Theosophy

Theosophy, Alcoholics Anonymous, and God

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Published: Saturday, 24 March 2012 14:00

Sally and James Colbert -- USA   

NOTE: This is the first in a series of articles intended to help Theosophical students or their families deal with some of the major traumas visiting so many of us.  Included will be alcoholism, marijuana addiction, Alzheimer’s, mental illness, suicide, abortion, physical disability, and effects of psychic practices. Some of the common treatment options are  seen as at odds with Theosophical ideas and teachings. It has been asked how Theosophy can offer direction for encountering these circumstances. The series of articles will give direct focus to these areas while drawing from the teachings and placing them in a modern context for practical use. The writers have been contacted by Theosophists over a number of years regarding these concerns related to their connection to the teachings and their background in clinical psychology.

Aside from the suspected psychic, emotional and astral effects with alcohol addiction, the assault on the body would seem enough to stay clear of the liquor store. “Long-term use of alcohol in excessive quantities is capable of damaging nearly every organ and system in the body” www.en.wikipedia.org.

Within this article, Theosophical references will be found along with comments on accepted treatment approaches. One of these is Alcoholics Anonymous which has been seen, by some, to be in direct conflict with Theosophical principles. The approach is being used world over as well as  for other “addictions”, e.g., NA or Narcotics Anonymous, Over Eaters Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous, etc. all developed from the AA base.  “By some estimates, as many as one in ten Americans, including two-thirds of those ever treated for alcoholism, have attended at least one A.A. meeting.” (How Alcoholics Anonymous Works, Michael Craig Miller, M.D. – Harvard Medical School).

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The Voice of the Silence 3 (Verses 33-50)

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Published: Saturday, 24 March 2012 13:00

John Algeo – USA

The next four verses (33-36) of The Voice of the Silence continue to develop the theme of the three Halls, but introduce new metaphors for them: darkness, deceptive light, true light, and the stormy sea of life: “[33] That which is uncreate abides in thee, disciple, as it abides in that Hall [of Wisdom]. If thou wouldst reach it and blend the two [the create and uncreate], thou must divest thyself of thy dark garments of illusion. Stifle the voice of flesh, allow no image of the senses to get between its light and thine that thus the twain may blend in one. And having learnt thine own ajnana, 21 flee from the Hall of Learning. This Hall is dangerous in its perfidious beauty, is needed but for thy probation. Beware, lanoo, lest dazzled by illusive radiance thy soul should linger and be caught in its deceptive light. [34] This light shines from the jewel of the great ensnarer (Mara). 22 The senses it bewitches, blinds the mind, and leaves the unwary an abandoned wreck. [35] The moth attracted to the dazzling flame of thy night-lamp is doomed to perish in the viscid oil. The unwary soul that fails to grapple with the mocking demon of illusion will return to earth the slave of Mara. [36] Behold the hosts of souls. Watch how they hover o’er the stormy sea of human life, and how, exhausted, bleeding, broken-winged, they drop one after other on the swelling waves. Tossed by the fierce winds, chased by the gale, they drift into the eddies and disappear within the first great vortex.”

Note 21: “Ajnana is ignorance or non-wisdom, the opposite of ‘knowledge’ or jnana.” Jnana, from the root jna (cognate with English know), denotes “irrefutable intuition,” a knowledge based on direct experience and thus beyond question for the one who experiences it. The Hall of Learning offers the possibility of passing from ignorance to wisdom. But it also has all the dangers associated with learning. As the eighteenth-century poet Alexander Pope wrote, “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” The most important thing to learn in the middle hall is that we are ignorant of who we are. An awareness of our own ignorance is the beginning of wisdom. We cannot learn until we realize that we do not know.

Read more: The Voice of the Silence 3 (Verses 33-50)

William Quan Judge and The Theosophical Society – part two

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Published: Saturday, 24 March 2012 12:00

Dara Eklund – USA

[Based on a talk given by Dara Eklund at Krotona Institute of Theosophy in April 2010.]

Julia Keightley (Irish Theosophist, IV: 115) wrote of that early period: “It was a position in which the young lawyer seemed quite overweighted, but he did all that he could . . . [as] a neophyte, one of a band who have taken the vow of interior poverty, and whose unseen and unrecorded work is regarded as being of far more importance than exterior, visible work.

Julia Keightley

The main current of such lives runs underground. Already H. P. Blavatsky had written and said that he had been a part of herself and of the Great Lodge ‘for æons past,’ . . . and that he was one of those tried Egos who have reincarnated several times immediately after death; assisted to do so, and without devachanic rest, in order to continue his Lodge work. It is a matter of record that, when the seven years’ probation of this life were over, the Master best known in connection with the T.S. sent to Mr. Judge, through H.P.B., His photograph, inscribed upon the back ‘to my colleague,’ with a cryptogram and signature; and, a little later, a letter of thanks and advice, delivered to Mr. Judge in Paris by H.P.B. A message sent to him through H.P.B. in writing from the Lodge at about this time ends by saying: ‘Those who do all that they can and the best they know how do enough for us’.” Judge wished to do more, despairing in his first letter to Julia of the heavy karma man has accumulated. He wrote: “That deep sigh pierces through my heart. How can the load be lifted? Am I to stand for myself, while the few strong hands of Blessed Masters and Their friends hold back the awful cloud? Such a vow I registered ages ago to help them, and I must. Would to great Karma I could do more!” Letters That  Have Helped Me, letter 1: ULT ed., 1946, p. 2; http://theosophytrust.org/Online_Books/Letters_V1.2.pdf, p. 7).

Read more: William Quan Judge and The Theosophical Society – part two

Schizophrenia and the Search for the Soul - A Theosophical Perspective

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Published: Thursday, 22 March 2012 00:58

Sally and James Colbert – USA 

BACKGROUND OF THE AUTHORS

It might be asked as to the qualifications of the authors to write the article. One of the authors, a clinical psychologist, brought forth two schizophrenic daughters through a former marriage. One is still living and the other died from breast cancer. The other author’s mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia and she died a number of years ago – most probably due to suicide. Together we have participated in multiple forms of family support, had care giver support, explored a wide range of psychiatrists and other treatment options, provided the day-to-day care, went through multiple psychiatric hospital experiences with family members – both voluntary and involuntary, and experienced the treatment in both private and public facilities. In addition, one of the authors provided professional treatment for schizophrenic patients in hospital settings as well as in private practice. All family members have Theosophical backgrounds. Both daughters with schizophrenic diagnoses thought of themselves as Theosophists. We feel it is important to relate this background as it is important to know of this disease from the standpoint of the patient, family member, and the professional. And, to find in the Theosophical teachings concepts that may help in understanding.

WHAT IS SCHIZOPHRENIA?

Schizophrenia is a brain disease (E. Fuller Torrey, M.D.). Schizophrenia is due to genetic transmission (National Institute of Mental Health). Schizophrenia is due to nutritional deficiency (Orthomolecular psychiatry). Schizophrenia is due to early childhood trauma (Clancy D. McKenzie, M.D.). Schizophrenia comes from a psych spiritual crisis (C.G. Jung, M.D.).

Read more: Schizophrenia and the Search for the Soul - A Theosophical Perspective