Theosophy News Worldwide 1st Quarter 2020

This issue was published on 2020-04-18 or 3 years 9 months ago.

Editorial

Steven Otto

Dear friends of Theosophy,

the new decade starts quite bumpy. What do you think about the lockdown of the world because of a flu epidemic? It's a global tragedy, not only for those, who lost loved ones, that's already obvious. And it just started.

But what's behind it, I was asked a lot. Another warningshot of Karma? In fact, the (unavoidable) social irritations (of this unreasonable and materialstic society) become more and more tragically. 2001 the .com bubble, 2008 the almost global financal crisis, now, 2020, this. So what will we be faced in 15 years from now, what in 30?

Of course there are many spiritual impulses, but to see most parts of this society sinking in falsehood, wastefulness, exploitation, ignorance, brutality, sexual bestiality, egoism, hedonism... you named it, doesn't bode well. I remembered a qoute of HPB these days, from her article "Our Cycle and the next":

If once men do but realize that in these alone [in ALTRUISM and TRUTH] can true happiness be found, and never in wealth, possessions, or any selfish gratification, then the dark clouds will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon earth. Then, the GOLDEN AGE will be there, indeed.

But if not, then the storm will burst, and our boasted western civilization and enlightenment will sink in such a sea of horror that its parallel History has never yet recorded.

Times are no longer getting better. To me, it seems, cycle after cycle, this society is brought closer and closer to its fate. So please, ask yourself: Am I prepared? And then act accordingly, at least, if you have responsibility for others.

Tragical enough to remember, that HPB itself died of an influenza epidemic in May 1891 in London, what she and Theosophical literature said about epidemics and pandemics you can get in the section with news from Theosophical Societies, because TS Point Loma compiled a corresponding collection.

In the last issue I wrote within the series of (in my view) "Theosophical misbeliefs" about the impossibility of an infinit being and I'm not convinced a majority, because 53% disagree and only 47% agree, that this isn't possible.

But let me add a qoute from HPB, that can support my position, she said:

This manifestation [of the manifesting Deity] is triple in its aspects, for it requires, as Aristotle has it, three principles for every natural body to become objective: privation [prototypes impressed in the Astral Light], form, and matter. [SD:1:59]

If it is a beeing (for me also higher beeings are objective on it's plane and have a natural body, f.e. Sûkshma Sharîra (SD:1:132) etc.), it must have a form and if it has a form, it cannot be endless. And even if someone still has doubts, I may convice today with the current or 4th item of the Top 10 misbeliefs, which deals with the "Causeless Cause", also in relation to the former problem.

Within The Press-Review of Theosophy outside the Movement one can find again many interesting facts, f.e. that Blavatsky taught Hitler. Yes, a big and insane lie, but today, the Theosophical Societes have better things to do, as to act with HPB, it's founder, who said

Fourthly, by defending the Society from the unjust aspersions cast upon it, by every legitimate device in their power. [Key2Theosophy, Section 12]

and therefore, it's not to be wondered at, if such extremely disturbing lies, as I reported f.e. three years ago, become fertile and multiply.

And what Theosophical Societies does? They consult each other and earning big salary: How much Mr. Boyd, the leader of TS Adyar earns, for consulting the TS Adyar America (?!) as part-time job, you can investigate in the top of the News from Theosophical Websites-section. This kind of transparency of TS Adyar America is a god start, big credit to Barbara Hebert, it's president, who answerd questions.


And now I wish you an interesting reading and a peaceful spring. With kind regards from Germany

Steven Otto
Editor of Theosophy World News

Topic of the quarter

No. 04 of the top 10 misbeliefs of theosophical scholars: The Causeless Cause

Only supposed, a causeless cause is not possible, why HBP wrote about it in her teachings?

OK, let me explain. I describe it now in a theosophical way in regard to the spiritual hierachies. Not all of these are visible, and those parts that are visible, are visible only in the plane of matter of course. Hence we can also go the physical way (don't mix this up with modern astrophysics, which is often a hoax, see f.e. here and here or more elaborated in regard to postmodern, materialistic science here, with greetings from the Kali Yuga).

Anyway, let's start: A human being, the spiritual cause of it, is a planetary beeing (at least in the sense of it's monad, see f.e. SD:1:216c). Let's call the planet Earth. One could say, in this meaning, that the cause of this planet is the solarsystem, right? So the cause of our solarsystem -- which has, by the way, no name so far -- is our galaxy, called the Milky-Way. And the cause of our galaxie is..........oh... whait... we don't know / can see so far, what the cause of all the galaxies is. Even if we can speculate, we don't see or know such an entity, which consists, at least, of all galaxies we know.

Exactly here is obviously a border of todays knowledge. So let's call this "thing" that we don't know, this "Unknown Deity", this "Nothingness", which "Is (in existence) and is not (within our circle of understanding)", the Causeless Cause. Oh, sorry, let me correct this: I meant ""Causeless Cause"". Why? It is NOT to be meant literally.

No one would deny, that there is a cause of all our Galaxies. An no one would argue, that we already know everything, what's to know in this endless space. There is a cause, but we don't know it and call it, until we know better, the "Causeless Cause", because if we don't know the Cause, it's evident, that we cannot even speculate about the Cause if this Cause. It would make no sense.

So the galaxy, so to say, is the causeless effect. It has a cause, but we don't no it (thus far). And this unknown cause is called the "Causless Cause". There may be other opinions on this, but to assume, that there is an effect without a physical or metaphysical cause and/or to think, that there is an end of the Hireachy or of the Development or the Causes, it's not logical and therfore (politely expressed) highly problematic.

I don't want to destroy the Absolute and consequently the (Original) Teaching. You can call this the Absolute too, the One Reality etc. But on the other hand, we have to draw this "beginning" for a philosophical correct start of a Cosmogenesis (it is necessary, yes, see f.e. here) and if you want to go further with this topic, or deeper with it's understanding, you can divide this "thing" in the Unrevealed Logos and the Absolute. Maybe I discuss this in the next issue but for now...
 

What do you think?

The Causeless Cause is NOT be be understand LITERALLY in Theosophy

Choices

Press outside the movement about Theosophy


Other


fansided.com

A quest to uncover the NBA's lost season
But many have dismissed the legend of the Shortened Season because its main advocate — this believer in Shangri-Las — was a convert to Theosophy, or what writer David Grann refers to as the “wisdom of the gods” (41).
read more

 

patheos.com

Paganism and Countercultures
But Neopaganism has older roots than the 1960s. We can clearly trace its ancestry back through Gardnerian Wicca and the occult movements of the early 20th century, though Hermetic societies like the Golden Dawn, to Theosophy and Spiritualism.
read more

 

tricycle.org

Where Did “Tibetan” Singing Bowls Really Come From?
Perhaps they labeled their instruments “Tibetan”—or accepted that label—for the cultural weight it carried, playing off of the same myth that inspired Helena Blavatsky’s theosophical musings, Evans-Wentz’s “Book of the Dead,” and Leary, Alpert and Metzger’s trips, and Hennings and Wolff’s own music.
read more

 

scroll.in

How translated texts, paintings and songs brought Buddhism to the western world
By the end of the 19th century, various notable Europeans and Americans – the Theosophists Henry Steel Olcott and Helena P Blavatsky, U Dhammaloka and Ananda Metteyya, to mention only a few – had embraced Buddhism. The first publication in the English language making the life of the Buddha and Buddhist ideas accessible to a wider audience was Sir Edwin Arnold’s 1879 narrative poem The Light of Asia: The Great Renunciation
read more

 

eddirtreport.com

Garden party
Also, the prior work of Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, Alice A. Bailey and the Roerichs, who were all familiar with the "Masters," are noted in 2025 and the World Teacher. As Chernikeeff writes, "Every 100 years there is a Great Assembly of Hierarchy Masters. These conclaves are intiated to decide on great matters that impact humanity for the following 100 years.
read more

 

freeweekly.com

In This Suspended Liminal Time
From the Voice of the Silence (Helena Blavatsky) these words are given to the people of the Earth – “Behold the mellow light flooding the Eastern sky. Signs of praise from both heaven & earth, from the four-fold Powers (directions), a chant of love ariseth, from the fire & water, from the sweet-smelling Earth & rushing winds.
read more

 

The Irish Times

Out of puff – Frank McNally on a ‘cure’ for flu that made legal history
Russian Flu had played itself out by then, after killing a million people, including at least one Russian celebrity of the period. Madame Blavatsky, occultist, founder of the Theosophical Society, and friend of WB Yeats, succumbed in 1891.
read more

 

buddhistdoor.net

Dalai Lama Tops List of World’s Most Influential Spiritual Leaders
Watkins Books is described as London’s oldest esoteric bookshop, established in 1897 by John M. Watkins, a friend of the world traveler and co-founder of Theosophy, Helena Petrovna (commonly known simply as “Madame”) Blavatsky (1831–91).
read more

 

prnewswire.com

From Rejection to Success - Dr. Zinovia Dushkova Named as First Russian Woman to Renowned Watkins List of '100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People'
Dr. Dushkova is often regarded by many experts as one of the spiritual successors of Helena Blavatsky, the 19th century creator of the Theosophical Society. This tradition influenced many of the greatest minds and personalities of the 20th century, including Mahatma Gandhi, Albert Einstein, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison and Elvis Presley. The ultimate goal of Dr. Dushkova's work is to bring humanity toward divine wisdom, through the cultivation of qualities like love and compassion.
read more

 


Art


buddhistdoor.net

Tyra Kleen: Mudra
As an illustrator of books, she moved masterfully between symbolist myth, narrative mindscapes, and Art Nouveau’s sheer delight in exquisite design. She expected her subjects to sit for paintings. Her work is as finished and beautiful as a fine craftsman’s. For all her apparently modern behavior, she was a creature of a former time, reflecting symbolist art and theosophy.
read more

 

artsy.net

Why Agnes Pelton’s Pretty Paintings Play Well Right Now
Pelton kept painting, studying life drawing at the British Academy in Rome when she was 29 years old. She began exhibiting in her thirties and got interested in Theosophy, which united Eastern and Western religious traditions (and, in the 1970s, provided the basis for New Age thinking).
read more

 

hudsonvalleyone.com

Hilma af Klint exhibition in Hudson
If the name Hilma af Klint suggests a medieval abbess known for her ecstatic visions, you’ve got it half-right. The recently rediscovered Swedish artist lived from 1862 to 1944, but her life’s work was indeed driven by her efforts to contact ethereal presences. Growing up in an era when spiritualism was all the rage, she claimed from girlhood on to be clairvoyant and by 17 was conducting séances. She studied Theosophy and Rosicrucianism, and later Anthroposophy.
read more

 

pattayamail.com

Minor Thirds
Scriabin liked a massive orchestral sound and at times, he turns the orchestra into an ensemble of soloists; each contributing points of detail to a complex web of sound texture. It’s been suggested that his emotionally-charged, highly personal music reflects the notions of nineteenth century existentialism and the mysticism of the famous, if slightly dotty Madame Blavatsky of the controversial Theosophical Society.
read more

 

artnet.com

Agnes Pelton Went to the Desert in Search of Solace. Her Paintings at the Whitney Show She Found Something Magical There
Pelton’s other comfort was alternative spirituality. In the 1920s, in her 40s, her mother died and she left New York to live in a windmill house on Long Island. She also developed an interest in Theosophy, the epiphanic slurry of pan-religious beliefs pioneered by Russian émigré and occult entrepreneur Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891).
read more

 

The Telegraph India

The powerful effect of ideas
The Theosophical Society — its members believed that India was the cradle of both Western and Oriental religions and philosophy — with Madam Blavatsky and later Anne Besant at its forefront, acted as a “conduit of knowledge” that had a far-reaching effect on not only af Klint but artists like Wassily Kandinsky, Frank Kupka and Piet Mondrian.
read more

 


False Allegations


frankreport.com

Waldorf Schools Are Quirky, Culty and Just the School for Young Keith Raniere
The faulty underlying premise is much the same as in any cult like NXIVM (founded by a former Waldorf kid) or Scientology (founded by someone with much of the same background as Steiner, such as Theosophy).
read more

 

patheos.com

Enter Christmas Humphreys, Western Buddhist Ancestor
In his teen years his elder brother died and this opened the doors to that great quest through which many before and since have walked. While at school he was introduced to Theosophy and about the same time Buddhism. It would become a life-long interest. He also followed in the family profession, and after attending Cambridge he became a barrister, and eventually, a judge.
read more

 

ilawjournals.com

What actually was looking at the Elbrus mountain hands of Hitler
the Spiritual mentor of these movements became esoteric and mystic Guido von list, author of the pseudoscientific book “the Mystery language of Indo-Germans” and the first neo-pagans. He in his writings he tied the Indian caste system to the real Europe: a theory emerged exceptionalness of certain peoples. In turn, the background Sheet was under the influence of occultist Helena Blavatsky. She spent some time in Tibet and claimed that there exist manuscripts that hides the secrets of power lost civilizations: Hyperborea and Atlantis.
read more

 

ilawjournals.com

“The secret doctrine” Helena Blavatsky: she taught Hitler
In the 20-ies of the last century into the hands of Hitler – novice politician – was the first book by Theosophist Helena Blavatsky. In the “Secret doctrine”, in particular, accounted for the seven races, the highest of which was considered to be Aryans. At the time, Hitler read books voraciously Blavatsky. So that some historians even tend to attribute to her the creation of the basic principles of the ideology of the Third Reich.
read more

 


Theosophy


25yearslatersite.com

Twin Peaks: The Theosophical History of The Dweller on the Threshold
This article will focus on Theosophical teachings and, in particular, the element of Theosophy which draws from Buddhism, as we know that Cooper had a great interest in Tibet and the plight of the Tibetan people. With that in mind, it would make sense for him to follow that path to enlightenment through his subconscious.
read more

 

worldatlas.com

What is the Law Of Attraction?
Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a 19th-century spiritual leader from Russia, who was thought to be a spirit medium and guru. She felt that all religions developed from an ancient, universal faith. In her book The Secret Doctrine, she wrote about a principle similar to the Law of Attraction, in which self-perceptions shape realities and human identities.
read more

 

To be true, religion and philosophy must offer the solution of every problem. That the world is in such a bad condition morally is a conclusive evidence that none of its religions and philosophies--those of the civilized races less than any other--have ever possessed the TRUTH. The right and logical explanations on the subject of the problems of the great dual principles, right and wrong, good and evil, liberty and despotism, pain and pleasure, egotism and altruism, are as impossible to them now as they were 1880 years ago. They are as far from the solution as they ever were, but. . . . "To these there must be somewhere a consistent solution, and if our doctrines will show their competence to offer it, then the world will be the first one to confess, that ours must be the true philosophy, the true religion, the true light, which gives truth and nothing but the TRUTH. . . .

From the article "The Theosophical Society: Its Mission and Its Future" by H. P. Blavatsky, published in Lucifer, August 1888 and especially this paragraph HPB has quoted from the so-called "Maha Cohan Letter".

Upcoming events

European School of Theosophy

European School of Theosophy 2020
The Mystery of Consciousness, 12 to 17 October 2020 in Edinburgh, Scotland
more information in feb 2020

 

European Federation of the TS Adyar

R E A R R A N G E D: The 39th European Congress in 2020
Healing oneself, healing the World, rearranged from 4 to 8 August 2020 to 2 to 7 August 2021 in York, England
more information

 

ITC

C A N C E L L E D: International Theosophy Confernce 2020
23 – 26 July, 2020Paraíso na Terra, Brasilia, Brazil
more information

 

News from Theosophical Societies

You can get some helpful information about theosophical literature regarding to Pandemie and Influenca as PDF on the Site of TS Point-Loma Blavatskyhouse. As a German reader you can get this content also TS Point-Loma German section (PDF). Also TS Aydar Germany published an article regard to "Corona".

TS Point-Loma Blavatskyhouse helt his lectures without audience but via livestreams, as you can read here.

TS Adyar UK has closed.

ULT-Events helt online via Skype only, as you can read here.

Tim Boyd published a A Corona Message on YouTube, that a couple of TS-sites shared, f.e. TS Adyar Scottland

TS Pasadena American Section relaunched it's Website.

Seattle Theosophical Library and Quest Bookshop is closed until further notice, announced here.

TS Adyar HQ published a Corona-Letter about it's state of Lockdwon. You can also get a huge amount of Videos and photos of it's 144th International Convention. The Krotona Institute of Theosophy and the TS Adyar in America have been working together to create an Online School of Theosophy (OST), which you can visit here: https://study.theosophical.org/. You can find a list of so far canceled Adyar events in TS Adyar Newsletter.

TS Adyar Philippines want to launch online-meetings and sells a CD-Rom/Download with all of HPBs writtings and the Mahatma-Letters ($20). More information on it's website.

TS Adyar Australia has suspended all its face to face activities.

Also TS Adyar New Zealand has gone into self-isolation, as you can read here.

TOS USA started a COVID-19 AND A CALL TO ACTION and published later on an update about it. Also an article Love in the Time of Corona was published.

European School of Theosophy contemplating the idea of postponing the European School of Theosophy from 12-17 October 2020 to 12-17 October 2021 and will wait until June to issue a final position, told in a recent newsletter.
It also "In response to the challenges created by the global public health crisis of COVID-19, we are making the proceedings of the European School of Theosophy Pescia, Italy, 2018, Memento Mori: Worldviews on Death and Dying available to download for free online".

Devachan is the idealized continuation of the terrestrial life just left behind, a period of retributive adjustment, and a reward for unmerited wrongs and sufferings undergone in that special life.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1893), p. 90.

Theosophical Magazines

The TS Point Loma (TSPL)

Lucifer
publisher, 01/2020 (pdf)

 

TS (Adyar) in Australia

Theosophy in Australia Quarterly
Newsletter/Quarterly of the TS (Adyar) in Australia
publisher, March 2020 (pdf)

 

The TS (Pasadena) Australasian Section

Theosophy Downunder
Newsletter of the Theosophical Society (Pasadena) Australasian Section
publisher, March 2020 (pdf)

 

The Aquarian Theosophist

The Aquarian Theosophist
publisher, Januar 2020 (pdf), March 2020 (pdf), ''February 2020 (pdf)

 

United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT)

The Theosophical Movement Magazine
publisher, January (pdf), February (pdf), March (pdf)

 

The TS Adyar Indian Section

The Indian Theosophist Magazine
publisher, January (pdf), February (pdf), March (pdf)

 

Articles from Theosophical sites

Theos Talk


 

Theos-talk has reincarnated at groups.io is now called Theosophy@groups.io You can join theosophy@groups.io (the successor group) and carry on discussions there. Anyone can join by sending a msg to: theosophy+subscribe@groups.io


Montreal Theosophy Project



Blavatsky News



Theosophy Watch



Theosophy Forward



Hermes-Magazine.com


The “Wisdom religion” is the inheritance of all the nations, the world over.

HPB, SD:1:xviii (Itroductory)

✴✴✴ The End  ✴✴✴

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