brotherly” was, consciously or unconsciously,  defined as “looking 
like brotherly”.  Hence came the need  to “make other people believe we are 
friendly and  spiritualized”.

As a consequence of this,  at least two sentences, in  the Letter-Report on 
the Chohan’s Views about the movement, are today even more clearly 
significant than they were in t he 19th century.

The Master wrote:

“The intellectual portions of mankind seem to be fast drifting into two 
classes, the one unconsciously preparing for itself long periods of 
temporary annihilation or states of  non-consciousness, owing to the 
deliberate surrender of their intellect, its imprisonment in the narrow 
grooves of bigotry and superstition (...); the other unrestrainedly  
indulging its animal propensities with the deliberate intention of 
submitting to annihilation pure and simple (...).  Between degrading  
superstition and still more degrading brutal materialism, the white dove of 
truth has hardly room where to rest her weary unwelcome feet. It’s time that 
Theosophy should enter the arena (...).”(4)

Real Theosophy, of course, is the one that should enter the arena,  not its 
watered-down versions. Giving up illusions is often an uncomfortable task, 
even if in the long run  it leads to inner happiness and bliss.

But if we try to understand why such a decisive message  from the Mahatmas 
--  their views about the dogmatic religions --  was suppressed from the 
daily life of the movement, perhaps we can perceive the practical 
consequences, in human history, of  having abandoned the original impulse of 
the esoteric movement as founded by HPB and the Mahatmas.

By understanding the practical importance of such original teachings,  we 
may see in a clear way the challenges that we face right now,  as citizens 
of this planetary civilization.

Then we will be also able to explore and develop the immense creative 
possibilities that the theosophical movement has at its disposal at present 
and in the near future, especially if we theosophists want to express  in a 
practical way our love for mankind and for the other living species in our 
planet.


Peace to all beings, Carlos.


O o o O o o O o o O

NOTES:

(1) See “The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett”  ---  Letter 134, pp. 454-457, 
in the  TPH Adyar  third edition (1972);  Letter 30, pp, 94-96, in the 
Chronological Edition, T.P.H. Philippines; or Letter CXXXIV, pp. 461-464, in 
the T.U.P. edition, 1992,  Pasadena, CA, USA.

(2) There are at least seven Letters from Adepts dealing with dogmatic 
religions: 1) The Prayag Letter,  quoted above; 2) Letter 10, 
non-chronological editions (or Letter 88, chronological edition); 3) Letter 
22, non-chronological ed. (or  90, chronological edition); 4) Letter 01, 
first series, in “Letters From The Masters of the Wisdom”, TPH-Adyar (1973 
edition); 5) Letter 43, first series, in “Letters From The Masters of the 
Wisdom”, TPH-Adyar (1973 edition);  6) Letter 82, second series, “Letters 
> From the Masters of the Wisdom”; and  7)  Letter 46, first series, “Letters 
> From the Masters of the Wisdom”, which is the famous “1900 Letter”. As to 
this 1900 Letter, see especially its full text, published in “Theosophical 
History”,  London, October 1987, pp. 115-117.

(3) Yet in the Psychological field Carl G. Jung and his followers abandoned 
the criticism of dogmatic religions started by Sigmund Freud very much like 
some post-HPB theosophical leaders did. It was very convenient to stop 
fighting religious dogmatism,  of course. It is never easy to destroy thick 
walls of illusion and ignorance, in any aspect of our “cultural traditions”.

(4) Letter 01, first series, “Letters From The Masters of the Wisdom”, Adyar 
(1973 edition), pp. 3-4.



O o o O o o O o o O o o O o o O

_________________________________________________________________
Facilite sua vida: Use o Windows Desktop Search e encontre qualquer arquivo 
ou e-mail em seu PC. Acesse:  http://desktop.msn.com.br