Theosophy

Introduction to this presentation by translator/compiler Antti Savinainen

Pekka Ervast (1875–1934), a theosophical lecturer and author, played a pivotal role in establishing the Theosophical movement in Finland . For a concise overview of his life and work, click HERE  

Ervast’s tenure as the General Secretary of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) in Finland for over a decade was instrumental. He later founded the Finnish Rosy Cross (“Ruusu-Risti” in Finnish) in 1920, with a focus on esoteric Christianity and the mysteries of the Finnish national epic, the Kaleva. Ervast always held a deep reverence for Madame Blavatsky (1831–1891), whom he believed embodied the true spirit of Theosophy and the Masters' mission to guide humanity towards a new awakening.

Kenneth Small – USA

Ke

Kenneth Small 

Insights from Helena Blavatsky, William James, D.T. Suzuki, Erich Fromm, Meister Eckhart

The Path of Compassion: Poetry and ‘Points’ of Awakening

In this introductory overview of Blavatsky’s The Voice of the Silence (VOS), we will touch on its history and religious and literary influence since it was first published, its core elements of poetry and rhythm, paradox and simile. Then in this series, also in its content:  the path of compassion, the paramitas and ethics of transformation, and non-dualism, as well as its Tibetan Buddhist, Mahayana and Raja Yoga elements.

Ali Ritsema – the Netherlands

I would like to start with a quotation from the Catechism in The Secret Doctrine (SD), vol. I, p. 120:

'Lift thy head, O Lanoo; dost thou see one, or countless lights above thee, burning in the dark midnight sky?'

'I sense one Flame, O Gurudeva, I see countless undetached sparks shining in it.'

'Thou sayest well. And now look around and into thyself. That light which bums inside thee, dost thou feel it different in anywise from the light that shines in thy Brother men?'

'It is in no way different, though the prisoner is held in bondage by Karma, and though its outer garments delude the ignorant into saying, "Thy Soul and My Soul".'

Tim Boyd – India, USA

Tim Boyd, driven. motivated and always inspiring

Recently I was invited to say something about the second verse of the Universal Invocation, “O Hidden Light shining in every creature.” As with most members of the Theosophical Society (TS), it is a verse with which I am quite familiar. Since the earliest stages of my membership and throughout my association with the TS, I have continually encountered it. At the TS international headquarters in Adyar and throughout the Indian Section every meeting begins with it, and many groups around the world take the same approach. The entire invocation is:

O Hidden Life, vibrant in every atom;

O Hidden Light, shining in every creature;

O Hidden Love, embracing all in Oneness;

May each who feels himself as one with Thee, Know he is therefore one with every other.

Boris de Zirkoff – USA

[Original cover-photo]

The far-flung scene of the organized Theosophical Movement is astir with a new life, and the old stage setting is giving way to a new.

Gradual in some places, rather rapid in others, the change is welcome. If continued and expanded, it might spell life for the Movement as a whole, as opposed to suspended animation, lethargy and final death.

As is the case with all changes in nature, those in the organized Movement are connected with much soul-searching and attendant suffering and confusion. Wherever leadership is absent, the confusion is greater, and the outcome uncertain. Emotions may for a while take the place of reason, but will eventually resolve themselves into a new pattern of thought.

Antti Savinainen – Finland

Philosopher and psychiatrist Raymond Moody published the first book on near-death experiences (NDEs), Life after Life, in 1975. Moody interviewed 150 people who had experienced an NDE and presented his findings in this book, which created broad interest and became a best seller. Although it was based on qualitative data (individual recollections), Moody’s later research utilized more rigorous methods typically employed in medical science.

Marie Harkness – Ireland

The JOY of Service

It is important to have a clear understanding of what Theosophy actually is. What is Theosophy? It literally means Divine Wisdom, or Wisdom of the Gods. Radha Burnier, former International President (1980–2013) of the Theosophical Society (TS) stated:

Theosophy is not a kind of empty philosophy, or a new sect or religion, but has to do with learning about life and the realization of its beauty and its meaning. Those who work in this way . . . become a light radiating friendship and harmony, kindness and love in action towards all. If we study Theosophy and that does not lead to such a change in the quality of our relationships and our attitude, there is something missing in the way we understand Theosophy.

Marly Winckler – Brazil

The author translated H. P. Blavatsky's Collected Writings Volume 1 into Portuguese

For the first time, Portuguese-speaking readers now have access to the translated version of the Collected Writings of H. P. Blavatsky, originally penned between 1874 and 1878. The monumental task of compiling her writings was undertaken by Boris de Zirkoff, Blavatsky's great nephew, who described her writings as "one of the most impressive products of the human creative mind. Considering their unparalleled erudition, prophetic nature, and spiritual depth, they must be classified among the inexplicable phenomena of the era, by both friends and foes alike. Even a cursory examination of these writings reveals their monumental character."

Douglas Keene – USA

For those that recognize a divinity in ourselves and our universe, we often wonder how to approach it. How do we open ourselves and unlock the secrets of the universe?  What is the formula for spiritual progress, if there is one?  How do we seek and engage our own divinity?  Many traditions have offered answers across the ages. One very simple response might be what I called the 3P’s of spiritual progress.

Andrew Rooke – Australia

Most of us frequently listen to music. We have a radio in the background at home; we hear music in supermarkets as we shop and in the railway station or lift as we make our way to work. Music is an essential feature of modern life. Did you ever think that besides the music blaring from a million radios and televisions that a sea of cosmic music surrounds us, harmoniously vibrating life-atoms that form the vehicles of spiritual forces underlying manifestation? Perhaps the beautiful colors in nature are manifestations of the symphonic harmonies singing about us. From the gurgling of a brook to the complex melodies of a classical symphony, the many forms of music we hear are translations to our plane of music that fills the Universe.

Tim Boyd – India, USA

Tim Boyd speaks

I am told that J. Krishnamurti once made the comment that if there were ten people in the world like him, the world would be transformed. Regardless of one’s opinion of Krishnamurti’s history or status as a “World Teacher”, the statement is worth considering. Coming from the mouth of an average person, a normal reaction to hearing such a statement would bring the idea of delusion or extreme boastfulness. “Who does he think he is?” is the question that would arise. Given the more than seven decades of Krishnamurti’s life of teaching and speaking, and the numerous books by him and about him, we have some sense of who he was and what he might have meant. Clearly the ten transformative people he was talking about were not determined by their personalities, circumstances, or popular regard. Although these are the tags most of us normally use to identify ourselves, to him they were meaningless attributes. The “ten people” referred to something deeper. That something is consciousness.

Svitlana Gavrylenko – Ukraine

The author

What is the object of this system [Theosophy]? THEOSOPHIST: First of all, to inculcate certain great moral truths upon its disciples . . .                                                                                                 

                                                                                                                  H. P. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy

We correlate our actions in the physical world to consider all circumstances and possible consequences. Likewise, we must relate our actions to the divine moral law that pervades the entire universe. We see harmony and order in the Cosmos, we also know about the law of interconnectedness, interdependence of everything with everything (the so called quality of totality).

Antti Savinainen – Finland

Pekka Ervast

Introduction:

Pekka Ervast (1875‒1934) was an exceptional person whose influence is still felt in Finland today. He left a remarkable literary legacy that centers on Theosophy, esoteric Christianity, the ethics of the Sermon on the Mount, and the wisdom of the Finnish national epic, the Kalevala.

Ervast was one of the founders of the Finnish Section of the Theosophical Society in 1907 and was elected as the Section’s first secretary general. After various stages, Ervast resigned from the Theosophical Society and in 1920 founded the Finnish Rosy Cross.

Although it is institutionally separate, the Finnish Rosy Cross remains a part of the Theosophical movement started by H. P. Blavatsky, whom Ervast loved and respected deeply. Ervast chose the name “Finnish Rosy Cross” (Ruusu-Risti in Finnish) for the new organization to emphasize the ideological and internal link with the movement in esoteric Christianity that some believe originated with Christian Rosenkreutz as early as the fifteenth century.

Christian Rosenkreutz appears in two important tracts published in the early seventeenth century: the Fama fraternitatis (“The Rumor of the Brotherhood”) and the Confessio fraternitatis (“The Confession of the Brotherhood”), which were a major impulse to the spread of the Rosicrucian movement. Some contend that Christian Rosenkreutz was a merely symbolic figure; others contend that he really lived as a historical person.

_______

Dara Eklund – USA

Dara Eklund and Nicholas Weeks in front of their Moorpark house. This photo was probably taken in 2012

The ancient sages recognized that proof of reality lies ultimately in man himself, testing and discerning the facts of Nature with his divine counterpart within. Know Man and you can know God, say the mystics. According to the Pantheists: know Nature and you may know God. Every outward scene has a counterpart within to be discerned.

David M. Grossman – USA

 It was the work of H.P. Blavatsky, central messenger of the modern Theosophical movement, through her writings and tireless efforts, to paint a living picture of who we are, where we have come from and where we are going, placing us within the historical map that she draws of cyclic evolution as well as to cultivate and spread the vision of Universal Brotherhood in the world.

William Quan Judge, one of the three principle founders of the Theosophical Society,  advised us to use words with care, and this advice is very necessary if we would leave no room for “avoidable” misconceptions. The unavoidable misconceptions are due to the limitations of the readers or of the listeners, their preconceived notions and experience. Three words, especially, need to be used with great care; Ego, conscience, Tradition.

Tim Boyd – India, USA

The author, profound, observant, creative and all-embracing

One of the somewhat paradoxical goals of spiritual practice is to become less self-centered. The results of practice might be described as becoming “unselfed”. Expressed in simple terms spiritual practice focuses on diminishing the limiting influence of the personal self by shifting the center of awareness to a Greater, or Universal Self. It is paradoxical because in order for this shift to take place there has to be an initial commitment of the unrefined personality to the process — a commitment to a future exaltation that to the personal self looks a lot like extinction.

Cary Gardner – USA  

What do we really know about the human family and the pilgrimage of mankind? The Voice of the Silence makes this firm statement.   “To live to benefit mankind is the first step.” How do we benefit mankind?  What do we really know about mankind as a whole?   Our personal life, our family and community provide us with our initial clues.   As we grow older we might have travel experiences, reading and media influences that might reveal more about our fellow man, but our knowledge is fragmentary at best, no matter how well traveled one might be.  How grand is this family of which we are members? Where did we come from and where are we going?

Andrew Rooke – Australia

When the American Plains Indians rode forth to hunt bison 200 years ago, they first said a prayer of apology to their ‘younger brothers’ the animals which they were about to kill only to feed their  families. Such attitudes of humility and identity with the kingdom of life below us humans has, in the past, been little in evidence in our ‘civilized’ society. We often preach peace and brotherhood from the pulpit, but how often do we pause to think that Universal Brotherhood includes all of Nature’s kingdoms and not just our fellow humans?

Andrew Rooke – Australia

What a beauty ..  (Lemur, native to Madagascar)

If you have ever had a beloved pet in your household, you would certainly have wondered, how is it that animals can have such a major impact on us humans by just ‘being there’? Who are the beings we call the ‘Animals’ and how do they relate to the human kingdom?

Antti Savinainen – Finland

Children’s Reincarnation Memories

Reincarnation is among the most central teachings of Theosophy and Anthroposophy, which portray it as an opportunity to evolve as a human being from one life to the next. Our understanding of reincarnation has been shaped by the teachings of Eastern religions and spiritual teachers, which are thought to be based on experiential spiritual knowledge. Understandably, this is not convincing to a person outside spiritual movements.

Even so, there is empirical evidence for reincarnation independent of Eastern religions and spiritual movements. It has been suggested, for example, that past-life memories can be activated by hypnosis. But the results obtained with hypnosis seem very unreliable from the point of view of both scientific and spiritual research, so I will not investigate them further. Here I will focus on scientific research on children’s reincarnation memories and its criticisms. Finally, I will evaluate the results from the perspective of Theosophy.

John Algeo – USA

John Algeo at his best: lecturing at Olcott in Wheaton

An old kabbalistic motto holds that Demon est Deus inversus, "The devil is God upside down," or "The devil is God's complement." The Irish poet William Butler Yeats took, as his mystical name in the kabbalistic Order of the Golden Dawn, the initials of that Latin motto, D.E.D.I. Those letters, however, also spell the Latin verb dedi, which means "I have given" and thus punningly suggests that the diabolic is a divine gift.