Author: Publisher:
ISBN:
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Languages : en
Pages : 558
Book Description
Author: Olcott Library and Research CenterThe Voice of the Silence
Author: Helena Petrovna BlavatskyPublisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465615407
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 78
Book Description
THE following pages are derived from "The Book of the Golden Precepts," one of the works put into the hands of mystic students in the East. The knowledge of them is obligatory in that school, the teachings of which are accepted by many Theosophists. Therefore, as I know many of these Precepts by heart, the work of translating has been relatively an easy task for me. It is well known that, in India, the methods of psychic development differ with the Gurus (teachers or masters), not only because of their belonging to different schools of philosophy, of which there are six, but because every Guru has his own system, which he generally keeps very secret. But beyond the Himalayas the method in the Esoteric Schools does not differ, unless the Guru is simply a Lama, but little more learned than those he teaches. The work from which I here translate forms part of the same series as that from which the "Stanzas" of the Book of Dzyan were taken, on which the Secret Doctrine is based. Together with the great mystic work called Paramartha, which, the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was delivered to the great Arhat by the Nagas or "Serpents" (in truth a name given to the ancient Initiates), the Book of the Golden Precepts claims the same origin. Yet its maxims and ideas, however noble and original, are often found under different forms in Sanskrit works, such as the Dnyaneshvari, that superb mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna in glowing colors the condition of a fully illumined Yogi; and again in certain Upanishads. This is but natural, since most, if not all, of the greatest Arhats, the first followers of Gautama Buddha were Hindus and Aryans, not Mongolians, especially those who emigrated into Tibet. The works left by Aryasanga alone are very numerous.
Divine Feminine
Author: Joy DixonPublisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 0801875307
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 316
Book Description
Honorable Mention for the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize from the Canadian Historical AssociationChosen by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2003 In 1891, newspapers all over the world carried reports of the death of H. P. Blavatsky, the mysterious Russian woman who was the spiritual founder of the Theosophical Society. With the help of the equally mysterious Mahatmas who were her teachers, Blavatsky claimed to have brought the "ancient wisdom of the East" to the rescue of a materialistic West. In England, Blavatsky's earliest followers were mostly men, but a generation later the Theosophical Society was dominated by women, and theosophy had become a crucial part of feminist political culture. Divine Feminine is the first full-length study of the relationship between alternative or esoteric spirituality and the feminist movement in England. Historian Joy Dixon examines the Theosophical Society's claims that women and the East were the repositories of spiritual forces which English men had forfeited in their scramble for material and imperial power. Theosophists produced arguments that became key tools in many feminist campaigns. Many women of the Theosophical Society became suffragists to promote the spiritualizing of politics, attempting to create a political role for women as a way to "sacralize the public sphere." Dixon also shows that theosophy provides much of the framework and the vocabulary for today's New Age movement. Many of the assumptions about class, race, and gender which marked the emergence of esoteric religions at the end of the nineteenth century continue to shape alternative spiritualities today.
Author: Theosophical Astrology
Author: Helen ValborgPublisher: Theosophy Trust Books
ISBN: 9780999238233
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 396
Book Description
Astrology includes many things, has many forms, and serves multiple purposes. Taking just three common examples, typical astrological charts show the positions and relations of the planets at the moment and location of birth. Progressed astrology maps the return of planets to their birth positions as well as the times and ways they cross and relate to those original positions and to one another. And horary astrology looks at the positions of the planets in the zodiac at a given moment when some decision is to be made (e.g., when to lay the foundation stone of a temple). And then there is the astrology once commonly found in newspapers, where planets were taken in conjunction with the signs of the zodiac to give general indications of what to expect for the day, given one's birth sign. This latter was never taken seriously by knowledgeable astrologers, being rather like the sentiments found in fortune cookies ending meals in Chinese restaurants. "People admire your attitude," for example, can apply to anyone's self-image, and so it "works." But such messages are random, and the newspaper's astrological messages each have to be general enough to cover about 1/12 the population, because there are 12 signs in the zodiac. There is much more to any system of astrology than the mechanisms for casting a chart or giving naïve interpretations, as, for example, Mars means conflict, Jupiter wealth or generosity, Mercury intelligence, and so on. Like all sciences, astrology is a complex of symbols and principles of interrelationships. And like all science, astrology is also based on experience and observation. In some ways, astrology is more like medical science than physics, since its variables are often multivalent and context-dependent. And like all sciences, astrology is based on assumptions about the nature of reality and the universe. It shares with all sciences the assumption that there are discoverable laws of nature that are invariant, at least over long periods of time. It shares the assumption that nature and the universe is intelligible to a reasoning, observing consciousness.
Sino-Tibetan Buddhism across the Ages
Author: Ester BianchiPublisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004468374
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 392
Book Description
Sino-Tibetan Buddhism implies cross-cultural contacts and exchanges between China and Tibet. The ten case-studies collected in this book focus on the spread of Chinese Buddhism within a mainly Tibetan environment and the adaptation of Tibetan Buddhism among a Chinese-speaking audience throughout the ages.
Author: Helena Petrovna BlavatskyThe Origins of Self-Consciousness in The Secret Doctrine
Author: H. P. BlavatskyPublisher: Theosophy Trust Books
ISBN: 0979320542
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 370
Book Description
Any attempt to explain the mysterious connections between consciousness and matter, and self-consciousness in particular, necessarily involves much complexity. Because all levels of relative reality are present here and now, the human being embodies the whole hierarchy of the cosmos: a microcosm of the macrocosm, to use an insightful Renaissance expression. Besides the physical human body, there is the dynamic structural plan of that body (called the 'astral body'), the desire nature, the life force that permeates all living creatures, consciousness involved in sense perception and practical operations, consciousness capable of universal thought and awareness, and pure consciousness manifest in pristine intuition. Above these six principles of human nature broods the luminous spirit called the Atman. Many people are seldom aware of anything more in themselves than the first five of these principles, although many also have intuitive glimpses of universal understanding, often as transcendent experiences which cannot be sustained. Because understanding cannot be separated from experience, and experience cannot be divorced from the way we live, think, feel and have our being, various spiritual traditions have offered practices to nurture these inner awakenings to our higher natures and to a greater awareness of spiritual reality. Theosophy connects together how we live our lives, what we think and how we focus our attention, the bold exploration of our inner natures, how we react to what comes to us (karma), and how we can build depth of awareness across lifetimes, with Enlightenment. Theosophy, therefore, connects ethics and action, including both physical action in the world and the action of our own thoughts. Where we are ignorant of all the dimensions of our circumstances-and, short of Enlightenment, we are all ignorant-motive for thought and action is fundamental for altering one's karmic trajectory and future incarnations. The selections from The Secret Doctrine in this book are gathered with a focus on the consciousness exhibited in Nature, its origin and destiny, and on human self-consciousness, in particular. This book therefore explores one vital current in the Ocean of Wisdom that is Theosophy. A thoughtful and persistent reading of these texts will radically transform one's understanding of the unity of self-consciousness and the world around us, and of one's place in the greater scheme of things.
Author: Helena Blavatsky