Today there is a lot of material available on meditation, much of which is seemingly conflicting. One feels at a loss to try and sort it all out. There exists, however, among the writings of the East, a classic text on meditation which gets to the heart of the matter, stating clearly and concisely just what meditation is. This text is held by tradition to contain the very essence of the…

The present tendency of education is to make them [Indians] materialistic and root out spirituality.With a proper understanding of what their ancestors meant by their writings and teachings, educationwould become a blessing whereas now it is often a curse. . . . This changed attitude toward the olderphilosophy would influence native Princes and wealthy men to endow normal schools for the…

It is easier to say what the Theosophical Society is not, rather than what it is, because the Society has a character which is a synthesis of a number of different elements.

My research in the Tibetan Buddhist texts has allowed me to make some observations regarding the alleged Tibetan source of Alice Bailey’s writings which may be of interest to readers of a magazine described by its editor as, “dedicated to promoting a vigilant attitude among its readership through a love of Truth.”

T. Subba Row is regarded by Theosophists as an authority on the esoteric teachings that constitute the Wisdom Tradition now known as Theosophy. However great his knowledge of the esoteric teachings may have been, his writings show a strange confusion regarding the exoteric or known teachings of his own tradition, Advaita Vedånta.

According to H. P. Blavatsky, the Brotherhood of Adeptsto which her teachers belong, known as the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood, makes an attempt during the last quarter of every century to bring to the Western world some of the teachings of the Wisdom Tradition preserved in the East. The Theosophical Society founded by her in 1875 is said to be that attempt for the nineteenth century

The Secret Doctrine, H. P. Blavatsky’s 1888 magnum opus, is based on stanzas allegedly translated from a secret “Book of Dzyan.” In 125 years, not a single one of these stanzas has been traced in any known book. On the expectation that a Sanskrit or Tibetan original would become available in my lifetime, I have devoted the past few decades to preparing for this. In the course of doing so, I…

1. Technical Terms in Stanza I (1995-1999)

Most people today have heard of the Druids, at least in the parts of the world where the Druids once thrived, namely England,

When Does Man Become Responsible for his Actions? A look at references from the letters of the Mahatmas on Karma.

Tsongkhapa (1357-1419) was the founder of the Gelugpa or “Yellow Hat” order of Tibetan Buddhism. This soon became the dominant order in Tibet, making Tsongkhapa Tibet’s most influential teacher. Not only was this great reformer the leading teacher of the known or exoteric teachings, but according to Theosophical sources, he was also the leading teacher of the secret or esoteric teachings, the…

It has now become possible to identify the specific school or tradition of Buddhism in Tibet that represents the doctrinal position of the Wisdom Tradition known today as Theosophy. Itis the “Great Madhyamaka” or “Great Middle Way” (in Tibetan, dbu ma chen po) school or tradition. This tradition, preserved for the last millennium in Tibet, has only become known to us in recent years.

Ancient India is considered to be the spiritual motherland of our planet. According to The Secret Doctrine, it was the home of the once universal Wisdom Tradition. From ancient India, called Åryåvarta, the wisdom teachings went forth into all the religions and philosophies of the world. H. P. Blavatsky writes:
For Åryåvarta, the bright focus into which had been poured in the beginning…

Sankaracarya, the preceptor (åcårya) ̨ Sankara, is regarded by Blavatsky as a great teacher of the Wisdom Tradition, or the esoteric Philosophy. In her primary work, The Secret Doctrine, he is referred to as “the greatest Initiate living in the historical ages,” and as “the greatest of the Esoteric masters of India.” The philosophy promulgated by him, the Advaita or non-dual school of Vedånta…

Does Christianity believe in reincarnation? Of course, it does not. Yet, students of the Wisdom Tradition may seek to find evidence that early Christians did accept reincarnation. Similarly in Buddhism. Does Buddhism believe in the åtman, the permanent self? Certainly, the Buddhist religion does not. Yet, there is evidence that the Buddha when teaching his basic doctrine of anåtman, no-self,…

The existence of the once universal Wisdom-Religion was made known to the modern world by H. P. Blavatsky, who called its modern form Theosophy. She early on described its original form as “pre-Vedic Buddhism.” Today, no one knows of any pre-Vedic Buddhism. Buddhism is thought to have originated with Gautama Buddha around 500 B.C.E., while the Vedas are much older than that.

Theosophy is the modern name given by H. P. Blavatsky to what is described by her as the once universal but now hidden Wisdom-Religion, the parent source of all known religions.

The view of the Maha Chohan on the T.S. Reported by K. H. to A. P. Sinnett, 1881

Published in the

It is hard to believe, but true nevertheless, that no-one in the Western world had heard of Karma, or knew the slightest thing about it, until only 130 years ago when Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement introduced the concept of Karma – along with other distinctly Eastern teachings such as reincarnation and the Oneness and Divinity of all life

In the world of many people, each is different in many different ways – internal and external.  Some people seem more intellectually oriented, focussed on thoughts and reasoning, others more creative, focussed on and sensitive to feelings.  Yet others are action oriented, the direction of their action determined by thoughts or feelings – whichever is more dominant.

Most of us have had the experience of hearing beautiful music that can make the heart take flight. We smile, sway, dance, or just close our eyes with a deep breath to take it all in. It is as if, in that moment of time, all is well, life is wonderful. The harmony from the composition engenders a feeling of harmony with all.

During the past two centuries, both science and religion have experienced revolutionary change. In the sciences, discovery of the properties of the atom have led to theories of light, electricity and magnetism that have produced our modern technology.

Alexander Pope said: “The proper study of mankind is man.” The teachings of Theosophy enable us to follow Pope’s advice with fullness and completeness, for Theosophy teaches not only about the physical, material person, but also of the emotions, intellect and spiritual nature.

Theosophy embodies both ancient and modern expressions of the Ageless Wisdom and it has been entrusted to theosophists as a heritage for preservation and dissemination. This body of knowledge can be archived in virtual reality and human memory; it can be accessed for interpretation; and it could serve as an agenda of action.

How well I remember John Algeo pronouncing in his sonorous voice the difference between a labyrinth and a maze. Both, he said, are meanders that one walks through hoping to achieve the centre goal.  The difference is that if one continues pressing onward in a labyrinth, no matter how many crooks and turns, one will finally reach the goal. A maze is an entirely different matter.

Much of our understanding of Gnosticism comes from a Christian perspective which may be conditioned because the Gnostics were branded as heretics by Christianity and condemned. Irenaeus, a Greek and early Church father in the late second century, famously wrote Adversus Haeresus (Against Heresies) attacking Gnosticism.

Let us take a moment to consider this question that is often asked by Branches and Study Centres, using a condensed perspective on the subject from John Algeo, past International Vice-President of the Theosophical Society. I consider this a very important topic for us all to consider.

"A few days after Madame Blavatsky died, H.P.B. awoke me at night. I raised myself, feeling no surprise, but only the sweet accustomed pleasure. She held my eyes with her leonine gaze. Then she grew thinner, taller, her shape became masculine; slowly then her features changed, until a man of height and rugged powers, stood before me, the last vestige of her features melting into his, until…

OUR subject this evening can scarcely fail to be of the greatest interest and importance to every one of us; for who is there among us who has not been called upon to experience the pain of bereavement, who has not felt a desire to know where the loved ones have gone, to know something of the conditions of the life after death into which they have entered and upon which we must all embark when…

n 1885 a committee of the Society for Psychical Research (SPR) issued a report by Hodgson condemning Madame Blavatsky. It caused substantial damage to her reputation and was assumed by many to be the official opinion of the SPR. The damage to Blavatsky's reputation and that of Theosophy due to the falsehoods of that report has lingered on still today. One hundred years later, in 1986, the SPR…

My sister, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, nee de Hahn, better known in our country under the nom de plume of Radha-Bai, which she adopted for her writings in Russia, was a sufficiently remarkable person, even in these days, when striking personalities abound. Although her works are but little known to the general public, nevertheless they have given birth to a spiritual movement, to an…

n the study of universal history there is a strange fascination in the accounts of the numberless martyrs who have been slandered and persecuted with. an almost incredible ferocity because they tried to help their fellowmen to a higher ideal and practice of brotherhood. Not the least interesting of these was the extraordinary man known as Alessandro, Count di Cagliostro, who first appears in…

Before the soul can see, the Harmony within must be attained, and fleshly eyes be rendered blind to all illusion.

If thy soul smiles while bathing in the Sunlight of thy Life; if thy soul sings within her chrysalis of flesh and matter; if thy soul weeps inside her castle of illusion; if thy soul struggles to break the silver thread that binds her to the master (1); know, o Disciple, thy…

Taken from the book Experiencing Reincarnation by James Perkins.  ©1977 The Theosophical Publishing House. 

 

 

One of the most famous Dialogues of Plato, which has attracted more attention than any other, is that in which he depicts the death of Socrates. There were a few friends present during the day, the evening of which saw his passing, and this Dialogue takes the form of a conversation which took place on that last day.

THE DISCIPLINE OF NO-SELF “Study results in humility” (vidya vinayam dadati). This dictum is known all over India. The absence of self-importance is the mark of a person of learning and true culture. But the sentence also lends itself to the interpretation “Learning leads to discipline”—not a discipline imposed from outside by scripture or other authority, but the discipline of no-self.

The number seven was considered sacred not only by all the cultured nations of antiquity and the East, but was held in the greatest reverence even by the later nations of the West. The astronomical origin of this number is established beyond any doubt. Man, feeling himself time out of mind dependent upon the heavenly powers, ever and everywhere made earth subject to heaven. The largest and…

In 1897, Annie Besant published what she called the third volume of The Secret Doctrine, which had been announced by H. P. Blavatsky but left unpublished during the author's life. Received opinion at the present time is that what Besant published was not Blavatsky's third volume, but instead something assembled out of various documents left by HPB.

From the Proceedings of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society, Amsterdam 1904 Published in 1915 Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai [Madras] India The Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras. India

(The scheme of transliterating Sanskrit words adopted in this essay is mainly that agreed upon by western scholars) [Page 1]

Before the reader proceeds to the consideration of the Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan which form the basis of the present work, it is absolutely necessary that he should be made acquainted with the few fundamental conceptions which underlie and pervade the entire system of thought to which his attention is invited. These basic ideas are few in number, and on their clear apprehension depends…

Concentrate on the idea of the Higher Self., say for one half an hour at first. Permit no other thought. By degrees you will be able to unite your consciousness with the Higher Self. The Higher Self is always to be sought for within. To look outside is a fatal mistake

Theosophy is a wisdom that is based on truth, but this truth is manifold—it has several layers, one within the other. One might call it “the totality of truth with regard to man, life and the universe.” If our actions, thoughts, feelings, responses are all in harmony with the nature of this totality, then we are wise. One might say this is a very large or tall order. How are we to come to such…

THE Third Object of the Society reads: “To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man”. First of all, is the word “unexplained” the right word in that sentence? Should it not really be “undiscovered”? The word “unexplained” implies that we have already identified the laws, we perceive their existence, but they have not been explained because of some obscurity in them…

Consider with me that the individual existence is a rope which stretches from the infinite to the infinite and has no end and no commencement, neither is it capable of being broken. This rope is formed of innumerable fine threads, which, lying closely together, form its thickness. These threads are colourless, are perfect in their qualities of straightness, strength and levelness. This rope,…

IN every tree and plant, in the sound of birds, in insects and minerals, sky and water, there is astounding beauty. Each atom and every living creature is a miracle of meaning and loveliness.

It is only the knowledge of the constant re-births of one and the same individuality throughout the life-cycle; the assurance that the same MONADS have to pass through the "Circle of Necessity," rewarded or punished by such rebirth for the suffering endured or crimes committed in the former life.

There are three truths which are absolute, and which cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent for lack of speech.

Science knows as little as of the men from other planets. With the exception of Flammarion and a few mystics among astronomers, even the habitableness of other planets is mostly denied. Yet such great adept astronomers were the Scientists of the earliest races of the Aryan stock, that they seem to have known far more about the races of Mars and Venus than the modern Anthropologist knows of…

The mention of Cagliostro’s name produces a twofold effect. With the one party, a whole sequence of marvellous events emerges from the shadowy past; with others the modern progeny of a too realistic age, the name of Alexander, Count Cagliostro, provokes wonder, if not contempt.

Blavatsky's comments on the nature of light appear to reveal an insight that is decades ahead of the physicists of her day, showing a foreknowledge of the wave/particle duality of light, one of the important elements in the quantum mechanics of the twentieth century. She heads a section of her Secret Doctrine as "AND CAN IT BE THAT LIGHT IS ALSO SUBSTANCE?".

From H. P. Blavatsky Theosophical Articles, Vol. II

MATERIALISTS who arraign the Occultists and Theosophists for believing that every Force (so called) in Nature has at its origin a substantial NOUMENON, an Entity, conscious and intelligent, whether it be a Planetary (Dhyan Chohan) or an Elemental, are advised to fix their attention, first of all, on a far more…

The Music of the Spheres is an ancient Pythagorean concept, wherein Pythagoras was fascinated by the harmonics of a vibrating string on a Greek instrument-the lyre. He discovered an amazing correspondence between the order of musical intervals and the spacing of planets. For Pythagoras, there appeared to be a direct mathematical relationship between music's vibrational frequency and the…

THEOSOPHY IS ALL TOO OFTEN REGARDED BY the general public ass some esoteric cult or ab­stract intellectual discipline and is dismissed accordingly. Thiss regrettable, since it has much to offer every religion in its affirmation and every secular school and profession, from law and medicine to agriculture and economics, in its clarification of human place and purpose.

When I was in graduate school, one of my professors, an eminent historian of medieval science espoused in his lectures what one student affectionately tagged as the Old Man River theory of scientific progress. The professor asserted that in his research he found no evidence of social or cultural factors impinging on the development of medieval science: driven purely by intellectual thought,…

Time flows. But if something flows, it changes with respect to time. So time must change with respect to time. But nothing can change with respect to itself. This paradox flows from the basic paradox inherent in the definition of time. Read any general physics textbook and you will find that time is defined by a unit of time: the duration, or amount of time from one cycle to the next, of a…

To realize the true self is a task that may not be easy for a number of reasons. Why should it be so difficult? One cause is that we live in space and time. This answer is easy to articulate but hard to appreciate fully. The problem has to do with the reality that, while time and space seem to be out there as objective facts, they also turn out to be deeply ingrained in the in here world of…

IN approaching the subject of re-incarnation, we are confronted at the outset with a very serious difficulty. Like all other portions of the Esoteric Doctrine, re-incarnation, when considered alone, is not only incapable of satisfactory proof, but has no intelligible raison d’être. it is only when examined as an integral part of the whole system that its place and function in the scheme of…

Many books have been written on the subject of meditation and yoga but very few in the light of Theosophy and fewer still against the specific teachings of H.P.B. and her Masters.The main sources of our information are the third volume of The Secret Doctrine (1897 Edition) (S.D.), Volume XII of the Collected Writings (de Zirkoff) (CW), certain passages elsewhere in the Collected Writings, the…

The following was written by H. P. B. in 1885 to an intimate friend (2):

It has been said by Babajee that "only the chela, entranced, can reach to the normal objective (meaning physical and personal) state of the Mahatmas". How then about those who live with Them --- whether chelas or ignorance servants, those who see Them again objectively in Their material bodies? Unless one…

It would be difficult to find a book presenting more difficulties to the "reviewer with a conscience" than these handsome volumes bearing the name of Mdme. Blavatsky as author --- or, perhaps, it would be more accurate to say, as compiler and annotator. The subject-matter is so far away from the beaten paths of literature, science, and art; the point of view so removed from our Occidental…

The Great Master’s Letter

The Aims of the Theosophical Movement

The true Theosophist is a philanthropist – “not for himself but for the world he lives.” This, and philosophy, the right comprehension of life and its mysteries will give the “necessary basis” and show the right path to pursue.

The life of even the most ordinary person, which may seem very uneventful, is actually full of experiences on many levels. While we are focused on the daily business of living, we are at the same time involved in a whole complex of interactions between physical processes, feelings and thoughts. Though we may not pay much attention to these interactions, they constantly influence our behavior,…

One of the most basic and yet most elusive teachings of Theosophy is that consciousness is everywhere. Everything in the Universe, through all its kingdoms, is conscious: i.e., endowed with a consciousness of its own kind and on its own plane of perception. . . . There is no such thing as either dead or blind matter, as there is no Blind or Unconscious Law.(Secret Doctrine, I, 274).

There is common confusion between Theosophy and the Theosophical Society. We dealt with the Theosophical Society and its Objects in the previous article (go to article). Within the Society, which in its Objects let it be remembered does not mention Theosophy; there are widely divergent and strongly held views about it.

It is no exaggeration to say that there never was – during the present century, at any rate – a movement, social or religious, so terribly, nay, so absurdly misunderstood, or more blundered about than THEOSOPHY – whether regarded theoretically as a code of ethics, or practically, in its objective expression, i.e., the Society known by that name.

"On the authority of an adept" (?) "they" (the Theosophists and Madame Blavatsky) "are all mediums under the influence of the lower spirits." Such is the sentence used by you in an editorial review of Mr. Sinnett's Occult World (Spiritualist, June 17th). Doubtful as its pertinency might appear, I personally found nothing very objectionable in it, the more so, as elsewhere you do me the honour…

As the word Chela has, among others, been introduced by Theosophy into the nomenclature of Western metaphysics, and the circulation of our magazine is constantly widening, it will be as well if some more definite explanation than heretofore is given with respect to the meaning of this term and the rules of Chelaship, for the benefit of our European if not Eastern members. A "Chela" then, is…

Theosophy teaches that after a person dies, the Ego and its non-physical bodies undergo a process consisting of multiple stages before reincarnating. The process may be very brief (as in young children or cases of premature death) or it can be as long as 3,000 years. Theosophical literature, particularly the Mahatma Letters, has extensive teachings about the after-death states, some of which…

The question of “What happens when we die?” is one which the vast majority of people have and especially so as their own life begins to draw to an end or when a family member or loved one dies.

There are of course many different and contradictory ideas, theories, opinions, beliefs, and teachings about what happens to a person after the death of their physical body. There are even some…

t is hard to believe, but true nevertheless, that no-one in the Western world had heard of Karma, or knew the slightest thing about it, until only 130 years ago when Madame Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement introduced the concept of Karma – along with other distinctly Eastern teachings such as reincarnation and the Oneness and Divinity of all life – to the West.

In 1887-88 Madame Blavatsky dictated a Diagram of Meditation to E. T. Sturdy. This Diagram is interesting to study and useful to try to follow in meditation — but also in daily life. It begins with the words: First conceive of Unity. How are we to do so? We may think of the Unity of all things as something ‘other-worldly­’, rejecting the world of diversity that we know.

The world-view of every individual is compounded of many dimensions of experience (including those that are tacit and unacknowledged as well as those which are consciously affirmed), but it is fundamentally based on one’s conception of reality. When we speak of the world, we do not mean the facts of existence of the things and events we encounter, but rather the basic set of metaphors in terms…

The Theosophical Society in America

KNOWLEDGE AS A FUNCTION OF BEING

By Aldous Huxley

The following excerpts are taken from the Introduction of The Perennial Philosophy, first published in 1944. Italics and bold fonts have been added for emphasis.

* * * * * * *

PHILOSOPHIA PERENNIS—the phrase was coined by Leibniz; 1 but the thing—the metaphysic that…

Written down by Mabel Collins

CONSIDER with me that the individual existence is a rope which stretches from the infinite to the infinite and has no end and no commencement, neither is it capable of being broken. This rope is formed of innumerable fine threads, which, lying closely together, form its thickness. These threads are colorless, are perfect in their qualities of straightness,…

by Pablo D. Sender

Originally printed in the Winter 2011 issue of Quest magazine.

Citation: Sender, Pablo D. “The Theosophical Path of Meditaiton.” Quest  99. 1 (Winter 2011): 15-18.

The Theosophical Society was arguably the first organization in modern times to widely promote meditation in the West. Today more and more people are aware of meditation as an…

True open-mindedness is not a condition we are born with. Children assume that their parents' values and prejudices are the correct ones and that the way things are is the way they ought to be. In adolescence, we may begin to challenge the values and assumptions of our childhood and become open to other ways of thinking and acting. This attitude of receptiveness to new ideas develops in stages…

In a generous comment on my book The Yoga of the Christ, the justly highly regarded comparative religionist, Huston Smith, hailed it as a landmark in interfaith dialogue. However, I have become increasingly uneasy about this comment because I do not believe that I was engaging in interfaith dialogue in that book or in any of my other writings or talks. I have wished to engage in what may be…

Why is it important to understand religion? What is the real picture of religion in the world today? And why is seeing that portrait, with all its contours, all its foreground activity, and deep background important for Theosophists and others interested in the spiritual evolution of individuals and the world?

To begin with, consider the second object of the Theosophical Society: To…

Reincarnation is the theory or belief that human beings are born into the physical body, not just once, but multiple times. In many religions and teachings, it includes being born into animal bodies, but in others, such as in theosophy, only in human forms.

ENQ. The most difficult thing for you to do, will be to explain and give reasonable grounds for such a belief. No Theosophist has ever yet succeeded in bringing forward a single valid proof to shake my scepticism. First of all, you have against this theory of re-incarnation, the fact that no single man has yet been found to remember that he has lived, least of all who he was, during his…

Reincarnation is a hypothesis about what happens to the consciousness of a human being after bodily death. That hypothesis has both simplistic and complex versions, but none of them are subject to laboratory testing because death and rebirth cannot be put into a test tube or under a microscope. Some aspects of the reincarnation hypothesis, however, can be studied with scientific rigor,…

I am not the body that has served me for so long.

I am the Spiritual Self of Light.

Dorothy Bell is well known as an international educator in Theosophy.  She considers that it is the way we each see life that influences our understanding of our world.

We enter this life by the gateway of birth and after spending about 70 years on this planet under all kinds of…

Letter from H. P. Blavatsky, dated April 7, 1889. Read by William Q. Judge, morning session, April 28, 1889 to the Third Annual Convention of the American Section

 

A letter from H. P. Blavatsky, dated April 3, 1888. Read by William Q. Judge, afternoon session, April 22, 1888.

Magazine Article: Theosophy in Australia, March 2005

his book is merely a record of talks by Mr. C. W. Leadbeater – now Bishop Leadbeater – and myself on three famous books – books small in size but great in contents. We both hope that they will prove useful to aspirants, and even to those above that stage, since the talkers were older than the listeners, and had more experience in the life of discipleship.

This leaflet is intended as resource material for Theosophical Branches. It is available in Microsoft Word format so that your own branch contact details can be added and provided to people interested in this topic. Anyone, however is welcome to download this document.

Published in Vidya, the journal of the United Lodge of Theosophists (2017)

“As a man soweth, so shall he also reap.”

There are several special days celebrated in the Theosophcial Society's calendar. These are Adyar Day, White Lotus Day and Founder Day. The reason for them being especially called out are described below.

To ensure the rights of the membership in regards to the questions of democracy and freedom of thought, the General Council of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) passed the following resolution in 1924:

The Theosophical Society, while reserving for each member full freedom to interpret those teachings known as Theosophy, is dedicated to preserving and realizing the ageless wisdom, which embodies both a worldview and a vision of human self-transformation.

This tradition is founded upon certain fundamental propositions:

·  …

The following set of instructions were given by Madame Blavatsky,  a Principal Co-Founder of the Theosophical Society, to some of her earnest students in London in 1888:

Nature in religion is not new. The sun in his majestic daily journey and the silvery moon at night have ever been objects of veneration and worship. All the planets in our system have their god names. The Elements of Earth, Water, Air and Fire are in the Indian pantheon of gods. Mercury is the messenger of the gods, planetary Neptune is also the god of the sea. Pan is the god of all Nature. So…

I am not a scientist, but science, particularly quantum physics, intrigues me. Recently I came upon a book entitled Entangled Minds by Dean Radin, a senior scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences in Petaluma, California, which advances the thesis that the concept of entanglement in quantum theory may explain psychic faculties and parapsychological phenomena.

Geoffrey Hodson was born in Lincolnshire, England, on the 12th of March 1886, and passed away on the 23rd of January 1983, at his home in Auckland, New Zealand. He joined the Manchester Branch of the Theosophical Society as a young man, and from then on until the end of his Life of 96 years, he travelled throughout the world teaching, lecturing, and writing on Theosophy.

n the early Theosophical writings, H. P. Blavatsky used the term “dugpa” for the various non-Gelugpa orders of Tibetan Buddhism, namely, for the Kagyupa, Nyingmapa, and Sakyapa orders. In doing this, she followed the usage of Western writers of the time. These writers indiscriminately termed all of these orders as “Red Caps,” “Shammars,” and “Dugpas,” or “Dukpas.” Blavatsky additionally used…

Each of us has a "soft spot": the place in our experience where we feel vulnerable and tender. This soft spot is inherent in appreciation and love, and it is equally inherent in pain.

Often, when we feel that soft spot, it's quickly followed by a feeling of fear and an involuntary, habitual tendency to close down. This is the tendency of all living things: to avoid pain…

Initiation is not the fulfilling of a personal, spiritual ambition, the attainment of a height of greatness, or the coming into possession of extraordinary powers which one can imagine will be wielded for the benefit of mankind, but may in fact be for the pleasure in wielding such forces.

ur society completed an extraordinary century and a quarter of existence on 17th November 2000, a milestone of no small import. Milestones may be disregarded by some as belonging to a world dominated by parameters such as time. However, they can be a most valuable juncture for an organisation such as ours to assess its worth and integrity, its inherent usefulness or otherwise in the world and…

Magazine Article: The American Theosophist, July 1974

“The trouble with the three fundamental propositions is that they are way up there in the blue somewhere. They don’t answer any of my problems. Why should I bother to study them?”

The discussion about the nature of Samadhi in the first chapter of the Yoga-Sutras of Patanjali and the subtle mental processes which are involved in it might well give the impression that the technique of Yoga is not meant for the ordinary man and he can at best make only a theoretical study of the subject and must postpone its practical application to his own life for some future incarnation…

It is important to grasp, not merely as a concept, but as a fact, that the Path is oneself. The Voice of the Silence states that one cannot travel on the Path until one has become the Path itself. The Path is the qualitative change which takes place in one’s consciousness and in the vehicles through which consciousness functions.

Being extracts from the notes of personal teachings given by H. P. Blavatsky to private pupils during the years 1888 to 1891, included in a large manuscript volume left to me by my father, who was one of the pupils.

Since the split up of the Theosophical Society into various lineages after the death of Helena P. Blavatsky, foundress of the Aryan Theosophical Society at New York in 1875 and Head of its Esoteric School there is quarrel until today about the if, how, why and to whom of HPB’s occult successorship, beginning with the 1894 controversy between TS co-founder William Q. Judge and Annie Besant…

Geoffrey Hodson developed these powers to a remarkable degree and all his talents were devoted to helping forward humanity at large. At no time did he seek monetary compensation for any of his clairvoyant work in healing or research. By working with accredited scientists, he not only provided valuable insights and knowledge but to a large extent validated the faculty of clairvoyance as a…

A new school of thought is arising to challenge long-accepted views of life. Its keynote may be said to be “evolutionary creation.” It is an exposition of the phenomena that surrounds us in terms that are both scientific and idealistic. It offers an explanation of life, of the origin of our fragment of the universe, of hidden and mysterious natural laws, of the nature and destiny of man, that…

For many years after the Theosophical Society was founded, the TS was one of very few spiritual options to traditional religions, especially in the West. But today there are thousands of organisations promoting what we can loosely call ‘spirituality’. What is the role of the TS in the midst of this wealth of offerings? Is it still relevant? Does it have anything unique to offer?

In a letter, Dorothy Bell shares thoughts on the power of a theosophical worldview to unravel a universal problem.

A letter to my Sister in India…  On the Equality of Men and Women

Namaste, dear Sister Deepa,

Why are we so fascinated with near death experiences (NDEs)? Certainly they are a curiosity and something beyond normal experience, but it seems to be more than that. Out-of-body experiences, premonitions and other psychic experiences are numerous but they do not have the notoriety of the NDE.

The Theosophical Society has been around for 139 years. But its growth as an organisation has been relatively stagnant in the past more than half a century. Its membership has been declining since 1928 when it had a peak membership of 45,000, down to about 26,000 today. Since 1928, world population has increased three and a half times.

The Theosophical Society, as far as I am aware, has no view on this subject, however it is one worth exploring and I present some ideas below in this direction.

The Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling are a fantastically magical phenomenon. Coming out of nowhere in the publishing world, they rapidly became the best-selling young people’s books of our time, and the movies based upon them have been equally popular.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the world’s great spiritual texts to which we may look for guidance for living a meaningful or a significant existence. Through centuries it has inspired thinkers, scholars, social activists, and people from all walks of life. It has been translated into nearly as many languages as are spoken on the planet, and commentaries on it have been produced throughout time…

Retreat Centres around the World

There are various theosophical centers around the world that run courses, meditation sessions, retreats, etc. Here is a list of some of them:

The Emblem of the Theosophical Society is composed of a number of symbols, all of which have been used from very ancient times to express profound spiritual and philosophical concepts about the human being and the universe. They are found in a variety of forms in the great religions of the world and their universality is further shown by their appearance in widely separated cultures. Each…

Lecture delivered at the 116th International Convention at Adyar, December 1991. Originally published in The Theosophist, February 1992.

Comments on "The Voice of the Silence"

by Clara Codd

Part-1-

I think this is the most sublime and splendid scripture that ever was written. Everybody has a favourite. Dr. Arundale, I remember, liked At the Feet of the Master, that was his beloved, and Dr. Besant The Bhagavad Gita,…

AMONG the many forces which inspire men to activity, none, perhaps, plays a greater part than the feeling we call devotion — together with some feelings that often mask themselves under its name, though fundamentally differing from it in essence.