THEOSOPHY

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Esoteric

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D – E

 

Death Death is an act of the intuition transmitted by the soul to the personality and then acted upon in conformity to the divine will by the individual wll' the will-to-harmonization; is undertaken at the direction of the Ego, no matter how unaware a human being may be of that direction; it is the call of the soul too strong to resist; a work or act of restitution; a process of at-one-ment (see Principle of Liberation)

 

Desire The force of the form nature; the reflection or distortion of love; attachment in some degree or another; a generic term covering the outgoing tendency of the spirit towards form life.

 

Detachment The freeing of the soul from the thralldom of the form life, and the subordination of the personality to the higher impulses.

 

Deva (Angel) An angel; a god; a celestila being, whether good, bad, or indifferent. Devas are divided into many groups and are called not only angels and arcangels, but lesser and greater builders; the builders of the system; Devas are on the evolutionary path, on the upward way,; the building devas are the Universal Mind. They not only embody the Divine Thought but are that through which it manifests, and its actuating activity. They are essentially motion. The lesser builders are more particularly the material form which is actuated, and in their cohorts are the substance of matter, considering substance as that which lies back of matter. In sanskrit, a resplendent deity. Responsible for building all forms, from nature to the solar system, which consciousness uses as a vehicle - from a flower, to a human being, to a planet.

 

Devachan A state of consciousness, reflecting, in the life of the personality, that higher state which we call nirvanic consciousness, and which is brought about by egoic action; consisting of mental matter, might be regarded as a centre, or heart of peace, within the periphery of the sphere of influence of the mental unit within the causal body.

 

Dharma That which one must fulfill as an incarnate Being. One's duty as an understanding of the Law. Divine law, ethical doctrine - justice, harmony, virtue.

 

Dhyani Buddhas The 5 Buddhas - Vairocana, Aksobhya, Ratnasambhava, Amitabha and Amoghasiddhi. Same as Kumaras. See "Kumara".

 

Disciple One who is pledged to serve humanity, who is beginnng to comprehend group work; who realizes the Life or force side of nature; who is transferring his consciousness out of the personal into the impersonal; who realizes his responsibility to all units who come under his influence and to the Whole. (see Reality)

 

Disciple (Function of) The function of a disciple is to focus a stream of energy of some special kind upon the physical plane where it can become an attractive center of force and draw to itself similar types of ideas and thought currents which are not strong enough to live by themselves or to make a sufficiently strong impact upon the human consciousness.

 

Disciples Initiated disciples have no interest in anything but the vision, the Plan and its direction and materializing on earth. Accepted disciples are learning this and in the meantime have to react to the vision in what might be called a second hand manner; they are occupied with the Plan and with the distribution of the forces which will materialize it. A disciple becomes an Accepted Disciple when he starts climbing towards the vision, towards the mountaintop; he can also register consciously what he has seen and then begin to do something towards materializing it. Newly accepted disciples (who are only learning to cooperate) are valuable as "agents for experiment." According to their reaction to the imparted truths and Plan, according to their ability to sense the need and to bring the need and the medium of release into relation and according to their capacity to work with the world disciples (who are definitely responsible to the master of the Ashram for some aspect of the Plan) will be the success of the effort in the outer world.

 

Discrimination The process of differentiating between the form and the Life, between the soul and the body, between the sumtotal of the lower manifestation (physical, astral and mental) and the real self, the cause of the lower manifestation; that faculty whereby the self recognizes its own essence in and under all forms; one of the highest faculties in man.

 

Dispassion The attainment of that state of consciousness where balance is seen, and neither pleasure or pain dominates.

 

Dual life A life of outer activity and of inner sensitivity.

 

Dweller on the Threshold The "shadow" or unredeemed aspect of the personality that is built up over lifetimes - it can assume the shape of a grotesque thoughtform; the sumtotal of forces of the lower nature as expressed in the personality prior to illumination, to inspiration and to initiation; all that the individual is, apart from the higher spiritual self. Humanity today is the Dweller while the Hierarchy of Souls is the Angel and behind the Angel stands the Presence of Divinity Itself, intuited by the Hierarchy and dimly sensed by humanity but providing in this manner the threefold synthesis which is divine manifestation in form. The Soul goes into battle with the Dweller at a critical stage of its evolution, and eventually emerges triumphant. This process may take several lives.

 

Ego The soul as an individualised unit of consciousness within the greater ocean of consciousness.

 

Egoic Groups The "causal" bodies of individual men and women, as they exist on the mental plane, as an expression of the Ego. They congregate in groups according to ray colouring.

 

Egoic Lotus The 3 tiers of petals (knowledge, love and sacrifice) that are opened over the immense period of time that is the Soul's journey. Eventually the three petals of the central bud (the jewel in the lotus) are opened when the individual achieves "Liberation".

 

Elementals The spirits of the elements of earth, water, fire and air. They are the lesser "devas" or "builders". They can inhabit the residual etheric/astral bodies of humans that are still breaking down after death, much like a hermit crab inhabits a shell.

 

Esoteric That which is hidden or veiled. It is subjective wisdom that can only be perceived with the developed subtle senses.

 

Energies Subjective energies are forces pouring from the soul (on soul levels) into the form nature upon its own level of awareness.

 

Energy A potency of life fluid circulating through the entire body of the Logos and vivifying even the tiniest atom in that whole. The Tibetan uses the word "energy" in reference to the spiritual expression, and the word "force" to indicated the uses which are made of spiritual energy. (see Forces)

 

Etheric body The subtle part of the physical body. The physical plane is divided into 7 subplanes (as are all planes). The lower 3 subplanes represent the physical body, and the higher 4 subplanes represent the etheric body.

 

Evocation A response to invocative appeal. (see Invocation)

 

Evolution - The unfolding of a continually increasing power to respond, the rpocess which unfolds the life within all units, the developing urge which eventually merges all units and all groups until you have the manifestation of what can be called nature, or God, and which is the aggregate of all states of consciousness; ordered change and constant mutation, and ever-increasing power to respond to vibration, a steadily increasing sensitivity to light and illumination.

 

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THEOSOPHY

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Theosophy &

Reincarnation

 

This guide has been included in response

to the number of enquiries we receive on this

subject at Cardiff Theosophical Society

 

 

Reincarnation

Annie Besant

 

Memories Of Past Lives

Annie Besant

 

The Law of Rebirth

Annie Besant

 

Reincarnation

From A Textbook of Theosophy By C W Leadbeater

 

Argument for Reincarnation

 W Q Judge

 

How We Remember our Past Lives

C Jinarajadasa

 

The Vision of the Spirit

C Jinarajadasa

 

The Hidden Work of Nature

C Jinarajadasa

 

The Law of Renunciation

C Jinarajadasa

 

Is Reincarnation True?

Ernest Egerton Wood

 

Life after Death & Reincarnation

The Aftermath of the Somme

The Slaughter of the Battle of the Somme 1916 leads to

a great demand by the public for lectures on Reincarnation

 

 

 

 

 

A Text Book of Theosophy

Charles Webster Leadbeater

 

What Theosophy Is  From the Absolute to Man

 

The Formation of a Solar System  The Evolution of Life

 

The Constitution of Man  After Death  Reincarnation

 

The Purpose of Life  The Planetary Chains

 

The Result of Theosophical Study

 

 

 

Quotes from the Writings of

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

That which is to be shunned is pain not yet come. The past cannot be changed or amended; that which belongs to the experience of the present cannot and should  not be shunned; but alike to be shunned are disturbing anticipations or fears of  the future, and every act or impulse that may cause present or future pain to ourselves or others.

Practical Occultism, Page 87

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Perfection, to be fully such, must be born out of imperfection, the incorruptible must grow out of the corruptible, having the latter as its vehicle and basis and contrast

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 2, Page 100

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

It is only by the attractive force of the contrasts that the two opposites — Spirit and Matter — can be cemented together on Earth, and, smelted in the fire of self-conscious experience and suffering, find themselves wedded in Eternity.

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 2, Page 108

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Strength to step forward is the primary need of him who has chosen his path. Where is this to be found? Looking round, it is not hard to see where other men find their strength. Its source is profound conviction.

Practical Occultism, Page 67

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

It is the motive, and the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become black, malignant, or white, beneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ spiritual forces if there is the slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator .... The powers and forces of animal nature can equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish and the all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves only to the perfectly pure in heart — and this is Divine Magic.

Practical Occultism, Page 7

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Finite reason agrees with science, and says: “There is no God”. But, on the other hand, our Ego, that which lives and thinks and feels independently of us in our mortal casket, does more than believe. It knows that there exists a God in nature, for the sole and invincible Artificer of all lives in us as we live in Him. No dogmatic faith or exact science is able to uproot that intuitional feeling inherent in man, when he has once fully realised it in himself.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 1, Page 36

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

It may be a pleasant dream to attempt to conceive of the beauties of the spirit world; but the time can be spent more profitably in a study of the spirit itself, and it is not necessary that the subject for study should be in the spirit world.

Modern Panarion Page 70

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Physical existence is subservient to the spiritual, and all physical improvement and progress are only the auxiliaries of spiritual progress, without which there could be no physical progress.

Modern Panarion Page 78

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Mankind — the majority at any rate — hates to think for itself. It resents as an insult the humblest invitation to step for a moment outside the old well-beaten tracks and, judging for itself, to enter into a new path in some fresh direction.

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 3, Page 14

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Even ignorance is better than Head-learning with no Soul-wisdom to illuminate and guide it.

The Voice of the Silence, Page 43

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Many theosophists have had slight conscious relations with elementals, but always without their will acting, and upon trying to make elementals see, hear or act for them, a total indifference on the part of the nature spirit is all they have got in return. These failures are due to the fact that the elemental cannot understand the thought of the person; it can only be reached when the exact scale of being to which it belongs is vibrated, whether it be that of colour, form, sound, or whatever else

Annotation - The Path, May, 1888

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Parabrahman is not “God” because It is not a God. “It is that which is supreme, and not supreme”. ....It is supreme as cause, not supreme as effect.

The Secret Doctrine , Proem [Volume 1], Page 35

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

The ancients ..... fully realised the fact that the reciprocal relations between the planetary bodies is as perfect as those between the corpuscles of the blood, which float in a common fluid; and that each one is affected by the combined influence of all the rest, as each in its turn affects each of the others.

Isis, Volume 1, Page 275

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Strength to step forward is the primary need of him who has chosen his path. Where is this to be found? Looking round, it is not hard to see where other men find their strength. Its source is profound conviction.

Practical Occultism, Page 67

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

There are two kinds of magnetic attraction: sympathy and fascination; the one holy and natural, the other evil and unnatural.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 1, Page 210

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

In the phenomenal and Cosmic World Fohat is that occult, electric, vital power, which, under the Will of the Creative Logos, unites and brings together all forms, giving them the first impulse, which in time becomes law.

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 1, Page 134

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Oaths will never be binding till each man will fully understand that humanity is the highest manifestation on earth of the Unseen Supreme Deity, and each man an

incarnation of his God; and when the sense of personal responsibility will be so

developed in him that he will consider forswearing the greatest possible insult to himself, as well as to humanity. No oath is now binding, unless taken by one who, without any oath at all, would solemnly keep his simple promise of honour.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 2, Page 374

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

It is the motive, and the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become

black, malignant, or white, beneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ spiritual forces if there is the slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator .... The powers and forces of animal nature can equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish and the all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves only to the perfectly pure in heart — and this is Divine Magic.

Practical Occultism, Page 7

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Woe to those who live without suffering. Stagnation and death is the future of all that vegetates without change. And how can there be any change for the better without proportionate suffering during the preceding stage?

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 2, Page 498

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

The person who is endowed with this faculty of thinking about even the most trifling things from the higher plane of thought has, by virtue of that gift which he possesses, a plastic power of formation, so to say, in his very imagination. Whatever such a person may think about, his thought will be so far more intense than the thought of an ordinary person, that by this very intensity it obtains the power of creation.

Lucifer, December, 1888

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Finite reason agrees with science, and says: “There is no God”. But, on the other hand, our Ego, that which lives and thinks and feels independently of us in our mortal casket, does more than believe. It knows that there exists a God in nature, for the sole and invincible Artificer of all lives in us as we live in Him. No dogmatic faith or exact science is able to uproot that intuitional feeling inherent in man, when he has once fully realised it in himself.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 1, Page 36

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Our voice is raised for spiritual freedom, and our plea made for enfranchisement  from all tyranny, whether of Science of Theology.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 1, I2.

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

If through the Hall of Wisdom thou wouldst reach the Vale of Bliss, Disciple, close fast thy senses against the great dire heresy of Separateness that weans thee from the rest.

Voice of the Silence, Page 23

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

From strength to strength, from the beauty and perfection of one plane to the

greater beauty and perfection of another, with accessions of new glory, of fresh

knowledge and power in each cycle, such is the destiny of every Ego, which thus

becomes its own saviour in each world and incarnation.

The Key to Theosophy, Page 105

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

The assertion that “Theosophy is not a Religion” , by no means excludes the fact that “Theosophy is Religion” itself. A religion in the true and only correct sense is a bond uniting men together — not a particular set of dogmas and beliefs. Now Religion, per se, in its widest meaning is that which binds not only all Men but also all Beings and all things in the entire Universe into one grand whole.

Lucifer, November, 1888

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

The Present is only a mathematical line which divides that part of Eternal Duration which we call the Future from that part which we call the Past

The Secret Doctrine , Volume 1, Page 69

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

The mind receives indelible impressions even from chance acquaintance or persons

encountered but once. As a few seconds' exposure of the sensitized photographic plate is all that is requisite to preserve indefinitely the image of the sitter, so is it with the mind.

Isis Unveiled, Volume 1, Page 311

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

 “Beneficent Magic” , so called, is divine magic, devoid of selfishness, love of power, of ambition or lucre, and bent only on doing good, to the world in general and one's neighbour in particular. The smallest attempt to use one's abnormal powers for the gratification of self makes of these powers sorcery or black magic.

The Key to Theosophy, Page 228

 

Blavatsky Quotation

 

Believing in a spiritual and invisible Universe, we cannot conceive of it in any other way than as completely dovetailing and corresponding with the material, objective Universe; for logic and observation alike teach us that the latter is the outcome and visible manifestation of the former, and that the laws governing both are immutable.

Modern Panarion Page 137

 

 

 

Elementary Theosophy

By

A Student of Katherine Tingley

Katherine Tingley (1847 -1929)Was the founder & President

of the Point Loma Theosophical Society 1896 -1929

She and her students produced a series of informative

Theosophical works in the early years of the 20th century

 

 

Elementary Theosophy   Who is the Man?

 

Body and Soul  Body, Soul and Spirit   Reincarnation

 

Karma  The Seven in Man and Nature

 

The Meaning of Death

 

 

The Occult World

By

Alfred Percy Sinnett

 

The Occult World is an treatise on the

Occult and Occult Phenomena, presented

 in readable style, by an early giant of

the Theosophical Movement.

 

Preface to the American Edition  Introduction

 

Occultism and its Adepts   The Theosophical Society

 

First Occult Experiences   Teachings of Occult Philosophy

 

Later Occult Phenomena   Appendix

 

 

 

 

 

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UK Listing of Theosophical Groups

 

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International Directory of 

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