William Q Judge - On the Value of Philosophical Knowledge

Strength + Wisdom / Sympathy + Discrimination

Judge's epic commentary on Chapter 2 of the Baghavad Gita (Judge's translation was the first popular western edition, btw, he opened the floodgates)(1) - is a rich compendium of Judge's pet theosophical themes - the following passage gives a good idea of his original, practical approach:
http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/gita/bg-eg-hp.htm

"Although philosophy seems dry to most people, and especially to minds in the Western world who are surrounded by the rush of their new and quite undeveloped civilization, yet it must be taught and understood. It has become the fashion to some extent to scout careful study or practice and go in for the rapid methods inaugurated in America. In many places emotional goodness is declared to exceed in value the calmness that results from a broad philosophical foundation, and in others astral wonder seeking, or great strength of mind whether discriminative or not, is given the first rank. Strength without knowledge, and sympathetic tears without the ability to be calm — in fine, faith without works — will not save us. And this is one of the lessons of the second chapter.

The greatest of the ancients inculcated by both symbols and books the absolute necessity for the acquirement of philosophical knowledge, inasmuch as strength or special faculties are useless without it. Those Greeks and others who recorded some of the wisdom of the elder Egyptians well illustrated this. They said,

that in the symbols it was shown, as where Hermes is represented as an old and a young man, intending by this to signify that he who rightly inspects sacred matters ought to be both intelligent and strong, one of these without the other being imperfect. And for the same reason the symbol of the great Sphinx was established; the beast signifying strength, and the man wisdom. For strength when destitute of the ruling aid of wisdom, is overcome by stupid astonishment confusing all things together; and for the purpose of action the intellect is useless when it is deprived of strength. (2)

So, whether our strength is that of sympathy or of astral vision, we will be confounded if philosophical knowledge be absent. 

But, so as not to be misunderstood, I must answer the question that will be asked, "Do you then condemn sympathy and love, and preach a cold philosophy only?" By no means. Sympathy and emotion are as much parts of the great whole as knowledge, but inquiring students wish to know all that lies in the path. The office of sympathy, charity, and all other forms of goodness, so far as the effect on us is concerned, is to entitle us to help. By this exercise we inevitably attract to us those souls who have the knowledge and are ready to help us to acquire it also. But while we ignore philosophy and do not try to attain to right discrimination, we must pass through many lives, many weary treadmills of life, until at last little by little we have been forced, without our will, into the possession of the proper seeds of mental action from which the crop of right discrimination may be gathered."

(1) See Ronald Neufeldt's excellent overview of the pioneering Theosophical approach to the Gita, "A Lesson in Allegory", in Modern Indian Interpreters of the Bhagavad Gita edited by Robert Neil Minor (notes on Judge's contribution can found on pages 23-25): https://books.google.ca/books?id=Ku2DGm20WWUC&pg=PA11&lpg=PA11&dq=bhagavad+gita+neufeldt&source=bl&ots=NY6eiBK5De&sig=kTZ3oY37PZFS0NeyVJfl8YTXl7o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=t4uQVcbsKMLt-QHwz4O4Ag&ved=0CCMQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bhagavad%20gita%20neufeldt&f=false
(2) From Synesios' Treatise on Providence (Synesios was a learned Christian neoplatonist, and  there can occasionally be found vivid echoes with certain theosophical concepts in his writings - a very theosophy-friendly writer).

varia:
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission report wraps up:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/aboriginal/truth-and-reconciliation-looking-back-on-a-landmark-week-for-canada-1.3102956

Reincarnation Basics 6

Here's the final installment from Geoffrey Barborka's Secret Doctrine Questions and Answers.  I find Barborka's writings to be clear, concise and accurate, with an accessible pedagogical exposition, a recommended writer (Technical note: Devachan corresponds to the various 'heavens' in many religions. Kama Loka corresponds to the various 'purgatories')::

"In order to live in the world to come a conscious life, one has to believe first of all in that life during the terrestrial existence." (The Key to Theosophy, p. 165). (Comment 1)
Comment 1. It should be borne in mind that the quotation from The Key to Theosophyhas reference to a highly specialized state - representing the acme of attainment - which would result in a specific Devachanic state, whereas the descriptions usually given in connection with Devachan are generalized. For instance:
"Devachan is often compared to the happiest day in a series of many thousands of other 'days' in the life of a person. The intensity of its happiness makes the man entirely forget all others, his past becoming obliterated. This is what we call the Devachanic state, the reward of the personality." (The Secret Doctrine, V. 490-1; H.P. Blavatsky Collected Writings, XII, 627.)

This seems to lead to the supposition that a rank materialist, denying any life outside the body, would not go through the experiences of Kama-loka and Devachan. (Comment 2)
Comment 2. Here again a specified state is referred to: that of a "rank materialist." For that matter it should be remembered likewise that Devachan is strictly speaking an individualized state of consciousness:
"...there are great varieties in the Devachan states, and ... as many varieties of bliss, as on earth there are shades of perception and of capability to appreciate such reward. It is an ideated paradise, in each case of the Ego's own making." (The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, p. 102/100 3rd ed.)
However, in regard to Kama-loka there is this difference: the state of consciousness of an individual experiencing the state of Kama-loka differs from that experienced by the devachani. Therefore, from the standpoint of the teachings of Theosophy in connection with these two states of consciousness, it would not be correct to make the statement "that a rank materialist, denying any life outside the body, would not go through the experiences of Kama-loka and Devachan" without qualifying comments. To illustrate the point: a rank materialist who may have been a drunkard during his life on earth will certainly go through the experiences of desiring drink in Kama-loka and not be able to satisfy his desires. This, of course, is a "specialized kama-lokic experience," but the point is this: Kama-loka is literally the desire-world "the land of intense desires" (ibid.,p.109/106). On the other hand, a materialist who did not have strong attachments to drink or to other desireful tendencies or attractions would not experience intense desires in the Kama-loka, but would be in a condition similar to that of a person who is in a dull stupor. The significant factor is this: the after-death experiences of both the states of Kama-loka and Devachan depend upon the life that has been lived on earth. As for the experiences of Devachan: it should be remembered that one who enters the state of Devachan "brings along with him but the Karma of his good deeds, words and thoughts" (ibid., p. 101/98). Surely, even a materialist has his moments of good deeds, words and thoughts. It is these that will "bear fruit" or be experienced in the state of Devachan.

"Every effect must be proportionate to the cause. And, as man's terms of incarnate existence bear but a small proportion to his periods of inter-natal existence in the manvantaric cycle, so the good thoughts, words, and deeds of any one of these 'lives' on a globe are causative of effects, the working out of which requires far more time than the evolution of the causes occupied." (ibid., p. 106/104).
However, a rank materialist who has had no kind thoughts or feelings will not have such an experience. With regard to the materialist who denies immortality in general and the survival of his own individuality, H.P. Blavatsky writes: "he is right without knowing it. One who has no inner perception of, and faith in, the immortality of his soul, in that man the soul can never become Buddhi-taijasi, but will remain simply Manas, and for Manas alone there is no immortality possible." (Key, pp. 164-5). Buddhi-taijasi signifies Manas conjoined with Buddhi: it is this aspect of man's sevenfold constitution "which absorbs the Manasic recollections of all our preceding lives." (Key, 163). This is so "because both immortality and consciousness after death become, for the terrestrial personality of man, simply conditioned attributes, as they depend entirely on conditions and beliefs created by the human soul itself during the life of its body. Karma acts incessantly: we reap in our afterlife only the fruit of that which we have ourselves sown in this." (Key, 160)

These subtile worlds - or rather states of consciousness - we are taught, involve the consequences of the causes generated during earth-life, and should therefore be consciously experienced by everyone. (Comment 3)
Comment 3.This is very well phrased. We may indeed refer to the "subtile worlds" as the globes on the Ascending Arc - Globes E, F and G - which may well be equated to superior states of consciousness, when viewed from the standpoint of our consciousness on Globe D of the Earth-chain. However, the clue to understanding this aspect of the subject was provided by the questioner in Comment 4 (which follows).

The clue to this question lies perhaps in the word "full" in the text of The Divine Plan, p. 385: "...in order to have full consciousness during the after-death states one must attain that knowledge as well as that ability during the life lived on earth." (Comment 4)

Comment 4. Yes, indeed, in order to attain the FULL consciousness of experiencing the after-death states, an individual "must attain that knowledge as well as that ability during the life lived on earth." This is truly a challenging proposition, yet it is a highly desirable one. A beginning towards its accomplishment may be made by striving to elevate one's thought-life by consistently raising it above the plane of desires and holding it at that superior level.

Would you please explain the difference of the conditions post-mortem for a student of Theosophy and for a disbeliever? (Comment 5)

Comment 5. Of course, students of Theosophy vary as to their qualifications. Naturally, the more a student attains the ability of experiencing higher states of consciousness during life on earth and has built these states or experiences into the fabric of his being - or the "web of life" which he creates from day to day - the more will such experiences be re-lived in the state of Devachan; especially so if he believes that he will re-experience such higher states of consciousness in the post-morten sojourn.
Thus far the significance of the state of Devachan has been stressed; but the study-group's attention should be directed to the status and cycle of the monad in the afterdeath states. This was referred to by the Mahatma in the following passage: "no monad gets ever reincarnated before its appointed cycle." (M.L.176/173) In The Secret Doctrine this aspect was presented by means of the doctrines taught by the Egyptians and the Gnostics in connection with the cyclic journeys of the monad. Also reference was made to the Chaldaean account, in the chapter mentioned in the question. It was this aspect which was pointed to in the quotation from The Key to Theosophy. This is the knowledge which has been made available to students of Theosophy and which may be experienced in the after-death states - if dwelt upon during earth-life.

As for the disbeliever or materialist, H.P. Blavatsky wrote in a positive manner as to his after-death state:
"...according to the after life a man has believed in and expected, such is the life he will have. He who expected no life to come will have an absolute blank, amounting to annihilation, in the interval between the two rebirths. This is just the carrying out of the programme we spoke of, a programme created by the materialists themselves. But there are various kinds of materialists." (Key, p. 170).
As to the "programme" referred to, it should be borne in mind that each individual creates his own programme, and it is described in this manner:
"...death is sleep. After death, before the spiritual eyes of the soul, begins a performance according to a programme learnt and very often unconsciously composed by ourselves: the practical carrying out of correct beliefs or of illusions which have been created by ourselves. The Methodist will be Methodist, the Mussulman a Mussulman, at least for some time - in a perfect fool's paradise of each man's creation and making. These are the post-mortem fruits of the tree of life. Naturally, our belief or unbelief in the fact of conscious immortality is unable to influence the unconditioned reality of the fact itself, once that it exists; but the belief or unbelief in that immortality as the property of independent or separate entities, cannot fail to give colour to that fact in its application to each of these entities." (Key, p. 165)

Copyright the estate of the author or the publisher - used for academic purposes - the book is available at:
http://www.wizardsbookshelf.com/sd-questions-answers/

Blavatsky American Convention Letters

Blavatsky never returned to the United States after leaving for India. But she did keep certain contacts there (see for example her correspondence with William Q. Judge http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/hpbwqjtab.html) and sent nice letters to the American Theosophical conventions, which were re-published over the years; some of her best explanations of what Theosophy is can be found therein:

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/hpb-am/hpb-am1.htm

From the first letter, 1888, quite eloquent:

"I am confident that, when the real nature of Theosophy is understood, the prejudice against it, now so unfortunately prevalent, will die out. Theosophists are of necessity the friends of all movements in the world, whether intellectual or simply practical, for the amelioration of the condition of mankind. We are the friends of all those who fight against drunkenness, against cruelty to animals, against injustice to women, against corruption in society or in government, although we do not meddle in politics. We are the friends of those who exercise practical charity, who seek to lift a little of the tremendous weight of misery that is crushing down the poor. But, in our quality of Theosophists, we cannot engage in any one of these great works in particular. As individuals we may do so, but as Theosophists we have a larger, more important, and much more difficult work to do. (1)

People say that Theosophists should show what is in them, that "the tree is known by its fruit." Let them build dwellings for the poor, it is said, let them open "soup kitchens," etc., etc., and the world will believe that there is something in Theosophy. These good people forget that Theosophists, as such, are poor, and that the Founders themselves are poorer than any, and that one of them, at any rate, the humble writer of these lines, has no property of her own, and has to work hard for her daily bread whenever she finds time from her Theosophical duties. (2)

The function of Theosophists is to open men's hearts and understandings to charity, justice, and generosity, attributes which belong specifically to the human kingdom and are natural to man when he has developed the qualities of a human being. Theosophy teaches the animal-man to be a human-man; and when people have learnt to think and feel as truly human beings should feel and think, they will act humanely, and works of charity, justice, and generosity will be done spontaneously by all."

Image thanks to: http://www.flightcentre.com.au/travel-news/destinations/american-independence-day-key-destinations/

(1) Blavatsky did eventually give support to a charitable London school for girls, even delivering a rare public speech at the official opening event.
(2) Blavatsky had steady writing contracts for Russian periodicals, contributing semi-autobiographical mystical travel writings (which are probably some of her most underated writings -see her From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan, The People of the Blue Mountains, The Durbar in Lahore)

Book Review - The Tibetan Book of the Dead - Robert Thurman

Taking a break from the Blavatsky backlog, here’s a review  of The Tibetan Book of the Dead, translated by Robert Thurman (Bantam, 1994). With so many translations of this text out there, one might wonder if this version is redundant. I would say no, because Thurman has a distinctive, practical approach that is geared to western sensibilities. His prose style, for one, favors quite a modern, counter-culture-influenced language that largely eschews Sanskrit and Tibetan terms, which makes for a fairly easy to follow albeit somewhat quirky text with original terms such as psychonaut, pretan, and scientist deity (A glossary provides the Sanskrit/Tibetan terminological information).

One refreshing aspect is the open, multi-cultural, comparative religion perspective. He therefore liberally draws some interesting parallels from other spiritual traditions. He observes that:"There are certainly adept traditions in all the great literate and earth religions, and all of these certainly deal with the basic realities of life and death. The genuine shaman knows of the dissolution process, knows of divine allies and demonic interferences, and usually finds a ground of benevolence and trust, some sort of Lord of Compassion. The monastics of all ages have experimented with journeys of the soul, and some have lived to recount their experiences in useful works. Sufi and Taoist adepts have given instructions and maintain living traditions"(pp.80-81))

Moreover, the first 91-page section and in commentary elsewhere gives considerable attention to practical Tantric aspects of the text, an area that has been relatively unexplored, to my knowledge, showing the important insight that there is an intimate relation between funeral texts and spiritual initiation.This first section is a solid introduction to Tibetan Buddhism, with a special emphasis on a "memento mori" philosophy and helpful charts are included, giving helpful explanations of the subtle bodies. Thurman has a very bold, original, modern western approach, yet firmly grounded in traditional Tibetan Buddhism. The more conservative people could criticize the creative development of original Tantric exercizes based on Gelugpa traditions, but Thurman's credentials as a scholar and Tantric practioner make for interesting reading. He gives some interesting practical exercizes, for example:

"Practice being more relaxed in your relationships. Remind yourself that you could be dead and not there, and that your main concern for your loved one is their happiness, not just what you are getting out of them. Observe feelings of jealousy that arise for no good reason all the time, and realize how imprisoning they are, how uncomfortable you feel and how oppressed your loved on feels. Concentrate on actions that make your friends and loved ones happy, really happy, not just superficially entertained. Think about others before yourself. Realize each relationship is temporary, so put as much good energy into it as possible while it is there" (p. 54)

The third section provides a few additional texts, including The Great Liberation through Naked Awareness, another oft-translated text – and so Thurman here reinforces the trend that places a high value on this text and its importance as a philosophical component of the Bardo Thodol corpus. I don’t disagree. A nice 8-page color image section rounds out the package. Overall, even though Thurman integrates much commentary, this 275-book still manages to maintain a compact, practical quality and is probably the most accessible edition available.

Reincarnation Basics 5

Back again with more from Geoffrey Barborka's Secret Doctrine Questions and Answers book:

Question. To what extent, if any can the recently deceased discern or know anything of previous incarnations?

Answer. In the passage above quoted from The Secret Doctrine, the reason was given why only the life just lived remains vividly in the memory of the deceased. However, it depends upon the degree of evolutionary development attained by the deceased as to whether more than one life will be "visioned." To quote:

"Very good and holy men see, we are taught, not only the life they are leaving, but even several preceding lives in which were produced the causes that made them what they were in the life just closing. They recognise the law of Karma in all its majesty and justice." (The Key to Theosophy, p. 162)

Question. How long a time is there between incarnations on earth?

Answer. It all depends upon how a life on earth is lived. The importance of the daily life is the significant factor, as well as the "thought-life." To illustrate the point, a materialist will return to life on earth much faster than will a philosopher. Then, too, it will depend upon the length of life on earth. Those who die in childhood return to earthlife quickly. Mr. Sinnett asked the Mahatma in regard to the length of the interlude between lives in this matter. "And for how long? Does the state of spiritual beatitude endure for years? for decades? for centuries?" And the answer was given:

"For years, decades, centuries and millenniums. Oftentimes multiplied by something more. It all depends upon the duration of Karma. Fill with oil Den's little cup, and a city Reservoir of water, and lighting both see which burns the longer. The Ego is the wick and Karma the oil: the difference in the quantity of the latter (in the cup and the reservoir) suggesting to you the greatest difference in the duration of various Karmas. Every effect must be proportionate to the cause. And, as man's terms of incarnate existence bear but a small proportion to his periods of internatal existence in the manvantaric cycle, so the good thoughts, words, and deeds, of any one of these 'lives' on a globe are causative of effects, the working out of which requires far more time than the evolution of the causes occupied." (The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, p. 106; 103-4 3rd ed.) - Vol. 53, No. 4

Part 6 

Blavatsky - Universal Brother/Sisterhood

A classic Blavatskian mission statement, in a lyrical mode:

“There is but ONE Eternal Truth, one universal, infinite and changeless Spirit of Love, Truth and Wisdom, impersonal, therefore bearing a different name with every nation, one Light for all, in which the whole Humanity lives and moves, and has its being. Like the spectrum in optics, giving multicoloured and various rays, which are yet caused by one and the same sun, so theologies and sacerdotal systems are many. But the Universal religion can only be one, if we accept the real, primitive meaning of the root of that word. 

We, Theosophists, so accept it; and therefore say: We are all brothers—by the laws of Nature, of birth, and death, as also by the laws of our utter helplessness from birth to death in this world of sorrow and deceptive illusions. Let us, then, love, help, and mutually defend each other against this spirit of deception; and while holding to that which each of us accepts as his ideal of truth and reality—i.e., to the religion which suits each of us best—let us unite ourselves to form a practical ‘nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity WITHOUT DISTINCTION OF RACE, CREED, OR COLOUR.’

"What good has Theosophy done in India?" Lucifer, Vol. II, No. 8, April, 1888, p. 91 -(CW 9, 134)
Image thanks to http://thewinanews.com/

Book Review - Gary Lachman - Helena Blavatsky - The Mother of Modern Spirituality 2

Prolific writer Gary Lachman, who likes to write about the influence of esoteric trends in mainstream society and mystical biographies delivered this compact 300-page, 10-chapter tome a couple of years back, just after doing a work on the history of Hermetism, so he would seem well-suited for the task of tackling the enigmatic and controversial HPB. He pens a very interesting 20-page introduction showing a keen awareness of the complexities of the history of reputations, demonstrating his bold intention to take the bull by the horns and tackle the toughest problems of the Blavatsky case head on. He perceptively remarks that, there is a marked dichotomized-tendency to portray her either as a superhuman, heroic, saintly martyr or as a shady, fraudulent, opportunistic schemer and so states his intention to avoid this black or white position and present a more nuanced, objective, neutral, and critical perspective.

I find that the first three chapters are quite excellent. He has a breezy, conversational style and he manages to juggle several strands of discussion with a remarkable ability to synthesize a lot of information into concise, focused, snappy, insightful, interesting, and original paragraphs. For example:

“If the reader feels this sounds like something out of Alexander Dumas and The Count of Monte Cristo, I’m not surprised. HPB’s “journey into the unknown” had begun and at this point her life becomes a series of adventures, much like those her contemporary Jules Verne would pack into the pages of his novels. Around the World in Eighty Days, was published in 1873, the year that Blavatsky surfaces in New York, and it made Verne an international success. But between 1849, when she escaped her crestfallen husband, and that year, HPB embarked on a voyage that Phileas Fogg would have found impressive” (p. 33).

For the next seven chapters, he visits the standard events in the Blavatskian biographical corpus (Blavatsky has always been considered bio-friendly. Since her passing, there’s been a steady output of biographies, one every five years on average: http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/blavatskysourcebook.htm). He manages to deftly consider the  anti-Blavatsky and pro-Blavatsky stances on the  various issues and arrive at some sensible understanding of them. (Briefly, this means allegations by Home, Coleman, Coulomb, Hodgson, the SPR, Soloviov, De Witte, Coues, and a couple of pseudo-Blavatsky forgeries).

Overall, I think that he is quite successful in dispelling the haze of confusion that the aforementioned testimonies have created and which have effectively left Blavatskian studies in a state of arrested development for over a century. He diligently analyzes the relevant data and tends to demonstrate that there is very little substance to the various claims or any concrete evidence. Moreover, the testimony in question tend to have flagrant factual discrepancies and  the people in question tend to have palpable motivations of personal ideology or ambition.

Otherwise, he manages to place of a lot interesting, if undeveloped, digressions that can serve as placeholders for future research. For example, on page 313 he notes how Vsevolod Solovyov is the brother of Vladimir Solovyov, an important spiritual philosopher. In turns out that the latter actually did an interesting review of the Key to Theosophy to which Blavatsky issued a very articulate reply. Unfortunately, the reply was not published at the time, but her manuscript survived. This intriguing meeting of minds surely merits further study:

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v12/y1890_039.htm

Moreover, he makes use of more contemporary research into parapsychology and supernatural phenomena, as well as alternative science and makes some interesting comparisons to Blavatksy’s writings and experiences.

In terms of critiques, I think that this work would benefit from a greater awareness of the classic original insights and explanations into Blavatsky’s behavior and motives from an occult perspective, as can be gleaned from the Mahatma letters and Blavatsky’s letters to A.P. Sinnett. These essentials can be found  in Geoffrey Barborka’s Blavatsky, Tibet, and Tulku. Although published in 1974, I think that it remains a very helpful work for understanding Blavatsky’s character from an esoteric perspective. Also, the description of the Secret Doctrine human evolutionary scheme  (pp. 255-56) is a little innacurate (nb. in a future post, an accurate chart will be presented here). Moreover, I think that more exploration into what is known as the "Judge Case" would be needed. Simply reading Judge's own final reply, would seem to indicate that there is more to the picture than what the press of the time had put forth (see the second reply of "Two replies" : http://www.phx-ult-lodge.org/two_replies.htm )

Note 79 on page 266 seems a little garbled. Mead is not involved in the Johnston text.

I would venture to say Lachman’s book marks a kind of  breakthrough in the sense that it is the first bio aimed at the general public that I know of that is reasonably neutral and objective and has a reasonably critical analysis of historical sources. Hallelujah. Hopefully this clears the ground for a new phase of more original and open research into the mysterious Madame B.

PS. Below is a little-known Blavatsky text that is interesting in that she offers some interesting insights and perspectives into the difficulties of the semantics of esoteric historiography that, in my opinion, remain relevant:

http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/articles/v8/y1887_036.htm

Part 1