THEOSOPHY
Theosophical Society
Theosophy Defined
By
William Q Judge
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Theosophy
[from Gr. theosophia knowledge of divine things, deriv. of theosophos wise about
God; theos God + sophos, wise]: a name which, as specifying a religious philosophy,
was originated by Ammonius Saccas
in the third century of our era. The body of ethical, philosophic, and
scientific doctrines to which that title applies is, however, as old as
humanity itself, and contains everything that is true in all other and later
systems. Esoterically preserved and transmitted in its entirety by adepts and
initiates, from time immemorial, their messengers -- known to the world as
"great teachers" and "saviours"
-- have, at periodic intervals
determined by cyclic law, exoterically taught as much of it as could safely be
given out and which any considerable portion of our race could at such times
receive and assimilate.
Theosophy
teaches a knowledge of the laws governing the
evolution of the universe. It is not based upon assumed divine revelation, but
upon consciousness.
It sees no
unsolvable mystery anywhere, throws the words coincidence and chance out of its
vocabulary, and affirms the omnipresence and omnipotence of law and perfect
justice. Theosophy postulates an Eternal Principle, unknowable except in its
manifestations, which is in and is all things, and which, periodically and
eternally, manifests itself and recedes from manifestation -- evolution and
involution. Its opposite poles in the manifested universe are spirit and
matter, which are coexistent and inseparable. In manifesting itself the
spirit-matter differentiates on seven planes, which are of progressive density
down to that within our sensuous perception, the substance in all being the
same, but differing in the proportions of its two compound elements. Through
all thrill ceaselessly vibrations which are the inexhaustible impulse from the
First Cause. These vibrations are distinct, each from all the others, and each always
the same in mode upon every plane, but
differing in rate according to the rarity or density of the substance of
the plane. By means of these vibrations are brought about all forces --
phenomena in nature, specialized differentiations and effects of creation,
preservation, and mutation -- in the world of forms as well as upon the
ethereal planes.
Thus every
atom of the universe is infused with spirit, which is life in one of its phases
of manifestation, and endowed with qualities of consciousness and intelligence --
likewise phases of the spirit -- in conformity with the requirements of its
differentiation. On the lowest material plane, which is that of humanity, the
spirit focalizes itself in all human beings who permit it to do so. Its
rejection is the cause of ignorance, from which flow all sin, suffering, and
sorrow; by its conscious acceptance man becomes partaker of the Divine Wisdom,
"one with the gods," entering into possession of an
ever-increasing power of consciousness,
and attains oneness with the Absolute.
This is the
ultimate destiny of all beings; hence Theosophy affirms the perfectibility of
the race and rejects the concept of innate unregenerable
wickedness. From the theosophic point of view the
world is compounded of the Egos or individual spirits, for whom it emanates
from the Divine Will; and its evolution is due to the impulse imparted by its
spiritual element, that force manifesting itself from the beginning in the
primary conditions of life -- far below the sentient stage -- and having in the evolvement of
higher forms, including man, the
guidance and direction of intelligent, perfected beings from other and
older evolutions. Hence man is deemed a conscious spirit, the flower of
evolution; while below him, in the lower
kingdoms, are other less-advanced classes of egos, all, however, on the way of
ascent to the human stage, which they will
eventually reach when man has gone on still higher. The perfecting of
self-consciousness is the object of evolution. By this man is enabled to reach
more exalted stages of existence. And his conditioned mortal life is for the
purpose of affording him experience by which that self-consciousness may be
developed and cognition of the spirit attained.
Man is a
spirit and requires vehicles with which to come in touch with all the planes of
nature included in evolution, and it is these vehicles that make of him an
intricate, composite being, liable to error, but at the same time able to rise
above all delusions. He is in miniature the universe, for he is, as spirit,
manifesting himself to himself by means of seven differentiations. Therefore he
is characterized in Theosophy as a septenate or
sevenfold being. His immortal being comprises a trinity, spirit (Atman), the
spiritual soul or discernment (Buddhi), and mind (Manas). This triad requires
as vehicles or instruments through which to operate and gain cognition in
matter four lower mortal principles. These are: The animal passions and
desires, unintelligent and productive of ignorance through delusion (
The principle
designated as Jiva is a special differentiation for
the energizing of the human being from the great pranic
ocean of the life-principle, which is one of the distinctive vibrations already
spoken of, and a phase of manifestation of the spirit. It does not cease when
the collective entity called man dies, but simply continues its vibrations in
the myriad of lives that make up the cells of the body without animating them
in harmonious aggregate action.
The Linga Sarira belongs to the
astral plane of matter, which, being next above that of our tangible world in refinement
of its substance, is just beyond our normal sensuous
perception. As the physical body is at death reabsorbed into the material
elements whence it was drawn, so the astral body is eventually dissipated in
and absorbed by the substance of its plane; but its permanence is much greater
than that of the gross body.
During life
it is from the earliest moment until the last the model upon which are molded
the physical molecules of which the body is composed, and through it the
life-principle is enabled to animate the aggregate mass as a collective entity.
These lower four principles or sheaths are the transitory, perishable part of
man -- not himself, but in every sense the instruments he uses -- given up at
the hour of death and rebuilt at every new birth. The trinity is the real man,
the thinker, the individuality that passes from house to house, gaining
experience at each rebirth, while it suffers and enjoys according to its deeds.
In each successive earth-life he is known to others as a new personality, but
in the whole stretch of eternity he is one individual, conscious of an identity
not dependent on name, form, or recollections of personalities.
This doctrine
of reincarnation is the very base of Theosophy, for it explains life and nature
as no other hypothesis can; and it is an essential to the scheme of evolution,
for without such re-embodiment on the plane of experiences and atonements there
could be no evolution of the human soul. The Ego returning to mortal life only
goes into the family which either completely answers to its whole nature, gives
an opportunity for its evolutionary progress, or is connected with it by reason
of events in past incarnations and causes mutually created. Inseparable from
the doctrine of reincarnation is that of Karma, or justice, sometimes called
the "ethical law of causation." Mere entry into life is no fit
foundation for just reward or punishment, which must be the deserts for prior
conduct. But such consequent awards determine entry into life, and with
unerring equity establish the sequence of good and evil happenings in requital
of the past. Effect is always in cause, and thus the body, brain, and
intellectual faculties furnished by reincarnation being products of one's own
deserving, become the field from which must be gleaned the harvest planted by
acts in the past.
The law of
Karma applies in physical nature as well as in ethics to solar systems,
planets, races, nations, families, and individuals. With reincarnation the
doctrine of Karma explains the misery and suffering of the world, and no room
is left to accuse nature of injustice. The misery of any nation or race is the
direct result of the thoughts and acts of the Egos who make up the race or
nation. If they did wickedly in the past, they must suffer the inevitable
consequences. To this end they must go on incarnating and reincarnating until
the effects they caused have been exhausted. Though the nation thus suffering
chastisement should for a time disappear, the Egos belonging to it could not
leave the world, but would reappear as the founders of some new nation in which
they would continue to receive their karmic due.
With
reference to postmortem conditions, Theosophy teaches two states of existence
somewhat analogous to the Christian "purgatory" and "heaven."
The first, immediately subsequent to earth-life, is Kama-loka,
where the immortal triad takes leave of the lower principles remaining after
separation from the body. Thence the Ego passes into Devachan. The former is,
as its name indicates, a place -- the astral plane penetrating and surrounding
the earth -- the latter a state of being, or rather of consciousness. In Kama-loka all the hidden passions and desires are let loose, and
enough mentality is retained to make them tortures. When the astral body in
which they cohere is disintegrated, as it is in time, they remain a sort of
entity in the Kama-Rupa, a form of still less materiality than the Linga Sarira. Eventually this too
is said to fade out, leaving only their essence, the Skandhas, fateful germs of
karmic consequence, which, when the Ego emerges from the devachanic
state, are by the law of attraction drawn to the new being in which it
incarnates. Owing to the law of cohesion between the principles, which prevents
their separation before a given time, the untimely dead must pass in Kama-loka a period almost equal to the length life would have
been but for the sudden termination.
Losing the
body has not killed them. They still consciously exist in the astral body, and
in the case of very wicked and forceful persons -- some executed criminals, for
instance -- may be even more harmful on the astral plane than they were in
life. Prolonged kama-lokic existence is no injustice
to the victims of accident, since death, like everything else, is a karmic
consequence. Finally, it may be said of Kama-loka
that it is the last conscious state of the thoroughly evil human souls bereft
of the spiritual tie and doomed to annihilation (Avichi).
Having in life centred the consciousness in the kamic principle, preserved intellect and rejected the
spirit, leading persistent lives of evil for its own sake, they are the only
damned beings we know.
Pure souls
speedily pass from Kama-loka to the devachanic state. It is a period of rest; a real existence,
no more illusionary than earth life, where the essence of the thoughts of life
that were as high as character permitted expands and is garnered by the soul
and mind. When the force of these thoughts is fully exhausted the soul is once
more drawn back to earth, to that environment which will best promote its
further evolution.
No new ethics
are presented by Theosophy, as it is held that right ethics are forever the
same. But in the doctrines of Theosophy are to be found the philosophical and
reasonable basis of ethics and the natural enforcement of them in practice.
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