Blavastky on astrology 1

Quite a few theosophists have contributed to the modern resurgence of astrology, such as Sepharial, Alan Leo, Marc Edmund Jones and Dane Rudhyar. Blavatsky made some significant efforts to rehabilitate astrology as well, both eastern and western. She might not have been favorable to the more commercial ‘career, money, romance’ aspect of contemporary popular astrology, as she stressed the spiritual and  philosophical aspects, which should ideally be pursued in the pure spirit of the discipline of initiation that this sacred science originally pertained to.

 “If all that is said in the article be true, it only confirms what has been stated often in these columns, that although the science of astrology is based upon mathematical calculations, it is impossible that the precise results of each of the innumerable combinations which may occur could be calculated and written down by any mortal man, and that, therefore, in order that his astrological predictions may be correct, the astrologer must be versed not only in the science of astrology, but also in its art, that is to say, by purity of life, thought and deed he must develop his clairvoyant perceptions so far as to be able to take note of the minutest combinations possible in every individual case, and the effects they produce on one another.” [The Theosophist, Vol. VI, No. 6(66), March, 1885, p. 131]

“In short, true Astrology is a mathematical science, which teaches us what particular causes will produce what particular combinations, and thus, understood in its real significance, gives us the means of obtaining the knowledge how to guide our future births. True, such astrologers there are but few: but are we justified in condemning the science of electricity because there may be very few real electricians? We must not at the same time lose sight of the fact that although there are numberless combinations that must be determined by the psychic vision of the astrologer, there are yet a very large number of them that have been determined and put on record by the ancient sages. It is these cases which baffle us when we find that some astrological calculations prove correct while others are quite beside the mark.” [The Theosophist, Vol. V, #9, June, 1884]

“Most certainly chance is ‘impossible’. There is no ‘chance’ in Nature, wherein everything is mathematically co-ordinate and mutually related in its units. “Chance,” says Coleridge, “is but the pseudonym of God (or Nature), for those particular cases which He does not choose to subscribe openly with His sign manual.” Replace the word “God” by that of Karma and it will become an Eastern axiom. Therefore, the sidereal “prophecies” of the zodiac, as they are called by Christian mystics, never point to any one particular event, however solemn and sacred it may be for some one portion of humanity, but to ever-recurrent, periodical laws in nature, understood but by the Initiates of the sidereal gods themselves.” [Blavatsky Collected Writings, Volume 14 Page 344]

See also, the entries ‘Astrology’, ‘Astronomos’, and ‘Zodiac’ in the Theosophical Glossary:
http://theosophy.org/Blavatsky/Theosophical%20Glossary/Thegloss.htm

‘The Zodiac and its Antiquity’ in the Secret Doctrine:
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/sd/sd1-3-17.htm

T. Subba Row’s Twelve Signs of the Zodiac:
http://hpb.narod.ru/TwelveSignsZodiac.htm

Henk Spierenburg’s Astrology of the Living Universe:
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/spierastrology.htm

Blavatsky & the 12 Nidanas 2

Blavatsky gives further comments on the nidanas in her esoteric intstructions:

"The Nidanas have a dual meaning. They are: 1. The twelve causes of sentient existence, through the twelve links of subjective with objective Nature, or between the subjective and objective Natures. 2. A concatenation of causes and effects. Every cause produces an effect, and this effect becomes in its turn a cause. Each of these has as Upadhi (basis), one of the subdivisions of one of the Nidanas,and also an effect or consequence." (S.D. V, 558, 6 vol. ed.)

Buddhist iconography has very vivid illustrations of this concept, using symbols in a wheel: 1. blind old woman (ignorance), 2. potter making a pot (formation), 3. monkey in a tree (consciousness), 4. three men in a boat (name and form), 5. house with 6 windows (the 6 senses), 6. couple making love (contact) 7. man with an arrow in his eye (feeling) 8. man drinking milk and honey (craving) 9. monkey gathering fruit (grasping) 10. pregnant woman (becoming) 11. woman giving birth (birth) 12. man carrying a corpse (death)

 

In the Tibetan Kagyu tradition, Gampopa(1079-1153) in his Jewel Ornament of Liberation, offers the following description:

"This is explained according to the desire realm and according to birth from a mother’s womb.
(a) At the very first, there is ignorance, which is the confusion that misunderstands all knowledge.
(b) Under the influence of ignorance is created the mental formation of the karma of afflicted virtues and nonvirtues. This is called “mental formation conditioned by ignorance.”
(c) The seed of that karma is carried by the mind so that is called “consciousness conditioned by mental formation.”
(d) By the power of that karma, the mind is fully confused, enters into a mother’s womb, and an embryo and so forth arise. This is called “name and form conditioned by consciousness.”
(e) By developing the name and form, all the senses of the eye, ear, and so forth are completed. That is called the “six increasing fields conditioned by name and form.”
(f) The interaction of the eye organ and so forth, the corresponding object, and the consciousness is called “contact conditioned by the six increasing fields.”
(g) Through contact, one experiences the feelings of joy, suffering, or indifference. That is called “feeling conditioned by contact.”
(h) When there is feeling, there is joy, attachment, and stronger attachment. That is called “craving conditioned by feeling.”
(i) From that attachment, one craves more and more, and wishes to not be separated from the object of attachment. That is called “grasping conditioned by craving.”
(j) Through that grasping, karma and existence by body, speech, and mind are again created. That is called “existence conditioned by grasping.”
(k) That karma creates the five aggregates (Skt. skandas). That is called “birth conditioned by existence”
(l) After birth, the aggregates which actually exist increase, ripen, and cease. “Ripen” means aging; “cease” means death. That is called “aging and death conditioned by birth.”
Due to ignorance, complete attachment, and craving, death causes the inner pain called sorrow. That sorrow causes expression in words, called lamentation. When the five consciousnesses experience unhappiness it is called suffering. Bringing that in the mind, that suffering is called “mental unhappiness.” Furthermore, in this way and so forth, the entire afflicted subconsciousness is called “disturbed mind.” (Chapter 16.2.c.3)

Blavatsky & the 12 Nidanas 1

wikiosophy has a nice entry on the 12 Nidanas, which Blavatsky refers to on occasion and comes into play right at the beginning of the SD Stanzas:

http://theosophy.wiki/mywiki/index.php?title=Nidana

From HPB's Theosophical Glossary, (she prefers to give the opposite order than what is commonly used):
''Nidâna (Sk.). The 12 causes of existence, or a chain of causation, “a concatenation of cause and effect in the whole range of existence through 12 links”. This is the fundamental dogma of Buddhist thought, “the understanding of which solves the riddle of life, revealing the insanity of existence and preparing the mind for Nirvâna”. (Eitel’s Sans. Chin. Dict.) The 12 links stand thus in their enumeration.

(1) Jati, or birth, according to one of the four modes of entering the stream of life and reincarnation—or Chatur Yoni (q.v.), each mode placing the being born in one of the six Gâti (q.v.).
(2) Jarârnarana, or decrepitude and death, following the maturity of the Skandhas (q.v.).
(3) Bhava, the Karmic agent which leads every new sentient being to be born in this or another mode of existence in the Trailokya and Gâti.
(4) Upâdâna, the creative cause of Bhava which thus becomes the cause of Jati which is the effect; and this creative cause is the clinging to life.
( 5) Trishnâ, love, whether pure or impure.
(6) Vêdâna, or sensation; perception by the senses, it is the 5th Skandha.
(7) Sparsa, the sense of touch.
(8) Chadâyatana, the organs of sensation.
(9) Nâmarûpa, personality, i.e., a form with a name to it, the symbol of the unreality of material phenomenal appearances.
(10) Vijnâna, the perfect knowledge of every perceptible thing and of all objects in their concatenation and unity.
(11) Samskâra, action on the plane of illusion.
(12) Avidyâ, lack of true perception, or ignorance. The Nidânas belonging to the most subtle and abstruse doctrines of the Eastern metaphysical system, it is impossible to go into the subject at any greater length.''
In the Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge, she give a commentary on the Secret Doctrine, stanzan 1.4:

''Nidana means the concatenation of cause and effect; the twelve Nidânas are the enumeration of the chief causes which produce the severest reaction or effects under the Karmic law. Although there is no connection between the terms Nidana and Maya in themselves, Maya being simply illusion, yet if we consider the universe as Maya or illusion, then certainly the Nidânas, as being moral agents in the universe, are included in Maya. It is Maya, illusion or ignorance, which awakens Nidânas; and the cause or causes having been produced, the effects follow according to Karmic law. To take an instance: we all regard ourselves as Units, although essentially we are one indivisible Unit, drops in the ocean of Being, not to be distinguished from other drops. Having then produced this cause, the whole discord of life follows immediately as an effect; in reality it is the endeavor of nature to restore harmony and maintain equilibrium. It is this sense of separateness which is the root of all evil...
    

In the Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, letter 10 deals with the 12 nidanas as well:
''There they are taught the four noble truths — ariya sakka, and the chain of causation, (the 12 nid[ci]anas) gives them a solution of the problem of the origin and destruction of suffering.

Read the Mahavagga and try to understand not with the prejudiced Western mind but the spirit of intuition and truth what the Fully Enlightened one says in the 1st Khandhaka. Allow me to translate it for you.

"At the time the blessed Buddha was at Uruvella on the shores of the river Nerovigara as he rested under the Boddhi tree of wisdom after he had become Sambuddha, at the end of the seventh day having his mind fixed on the chain of causation he spake thus: 'from Ignorance spring the samkharas of threefold nature — productions of body, of speech, of thought. From the samkharas springs consciousness, from consciousness springs name and form, from this spring the six regions (of the six senses the seventh being the property of but the enlightened); from these springs contact from this sensation; from this springs thirst (or desire, Kama, tanha) from thirst attachment, existence, birth, old age and death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection and despair. Again by the destruction of ignorance, the Sankharas are destroyed, and their consciousness name and form, the six regions, contact, sensation, thirst, attachment (selfishness), existence, birth, old age, death, grief, lamentation, suffering, dejection, and despair are destroyed. Such is the cessation of this whole mass of suffering."

Knowing this the blessed one uttered this solemn utterance. "When the real nature of things becomes clear to the meditating Bikshu, then all his doubts fade away since he has learned what is that nature and what its cause. From ignorance spring all the evils. From knowledge comes the cessation of this mass of misery, and then the meditating Brahmana stands dispelling the hosts of Mara like the sun that illuminates the sky."

Meditation here means the superhuman (not supernatural) qualities, or arhatship in its highest of spiritual powers.''

Part 2 

Musings on the True Theosophist's Path, Part I - William Q. Judge

Here's one that has become something of a classic, although perhaps not as popular as it might be, because it aims to tell the truth about the difficult realities of the path in a frank, uncompromising way. Inspired by the great spiritual classic, Light on the Path, Mabel Collins:

"The way of inward peace is in all things to conform to the pleasure and disposition of the Divine Will. Such as would have all things succeed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come to know this way; and therefore lead a harsh and bitter life; always restless and out of humor, without treading the way of peace."

Know then, oh Man, that he who seeks the hidden way, can only find it through the door of life. In the hearts of all, at some time, there arises the desire for knowledge. He who thinks his desire will be fulfilled, as the little bird in the nest, who has only to open his mouth to be fed; will very truly be disappointed.

In all nature we can find no instance where effort of some kind is not required. We find there is a natural result from such effort. He who would live the life or find wisdom can only do so by continued effort. If one becomes a student, and learns to look partially within the veil, or has found within his own being something that is greater than his outer self, it gives no authority for one to sit down in idleness or fence himself in from contact with the world. Because one sees the gleam of the light ahead he cannot say to his fellow "I am holier than thou" or draw the mantle of seclusion around himself.

The soul develops like the flower, in God's sunlight, and unconsciously to the soil in which it grows. Shut out the light and the soil grows damp and sterile, the flower withers or grows pale and sickly. Each and every one is here for a good and wise reason. If we find partially the why we are here, then is there the more reason that we should by intelligent contact with life, seek in it the further elucidation of the problem. It is not the study of ourselves so much, as the thought for others that opens this door. The events of life and their causes lead to knowledge. They must be studied when they are manifested in daily life.

There is no idleness for the Mystic. He finds his daily life among the roughest and hardest of the labors and trials of the world perhaps, but goes his way with smiling face and joyful heart, nor grows too sensitive for association with his fellows, nor so extremely spiritual as to forget that some other body is perhaps hungering for food.

It was said by one who pretended to teach the mysteries, "It is needful that I have a pleasant location and beautiful surroundings." He who is a true Theosophist will wait for nothing of the sort, either before teaching; or what is first needful, learning. It would perhaps, be agreeable, but if the Divine Inspiration comes only under those conditions, then indeed is the Divine afar from the most of us. He only can be a factor for good or teach how to approach the way, who forgetting his own surroundings, strives to beautify and illumine those of others. The effort must be for the good of others, not the gratifying of our own senses, or love for the agreeable or pleasant.
Giving thought to self will most truly prevent and overthrow your aims and objects, particularly when directed toward the occult.

Again there arises the thought "I am a student, a holder of a portion of the mystic lore." Insidiously there steals in the thought "Behold I am a little more than other men, who have not penetrated so far." Know then, oh man, that you are not as great even as they. He who thinks he is wise is the most ignorant of men, and he who begins to believe he is wise is in greater danger than any other man who lives.

You think, oh man, that because you have obtained a portion of occult knowledge, that it entitles you to withdraw from contact with the rest of mankind. It is not so. If you have obtained true knowledge it forces you to meet all men not only half way, but more than that to seek them. It urges you not to retire but, seeking contact, to plunge into the misery and sorrow of the world, and with your cheering word, if you have no more (the Mystic has little else) strive to lighten the burden for some struggling soul.

You dream of fame. We know no such thing as fame. He who seeks the upward path finds that all is truth; that evil is the good gone astray. Why should we ask for fame? It is only the commendation of those we strive to help.

Desire neither notice, fame nor wealth. Unknown you are in retirement. Being fameless you are undisturbed in your seclusion, and can walk the broad face of the earth fulfilling your duty, as commanded, unrecognized.

If the duty grows hard, or you faint by the way, be not discouraged, fearful or weary of the world. Remember that "Thou may'st look for silence in tumult, solitude in company, light in darkness, forgetfulness in pressures, vigor in despondency, courage in fear, resistance in temptation, peace in war, and quiet in tribulation."

The Path, Aug 1886 pp. 155-156 

It opens with a quote from Miguel de Molinos - here's a full version-
The Spiritual Guide which Disentangles the Soul Miguel de Molinos The PREFACE. Fourth Advertisement. The Burden of this Book consisting in rooting out the Rebellion of our own Will, that we may attain to internal Peace. 29. The way of inward Peace, is in all things to be conform to the pleasure and disposition of the Divine Will. (Hugo Cardinalisin Pf.13.) In omnibus debemus subjicere volis tatem nostram voluntatis divine hæc est enim pax voluntati nostra ut sit per omnia confirmis voluntati divine. Such as would have all things succeed and come to pass according to their own fancy, are not come to know this way, Viam pacis non cognos verunt, and therefore lead a harsh and bitter life, always restless and out of humour without treading the way of Peace, which consists in a total conformity to the will of God. 30. This conformity is the sweet yoke that introduces us into the regions of internal Peace and serenity. Hence we may know, that the rebellion of our Will is the chief occasion of our disquiet; and that because we will not submit to the sweet yoke of the Divine Will, we suffer so many streights and perturbations. O Soul! if we submitted our own to the Divine Will, and to all his Disposition, what tranquility should we feel! what sweet peace! what inward serenity! what supreme felicity and earnest of bliss!. This then is to be the burden of this Book: May it please God to give me his Divine Light, for discovering the secret Paths of this Inward Way, and chief Felicity of perfect Peace.

Part 2

What is the "Daily Initiation"?

Here's a short text that, that, I think, embodies a philosophy of daily life,  a kind of mindfullness:

"It is supposed by some that initiation is always and in every case a set and solemn occasion for which the candidate is prepared and notified in advance. While there are some initiations surrounded by such solemnities as these, the daily one, without success in which no aspirant will  ever have the chance to try for those that are higher, comes to the disciple with almost each moment. 

 

It is met in our relations with our fellows, and in the effects upon us of all the circumstances of life. And if we fail in these, we never get to the point where greater ones are offered. If we cannot bear momentary defeat, or if a chance word that strikes our self-love finds us unprepared, or if we give way to the desire to harshly judge others, or if we remain in ignorance of some of our most apparent faults, we do not build up that knowledge and strength imperatively demanded from whoever is to be master of nature.

It is in the life of every one to have a moment of choice, but that moment is not set for any particular day. It is the sum total of all days; and it may be put off until the day of death, and then it is beyond our power, for the choice has been fixed by all the acts and thoughts of our lifetime. We are self-doomed at that hour to just the sort of life, body, environment, and tendencies which will best carry out our karma. This is a thing solemn enough, and one that makes the "daily initiation" of the very greatest importance to each earnest student. But all of this has been said before, and it is a pity that students persist in ignoring the good advice they receive.

Do you think that if a Master accepted you He would put you to some strange test? No, He would not, but simply permitting the small events of your life to have their course, the result would determine your standing. It may be a child's school, but it takes a man to go through it."

The Path, Sept. 1889, pp. 187-88, Hadji Erinn (William Q. Judge)

Since this is a 19th century text, 'man' can be considered gender neutral.

Part 2 

Links of Interest 2 - Theosophy & Rosetta Comet Mission

Rosetta comet mission copacetic with esoteric cosmology:

In H.P. Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine (1888), there are ideas about the cosmological role of comets that are intriguingly similar to today's theories:

"(II.) “That it does not regard the Comets as involved in that particular evolution which has produced the solar system.” (Esoteric doctrine does.) (It does, because it, too, recognises the comets as forms of cosmic existence co-ordinated with earlier stages of nebular evolution; and it actually assigns to them chiefly the formation of all worlds.)" SD I, 599

Similar modern theories can be found voiced in the article below:
http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/10/tech/innovation/rosetta-comet-landing-experts/index.html

Recent discoveries have human life up to 1 million years ago:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/archaeology/news/the-millionyearold-family-human-footprints-found-in-britain-are-oldest-ever-seen-outside-of-africa-9114151.html

http://discovermagazine.com/2013/may/09-archaeologists-find-earliest-evidence-of-humans-cooking-with-fire

http://www.haaretz.com/archaeology/1.551898

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sn/prehistoric_life/human/human_evolution/first_europeans1.shtml

A very clever multi-media experiment based on Kepler's Harmonice Mundi:

http://www.calderon-online.com/trabajos/kepler/harmonicemundi.swf

Remarkable new finds at the every-mysterious Stonehenge:
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/09/10/stonehenge-discovery-site-stones-size_n_5797062.html

Persephone and Hades mystery mural unearthed:
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/greek-tomb-mural-depicts-abduction-of-persephone-141016.htm?AID=11732244&PID=6151052&SID=1ofblklk6nub5&URL=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.discovery.com%2Fhistory%2Farchaeology%2Fgreek-tomb-mural-depicts-abduction-of-persephone-141016.htm&ecid=AFF-7975437&pa=affcj&PCID=2470763

Blavatsky on Sufism / Sufi Wisdom

Suffism (Gr.). From the root of Sophia, “Wisdom ”. A mystical sect in Persia something like the Vedantins; though very strong in numbers, none but very intelligent men join it. They claim, and very justly, the possession of the esoteric philosophy and doctrine of true Mohammedanism. The Suffi (or Sofi) doctrine is a good deal in touch with Theosophy, inasmuch as it preaches one universal creed, and outward respect and tolerance for every popular exoteric faith. It is also in touch with Masonry. The Suffis have four degrees and four stages of initiation:1st, probationary, with a strict outward observance of Mussulman rites, the hidden meaning of each ceremony and dogma being explained to the candidate; 2nd, metaphysical training; 3rd, the “Wisdom” degree, when the candidate is initiated into the innermost nature of things; and 4th final Truth, when the Adept attains divine powers, and complete union with the One Universal Deity in ecstacy or Samâdhi. (Theosophical Glossary, p. 311)

Plato states that the mystic Magian religion, known under the name of Machagistia, is the most uncorrupted form of worship in things divine. Later, the Mysteries of the Chaldean sanctuaries were added to it by one of the Zoroasters and Darius Hystaspes. The latter completed and perfected it still more with the help of the knowledge obtained by him from the learned ascetics of India, whose rites were identical with those of the initiated Magi.
Ammian, in his history of Julian's Persian expedition, gives the story by stating that one day Hystaspes, as he was boldly penetrating into the unknown regions of Upper India, had come upon a certain wooded solitude, the tranquil recesses of which were "occupied by those exalted sages, the Brachmanes (or Shamans). Instructed by their teaching in the science of the motions of the world and of the heavenly bodies, and in pure religious rites . . . he transfused them into the creed of the Magi. The latter, coupling these doctrines with their own peculiar science of foretelling the future, have handed down the whole through their descendants to succeeding ages."***

It is from these descendants that the Sufis, chiefly composed of Persians and Syrians, acquired their proficient knowledge in astrology, medicine, and the esoteric doctrine of the ages. "The Sufi doctrine," says C. W. King, "involved the grand idea of one universal creed which could be secretly held under any profession of an outward faith; and, in fact, took virtually the same view of religious systems as that in which the ancient philosophers had regarded such matters."**** The mysterious Druzes of Mount Lebanon are the descendants of all these.

Solitary Copts, earnest students scattered hither and thither throughout the sandy solitudes of Egypt, Arabia, Petraea, Palestine, and the impenetrable forests of Abyssinia, though rarely met with, may sometimes be seen. Many and various are the nationalities to which belong the disciples of that mysterious school, and many the side-shoots of that one primitive stock. The secresy preserved by these sub-lodges, as well as by the one and supreme great lodge, has ever been proportionate to the activity of religious persecutions; and now, in the face of the growing materialism, their very existence is becoming a mystery. (Isis Unveiled 2, p. 307)