Tag Archives: Karma

The Essential Edgar Cayce: His Philosophy

There are many books out there about Edgar Cayce as well as books that summarize his readings about specific topics. One example is There is a River: The Story of Edgar Cayce by Thomas Surgrue.  Thomas Surgrue received first a “life reading” from Cayce and later medical readings for his debilitating arthritis. From 1939 until 1941, the ailing Sugrue lived with the Cayce family in Virginia Beach, and completed this biography while convalescing. It is the sole biography written of Cayce during his lifetime.

Another Examples is Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet by Sydney D. Kirkpatrick.  Kirkpatrick offers the reader in this biography a different perspective on his life and legacy. It is easy to read and has fascinating details about Cayce’s private life and work as a psychic and the author had unrestricted access to all of Cayce’s letters and papers. Examples for books covering a specific topic is Edgar Cayce’s Atlantis  by Gregory and Laura Little and John Van Auken. There are also books containing the readings pertaining to a specific topic such as Reincarnation & Karma (summarized on this website) or Edgar Cayce on Atlatnis  I decided to write more about the book The Essential Edgar Cayce by Mark Thurston because the author beautifully summarizes the most important philosophical points from Cayce’s readings.

The Essence of the Cayce Philosophy is: 

1) Everything is connected – all is one

Once we perceive this unity it is our challenge to apply this understanding as practical mystics.

2) Life is purposeful

Each of us is born with a personal mission, a “soul-purpose”. There is an aspect of service to soul-purpose.

3) Approach life as an adventure

Life is meant to be a playful search for the truth; it is research in the broadest sense of the word.

4) Be noncompetitive: show compassion

Nothing takes us away quicker from the sense of oneness, and therefore from our own soul-purpose, than the drive for competitiveness. Compassion is the capacity to be present for another person and experience how we are all really the same. It is a matter of feeling with another person, not taking responsibility for that person but being responsible and responsive to that person.

5) Take responsibility for yourself

Help is available but no one else can fix things for us. Ultimately each soul is accountable for itself. The principle of self-responsibility is a cornerstone of Edgar Cayce recommendations.

6) Look ahead rather the back

The present and the future cannot be understood outside the context of the past but in essence he was saying to always look ahead and never back and understand that you are going to come back again. We should make choices that will help create the best possible results in the next lifetime.

7) Changing anything starts with an ideal

Motives, purposes, and ideals are the center of Cayce’s psychology. If we want to change anything in life we have to start at the motivational level.

8) All time is one time

Sometimes we get hints about the deeper mysteries of time (e.g. a precognitive dream). If we pay close attention to our inner lives, we might find clues that time is more complex than we think.

9) Success cannot be measured by material standards

Measuring success, especially in terms of one’s soul, is elusive because we cannot use the same standards for measuring the internal and external life.

10) Courage is essential to any spiritual growth

High aspirations and ideals are not enough, we have to do something with them.

11) Evil is real and comes in many forms

  • A lack of awareness – a deficit in conscious awareness
  • Extremism – we need to watch for our own tendency to go to extremes
  • Aggression and invasion – all human relations have the potential for these forms of evil
  • Transformation – stay engaged with anything ungodly and keep working to transform it
  • Rebellion and willfulness – we choose every day how to respond to evil; the focus is on our behavior – are we going against the impulse to bring the spirit into the material world.

12) Learn to stand up for yourself; learn to say no when it is needed

It is similar to self-assertion and setting boundaries.

Cayce was a significant pioneer in many disciplines that have gained widespread acceptance since his death:

The value of dreams as a tool for self-understanding and[tooltip title=”” content=”See also Memories, Dreams, Reflections by Jung under Psychology” type=”classic” ] guidance[/tooltip]. He saw dreams as a safe and reliable work to explore one’s own soul.

The importance of[tooltip title=”” content=”See also The Bhagavad Gita under Religion” type=”classic” ] meditation[/tooltip]  as a spiritual discipline. He evolved an approach that was easy to apply to the Judeo-Christian world.

A perspective on[tooltip title=”” content=”See also Theosophy under Philosophy” type=”classic” ] reincarnation, karma, [/tooltip] and grace that is potentially acceptable to the Judeo-Christian world. He presents reincarnation as an inescapable reality of how the universe operates. Karma can be softened by the influences of grace available to all souls.

An approach to[tooltip title=”” content=”See also Why Astrology can Help Us under Science” type=”classic” ] astrology[/tooltip] that recognizes past lives and the influence of the planets, especially with regard to helping people find a sense of purpose in life. He used the influence of the planets as a way of describing innate temperament and its impact upon the personality and aptitude.

According to Cayce’s readings we live in an orderly universe that is governed by universal laws. Humanity has a purposeful place in this universe, and there is a plan for us as souls: to bring the qualities of spiritual life into the material world consciously. That plan requires that we make proper use of two great gifts that God has given each of us: a creative mind and a free will. He also emphasized the importance of staying healthy and that we take responsibility for our own lives

Posted in: Metaphysics, Philosophy, Psychology, Religion, Science, Spiritual-Development , Tagged: ,

The Mysterious Order of Rosicrucians 

Rosicrucianism refers to a movement which arose in Europe in the early 17th century. The word “Rosicrucian” is derived from the name “Christian Rosenkreutz”or “Rose Cross”. The existence of the order first came into public notice, when two Latin pamphlets, known as the Fama Fraternitatis and as Confessio Fraternitati, were published in Germany describing the foundation and aims of this esoteric order. These manifestos aroused a lot of excitement and a third publication, The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, increased the mystery.

The object of the mysterious Order of Rosicrucians was to throw occult light upon the misunderstood Christian religion and to explain the mystery of Life and Being from the scientific standpoint in harmony with religion. A high spiritual teacher with the name of Christian Rosenkreuz appeared in Europe to commence that work. His very name is an embodiment of the manner and the means by which the present day man is transformed into the Divine Superman. And the symbol, the Christian Rose Cross, shows the end and aim of human evolution, the road to be traveled, and the means whereby that end is gained.

According to the author Manly P. Hall, there are four distinct theories about Rosicrucianism:

1) There is an assumption that the Rosicrucian Order existed historically in accordance with the description in Fama Fraternitatis which appeared in print in 1614. This pamphlet reminds the reader of God’s goodness, warns the intelligentsia of following false prophets and ignoring the true knowledge, and makes clear that a reformation is necessary.

2) Some Masonic brethren accept the historical existence of the “Brotherhood of the Rose Cross” and believe that it originated in mediaeval Europe as an outgrowth of alchemical speculation and that Johann Valentin Andrea, a German theologian, was the founder and might have reformed an existing society established by Sir Henry Cornelius Agrippa; some believe that Rosicrucians represented the first European invasion of Buddhist and Brahmin culture; and still others believe it was founded in Egypt during the philosophic supremacy of that empire.

3) The third theory takes the form of a sweeping denial of Rosicrucianism claiming that it was entirely a product of imagination.

4) The fourth theory asserts that the Rosicrucians actually possessed all the supernatural powers with which they were credited. According to this theory, the true Rosicrucian Brotherhood consisted of a limited number of highly developed adepts who possessed the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone and knew the process of transmuting the base metals into gold but taught that these were only allegorical terms concealing the true mystery of human regeneration through the transmutation of the “base elements” of man’s lower nature into the “gold” of intellectual and spiritual realization.
There are quite a few books and articles about Rosicrucianism in print and online. Online can be found two works by the German Theosophist, Dr. Franz Hartmann:

  1. With the Adepts, an Adventure among the Rosicrucians
  2. Cosmology, or Universal Science, Containing the Mysteries of the Universe regarding God, Nature, Man, the Macrocosm and the Microcosm; Eternity and Time, by means of the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians.

The founder of Anthropology, Dr. Rudolf Steiner, has given numerous lectures, titled “Theosophy of the Rosicrucian”.

The Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians” published in 1918 can be found online as well. In this book the reader learns that the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians is believed to have been built up gradually and carefully, by the old occult masters and adepts, from the scattered fragments of the esoteric teachings which were treasured by the wise men of all races. The legend runs that these fragments of the Secret Doctrine were the scattered portions of the old esoteric teaching of ancient Atlantis—the bits of the great mass of the Atlantean occult teachings which were scattered in all directions by the great cataclysm which had destroyed that great continent. The few survivors of the Atlantean civilization carefully preserved these Fragments of Truth, and passed them on to their chosen students and capable descendants.

The old Masters who made it the object of their lives to gather together these scattered fragments, and to reconstruct the Occult Doctrine of the Atlanteans, found a portion of their material in Egypt, in India, in Persia, in Chaldea, in Medea, in China, in Assyria, and in Ancient Greece, and also in the mystic records of the Hebrews, such as the Kabballah and the Zohar. The common source, however, may be regarded as distinctly Oriental. The great philosophies of the East, in fact, may be said to have been built upon the base of these still more ancient teachings. Moreover, the great Grecian Secret Teachings are believed to have been based upon knowledge obtained from this same common source. So, at the last, the Secret Doctrine of the Rosicrucians may be said to be the Secret Doctrine of Atlantis, transmitted through the descendants of the people of that great center of occult knowledge.
The Rosicrucians teach that that there are Seven Cosmic Principles present and operating throughout the Cosmos, and extending even to its smallest activities. These Seven Cosmic Principles are as follows:

1) The Principle of Correspondence (manifests in a certain correspondence or analogy between manifestations of the various planes of activity in the Cosmos and is indicated by the old Hermetic aphorism: “As above, so below; as below, so above,” and by the Arcane axiom: “Ex Uno disce Omnes,” or “From One know All.”)

2) The Principle of Law and Order (manifests in the presence and manifestation of a regular sequence, and orderly procession of phenomena in the universe of things. It is voiced by the celebrated axiom of a leading scientist that “The Universe is governed by laws.” The spirit of this principle of truth is embodied in the very term “The Cosmos,” which term is derived from the Greek term “Kosmos,” meaning: “The world or universe considered in connection with perfect order and arrangement, as opposed to Chaos.” In the occult teachings of the Rosicrucians it is impressed upon the student that “there is no such thing as Chance,” in so far as Chance is used in the sense of “uncaused happening.”)

3) The Principle of Vibration (manifests in the manifestation of a state of vibration in everything in the Manifested Cosmos. It is voiced by the old occult axiom: “Everything vibrates.” Science now tells us that not only is every particle of matter, or every mass of matter, in a state of continual vibration, but also that light, heat, magnetism, electricity and every other form of natural force results from a state of vibration. The occultists go further than this, and assert that even on the mental and spiritual planes there is ever manifest a condition of vibration.

4) The Principle of Rhythm (manifests in that universal regular swing or time-beat which is apparent in all the manifested world, from its highest to its lowest manifestation. The ancient occult axiom “Everything beats time” expresses this fundamental fact of the Cosmos. Rhythm means: “Regularly recurring motion, change or impulse proceeding in time-measured, alternating sequence.”)

5) The Principle of Cycles (manifests that universal circular direction of process or progress which is apparent in all the manifested world, from its highest to its lowest manifestation. The spirit of this principle was expressed in the ancient occult axiom: “Everything proceeds in circles.”)

6) The Principle of Polarity (manifests that universal fact of “the pairs of opposites,” or “the antinomies,” which is apparent in all the manifested world, from its highest to its lowest manifestation. The spirit of this principle was expressed in the ancient occult axiom: “Everything has its Opposite, which is the other pole of its manifestation.” One of the most surprising features of this discovery is that we have to understand that the two contrasting sets of qualities are really but two aspects or phases of the whole thing—the real thing, or thing in itself—the unity of the two, instead of being two separated and distinct things. Or, stating it in other words, we discover that the two opposing sets of characteristics are merely relative to each other, and together form a correlated unity and balanced whole.)

7) The Principle of Sex (manifests in the universal presence of sex distinction and activity which is apparent in all the manifested world, from its highest to its lowest manifestations. The spirit of this principle was expressed in the ancient occult axiom: “Sex is omnipresent and all-pervasive in the universe. All creation is generation, and all generation proceeds from Sex.

Many concepts in Rosicrucianism are similar to the teachings of Theosophy. Examples are Reincarnation and Karma, which is also addressed by Edgar Cayce. It is a concept that existed even in Christianity for some time.

Posted in: Religion , Tagged: , , , ,

The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels

Elaine Pagels, (born in 1943), has taught at Barnard College, Columbia University after she received her doctorate from Harvard University in 1970 and chaired the department of religion at Barnard from 1975-1982. She joined the Princeton faculty in 1982 as a professor of early Christian history, shortly after receiving a MacArthur Fellowship. She has published widely on Gnosticism and early Christianity, and continues to pursue research interests in late antiquity and writes about the theological shifts and battles within earlier Christianity. This book is a provocative study of the gnostic gospels and the world of early Christianity as revealed through the Nag Hammadi texts.

In the introduction of the book we find out that in December 1945 an Arab peasant made an astonishing archeological discovery in Upper Egypt. Rumors obscured the circumstances of this find–perhaps because the discovery was accidental, and its sale on the black market illegal.

The manuscripts soon attracted the attention of officials of the Egyptian government. They bought one and confiscated ten and a half of the thirteen leather-bound books, called codices, and deposited them in the Coptic Museum in Cairo. But a large part of the thirteenth codex, containing five extraordinary texts, was smuggled out of Egypt and offered for sale in America.

Professor Gilles Quispel, a distinguished historian of religion at Utrecht, in the Netherlands urged the Jung Foundation in Zurich to buy the codex and succeeded. When he discovered that some pages were missing, he flew to Egypt in the spring of 1955 to locate them in the Coptic Museum. He borrowed photographs of some of the texts and when he deciphered them, he realized that it contained the Gospel According to Thomas; yet, unlike the gospels of the New Testament, this text identified itself as a secret gospel. Quispel also discovered that it contained many sayings known from the New Testament; but these sayings, placed in unfamiliar contexts, suggested other dimensions of meaning. Other passages, Quispel found, differed entirely from any known Christian tradition.

The finder later admitted that some of the texts were lost–burned up or thrown away. But what remains is astonishing: some fifty-two texts from the early centuries of the Christian era–including a collection of early Christian gospels, previously unknown.

Besides the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Philip, the find included the Gospel of Truth and the Gospel to the Egyptians.  Another group of texts consists of writings attributed to Jesus’ followers, such as the Secret Book of James, the Apocalypse of Paul, the Letter of Peter to Philip, and the Apocalypse of Peter.

What was discovered at Nag Hammadi were Coptic translations, made about 1,500 years ago, of still more ancient manuscripts. The originals themselves had been written in Greek, the language of the New Testament. About the dating of the manuscripts themselves there is little debate. They have been placed at ca. A.D. 350-400.

The texts had been buried and their suppression as banned documents were both part of a struggle critical for the formation of early Christianity. The Nag Hammadi texts, and others like them, which circulated at the beginning of the Christian era, were denounced as heresy by orthodox Christians in the middle of the second century.

This campaign against heresy involved an involuntary admission of its persuasive power; yet the bishops prevailed. By the time of the Emperor Constantine’s conversion, when Christianity became an officially approved religion in the fourth century, Christian bishops, previously victimized by the police, now commanded them.

But those who wrote and circulated these texts did not regard themselves as “heretics. These Christians are now called gnostics, from the Greek word gnosis, usually translated as “knowledge.” Those who claim to know nothing about ultimate reality are called agnostic (literally, “not knowing”), the person who does claim to know such things is called gnostic (“knowing”).

But gnosis is not primarily rational knowledge. The Greek language distinguishes between scientific or reflective knowledge (“He knows mathematics”) and knowing through observation or experience (“He knows me”), which is gnosis. As the gnostics use the term, we could translate it as “insight,” for gnosis involves an intuitive process of knowing oneself.

And to know oneself, they claimed, is to know human nature and human destiny. Yet to know oneself, at the deepest level, is simultaneously to know God; this is the secret of gnosis.

The main ideas in the Gnostic gospels are:

1) While Orthodox Jews and Christians insist that a chasm separates humanity from its creator, meaning that God is wholly other, some Gnostics believe that self-knowledge is knowledge of God and that the self and the Divine are identical. By knowing oneself, one might understand human nature and destiny.

2)  The “living Jesus” of these texts speaks of illusion and enlightenment, not of sin and repentance, like the Jesus of the New Testament. Instead of coming to save us from sin, he comes as a guide who opens access to spiritual understanding. But when the disciple attains enlightenment, Jesus no longer serves as his spiritual master: the two have become equal–even identical.

3) Orthodox Christians believe that Jesus is Lord and Son of God in a unique way: he remains forever distinct from the rest of humanity whom he came to save. Yet the gnostic Gospel of Thomas relates that as soon as Thomas recognizes him, Jesus says to Thomas that they have both received their being from the same source:

Jesus said, “I am not your master. Because you have drunk, you have become drunk from the bubbling stream which I have measured out…. He who will drink from my mouth will become as I am: I myself shall become he, and the things that are hidden will be revealed to him.”

4) Gnostics emphasized spiritual “resurrection” (i.e,. spiritual rebirth) and physical “resurrection” (i.e., reincarnation). Christian Gnostics held the view that if spiritual resurrection was not attained in one lifetime, then the soul would be subjected to as many reincarnations as it takes until spiritual rebirth is attained. This is also taught in Theosophy.

5) The importance of Logos, the part of God that acts in the world. It is the perfect unity of the human and the divine. Everyone has the Logos within them and it is for this reason that Genesis describes humanity as created “in the image and likeness of God.” The Logos is the divine Spirit in humanity.

The identity of the divine and human, the concern with illusion and enlightenment, the founder who is presented not as Lord, but as spiritual guide sounds more Eastern than Western. Some scholars have suggested that if the names were changed, the “living Buddha” appropriately could say what the Gospel of Thomas attributes to the living Jesus and wonder if Hindu or Buddhist traditions have influenced Gnosticism. It is not conclusive but it is possible that what we call Eastern and Western religions, and  regard as separate streams, were not clearly differentiated 2,000 years ago.

The book has six chapters and Pagels does not attempt to summarize or examine in detail the Gnostic Gospels. She focuses instead on how Gnosticism affected the rise of the orthodox church that declared the Gnostics heretics.

We also learn that Gnostics maintained equality amongst individuals and established no fixed orders of clergy and that they allowed all individuals to seek to know God through their own experience and to achieve personal enlightenment through rigorous spiritual discipline and self-discovery.

The Christian church on the other hand developed a religious structure to encourage social interaction amongst individuals and required only that individuals accept the simplest essentials and put emphasis on a variety of church rituals.

The two most interesting chapters for me were “God the Father/God the Mother” in which she elaborates on the fact that instead of a monistic and masculine God, many of the texts speak of God as a “dyad who embraces both masculine and feminine elements”; and “Gnosis: Self-Knowledge as Knowledge of God”, in which we find out more about techniques of spiritual disciplines, such as getting rid of physical desires practicing meditation and praying.

The author mentions that much of the gnostic teaching on spiritual discipline remained, on principle, unwritten because Gnostic teachers shared most of it only verbally. Gnostic teachers had to take responsibility and pay individualized attention to each candidate and each candidate had to devote energy and time – often years – to the process.

 

  • Jesus said, “If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you. If you do not bring forth what is within you, what you do not bring forth will destroy you.”

 

Here are some websites that provide additional information on this book and topic:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/story/pagels.html
http://reluctant-messenger.com/reincarnation-gnostic.htm
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=10036
http://www.examiner.com/article/do-gnostics-believe-reincarnation

Posted in: Religion , Tagged: , , ,

Reincarnation & Karma by Edgar Cayce

Edgar Cayce (1877-1945) was an American psychic who possessed the ability to answer questions on a variety of subjects. He is perhaps the most famous and most carefully documented psychic of the 20th century. His psychic abilities surfaced in his childhood and he began to use his unusual abilities starting as a young man for over forty years.

He would, usually twice a day, lie on a couch, go into a sleeplike state, and respond to questions. Over fourteen thousand of these discourses were carefully transcribed by his secretary and preserved by the Edgar Cayce Foundation in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Cayce founded a nonprofit organization, the Association for Research and Enlightenment. Though Cayce himself was a member of the Disciples of Christ and lived before the emergence of the New Age Movement, some consider him the true founder of the movement and a principal source of its most characteristic beliefs.

Edgar Cayce was a deeply religious man who taught Sunday school all of his adult live and read the entire Bible once for every year that he lived. This book, Reincarnation & Karma, is a collection of discourses that address the concept of reincarnation and karma.

This book has two parts, one about reincarnation and one about karma. In the chapters about reincarnation we learn how Edgar Cayce answered in a sleep-like state questions about reincarnation, past-lives, the soul’s life between incarnations and on how to break free of the wheel of karma and reincarnation. In the chapters about karma we find out Edgar Casey’s discourse about karma including examples of karma and his tips for meeting karma.

He explained that every action and thought of every individual makes an impression upon the Universal Consciousness, an impression that can be psychically read. He correlated that with the Hindu concept of an Akashic Record. He stated that every soul remembers all of its experiences.

He said, that every form of life that man sees in a material world is an essence or manifestation of the Creator; in other words, that Life is a manifestation of the first cause – God. The first influences in the earth that brought selfishness was the desire to be as gods, in that rebellion became the order of the mental forces in the soul; and sin entered. Heaven and hell is built by the soul. [tooltip title=”” content=”Compare with The Gnostic Gospels under Religion” type=”classic” ]The gift of God is being conscious of being one with Him[/tooltip], yet apart from Him – or one with, yet apart from the Whole.

He addresses issues such as solar cycles, free will, and parent’s karma, the average fulfillment of the soul’s expectations, man’s development in the relativity of all forces and if Jesus should be described as the soul who first went through the cycle of earthly lives to attain perfection, including perfection in the planetary lives.

He advises us to use Him as the Ideal and understand that there is duty to oneself, to family, to society, to work and work relations and that all these duties must be weighed and made into oneness of purpose. At the end of the chapter about reincarnation he points out that an experience will convince a person of reincarnation and that the gospels of John in the New Testament teach reincarnation.

In the second chapter about reincarnation we are exposed to insightful past-life readings and Cayce explains in some cases the astrological influences these “entities” (clients) were exposed to in their lives. He mentions more than once, “As ye sow, so shall ye reap”; this rule of cause and effect he addresses again later in the book when he talks about karma.

One of the clients asks him about his associations with particular people from this live in past lives implying that we reincarnate at least sometimes with the same people we have lived in past lives. In some of the readings he explains what the client has learned in a particular past life.

In the last part of the chapter we find out more about Edgar Cayce’s own past lives. One of the most important messages in this part is, that we have to understand that God is God, and that the Divine demands of us that we know ourselves, so that we may better serve our fellow human beings.

In the chapter about the soul’s life between incarnations we learn that after our death our consciousness understands that there have been failures and that there are needs for help. Then help is consciously sought because “[tooltip title=”” content=”Compare with Theosophy under Philosophy” type=”classic” ]Only they that seek shall find[/tooltip]!”. That’s where we decide in what body to reincarnate based on the plane of our consciousness. In this chapter he also explains the planetary influences on our lives, that each planetary influence vibrates at a different rate of vibration and that based on the universal law we can change our rate of vibration. He emphasizes that individuals have to magnify what is good and minimize what is false. But he does point out, that no influence surpasses the will of an individual.

I found one reading particularly helpful in which he tells the client that he had become discouraged in past lives when he was exposed to accusations of unkind things or lost confidence in friends and reminded him to stay committed to himself in this life. In another reading he shows how to subdue negative planetary influences.

In the last chapter about reincarnation we encounter readings where he reveals to clients (entities) information about former lives and reasons why people would not have to reincarnate anymore if they so choose. In the editor’s notes we find out that apparently the people who made changes within themselves, in their hearts and minds have a chance to stop the wheel of karma and reincarnation, unless they want to come back to “lead the way to those that are still in darkness”. Those readings revealed a lot of information about different aspects of spiritually developed lives. For me personally the most important messages in this chapter were the readings who advised “to be patient and to speak gently and kindly to those who falter and not to judge the activities of others but rather pray that the light may shine even in their lives as it has in thine”; “it is not what a mind knows but what the mind applies or does about that it knows, that makes for soul, mental or material advancements”; “for as you do it unto the least of these; thy brethren, ye do it unto thy Maker”; “to be true to the duties set by self”; and that “God looks upon the purposes, the ideals of the heart, and not upon that which men call convention”.

In the first chapter of the second part of the book Edgar Cayce explains that Karma can be considered as philosophy, as religion or as science in the manner of cause and effect and that we must consider that “karma may mean the development for self “. Hence, Destiny is: “As ye sow, so shall ye reap.”

In the last two chapters he provides examples of cause and effect and tips for meeting one’s karma, and how to get from karma to grace.

Posted in: Metaphysics , Tagged: , , ,

Initiation by Annie Besant

Annie Besant (1847 – 1933) was a prominent British socialist, women’s rights activist, writer and orator and was one of the seminal figures in the Theosophical movement. Joining the Theosophical Society in 1889, she rapidly moved to the vanguard of leadership, and was elected president of the international Theosophical Society in 1907, a position she held until her death. She was the author of numerous books, including Esoteric Christianity, Thought Power, A Study in Consciousness, and The Laws of the Higher Life, and was active in numerous social and political causes as well.

In this book Annie Besant illuminates the spiritual and mystical themes of finding God within ourselves. She describes how one can walk the path towards Initiation and through Initiation to the Perfecting of Man.

Annie Besant, a Theosophist,  explains in this book that there is a Path, which leads to what is known as “Initiation” and through Initiation to the Perfecting of Man (compare with Self Healing, Yoga and Destiny). A Path, which is recognized in all great religions. She points out that it does not matter which faith one belongs to. She says, that one can take a shorter Path if he/she wants to and describes this Path as a more difficult way in which man evolves more rapidly than in the ordinary course of human and natural evolution.

There are four facts that underlie the whole Path of Human Perfecting:

  • Reincarnation, meaning the gradual growth of man through many lives
  • Karma, the law of causation
  • The fact that there is a Path and
  • The fact that there are men that have trodden this Path before and that these men are standing at the end of the Path – Guardians and Teachers of the World.

The first step towards the entrance to the Path is the Service of Man meaning to think more of the common good than of one’s own individual gain. If you want to serve man you have to be unselfish, strenuous, moved by the ideal to help and serve – anything that is of value to human life. If you are of service to man you can be engaged in anything but the difference lies in the conditions of the work you provide. What is your motivation? There lies the difference. Do not despise the common world of men with selfish motives making many errors because these are all lessons in life’s school. Man has to realize that not in seeking pleasure, wealth, and honor for himself can permanent joy be found but in the service of his fellow-men; in the helping of the miserable, the teaching of the ignorant. The recognition of social duty is the noblest sign of evolution of man. The key is to give yourself, and not only what you possess. You must feel the sorrow and pain of others as you feel your own pain. It must be the constant resolute endeavor to give everything away that others may profit.
In other words the service demanded is that unselfish service that gives everything and asks for nothing in return.

A man who becomes possessed by an idea and nothing can turn him away from it, that man is coming near to the Path, even if the ensuing action is folly. The outer action is the expression of some past thought or emotion; the motive for the action is what is all-important based on the occult rule.

This means that we have to study our motives more than our actions.

There are many ways on the Path to God – intense desire for knowledge, intense love for an ideal, the realization of the intolerable anguish of the world.

People who seek knowledge will then discover the Science of Yoga, which is nothing else but the application of the laws of evolution to the human mind and to the individual and to that it joins a Discipline of Life. The Discipline of Life is a necessary guarding of the would-be disciple against the dangers of his swifter process because of the great strain on body and mind.

Part of the Discipline of Life is
No alcohol because of the danger to certain vibrations
No flesh food because it coarsens the body

The seeker finds that there are certain Qualifications laid down:
1) DISCRIMINATION: Power to discriminate between the real and unreal – distinguish between the permanent and the impermanent.
2) DESIRELESSNESS: Dispassion or Desirelessness
3) GOOD CONDUCT: Six Jewels (mental qualities)
a) Control of the Mind
b) Control of Action
c) Virtue of Tolerance – holding your own, willing to share it, but ever refusing to impose or attack
d) Endurance
e) Faith
f) Balance, equilibrium
4) LOVE: Desire to be true, the will to be free, in order that you may help.

You reach them largely by meditation, and then practice in life. Concentrated thought is the instrument when you re-create yourself.

Once the seeker is aware of the facts and has worked on the Qualifications but has not perfected them yet, but he must have made some progress in weaving them into his character, must at least have shaped his conduct after these main ideas, the Masters will be found so that these Qualifications can be put into action along the lines that the Masters demand. Probably the Master finds him.

The first stage is that a particular Master chooses a particular aspirant and takes charge of him, in order to prepare him for Initiation. This constitutes a tie that cannot be broken. He summons the man through his astral body and places him on probation. When the Master sees he has gained to a considerable extent the Qualifications that are necessary and after seeing him he accepts him as disciple, no longer on probation, but accepted and approved.

One disciple wrote down in the book At the Feet of the Master what those Qualifications meant. To meditate on a quality and then to live it, that is the way of definite progress.  Example: The form is unreal while life is real. The religion does not matter but does the essence come out in his thought and life? The Occultist can never look with contempt at anyone whose form he himself has outlived. Never ascribe evil to another man because we cannot see the motive and have no right to judge.

You also must learn to discriminate between the duty to help and the desire to dominate. Only control those who are placed in your hands of guidance.
When it comes to desire we should not even want to see the result of one’s work. We have to learn to work but not demand payment in results for our labor. Silence is the mark of the Occultist. Speak when you have something to say that is true, helpful, kind.
Keep the mind away from all that is evil and keep it cheerful as well as calm.
For Tolerance we should study the religions of others so we can help others by seeing their standpoint.
When it comes to Endurance take troubles as an honor, not as penalty.
Then you need to learn One-pointedness and last confidence in your teacher and yourself.

The last Qualifications include avoidance of the vices of crimes against love, cruelty (against humans and animals and not paying a wage/bill) and superstition (animal sacrifice).
Example: The life of Christ and others. The cross is the symbol of life, of life triumphant over death, of Spirit triumphant over matter.
Initiation in the Mysteries means an expansion of consciousness.

There are five ceremonials on the Path. Four (related to the Christ-story) are the Portals on the Path leading to the final divine Perfection of Manhood, the Birth, Baptism, Transfiguration, and the Passion.
The Initiate is He whom the Christ is born – the little child – is born into this new life of the Spirit (all truth are known by Intuition not reasoning). He vows poverty, chastity and obedience meaning he gives up all sense of property, ownership, renounces all pleasures of sense and surrenders his own will. He must also give up three weaknesses – they are called three fetters.
1) The sense of Separateness (everything is part of himself, feel with their joys and sorrows, look at things from their standpoint, understand their feelings and be able to sympathize with them – judge none, criticize none.)
2) He must get rid of all Doubts as to certain facts in nature.
3) He must get rid of superstition, the belief that a particular rite or ceremony is necessary for the attainment of the result that is sought.

When those fetters are cast aside, then he has grown to manhood and is ready to pass the second of the great Initiations (baptism in Christianity). The Spirit comes down, the Spirit of Intuition and he must learn to bring it down, through his enlarged causal and mental bodies, to his physical consciousness so it may guide him.
At this stage man has to add powers, super physical powers so that he can more perfectly serve. During this stage he is perfecting all his bodies.

The he approaches the third great Portal (Transfiguration in Christianity), the symbol of the recognition of the “I” as one with God. Here two more weaknesses have to be gotten rid of, Attraction and Repulsion.

Between the third and fourth Portal he must feel the desertion by all, the loneliness in which the last great sufferings have to be faced, because here he faces the gulf of silence, where the disciple hangs alone in the void with nothing on earth to trust to, nothing in heaven to look to, no friend whose heart can be relied upon.

When he feels forsaken by all he finds the God within. Then the fourth great Initiation is accomplished; he is who has become the Christ crucified and therefore the helper of the world.

After that fourth Initiation, the Passion, there remains only the Resurrection, the Ascension, which is the Initiation of the Master. The last weakness, the desire of life in any world, has to be cast aside, for he is life. Now all worlds are open to him and he can pour down strength, help, knowledge. And that it is to have become a Christ.

After passing the four Portals he stands triumphant, with the door of the fifth great Initiation open before him – the all-embracing consciousness, the extinction of the lower Self. He stands among the many Brethren of whom the Christ is the Firstborn.

He can hear free cries of humanity, the suffering he has transcended. The fetters left that has power to bind, the fetters of compassion; they are the bonds of love. And then he turns backwards to the world he has left and takes it up and bears it still to help mankind. And so he becomes what we call a Master, a liberated Spirit who still bears the burden of the flesh, so that Humanity may not be without it’s Guides along the Path. He has become a Savior of the world.

They help the world in three general ways:
1) Their light pours down in general benediction and if we are receptive to it, we can profit for it.
2) He pours his blessing or strength into great organizations, communities and religious communities.
3) They help the thought of the world, sending out mighty thoughts of knowledge, of beauty, of inspiration, especially for those men and women of genius who have climbed to the point where they can be individually affected, and made channels to the world at large.

Some of these Masters take as disciples those who are willing to tread the Path.

There are two great departments of human life in addition to this more general and individual helping, in which the work of the Hierarchy is most especially seen – the Ruling Department, which guides all natural evolution, changes the face of the surface of our globe, builds and destroys continents, controls the destinies of nations, shapes the fate of civilizations. That mighty Ruling Department is one in which the Occult Hierarchy is ever at work. And then the Teaching Department with the Supreme teacher, which/who watches over the spiritual destinies of mankind. It includes the great One who appears from age to age to inspire a new religion.

When a great world-age is over, He comes for the last time.

All the great civilizations of the past had been built on the family as a unit; in the new age the note of the individual was struck. The overwhelming importance of the present life, of the value of the individual soul started. Chaos happened but it was necessary to have strong individuals fit to put together a mighty Brotherhood.

Through Christendom the note of self-sacrifice has been born, a civilization with social conscience, a realization of human duty and responsibility.

The one that comes will be the mighty One, Who is the Master of Masters, the Supreme Teacher.

We can see the work of the Ruling Department when we look back over history and realize that all the spreading and changes have a purpose and that behind it stand it’s Manu. All wars and conquests have a purpose and all these conquests work into the mighty Plan, and spread abroad through the nations the treasures that otherwise would be enclosed within the limits of a single country. Remember that destruction also means rebuilding; death only means new life.

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Introduction to Theosophy by John Algeo

John Algeo was born 1930 in St. Louis, Missouri, and lived there for the first ten years of his life, with brief periods in Texas and California.  He joined the Theosophical Society at the age of 16 and became President of the Florida Lodge (Miami) in his teen years.

He was a student of the University of Florida and he joined the army and served in the Korean War. In 1971, John Algeo moved with his family to Athens, Georgia, where he served as Director of the Program in Linguistics, Head of the English Department, and Alumni Foundation Distinguished Professor of English. He took early retirement from the university in 1994 to accept the Presidency (or General Secretaryship) of the Theosophical Society in America.

Theosophy refers to systems of esoteric philosophy seeking direct knowledge of presumed mysteries of being and nature, particularly concerning the nature of divinity. Theosophists seek to understand the mysteries of the universe and the bonds that unite the universe, humanity and the divine.

His articles on theosophy are widely published in Theosophical magazines. In “Theosophy” he explains the main concepts of Theosophy.

The Theosophical Society

The Theosophical Society is a worldwide association dedicated to practical realization of the oneness of all life and to independent spiritual search. It was founded in New York City in 1875 by Helena P. Blavatsky, Henry S. Olcott, William Q. Judge, and others. Blavatsky (1831-1891) is the primary force behind the modern theosophical movement. Her works and those of her teachers express the principal concepts of its philosophy. A Russian by birth, she traveled for twenty years in Europe, the Americas, Asia, and the Near East studying mysticism and occultism. Helena P. Blavatsky also wrote books titled Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine.

What is Theosophy?

Algeo starts out by explaining that we have made a lot of progress in science, technology, and other matters but in our relationship to others, in concern for our own health, on our work and our leisure, we do not apply the same intelligence and realism.

The three objects of the Theosophical Society are:

  • To form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color.
  • To encourage the comparative study of religion, philosophy and science.
  • To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity.

The motto of the Society is “There is no religion higher than Truth”.

The word religion comes from a Latin term whose root meaning is “to link back”. Therefore different religions link their followers back in different ways to the ultimate source of life – the Absolute/God/Divine Reality.

Theosophy does not claim to be a complete and final statement of wisdom and truth; it holds that all things, including the human mind, are evolving. It does not bind an individual to any particular belief or creed. Theosophy asks you to live your religion, not to leave it.

Theosophy as Science

Science limits itself to what can be quantified and tested by repeated, controlled, and objective experiments. Every great discovery of science was at first a grand intuition and theosophy reaches into the area of these “grand intuitions”. Theosophy, while pointing out new roads to inner knowledge, also teaches that only those who prepare themselves in action, desire, and thought to hold the welfare of humanity above their personal benefit can safely gain such knowledge.

Theosophy as Philosophy

Theosophy is not a body of beliefs but a way of explaining things (a philosophy). It holds that the universe unified, orderly, and purposeful, that matter is the instrument for the evolution of life, that thought is a creative power which we can learn to use effectively, and that experience of both joy and suffering is the means by which we grow in character and ability and thus attain wisdom, compassion and power.

Religion, science, and philosophy are three ways of viewing the truth of the universe.

Some Fundamental Concepts

  • Ultimate reality is a unified whole – absolute, impersonal, unknowable, and indescribable.
  • The universe is manifold, diverse, constantly changing
  • The ultimate reality is the source of all consciousness, matter and energy
  • The physical universe of which we are normally aware is only one aspect of the total universe. Of the seven planes of our solar system, human beings function primarily on the lower three: physical, emotional and mental.
  • Everything in the universe is orderly, following patterns of regular cycles
  • Evolution is good and follows a plan
  • We are threefold beings: 1) a temporary, single-lifetime personality; 2) a spark or direct emanation of the ultimate reality; 3) an abiding, evolving individuality that reincarnates (see also Reincarnation and Karma by Edgar Cayce).
  • The process of evolution must eventually become a conscious process
  • The evolving human has more intelligence, some may serve as helpers
  • The pain, cruelty, and frustration we experience in life are the result of ignorance, unbalanced actions, or change.
  • It is possible, as a result of individual effort in this life, for human beings to come by intuitive knowledge or mystical experience to a full awareness of their non separateness from the ultimate reality

What is within counts!

The Theosophical Society guarantees full freedom to interpret the teaching and has three prepositions:

  • The universe and all that exists within it are one interrelated (Compare with Dying to Be Me) and interdependent whole.
  • Every existent being is rooted in the same universal, life-creating reality
  • Recognition of the unique value of every living being expresses itself in reverence for life, compassion for all, sympathy with the need of all individuals to find truth for themselves, and respect for all religious traditions.

Central to the concerns of Theosophy is the desire to promote understanding and brotherhood among people of all races, nationalities, philosophies, and religions.

Devotion to truth, love for all living beings, and commitment to a life of active altruism are the marks of the true Theosophist.

The three truths:

  • The human soul is immortal, and its future is the future of a thing whose growth and splendor has not limit
  • The principle that gives life dwells in us and around us
  • We are each our own absolute lawgiver; the dispenser of glory or gloom to ourselves, the decreer of our life, our reward, our punishment

The Ancient Wisdom in the Modern World

1) History

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York City in 1875 and the chief founders were Helena Blavatsky (HPB) and Col. Olcott (HSO).  HPB was a Russian woman, married young and left her comfortable life to seek an explanation to life’s mysteries. She came in touch with some teacher in her dreams who sent her to America.

Olcott was a lawyer who served in the civil war. When spiritualism became interesting he went to Vermont to write a story. Publicity rose after the first cremation. HPB and HSO soon moved to the East. HPB focused on the esoteric aspects, HSO on its public aspects.

Annnie Besant became HPB’s successor and also adopted and fostered the Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti who grew up to be an independent teacher.

2) The International and National Societies

TS still has its international headquarters at Adyar and is now represented in about 70 counrties in the world.

3) Universal Brotherhood

The first object it to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color.

Brotherhood is the primary focus of Theosophy because all humans are related. Because we are interrelated, everything each of us does affects everyone else. Brotherhood is spiritual siblinghood/family. In old English it refers not to a group of males, but to people generally. Brotherhood is spiritual family of humanity. It is a goal to form a Center/Core/Nucleus, since the brotherhood already exists.

The universe is an expression of the Divine Reality.

In Theosophy brotherhood means much more than a humanistic ideal of kindness and consideration of others; it is an integral part of our existence as human beings.

Instead of accepting that “the fundamental identity of every soul with the universal over-soul” is a fact, we fight what is in our own best interest.

The humans have not yet wholly freed themselves from the cramping bondage of self-absorption and self-interest. We should not only consider the welfare of ourselves, our family our fellow-believers or communities.
We need to understand that what happens in one country affect all others. We all ultimately reap what we sow and thus learn the lessons of our sowing.

We need to work on ourselves to achieve betterment in the world!

Compassion, a virtue taught by Christ and Buddha, is the last great virtue that must be fully attained by every aspirant. We cannot judge one another. We have to recognize our oneness with all life, in whatever form it manifests.

4) Human Beings and our Bodie

The physical body is not the real person (see also Heal Thyself). Theosophy teaches that we are really the “Monad” or inner unity, a fragment of unity, a spark of the divine flame (which lives in many houses). In addition to the dense physical environment, we have environments of vital energy, feelings, thoughts and intuitions. Our interface with each environment performs two functions. On the one hand, it is the channel through which we experience and influence that environment. On the other hand, the kind of interface we have with an environment also limits how much of that environment we can experience and respond to (House-windows-how many we have determines what we see). Limitations protect us and limit us. Too much would lead to be overcome by sensations, energies, emotions, concepts etc.

Theosophy teaches us that our solar system includes seven interpenetrating planes of matter or fields of energy. Three are directly involved in our personal evolution – the physical , the emotional, and the mental. The physical consists of the dense and etheric level. The mental has a lower and higher subdivision (lower = mental; higher = causal). Bodies are not fixed and static. All bodies are really localized fields of force of concentrations, individual foci, of the energies of the larger fields in which they operate. Each of the bodies ha around it a radiating energy field (auras). The “bodies” are not really separate. They are interdependent and function as a whole.

We know we never feel emotion without thought, nor do we think without feeling emotion. And thoughts and emotions affect our physical bodies and vice versa. The connection between our various bodies is the chakras. They are seven major energy centers over our body, where channels of energy converge, each having the appearance of a wheel or lotus flower.

The causal body is more permanent than the others (incorruptible body) – composed of the higher-frequency energies. Our consciousness functioning on that plane is the real “us”; the aspect of ourselves that incarnated in lower bodies to gain experience through them. It is the body of our permanent individuality. Here are the causes stored that sooner or later become effects in the outer, visible world.

One part of the physical body is the dense part composed of solids, liquids, and gases. The etheric double is largely invisible and gives the pattern by which the dense physical body is built – every cell of the dense body! It is the carrier of physical sensation. The etheric double absorbs energy from the sun and transmits is as vitality. The etheric double can be separated from the dense physical body by shock, anesthetics etc. but remains attached by the “silver cord”. When it breaks, death follows.

The emotional body, extending beyond both the physical form and the etheric double, is the vehicle of feeling and desire, ranging all the way from earthy passions to inspiring emotions (radiant – therefore sometimes called astral).

When the physical body sleeps, the consciousness continues to function in the emotional body sometimes remembered through dreams. Clairvoyants describe the emotional body of an evolved person as filled with vibrant and luminous color. Less evolved persons are darker.

Theosophy describes each of the planes or fields of the universe as having seven subdivisions of matter or frequency, The “lower” mental body is composed of the four denser subdivisions of the mental plane the causal body is the vehicle of consciousness in the three subtler or “higher” subdivisions.

When the mental body is in use, it vibrates rapidly and temporarily increases in size. Prolonged thought makes the increase permanent, so the mental body is built day by day through the right use of thought power.

Because emotions and thoughts are interrelated, each affecting the other, these two bodies are closely linked. The mental together with the emotional is called kama manas, which means “desire mind”. The causal body is the vehicle through which the human individuality or soul expresses itself as a series of personalities in the world. It does so by functioning through temporary bodies – mental, emotional, and physical –on the denser planes. Only the good, the true, and the beautiful enter into the causal body, because its vibrations are so subtle that they do not respond to that which is coarse, false or ugly.

It is small at the beginning, as we evolve, and the effects of our good thoughts, feelings, and actions gradually are registered there; it takes on greater color and grows in size, but very slowly until we reach the stage of unselfish or impersonal views of the world.

The causal body continues life after life – is our permanent embodiment.

After our body dies we interact with our subtler-plane environment for a while through our emotional and mental bodies. But eventually they too die; then the beneficial experiences of the previous incarnation are incorporated in the form of increased capacities.

When the experiences of the previous incarnation have been so absorbed and transmuted into increased powers and capacities, the desire for more experiences draws us into incarnation again. We then attract about ourselves first a mental and next an emotional body of the same general characteristics as those we sloughed off at the close of our last incarnation. Thereafter, we come to birth in a new physical body built according to the sort of pattern we have established in past lives, although not necessarily of the same sex.

We need to manage control of our lower bodies!

5) Life after Death

We have actually many reports about what happens after dying. Survival of consciousness after dying is a logical conclusion. Life after death is unique for each person. Life after death is a subjective state said to be largely determined by the individual’s attitudes, thoughts, and actions – that is, by the level of consciousness attained during the life just completed.

There are two patterns of the after-death state. As a person approaches death, the etheric double withdraws, only the silver cord left. At the end the events of the ending incarnation pass swiftly in review, then when dying the cord is broken and the person (etheric double) seams to float above the dense physical body in a state of peaceful unconsciousness (sleep-body stays attached to the etheric double). You help the dying by staying calm and without emotional resistance.

After hours the inner person disengages from the etheric double and releases itself entirely from the physical world. The double “dies” and disintegrates, while the person’s consciousness remains in the emotional body. After dying, the person is attracted to that level most characteristic of the habitual emotions during life. The denser, coarser vibrations form the outer most shell. A person who has lived a life governed by strong, coarse desires (materialistic), awake to the vibrations of that type in a sort of purgatory (the desire can’t be fulfilled because the physical vehicle no longer exists). It is a result of natural law.

Individuals of less coarse tastes and more controlled appetites will experience no such intense emotional stress.

One view: Individual sleeps through the entire post mortem experience in the emotional world awakening only on the mental plane Devachan.

Other view: Individual sleeps only through the coarser levels; when the higher levels are reached they find life similar to that which they left (pleasant earth life – less material). Thoughts are now visible, so deception is impossible. The dead communicate with the living, while the latter are asleep. Loving thoughts from living friends and prayers – free of sadness – often help. Excessive grief is not good.

Every person is eventually cleansed of emotional desires (20 – 40 years). Then the individual awakens to more favorable and pleasant surroundings – entrance into heavenly life.

The special characteristic of the heaven world (Devachan), which exists from the four lower sub planes of the mental body through the highest causal sub planes, is said to be an intensity of bliss. In Devachan we create the world that best suits us. The experience of Devachan (a term that means “the land of Gods”) is a consolation for every pain and disappointment of earthly life. Devachan is a state of consciousness in which energies have been stepped up to an immensely high level. The individual has the power to grasp every situation in its entirety.

We spend time there as long as we need. Experiences from past life will be stored for future use in the form of conscience and ideals.
After a stay on the causal plane the individual grows hungry for more experience which leads to a vision of the next incarnation.

6) Reincarnation

Reincarnation is a fundamental concept of Theosophy (see also Reincarnation and Karma by Edgar Cayce and Reincarnation: The Missing Link in Christianity). Many people don’t accept the unfairness and inequalities with a God of justice and love. Each of us is an evolving part of the divine life (heavenly father who inexplicably plays cruel games while demanding unquestioning love!). Why does a soul have a future but no past? Since we have an earthly life, it must serve a purpose in the evolutionary process.

Reincarnation is the most logical and most in harmony with an orderly system (like school). Reincarnation is repeated entering into a fleshly body. Through each of our recurring lives in a body of flesh, we gather experience that (compare with Your Soul’s Plan), during the period between incarnations, we work into faculties and powers needed for further growth in spiritual statue. Some incarnations seem to be a failure but failure too is educative (humans enter after/at the end of a stream of animal incarnations).

We can start school in different years and vary in the progress we make (compare with The Heart of the Soul). Some are more/less advanced. We all have equal possibilities for development. The order varies. All learning follows a spiral pattern. Some things we have to relearn.

Reincarnation explains the differences we see all around us that neither environment nor heredity account for.

Each soul comes into a physical body bringing along the fruit of past lives. Talent is no gift; it is the result of lives of work in a particular endeavor. Conscience is the fruit of the past, the indelible record of lessons learned in other lives.

Reincarnation also offers an explanation for homosexuals. The inner self has no sex, but wears in one a male body, in another a female. If you pick the same sex for several lives and then switch, the other traits will remain.  It forces you to develop the other sexes’ response to experience.

It is believed by Hindus, old Egyptians, Buddha, Greek Pythagoreans, Kabbalah and it was believed among the early Christians.

Ian Stevenson wrote about past incarnations and the intersection of biology and reincarnation. We are affected by the “likes and dislikes” of past lives. Detailed memories are connected with the physical brain and when the body dies that brain consciousness is lost; detailed echoes of our past life are no longer active. When people remember it’s usually because the former life ended sudden and too early and the previous life was incomplete and the reincarnation took place quickly (close in place).

The past is eternally available but we do not know how to access it. Some people have achieved the necessary sensitiveness to recapture some memories of past lives.

Three main factors determine the circumstances of our next birth.

  • Law of evolution: The purpose of reincarnation is to further our intellectual and spiritual development.
  • Law of cause and effect: The law of justice determines if we either earned opportunities or if we will be limited.
  • Sympathy or connectedness: We have to meet those with whom we formed ties of love of hate; helpfulness or injury.

Everything works for the growth of the spirit!

7) Karma

Our universe is lawful and orderly, a place where nothing happens by chance. The energy put forth in thoughts and desires will sooner or later produce results. Even death does not cancel what we owe.

Karma is the law of cause and effect. Every action we do affects our relationship with our families, our friends, our business associates and others. Karma is the world of constant change; nirvana is the world of permanence. Karma is always educative; Karma is the law of growth. Karma is un-personal; it has no concern with us individually. Some karma is from present life; some from past. Some Karma is related to our family and some of it relates to humanity as a whole.

Every human being is constantly generating physical, emotional, and mental forces and the effects of those forces determine the kind of life we lead here. Reincarnation is part of the plan of evolution. We can continually modify the effects of any law. If any condition inconveniences, blocks or causes pain and discomfort to others, and ourselves we have a right, in some instances an obligation, to do what we can to change it. We grow and develop our powers through Karma, which helps us learn through dealing with problems. If in spite of our best efforts, the block or conditions remain, it may have other purpose – perhaps a lesson in renunciation, patience or sacrifice (first make sure it is inevitable).

You can counteract the effects of Karma. When we begin to find the right answers, we will realize that they come from within ourselves, where the problems also came from – for the answer is always in the problem. Each person’s life is intertwined with the life of all humanity.

We need to control what we think and feel! Whatever one of us does affects all others because at the deepest level of reality we are all one. Every time we think or feel or act unselfishly, we are helping. We can act for ourselves, but we have to act for others as well.  We also must act now!

8) The Power of Thought

We generate three karmic forces every day of our lives; thought, emotion and action. And the most powerful of these three is thought. Thought is an energy that consciousness produces to modify the subtle matter of the mental plane. Our thoughts vibrate. When we think the same thought, the resulting thought form is produced quickly and accurately. The effects of thought are of two kinds: those that react on the thinker and those that affect others.

Any repeated thought establishes a vibratory habit in our mental body and thoughts have side effects on the astral and causal bodies. We make ourselves by the way we think. When we think of others, radiating vibrations create a thought form that floats through the mental plane.

No external thought can impinge on us unless we are already attuned to its kind. If our thoughts are clear they will be resistant to being replaced by other thoughts.

Concentration and meditation are two important aspects of the power of thoughts.

Only a mind trained to stay on one subject, to concentrate on one task to the exclusion of all others, can succeed in meditation. Meditation is especially important if we are to undertake the inner work needed for treading the Path. It aims at quieting the personality to reach our individuality.

Devote 5 minutes each morning to quiet, positive thought, focusing on qualities to develop. We need to think about the opposites of our weaknesses. Close your eyes and see yourself acting with the quality you want to acquire. For this concentration is essential.

If you are easily irritated, practice seeing yourself as serene, calm, kind. But be aware that a test will come. And you will get irritated and think you failed but it passed more quickly and eventually you will not react with irritation, no matter what the situation. Then you can begin on another aspect you want to foster. Eventually 5 minutes is not enough. Regularity is more important than duration though.

Worry is one of the most difficult habits to overcome. You need to work in a new direction. When somebody is ill, don’t think about their illness but send them healing thoughts. We do not help “sinners” by dwelling on their faults. It is better to send them love and peace and progress. Send the dead ones only the most loving thoughts.

Ultimately, however, the purpose of meditation is not just to improve our personality, but also rather to put us in touch with our inner core. It helps us to discover who we really are. Spend 5 minutes every day just being quiet and becoming aware of your surroundings.

Goethe: Do not worry about your past. Do not be angry. Do not hate. Enjoy the present. Leave your future to Providence!

9) The Question of Evil

Why is there evil and pain in the world? There is no absolute, just relative evil in the world. Selfishness – no concern for the welfare of others – exists. Infants are selfish but not evil. It may help to substitute “incompleteness” or “imperfection” for “evil”. In this Universe nothing happens except in relation to something else. Evil, like good, exists only in relation to its opposite.

  • Stage: evolution towards ever-greater materiality, unconsciousness, and separation.
  • Stage of evolution: progression from materiality, unconsciousness, and separation to spirituality, awareness and unity; and from unselfishness, ignorance, coercion, and discord to altruism, knowledge, freedom, and harmony.

Evolution is a dynamic, onward-going process, with purposefulness at its core. Good is whatever is in harmony with the evolutionary purpose by aiding the journey onward, and evil is whatever works against it. Evil is the exaggeration of good, the progeny of human selfishness and greediness.

Good is all that works in harmony with the development of the universe; evil is what works against it.

Recognizing and opposing evil develops our moral sense. Pain results when we do a wrong action.

Struggle is not to be avoided, but to be acknowledged as the very root of existence in an evolving world.

We should lift our consciousness toward a level where evil cannot express itself.

Peace comes when we accept the nature of the world, with a selfless sense of detachment.

10) The Plan and Purpose of Life

What is the purpose of life? Science believes there is an orderly process in the universe; but it is concerned with natural causes and their effects, not with nature’s purposes and plans to achieve them. Theosophy believes there is intention and consciousness.

Three hypothesis:
1) Everything is chance.
2) The Universe is the product of inexorable natural law with no options and free will.
3) The Universe is a precisely ordered organization.

Theosophy takes the view that the purpose of existence is the development of latent possibilities into active powers.

Evolution is not only physically but also the evolution of consciousness from the restricted to the expanded and spirit to the consciously unified.

Earlier kingdoms – animal, vegetable, mineral – are more connected with each other than humans but they lack conscious awareness.

During the involution, life “descends” from a state of pure consciousness and becomes immersed in denser matters.

Each solar system is pervaded, energized, and controlled by a mighty collective consciousness, a divine Mind called LOGOS (or Word of God), which emerges from the Absolute. The divine Mind has called our solar systems into being and we are evolving fragments of the life of that Mind. The divine Mind lives through us.

According to the Theosophical hypothesis, three stupendous life impulses are needed to bring a world into being. The Trinity symbolizes them. When a world is formed, first that living matter has to be brought into existence, then it has to be molded into forms through which life becomes increasingly conscious, and finally that consciousness has to realize its identity and spiritual unity. The three steps are three Life Waves.

The first wave of creative energy corresponds to the Holy spirit and comes forth from the LOGOS. The first Life Wave passes “downward” or “outward” through seven stages, bringing into existence matter. During the “outward” breath or involution, matter reaches increasingly dense states. The process of creating matter takes eons. The densest matter in our universe is in the center of black holes.

While the first Life Wave is in the process of making matter, the second Life Wave – corresponding to the Son, or second person of the Trinity, also becomes active. The LOGOS sends out constant succession of these Second Life Waves. It brings characteristics that will enable matter to respond to stimuli through intuition, thought, desire, sensation and so on.

The first Life Wave develops and vivifies matter; the second builds from that matter the various kingdoms of life – canyons and mountains, worms and whales etc. which have the ability to respond to their environment. The Third Life Wave, corresponding to the Father, brings the most highly developed forms produced by the Second Life Wave into contact with the imperishable sparks of the divine life that are evolutionary units of consciousness called individual “monads” (units). In Theosophy this is the immortal spiritual Self, which becomes a separate evolving entity through the third Life Wave and which, by repeated incarnations, gradually unfolds its full potential.

The monad is consciousness plus the film of matter, but at the beginning it is not conscious of anything.

The monad is the ultimate spiritual identity or self-awareness.
The mineral kingdom has a single ensouling monad. In the vegetable kingdom, it is “divided” into separate functional units. In the animal kingdom, the monad becomes yet more “divided”. In the human kingdom, the monad reaches its nadir with a process called “individualization”, as a result of which the monad’s self-awareness linked with a single re-incarnating individual.

When we become human, we begin the process of evolving back to a realization of unity by linking up with our fellow creatures. The individuality is an extension of the monad, just as the personality is an extension of the individuality.

In the animal kingdom we have group souls. In lower forms of animal life (such as worms), a group soul is incarnated in a great many animal bodies. In higher forms (elephants) the same group soul incarnates simultaneously in only a few animal bodies.

Entry into the human kingdom is a great step forward in responsibility on the evolutionary journey. Gradually, we learn that we live in a world of natural laws, experiencing pleasure when those laws are obeyed and pain when they are disregarded. Great Teachers come and help us in our evolution. Humans evolve by gathering experiences in various cultures and genetic variations of our species. Such varying groups are called “root races”. Even the minor genetic and cultural variations of our species are useful for our schooling. We take birth in many “races” to learn specific lessons. Each culture/nation has a special lesson (Greece – beauty; Rome – organization; China – harmony etc.) Experience in many cultures is needed before the goal of the wholeness can be reached. To understand life, we must experience it in all of its variety.

One of the ways in which the variety of life manifests is called the Seven Rays – primordial cosmic energies. Those seven wavelengths make up the “white” that radiates from the sun.

Ray 1 – Atma – sense of Self

Ray 2 – Buddhi – relating to one another

Ray 3 – Higher Mind – discovering how to use knowledge to improve our world, ourselves and the purpose of living

Ray 4 – Vital Energy – balancing and harmonizing apparent opposites – life is our inner mediating power

Ray 5 – Lower Mind – discovering the world around us; understanding how things work and learning how to control our environment

Ray 6 – Emotional Self – relating to one another on a level; recognizing the underlying unity and equality of all beings

Ray 7 – Etheric Double – energy of acting formally, with discipline and habit, following a double

Every person and every thing has all seven of these energies in at least potential form, but various of the energies are dominant. The end of evolution is to have all seven of the energies fully developed and mutually integrated.

The purpose of life is the development of countless numbers of spiritually self-conscious and fully developed individuals who recognize their own individuality and unity – to discover who we are, to know ourselves and to know ourselves as integrated expressions of the oneness.

11) The Rise and Fall of Civilizations

The rise and fall of civilizations is part of the great plan. Cultures come and go, each supplying a particular field of development for the individuals incarnating in them and each contributing its own special gift.

The plan of evolution is sevenfold in nature. There are seven great evolutionary phases in which seven human types or “root races” appear and furnish vehicles for the process.  All types have their contribution to make . Each root race represents a school in which a major group of lessons must be learned; the sub-races represent grades within the school. Attendance is mandatory. Each school concentrates on learning/developing particular aspects of consciousness. We must recapitulate previous training. Root races exist as long as necessary.

The first two root races left no historical or geological records (no dense physical bodies). The first race – 55 million years ago – had sensations/perceptions at the most primary and basic level – sexless; they reproduced by budding. The second race – 35 million years ago – was luxuriant vegetation followed by violent terrestrial changes – the concentration was on activity, beginning to organize its bodies into vehicles of active expression by which to influence its environment. They sweated to reproduce.

The third root race – 18 million years ago – became physical. These were the Lemurians. The sexes were separated and emotion was developed. The mind was activated but relatively quiescent.

The fourth root race – 3 to 1 million years ago – was the actual development of the analytical mind and language (Atlentean). In Atlantis was a highly materialistic civilization, using magic evil in high places and endangered progress.

The fifth root race began 7500 years ago and started with refugees from Atlantis – Aryan (noble people). The present root race is still imbued with much of the Atlantean consciousness.  Problems are pride of intellect and indifference to moral and human values.
The fifth root race is now the dominant on this earth. We have to develop our social sense through the higher mind. Currently we are in the 5th subrace and hone this quality of mind and foreshadowing the next faculty – the intuition – which will begin to illumine the minds of the sixth subrace.

The sixth root race will recapitulate previous experience before bringing into full play the faculty of intuition (buddhi) and foreshadow the quality of spiritual will (7th root race).

Evolution does not leap but it happens gradually with much overlapping.

12) The Ancient Wisdom in Daily Life

Theosophy is practice as well as principle. Fellows can belong to any religion. Theosophy is non-dogmatic. It does not dictate any position. As Theosophists we are obligated by the principle of brotherhood to respect the right of others to differ from the position we hold.

All fellows are recommended to spend regularly some time in study to widen the mind by opening it to new truths, some time in meditation to internalize the truths learned.

Study, meditation, and service are the three aspects of “doing Theosophy” that Blavatsky alluded to.  Meditation can be 10 or 15 minutes of quietness first thing in the morning a review of the day’s activities before sleep at night. Service can be to the homeless, the dying, the disadvantages, to the society or its groups, or to the world by sending out thoughts of peace and harmony to all beings.

Other lifestyle considerations are vegetarian; no furs; no smoking, and no alcohol.

Thy truly Theosophy-life is one dedicated to learning by study, self-discovery by meditation, service to others; promotion of harmony among humans and respect.

The Theosophical Society has a website with lots of information and online resources: https://www.theosophical.org/

You can find a lot of information about Annie Besant, a  prominent theosophist, on this site: http://www.kurtleland.com/annie-besant-shrine

And there is Wiki specifically about Theosophy in four languages:  http://www.theosophy.wiki/

 

 

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