Theosophy Basic Theosophical Beliefs Consciousness Is Universal

A stricter definition from the Concise Oxford Dictionary describes theosophy as "any of various philosophies professing to achieve a knowledge of God by spiritual ecstasy, direct intuition, or special individual relations, esp. a modern movement following Hindu and Buddhist teachings and seeking universal brotherhood."

Adherents of theosophy maintain that it is a "body of truth" that forms the basis of all religions. Theosophy, they claim, represents a modern face of Sanatana Dharma, "the Eternal Truth", as the proper religion of man. Christian Theosophy is a term used to designate the knowledge of God and of the Christ obtained by the direct intuition of the Divine essence.

1 Basic Theosophical beliefs

1.1 Consciousness is universal and individual

According to theosophy, nature does not operate by chance. Every event, past or present, happens because of laws which are part of a Universal Paradigm. Theosophists hold that everything, living or not, is "impregnated" with Consciousness. This paradigm has been called variously: God (nonpersonal), Law, Heaven, the Great Architect, Evolution, and Logos. The term used in this article is "paradigm".

1.2 Man is "provisionally" immortal

Theosophists believe that all human beings in their "Higher Selves" are immortal, but their personalities are unconscious of the link with their Divine Nature and will perish unless they strive to effect a union of the two.

1.3 Reincarnation is universal

Like esoteric Buddhism, from which much of theosophical thought springs, theosophy teaches that beings have attained the human state through myriads of reincarnations, passing through the mineral, plant and animal stages since the birth of life on earth. However, theosophy differs from the exoteric belief that regression is possible. Humans cannot reincarnate as animals or plants again except in the rare cases of disintegrating "lost souls". However Man is only the epitome of physical life on earth and is not the end stage of evolution, which continues for three further stages in the form of the Dhyani Chohans or Buddhic beings.

1.4 Karma

There is a similarity to the beliefs of the Hindu Arya Samargh sect concerning Karma, DharmaThe word dharma ( Sanskrit; "" in the Devanagari script) or dhamma ( Pali) is used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin, Dharmic faiths, namely Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma), Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. It occurs first in the Vedas,, and CosmogonyCosmogony [Gr. Kosmogonia from Kosmos the world and root of gignesthai to be born] is the coming into existence, the creation and origination of the universe. It is also the study of these aspects. So a cosmogony is an account of how the Universe came to. Theosophy teaches that evil and good are the result of differentiation of spirit/matter in a cycle of becoming. There is a natural involution of spirit into matter followed by an evolution of matter back into spirit. The purpose of the Universe is for spirit to manifest itself self-consciously through seven stages.

1.5 Universal brotherhood

Theosophy teaches that every thing of whatever kind is from one divine source. All things are "monads" in reality. All monads potentially possess the same principles and their forms and natures are an expression of their present consciousness level.

1.6 EvolutionThis article is about biological evolution. For other possible meanings, see Evolution (disambiguation). Evolution generally refers to any process of change over time. However, in the context of the life sciences, evolution is a change in the genetic make

Theosophists believe that religionReligion sometimes used interchangeably with faith, is commonly defined as belief concerning the supernatural, sacred, or divine, and the practices and institutions associated with such belief. Borobudur, a Buddhist stupa built between 750 and 850 Adriaen, philosophyPhilosophy literally means 'love of wisdom' from the Greek 'philo' and 'sofia'. It is now widely used to designate the pursuit of knowledge or wisdom about fundamental matters concerning life, death, meaning, reality, being and truth. The term may also re, scienceFor the scientific journal named Science see Science (journal). Science is both a process of gaining knowledge, and the organized body of knowledge gained by this process. The scientific process is the systematic acquisition of new knowledge about a syste, the arts, commerce, industryFor other uses of this term, see Industry (disambiguation An industry is an area of economic production which involves large amounts of upfront capital investment before any profit can be realized. The most successful industries in a given sector tend, to, and philanthropy, among other "virtues", lead humans ever closer to "the Divine". This, in theosophy, is a continuation of the Divine purpose through evolution.

1.7 The Septenary

Theosophy, as well as many other esoteric groups and occultFor other uses of this term, see occult (disambiguation). The word occult comes from Latin occultus (hidden), referring to the knowledge of the secret' or 'knowledge of the hidden' and often meaning 'knowledge of the supernatural', as opposed to 'knowledg societies claim that the universe is ordered by the number seven. The monad possess seven bodies:

The first one is called physical body, it is the famous Stula-Sarira of the Oriental theosophists. The second one in Orient is called Linga-Sarira or Vital body and is the base of the organic life, the tetra-dimensional part of the physical body. The third body is Kamas, the principle of desire, the famous Astral body cited by the medieval alchemists. The fourth body is called the Mental body by the Hindustani and Mental body in Sanskrit. The fifth vehicle is the Causal body or Arupic as is called by the theosophists. The sixth body is the Buddhic or Intuitional, the Superlative Consciousness of the Being. The seventh is called Atman the Ineffable by the Hindustani.. -- Samael Aun Weor

2 A brief history of Theosophy

Theosophists trace the origin of theosophy to the universal striving for divinity that existed in all ancient cultures. It is found in an unbroken chain in India but existed in ancient Greece and also in the writings of Plato (427-347 BC), Plotinus (204/5-270) and other neo-Platonists , as well as Jakob Boehme (1575-1624). Some relevant quotes,

"...we are imprisoned in the body, like an oyster in his shell." The Socrates of Plato, Phaedrus

To the philosopher, the body is "a disturbing element, hindering the soul from the acquisition of knowledge..."

"...what is purification but...the release of the soul from the chains of the body?" The Socrates of Plato, Phaedo

Modern theosophical esotericism, however, begins with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) usually known as Madame Blavatsky. She is one of the founders of the Theosophical Society (in 1875 in New York City), together with Henry Steel Olcott, who was a lawyer and writer, William Quan Judge, and others. Madame Blavatsky was a world traveller who eventually settled in India where, again with Olcott, she established the headquarters of the Society. She claimed numerous psychic and mediumistic powers and incorporated these alleged powers into a blend of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism. These became the basic pillars of the Theosophical movement. Upon Blavatsky's death in 1891 Annie Besant became leader, focusing more on Hinduism within Theosophy.

At its strongest in membership and intensity during the 1920's there were around 7,000 adherents in the United States ([1]).

Artists, besides the musicians listed below, who investigated Theosophy include Wassily Kandinsky, Piet Mondrian, Franz Kupka , and T. S. Eliot, in Europe, and Arthur Dove , Marsden Hartley , and Wallace Stevens in America. ([2])

2.1 Music

Composers such as Ruth Crawford-Seeger, Dane Rudhyar, and most famously Alexander Scriabin, were theosophists whose beliefs influenced their music, especially by providing a justification or rationale for their dissonant counterpoint. According to Rudhyar, Scriabin was "the one great pioneer of the new music of a reborn Western civilization, the father of the future musician." (Rudhyar 1926b, 899) and an antidote to "the Latin reactionaries and their apostle, Stravinsky" and the "rule-ordained" music of "Schoenberg's group". (Ibid., 900-901) Scriabin devised a quartal synthetic chord, often called his "mystic" chord, and before his death Scriabin planned a multimedia work, to be performed in the Himalayas, that would bring about the armageddon, "a grandiose religious synthesis of all arts which would herald the birth of a new world". (AMG [3]). This piece, Mysterium, was never realized.

2.2 Early 20th-century literary references to theosophy

In the play 'Juno and the Paycock' (1924) by Sean O'Casey set in pre-independence Dublin one of the secondary characters is a theosophist. This character is quite shallow and is thought to reflect the emptiness of the movement as it was embodied in the Ireland of the time. During this period W.B. Yeats was an adherent to the philosophy.

3 References

Blavatsky, Helena: The Key to Theosophy, BooksEnthsiast.com
René Guénon. Theosophy: History of a Pseudo-Religion (2004), Sophia Perennis. BooksEnthsiast.com
Washington, Peter . Madame Blavatsky's Baboon: Theosophy and the Emergence of the Western Guru (1993), London: Secker & Warburg. BooksEnthsiast.com

4 External links

Theosophy Religion Philosophy

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