THEOSOPHY

WALES

 

 

Esoteric

Glossary

 

Return to Index

 

Return to Homepage

 

O – P

 

Occultist The true occultist is a scientist and a devotee; where these two are not merged we have the mystic, as well as the individual in danger of black magic, being governed by the intellect and not by selflessness; the occultist is only the mystic functioning on a higher plane - that of the mind.

 

Path (The) The "linking light" or "bridging radiance" created between the higher and the lower; communion or interplay between the personality and the Soul, and later between the personality and Spirit; "Before the person can tread the path, they must become that path themself"; The antahkarana is the Path symbolically. This is one of the paradoxes of the esoteric science. Step by step and stage by stage, we construct that Path just as the spider spins its thread. It is that "way back" which we evolve out of ourselves; it is that Way which we also find and tread.

 

Permanent atom Small force centres on each of the planes which hold the memory of all incarnations, and which the reincarnating soul draws upon when building new bodies of manifestation.

 

Personality The sumtotal of the threefold lower self: physical, astral, mental: a blend of mental energy, of emotional energy and of vital force, and these three are masked, hidden or revealed (note this terminology) by an outer shell or form of dense physical matter. This outer crust is in itself a form of negative energy. The result of this union of three energies in an objective form is self-consciousness and their fusion produces that sense of individuality which justifies the use of the wword "I," and which relates all occurrences to a self; where this central conscious entity exists, utilising the mind, reacting sensuously through the emotional body, and energising the dense physical (via the vital body), then one has a personality; awareness of identity in relation to other identities - true of God or man; sense or identity persists only during the creative process; a state of awareness which has its conditioning factor in the mind stuff and this can be transcended when the mind stuff no longer controls.

 

Plan The expression of Purpose in time and space; all we really know is the fact of the Plan and that it is very good; that we are enfolded within it and subject to it; the objective of the Plan is to reproduce upon the plane of the earth the inner kingdom of the soul.

 

Plane (of Perception) A level of existence. There are seven planes of perception on this, the "cosmic physical" plane - physical, astral, mental, buddhic, atmic, monadic and Adi. These planes are subdivided into seven subplanes each, making 49 subplanes in all. An essential part of "septenaries" in occultism that can be applied, with the 7 rays, to broaden understanding.

 

Planetary Logos This term is generally applied to the seven highest spirits corresponding to the seven archangels of the Christian. They have all passed through the human stage and are now manifesting through a planet and its evolutions, in the same way that man manifests through his physical body. The highest planetary spirit working through any particular globe is, in reality, the personal God of the planet. The Being Who is the life of our planet; the One in Whom we live and move and have our being; the sumtotal of all organized life; the informing, ensouling life of this planet earth; the life which integrates the planet as a whole, and pours through all forms - great or small - which, in their aggregate, constitute the Planetary form; our planetary Logos has been given the name of the "experimenting divine physicist." A planetary logos is the informing entity of any planetary scheme, which is made up of many other globes and chains - the physical planet just being one expression of the great life incarnate in a scheme. The Kumara for our planet, Sanat Kumara, is simply the personality expression of this great being.

 

Prakriti That which caused the universe to manifest itself.

 

Prana The Life principle, the breath of life.

 

Pranayama The science of rhytmic breathing as applied in meditation.

 

Prayer The dim, faint and inadequate expression of the Science of Invocation and Evocation; affirmation of divinity in order to attain material well-being.

 

Precipitation An aggregation of energies arranged in a certain form, in order to express the idea of some creative Thinker, and qualified or characterised by the nature of his thought and held in that peculiar form as long as thought remains dynamic.

 

Principle The embodiment of some aspect of truth on which this system of ours is based; that which governs always the action of the ego on its own plane. The basic differentiations, essential qualities or types of energy upon which all things are built; they give the distinctive nature of all forms. Principles are eternal, personalities temporal. Principles are to be viewed in the light of eternity, personalities from the standpoint of time. The trouble is that, in many situations, two principles are involved, one of which is secondary. The difficulty lies in the fact that (both being principles) both are right. It is a rule for safe guidance always to remember that usually basic principles (for their wise comprehension and fruitful working out) call for play of intuition whilst secondary principles are more purely mental. The methods hence necessariy differ. While holding to the basic principles, the wisest methods are silence and a joyful confidence that the Law works.

 

Principle of Expansion That which brings about the development of consciousness so that the latent germ of sentiency or of sensitive response to environment may be fostered in the living unit.

 

Principle of Liberation Closely linked with that of the problem of limitation; death is governed by the Principle of Liberaton, and not by that of Limitation. Death is only recognised as a factor to be dealt with by self-conscious lives and is only misunderstood by human beings, who are the most glamoured and deluded of all incarnated lives. (See Death)

 

Principle of Limitation The outcome of the purposeful will and formulated desire of some thinking Being, and governs consequently the form-taking process of all incarnated lives; controls the scope of an incarnation, sets its measure and rhythm, determines the radius of its influence, and brings about that illusory appearance of reality which we call manifestation. (see Principle of Liberation)

 

Principle of Periodic Manifestation The Law of Cycles; a beneficent operation of the love-wisdom of innate divinity; produces that sequence of the states of consciousness which we term Time; produces in the world field of awareness a gradual and slow growth towards self-expression, self-appreciation, and self-realisation.

 

Purpose The motivating Life behind all that emanates from Shamballa; impulses all the activities of the Hierarchy; the task of the Hierarchy is to formulate the Plan for all forms of life in the three worlds and the four kingdoms in nature; the Purpose of God is that which implements the Plan; God reveals His purpose through the activity of the mind - which in turn impresses the brain, attuned to receptivity. Later again, the mind becomes responsive to an illumination, emanating from the Spirit aspect. Purpose is an energy, released within the confines of the Council Chamber (Shamballa) and there it takes shape. Behind it looms that which has brought it into being. (see Plan)

 

Purusha The spiritual self. The embodied self. The word literally means "The dweller in the city" - that is, in the body. It is derived from the Sanskrit "pura" which means city or body, and "usha" a derivative of the verb "vas," to dwell.

 

Return to Index

 

Return to Homepage

 

 

 

 

THEOSOPHY

WALES

                        

 

For more info on Theosophy

Try these

 

Dave’s Streetwise Theosophy Boards

The Theosophy Website that

Welcomes Absolute Beginners

 

Theosophy in Cardiff

 

Theosophy in Wales

 

Wales! Wales! Theosophy Wales

The All Wales Guide to

 Getting Started in Theosophy

This is for everybody not just people in Wales

 

Cardiff Lodge’s Instant Guide to Theosophy

 

Cardiff Theosophy Start-Up

A Free Intro to Theosophy

 

Cardiff Theosophical Archive

 

Cardiff Blavatsky Archive

 

Blavatsky Blogger

Independent Theosophical Blog

 

Quick Blasts of Theosophy

One Liners & Quick Explanations

 

Great Theosophists

 

The Most Basic Theosophy Website in the Universe

If you run a Theosophy Group you can use

this as an introductory handout

 

Theosophy

The New Rock ‘n Roll

 

The Key to Theosophy

 

The Voice of the Silence

 

The South of Heaven Guide to

 Theosophy and Devachan

 

The South of Heaven Guide

To Theosophy and Dreams

 

The South of Heaven Guide

To Theosophy and Angels

 

Theosophy and Help From

The Universe

 

Feelgood Theosophy

Visit the Feelgood Lodge

 

The Tooting Broadway

Underground Theosophy Website

The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy

 

The Mornington Crescent

Underground Theosophy Website

The Earth Base for Evolutionary Theosophy

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

Try these if you are looking for a

local Theosophy Group or Centre

 

 

UK Listing of Theosophical Groups

 

Worldwide Directory of Theosophical Links

 

International Directory of 

Theosophical Societies