Study reveals how humanity could unite to address global challenges Thursday, 25 July 2024 New research led by the University of Oxford has found that perceptions of globally shared life experiences and globally shared biology can strengthen psychological bonding with humanity at large, which can motivate prosocial action on a global scale and help to tackle global problems. The findings have been published today in Royal Society Open... Read More...
O Hidden Light Tuesday, 23 July 2024 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... Read More...
Too much positivity? (In the Light of Theosophy) Sunday, 21 July 2024 It appears that excessive positivity is bad for one’s health and mental well-being. It is beneficial to have a positive mindset, but the idea that we should always look on the bright side has gone too far. People struggling with low self-esteem are being asked these days to repeat self-affirmations such as, “I am a lovable person,” which... Read More...
Henry Steel Olcott and his ”PHONOGRAPHS” Saturday, 20 July 2024 Compiled by Jan Nicolaas Kind Jaishree Kannan Not so long ago Jaishree Kannan who is in charge of the Adyar Library and Research Centre submitted a kind of “mystery-photo” without any backgriound information to me when we were exploring some historical photos of famous persons who might have once visited Adyar and Thomas Alva Edison (February... Read More...
Rough Weather Ahead! … Thursday, 18 July 2024 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... Read More...
Crusades against Ugliness Tuesday, 16 July 2024 Tim Wyatt – England Tim Wyatt, the storyteller Just like you, I’m formulating my next life right here and now. Each one of us can choose to do this consciously as I’m trying to do. Or we can leave it to something we call chance or fate. But one way or another, what we’ve done in this life will shape subsequent appearances in human form... Read More...
Notable Books 65 Monday, 15 July 2024 Six Theosophic Points and Other Writings, Jacob Boehme, Ann Harbor Paperback; The University of Michigan Press. Available at Amazon. For more details click HERE Although we have done a previous review of Jacob Boehme’s work, The Key, it was felt that a reading and study of this text, by students of deep theosophical study, would be of... Read More...
Self-Compassion on the Spiritual Path Sunday, 14 July 2024 Barbara Hebert – USA Compassion for the personality is something that is rarely discussed in theosophical circles. As seekers on the spiritual path, the personality is typically ignored because of its temporality, yet the personality is the vehicle for traveling this path. It plays an essential role in our spiritual growth. We discuss compassion... Read More...
Scientific Research on Near-Death Experiences Saturday, 13 July 2024 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... Read More...
Practical Theosophy and the Joy of Service Thursday, 11 July 2024 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... Read More...
The Translation of the Collected Writings of H. P. Blavatsky Wednesday, 10 July 2024 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... Read More...
Le nostre responsabilità verso gli animali Sunday, 07 July 2024 Andrew Rooke – Australia 200 anni fa, quando i nativi indiani delle pianure nordamericane cacciavano i bisonti a cavallo, per prima cosa recitavano una preghiera di scuse ai loro “fratelli minori”, gli animali che stavano per uccidere solo per sfamare le loro famiglie. In passato tali atteggiamenti di umiltà e identità con il regno di vita... Read More...
Gli animali, i nostri fratelli minori Sunday, 07 July 2024 Andrew Rooke – Australia Che bellezza ... (un lemure, originario del Madagascar) Se mai avete avuto un amato animale domestico vi siete certamente chiesti come sia possibile che gli animali abbiano un tale impatto su noi umani semplicemente “essendoci”. Chi sono quegli esseri che chiamiamo “Animali” e come si relazionano con il... Read More...
Nossas responsabilidades para com os animais Saturday, 06 July 2024 Andrew Rooke – Austrália Quando os índios das planícies americanas partiram para caçar bisões, há 200 anos, primeiro fizeram uma oração de desculpas aos seus “irmãos mais novos”, os animais que estavam prestes a matar apenas para alimentar as suas famílias. Tais atitudes de humildade e identidade com o reino da vida abaixo de nós,... Read More...
Animais, nossos irmãos mais novos Saturday, 06 July 2024 Andrew Rooke – Austrália Que beleza.. (Lêmure, nativo de Madagascar) Se você já teve um animal de estimação querido em sua casa, certamente teria se perguntado: como é que os animais podem ter um impacto tão grande sobre nós, humanos, apenas por “estarem lá”? Quem são os seres que chamamos de 'animais' e como eles se relacionam... Read More...
The 3P’s of Spiritual (or Any) Progress. Friday, 05 July 2024 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... Read More...
Music and Healing Tuesday, 18 June 2024 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... Read More...
The Importance of Vegetarianism for the Practice of Yoga Monday, 17 June 2024 Marly Winckler – Brazil The word yoga (Yoga) comes from the Sanskrit Yuj, which means ‘to join’. According to Hindu philosophy, the human soul, or Jivatma, is a partial facet or expression of the Over-Soul, or Paramatma, the Divine Reality, the source of the manifested Universe. Although in essence the two are the same... Read More...
HISTORICAL PHOTOS: Indira Gandhi visits the Theosophical Society, Adyar. Saturday, 08 June 2024 In 1882, the International Headquarters of the Society were established in Adyar, near Madras (now Chennai) in India. The Indian Section of the Theosophical Society was chartered on November 17, 1890 effective from 1 January 1891. The Indian Section of the Theosophical Society was registered on 31 August 1903 with its Headquarters at Varanasi.... Read More...
Ten People Saturday, 08 June 2024 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... Read More...
HPB and PHOTOGRAPHY - Sometimes A Thin Line Between Lunacy and Genius Monday, 03 June 2024 Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre (1787-1851) was a French artist and photographer, recognized for his invention of the eponymous daguerreotype process of photography. He became known as one of the fathers of photography The Daguerreotype camera The Daguerreotype camera captured the first ever picture of a human being, at... Read More...
The Moral Dimension of Life Thursday, 30 May 2024 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 . . . ... Read More...
Pekka Ervast’s Spiritual Teachings Tuesday, 28 May 2024 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... Read More...
The Masters Revealed? Saturday, 25 May 2024 Dara Eklund – USA Dara Eklund and Nicholas Weeks n 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... Read More...
A Few Theosophical Threads From HPB Tuesday, 21 May 2024 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... Read More...
On using words with Care Thursday, 16 May 2024 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... Read More...
A note from Joma Sipe in Portugal (May 2024) Monday, 06 May 2024 Joima at work Last year I created a custom piece that I have not shared yet, it is called “Message from the Land of Silence”. This is a panel made with the six pointed star, symbolizing inspiration and the dove representing the Holy Spirit. Furthermore, at the bottom the symbolism of the Triad, inserted in a form of three swirling... Read More...
Can animals count? Sunday, 05 May 2024 Neuroscientists resolve long-standing debate Some monkeys have shown the ability to count objects (Image credit: Michael Woodruff/Shutterstock) Research co-led by neuroscientists Professor Yung Wing-ho from City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) and Professor Ke Ya from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) Faculty of Medicine... Read More...
The Fourth Pillar of Practice Saturday, 04 May 2024 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... Read More...