Introduction by Jan Nicolaas Kind

In 2007 I was fortunate enough to be present on the wonderful grounds of the International Theosophical Centre (ITC) in Naarden Holland, to participate in the Dutch Summer School. It was during a morning session in the Besant Hall, when I witnessed one of the most amazing presentations I have seen so far. That particular morning in July, Ali Ritsema, former General Secretary of the Dutch Section, gave an introduction to the Stanzas of Dzyan, I will not lightly forget. 

What made Ali’s introduction so dynamic and unique, was her PowerPoint presentation with impressive images to accompany the rather difficult to understand and mysterious texts of the Stanza’s. Believe it or not, but by looking at those images, in combination with Ali’s presentation, H. P. B.’s  ”puddingbags” and ”jelly-like” creatures of the first race came to life.

Here is the link to the compilation of that memorable presentation:

http://www.hypatia.gr/Secret_Doctrine/Karma.html

That day Ali also explained to the listeners that her attempts to make the Slokas and Stanzas more accessible wouldn’t have been possible without the artistic input of Erica Georgiades from Greece, who actually had compiled the visual part of the presentation. The two of them had met in Athens-Greece earlier, and that encounter certainly had been productive.

Since then Erica has developed her ideas of presenting the Stanzas even further.  In her own words:

The Secret Doctrine (SD) is, 122 years after its publication, still the most important and inspiring work of all the Theosophical publications on perennial philosophy since the foundation of the Theosophical Society in 1875. However, paradoxically few are the T.S. members who have read the S.D., and even fewer those who have studied it. The reason for such a paradox is that the S.D. is considered to be very difficult.

Indeed it might not be an easy to read book but those who are adventurous enough to study it seriously will certainly be rewarded with a deep inner change. By adapting the Stanzas of Dzyan to video, it was the intention to show that the S.D. is not merely a work for intellectual study but a profound spiritual work for meditation, leading the mind into the most abstract fields of metaphysics.

H.P.B. advises those interested in the S.D. to get first of all acquainted with some basic concepts, underlying the entire system presented in the book. These fundamental ideas are resumed in the Three Fundamental Propositions.  But it is necessary to add another advice: read, meditate and become familiar with the 19 Stanzas of Dzyan before starting to study the S.D.

The Stanzas of Dzyan on video are organized in a way to help you with that. You can access all the videos through the following link:

http://www.hypatia.gr/Secret_Doctrine/Secret_Doctrine.html

Erica Georgiades