Madame Blavatsky claims to have met a spiritual teacher in London who asked her to help him with his mission. He said that she would be living three years in Tibet. She had been seeing him in her dreams before they met. She studied with the top of spiritual masters of Buddhism and compiled what she had learned into the Theosophical Society. Master Koot Hoomi was one of her teachers. Was he the reincarnation of Jesus?
What exactly is the Theosophical Society and what does it say?
|
| The symbol of the Theosophical Society |
Madame Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in New York 1875 together with Colonel Henry Steel Olcott and William Quan Judge. Its headquarters was placed in Adyar, Madras, in India and it has centers around the world.
The Theosophical Society was described as being "a research and publishing institute". Its motto was "there is no religion higher than truth", which perhaps could be restated, "truth is the highest religion". Blavatsky's definition of Theosophy was, "the archaic Wisdom-Religion, the esoteric doctrine once known in every ancient country having claims to civilization". She saw herself as a missionary of this ancient knowledge. Theosophy borrows concepts and words from various other religions and philosophies. The origin, workings, and ultimate fate of the universe and of humanity is explained.
Three objectives of the Theosophical Society:
Theosophy attempts to achieve knowledge of the highest truth behind the structure of the universe. Its formulation considers all religion, philosophy, and science from across history, place, and time, unifying all wisdom and knowledge toward the cause of piecing together the one true description which transcends all attempts at understanding life and the universe.
To promote the personal development of its followers, Theosophy is practiced by knowledge and study, together with practices including meditation, and also service. Their international charity promotes service.
The hidden science, called The Occult Science, is able to describe reality on a physical but also metaphysical level. The Occult Science is said to have been preserved and practiced throughout history by carefully selected and trained individuals. A disciple of Theosophy develops metaphysical means of knowledge which transcends the limitation of the senses. This enhancement is by Theosophy stated as the evidence that their teachings and methods are truth. Theosophists expect their tenets to be scientifically and empirically verified in the future, as science catches up.
The first proposition of Theosophy is there being one underlying, unconditioned indivisible Truth, also called "the Absolute", or "the One Reality", it is causeless and timeless, unknowable and non-describable. Transient states of matter and consciousness are manifested in it in an unfolding gradation from the subtlest to the densest the final of which is the physical plane. Manifest existence therefore being a "change of condition" and not the result of creation nor a random event. Every soul is a spark of the Universal Over-Soul and has a pilgrimage through the cycle of incarnation according to Cyclic and Karmic law. Souls are units of consciousness that are intrinsic parts of a universal oversoul, like sparks are part of a fire. In evolution the consciousness unfolds and matter develops, an evolution that is not random, but informed by intelligence and with a purpose. Evolution follows paths according to laws, one such is the law of periodicity and cyclicity, another is the law of karma or cause and effect.
The entire universe is called an illusion, because everything in it is temporary due to having a beginning and an end, and is therefore unreal in comparison to the eternal changelessness of the One Principle. Everything in the universe is conscious in its own way and on its own plane of perception, all is governed by consciousness and consciousnesses.
"The law of correspondences" states that everything in the universe is worked and manifested from within outwards, or from the higher to the lower, so the lower or microcosm is the copy of the higher the macrocosm; this is compared to "as above, so below". Humans experience every action preceded by internal impulse of thought, emotion, or will, and so too the manifested universe is preceded by impulses from divine thought, feeling, and will. And therefore there is an almost endless series of hierarchies of sentient beings. Theosophists find these basic principles reflected for instance in the four seasons of the Earth representing the process of a human life through birth and to death.
In Theosophy, all major facets of existence manifest following a seven-fold model, there being seven fundamental forces in nature, and seven planes of being, so there are seven states of consciousness in which man can live, think, remember and have his being.
The universe consists not only of the physical plane which we perceive with our five senses but there are seven cosmic planes of existence composed of increasingly subtler forms of matter-energy in which states of consciousness other than the commonly known can manifest.
Seven cosmic planes:
Blavatsky spoke of there being an invisible double of the human body, elsewhere called the etheric body. It can be separated or projected limited distances away from the body. When separated from the body it can be wounded by sharp objects, and when it returns to the physical body the wound will be reflected on the physical body, a phenomenon called "repercussion". When the body dies, the etheric body also dissolves. Other than there being just the physical body, there are also the etheric body, emotional or astral body, mental body, and causal body.
Blavatsky's material incorporates the existence of teachings of higher and exalted beings who watched over the childhood of humanity.
In Theosophy, the manifested universe is ordered by the number seven, a common claim among esoteric and mystical doctrines and religions. So the evolutionary pilgrimage proceeds cyclically through seven stages. Theosophy has seven symbols of particular importance.
Theosophy believes that humans were not created as Adam and Eve. Instead, seven races of humans have appeared on the planet on seven different parts of the planet. Humanity undergoes evolution through seven stages of evolution, these stages are called root races, each such stage lasts millions of years. The planet evolves alongside humanity, in its own stages of geology and climate.
We are currently in the fifth stage which is called the Aryan root race. The Aryan evolution has been taking place since about one million years ago and is continuing. Human evolution changes us physically but now we are also seeing emerging spiritual evolution. Root races do not exist on the planet sequentially one at a time, but previous root races live on as the new ones take place and gradually replace them. Older root races complete their evolutionary cycle and become extinct. The sixth root race will be even more spiritually advanced than the fifth. The fifth Aryan race will evolve into the sixth root race.
Our planet also undergoes evolution and is currently in the fourth round of its own seven stages. One planetary round may last hundreds of millions of years each. Monads that now inhabit humans in Earth's fourth round, previously inhabited animals in the planet's third round, and in the fifth round of the planet the monads will inhabit yet another different class of beings.
Theosophy recognizes humanity as consisting of several different races simultaneously. All the different races that comprise humanity in a particular evolutionary cycle stem from the root race of that cycle. The fourth race developed in Atlantis, the third one is called Lemurian.
This fifth root race, the Aryan, said Blavatsky ranges from dark brown, almost black, red-brown-yellow, down to the whitest creamy color, are all the same fifth root race and spring from one single progenitor who is said to have lived over 18,000,000 years ago, and also 850,000 years ago at the time of the sinking of the last remains of the continent Atlantis. Blavatsky said that there are still descendants of the half-animal races both of remote Lemuria and Lemuro-Atlantean origin, semi-animal creatures, the remnants known were Tasmanians, a portion of the Australians, and a mountain tribe in China where men and women are entirely covered with hair. The present Aryan root race is not the last and highest of them all, she says. The Indo-European races will eventually degenerate and disappear as new and more developed races and cultures develop.
Cultures also follow a cycle of rising, developing, degeneration and disappearance. Evolution happens on three levels: physical, intellectual, and spiritual, and these are independent of one another. Monads evolve spiritually, souls develop intellectually, and bodies develop physically. Someone can be very spiritual but not intellectual, or intellectual but not spiritual, for instance, since the three levels develop independently of one another.
According to Blavatsky there is a fixed number of reincarnating souls evolving. They are beyond sex, nationality, religion, and other physical or cultural characteristics. Every soul evolves by being born into every culture in the world to learn from different lessons.
Blavatsky said that the Semites, especially the Arabs, at this point in their cultural evolutionary cycle, are "degenerate in spirituality and perfected in materiality", although she gives credit to the wise and initiated teachers among Jews and Arabs, some of who were her teachers early in life.
An independent offshoot blended selectively from Theosophy with nationalism and fascism to form Ariosophy, a precursor of Nazism.
The Theosophical Society brought modern versions of Buddhism and Hinduism from the East to the West and made those accessible to people, and lended many concepts which inspired the New Age movement and spirituality. Theosophy and Madame Blavatsky are considered the greatest contribution to the New Age movement, the major source of occult literature in the West in the 1900's. Theosophy still has thousands of followers.
Theosophy remains active throughout the world. Other names for Theosophy include The Occult Science, The Esoteric Tradition, The Wisdom of the Ages. Blavatsky regarded theosophy to be the underlying foundation and basis of all the world-religions and philosophies. She said theosophy is not a religion, that it is divine knowledge or science, it is divine wisdom (theosophia) or wisdom of the gods, as (theogonia), genealogy of the gods. According to her, any real lovers of divine wisdom and truth have a right to be called Theosophist.
Blavatsky was influential on spiritualism, the belief that spirits of the dead reside in the spirit world and have ability and inclination to communicate with the living, and related subcultures. She is probably the most important figure for modern western esoteric traditions. She wrote prolifically and published thousands of pages. Debate continues over her work. Blavatsky also wanted to correct errors that she saw in other esoterical beliefs. About Satan or Lucifer she said, that he was never the representative of evil in ancient myths but on the contrary the light-bringer (which is the literal meaning of the name Lucifer). According to Blavatsky the church turned him into Satan (which means "the opponent") to misrepresent pre-Christian beliefs and fit him into the newly framed Christian dogmas. Some Christian Gnostics, both ancient and modern, agree.
Blavatsky received a lot of criticism in her days from some of the learned authorities of her day, for example when she said that the atom was divisible. There was criticism about her use of Buddhism in her own esoterical translation and interpretation, some strongly felt that it defied the simplicity of Buddha's teachings. There were critics who declared her a fraud and questioned the existence of the masters of wisdom. Some critics argued that she had collected her knowledge naturally from other books and not from any supernatural masters. She is said to have faked a materialization of a teacup and saucer, and to have written the messages from her masters herself.
"The Secret Doctrine" was published based on her extensive research into the spiritual traditions of the world, it organizes the essence of these teachings into a comprehensive synthesis, this is considered her greatest work or contribution. She has also written "Isis Unveiled", "The Key to Theosophy", The Voice of the Silence". She was well-known and controversial during her lifetime and there was a lot of criticism. Some authors have questioned the authenticity of her writings and the validity of her claims, others have praised them.
Revisit the source pages for exact references.
1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
2. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Science.
3. To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
1. Adi - the supreme, a divine plane not reached by human beings
2. Anupadaka - the parentless, also a divine plane home of the divine spark in human beings
3. Atmuc - spiritual plane of man's higher self
4. Buddhic - spiritual plane of intuition, love, wisdom
5. Mental - with higher and lower subdivisions, bridges the spiritual with the personal
6. Emotional - a personal plane that ranges from lower desires to high emotions
7. Physical - a personal plane which again has two subdivisions the dense one perceivable by our five senses, and an etheric one that is beyond these senses
1) the seal of the Society
2) a serpent biting its tail
3) the gnostic cross (near the serpent's head)
4) the interlaced triangles
5) the cruxansata (in the center)
6) the pin of the Society, composed of cruxansata and serpent entertwined, forming together "T.S."
7) Om (or aum), the sacred syllable of the Vedas. The seal of the Society contains all of these symbols except aum, and so symbolically contains the doctrines its members follow.
Angel Oracle
Kuthumi Main
Kuthumi
Blavatsky
Theosophy
Comments