Text of Resolutions passed by the General Council of the Theosophical Society
Freedom of Thought As the Theosophical Society has spread far and wide over the world, and as members of all religions have become members of it without surrendering the special dogmas, teachings and beliefs of their re- spective faiths, it is thought desirable to emphasize the fact that there is no doctrine, no opinion, by whomsoever taught or held, that is in any way binding on any member of the Society, none which any member is not free to accept or reject. Approval of its three Objects is the sole condition of membership. No teacher, or writer, from H. P. Blavatsky onwards, has any authority to impose his or her teachings or opinions on members. Every member has an equal right to follow any school of thought, but has no right to force the choice on any other. Neither a candidate for any office nor any voter can be rendered ineligible to stand or to vote, because of any opinion held, or because of membership in any school of thought. Opinions or beliefs neither bestow privileges nor inflict penalties. The Members of the General Council earnestly request every member of the Theosophical Society to maintain, defend and act upon these fundamental principles of the Society, and also fearlessly to exercise the right of liberty of thought and of expression thereof, within the limits of courtesy and consideration for others. Freedom of the Society The Theosophical Society, while cooperating with all other bodies whose aims and activities make such cooperation possible, is and must remain an organization entirely independent of them, not committed to any objects save its own, and intent on developing its own work on the broadest and most inclusive lines, so as to move towards its own goal as indicated in and by the pursuit of those objects and that Divine Wisdom which in the abstract is implicit in the title ‘The Theosophical Society’. Since Universal Brotherhood and the Wisdom are undefined and unlimited, and since there is complete freedom for each and every member of the Society in thought and action, the Society seeks ever to maintain its own distinctive and unique character by remaining free of affiliation or identification with any other organization.
VOL. 140 NO. 11 AUGUST 2019
CONTENTS
Address to New Members 5 Tim Boyd Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine 8 Annie Besant The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living 13 Barbara Hebert Fragments of the Ageless Wisdom 18 To Flow Is to Change 19 Clemice Petter Towers of Infinite Thought 24 Nicholas C. Weeks Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II 29 Jonathan Colbert Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman 34 Marie Harkness Theosophical Work around the World 38 International Directory 44
Editor: Mr Tim Boyd
NOTE: Articles for publication in The Theosophist should be sent to:
Cover: H. P. Blavatsky (12.8.1831 — 8.5.1891) co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875 in New York City and published The Secret Doctrine in 1888 (see p. 8) ______This journal is the official organ of the President, founded by H. P. Blavatsky, 1879. The Theosophical Society is responsible only for official notices appearing in this journal.
3 THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Founded 17 November 1875 President: Mr Tim Boyd Vice-President: Dr Deepa Padhi Secretary: Ms Marja Artamaa Treasurer: Ms Nancy Secrest Headquarters: ADYAR, CHENNAI (MADRAS) 600 020, INDIA Vice-President: [email protected] Secretary: [email protected] Treasurer: [email protected] Adyar Library and Research Centre: [email protected] Theosophical Publishing House: [email protected] // www.adyarbooks.com Editorial Office: [email protected], Website: http://www.ts-adyar.org
The Theosophical Society is composed of students, belonging to any religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of the Society’s Objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and to draw together men of goodwill, whatsoever their religious opinions, and by their desire to study religious truths and to share the results of their studies with others. Their bond of union is not the profession of a common belief, but a common search and aspiration for Truth. They hold that Truth should be sought by study, by reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they regard Truth as a prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the result of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should rest on knowledge, not on assertion. They extend tolerance to all, even to the intolerant, not as a privilege they bestow but as a duty they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not punish it. They see every religion as an expression of the Divine Wisdom and prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. Peace is their watchword, as Truth is their aim. Theosophy is the body of truths which forms the basis of all religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an endless life, opening the gateway to a fuller and more radiant existence. It restores to the world the Science of the Spirit, teaching man to know the Spirit as himself and the mind and body as his servants. It illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of intuition. Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and theosophists endeavour to live them. Everyone willing to study, to be tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a member, and it rests with the member to become a true theosophist.
4 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Address to New Members Address to New Members
TIM BOYD
I HAVE been thinking about that mo- look at them you can see that they have ment when I joined the Theosophical some sense of peace or equanimity in Society (TS) many years ago, and re- them, and you wonder “Maybe this Theo- minding myself about the feelings and sophy has something to do with it”, and, hopes I had at that time, because joining if so, it is something that you want to be the TS requires some thought, it is not a part of; that is another way of seeing it. something that you do casually. One of the things that always becomes So as a result of your own thought, clear is that, as new members, you take a feelings, and silence, you make a choice. step today that leads you toward tomorrow; The choice is: “I will be a part of some- this is a long process. In order for someone thing — the theosophical movement, the to even have an interest, to have the sense Theosophical Society.” Each of you has that there is something of value to be found certain ideas, maybe expectations, of in this Theosophical Society, there has to what lies ahead. This is a wonderful have been a long process that has taken thing, but also it is something that you place not just in this lifetime, but in many will continually have to re-examine with- lifetimes, bringing you closer and closer in yourself. to your own association with Truth. What is it that you are looking for in But now there is the moment when you this association with the TS? For some of make the conscious decision that you will you there might be the idea that you are proceed in this way, and this is a very joining because it is a continuation of a important step, because now it is not just family pattern. For generations, perhaps, something that has been bubbling beneath there have been members of the family the surface, it is something that you have who have been associated with this move- decided and you commit yourself to act. ment, and now it is something that you This commitment has a powerful influ- think “I can take on”; that is one view. ence. What you will find is that with com- For others there might be the idea that mitment come opportunities as well as somehow you have glimpsed something challenges which otherwise would not that speaks about a deeper potential, that have arisen. You will also find that as is possible for you to realize. Maybe you you are able to meet those challenges, have been around people that when you something grows inside of you.
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 5 Address to New Members One of the things very peculiar to this sence, the more profound will be your theosophical movement is that it was de- influence in the world around you and veloped and founded by ordinary people. the support that flows to you. That is why Our founders were great people: Henry S. we are here to congratulate you on the Olcott, Helena P. Blavatsky, and a whole step you have chosen to take. lineage of great members. But the actual We are also here to remind you that movement of the TS was founded by not just in this moment, but in all mo- great beings — the Masters of the Wis- ments going forward, there is a group dom — who have always stood behind of supportive co-pilgrims on the Path. this movement. So in a very real sense, We are here to help you to build for your- in making a connection with this move- selves the future that comes from mak- ment, we make a connection with those ing this very important choice. So we great beings as well. welcome you. One of the things I was told when At many meetings that you will be joining the Theosophical Society was that attending in the future, there is an invo- in doing so we become a link in a golden cation which is said, a Universal Prayer chain that stretches throughout humanity; written by Annie Besant, which expresses each one of us is a link. So we both draw the universal sense of the divine and from others around us, and we also add ever-present support for each and every to the strength of those who are around one of you. I will say it first, and then us. In our theosophical life we often find I will ask all of you to stand and recite it that a lot of what we do is done while we together. This Universal Prayer speaks are alone. Sometimes it is possible to feel to three things that are hidden, unseen a sense of isolation that we are laboring but ever-active within each and every one and moving alone against a current in this of us. First: “O hidden life, vibrant in world. But always behind and beneath every atom.” there is a support that we can avail our- Second, there is a light that also has a selves of; we can always tap into it. This power, it is always present, but it is hidden, particular moment, when we welcome not just in us, but in everything. As you our new members, is focused on that. become able to see more clearly, you This is a moment when not just the find that it is present in everything. At a new members and the international certain point in our unfoldment it ceases President meet. It is when other members to be hidden: “O hidden light, shining of the TS surround you so that you can in every creature.” How often are we able know that now, and in every moment to to see this? Everything that exists comes come, you are supported by individuals, into being through this hidden life, this but more importantly you are supported hidden light. by a Wisdom Tradition. The more deeply So we say this Universal Prayer in and sincerely that you contact that pre- order to tune our minds and our hearts to
6 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Address to New Members look for it: the hidden light that is always behind every form of life; it embraces shining in every creature. Very often in everything equally in oneness. our day-to-day circumstances we find This is the Universal Prayer. You will ourselves faced with “problem people”. hear it, will say it, and ideally at some Sometimes it is difficult to acknowledge point will find yourself actually meditat- that just as there is a rose, there is a thorn, ing on it and deepening it, driving its seed and that the same source creating the more and more deeply into your con- rose, creates the thorn. In order to see that sciousness. With that, it will come to life; and to act accordingly, there is this em- if you nourish the seed, it will come to phasis on the hidden light that is shining life. And as with any seed, it has its own in every creature. growth pattern, its own direction. Your And third: “O hidden love, embracing role is to nourish it and tend it, to allow all in oneness.” Very often we use the its life-giving force to come to the fore. word “spirituality”. The whole basis of So I will ask all of us to please stand spirituality is oneness — the recognition, and we can recite “O Hidden Life”: acknowledgement, and experience of one- O hidden Life, vibrant in every atom; ness. Everything that relates to unity and unifying is based on love. Love, at what- O hidden Light, shining in every creature; ever level we experience it, unites us. O hidden Love, embracing all in Oneness; If it is just with our beloved friends, our May all who feel themselves as one husbands, our wives, there is a union that with Thee, takes place. But the hidden love that ani- Know they are therefore one with mates the universe is the one that stands every other. 3
Whatever the personal views of the two Founders, the journal of the Society [The Theosophist] has nothing to do with them, and will publish as willingly criticism directed against Lamaism as against Christianism. .. . The Theosophist making room as willingly for hymns on the Lamb as for slokas on the sacredness of the cow.... M[orya] thinks that the Supplement ought to be enlarged if necessary, and made to furnish room for the expression of thought of every Branch, however diametrically opposed these may be. The Theosophist ought to be made to assume a distinct colour and become a unique specimen of its own. We are ready to furnish the necessary extra sums for it. Koot Hoomi The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett Letter 92 (chron. ed.), pp. 300 . . . 301 . . . 302. (ML-54)
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 7 Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine
ANNIE BESANT
IT would be difficult to find a book mena but the causes of phenomena; he presenting more difficulties to the must be eagerly searching for that bridge “reviewer with a conscience” than these between matter and thought, between handsome volumes bearing the name of the vibrating nerve-cell and percipiency, Madame [H. P.] Blavatsky as author — which the late Professor Clifford de- or, perhaps, it would be more accurate clared had never yet been thrown across to say, as compiler and annotator. The the gulf that sunders them; he must be subject matter is so far away from the free from the preposterous conceit (that beaten paths of literature, science, and exists now as really for the psychical art; the point of view so removed from universe as it did in the days of Coper- our Occidental fashion of envisaging nicus for the physical) that this world the universe; the lore gathered and ex- and its inhabitants are the only inhabited pounded so different from the science or world and the only intelligent beings in the metaphysics of the West, that to 99 the universe; he must recognize that there out of every 100 readers — perhaps to 999 may be, and most probably are, myriads among every 1,000 — the study of the of existences invisible, inaudible, to us, book will begin in bewilderment and because we have no senses capable of end in despair. responding to the vibrations that they set Let it be said at once that the great up, and which are therefore non-existent majority of average easy-going folk will to us, although in full activity, just as there do well not to begin The Secret Doctrine are rays at either end of the solar spec- (SD) at all. A certain mental position must trum quite as real as the visible rays be acquired ere any reading thereof can although invisible to us. be aught save weariness and futility. If only the nerve ends of our eyes and The would-be reader must have an in- ears could respond to higher and lower tense desire to know, and to know not rates of vibration, who can tell what new merely the relations between pheno- worlds, more and less “material” than our
Dr Annie Besant was the second international President of the Theosophical Society from 1907 to 1933. Article reprinted from The Theosophist, August 1889, pp. 696–8.)
8 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine own, might not flash into our con- ism, and of the contrast between Science sciousness, what sights and sounds might and the “Secret Doctrine”. Of these the not reach us from spheres interblended first will most repel and the third will with our own? A deep-sea fish, aware most attract. For the first is a metaphys- that his comrades explode if they are ical treatise wherein the Hindu brain, dragged to the surface, and knowing subtlest and most mystic of all mental nought of life conditions other than his organisms, expounds Being and the own, might, if he were a rash deep-sea beginning of beings in a fashion that no fish, deny the possibility of other intelli- Western intellect can rival. The causeless gent beings inhabiting the upper regions Cause, the rootless Root, whence spirit of the sea or the land invisible to him. and matter alike differentiate, is the One And so we may, if we are rash, deny all Existence — hidden, absolute, eternal lives save those led on our globe at the indistinguishable by us from non- bottom of our air-ocean, and human existence in that it has no form that can deep-sea fishes had better leave Ma- enable us to cognise it. From this all that dame Blavatsky’s volumes alone. exists proceeds; in itself Be-ness — why None the less is her book at once re- not Existence? — then Becoming, and the markable and interesting — remarkable Becoming alone can be intelligible to us. for its wide range of curious and ancient From this one primal element, where- lore, interesting for the light it throws on of all phenomena are transmutations, the religions of the world. For as she un- and then a hierarchy of existences in rolls the SD we catch sight of familiar linked order, the gradual evolution of faces in the imagery that passes under a universe. In reading this “origin of our eyes, now Egyptian and now Jewish, things”, as in reading all others, there is now Persian and now Chinese, now the constant feeling of unsatisfied desire Indian and now Babylonian, until slowly for evidence, despite the sweep of con- the feeling grows up that she is showing ception and the coherency of the whole. us the rock whence all these faiths were Of course the claim set up is that this hewn, the complete cosmogony whereof “Secret Doctrine” comes from those who these have presented disjointed frag- know, know with scientific certainty, ments. Inevitably the question arises: not with mere guess and groping, from “Have we here, from the Aryans who the Arhats, the Wise Ones of the East, rocked the cradle of the world’s civili- whose disciple Madame Blavatsky claims zation, the source of all the master- to be. But then we crave for some proof religions as well as of the master-races of the revealers. of the Earth?” As regards the metaphysics, here The first volume of SD is divided into again once more there is the feeling of three parts — an exposition of Cosmic the breakdown of language, the contra- Evolution, of the Evolution of Symbol- dictions in which the mind is involved
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 9 Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine when it strives to grasp the ever-elusive height is touched comes memory of the ultimates of being. However flexible and past, and then the purified spirit can gaze subtle in its shades of meaning Sanskrit backwards over the stages of its ascent. may be, our Occidental tongues, at least, Passing over Part II, on Symbolism, stumble into maddening confusion amid we find Madame Blavatsky, in Part III, in the shadowy forms and no forms of the full tilt against modern science, not as Thing in itself, and when it comes to against its facts, but as against its more symbolizing existence as a boundless recondite theories. It is an easy task for circle, using a word that implies limita- her to show that great scientific thinkers tion, and is empty of meaning without it, are at issue with each other as to the con- in connection with the absence of limi- stitution of the ether, the essence of tation, what can one do save admit that “matter” and of “force”, and she claims we have passed out of the region in which that the Occultist has the knowledge after language is useful as conveying con- which the scientist is only groping, and cepts, and that before the mystery of that at least, among the warring theories, existence silence is more reverent than Occultism may demand a hearing. self-contradictory speech? Some of the theories now put forward, Very briefly and roughly put, the idea indeed, come very near to occult views, is that Be-ness evolves spirit and matter, and make scientifically possible some spirit descending further and further of the startling manifestations of occult into matter in search of experience not power. Newton’s view, for instance, that otherwise attainable, evolving all forms; “gravity must be caused by an agent it reaches the lowest point, commences acting constantly according to certain its reascent, evolves through mineral, laws”, is in unison with the Occultist’s vegetable, animal, until it attains self- assertion that all the “forces” in Nature consciousness in man: then in man, with are actions of Intelligences, working his sevenfold nature, it climbs upward, ceaselessly, though invisibly to us, in the spiritualizing him as he evolves, until the universe; while much of the speculation grosser body and the animal passions are of Butlerof and Crookes almost touches purged away, and his higher principles Occult teaching. united to Âtma, the spark of the divine The Âkâsa of the Occultist is, as it spirit within him, reach their goal, the were, the “matter-force” after which absolute existence whence they originally Science is groping, the parent of all phe- came, carrying with them all the gains nomena. Within our terrestrial sphere, on of their long pilgrimage. the plane of the universe accessible to This process implies, of course, mani- our physical senses, Science is accurate fold reincarnations for each human spirit as to vibrations and so on; where it fails, as it climbs the many steps at whose sum- says the Occultist, is in supposing that mit alone is Rest. Only when a certain these are all, that on these lines of
10 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine investigation can ever be discovered the The First Race was created, breathed nature, say, of light or colour; there are out of their own substance, by the beings planes above ours on which matter exists who built our world, and was spiritual, in other modifications, in other condi- ethereal, sexless, and of slight intel- tions; on those must be sought the causes ligence; the Second Race was produced whereof science studies the effects, the by gemmation from the First, more ma- true nature of our physical phenomena. terial than its progenitor and asexual. The Atom, that strange conception The Third Race was produced ovi- of the physicist, elastic yet indivisible, parously, and among these separation of is to the Occultist a soul, “a centre of the sexes appeared gradually, the earlier potential activity”, differentiated from being androgynous, the later distinctly the One Soul of the universe, “the first male and female; the intellectual develop- born of the ever-concealed Cause of all ment was still very low, for spirit had not causes”, building up the visible universe. yet become sufficiently clothed with Instead of matter “inert” and “inanimate”, matter for self-conscious thought. Of this clashing through eternities, flinging up race in its later stages were the dwellers here a sun and there a world, and finally in Atlantis and the Lemurians, among evolving thought, the Occultist sees In- them the birth of religions, astronomical telligence robing itself in matter, ener- and sexual. gizing, guiding, controlling, animating Of these was born the Fourth Race, all that is. The antithesis could not be the giants, the “men of renown”, in sharper, and one or other solution of the whom we touch the “purely human problem of problems must be accepted period”. (A curious excursus on the “third by the philosopher. Which? eye”, which occurs here, receives re- The second volume of Madame Bla- markable confirmation from some of the vatsky’s work deals with the human latest scientific speculations on the pineal being, the first part being occupied with gland.) Now begins civilization, and his genesis, the second with the sym- the building of great rock cities, and the bolism of his religions, the third with physical and intellectual nature of man the contrast between the Occult and the develops “at the cost of the psychic and scientific views of his evolution. Of these the spiritual”; the huge statues and the first will be met with the most furious remains found in Easter Island, Bamian and contemptuous resistance, for briefly [or Bamiyan, Central Asia] and other this is the theory: Man as he is now, with spots, bear witness to the great size of his sevenfold nature — physical body, their makers, as do the vast dwellings and vital principle, “astral body”, animal the “enormous human bones” of Misorte soul, human or rational soul, human [in ancient America]. spirit, divine spirit — was not created With the Fifth Race we pass into the off-hand complete. domain of history, and to this the present
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 11 Among the Adepts: Madame Blavatsky on The Secret Doctrine races of men belong. Far away as, at first done by such treatment to a coherent sight, all this seems from Occidental whole. The book deserves to be read; science, yet the careful reader will mark it deserves to be thought over; and the curious analogies between this occult none who believes in the progress of view of human evolution and the scien- humanity has the right to turn away over- tific view of the evolution of living hastily from any contribution to know- things on our globe, an evolution still ledge, however new in its form, from any shown in broad outline in the individual theory, however strange in its aspect. development of each human being from The wild dreams of one generation ovum to man. become the commonplaces of a later one, Madame Blavatsky’s views may not and all who keep an open door to Truth meet with acceptance, but they are sup- will give scrutiny to any visitant, be the ported by sufficient learning, acuteness garb of Asia or of Europe, be the tongue and ability to enforce a respectful hear- of Paris or of Ind. If this counsel be of ing. It is indeed the East which, through folly or of falsehood, it shall come to her, challenges the West, and the Orient naught, but if of Truth ye cannot over- need not be ashamed of its champion. throw it. Passing strange is it. Of the We have here but given a few fragments truth in it our superficial examination is of her lore, and injustice is necessarily insufficient to decide. 3
... it was learned that a niece of [Albert] Einstein’s, in India during the 1960s, paid a special visit to the headquarters of the Theosophical Society at Adyar. She explained that she knew nothing of Theosophy or the Society, but had to see the place because her uncle always had a copy of Madame [H. P.] Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine on his desk. The individual to whom the niece spoke was Eunice Layton, a world- traveled theosophical lecturer who happened to be at the reception desk when she arrived. While in Ojai, California, in January 1982, Sylvia Cranston met Mrs Eunice Layton, who confirmed the story. Sylvia Cranston HPB — The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement , 1994, p. 567–568
12 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living
BARBARA HEBERT
SO many books have been written ex- always be more or less that of parable and panding on the themes in H. P. Blavat- suggestion, when treading upon forbidden sky’s (HPB) The Voice of the Silence ground; we have our own peculiar modes (The Voice). So many wonderful students of expression and what lies behind the have spoken — and will speak — about fence of words is even more important it. It is humbling to contemplate the pos- than what you read. But still — TRY. sibility of sharing anything in a few pages Therefore, we will follow the words of the that has not already been shared. On the Master and TRY. other hand, the synergy of many think- The Voice is a mystical book. The Mer- ing along the same lines, contemplating riam Webster Dictionary defines mystical these mystical and frequently paradoxical as having a spiritual meaning or reality instructions for walking the Path, allows that is neither apparent to the senses nor us to expand our understanding of our- obvious to the intelligence; and involv- selves and the world around us. ing or having the nature of an individual’s This reminds me of a portion of The direct subjective communion with God Mahatma Letters, No. 59 Barker (ML or ultimate reality. #59; #111 chron.) in which the Master When we read or study The Voice, we Koot Hoomi (KH) writes to A. P. Sinnett: must do so with the intuition, or buddhi- Try. “Nothing was ever lost by trying.” manas, because we are having a direct You share with all beginners the tendency and subjective communion with the to draw too absolutely strong inferences Ultimate Reality; a communion that is from partly caught hints, and to dogmatize neither apparent to the senses nor obvious thereupon as though the last word had been to the intelligence or the mind (kâma- spoken. You will correct this in due time. manas). I am reminded of teaching poe- You may misunderstand us, are more try to high-school students who tried to than likely to do so, for our language must read and understand every word literally.
Dr Barbara Hebert is President of the Theosophical Society in America. Talk delivered at the Krotona Institute of Theosophy, Ojai, California, on 26 January 2019.
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 13 The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living
It cannot be done. We have to read be- These tears, O thou of heart most merciful, yond the words. Or, more beautifully these are the streams that irrigate the fields stated by Sangharakshita in his booklet, of charity immortal. ’Tis on such soil that Paradox and Poetry in The Voice of grows the midnight blossom of Buddha, the Silence: more difficult to find, more rare to view than is the flower of the Vogay tree. It is It is as though the hand, which transcribed the seed of freedom from rebirth. It isolates [these fragments] for the good of humanity the Arhat both from strife and lust; it leads and dedicated them “To the Few”, had written in letters of fire above the sanc- him through the fields of being unto the tuary portal an awful warning that here peace and bliss known only in the land of was ground upon which the intellect could silence and non-being. not tread, where only a chastened and When we think of the Spiritual Path, sublimated spiritual intuition that worked most of us perceive it as something linear not within the narrow bounds of for- with a beginning and an end. Merriam mal logic could possibly hope to gain Webster defines a path as a “trodden admittance. (p. 7). way; a track specially constructed for a With that warning in mind, we will try to particular use”. It is an external way for gain insight from some of the paradoxical us to arrive at our goal. However, Verse statements in The Voice; paradoxical state- 58 presents us with a paradox. We cannot ments that according to Sangharakshita are walk the path until we become the path. “a method of awakening Soul-Wisdom” What does this mean? How do we be- (p. 7). Fragment I, verses 58–62 of The come the path? Becoming the path — Voice, provide a useful place to begin becoming anything — requires an in- this exploration: ternal transformation. This verse, “Thou canst not travel on Thou canst not travel on the Path before the Path before thou hast become that thou hast become that Path itself. Path itself”, indicates that the path is not Let thy soul lend its ear to every cry of pain an external walkway, a linear walkway, like as the lotus bares its heart to drink allowing us to reach some end point; the morning sun. rather, it is an internal journey. As Joy Mills writes in her book From Let not the fierce sun dry one tear of Inner to Outer Transformation: “We are pain before thyself hast wiped it from not separate from the path, from the pro- the sufferer’s eye. cess . . . we are examining ourselves, our But let each burning human tear drop motives, our inmost nature, the very roots on thy heart and there remain, nor ever of our being. Examining every aspect of brush it off, until the pain that caused it ourselves. Nothing must go unexamined.” is removed. (p. 37) It is through this self-examination,
14 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living self-observation, that we can begin to two people to look after, how could make this internal transformation. he lose one half of humanity?” But the Throughout The Voice, we are encour- zaddik replied, “Yes, God is omniscient. aged — admonished even — to engage Because it was not that God did not in self-examination; from the beginning know where Adam was, but Adam did of Fragment I, verses 4 and 5: “The mind not know where he was.” Adam replied: is the great slayer of the Real. Let the “I hid myself.” Joy says that we are also disciple slay the slayer.” to “Give up thy in hiding. Do we know who we are? Do life, if thou wouldst live.” (I, 21); “Before we know where we are? that path is entered, thou must destroy It is this “divine discontent” that pushes thy lunar body, cleanse thy mind-body, us onto the path from which it is almost and make clean thy heart.” (I, 51); “Step impossible to turn away. At some point, out from sunlight into shade, to make we heard the call, “Where are you?” We more room for others.” (II, 140); and on realized then, on some level, that we were through Fragment III: “Thou shalt not let “in hiding” so we began the journey to thy senses make a playground of thy find ourselves. It is a journey that takes mind.” (III, 218) us far and wide, yet we never have to It is this internal journey which is our physically move from our location. daily work. Each and every day, hour, It is the journey of becoming the path. and minute, we must engage in self- Where does this journey begin? observation. Why? Because once we It begins every single moment and can become aware that there is something be measured by the way we act in the “more” than this phenomenal world; once world. Some might question this state- we become aware of the glimmer of light ment, asking if our journey should not that exists, it is almost impossible to turn be measured by the degree and amount away. We are compelled to move forward, of knowledge we have. Certainly know- or rather inward. No one makes us do it. ledge encompasses part of the journey, We choose it. As Joy says, walking this as seen in Fragment I, when the three path is a “self-chosen responsibility”. Halls are discussed. She relates the story of a zaddik, a Many of us, as theosophists, love the Jewish holy man, jailed in Northern White Hall of Learning, that is, we love to read, Russia several hundred years ago for to study, to discuss, to increase our his views and opinions. His jailers taunt- understanding of the metaphysical con- ed him, asking him: If your God is omni- cepts which have been shared with us. potent and omniscient, why did He call We must have knowledge, but there is into the Garden of Eden saying, “Adam, danger in this particular hall, says The where art thou?” Voice. Verse 26 says: “In it thy soul will As Joy says, “It does seem a rather find the blossoms of life, but under every ridiculous question — if God had only flower a serpent coiled.” How easily we
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 15 The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living can become caught up in “slicing and those who are hungry for understand- dicing” the metaphysical concepts that ing, for truth, for the wisdom which the have been shared with us so that we can theosophical worldview has to offer. We increase our understanding! But know- may not have all the answers, and indeed ledge is clearly not enough. We must none of us can have all the answers, but move beyond the Hall of Learning to the we can speak from the heart, and if we Hall of Wisdom. Verse 33 urges us to cannot speak, we can reach out with a flee from the Hall of Learning: “This Hall smile. That action will always be right is dangerous in its perfidious beauty, which flows from love, from the heart. is needed but for thy probation.” The choice of ways is always present Therefore, our inward journey, as long before us. We can live in such a manner as we live in this phenomenal world, must that our very presence in the world be measured by our outer actions. It has brings, according to verse 158: “light and been said that words have no value unless comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and [in such actions are taken. Another variation of this a way that we] seek out him who knows saying is: “In the end, it’s not the talk, still less than thou.” but the walk that matters.” What better instructions for daily living Marie Poutz, who lived at Krotona and can we receive than this? How simple, and was an amazing woman and Theosophist, yet how profound. As we engage in self- discussed the question of right action. examination, how often can we say that Ms Poutz, as she was known, said the we have spent the day in actions that flow difference was not between right action from the heart? That our actions brought and wrong action but rather between love light and comfort to others? That we have and not-love. shared what we know with others? A She described love as actions that caveat here — we do not have to “preach awaken the immortal spirit within others. Theosophy” or even to use theosophical Is that not what we want for those we love terms in sharing what we have learned. — to find the beauty of their true selves? Rather, it is incumbent upon us to meet She described not-love as any action that others where they are and to use their helps to obscure the interior light of language so that they can hear. Truth is another. So, if we look at any action we Truth, regardless of its clothing. may take, not as right or wrong, but rather Fragment II describes two paths — the as “Is this action love or not-love”, we are Open Path and the Secret Path — and then acting every moment in recognition between these two paths, we will choose of the divinity in all. Joy writes: one. Returning to Joy Mills again in From There are many lonely people in the world, Inner to Outer Transformation, she says: so many who have suffered loss of one “As is evident throughout The Voice of kind or another, and above all, there are the Silence, and indeed throughout all
16 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Voice of the Silence: A Paradoxical Guide to Living of HPB’s writings, the dharma, or way, these are the streams that irrigate the fields inherent in the theosophical worldview of charity immortal. ’Tis on such soil that is that of the Bodhisattva, the path of grows the midnight blossom of Buddha, renunciation.” Ours is the Secret Path: as more difficult to find, more rare to view Theosophists, we live to serve humanity. than is the flower of the Vogay tree. It is Every time we act from the heart, we the seed of freedom from rebirth. It isolates are choosing love over not-love, we are the Arhat both from strife and lust; it leads preparing, or perhaps even beginning, to him through the fields of being unto the walk the Secret Path — the Bodhisattva peace and bliss known only in the land of Way — that provides the archetype for silence and non-being. us to follow. It is our guide to living. The compassion that we feel, “these tears” The other verses mentioned earlier (58 are the foundation or “seed of freedom to 62) remind us that we are to become from rebirth”. It is the very beginning of the very embodiment of compassion: the Path of the Bodhisattva. Let thy soul lend its ear to every cry of Compassion, says The Voice, is “the pain like as the lotus bares its heart to drink Law of laws — eternal harmony” (III, the morning sun. 300). We are enjoined to become “com- passion absolute” (III, 301). Then verse Let not the fierce sun dry one tear of pain 307: “Compassion speaks and saith: Can before thyself hast wiped it from the there be bliss when all that lives must sufferer’s eye. suffer? Shalt thou be saved and hear the But let each burning human tear drop on thy whole world cry?” heart and there remain, nor ever brush it As Theosophists, we answer “No”, be- off, until the pain that caused it is removed. cause we have chosen — self-chosen — the Path of Renunciation for the sake of This is the Bodhisattva way. And then humanity. We will remain with humanity the final verse: until all pain is removed, until all suffer- These tears, O thou of heart most merciful, ing is gone, until the world cries no more. 3
Harmony is the inlet of God [Brahman] into the mind, so that the mind acts in obedience to a law above mind — and that law is unity. Unity is the Nature of God, and harmony is its expression in mind and in the works of mind. Ernest Wood The Bhagavad Gita Explained , p. 196
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 17 Fragments of the Ageless Wisdom
“No religion can prove by practical, scientific demonstration that there is such a thing as one personal God; while the esoteric philosophy, or rather theosophy of Gautama Buddha and Sankaracharya prove and give means to every man to ascertain the undeniable presence of a living God in man himself — whether one believes in or calls his divine indweller Avalokiteswara, Buddha, Brahma, Krishna, Jehovah, Bhagawan, Ahura-mazda, Christ, or by whatever name — there is no such God outside of himself. The former — the one ideal outsider — can never be demonstrated; the latter, under whatever appellation, may always be found present if a man does not extinguish within himself the capacity to perceive this Divine presence, and hear the “voice” of that only manifested deity, the murmurings of the Eternal Vach, called by the Northern and Chinese Buddhist Avalokiteswara and Kwan-Shai-yin, and by the Christians — Logos.” H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings, vol. V, p. 100
18 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 To Flow Is to Change To Flow Is to Change
CLEMICE PETTER
MOST of us are familiar with the someone it is a delight to see life unfolding teachings of the Buddha, who said that through that person, but we are scared of we suffer because of attachment, which that unfoldment, simply because deep inside, means we suffer because we cling to things, we know that we cannot control it, and to situations, people, beliefs, conclusions, control is very important in our relations. and so many other things that it is Then we come across another situation impossible to list them all. However, the — we also like to think that we know what fact is that we suffer because we would will make other people happy. If this were like to mold Life, to tell what it should be, true — if we knew what makes for hap- what direction it should move towards, piness — we would be happy people, and in which way it should happen. which does not seem to be so. It is im- We also try to mold people; we believe portant to realize that happy people are that if the person is our son, daughter, lost in happiness, and therefore have no wife, or husband, or related to us in any time or interest in criticizing or judging. It way, we have the right to shape their life, is only the unhappy that occupy them- their beliefs, or even their faith. We have selves with someone else’s life. developed such beliefs simply because we Buddha’s teachings also say that hap- do not love people for who they are, but piness on this earth is possible. He talks we expect them to fulfill our desires and about the path of righteousness and Unity wishes. As long as people play the role of life. He says: “Do not kill.” And for most designed by us, we say we love them. But of us killing is only a physical phenom- as soon something falls out of the plan, enon. We never look at the killing that we no longer “love” them. In fact, we have is going on at subtle levels. We are too never even seen them; we have only seen materialistic to look at somebody and think our own desires and fantasies. that what animates that body is of a subtle We say we love our children, but it does nature, a delicate flower that is struggling not seem to be true, because when we love to open up and spread its perfume into
Ms Clemice Petter is Head of the Editorial Department at Adyar. Talk given at a regular meeting of the Gandhinagar Lodge at the Headquarters Hall, Adyar.
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 19 To Flow Is to Change the world. We need to see that everyone It seems that not even the fact that is a unique gift given to the world, and many of us are living in highly polluted each one has some special talent which, cities, where the air carries into our system if allowed to bloom, will fulfill a gap in poisoning substances and where children the network in which human life unfolds. cannot play outside the house in the open A child is full of life, happiness, and air because it is not safe in many ways, curiosity that gradually disappear as the not even this has been capable of making years go by. We never look at this and us think. One wonders what else can make ask: Why does this happen?” It seems to us think. Are we such stupid species in- me that this is deeply related to the fact capable of seeing the obvious that is going that we try to shape the child’s behavior on in our own house? We talk about God from the very beginning and, feeling strait- and about Love in temples, churches, jacketed, without freedom to move, to mosques because we consider these places flow, the fragile flower trying to open to to be sacred. What about Life? Is it not life slowly withers away. And at the end of the highest sacred thing, to be honored the period of this monstrosity that we call and cared for? We worship buildings made education, we have a dead entity, a young of stone and live a desert life. We talk man or woman who is nothing but a cog in about a perfect time and place, heaven, the killing wheel developed by the rigidity while creating hell on Earth. of rules and formulas, a world created by We have neglected life to such an the mind, a world without mercy. extent that it is withdrawing from the After the education period in which the planet where humans have grown from child is molded, shaped, and the sponta- savage to civilized and sophisticated neous flow is lost, we have an adult ready beings. So the question is: Is civilization to shape others and to make life as mis- synonymous with disregard for life? Is it erable to them as it feels to himself. This synonymous with competition, violence is because death is all he knows, he cannot and greed? If so, maybe it would have tolerate life in any form, he will shape the been better if we, the human race, had re- environment in which he lives, interfere mained savages, at least the planet would with the rhythm of Nature, destroy forests, have been safe from our increasing and pollute the air. At the pinnacle of stupidity. The fact is that we, as we are insanity, he will kill the rivers, which are today, are a danger to ourselves and to the source of all life on this planet, without the environment in which we live. It is realizing what he is doing and its con- time that we change the mode in which sequences. Today we are witnessing cities our mind operates. From competition, suffering without water, and at the same that leads to war and destruction, to co- time a stinking substance runs in rivers operation, that leads to inner growth and where some years ago fresh, clean water development. was available for human consumption. Because the mind, which is a tool, has
20 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 To Flow Is to Change been left running without intelligent before, and depression among people has direction, it is making life impossible on become as common as the flu. And still Earth. Please do not think we are not con- we do not care to stop and look, in order tributing to the present crisis as, after all, to understand what is going on. some of us are fighting for human rights We can call ourselves brothers and or animal welfare or even protecting Na- sisters as much as we wish, but if we ture. However, this “I”, this “me” is beat- cannot feel it, those words become knives ing hard, and while we are doing all this, cutting out whatever little sensitiveness at home, we are killing those with whom is left in our hearts. So if you do not feel we share the same roof. something in your blood as part of your We kill our children when we choose being, do not repeat it, because the rep- for them, when we tell them all about life etition of something not understood, that and love, what they are and what they are is not in our heart, becomes a poisoning not, when we do not allow them to find lie that dulls the heart and sickens the soul. out for themselves — it is out of fear of After all, we are those children from life that we try to shape our children. We whom life was taken away and to whom kill our wife or husband when we expect all kinds of atrocities happened in school something from them. We kill the unfor- life, at home, and in relation with other tunate ones who have no other choice in kids. Knowing this, what is there left for life other than to work for us, we kill them us, other than being part of this monstrous when we expect them to do everything the world? To find out what has happened to way we want them to, not allowing any us, and how all that happened has shaped expression of creativity. There is no respect our lives, is the work of those who wish for the humans under our control in our to live. This is not in order to change our- working places. selves, because if we think in terms of a We do not see a human being working, change, that this “I” will bring about, we see a lifeless machine that has to there will be no change at all, it will be produce as much as we want, as much as just an adjustment into another facet of we think it should, and we see our interest the same old structure, because this “I” threatened if they do not fulfill what is and the society are one and the same. expected, for, after all, we are paying However, if one can be aware of how them. We really believe that we can buy the mind has been shaped through beliefs, people’s most precious gift, which is Life, formulas, and conclusions, then we may with money; this is the highest sin and come upon a different kind of understand- the most disgusting crime against Love. ing about life. And it is only then that there Today, with all our technology, we are will be a possibility for the flow of life to killing faster than ever. Since the industrial run free, without the walls of the “me” revolution we have destroyed the environ- preventing its course. ment in which we live more than ever Saint Francis of Assisi wrote a wonder-
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 21 To Flow Is to Change ful song, and in it he says that in order to things and call it the flow of life. To flow live, we need to die. We need to die to all with life requires awareness and dis- our conditionings, all that which is mechan- crimination from the beginning until the ical, because all mechanical behavior is last breath. It is not an irresponsible way the expression of a dead entity. To live, of life, just the contrary, to flow one has to be alive, means to flow, and to flow is to to feel tremendously responsible. To flow change. But we are desperately trying to is to be light, not to carry any weight; avoid changes. The missing factor in this to flow one needs to strip oneself of all is that only dead things never change; when desires, wants, and identifications, such there is no flow, no change, only stagnation as nationality, race, culture, and family, with its bad smell and ugly features which are the stumbling blocks preventing remain. It is a law of Nature that all which the joy of life. is dead will sooner or later rot away. Here again there is a very delicate point The journey in a physical body is short — family. It does not mean that one for some, and for others quite long; it does should abandon one’s family; it rather not matter much either way. What matters means that one should have no sense of is to be aware that it is just a journey; it separation as “my” family, so, my respon- will change scenarios many times. In the sibility is only with them. It means that we same way, when we travel in a train or in belong to one family, the human family. a car, as we move we may see beautiful And we can go a step further: it means mountains, poor villages, and cities with that we belong to the Universal Family. their noise, beauty, and dirt. All kinds of All that lives on this or any other planet, things and people cross our way, but the or in any part of the Cosmos is part of us, moment we want to retain and stay with therefore it is our family, and as such, we the mountains and avoid the dirty cities, are responsible for each other and for the struggle and suffering begin. whole Universe. There is only one life, This does not mean that we cannot and whether we can see it or not is a dif- enjoy the journey; it means that we should ferent matter. If we live in the illusion of be like a guest in a foreign land — what- the “me” and “you”, the “we” and “they”, ever is given, we simply enjoy and do not then suffering and death are guaranteed. demand for more or something else, be- Mind is a difficult tool to manage; it cause life knows best what is in store, built creates all kinds of illusions, and the by our own thoughts and actions. To ask difficulty lies in the fact that those who for something we do not deserve makes are deluded cannot see that what they us indebted to Mother Nature. see is illusion. To avoid such painful Here one has to be very careful, be- situations we need to understand the tool, cause many people translate the flow of which means, we need to understand how life into the fulfillment of their own desires, this illusion-maker works, how it kills the which means to indulge in all kinds of Real and replaces it with illusions.
22 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 To Flow Is to Change As with any tool, to manage it with built strong walls of resistance. Some of mastery we need to understand its mech- them are old friends, such as knowledge anism, its engine, so we need to look as conclusion, tradition, beliefs, and many at it, give attention to it. There is no other others which make for the formation of way to learn about anything; we need to groups and separate us from each other, have the interest, the urge. We need to and sooner or later animosity among any learn the art of doubting: not to believe groups will arise. our own conclusions and interpretations. Mind likes to control, to have every- To look at life with a scientific mind, a thing organized and functioning as a clock; mind that is always learning is the key in the moment something does not happen the process of understanding life, and in the planned way, it cannot deal with it therefore ourselves. anymore, and at that moment war is born; To be aware that the mind is incapable it may be a small war, between husband of dealing with changes, and to learn that and wife, but still war. So, all violence is it is the mind that is trying to keep life the explosion of despair for control. To imprisoned in the high towers of beliefs, change is to die to the dimension of vio- conclusions, certainties, and tradition may lence, greed, anger, envy, competition, and help to avoid crystallization. However, life ignorance, and to be born into the dimen- cannot be put into a prison — it runs out sion of Universal Living, where Love and and only death is left in its place. Because Compassion are the children of under- the mind is blind, it cannot see that life standing the oneness of life, where mind has gone, so it keeps cherishing a dead works as a tool directed by intelligence, body as if it was a living one. To change whose nature is Love and Compassion. is the most difficult thing, because we have To flow is to live in the dimension of Light. 3
Devotee: Does not education make a sage more useful to the world than illiteracy? Maharshi: Even a learned man must bow before the illiterate sage. Illiteracy is ignorance: education is learned ignorance. Both of them are ignorant of their true aim; whereas a sage is not ignorant because there is no aim for him. Talks with Sri Ramana Maharshi
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 23 Towers of Infinite Thought Towers of Infinite Thought
NICHOLAS C. WEEKS
SACRED places of initiation are men- builded a fane of imperishable rocks, a tioned in H. P. Blavatsky’s (HPB) Isis giant’s Tower of INFINITE THOUGHT, Unveiled and many other passages in wherein the Titan dwelt, and will yet, if need theosophical writings. While the altruistic be, dwell alone, emerging from it but at function of these initiation temples is made the end of every cycle, to invite the elect of clear, what span of wisdom, power, and humankind to cooperate with him and help virtue was fixed in their minds is known in his turn enlighten superstitious man.3 only to the initiates. The function is des- This third quotation gives a general hint, cribed as a mastery of life and wisdom: that an Adept’s thoughts are boundless, A mastery gained through the unfolding both in number and in depth. Their motive in the individual of the spiritual and intel- and function is to enlighten humanity, like lectual powers and faculties which are that of the bodhisattva Titan Prometheus. innate and native to all men, but which Here is testimony that the Master Koot require “evolving”, or bringing forth or Hoomi (KH) and other Brothers in Tibet unfolding, partly by self-induced efforts in still used one specific tower when they training, and partly by teaching given in were ready for their initiation: the initiation chambers.1 At a stone’s throw from the old Lamasery The “Towers”, which are found throughout stands the old tower, within whose bosom the East in Asia, were connected with the have gestated generations of Bodhisattvas.4 Mystery-Initiations . . . The candidates for Initiation were placed in them for three In addition to mental and physical ini- days and three nights, wherever there was tiation towers or temples, there are also no temple with a subterranean crypt close astral initiation places. Here is an astral at hand. These round towers were built for temple Damodar K. Mavalankar wrote no other purposes. . . . They were sacred about in a letter to William Q. Judge: places of initiation.2 After walking a considerable distance For countless generations hath the adept through this subterranean passage, we
Mr Nicholas C. Weeks, theosophical scholar, collaborated with his late wife, Dara Eklund, in assisting Boris de Zirkoff to compile and edit a few of the Collected Writings of H. P. Blavatsky.
24 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Towers of Infinite Thought
came into an open plain in Ladakh. There last to fail, and that even it could save the is a large massive building thousands of rest, if its watchers were faithful.6 years old. In front of it is a huge Egyptian In the Mahayana tradition there is a Tau. The Building rests on 7 big pillars in much revered section of the Avatamsaka the form of pyramids. The entrance gate Sutra7 that gives details, some symbolic, has a large triangular arch . . . . This the some occult, about the Infinite Thought Chief Central Place where all those of Tower that a bodhisattva would experi- our Section who are found deserving of ence. In this case, inspired by Bodhi- Initiation into Mysteries have to go for chitta motivation, the aspirant is the youth their final ceremony and stay there the Sudhana.8 He seeks a bodhisattva guru requisite period. I went up with my Guru to guide him further on his path. Each of to the Great Hall. The grandeur and sere- his many gurus teaches Sudhana what nity of the place is enough to strike anyone liberation state they knew and then with awe. The beauty of the Altar, which suggest another guru to serve. One thing is in the centre and at which every can- he learned, as the reader of this sutra will didate has to take his vows at the time of also understand, is how and with what his Initiation, is sure to dazzle the most elements, a Tower of profound and noble brilliant eyes. The splendour of the ideas is built by an aspirant to initiation: CHIEF’s Throne is incomparable. Every- thing is on a geometrical principle and Then the youth and maiden9 told Sudhana containing various symbols which are of their own liberation and said to him, explained only to the Initiate.5 “Go south, to a place called Seashore. There is a garden called Great Adornment, W. Q. Judge recalls a past-life story. wherein there is a great Tower called Vair- An Adept speaks: ochana’s10 Treasury of Adornments. This is an old tower used by the immediate That Jeweled Tower is born from the descendants of the white Magicians who bodhisattva’s matured roots of goodness. settled on Ireland when England’s Isle had It is born from the bodhisattva’s power of not arisen from the sea. When the great mindfulness, his power of vows, his power Masters had to go away, strict injunctions of self-mastery and his power of mystic were left that no fires on these towers were knowledge. It is born from the bodhi- to go out, and the warning was also given sattva’s good skillful means. It is born that, if the duties of life were neglected, if from his blessings, virtue, and wisdom. charity, duty, and virtue were forgotten, the The bodhisattva who abides in this in- power to keep these fires alive would conceivable liberation, out of a mind of gradually disappear. The decadence of the great compassion, makes appear such an virtues would coincide with the failure of adorned state of power and liberation for the fires, and this, the last tower, guarded all living beings. Maitreya11 Bodhisattva by an old and a young man, would be the dwells securely within it.”
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 25 Towers of Infinite Thought Master Hsuan Hua12 explains a little: gods, parents, and the rest of humanity. The country where Maitreya Bodhisattva This divine duty will move us to tap our dwells is called Seashore. The “sea” is the own bubbling spring of virtues. These wisdom sea of the Bodhisattva undergo- will flow forth from our “fountainhead ing one more birth [before Buddhahood]. of utter wisdom”, as G. de Purucker The Garden is called “Great Adornment” called it. A grateful person is rare, as because with the causes perfected, the Buddha taught: ten thousand practices adorn the fruition. These two kinds of persons are rare in the The Great Jeweled Tower is named Vairo- world. What two? One who takes the chana’s Treasury of Adornment. It is a initiative in helping others and one who is symbol of the Dharma Realm, and there- grateful and thankful. These two kinds of fore it is vast, infinite, and adorned. Vairo- persons are rare in the world. . . . chana is the Dharmakâya Buddha. The Great Jeweled Tower is the Adorned And what is the plane of the good person? Treasury of the Dharmakâya Buddha.13 A good person is grateful and thankful. For Long before anyone aspires toward gratitude and thankfulness are extolled by such a Jeweled Tower, much less reaches the good. Gratitude and thankfulness belong 16 it, a path of many virtues must be trod entirely to the plane of the good person. in daily life. There is one virtue that is Gratitude to the Guru is obligatory not usually among those most valued. among aspirants and disciples. As the Gratitude has a subtle power of goodness Book of Discipline says: that blesses one who knows it. Ingratitude is common and a curse to many. Master To the earnest Disciple his Teacher takes KH mentions several times that “ingrati- the place of Father and Mother. For, tude is not among our vices”. H. P. whereas they give him his body and its Blavatsky points out that “ingratitude faculties, its life and casual form, the is a crime in Occultism”.14 Teacher shows him how to develop the inner faculties to the acquisition of the Duty is that which is due to Humanity, Eternal Wisdom.17 . . . especially that which we owe to all those who are poorer and more helpless There is a long section in this part of than we are ourselves. This is a debt the Sutra in praise of the essential spiritual which, if left unpaid during life, leaves us friend or guru. Here is one verse: spiritually insolvent and moral bankrupts The good and wise advisor is like a kindly in our next incarnation. Theosophy is the mother that gives birth to the lineage of quintessence of duty.15 the Buddha. He is like a kindly father Our sacred duty is to repay the help that bestows vast benefit. He is like a and support we have received, over nursemaid that guards one and does not many lives, from the Buddhas, Masters, allow one to engage in what is evil.
26 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Towers of Infinite Thought Here are two of the verses giving the the assembly as an ideal Bodhisattva. attitude of the disciple toward the guru: The Bodhisattva also teaches all gath- You should think of yourself as afflicted ered there on the heart of the Mahayana 18 by a disease and think of the good and path — Bodhichitta. wise advisor as the king of physicians. Sudhana asks Maitreya to open the You should think of the Dharma that he Jeweled Tower for him, Maitreya snaps proclaims as fine medicine, and think of his fingers three times, and the door the practice one cultivates as ridding one opens. Sudhana enters the Jeweled Tower of disease. samâdhi and the door closes behind him. Sudhana first notices that the Jeweled You should also think of yourself as one Tower is vast like boundless space. He who is traveling far, and conceive of the sees countless towers, each of which good guru as a guiding Master. Also think reveals a past life of Maitreya Bodhisattva of the Dharma that he proclaims as the right teaching all sorts of beings on all aspects path. Also think of the practice one of Buddha’s Dharma. Other towers dis- cultivates as that which will reach the play his many powers, wisdom, and great distant goal. compassion. This part of the Avatamsaka Sudhana, his heart overflowing with Sutra uses jeweled pillars or towers of gratitude and reverence for all the bodhi- light to correspond with what sutrâtman sattvas who have taught him, bows low means: “Sutrâtman, the luminous thread before the Jeweled Tower, the realm of immortal impersonal Monadship, on where Maitreya and his bodhisattva dis- which our earthly lives or evanescent ciples dwell. Powerful blessings of good- Egos are strung as so many beads.” 19 ness sweep over him, and he arises Many more Jeweled Towers reveal refreshed and inspired. Then, keeping similar aspects and teachings regarding his mind focused on the Jeweled To- other great bodhisattvas. In samadhi, wer, he begins to circle it. As he walks Sudhana sees each object and hears each around the Jeweled Tower, he concen- teaching within the Jeweled Towers. He trates on all the beneficent qualities and also sees many fantastic images of mag- powers of the Great Ones who live there. nificent vistas radiating from each of He finally stops at the entrance and prays the Jeweled Towers. With the power that Maitreya would arrive and open the of firm mindfulness, and purity of vi- doorway for him. sion, Sudhana sees, hears, and knows Off in the distance he sees Maitreya these endless marvelous panoramas. approaching with a vast retinue of hu- At this point Maitreya snaps his fin- man and non-human beings. When gers, brings Sudhana out of his samadhi Maitreya Bodhisatva came closer, joy- state and tells him: ful Sudhana prostrates himself fully. Good man, you have been dwelling in the Maitreya then praises Sudhana to all bodhisattvas’ inconceivable self-mastery.
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 27 Towers of Infinite Thought
You enjoyed the bliss of all bodhisattvas’ hood’s Towers are built of infinite gra- samâdhis. You have become able to see dations of selfless thoughts. As Master what is sustained by the spiritual power of KH said in Mahatma Letter 15, chron.: the bodhisattvas and what flows forth from their aids accumulated on the path. Such The only true and holy [feeling], the only are the marvelous temples and towers unselfish and Eternal one — [is] Love, which their vows and wisdom caused to an Immense Love for humanity — as appear. Thus it is that you observed the a Whole! For it is “Humanity” which is practices of the bodhisattvas, and heard the the great Orphan, the only disinherited Dharma of the bodhisattvas. You know the one upon this earth, my friend. And it virtues of the bodhisattvas, and now fully is the duty of every man who is capable understand the vows of the Tathâgata. of an unselfish impulse to do some- thing, however little, for its welfare. Sudhana agrees and says: “This is all Poor, poor humanity! due to the awesome spiritual power of the Guru who supports and remem- Thus, those theosophists who aspire bers me.” to become co-workers with the Brothers The Secret Doctrine mentions the and Amitabha Buddha 21 must never stop Unity of infinite gradations of thought.20 building their own towers of boundless So it would seem the Occult Brother- good thoughts, words, and deeds. 3
Endnotes
1. G. de Purucker, Esoteric Tradition, I:45. 12. Died in 1995; more biography at 2. H. P. Blavatsky, Collected Writings, XIV, 281–2.
28 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II
JONATHAN COLBERT
A SENSE of wonder is certainly an In our modern times, alas, as a society, aspect of revering Nature. But, what we have moved away from Nature and about our own individual contact with it? have failed to revere her. We have come Is Nature a place or a thing that is only to view things in terms of dualities. We outside, out in rural areas or far away think of man and Nature, or worse, man from big cities? Theosophically, every- versus Nature. We also think in terms of thing we touch is Nature. Everything is life versus not-life. We think that we are made of living atoms, and is alive. Every- the only species with a soul, so we think thing is a unit of life, or monad, in spiri- in terms of soul versus dead matter. But tual evolution. Everything that we see and in Theosophy there is no such thing as sense is embodied consciousness, ever dead matter. living and learning on its own path of What is alive, then — beyond the life and evolution. obvious — meaning plants, animals, and Revering Nature, no more than loving humans? Theosophically, and the an- another person, is more than just a pro- cients thought this too, the entire mineral found feeling, something that happens kingdom is alive, no less than anything to you. Remember when the young deer else. What is the life that is within rocks Bambi became “twitterpated”, or in love, and stones, within the life of minerals? in the movie, when he saw a young The life and intelligence within minerals female deer? This is something that just is that of the energy of cohesion and happened to him, due to the biology of dispersion. You know there is life in a being a young, adolescent deer. But stone when you break it against another, revering Nature as a verb, as something thus creating a spark. you engage in, like love, can grow very In Theosophical monadology, there deep, even if it is only starting from the is something called the mineral monad. profound joy of simply being in Nature. What is a monad? A monad is a point of
Mr Jonathan Colbert is a member of the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT) and Board member of the International Theosophical Conferences. He is a regular speaker.
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 29 Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II life. A monadic point of life can experi- What is it that makes for this unique ence the plane of being a mineral, a plant, feeling between these two pilgrims, who an animal, a human, or even beyond our heretofore were total strangers? Why is normal conception of what it means to there that special moment of eye contact, be human, that is, an adept or a Mahatma. openness, and admiration for the other? What then defines what it is to be a I can tell you right now that it is not be- monad? Theosophy teaches that all of cause they both smell good! It is because life is sacred, every point of life contains they are going through the same thing; a spark of the divine, and has within it they are sojourners on what in H. P. a spark of That which it shares with all Blavatsky’s (HPB) The Secret Doctrine of life. There is latent in every monad (SD) is called the “obligatory pilgrim- That which is already perfect, complete, age”. Both have sore muscles and per- whole. And yet every monad is on a great haps some blisters on their feet, yet they pilgrimage. have seen beautiful lakes, verdant mea- Each monad — as an eternal pilgrim dows, and amazing forests. They have — is simultaneously (1) gathering experi- seen vistas from hard-earned vantage ence on every possible plane and in every points — perhaps high above the tim- possible relation to all other monads, (2) berline — from lofty ridges, plateaus, while at the same time it is transforming and mountaintops. and metamorphosing by unfolding, un- Yes, these sojourners know that the locking, and awakening its sacred and other has gathered many memorable ex- secret essence. All monads are doing periences along the way, but also they this, whether it be the mineral, plant, or know something else: that the other has animal kingdoms, or the awakened self- unlocked something within himself or conscious monad of the human being. It herself. This is the spiritual recognition is not only the blessed metacognition of of one monad to another and the deep- the profound and universal unity that est definition of what it is to reflect all fosters our feeling of solidarity with all other points of life from your unique of life; it is also the existential awak- point of view. This is what it is to revere ening that all of life is doing the same Nature, to bow down to the deep integri- thing — all points of life, at whatever lev- ty of each monad, each fellow sojourner el of individuation, at whatever stage of the pilgrimage of life, whether that of latent or active self-consciousness, life is deemed to be further or less far is on an eternal pilgrimage. We are all along the Path. eternal pilgrims. In HPB’s The Voice of the Silence, we When two hikers in the Sierras meet are enjoined to: on a path, oftentimes, in an instant, they have a deep understanding of one another Help Nature and work on with her; and and a special solidarity with one another. Nature will regard thee as one of her
30 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II
creators and make obeisance. And she the wind, the salamanders of fire, and will open wide before thee the portals of the undines of water were more than just her secret chambers, lay bare before thy the stuff of fantasy. They were the pri- gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths mary denizens of the complex realms of her pure virgin bosom. Unsullied by the of invisible Nature: hand of matter she shows her treasures only The silent worship of abstract or noumenal to the eye of Spirit — the eye which never Nature, the only divine manifestation, is closes, the eye for which there is no veil in the one ennobling religion of Humanity. all her kingdoms. (SD, vol. 1, p. 381, fn.) This is a favorite passage for so many Why would a profound appreciation, theosophists. It is so moving, so close to or worship, of these elemental kingdoms one’s deepest understanding of Theo- below the mineral be so important, so en- sophy, for it calls each soul to an arousal nobling? What do we mean by “below”? of a secret and sacred sense of individual Does that mean that they are less im- responsibility to all that lives. How do we portant, that they have no life? Theosophy help Nature? What does it mean to work says “No”. Just because the consciousness on with her? What would it mean to be re- within them happens to be less individu- garded by Nature as one of her creators? ated than in the case of the mineral king- What is the hand of matter? What is the dom, this does not mean that they are un- eye of spirit? There are many ways to important or that they do not serve a criti- try to understand this passage, but I think cal role in the great economy of Nature. a special clue is given in the idea that Precisely because they are less individu- if we regard Nature with pure unsul- ated, their evolutionary thrust is all that lied reverence, then for us there will not much more affected and molded by all of even exist any kind of veil, not in any or the thoughts, feelings, emotions, actions, all of her kingdoms. and words of the human kingdom. Theosophically, there are seven king- doms: the human, animal, plant, and min- eral — and three more invisible king- doms below the mineral. These lower three are the elemental kingdoms, hinted at by the Rosicrucians, the Alchemists, and such mysterious personages as Para- celsus and Cornelius Agrippa. Theo- sophically, the elements of earth, wind, fire, and water are spirited by intelli- gences. In the wisdom traditions of old, the gnomes of the earth, the sylphs of
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 31 Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II In the diagram above, the mineral tual hosts and hierarchies of invisible kingdom is right in the middle of the in- Nature, these elementals constitute the volutionary and evolutionary life-wave. very “nerves of Nature”. There are thou- The arrows show the motion of the life- sands of classes of elementals, all of wave to the right. Spirit descends into mat- which are sensitive to the feeling-tone of ter to the point of the mineral kingdom every thought, will, and feeling that goes — then reascends its way back. Matter through our minds. Human beings are gradually takes on form until it reaches ceaseless dynamos of potent thoughts — the mineral kingdom. Then, as form sometimes we generate beautiful, gener- evolves through the higher kingdoms, ous and uplifting thoughts, sending the it becomes more and more dissipated. thought elementals on an upward trajec- As also shown in the diagram, the tory, and other times, perhaps, not so degree to which the elemental kingdom much, unfortunately giving these little is more spiritual is the degree to which it lives a downward trajectory. is formless. The relatively spiritual ele- So, we can see that not only are human mentals are ethereal in nature and have beings responsible for the preservation of to do with our thoughts and our skandhas. the incredible diversity of plant and animal These ethereal elementals are shaped species in Nature, but we are also respon- by the vibratory rate of our thinking. sible for the well-being of invisible Nature. The more spiritual and unselfish our We may ask: “How am I supposed to be thoughts and motives are, the more they responsible for all this invisible stuff? are of the nature of formless, spiritual It is hard enough to take care of what I essences. The coarser our thoughts are, can see!” But if we keep in mind that the the coarser are the nature of the ele- spirits of the elements reside in all of mentals that we attract to the orbit of our Nature, in everything we touch, in every- inner vestures. thing we handle, everything we use — Remember, referring to the ele- everything we give, everything we re- mental kingdom as the “spirits of the ceive — we see that it is in how we touch elements” is only a beginning way to things, handle things, use things, and give think of them, probably the simplest way and receive things that determines how to begin to tune into the reality of their we influence the invisible life and pro- existence. But, in a more spiritually de- perties within all with which we interact. veloped culture, wherein the worship of A final aspect of life in which we can invisible Nature is more naturally under- revere Nature in a practical way is in stood, why could you not have 330 million something as immediate to us as our gods and goddesses, devas and devatas, everyday speech. William Q. Judge as in that of ancient India? suggests in Letters That Have Helped Ultimately guided from within with- Me that we “use with care those living out and from above below by the spiri- messengers called words”. Words have
32 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Revering Nature: Towards a Theosophical Ecology — II the power to bless or curse, to heal or to and of how everything, seed-like, starts harm. If our thought dynamizes and with small beginnings. She sees the idea transforms the living atoms of Nature, of the seed, like Mahatma Gandhi’s spin- then our speech dynamizes these in- ning wheel, as a symbol of independence, visible “lives” all the more so. A single democracy, and freedom. Having taken homogeneous Resonance pervades the much of her inspiration from the women entire universe. This Divine Resonance, of the Indian Chipko Movement, who Nâda Brahma, is the vivifying power, placed their lives on the line in defence of the great awakener, stirring all the at- the great trees of the Himalayan forests, oms and molecules, the little “lives” she is beloved worldwide as a pioneer- and elementals, into action in all the ing ecofeminist. To the chagrin of cor- three worlds — terrestrial, astral, and porate agribusiness greed, she fights tire- celestial. The whole evolution of matter lessly and effectively to preserve seed from the invisible to the visible depends diversity on behalf of Indian small on sound. Each thought, word, and deed, farmers. Her Indian admirers have called then, serves in this way as a seed, or bija, her Durga, after the protective mother impelling forth life from small beginn- goddess of the universe. Durga’s consort, ings, and from the invisible to the visible. ªiva, we can remember, is the Good Dr Vandana Shiva, mentioned earlier Gardener in Nature. [in Part I], is one of the great ecologists — In learning to revere Nature, to act in and feminists — of our time. Educated attunement with her, to help and work in physics and philosophy, she oftentimes on with her, let us sow seeds of benefi- refers to the Indian dot, or bindi, she wears cence, kindliness, and goodwill to all on her forehead as a symbol of the that lives. generous universe that is all around us (Concluded)
Corporations are fictions. They have been assigned a human and a legal personality, and now they are trying to dispossess people of their democratic rights, and they are trying to dispossess nature of her rights. We are at a watershed for human evolution. We will either defend the rights of people and the Earth — and for that we have to dismantle the rights that corporations have assigned to themselves — or corporations will in the next three decades destroy this planet in terms of human possibilities. Vandana Shiva
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 33 Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman
MARIE HARKNESS
ONE of the strongest, most inspiring He had informed me that he joined the and helpful influences on my earlier theo- TS in Belfast as a youth. If my memory sophical journey was Dr Hugh Shearman. serves me correctly, he went to his first We remained firm friends and colleagues meetings along with his father, who was from 1983, when I joined theTheo- a principal of a large school in Belfast. sophical Society Adyar (TS), until his He recalled being surrounded by a num- passing in 1999. ber of very staid and elderly ladies at I later realized he had been a pro- the Lodge. lific writer of theosophical texts, non- Having read many spiritual texts over theosophical books (such as A Bomb and the years before deciding to join the TS a Girl) and also was a revered and much after the birth of my youngest son Shane respected newspaper reporter for a Prot- in 1983, I decided to contact Dr Hugh estant paper, The Newsletter, during the Gray, then General Secretary of the TS troubles in Northern Ireland. He wrote in England, from an advertisement of numerous pertinent articles for The News- theirs I had seen. I wrote him a letter en- letter and did not mince his words. For closing long pages of all the texts I had his own protection at that time, he wrote studied since schooldays. under a pseudonym. He also later wrote Dr Gray referred my letter to Dr Hugh a history of The Newsletter. Shearman, who was then President of Bel- Hugh was a Liberal Catholic Priest fast Lodge, and who had previously for and performed the Mass at his home many years been the Regional Secretary every Sunday morning. He had attended for Northern Ireland. Hugh, as I was school at the prestigious Belfast Royal asked to call him, then kept up regular Academy, the oldest school in Belfast. contact with me for many months. There He studied at Queens University there and was such a power and strength in his completed his PhD on History at Trinity letters, which inspired me so much, that College, Dublin. He was particularly I realized this was the journey I had to take interested in Irish history. for the rest of my earthly life and beyond.
Mrs Marie Harkness is the Organizing Secretary of the Theosophical Society in Ireland.
34 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman It took me at least six months before I first meeting face to face with Dr Hugh had the courage to drive all the way to Shearman. Belfast to the Theosophical venue there, At the time, we had study meetings on a 110-mile round trip. I was expecting to Wednesday nights, which I rarely missed, meet a strong robust figure from the sheer and Open Days on Sundays. I remember strength of Dr Shearman’s writings. thinking there was quite a different at- So, one Sunday I took the plunge and mosphere on a Sunday. In time, all arrived at a building on the Antrim Road attending became more talkative, a in Belfast, a stretch known as “The Murder little chit-chat before meetings, and after- Mile”. The TS members used to meet in wards very congenial when we were hav- a small dingy room there with its own ing our cup of tea, biscuit, or piece of unique atmosphere. I went into the room cake. Hugh used to share with us some and there were a number of elderly ladies of his funny stories and jokes. I still was sitting quietly on hard upright chairs, with very guarded with my thoughts though! hands on laps, not speaking, but I was A year or two later we moved to our greeted in silence with a nod and a smile own iron-shaped building at Hillsborough from some. Above their heads sepia Drive, Woodstock Road, Belfast. Frequent- photographs of C. Jinarâjadâsa, G. S. ly there were very few of us on a Wed- Arundale, Annie Besant, J. Krishnamurti nesday night at our study meetings, as and Radha Burnier hung on faded wall- the troubles were at their peak — at times paper. Beside the speaker’s chair was a only Hugh and myself were present. small mahogany table with a little brass Often when I entered Belfast, I was bell, for a call for silence, I presumed. redirected to strange roads and streets, I did not dare think anything negative and now and again arrived late for meet- about the room, about anyone there, about ings due to frequent bomb scares. We anything that happened, because from took turns in giving talks on a Sunday all the study I had done, I firmly believed to the members of the Society, and Hugh that these experienced Theosophists once informed me that whenever he had the power to read my mind at all was preparing a talk, he gave it to his times— so I had to be very careful! typewriter! Suddenly amongst a few others arriv- I visited Hugh’s house on the Clifton- ing, a thin almost emaciated gentleman ville Road a number of times and was very turned the corner and faced me. He fond of his lovely and supportive wife, could have been from C. W. Lead- Molly. He later moved to a large dwelling beater’s era. He was dressed in an ill- on Upper Newtownards Road, Belfast, fitting brown suit, had a goatee beard not far from the Stormont Government and moustache, and piercing eyes. He buildings. This house was a huge spa- doffed his jaunty brown hat at me and cious building and he confided to me welcomed me to the Society — thus my that in winter, when he was quietly
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 35 Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman reading or preparing his talks for the Hugh had great compassion and I ex- Society, he would wrap himself up in a perienced this in practice. I went through blanket with a hot-water bottle on his a personal and traumatic time in the early knee. He said he could function better 1990s and in order to protect me as re- that way. He had two children late in gards keeping my three children, Hugh life, Robert and Amanda. housed all my theosophical books and He often referred to the former Inter- so on in boxes at his home — just in case national President, C. Jinarâjadâsa, whom these were used against me in the High he hosted at his home when he came over Court. Northern Ireland, at that time, was as Guest Speaker to Belfast Lodge. He very religious on both sides and could described him as a small but very potent veer into fundamentalism. There was and truly inspiring person. Hugh fre- little tolerance for anything outside quently gave talks in England when the box — so I had to be very careful. invited to do so. He was also a member I deeply appreciated the loving support of the International Council at Adyar and I received then from Hugh and his on occasion received a phone call from wife, Molly. the then President Radha Burnier. He In the late 1990s, when Hugh suffered was always ready for a chat, but Radha from ill health, Molly and his family could be quite precise, so he informed me. visited him regularly at the nursing home. We both travelled together to the I also visited him and he continued to be International Theosophical Centre in mentally alert and write his letters right Naarden, the Netherlands, in 1990 to up to his passing. He loved gifts of nice attend the first Seminar by Mrs Burnier notepaper and envelopes. Shortly before on “Human Regeneration”. We found this he died, Helen Gething arrived in Belfast a most uplifting and inspiring occasion. to present the Subba Row Medal which There was something “other” in the Hugh had been awarded in recognition of atmosphere. He introduced me to many his services to Theosophy through his Theosophical colleagues of his at that prolific writings. This was presented to time. This visit left a deep impression his son Robert, who received it on his on me, particularly the few chats I had father’s behalf. with the then President Radha. My understanding of Theosophy from I think it was in the late 1980s when Hugh over the years has left a deep Hugh had to go into the hospital to have impression on me and no doubt on other an operation to remove one of his kidneys. members. As I have read it, no matter The consultants and doctors there found what life throws at you, we need to keep the removed kidney so unusual a shape going, focused on our commitment to they asked permission to house this in their the theosophical cause. He kept saying medical museum. Hugh was tickled pink “act from the Centre” and “the Centre is and very proud of this! everywhere, the circumference nowhere”.
36 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Memories of Dr Hugh Shearman As I understood it, analytical thought meetings except when he needed a short does not then get in the way. Another recuperation time following his operation saying of his was: “God made man, and and whenever through ill health he had man has been returning the compliment to go into a nursing home. All meetings ever since.” started right on time; he was very parti- I felt he had wholly and completely cular about this. dedicated himself to the cause of the I have no doubt Hugh had an inner mis- Masters, whether feeling well or other- sion, was a very special person, and carried wise. I can truthfully say that at that time out his duties, as he saw them, with a calm he was the most dedicated and inspir- energy and inner joy. This was infectious. ing person I had ever met. He believed He had the capacity to see behind things, such dedication and deep commitment to see through people — he could read you! the Work no doubt lifted the conscious- I still had to watch my thoughts. ness of the world a little and aided The When he passed away peacefully in Holy Ones. 1999, I was happy for him that he was We were the “foot soldiers” as it were, released from an ailing body and was the “cogs in the wheel”. In a sense he was now reaping his just reward by winging an inspiring example of how to overcome his way towards the Light, but in my all obstacles and stay focused on the heart I missed my dear friend, teacher, greater task at hand. He never missed TS and mentor. 3
Some have tried to edit The Secret Doctrine down into an abbreviated and orderly form, making it the vehicle for the propounding of a system; or they have used it as a quarry from which material could be extracted for the purpose of building a system. But a major ingredient in the message of The Secret Doctrine is that life is not a system and cannot be contained within a system. The jungle quality of the book is part of its message. Whatever the mind may say or do, an intuitive perception of wholeness cannot be merely analytical or sequential. Hugh Shearman “A Message Ahead of Its Time” The Theosophist, May 1991
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 37 Theosophical Work around the World Theosophical Work around the World
Adyar, India — ATA Opening sprinkling water to symbolically nur- The Director of the Adyar Theo- ture it collectively. The newly planted sophical Academy (ATA), Mrs Sonal sapling soon received much-awaited rains Murali, reports that the Academy had and the premises is already ringing with two events for its founding in the Besant the delightful laughter and pitter-patter Gardens area of the Theosophical Society of children as they take their first steps (TS) Adyar, Chennai. One was a puja into their new school. (a dedication offering divine honors to The programme was well attended by something sacred) on 20 June 2019, and the parents of the students as well as the other was the Opening Day of the members and friends of the TS. After Academy four days later. the tree planting, all gathered in the The puja was conducted for an auspi- newly renovated hall of ATA. The pro- cious start of the school in the presence gramme began with a Bengali devotional of Ms Nancy Secrest, international Trea- song rendered by students of Bala Vidya surer, and other friends, members, and Mandir, accompanied by Mr S. Srini- residents of the TS. It created a beautiful vasan, LEAP Foundation, followed by atmosphere as the priest chanted purify- the melodious chanting of Ms Jaishree ing and energizing mantras. The incense Kannan, a message by Mrs Murali, and fragrance and chiming bell sounds filled a talk on theosophical education by Mr the hall. There even was a light drizzle Hao Chin. A joint creative activity between during the puja after a scorching sum- parents and students ended the pro- mer. In the evening, they also had a much- gramme, with the younger children taking needed shower. Within no time the green home a gift of Rainmaker (a visual and grass shoots showed up on the ground. auditory toy) and the older ones putting On 24 June, the newly founded ATA together a terrarium. formally opened on the lush green cam- ATA has classes from preschool to pus of the TS. Mr Vicente Hao Chin, Jr, Grade 2. It provides an ideal space for Chairman of the Theosophical Golden creativity and exploration for children. Link College, Philippines, and former The students of class 1 and 2 had a good General Secretary of the TS in the same time during their Nature walk and trip country, planted a Magnolia champaca to the great banyan tree on the TS grounds. sapling to mark the school’s founding They enjoyed the cool breeze and smell day. He was joined by TS Adyar General of wet sand. To stop for snacks, they chose Manager Mr K. Jaikumar, guests, tea- the newly renovated Blavatsky Bungalow chers, and students in adding soil and veranda, where they were amazed by the
38 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Theosophical Work around the World
The newly renovated ATA building
The bright, airy learning space is all set with sensory learning materials to welcome its students
Mr Vicente Hao Chin, Jr., Chairman of Golden Link Foundation, Philippines, planting Magnolia champaca sapling to mark ATA’s foundation day with MrsSonal Murali, Director of ATA and Mr K. Jaikumar, TS, General Manager
Students join in adding soil and sprinkling water
A crafting session inspired by The Great Banyan Tree
Vol. 140.11 August 2019 The Theosophist 39 Theosophical Work around the World
Raining outside? No problem! Let’s run indoors
Children and their craftwork outside the ATA building
It’s time for a picnic! Children at the Blavatsky Students set off to explore the campus Bungalow gazebo after exploring the environs of The Great Banyan Tree
Engrossed in butterfly craft Learning to count
40 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Theosophical Work around the World
A month into the launch of ATA, students have engaged in a variety of activities: learning life skills, quiet-time in the library, exploring the great outdoors, and making new friends
Vol. 140.11 August 2019 The Theosophist 41 Theosophical Work around the World u, next to Ms Artamaa is former General Secretary of the TS in Philippines, ê n-Thi-Kim Di â Mr Vicente Hao Chin, Jr, and behind the President stands Chairman of ITC Naarden Centre, Arend Heijbroek on his right and international Secretary Ms Marja Artamaa left. Next to Secrest is the Chairman of European Federation Council, Miss Tr the Netherlands. Seated in center is international President Mr Tim Boyd, with Treasurer Ms Nancy Secrest Members of the General Council Planning Meeting held in late June 2019 at International Theosophical Centre (ITC) Naarden,
42 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 Theosophical Work around the World beautiful view of the ancient banyan tree. team. A specific model is being devel- The children also took time to sit down oped. Another demanding project is “In- and sketch what they saw along the troductory books on Theosophy” to journey. attract new readers by offering theo- On their way back, they spotted birds, sophical concepts in a modern, undog- insects, and a mongoose surprised them! matic way, while maintaining content They also saw some trees filled with and being close to the spiritual life of fruitarian bats and were mesmerized the reader. The series would have 12 by the bats hanging upside down in handbooks. This project has four poten- large numbers, looking like closed black tial writers and needs two co-readers, umbrellas. The walk was a joyful a content editor, and a designer. experience in itself, with each child tak- The project “International speakers’ ing time to admire the beauty of the list”, created to help Sections and other flowers, the variety of plants, the little Theosophical units to find a speaker dewdrops settled on the leaves, and the representing the international TS, has serenity of the lotus pond. On their return, been fulfilled by producing a list of 33 the students were thrilled to make a craft names authorized by the President, of the banyan tree. ATA’s website is: which was distributed in July. Another
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44 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] [email protected] imbr enie eosofia [email protected] [email protected] pr eosófico isdom Africa. Email: idlös V eosoficheskoe Obozr eozofska Misel TheoSophia Theosofia The Sri Lanka Theosophist Sophia (The Theosophical Review) Sophia Rivista Italiana di T Heraldo T T The Quest T The Philippine Theosophist Or Circles T Svitoch The Lotus Osiris The Karachi Theosophist Búsqueda 70200-630 – Brazil. Email: Australia Email: … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … … … , , CEP Lodge attached to Adyar p 1018 indsor E 2194, South treets, W , 14 abacalera T Amsterdam Stockholm . 06030 region venue, Ascona, CH-6612 Adeta A o, 10 B, 1150-202 Lisboa VM eyseer Services Company ã ve. Orlando, Florida, treet, Concord, 2137, Sydney 76, v T fica de Portugal, A , ê ó Abidjan 23 ., BP alldoreix(Spain) , 85-87 ork , Manila , LL61 6NX UK eos Est , Moscow V icenza ficer .T Y é T V Presidential Agency . Florentino and Iba S † . 3924, all d’or A.R.T .O. Box 2431, Doha V Miss Trân-Thi-Kim-Diêu, 67 Rue des Pommiers, F-45000 Orleans, France. Email: B. P 08197 - Casilla de Correos 1553, Montevideo Piso 12, Apto. 122 – Caracas Anglesey 36100 Rua Jos San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-1766 Mytischi P . iale Quintino Sella, 83/E, ia Collina 19, 6612 v Republica de Portugal 152, Breña, Lima 5 opougon, 23 Rue Princesse olsraat 154, 1074 Ulriksborgveien 10, 1533 Moss 18, Belvedere Street, Epsom, Auckland 1051 Ignacio Mariscal 126, Col. T Mexicana, Mexico, D.F 146 Anderson Rd, Dehiwala, Y Javier Barrios Amorín 1085, Romualda a Socarrás, Edif. de Oro Bryn Adda, Brynsiencyn, Llanfairpwll, V S.O., opp. Radio Pakistan, Karachi 74200 Sociedade Av Apartado 36-1766 Correo General. PO Box 270, Wheaton, IL 60187-0270 32803-1838, USA Quezon City Corner P 159-52, Novomytischinsky prospekt, PO Box 9114, Ramat-Gan, Israel 5219002 Crewing Of 28 Great King Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6QH Kajuhova UI 9, 3000 Celje Karla Plan 5 B, 11460 V Office 3, 7-A Zhylianska St., Kiev 01033 1606 New Jamshed Memorial Hall, M. A. Jinnah Road, Carandayty 572, 1621, Asunción A … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … . … … … … … … … … Chairman: om Davis, 9 Ronean, 38 Princess T ocieties: Mrs Isis M. B. Resende, SGAS 603 conj. E s/n. Brasilia-DF Mr Mr Gerard Brennan, 42 Melbourne S anigasekera Regional Association orra Buron * esident: orales W T T Pr orstermans esident: V Pr A. L. Chairman: Angels
Carlos Guerra Mr Andreas Mikael Isberg Mr John Mr Enrique Sanchez Mr Wim Leys Mr D. Mr Pierre-Magloire Kouahoh Mrs Ema Ma. de Souza Leal Mrs Nelly Nouel Mrs Julie Cunningham Mr Antonio Girardi Mr Kouma Dakey Mr Mrs Mrs Magaly Polanco Mr Charlton Romero Mr Alexey Besputin Mr Abraham Oron Mr Lijo Joseph Mr Stuart Trotter Mrs Irena Primc Mrs Birgitta Skarbo Mr Andrea Biasca-Caroni Mrs Svitlana Gavrylenko Mr Carl Metzger Mrs Isabel Dr Barbara B. Hebert Mr Julio Pomar Calderón … … … … … … … … … … … … … … …… … … … … … … … … … … … … … p p Theosophical Federation: p p Theosophical Federation: Theosophical Federation: to the date of formation ales * enezuela † ogo * Norway * New Zealand Mexico Netherlands, The Sri Lanka † Ivory Coast * Uruguay * V W Italy T Paraguay Portugal Spain Puerto Rico † Pakistan † Philippines, The Russia † Israel Orlando Qatar Scotland * Slovenia * Sweden Switzerland † Ukraine * USA Peru † -American ate refers 1913 1896 1919 1897 1926 The Council of the European Federation National S Inter D 1997 Indo-Pacific Pan-African 1925 1925 1922 1902 1997 1925 1921 1921 1925 1948 1933 2013 1954 1935 2012 1910 1992 1895 1910 2013 1886 1924
Vol. 140.11, August 2019 The Theosophist 45 . Air $ 20 $ 20 Mail YEARS 5 - TS, at the - 100 Mail Theosophical Society `` `` ` Surface The $ 5 Air $ 5 $ 10 $ 45 AR NEWSLETTER Mail ADY , Chennai (TS), - - ANNUAL AR, CHENNAI 600 020, INDIA TES -- 25 . Gopalan, ‘Chit Sabha’, Mail A ` V Adyar Surface , R ADY
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15 --- Air Mail 20 $ 70 $ 1 $ 170 UPEE YEARS R 5 TS, and Printed by Mr - - - Theosophical Society 450 Mail AND September ` Surface The PUBLISHING HOUSE, .org/magazines.html> - : US $ $ 15 $ 25 $ 35 Air Mail , Chennai (Madras) 600 020, India, on behalf of the President, THE THEOSOPHIST ` Surface THEOSOPHICAL venue, A THE im Boyd, ‘Olcott Bungalow’, UBSCRIPTIONS : T S Africa. The Theosophist Y Australia, aiwan, South Edited by Mr T Some issues of TS, Besant Garden, COUNTR America. Asian countries and Published by Mr S. Harihara Raghavan, No. 55 ‘Govinda Nivas’, America, Japan, Please send the Subscription to asanta Press, V Russia, Poland, Eastern Europe, and CIS (former USSR States), Central and South India All other North New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, European Union and other Non-Eastern European countries; the Middle East, and Pacific Islands. 46 The Theosophist Vol. 140.11, August 2019 BOOKS ON EVOLUTION THE HUMAN JOURNEY Joy Mills Using ancient mythology and theosophical texts, the author explores our perennial quest for self-transformation. LIFE AND ITS SPIRALS E. W. Preston Evolution is life’s successive focus on Kingdoms of Nature, individual man, nations, races. In each the pattern repeats with stages of an emergent phase when life within explodes into changes through ever-widening spirals. THE STORY OF CREATION E. W. Preston H. P. Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine is condensed and simplified in this 100-page book as “The Story of Creation” and “ The Story of Man”, relating it to current scientific thought and terminology. RECENT REPRINTS THE THEOSOPHIC LIFE AND THE THREE GEMS OF THEOSOPHY A collection of four theosophical classics invaluable for the spiritual aspirant: The Theosophic Life by Annie Besant At the Feet of the Master by J. Krishnamurti (Alcyone) The Voice of the Silence by H. P. Blavatsky Light on the Path by Mabel Collins PRACTICAL OCCULTISM H. P. Blavatsky Two essays on theoretical and practical Occultism, explaining the difference between Occultism and the Occult arts; and “Some Practical Suggestions for Daily Life”, a compilation of paragraphs from different sources. For catalogue, enquiries, and orders, write to: THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING HOUSE 1, Besant Avenue, Adyar, Chennai - 600 020, India Tel: (+91-44) 2491-1338; Book Shop: (+91-44) 2446-3442 Twitter: twitter.com/tphindia // E-mail: [email protected] Websites: ts-adyar.org & adyarbooks.com Online Bookstore: amazon.in: Seller - TPH Adyar Facebook: facebook.com/tphadyar // WhatsApp: (+91) 86103-65836 47