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Vol. 15 No. 11 Boulder, Colorado November, 2000Mantra

Editor Dick Slusser and Marty Lyman decided to rent acar a few weeks ago upon arriving in L.A., California. Martyplaced her smaller belongings on the back seat, then both wentto pick up their few remaining luggage items. In a matter of afew seconds and within two feet from the surveillance camerasome professional robbers stole all of Marty’s money, creditcards and I.D. (SHIT!)

Shit is the common response to loss and a well knownmantra in America. Upon return to Colorado, Dick came acrossBo Lozoff’s new book Its A Meaningful Life - it just takespractice. Some mantra practices for everyday life are containedtherein.

In the beginning was the Word. There was spirit and fromspirit came matter. ‘Words’ were used to differentiate thevarious forms of matter as matter evolved and manas wasdeveloped. Adam Warcup points out that Humanity lost itsspiritual identification when it became engrossed in matter.

A mantra is a series of sounds which can bring man backto a point of stillness. On a more subtle field, mantras arenothing more than a collection of sounds to produce a certaineffect. Shit, the common American mantra of loss is a fineexample. It is a release of frustration or anger.

Sound has enormous power; in fact, it has the power to

ContentsMantra…...................................1

Mantras For Everyday Life…...3

Book Review…...........................5

Origin & Evolution Of Man… 6

Be Still And Know ThatYou Am God…...........................7

What Is A Mantram?….............9

A German Mystic’s Teachings.11

Ssecret Doctrine Questionand Answer Section…..............13

Letters Received…...................16

Jose Ramon Sordo Writes........19

A True Story.............................27

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create an entire universe. Theosophy calls thissound Aum (Vach). Some mantras are lettersand syllables that come together to form words.Each word has its own power and produces itsown reaction.

An analogy: Once a saint was giving a lecture

on the power of mantra. He was saying,“Mantra has the power to take us toGod.” As soon as he heard this, a skepticin the audience stood up and shouted,“That’s nonsense! How can repeating aword take us to God? If we keeprepeating `bread, bread, bread,’ will thatmanifest a loaf of bread?”

The saint snapped, “Sit down youbastard!” The man began to tremble andhis face turned red. “How dare you speakto me like that?” he cried. “You callyourself a holy man and yet you goaround insulting others! What kind ofperson are you?”

“Sir, I am very sorry if I offendedyou,” the saint said. “But tell me, whatare you feeling at this moment?”

“Can’t you tell what I am feeling?”the man shouted. “I am outraged!”

“Oh, sir,” said the saint, “I usedjust one abusive word, and it had such apowerful effect on you!” When this is thecase, why shouldn’t the name of Godhave the power to change you?” SwamiMuktananda: Where Are You Going,page 89.

Using the name of God or even Emptinessis the highest level of mantra, but there are

many intermediate steps. Some examplesmight be contemplation, chanting, japapractice (saying a particular name or phraseover and over) or simply counting.

There are two kinds of contemplation.When Marty noticed that her belongings weremissing, the phrase: “You don’t take bacon intoBear Country. You no longer have your bacon:“You are Free!” kept coming to mind. No, itwas not Shit nor was it her mantra So’Ham,although that mantra did sneak in betweenbreaths. A contemplation can be just a simpleset of words which sets one free of feelingsgiven in the moment. The other kind ofcontemplation is done with reading. Books likethe Secret Doctrine are not meant to be read inone setting and forty pages a day. Take maybeone paragraph and read it over and over - thinkabout it.

Chanting is simply repeating the name ofGod or in Buddhism certain phrases, to amelodic sound. Chanting can take a mantra toa deeper level or as in the case of a fast chant toa faster fevered pitch. Try being angry whilechanting; it is an experience. What happens tothe anger?

The purpose of Japa practice is to remindyou of God - to remind you of God’s name in acrisis. It is the ultimate when Yama (God ofDeath) comes knocking. Japa is a highermethod of releasing anger and frustration andmore.

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A Practice: MANTRAS FOR EVERYDAYLIFE

We may wish to maintain presence ofmind when we are faced with a crisis or trauma,but how can we actually ensure it? How can webecome people whose instantaneous reflexesturn to the spiritual rather than to fear, rage, ordenial? One thing is for sure: we cannot waituntil we are in times of crisis to develop a goodcrisis response. We must practice a spiritualfocusing technique during ordinary times, sothat when a crisis comes, it is almost secondnature to respond from a centered place.

The Sanskrit word mantra is a combina-tion of root words that together mean “mindprotector.” Mantra can be practiced on manydifferent levels. A person may take one of thenames of God as a mantra, for example, and tryto repeat it silently throughout the day. This typeof mantra practice can steady the mind in adevotional way.

Over a long period of time, mantra canstrengthen one’s focus to an extraordinarydegree. Mahatma Gandhi used perhaps the mostcommon Hindu mantra, Ram (God), for manyyears. When an assassin fatally shot himpoint-blank, the only thing he uttered as hecrumpled to the ground was “Jai Ram!” Not“How could you?” or “No, no!” Just “Hail God.”Imagine such unshakable presence of mind.

We can also use mantras as a practical toolfor reminding ourselves of changes we’re tryingto make in our lives. They can help us breakthrough old habits and limited ways of seeingthings. The practice is separated into two parts:investment and repetition.

Sit quietly with one of the followingmantras in the morning and repeat it to yourselffor at least ten minutes (longer if you can),letting the shades of meaning sink in deeper anddeeper until you feel connected to what themantra is saying to you personally. This iscalled investing a mantra. After having investedthe mantra, bring it to mind as often as you canthroughout the day, especially as you get caughtup in the conflicts or dramas of what’s going onaround you. Let the mantra remind you of yourdeeper view, your cosmic humor, or the depthyou may have felt during the investment period.Let it help change your view right in the middleof all the action. It will if you stick with it.

Here are a few mantras to try, both classicand contemporary: The most traditional form ofmantra is to repeat one of the names of God, ora sacred phrase containing holy words. Thesages tell us that the sounds of such wordsalone, especially in ancient languages such asArabic, Hebrew, and Sanskrit, cause vibrationsthat affect our bodies, minds, and spirits.

You can see if one of the following mantrascalls to you, or just try one anyway for a month orso, and see how it feels. These classic mantras, aswell as many others, can be repeated dozens oreven thousands of times daily-waiting for aplane, at the grocery store, in a traffic jam, intimes of fear or stress, and so on.

• Jai Ram or Hare Krishna. Both mean“Hail God” in Hindi. Longer versions of both,which are also used widely, are Sri Ram Jai RamJai Jai Ram and Hare Krishna Hare Krishna,Krishna Krishna Hare Hare, Hare Ram HareRam, Ram Ram Hare Hare.

• Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, havemercy upon me, a sinner. This is called the

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“Jesus Prayer.”

• Om mani padme hum. Tibet’s mantra ofcompassion. Each of the six syllables is said topurify different levels of our being and to grantstrong protection from negative influences andillnesses.

• Baruch ata Adonai Eloheinu melechha’olom. “Blessed are You, oh Lord our God,”in Hebrew.

• La ilaha ill Allah. From the MuslimKoran, it means “None has the right to beworshipped but God.”

CONTEMPORARY MANTRAS

It’s good to be alive. This is not soelementary as it may seem. To be alive, to bebreathing, is good. Before anything is addedthat causes pleasure or pain, harmony orconflicts, comfort or fear, success or failure;before we are old or young, black or white, richor poor, man or woman, imprisoned or free, it’sgood to be alive. In and of itself. For itself.Don’t overlook it. Be grateful. If we let thatmost basic appreciation slide from ourawareness, we will be endlessly batted back andforth like a Ping-Pong ball between happinessand sadness, loss and gain, pleasure and pain,constant change. The most effective way to dealwith the world is to be firmly centered in life’sfree, basic, unchanging goodness.

In the investment period, repeat It’s goodto be alive, and gradually deepen your direct,gentle experience of being alive. Feel grateful.Bring a soft smile of wisdom into your heart tostart the day, knowing that today will bring upsand downs like every other day, but you will try

not to be a PingPong ball.

One God. Sita and I often invoke thismantra, as do other members of our community.When things do not go as they are supposed togo, it is useful to remember that there are not twoGods-one who sees your flat tire, and a differentone who knows you are due at a meeting in tenminutes. One God. Whenever we feel tornbetween two apparently opposing forces orconditions, this mantra can help us accept theconflict and deal with it.

No hard feelings. This mantra has beenpowerful for a lot of people. During theinvestment period, as you repeat it to yourself,see how many different types of hard feelingscome to mind, from the minor ego bruises ofyesterday at the supermarket, to the most seriousgrudges you have been holding since yourchildhood. Let them all go. Let even your enemiesoff the hook. Soften and depersonalize anyemotional states that have caused you pain for somany years. Understand your past conflicts asthough each one were a Superbowl game that youfought hard and lost. Let the opposing players offthe hook; the game is over. Move on.

The more you see the truth of things, theeasier it is to do whatever you need to do, butwithout selfrighteousness, anger, or bitterness.Every time you feel a harsh feeling, a bitter edge,bring the mantra to mind. No hard feelings. It’stough sometimes, but it works.

Untouched. During the investment period,while silently repeating Untouched, try to feelthat central part of you that has always been thesame, through every experience of your life-thatinner, unchanging witness of every moment.That is the one true, immortal Self. Take a few

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moments to realize that this Pure Awareness hasbeen exactly the same during the best and worstevents of your life.

Especially when you feel extremelycaught, negative, or frightened, the mantraUntouched can help you remember that it is onlythe character you are playing who is caught orfrightened, not the Actor.

The Actor, Pure Awareness, remainsuntouched. This is a very good mantra forpeople who wish to be less touchy andtemperamental. Your Real Self is beyondattack. As the Course in Miracles reminds us,“Nothing real can be threatened, nothing unrealexists.”

Mantra practice may take some time to getused to. That’s why it’s called practice. Youmay look back on your day and realize that youforgot to use your mantra at all. Feel free to useany tricks you can think of to do bettertomorrow. A rubber band around the wrist, awatch that beeps on the hour, whatever. Yourability to remember your mantra during thecraziness of the day will strengthen greatly ifyou put in the effort.

I have practiced the mantra Ram for manyyears, and I am very comforted to see that evenduring dreams and nightmares, as well asreal-life calamities, my mantra is right here,immediately reminding me to keep breathing,keep my faith strong, keep my mind clear andmy heart open.

Do not make the mistake of thinking thatthe purpose of mantra is to tune yourself to a“higher plane” or in any other way remove youfrom the situation at hand. It is really the

opposite: mantra helps you stay right here, withno need to run away; it helps you not waste timeby resisting reality while also helping yourespond deliberately with some degree ofequanimity and gracefulness. Mantra is also agreat substitute for unwanted stray thoughts andgeneral noise of the mind. It is a very powerfullife companion.

It’s a Meaningful Life, Bo Lozoff, VikingPenguin, 2000

Book ReviewIt’s A Meaningful Life -It Just Takes

Practice by Bo Lozoff is Bo’s latest edition ofa series of spiritual books he has written. Inthis book, Bo addresses our modern times withall its technological trappings. He givespractical spiritual advice for the averagefamily person in how to cope within thesetimes. Much of the advice comes from actualexperiences and his daily practices. In part oneof the book, he deals with the American Dreamcoupled with all the advances in moderntechnology. He teaches you how to cope with ahighly stressful society. In part two, he addresspracticing service in the community. Hisexperience comes from thirty years of workingwith Interfaith groups, in prisons, and nowrunning a co-operative house. He isconfounder of the Human Kindness Founda-tion. The book is prefaced by a statement fromHis Holiness, The Dalai Lama.

The book may be obtained throughwww.amazon.com or by writing PenguinPutnam Inc. 375 Hudson St. New York, NewYork 10014, U.S.A. Price: U.S. $23.95.

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The Origin and Evolution of ManBy

Adam Warcup

Just as the master endowed the chela withmore faculty, the dhyani has endowed thehuman being with self consciousness and theyare karmically tied, but much like the masterleaving the chela to make his own decisions sotoo must the dhyani allow the human being toweave its own karmic web for himself. Thehuman being is set to make his own path ofevolution.

As the human being is drawn down theinvolutionary arc so too the dhyani is takenwith him. One can not distinguish the two.This downward cycle moves into a moreconcrete and actual form of substance. It is notonly physical but emotional and psychic. Thepersonality is becoming more dense, moreconcrete and more restrictive as time passes.This downward arc is what the Christianreligion refers to as the “Fall of Man.”

This is where it will make a difference asto which class of entities we follow: the class inwhich the dhyani’s entered or the class whereonly a spark was projected. In the naturalcourse of evolution, the entity which was born“spiritual” travels downward as part of

Nature’s processes. It is destined to becomeenmeshed in the psychic and physical.Humanity must go through the process ofseparateness in order to understand who theyare and experience a sense of spiritual SelfConsciousness. The beings born of the actionof the dhyanis had but a weak spark of selfconsciousness. Their sense of self separate-ness would compare very unfavorably with usnow. It is because of this weak sense that theyare drawn into the involutionary cycle.

The involutionary cycle draws out thefirst element which is of a psychic nature. Itcan be thought of as our thoughts and feelings.Our perception of the world is brought outthrough our five senses, our memories ofpervious times, and our immediate faculties ofthinking, feeling, remembering and imagining.This perception has woven about us a shell ofexperience which is so complete that we areunaware of anything outside of it. Anythingthat is outside of it, is thought of as abstract oreven non existent. This perception graduallyhas taken place since the Third Root Race.The more the entities began to use thesefaculties, the more the entity lost itsconsciousness of its oneness within. Remem-ber that while all this is going on, so too thephysical form is becoming more consolidated.This gives the impression that the informationgiven through the physical senses is more andmore definite, positive and compelling. Theresult being that the more quiet and gentleperceptions of its inner nature were graduallybecoming overwhelmed by the flood ofinformation arriving through its senses.

As a good analogy, imagine that you arestanding at the doorway of a party. You know

Dick was an active contributor to BoLozoff’s works in the early 1980’s. We stillmaintain contact and use his books and articlesfrequently in the H.C.T.. We highlyrecommend It’s A Meaningful Life - it justtakes practice.

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what is going on inside but you are also awareof your own inner peace. You arrive in a veryquiet and contemplative state but as you standin the doorway, you are drawn into the party.The door gradually closes but you don’t noticeit because you are meeting so many people.The noise and the excitement of the partybecomes so overwhelming that you totallyforget your quiet inner state when you entered.

These spiritual entities are much like that.Originally they were aware of their innernature but they had woven this shell (party)around them and the noise of their senses madethem forget their quiet inner, contemplativedivine nature.

We are now in that party and we haveeven forgotten the door from which we came,and we must find that door. We must stepoutside that party. The Mahatma Lettersadvise fasting, meditating and silence. Thiswill happen when we come to terms with it.Nature intended for us to arrive in this noisyparty. It is from this turmoil that we will findout who we are.

To be continued:

Bo Lozoff follows with practical adviceon how to find that inner quiet place.

BE STILL AND KNOW THATYOU AM GOD

[from HKF newsletter, Spring, 1990,condensed from tapes of a talk at Unity Centerin Arden, N. C., 4/1/90.]

It’s interesting to notice the line in theBible, Be still and know that I am God Thereare so many other words that would seem moreappropriate from our usual attitudes aboutreligion: “Be holy and know that I am God,”“Be good and know that I am God,” “Be givingand know that I am God,” “Be righteous andknow that I am God,” “Be truthful and knowthat I am God.”

What’s the big deal about being Still?That’s wasting time, isn’t it? How does thathelp us or help the world?

BE STILL AND KNOW THAT I AMGOD. There’s no way philosophically,psychologically or culturally to resolve whythe word “Still” is used there. If you want tofind out what it’s like to get wet, you’ve got togo in the water.

There is a Stillness at the center of whowe are. When we try to remember or contactthat Stillness, it’s useful to find a quiet place, ortake the phone off the hook, or wake up beforeeverybody else, or go to sleep later. It’s usefulto learn how to sit perfectly straight, how to sitin such a way that you can put the body in parkand turn the key off, so there’s no attending to

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the body.

That’s why I sit this way. The body isbalanced. There’s nothing to tense up or or fallover if I were to lose awareness of my body. It’slike setting a vase on the floor.

So when we practice, when we’re tryingto get in touch with the Stillness, it makes senseto find a quiet place, but ultimately it won’tmatter whether we’re running the Bostonmarathon or in a crowded cellblock or sitting ina cave. There’s that Stillness always, becausethe Stillness is the infinite space, the BigEmptiness, in which everything else exists --noise, people, confusion, all of it.

If it intrigues us enough, we practiceStillness a little bit every day, with no help; nogroup support; no external aids. Like Jesussaid, “praying in a closet.” We sit down. Wefigure out what to do with our bodies. And webegin turning inward to find the key to thisMystery that bugs us. We begin the classic,most honorable pursuit of human beings:learning to sit still and shut up.

Isn’t that great? It’s nothing that any of usidiots can’t understand, no matter whatcapacity we have of grasping anything.theological or philosophical. “How do youfind God?” “Sit still and shut up.” “Oh, I candig that. I can’t even read and I can dig that.Thanks.” We just sit still and shut up.

When we discover our Stillness, it beginsto awaken in us the spiritual power we’vealways heard and read about. But first we haveto quiet the mind and open the heart. To do that,we have to reduce the amount of noise that we

carry around with us in the form of identitiesand fears and desires and greed and ambition,and self-reproach, the constant self-monitoring:“Oh, can I get some of that, can I avoid this,was I friendly enough, did I do it right, did I sayit wrong, am I sitting in his seat . . .” All of that.

What I have to share with you, beyond allthe words, is a taste of Stillness. Your ownStillness. It’s not mine that you’re going tocatch, it’s your own. And if you catch even asmidgen of it, it may entice you inward to catcha little more and a little more and a little more.We’re all in the process of garbage removal.That’s it. It’s not acquiring anything, justremoving obstacles to our Stillness. ...

[The affirmations] ... “I am incomplete, Iam not Godly” and “I am complete, I amGodly” are noise of the mind. That approachstems from the basic fear that if there is noaffirming, no self-monitoring, no ego, nomaking sure, no caution; if we surrender intothe Spontaneous Genius of being alive, that itwon’t be enough.

That’s a lack of faith, no matter howconstructive or attractive its packaging. Wejust have to remove the garbage which coversour Godliness. We don’t have to create it,strengthen it, or supervise it. ...

But my God, there’s no faith that that ishow we relate when we get quiet. When weopen up to our Stillness and surrender. ...”

Just Another Spiritual Book, Bo Lozoff,Human Kindness Foundation

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What is a mantram?

Sage.-A mantram is a collection of wordswhich, when sounded in speech, induce certainvibrations not only in the air, but also in thefiner ether, thereby producing certain effects.

Student.-Are the words taken at haphaz-ard?

Sage.-Only by those who, knowingnothing of mantrams yet use them

Student.-May they, then, be usedaccording to- rule and also irregularly? Can itbe possible that people who know absolutelynothing of their existence or field of operationsshould at the same time make use of them? Oris it something like digestion, of which so manypeople know nothing whatever, while they infact are dependent upon its proper use for theirexistence? I crave your indulgence because Iknow nothing of the subject.

Sage.-The “common people “ in almostevery country make use of them continually,but even in that case the principle at the bottomis the same as in the other. In a new countrywhere folklore has not yet had time to springup, the people do not have as many as in such aland as India or in long settled parts of Europe.The aborigines, however, in any country willbe possessed of them.

Student.-You do not now infer that theyare used by Europeans for the controlling ofelementals.

Sage.-No. I refer to their effect inordinary intercourse between human beings.

And yet there are many men in Europe, as wellas in Asia, who can thus control animals, butthose are nearly always special cases. Thereare men in Germany, Austria, Italy, and Irelandwho can bring about extraordinary effects onhorses, cattle, and the like, by peculiar soundsuttered in a certain way. In those instances thesound used is a mantram of only one member,and will act only on the particular animal thatthe user knows it can rule.

Student.-Do these men know the rulesgoverning the matter? Are they able to conveyit to another?

Sage.-Generally not. It is a gift self-foundor inherited, and they only know that it can bedone by them, just as a mesmeriser knows hecan do a certain thing with a wave of his hand,but is totally ignorant of the principle. They areas ignorant of the base of this strange effect asyour modern physiologists are of the functionand cause of such a common thing as yawning.

Student.-Under what head should we putthis unconscious exercise of power?

Sage.-Under the head of natural magic,that materialistic science can never crush out.It is a touch with nature and her laws alwayspreserved by the masses, who, while they formthe majority of the population, are yet ignoredby the “ cultured classes.” And so it will bediscovered by you that it is not in London orParis or New York drawing-rooms that youwill find mantrams, whether regular orirregular, used by the people. “ Society,” toocultured to be natural, has adopted methods ofspeech intended to conceal and to deceive, sothat natural mantrams cannot be studied within

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its borders.

Single, natural mantrams are such wordsas “ wife.” When it is spoken it brings up in themind all that is implied by the word. And if inanother language, the word would be thatcorresponding to the same basic idea. And sowith expressions of greater length, such asmany slang sentences; thus, “I want to see thecolour of his money.”

There are also sentences applicable tocertain individuals, the use of which involves aknowledge of the character of those to whomwe speak. When these are used, a peculiar andlasting vibration is set up in the mind of theperson affected, leading to a realization inaction of the idea involved, or to a total changeof life due to the appositeness of the subjectsbrought up and to the peculiar mental antithesisinduced in the hearer. As soon as the effectbegins to appear the mantram may beforgotten, since the law of habit then has swayin the brain.

Again, bodies of men are acted on byexpressions having the mantramic quality; thisis observed in great social or otherdisturbances. The reason is the same as before.

A dominant idea is aroused that touchesupon a want of the people or on an abuse whichoppresses them, and the change and inter-change in their brains between the idea and theform of words go on until the result isaccomplished.

To the occultist of powerful sight this isseen to be a “ ringing “ of the words coupledwith the whole chain of feelings, interests,

aspirations, and so forth, that grows faster anddeeper as the time for the relief or change drawsnear. And the greater number of personsaffected by the idea involved, the larger,deeper, and wider the result.

A mild illustration may be found in LordBeaconsfield of England. He knew aboutmantrams, and continually invented phrases ofthat quality. “ Peace with honour” was one; “ascientific frontier” was another; and his last,intended to have a wider reach, but which deathprevented his supplementing, was “ Empress ofIndia.” King Henry of England also tried itwithout himself knowing why, when he addedto his titles, “ Defender of the Faith.” Withthese hints numerous illustrations will occur toyou.

Student.-These mantrams have only to dowith human beings as between each other.They do not affect elementals, as I judge fromwhat you say. And they are not dependent uponthe sound so much as upon words bringing upideas.

Am I right in this; and is it the case thatthere is a field in which certain vocalizationsproduce effects in the Akasa by means of whichmen, animals, and elementals alike can beinfluenced, without regard to their knowledgeof any known language?

Sage.-You are right. We have onlyspoken of natural, unconsciously-usedmantrams. The scientific mantrams belong tothe class you last referred to.

It is to be doubted whether they can befound in modern Western languages, --espe-

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cially among English speaking people who arecontinually changing and adding to theirspoken words to such an extent that the Englishof to-day could hardly be understood byChaucer’s predecessors. It is in the ancientSanskrit and the language which preceded itthat mantrams are hidden. The laws governingtheir use are also to be found in thoselanguages, and not in any modern philologicalstore.

Student.-Suppose, though, that oneacquires a knowledge of ancient and correctmantrams, could he affect a person speakingEnglish, and by the use of English words?

Sage.-He could; and all adepts have thepower to translate a strictly regular mantraminto any form of language, so that a singlesentence thus uttered by them will have animmense effect on the person addressed,whether it be by letter or word of mouth.

Student.-Is there no way in which wemight, as it were, imitate those adepts in this?

Sage.-Yes, you should study simpleforms of mantramic quality, for the purpose ofthus reaching the hidden mind of all the peoplewho need spiritual help. You will find now andthen some expression that has resounded in thebrain, at last producing such a result that hewho heard it turns his mind to spiritual things.

Student.-I thank you for your instruction.

Sage.-May the Brahmamantram guideyou to the everlasting truth.-OM.

B.C.W. IX 118-121

A German Mystic’s Teachings

[The Path, Vol. III, October, 1888, pp.224-26]

In the last three numbers of The Path wehave given a story by the German MysticKernning of the experiences of a sensitive. Thestory is called advisedly “From Sensitive toInitiate.” We did not think that it was intendedto show what the final initiation is, but onlyone of the many initiations we have to undergoin our passage through matter. The trials ofCatherine illustrate those we all have, whetherwe know them as such or not. She had apresence to annoy her; we, although notsensitive as she was, have within us influencesand potential presences that affect us just asmuch; they cause us to have bias this way orthat, to be at times clouded in our estimate ofwhat is the true course or the true view to take,and, like her, so long as we do not recognizethe cause of the clouds, we will be unable todissipate them. But Kernning was atheosophist, and one of those men who knewthe truth in theory and at the same time wereable to make a practical application of whatthey knew. There are many cases today inwhich sensitive people do just what Carolinedid and have “presences” to annoy them; buthow many of our theosophists or spiritualistswould be able to cast the supposed obsessorout, as Mohrland did in the story? They can becounted on one hand. The simplicity withwhich Kernning wrote should not blind us tothe value of his work. In the preceding articlesby him which we have from time to time given,there is much to be learned by those who lookbelow the surface. We therefore add the

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intelligent exercise of the will, to obtaincommand over what they are now obliged toobey. But, in doing this, “right motive” must bekept constantly in view; care must be exercisedto keep absolutely free from all mercenary orother selfish considerations, else one willbecome a black magician. The conditionknown as “mediumship” has been the subjectof too much indiscriminate condemnation; itcan be made a blessing as well as a curse, andthe aim should be, not to suppress it, but todevelop it in the right direction. The psychicpowers, like all other natural forces, can bemade either a good servant or a terrible master,and, in proportion to their subtlety as comparedwith other forces, so much greater is theirpower for good or for evil.

In psychic work the power of unitedendeavor has often been emphasized, and it iseasy to see that the power is developed whetherconsciously or unconsciously exercised. Thus,with thousands thinking unitedly in onedirection, as in the present Theosophicalawakening, they all help each other, lendingstrength to each other’s will, whether they areaware of it or not. According to this principle itwould seem that a word used commonly formantric purposes has a greater potency overthe forces of the spirit, owing to the impressionit has made upon the akasa, than a word notcommonly used, for in the case of the formerthe user has the aid of the wills of all others whohave used it.

In one of his works, The Freemason,’Kernning gives a good explanation of thepower of mantras, in replying to the stricturesof a rationalistic critic, who says that such ause of words is made by the bonzes (yogis) of

following as a note to the last story in order totry to show its theosophic meaning.

The conversation about “Mantras”between the Sage and the Student in The Pathfor August involves an occult truth soimportant that it is worth while to recall that thepower of mantras is recognized by the school ofGerman occultists represented by Kernning.Readers of The Path who have attentively read“Some Teachings of a German Mystic” haveobserved that in nearly all instances the pupilsachieve an awakening of their inner self, or the“spiritual rebirth,” by means of a particularword, a sentence, or perhaps even a letter of thealphabet, and that, in cases where persons areinvoluntarily awakened, it is by continuedthinking upon some object or person, as in thecase of the young sailor whose mind wascontinually dwelling on his absent sweetheartand was thereby released from the limitationsof his own personality. Caroline Ruppert wasaroused by a morbid dwelling on herdisappointment in love and by remorse for herconduct towards her invalid mother, until thesethoughts gained a mantric power over her, andit required intelligent exercise with othermantras, given her by the Adept Mohrland, torestore her selfcontrol and give her asymmetrical development. Out of a medium, ormere sensitive, she thus became an initiate,able to control the psychic forces by her ownwill. Every hapless “medium” who is obsessedby elementals and elementaries that make life atorment and who is compelled to do the biddingof these forces generated by personal vitality,and whose conflict obscures the true self - likea spring whose waters, finding no adequatechannel, rise to the level of their source andthus drown it-, has it in his or her power, by

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India, and therefore must be wholly nonsensi-cal! Says Kernning: “Whoever has a great lovefor an art or science not only finds delight in theresults, but their very names have a sort ofmagic power with him. Whoever feels a lovefor another person is moved whenever he thinksof that person or repeats the name of thatperson. The gambler, in spite of all thearguments against his infatuation made byothers, and often, indeed, by himself, alwaysbeholds dice and cards before his eyes. Thedrunkard only needs, in order to be madethirsty, to hear the name of wine. The miserlives in the vision of his ducats and dollars, theambitious man upon the insignia of fame andthe plaudits of the multitude, the courtier uponhis orders and titles, and in all these cases notonly are the things themselves concerned, butthe names have become idolized. Now supposethat one should, instead of swimming in thedepths, fill spirit and soul with exalted anddivine ideas and names, can other than mostbeneficent results follow? Indeed, could aperson be a genuine Christian without the lifeof Christ, and even his name, becominganimate in spirit and soul? Therefore there is nononsensical or unreasonable practice in this; onthe contrary, every one should be made awareof this simple method, which is founded uponhuman nature and is confirmed by experience,that he may attain the means of ennobling hisnature, of directing his energies towards thehighest end of his life, and reaching this endwith certainty.”

[Der Freimaurer, by Johann BaptisteKrebs (1774-1851), using pseudonym ofKernning; Dresden, 1841.]

Echoes of The Orient, Vol. III, 82-84

SECRET DOCTRINE QUESTIONAND ANSWER SECTION

CONDUCTED BY GEOFFREY A.BARBORKA

Readers of The Canadian Theosophistare invited to participate in this feature bysending their questions c/o The Editors to beforwarded to Mr. Barborka.

Question. Here is a passage from TheSecret Doctrine:

“The various Cosmogonies show that theArchaic Universal Soul was held by everynation as the ̀ Mind’ of the Demiurgic Creator;and that it was called the ̀ Mother,’ Sophia withthe Gnostics (or the female Wisdom), theSephira with the Jews, Sarasvati or Vach withthe Hindus, the Holy Ghost being a femalePrinciple. Hence, born from it, the Kurios orLogos was, with the Greeks, the `God, mind’(nous).” (S.D. I, 352; II, 67-8 6 vol. ed.; I, 3773rd ed.)

Now my question is: Since the HolyGhost of the Christian Trinity is equivalent tothe Gnostic Sophia, which is represented as afemale Principle-Wisdom-this would seem tocorrespond to the Second Logos in theenumeration of the Three Logoi; then, is theenunciation of the Christian Trinity as Father,Son and Holy Ghost in the wrong order?

Answer Yes, from the standpoint of theGreek Church, also called the Eastern Church.For their enunciation of the Trinity is made inthis manner: From the Father Proceeded theHoly Ghost, and from the two proceeded theSon.

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This is one of the basic differencesbetween the Greek Church and the Roman, orWestern, Church. It resulted from theintroduction by the Roman Church of theFilioque clause into the creed, which is stated tohave first been enunciated in Toledo in 589A.D. The signifcance of the Filioque clause isthis: Filioque means “and the Son” giving theinterpretation (in the Roman Church) that theHoly Ghost proceeded from the Father AndThe Son.

It should be mentioned that this additionwas made by the Roman Church without thesanction of an oecumenical council. The finalschism between the two Churches occurred in1054, and to this day in Western churches theenunciation of the Trinity follows the dictum ofthe Roman Church; but not in the GreekChurches.

The schism caused by the filioque dogmais referred to in The Secret Doctrine in thismanner:

. . . the everlasting question of the filioque dogma, which since the eighthcentury has separated the RomanCatholic from the older Greek EasternChurch.” (S.D. II, 635; II, 672 3rd ed.;1V 207 6 vol. ed.)

Question. How does The Secret Doctrinerefer to the early manifestation of our Earth?

Answer. “the solid Earth began by being aball of liquid fire, of fiery dust and itsprotoplasmic phantom.” (S.D. I, 191; I, 242 6vol. ed.; I, 214 3rd ed.)

It should be borne in mind that thisreference to the Earth does not apply to itsfourth developmental stage. This latter stage isusually referred to as the Fourth Round, for itrepresents the earth in its Prithivi stage ofevolution-also referred to as the developmentalstage of the Earth element-principle. Thequoted passage has reference to the Earth’sfirst manifested developmental stage, demon-strating the Tejas development state, known asthe Fire element-principle. This is commonlyreferred to as the First Round of the Earth. Thecondition described would apply to all theseven globes of the Earth planetary system,although the most material developmentalphase of the Tejas element-principle wouldmanifest on the fourth globe of the planetarysystem, which is referred to as Globe D of theseptenary chain.

“Thus, in the first Round, the globe,having been built by the primitive firelives, i.e.,formed into a sphere had no solidity, norqualifications, save a cold brightness, nor formnor color; it is only towards the end of the FirstRound that it developed one Element whichfrom its inorganic, so to say, or simple Essencebecame now in our Round the fire we knowthroughout the system.” (S.D. I, 259;1, 303 6vol, ed.; I, 279, 3rd ed.)

Question. What is meant by the sevenlines of evolution and what are they?

Answer. The manner in which thisquestion is phrased enables one to apply it totwo distinct evolutionary schemes.

(1) The seven lines of evolution may beapplied to the developmental stages of a

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planetary system, which is thus phrased in aCommentary from the Book of Dzyan:

“It is through and from theradiations of the seven bodies of theseven orders of Dhyanis, that the sevendiscrete quantities (Elements), whosemotion and harmonious Union producethe manifested Universe of Matter, areborn.” (S.D. I, 259, I 303 6 vol. ed.; I, 2793rd ed.) One interpretation of thisCommentary may be applied to theevolutionary developmental stages of theseven discrete quantities-signifying theseven Tattvas or Element-principles (orsimply “Elements.”) This means that oneElement-principle predominantly under-goes its evolutional development duringone particular Round-one stage duringeach one of the seven Rounds fulfilling acycle of manifestation, or a Manvantara.

Thus during the First Round the Earthdemonstrates the evolutionary developmentalphase of the Tejas Element-principle inSanskrit the Taijasa-Tattva. (This wasdescribed in the answer to the previousquestion.) During the Second Round theevolutionary developmental phase of the AirElement-principle is manifested-Vayu Tattva.

“The Second Round brings intomaninfestation the second element-Air, thatelement, the purity of which would ensurecontinuous life to him who would use it . . .`From the second Round, Earth-hitherto afoetus in the matrix of Space-began its realexistence: it had developed individual sentientlife, its second principle.”’ (S.D. I, 260; I, 303.4 6 vol. ed.; I, 280 3rd ed.)

The Third Round brings forth the

evolutionary developmental phase of the WaterElement-principle-ApasTattva.

“The Third Round developed the thirdPrinciple-Water.” (Ibid.)

The Fourth Round, our present Round, ismanifesting the evolutionary developmentalphase of the Earth Element-principle-Prithivi-Tattva.

“the Fourth Round transformed thegaseous fluids and plastic form of ourglobe into the hard, crusted, grosslymaterial sphere we are living on.`Bhumi’ (the Earth) has reached herfourth principle. To this it may beobjected that the law of analogy, so muchinsisted upon, is broken. Not at all. Earthwill reach her true ultimateform-(inversely in this to man)-her bodyshell-only toward the end of themanvantara after the Seventh Round.”(Ibid.)

The Fifth Round’s evolutionary develop-ment will bring forth the Akasic-Tattva(rendered the Aether Element-principle). TheSixth Round’s evolutionary development willmanifest the Anupapadaka-Tattva (for whichno appropriate English equivalent is available,however, it may be regarded as the “Spiritual”Elementprinciple.)

The Seventh Round which was men-tioned in the above-quoted passage as bringingforth the Earth’s “true ultimate form”represents the evolutionary developmentalphase of the Adi-Tattva literally the primordialElement-principle.

(2) The second aspect of the “seven lines

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of evolution” (so phrased in the question), maybe applied to the evolutionary phases of themonads undertaking the cyclic pilgrimagereferred to in The Secret Doctrine in the thirdfundamental proposition as “the obligatorypilgrimage”, for

“no purely spiritual Buddhi (divineSoul) can have an independent (con-scious) existence before the spark whichissued from the pure Essence of theUniversal Sixth principle-or theOver-Soul-has passed through everyelemental form of the phenomenal worldof that Manvantara.” (S.D. I, 17; I, 82 6vol. ed.; I, 45 3rd ed.)

The enumeration of the “seven lines ofevolution” designates the seven Kingdoms ofNature: Classes I, II and III of the ElementalKingdoms, followed by the first of themanifested kingdoms-the Mineral Kingdom;the Plant Kingdom; the Animal Kingdom; theHuman Kingdom.

From The Canadian TheosophistVol. 50, No. 5, November 1969

Letters ReceivedResponses to Richard Christiansen

(HCT September 2000)

We apologize for not having these lettersprinted sooner. The delay being that we wereout in California.

8-15-2000

Of course all the work on ego, meditation,Higher Self etc. is esoteric and related toesoteric Theosophy; and the vast majority ofthe current Theosophic perspectives, objec-tives and etc., are based on esoteric Theosophy.Why do you think it is in such chaos? We mustteach both.

If the Theosophical Society seeksunderstanding, brotherhood, altruism then itmust teach from the highest down to thephysical mundane. It will all remain mere“beliefs”, “Philosophy,” and a “Fantasy” untilThey drink from the inner fountain, and onlythen will They realize its reality.

To do this, They must meditate and thePilgrim must join the inner journey or it willremain mere intellectualism and yes, a sillyparade indeed of babbling towers. ...Remember, that the Theosophical Societiesembrace and include all faiths, philosophies.

I will tell you the September H.C.T. wasthe must interesting issue that I have received.I have to agree with Mr. Christiansen very

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strongly. It has always been hard for me andstill is to understand how to use the SecretDoctrine in everyday life. It just is notpractical and especially for a lay person likeme. It is so confusing and most of the time Ihave no idea why I am reading it. I do knowthis, that when I read the H.C.T., I feel a senseof accomplishment which makes me feel good,but other than that it is just gibberish. TheSecret Doctrine is a master study all by itself soI just keep plugging along.

I agree with Mr. Christiansen’s newvision concept: Theosophy is a parade of allthese societies and their delusions thereof. Ibelieve that the inner circles will always beneeded. There will always be a need foreliteness as that is the simple fact and processof nature. The egotistical feeding of thevampires I can do without though. I will closethe note that I truly hope the H.C.T. gets a neweditor when the time comes.

Comments to the September H.C.T. issueand Mr. Christiansen’s comment: “To makeyour journal more valuable, don’t just parrotand recopy these historic teachings with all itsesoteric verbiage but focus them.”

One of our biggest problems is that thereare too many people watering down the AncientTeachings. It is to the point that we mustsearch, decipher, and compare all the watereddown teachings. With any reading, one mustgo inside for the real spiritual awakening totake place.

For me, the H.C.T. has become aninstrument for the process of changingindividual lives.

I, myself, am such an individual and onewho the editors refer to as those workingsilently and unheralded. I don’t have time forall the politics and petty bickering. It is througha variety of doctrines and with the Theosophyused as a fountain source that we will reach alarger number of people and learn not to bedetrimental to the many. It is a compassionateand selfless path.

As to Mr. Farthings ideals, publish themand if it is meant to be then it will happen.

Subject: High County Theosophist - feedback

To: dslusser@diac.com

I discovered the High County Theoso-phist only a month ago. I browsed through yourarchives and liked the articles on what reallyhappened to the Canada TS (formerly Adyar).

I can only speak for me personally ofcourse. I feel that yes, sharing is important inTS work. In my experience that takes up a lot ofthe time, in our lodge (Groningen, theNetherlands, TS-Adyar). So much, in fact thatpeople worry about the time we spend on study.

In my experience people do spend time ontalking about how theosophy should bepracticed in their lives. There is also talk aboutother things, but this aspect does get enough

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attention I think.

Whether people are critical enough aboutthemselves, and see where they go wrong, I donot know. The lodge meetings do tend to get abit self satisfactory, in the sense that peopletend to share not only their problems, but also,I do that so well... sometimes it gets a bit smug.

On the other hand, people have suchtrouble trying to deal with the people aroundthem who are not at all interested in theosophy,that the group functions (and should function)as a support group.

It functions as a way to say: of course it isright to be interested in theosophy! Of coursethe oneness of nature is important, of coursethere is a soul in plants and animals, of coursewe are responsible for what we do and so affectour future lives on the planet, etc.

I enjoyed the article in High CountyTheosophist in which a teacher talks about howtheosophy plays a part in how she approachesher students. Being a teacher-trainey myself,that was very interesting for me.

I don’t know how this will affect yourpolicy for future High County Theosophists,but I personally think the above is enoughreason to continue the hard work within atheosophical organization, whether that beAdyar or Pasadena or ULT or any othertheosophical group.

In fact, I often wonder when I read or hearsomeone say that the theosophical organiza-tions do not have any function any more,whether they really are ready to work for

humanity, or are just interested in followingtheir own course.

Lodgework is not always enjoyable. Myown studies do not get any attention in mylodge. But I do see the function of the lodge,and know what it did for me in the past, andknow what it may do for someone like me in thefuture, if someone knocks on our door.

I am not saying that for everybody towork for humanity is the same as working for alodge, or centre or any other theosophicalorganization, but it is perfectly obvious to methat the TS does work as a way ofstrengthening hope and therefore give peoplethe energy to TRY to be theosophists.

Katinka Hesselink

-Those who observe, learn, a whole lifelong. -Wie observeert, leert, een heel levenlang.

-nederlandse theosofische e-mail corre-spond entiegroep: http//www.egroups.com/group/theosofie-groep -eigen internetpagina:http//www.geocities.com/katinka-hesselink/Estg.html

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Jose Ramon Sordo writesfrom Tepoztlan, Mexico:

Please forgive me for the long delay inanswering to your last E-Mail. Soon aftenotesthat, I received your HCT for May, June andJuly 2000, then I got the one for August, andtwo weeks ago I received your Septemberissue.

First of all, I would like to thank you foryour editorial effort to decipher my manuscriptand also to your coeditor Marty Lyman.

In your HCT for September , I discern anArjuna’s [despondency] on your part concern-ing your sickness and the future of your HCT.

With the former please receive my sincereand fraternal sympathy hoping that you willfind peace and harmony within yourself despitethe sickness of your body.

As for the latter, I think that your HCThas done a positive job, keeping alive theexchange of ideas between students oftheosophy and many other groups related to itin one way or another. As for the future of yourHCT, this I think it is entirely on your hands, Idon’t think you should rush decisions.

I was writing my comments on the proposalof Geoffrey Farthing, when I received yourSeptember issue. After reading it, my mind leadme to the Notes on the Bhagavad Gita by W. Q.Judge, as a necessary point which I was missing.

I think that now that Geoffrey Farthing tookaway the stumbling block of the “loyalty toAdyar.” His proposal at only three months awayfrom the end of the twentieth century, seems to

me an opportunity to join in aspiration andbrotherhood, the scattered pieces of theTheosophical Movement throughout the world.

As his idea is a loose association, the onlything each individual and even lodge has to do,is adhere to the Original Programme of the T.S.as stated by HPB in her Original ProgammeManuscript in B.C.W. VII, 145-175, andcontinue working in his or her own lodge,association, network, or society, or in none ifthey so please.

I agree completely with the editorial ofFohat ( HCT May 2000, pp.4-7) , that ‘thosededicated to the Original Programme have toalign themselves more formally with oneanother”. I also feel that Richard Robb is rightwhen he says that “one can not wonder if allthese splits result in a wider exposition ofTheosophy” (HCT July 2000, p. 15). I endorsecompletely the statement of Dara Eklund that“We support true theosophists whetherindependent or in a membreship; the associationbeing of the heart” (HCT June 2000, p.7).

We should find the middle way, betweentoo much emphasis in organization, and noorganization at all. Organizations are needed toinsure the preservation of the Theosophicalliterature, and lodges, whether attached to anySociety or independent, but finally, organiza-tions where people can study together, learningto live in fraternal harmony. We can experiencethe brotherhood by exchange of letters orE-Mails, but the personal contact is indispens-able to really apply the first Object of theTheosophical Movement: Brotherhood. Other-wise, as Chris Bartzokas would say, “ we couldall end up like Pratyeka Buddas”. It is alsotrue, that it has been thanks to the individual

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initiative of many students of Theosophy thatthe Theosophical Movement is alive at the endof this twentieth century.

The first and most important among themall was W.Q.Judge. He saved Theosophyleading to the formation of the independentbody called The Theosophical Society inAmerica, which later on, some years after hisdeath, became The Theosophical Society PointLoma. This initiative of Judge, gave thenecessary organizational support to somestudents, that later on continued workingindependently according to the Original Linesof the T.S., like Alice Leighton Cleather,William Kingsland, Franz Hartmann, andothers.

Robert Crosby came also from there, andhis individual initiative of forming the ULT,was instrumental, among other things, in thereappearence of the original edition of the S.D.in 1925, after more than 30 years of oblivion.Thanks to the individual initiative of TrevorBarker, Boris de Zikoff, Richard Robb, DaraEklund, Henk Spierenburg, we have nowrepectively: the Mahatma Letters in book form,HPB Collected Writings, The Secret DoctrineReference Series, Echoes from the Orient(WQJ Collected Writings), and The BlavatskyReference Books, to mention the mostconspicuos, and many other projects andworkers that have been raising, especiallyduring the last 25 years.

Geoffrey Farthing belongs also to theseindividual theosophical workers. As far as Iknow, since 1974, he started a proposal toeliminate the so called Adyar E.S., he formedThe Blavatsky Trust in England, has written

several very important books, in order topresent Theosophy in a more accesible way. Hehas produced videos on theosophy and in1996-1997 wrote respectively his Manifestoand Supplement. The goal of these documentsas I interpret it, is to take the Adyar Societyback to the Original Lines and to the OriginalProgramme, getting rid of the powerfulinfluence of priests, churches, promiscuousrites, and the make -believe of the E.S. But theCouncil at Adyar, instead of listening to hisproposal, dismissed it, as we know, under thepretext of freedom of thought. After thatGeoffrey tried to support his view with anotherwork, “The Corner Stone,” followed by anarticle: “Why to Study Theosophy,” and finallyarriving at his latest proposal of an Associationof Master/HPB. Theosophists.

I think that what Geoffrey is proposing isnot to create a new Society, but to create theconditions or offer the medium to connect thescattered students of Theosophy, which areworking according to the lines established by theMasters, in all parts of the world. This exchangeof information, knowledge, sympathy andenergy will necessarily raise the voltage of theTheosophical Movement and lead to an increasein Brotherhood, and perchance give more lightto each individual, lodge or even Society.

The Original Lines for the TheosophicalMovement are unequivocally stated in “TheOriginal Programme Manuscript,” in “What isTheosophy” by HPB, in “The Key toTheosophy,” in “The Letter of theMahachohan,” in the “Five Letters of HPB tothe American Convention,” and “ To mybrothers of Aryavarta,” to mention the mostimportant sources.

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As for the Original Theosophy, it isembedded in the works of HPB, the MahatmaLetters, the writings of William Q. Judge, andin all the works consonant with this tradition.All this forms a coherent body of knowledge,with the same terminology, the same system ofthought and inner development which, oncegrasped, takes the student into the vast“continent of thought” refered in the more than1300 works quoted in Isis Unveiled, and morethan 1200 in the S.D.

Some of the most important booksreferred in the S.D. have been published byWizards Bookshelf, and as Richard Robb says:“Taken individually each book in the seriesprovides information temporarily lost on itsparticular subject... Taken collectively theyform part of the enormous jigsaw puzzle ofnature, the key to which is partially revealed inthe pages that refer to this work:-H.P.Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine. It is no accident,for each reference contains much that gains forthe student a firmer footing, and thus insightsinto that most abtruse of all English works.” (1)

In this connection, let us give an examplewhich is easy to check out. Let us take thesection on Dreams in the Transactions of theBlavatsky Lodge, and gather together every-thing that Judge wrote about the same subject.After some time of study, these theosophicaltexts, will give us a master-key to read and startto understand the Mandukya Upanishad, whichbeing an ancient exposition of Theosophy,treats of the same subject with analogousterminology and concepts. Our study of themodern exposition of Theosophy gives light tothe otherwise abtruse text of the Mandukya,

but our study of the Upanishad, gives us moreinsight into Theosophy. There is a closeconnection between the exposition of Theoso-phy by the Masters and HPB, and the AncientAsian Arhat Tradition or Archaic Doctrine.

In the words of Jerry Hejka-Ekins (HCTJune 2000, p.9) “These theosophical texts andothers like them are necessary in order to evaluateHPB’s Theosophical texts,” because, we couldadd, they belong to the same Esoteric Tradition.

But, if following the same advice, insteadof applying it to the works of HPB, we use it toevaluate other texts, which their writers claimto be theosophical, we will soon discover thatmany of them are not corroborated by “thevisions ...of other adepts, and by centuries ofexperience,...and are the fancy of one orseveral individuals,” (2) that in fact thesepersonal claims of astral illumination, personalrevelations, the appeal to a personal god, theuse of prayers, the insistence in a secondcoming of Christ, Bishops rites, and what not,whether “ante” or “post” Blavatskyan theydon’t survive the comparison with the AncientEsoteric Arhat Tradition and can not give usany illumination - because they don’t have it,despite having the esoteric or theosophicallabel, or resort to quotations of the S.D. and thenames of the Masters. Most of these works giveno reference, not even as a bibliography toantiquity-except in anecdotes-and least of all,to important subjects of the Esoteric Traditionlike the Chaldean and Hebrew Kabala, thePythagorean, Platonic & NeoPlatonic philoso-phy, the Hermetic and Egyptian writings,Zoroastrian, Buddhist and Gnostic, etc.

But if after the laborious work of study,

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comparison and research, just mentionedabove, we have arrived at the conclusion thatsome of those works or authors are notconsonant with the Esoteric Tradition to whichthe exposition of Theosophy by HPB and herMasters belongs, can we exclude them fromour study -- as in most cases they are a burdento our quest for truth-and point out where in ouropinion they don’t match or deviate from theOriginal Theosophy, without falling intodogmatism? Or for the sake of a brotherlyregard towards the feelings of those whouphold those views, are we doomed to followthe “theosophy is everything philosophy?

“Is the Theosophical Movement a towerof Babel? Have we no beliefs in common?”HPB asks herself in the Key to Theosophy p.60 and she answers:

“ What is meant by the Society having notenets or doctrines of its oun is, that no specialdoctrines or beliefs are obligatory on itsmembers...” but “the Society, as you were told,is divided into an outer and an inner body.Those who belong to the latter have, of course,a philosophy or - if you so prefer it - a religioussystem of their own... We make no secret of it.It was outlined a few years ago in theTheosophist and ` Esoteric Buddhism,’ andmay be found still more elaborated in the`Secret Doctrine’. It is based on the oldestphilosophy of the world called theWisdom-Religion or Archaic Doctrine.”

Thus, those who belong to the inner body,i.e. the Adepts, the Masters and Mahatmas,have a philosophy or religious system of theirown, which was outlined in the Theosophist-and now gathered together in the Collected

Writings-- Esoteric Buddhism and the SecretDoctrine, for us, the students.

This outline of the Archaic-WisdomReligion was dedicated by HPB, first “to theTheosophical Society “ in Isis Unveiled, andlatter on in the S.D. “to all true Theosophists,in every country and of every Race”. True, weare not yet, most of us, true Theosophists, butthis is the ideal towards which we are allaspiring.

This outline then, is in fact the inheritanceof the Theosophical Movement and, once wearrive at the awareness of its importance tohumanity, we take voluntarily and freely, theresponsability to study it, digest it, andpermeate it into our present society and world,and to transmit it as it was originally recordedfor us, without mutilations or alterations.

I don’t see any danger of falling intodogmatism if we study solely, and as a guide inour quest, this outline of the Secret Doctrine orTheosophy, together with its vast backgroundof its Ancient Esoteric Tradition if we startfrom the beginning using the antidotes againstdogmatism and sectarianism given to us byHPB herself.

We find the first antidote in the BowenNotes:

HPB says: “Come to the Secret Doctrinewithout any hope of getting the final truth ofexistence from it, or with any idea other thanseeing how far it may lead towards the truth.”

We should not come to the S.D. thinkingthat we will find the final truth in its pages, or

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in its dead letter, because we would be thenprone to set up a dogma or a sect.

At the end of the Bowen Notes, Bowenhimself says: “Latter note: I have read over thisrendering of her teaching to HPB, asking if Ihave got her aright she called me a sillyDumskull to imagine anything can ever be putinto words aright.

And in the Phaedrus, Plato says: Theletters,...” Through the negligence of recollec-tion, will produce oblivion in the soul of thelearner, because, through trusting to the externaland foreing marks of writing, they will notexercise the internal powers of recollection” (3)

These are very forcible warnings againstthe worship of the dead letter, but here again,we must find the middle way.

The problem with books arises when weonly “trust to the external and forcing marks,” butbooks are necessary to feed the mind, and can bethe source of our meditation, if we use them as away to “exercise the internal powers ofrecollection.” And as the food for the body, bookscan be good, bad,or indifferent to the digestionand assimilation of the mind. The reading of abook can affect our lives for better or for worse.

It is obvious that illumination cannot beobtained by reading. To reach it, it is necessaryto have the guidance of a Master and aphysical, moral and mental preparation; but thestudy of certain texts can be helpful to theprocess of preparation. See for instance inB.C.W. XIV, 573-74, the life of Tsong-Kha-pa.

In the Bowen Notes, HPB doesn’t say,throw aside the S.D., she says “come to theS.D.,” and as we understand this, it means:study it, meditate on it, use the analogy, theinterpretation of symbols, go beyond the lettersand within the ideas, try to dicover its spirit.

In another passage of the Bowen Notes,HPB says: “Every form ...no matter how crudecontains the image of its `creator’ concealedwithin it. So likewise does an author’s work, nomatter how obscure, contains the concealedimage of the author’s knowledge.

We have to ascertain for ourselves ifTheosophy as stated by HPB and her Mastersis really the “accumulated Wisdom of theAges” (4), because if that is so, as many of usthink it is, after years of search, then the imagesconcealed within its texts must have a verypowerful knowledge which, once understood,could lead us towards the truth.

But let us never forget that the truth canonly be found within ourselves, “Before thoutakest thy first step learn to discern the realfrom the false, the ever fleeting from theeverlasting.” Learn above all to separateHead-learning from Soul- Wisdom, the `Eye’from the `Heart’ doctrine” (5)

The second antidote against dogmatism,we find again in the Bowen Notes. Afterexplaining four basic ideas to which the studentshould hold fast, she says: “No matter what onetakes as study in the S.D. one must correlate itwith those basic ideas... This mode of thinking...is what the Indians call Jnana Yoga”. Andthen she proceeds to explain the dynamicprocess of this Yoga, which takes the student

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through successive evolving images from theworld of form to the world of no-form, statingat the end that: “The true student of the S.D. isa Jnana Yogi, and this Path of Yoga is the truePath for the western student.”

Janna Yoga is defined by HPB in the S.D.I xx, note: “In the old books, the word Jan-na isdefined as `to reform one’s self by meditationand knowledge’ a second inner birth.” Thisdefinition of Janna Yoga is given together withtwo important hints. One about the phoneticrelationship between Janna, Dan, Ch’an, Dzan(Djan) and the Book of Dzyan ( the Book ofMeditation), which is the main source of HPB’sexposition of the S.D., and the other about theword Dan “as the general term for the esotericschools”

If we enter into this path of knowledge bymeditation and reform of one’s self, and weunderstand its dynamic and evolving character,we will never attach ourselves to our presentcherished image of the universe and man,trying to impose it on other people as if it wasthe last word and the only truth,because-especially if we maintain a constantattitude of research and meditation in our studyof Theosophy-we know now, that the image isconstantly becoming: “the learner will nowknow that no picture will ever represent theTRUTH ...the process goes on , until at last themind and its pictures are transcended and thelearner enters and dwells in the World ofNO-FORM, of which all forms are but narrowreflections”(6)

This same process is explained by HPBfrom the Neo-Platonic point of view in herarticle “What is Theosophy”

“Plotinus , the pupil of the`God-taught’ Ammonious, tell us thatthe secret gnosis or the knowledge ofTheosophy has three degrees;-opinion,science, and illumination. `The means orinstrument of the first is sense, orperception; of the second, dialectics; ofthe third, intuition. To the last, reason issubordinated; it is absolute knowledge,founded in the identification of the mindwith the object known”(7)

Finally in this connection we have thewords of Sankaracharya in his Atrnabodha,

“As fire is the direct cause ofcooking, so knowledge and not any otherform of discipline, is the direct cause ofLiberation; for Liberation cannot beattained without knowledge”(2)

“The true student of the S.D.” orTheosophy, “ is a Janna Yogi”, the path ofknowledge through meditation and study, thatleads to “the reform of one’s self and a secondinner birth”

Those who come to the S.D. orTheosophy, have first to search in its vastliterature its fundamental principles andaxioms. “The student must first learn thegeneral axioms. For the time being, he will ofcourse have to take them as assumptions...”(8).

Only after some years of persevering effortand study, they will see that it is a vast and fullycoherent “continent of thought”(9). A system of“mutual-culture” and improvement based onaltruism and brotherhood. “For it teaches thestudent that to comprehend the noumenal, hemust identify himself with Nature. Instead oflooking upon himself as an isolated being, he

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must learn to look upon himself as a part of theINTEGRAL WHOLE.” (10)

Our “meditation should constitute the`reasoning from the known to the unknown’ the`known’ is the phenomenal world, cognizableby our five senses. And all that we see in thismanifested world are the effects, the causes ofwhich are to be sought after in the noumenal,the unmanifested, the ̀ unknown world’: this isto be accomplished by meditation i.e.,continued attention of the mind to a particularsacred subject.” (11)

Or as Plato expressed it, “meditation isthe ardent turning of the soul toward thedivine...”(12) -

Not only in fixed periods of meditationbut during the whole day. “Occultism does notdepend upon one method, but employs both thedeductive and the inductive ...what the studenthas first to do is to comprehend these axiomsand, by employing the deductive method, toproceed from universals to particulars. He hasthen to reason from the ‘known to theunknown’ , and see if the inductive method ofproceeding from particulars to universalssupports those axioms. This process forms theprimary stage of contemplation. “(13)

“This mode of thinking is what theIndians call” Raja Yoga and “ every adept incis-Himalayan or TransHimalayan India of thePatanjali, the Aryasanga or the Mahayanaschool, has to become a Raja Yogi (S.D. I,158)

Having started with Janna Yoga, thestudent dicovers that Raja Yoga is a significantpart of this “mode of thinking” and that one ofthe most important and recondite texts ofTheosophy -the Voice of the Silence, teaches

the highest altruism and renunciation of self,through the practice of a high form of RajaYoga.

“One of the reasons for... [apparent]contradictions lies in the fact that there aremany gradations of spiritual development. Thebeginner has to content himself with the workof a beginner, while the man who has purifiedhis heart and strengthened his will canundertake tasks of greater magnitude. (14)

Any student that, following the advice ofDamodar, is constantly engaged in thecontemplation of any of the axions ofTheosophy, “reasoning from the known to theunknown” and constantly applying theinductive and deductive method, going fromwhat he studies in Theosophy to Nature andvice-versa, in vaccinated againt dogmatism bythe very nature of his quest.

But if Janna and Raya Yoga are closelyinterwoven with each other, according toTheosophy Karma and Bhakti Yoga are alsofacets of the same path to illumination. In theNotes on the Bhagavad Gita by W. Q. Judge, itis said that Karma Yoga is... “concentrationand contemplation while engaged in action”(15)

“Depend upon concentration, performthy duty, abandon all thought of theconsequence, and make the event equal to thee,whether it terminates in good or evil; for suchan equanimity is called Yoga. (union withGod). By far inferior to union with wisdon isaction. (16)

And about Bhakti Yoga “we must by

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means of this mental devotion to the Divine,which means abnegation of all the rest, dismissall results of our action. It is not ours to say whatshall be the result of an action; the law will bringabout a result much better, perhaps, than we hadimagined... Devotion must be attained by thatstudent who desires to reach enlightenment”(17)

“When he has put away all desires whichenter the heart, and is satisfied by the self inhimself, he is then said to be confirmed inspiritual knowledge” (18) ,

Brotherhood, altruism, reform of eneselfthrough knowledge and meditation, concentra-tion in the divine while engaged in action.Theseare some of the ideals that Theosophy puts infront of all those who come to the S. D.

“It is divine philosophy alone, thespiritual and psychic blending of man withnature, which, by revealing the fundamentaltruths that lie hidden under the objets of senseand perception, can promote a spirit of unityand harmony in spite of the great diversities ofconflicting creeds. (19)

There are many scattered students allover the world that after a short or long questfor truth, throughout the dense forest of the“pseudo-esoteric or “semi-esoteric” literature,have arrived by Karma, intuition andreminiscence, “to regard the outpouring ofTheosophy at the end of last century as a worldevent” (GA. Farthing) and consider that it isworthwhile to try to see how far, it may leadthem towards the TRUTH. They may or maynot belong to any Theosophical organization,some work in isolation, others in groups or

lodges, independent or atached to someTheosophical organization, but all share a “...similarity of aim, of aspiration, of purpose, ofteaching, of ethics.” (Judge HCT Nov. 96, 3)

[This Judge quotation is familiar, but didnot appear in the Nov. ‘96 HCT as cited (ed.HCT)]

Let us not miss this opportunity offeredby Geoffry Farthing, now that the twentiethcentury is about to finish.Let us unite arroundHPB & the MASTERS. Let us send our name,and keep on working for the Cause ofTheosophy wherever we are now.

“Union is strength. It is by gatheringmany theosophists of the same way of thinkinginto one or more groups, and making themclosely united by the same magnetic bond offraternal unity and sympathy that the objects ofmutual development and progress in theosophi-cal thought may be best achieved...”

“For real moral advancement -there`where two or three are gathered’ in the name ofthe SPIRIT OF TRUTH there that spirit ofTheosophy will be in the midst of them.” (20)

Greetings J. Ramon Sordo. Tepoztlan, Mexico, September 2000

End Notes(1) Source of Measures, by J. Ralston Skinner, Secret Doctrine Reference Series, Introductory Notes by the Editor. Wizards Bookshelf. San Diego, 1982.(2) The Secret Doctrine, I, 272-73(3) The Phaedrus, in the Works of Plato,

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A true story

Today, I was doing Special Ed, 6th gradeteam Inclusion. Now, the team had gone on afield trip to Ocean Journey (museum). Noteveryone got to go and this little boy was BAD.So, he was to write a letter to the teacher incharge of BAD little boys.

Dear Ms. So and So,

I want to thank you for watching me whenmy classmates went to Ocean Journey. (Hetells me: “I don’t like this teacher; she ismean.”). I am sorry I was messing around andflicked that rubber band. [He was at a loss tofinish this letter, so I asked him: “What aboutthe future?” He looked serious. and said: “Iwant to be a plumber.” I started to laugh.] Inthe future I will be better [or is it gooder]behaved. [How do you spell “sincerely?” Ispell “S i n c e r e l y” space Y. He stops andlooks puzzled. “Yours,” I say. “Oh no! I’mnot going to be hers.” he responds].

Marty

translated by Thomas Tayor, London, 1804 Vol. III p. 365(4) The Secret Doctrine, I, 272.(5) The Voice of the Silence. p. 25(6) The Bowen Notes(7) C.W. II, 95(8) Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement, compiled and annotated by Sven Eek, T.P.H., 1978, p. 399(9) H.P. Blavatsky Tibet and Tulku, Geoffrey A. Barborka, T.P.H., Adyar, 1966, p. 52 Barborka says:

“Thus far attention hasbeen on the founding of the theosophicalsociety and no consideration has beengiven to the most important factorconcerning the formation of the Society,itself - in fact the principal reason for theexistence of the organization... namely,that the Theosophical Society was to bethe channel through which a vastcontinent of thought would be madeavailable to the western world.”

(10) Damodar p.400(11) Ibid p.399(12) Key to Theosophy p.10(13) Damodar p.399(14) Sven Eek, Damodar op. cit. p. 388(15) Notes on the Bhagavad-Gita, William Q. Judge, The Theosophy Co., p. 59(16) Ibid. p. 58(17) Ibid. p. 68-69(18) Ibid p. 69(19) CW. VII, 173(20) Original Programme Manuscript, CW. VII, 160.

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