Theos-Talk Archives (January 2010 Message tt00036)

Dear Clint

My views are:

I am at present not a member of any known theosophical group here in the physical. Yet, I have studied theosophical teachings and similar for decades.

My main teachings can be taken from co-founder of The Theosophical Society H. P. Blavatsky and founder of Octagon Press and author Idries Shah. And of course also the mutual core of wisdom in the major religions, philosophies and sciences through time. I appreciate all other teachings when they are able to remove ignorance in our lifes.

On Martinism. 
I do not claim to be a specialist in this subject, but I know H. P. Blavatsky said something about Martinism. Here are som quotes giving H. P. Blavatsky's views, with a few notes added by me at the end.
And I will seek to answer the question: "where and how do I start?" - at the end of this e-mail.

A short answer in the start of the e-mail is: 
Study first. When you are ready the teacher will arrive. And teaching will occur. Such a teaching occurs for instance through mails, physical speech, non-physical communications etc. - If you already have studied and your teacher already has arrived, I suggest that you communicate with your teacher or for instance teach us here at the forum. 

A view of mine: - Often people tell others that they want to learn. Not seldom they really do not want to learn, they seek entertainment, they seek attention from others and perform similar low-level activities, sometimes almost as a member of a tribe. - The fact is they do not want to listen. Or they want to listen but they require that it should at a certain time of the hour and only about certain subjects they themselves prefer to read or learn about.

Later follows another answer related to Martinism and how H. P. blavatsky viewed it.


1.
H. P. Blavatsky said:
"There are many landmarks in Cagliostroâs biographies to show that he taught the Eastern doctrine of the âprinciplesâ in man, of âGodâ dwelling in manâas a potentiality in actu (the âHigher Selfâ)âand in every living thing and even atomâas a potentiality in posse, and that he served the Masters of a Fraternity he would not name because on account of his pledge he could not. His letter to the new mystical but rather motley Brotherhood, the (Lodge of) Philalethes, is a proof in point. The Philalethes, as all Masons know, was a rite founded in Paris in 1773 in the Loge des Amis RÃunis, based on the principles of Martinism,* and whose members made a special study of the Occult Sciences. The Mother Lodge was a philosophical and theosophical Lodge, and therefore Cagliostro was right in desiring to purify its progeny, the Lodge of Philalethes. This is what the Royal Masonic Cyclopaedia (p. 95) says on the subject:

. . . on the 15th of February, 1785, the Lodge of Philalethes (or Lovers of Truth), in solemn Sessionâwith Savalette de Langes, royal treasurer; Tassin, the banker, and Tassin, an officer in the royal service âopened a Fraternal Convention at Paris . . . Princes (Russian, Austrian, and others), fathers of the Church, councillors, knights, financiers, barristers, barons, Theosophists, canons, colonels, professors of magic, engineers, literary men, doctors, merchants, postmasters, dukes, ambassadors, surgeons, teachers of languages, receivers general, and notably two London namesâBoosie, a merchant, and Brooks of Londonâcompose this Convention, to whom may be added M. le Comte de Cagliostro, and Mesmer, âthe inventor,â as Thory describes him (Acta Latomorum, Vol. II. p. 95), âof the doctrine of magnetism!â Surely such an able set of men to set the world to rights, as France never saw before or since!

The grievance of the Lodge was that Cagliostro, who had first promised to take charge of it, withdrew his offers, as the âConventionâ would not adopt the Constitutions of the Egyptian Rite, nor would the Philalethes consent to have its archives consigned to the flames, which were his conditions sine qua non. It is strange that his answer to that Lodge should be regarded by Brother K. R. H.
ââââââââââ
* The Martinists were Mystics and Theosophists who claimed to have the secret of communicating with (Elemental and Planetary) Spirits of the ultramundane Spheres. Some of them were practical Occultists.
ââââââââââ"
http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v12/y1890_002.htm


2.
>From The Theosophical Glossary by H. P. Blavatsky (Posthumously 1892):
a)
"Cazotte, Jacques. The wonderful Seer, who predicted the beheading of several royal personages and his own decapitation, at a gay supper some time before the first Revolution in France. He was born at Dijon in 1720, and studied mystic philosophy in the school of Martinez Pasqualis at Lyons. On the 11th of September 1791, he was arrested and condemned to death by the president of the revolutionary government, a man who, shameful to state, had been his fellow-student and a member of the Mystic Lodge of Pasqualis at Lyons. Cazotte was executed on the 25th of September on the Place du Carrousel." (p. 84)

b)
"Light, Brothers of. This is what the great authority on secret societies, Brother Kenneth R. H. Mackenzie IX., says of this Brotherhood. âA mystic order, Fratres Lucis, established in Florence in 1498. Among the members of this order were Pasqualis, Cagliostro, Swedenborg, St. Martin, Eliphaz LÃvi, and many other eminent mystics. Its members were very much persecuted by the Inquisition. It is a small but compact body, the members being spread all over the world.â" (p. 188)


c)
"Martinists. A Society in France, founded by a great mystic called the Marquis de St. Martin, a disciple of Martinez Pasqualis. It was first established at Lyons as a kind of occult Masonic Society, its members believing in the possibility of communicating with Planetary Spirits and minor Gods and genii of the ultramundane Spheres. Louis Claude de St. Martin, born in 1743, had commenced life as a brilliant officer in the army, but left it to devote himself to study and the belles lettres, ending his career by becoming an ardent Theosophist and a disciple of Jacob Boehmen. He tried to bring back Masonry to its primeval character of Occultism and Theurgy, but failed. He first made his âRectified Riteâ to consist of ten degrees, but these were brought down owing to the study of the original Masonic ordersâto seven. Masons complain that he introduced certain ideas and adopted rites âat variance with the archÃological history of Masonryâ; but so did Cagliostro and St Germain before him, as all those who knew well the origin of Free masonry." (p. 207-208) 


d)
"Paschalis, Martinez. A very learned man, a mystic and occultist. Born about 1700, in Portugal. He travelled extensively, acquiring knowledge wherever he could in the East, in Turkey, Palestine, Arabia, and Central Asia. He was a great Kabbalist. He was the teacher of the Initiator of the Marquis de St. Martin, who founded the mystical Martinistic School and Lodges. Paschalis is reported to have died in St. Domingo about 1779, leaving several excellent works behind him." (p. 250)

e)
"Saint Martin, Louis Claude de. Born in France (Amboise), in 1743. A great mystic and writer, who pursued his philosophical and theosophical studies at Paris, during the Revolution. He was an ardent disciple of Jacob Boehme, and studied under Martinez Paschalis, finally founding a mystical semi-Masonic Lodge, âthe Rectified Rite of St. Martin â, with seven degrees. He was a true Theosophist. At the present moment some ambitious charlatans in Paris are caricaturing him and passing themselves off as initiated Martinists, and thus dishonouring the name of the late Adept."  (p. 284) 


- - -
Gerard Encausse (Papus) founded modern Martinism and was a theosophist in 1884-1885, but resigned because he disliked the Eastern doctrines within the Theosophical Society.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerard_Encausse


3.
H. P. B. and Theosophy in France
Letters to Mme. Camille Lemaitre

"One thing does not prevent the other and I am ready to work to the death. For example, I am opposed to the idea of Arnouldâs of having Encausse on the Editorial Committee! NEVER. Either he or I. Although my articles would never be controlled and edited by him, I want none of it, and I so notified him. He is too much the aide of Saint-Yves and of Goyard and too sharp for me. In short, I want none of it. Let him write for it from time to time, but let him not put his finger in the pie, for I will never consent to it."
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/blalettersfrench1.htm

- - -
4.
The Holy Blod and the Holy Grail. Berenger Sauniere was a Martinist?
Perillos website thinks so - http://www.perillos.com/bs_fm.html

- - -

5.
Being a member of H. P. Blavatsky's Esoteric Section required non-membership pf other occult and similar groups - with the exception of certain masonic groups (Blue Lodge) and Odd-Fellow.

(E.S.T. INSTRUCTIONS - http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v12/y1890_052.htm

- - -
The Theosophical Society's Constitution and Rules has changed since H. P. Blavatsky death in 1891.
And her Esoteric Section is of course not the same today, because she claimed to be in direct contact with the Masters whens he lived in the physical. - Yet some theosophical Seekers claims to have meet her after she died. - I am one of them.

- - -

So you asked: Where to start?


A short answer:
Begin to get aquainted with H. P. blavatsky doctrines and understand the similarities and differences between these doctrines and the Martinist ones.

One answer could be that the Eastern Doctrine deserves at least equal emphasis with other doctrines on wisdom teachings; and especially those from the Western cultures, because they often have been infiltrated by the Jesuits (i.e. the false Christians). And in fact many theosophical seekers find that the Eastern Doctrine are more in accordance with the truth about life and that the highest levels of wisdom through many centuries have resided in India, Tibet, China, and Asia as such.



- - - - - - -

H. P. Blavatsky said:
"The many-sided facets of the mystery language have led to the adoption of widely varied dogmas and rites in the exotericism of the Church rituals. It is they, again, which are at the origin of most of the dogmas of the Christian Church, e.g., the seven Sacraments, the Trinity, the Resurrection; the seven capital Sins and the seven Virtues. The seven keys to the mystery tongue, however, having always been in 

the keeping of the highest among the initiated Hierophants of antiquity, it is only the partial use of a few out of the seven which passed, through the treason of some early Church Fathers â ex-initiates of the Temples â into the hands of the new sect of the Nazarenes. Some of the early Popes were Initiates, but the last fragments of their knowledge have now fallen into the power of the Jesuits, who have turned them into a system of sorcery.

    It is maintained that INDIA (not in its present limits, but including its ancient boundaries) is the only country in the world which still has among her sons adepts, who have the knowledge of all the seven sub-systems and the key to the entire system. Since the fall of Memphis, Egypt began to lose those keys one by one, and Chaldea had preserved only three in the days of Berosus. As for the Hebrews, in all their writings they show no more than a thorough knowledge of the astronomical, geometrical and numerical systems of symbolizing all the human, and especially the physiological functions. They never had the higher keys."
. . . . . . .
"But here again they will hardly be successful if they share the belief that the Jewish Kabalistic system contains the key to the whole mystery: for, it does not. Nor does any other Scripture at present possess it in its entirety, for even the Vedas are not complete. Every old religion is but a chapter or two of the entire volume of archaic primeval mysteries â Eastern Occultism alone being able to boast that it is in possession of the full secret, with its seven keys. Comparisons will be instituted, and as much as possible will be explained in this work â the rest is left to the student's personal intuition. For in saying that Eastern Occultism has the secret, it is not as if a "complete" or even an approximate knowledge was claimed by the writer, which would be absurd. What I know, I give out; that which I cannot explain, the student must find out for himself."
. . . . . . .
" But while supposing that the whole cycle of the universal mystery language will not be mastered for whole centuries to come, even that which has been hitherto discovered in the Bible by some scholars is quite sufficient to demonstrate the claim â mathematically. Judaism having availed itself of two keys out of the seven, and these two keys having been now rediscovered, it becomes no longer a matter of individual speculation and hypothesis, least of all of "coincidence," but one of a correct reading of the Bible texts, as anyone acquainted with arithmetic reads and verifies an addition or total.* A few years longer and this system will kill the dead letter of the Bible, as it will that of all the other exoteric faiths, by showing the dogmas in their real, naked meaning."
(The Secret Doctrine, vol. I, p. 311 + 318)
http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/SDVolume_I.htm



Maybe you found the above useful, maybe not.
I wrote it because you asked a question.
Please, let me know if I can be of service to you?





M. Sufilight


  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: wagnerian1 
  To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com 
  Sent: Sunday, January 17, 2010 5:47 AM
  Subject: Theos-World intro


    
  Hi, my name is Clint, I'm a Pure Land Buddhist from Oklahoma City, a failed Co-Mason/Non-Theist/Heathen/Rosicrucian/Regular Mason and lots of other things that never caught on but at least I wasn't willing to just read about them and act like I know what I'm talking about. There are few things I claim to believe with any sort of consistency, even harboring doubts about some sort of Supreme Being, but some things have stuck out over the years as experiential truths in my life, and one of those is the existence of Masters who really do want to help and give you a little push in the right direction. Despite my innate skepticism, I find myself interested in Theosophy, and find HPB and her friends to be utterly compelling folks, even if I can't help suspecting that The Lady had a streak of the very best, and profoundly beneficial, charlatan; for all True Gurus know how to put on a show, and all real Initiates know how--or must be forced to learn--to separate the Moon from the Finger That Points. 
  So I'm here to have a look around and hopefully learn something; I've always found Theosophists to be very congenial and kind people, if a bit insular in interests and taste. I know for sure that I don't have even a sliver of The Answers, but that's OK; I'm always willing to be surprised, educated, and schooled. The question is, where and how do I start? What exactly do y'all do besides read books and sit around and tell each other how inspired you are? Not trying to be cute, just curious what happens besides visiting and chatting and vegetarian lasagne when Theosophists gather together, if that's something y'all can even share.
  I do have the very humbling honor of claiming Martinist Initiation, which to me is one of the most treasured and precious of connections I have ever been offered by "Amida Buddha's Grace", in my personal religious language. I've learned more before the 3L* than almost anywhere and anything else I've ever gotten myself into.
  That's about it for now, thanks for reading.

  Many Blessings,

  Clint 



  

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