William Q Judge on Reincarnation and Capital Punishment

If one believes in reincarnation and is aware of certain occult aspects of the after-life processes, what about capital punishment? What happens to a person so treated?  Apparently the repercussions have rather dire consequences. The following extracts from one of Judge's better known articles deal with this topical question:

From ignorance of the truth about man's real nature and faculties and their action and condition after bodily death, a number of evils flow. The effect of such want of knowledge is much wider than the concerns of one or several persons. Government and the administration of human justice under man-made laws will improve in proportion as there exists a greater amount of information on this all-important subject. When a wide and deep knowledge and belief in respect to the occult side of nature and of man shall have become the property of the people then may we expect a great change in the matter of capital punishment.

 

But even though those of the second class are not by intention enemies of Society, as are the others, they too before their execution may have their anger, resentment, desire for revenge and other feelings besides remorse, all aroused against Society which persecutes them and against those who directly take part in their trial and execution. The nature, passions, state of mind and bitterness of the criminal have, hence, to be taken into account in considering the question. For the condition which he is in when cut off from mundane life has much to do with the whole subject.

All the modes of execution are violent, whether by the knife, the sword, the bullet, by poison, rope, or electricity. And for the Theosophist the term violent as applied to death must mean more than it does to those who do not hold theosophical views. For the latter, a violent death is distinguished from an easy natural one solely by the violence used against the victim. But for us such a death is the violent separation of the man from his body, and is a serious matter, of interest to the whole state. It creates in fact a paradox, for such persons are not dead; they remain with us as unseen criminals, able to do harm to the living and to cause damage to the whole of Society.
 

What happens? All the onlooker sees is that the sudden cutting off is accomplished; but what of the reality? A natural death is like the falling of a leaf near the winter time. The time is fully ripe, all the powers of the leaf having separated; those acting no longer, its stem has but a slight hold on the branch and the slightest wind takes it away. So with us; we begin to separate our different inner powers and parts one from the other because their full term has ended, and when the final tremor comes the various inner component parts of the man fall away from each other and let the soul go free. But the poor criminal has not come to the natural end of his life. His astral body is not ready to separate from his physical body, nor is the vital, nervous energy ready to leave. The entire inner man is closely knit together, and he is the reality. I have said these parts are not ready to separate - they are in fact not able to separate because they are bound together by law and a force over which only great Nature has control.

When then the mere physical body is so treated that a sudden, premature separation from the real man is effected, he is merely dazed for a time, after which he wakes up in the atmosphere of the earth, fully a sentient living being save for the body. He sees the people, he sees and feels again the pursuit of him by the law. His passions are alive. He has become a raging fire, a mass of hate; the victim of his fellows and of his own crime. Few of us are able, even under favorable circumstances, to admit ourselves as wholly wrong and to say that punishment inflicted on us by man is right and just, and the criminal has only hate and desire for revenge.

The Theosophist who believes in the multiple nature of man and in the complexity of his inner nature, and knows that that is governed by law and not by mere chance or by the fancy of those who prate of the need for protecting society when they do not know the right way to do it, relying only on the punitive and retaliatory Mosaic law - will oppose capital punishment. He sees it is unjust to the living, a danger to the state, and that it allows no chance whatever for any reformation of the criminal.

Theosophy and Capital Punishment, The Path, September, 1895

http://www.theosophycanada.com/theosophy-and-capital-punishment-judge.php

image thanks to thelibertarianrepublic.com

Book Review: The Esoteric Papers of Madame Blavatsky - Daniel Caldwell

Blavatsky’s Esoteric Instructions have had a complicated history – three pamphlets were distributed privately in her lifetime and two more based on notes from her classes posthumously. The three pamphlets and different class notes were included in the posthumous Secret Doctrine Vol. 3 in 1897. The SD3 went on to become probably HPB’s most influential work, the complex, challenging, eloquent erudition of her other writings having noticeably less influence than the more direct, straightforward and explicit texts  that make up these writings. They had a marked influence on C.W. Leadbeater, Alice Bailey and a host of writers in the new age/popular occult vein (That is not to say that new age interpretations are an accurate representation of the originals, more of a vulgarization). For complicated reasons, the SD3 went out of print in 1980 and the instructions reappeared in Blavatsky’s Collected Writings, Vol. 12 and the SD3 was renamed The Esoteric Writings of H.P. Blavatsky. Cambridge University has since issued an edition of the SD3. The Theosophical Publishing House has recently released a new stand-alone version entitled Esoteric Instructions (without the additional SD3 material). Moreover, Henk Spierenburg edited a collection of private class notes entitled The Inner Group Teachings, with similar and additional material, and there have been other more obscure editions.

Daniel Caldwell’s large 700-page 2004 edition from Kessinger is remarkably complete. Included are facsimile reproductions of the original pamphlets (some 250 pages in all), and an earlier first printing of the first two pamphlets that has slight differences from the subsequent printings. Of particular  note is the inclusion of the rare 6^th instruction pamphlet issued in 1900 which contains much little-known material of considerable interest. There is also a reproduction of the ‘Inner Group’ class notes (some 60 pages) and numerous administrative memos, letters and book extracts pertaining to the esoteric section of the Theosophical Society. The only significant omissions being color versions of the diagrams, and some annotations and an historical essay from the Spierenburg book (NB- additional esoteric section material can be found in the SD3 (notes on oral teachings) and Judge's Echoes of the Orient, Vol. 3). Although the variations in page layout give the book a somewhat cluttered appearance, this book contains a cornucopia of new and valuable historical material covering the final period of HPB’s life.

It may be useful to note that it is not advisable to follow practically the ‘Inner Group’ instructions without a competent teacher (which would presumably entail complying with the various rules and pledges included in the instructions) any more than one should follow Hindu or Buddhist Tantric texts practically without a qualified instructor. Moreover, I personally feel that these instructions are best studied as (presumably) originally intended by Blavatsky, as a culmination of the three-volume Secret Doctrine series; in any case, the instructions give numerous references to the first two volumes of the Secret Doctrine, so a certain amount of knowledge of these works is helpful.

PS. One needn't be deterred by the originally intended monthly frequency of the instructions - there is considerably more than a month's worth of study in each pamplet - the complete instructions contain matter for several years' worth of study.

links of interest -
Happy Peace Day!
http://www.peaceoneday.org/

Blavatsky on Religion

Something that might not be obvious to some is that Blavatsky was not totally against organized religion per se; although she was critical of dogmatism and abuse in organized religion  and was concerned with reforms within those structures; yet she was not one to want to throw the baby out with the bathwater, as it were. She was concerned with the problem of what today we would call fundamentalism, which is why freedom of thought and tolerance were important aspects of her policy. The second quote, I think, is one of her clearest statements on this question:

 “Orthodoxy in Theosophy is a thing neither possible nor desirable. It is diversity of opinion, within certain limits, that keeps the Theosophical Society a living and a healthy body, its many other ugly features notwithstanding. Were it not, also, for the existence of a large amount of uncertainty in the minds of students of Theosophy, such healthy divergencies would be impossible, and the Society would degenerate into a sect, in which a narrow and stereotyped creed would take the place of the living and breathing spirit of Truth and an ever growing Knowledge.” First Letter to the American Convention

“Yet the masses could not be allowed to remain without some sort of moral restraint. Man is ever craving for a “beyond” and cannot live without an ideal of some kind, as a beacon and a consolation. At the same time, no average man, even in our age of universal education, could be entrusted with truths too metaphysical, too subtle for his mind to comprehend, without the danger of an imminent reaction setting in, and faith in Gods and Saints making room for an unscientific blank Atheism. No real philanthropist, hence no Occultist, would dream for a moment of a mankind without one tittle of Religion. Even the modern day Religion in Europe, confined to Sundays, is better than none. But if, as Bunyan* put it, “Religion is the best armour that a man can have,” it certainly is the “worst cloak”; and it is that “cloak” and false pretence which the Occultists and the Theosophists fight against. The true ideal Deity, the one living God in Nature, can never suffer in man’s worship if that outward cloak, woven by man’s fancy, and thrown upon the Deity by the crafty hand of the priest greedy of power and domination, is drawn aside." (THE SECRECY OF INITIATES) Blavatsky Collected Writings, Volume 14 Page42

 

"But so also is the Occultist justified, if he would serve truth and only truth, in rejecting such a onesided view. The student of Occultism must belong to no special creed or sect, yet he is bound to show outward respect to every creed and faith, if he would become an Adept of the Good Law. He must not be bound by the prejudged and sectarian opinions of anyone, and he has to form his own opinions and to come to his own conclusions in accordance with the rules of evidence furnished to him by the Science to which he is devoted. Thus, if the Occultist is, by way of illustration, a Buddhist, then, while regarding Gautama Buddha as the grandest of all the Adepts that lived, and the incarnation of unselfish love, boundless charity, and moral goodness, he will regard in the same light Jesus––proclaiming Him another such incarnation of every divine virtue."  (THE DUTY OF THE TRUE OCCULTIST TOWARD RELIGIONS) Blavatsky Collected Writings, Volume 14 Page 108

links:
Canada's sad role in the Syrian refugee crisis:
http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/drowned-boys-family-sought-refuge-in-canada

Thomas Taylor on Paul's Letter to the Hebrews

Thomas Taylor (1758-1835) was an amazingly knowledgeable Neoplatonic scholar and had a strong grasp of the spiritual sense of this philosophy, which Blavatsky appreciated. In his Collectiana (1806),  

http://www.universaltheosophy.com/pdf-library/1806_Collectanea-or-Collections.pdf

he has an article (pp. 19-23) on a gnostic/platonic aspect of Paul's letters. Today, the authorship of the Letter to the Hebrews is in doubt, although the Platonic and Gnostic elements in Paul's writings are widely recognized and were pointed out in Blavatsky's writings. I think Taylor's interpretation still holds up today.

It has lately occurred to me, that the 3d verse of Hebrews xi. is not only erroneously translated in all the modern versions of the New Testament, but that, in its true meaning, it strongly favours one of the leading dogmas of those ancient Christian heretics, the Valentinians, and shows St. Paul to have entertained opinions somewhat analogous to the Platonic theory of ideas. The passage in the original is as follows:

Πίστει νοοῦμεν κατηρτίσθαι τοὺς αἰῶνας ῥήματι θεοῦ, εἰς τὸ μὴ ἐκ φαινομένων τὸ βλεπόμενον γεγονέναι.

This, in the English version, is rendered:“Through faith we understand, that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen, were not made of things which do appear.”

 

In the first place, the worlds is evidently a forced interpretation of αἰῶνας (aeonas); and, even admitting it was not, leaves the passage very ambiguous, from the uncertainty to what worlds St. Paul alludes. If we adopt ages, which is the general sense of the word in the New Testament, we shall indeed avoid a forced and ambiguous interpretation, but we shall render the meaning of the Apostle trifling in the extreme: for as he has elsewhere told us, “that all things were framed by the word of God,” what particular faith does it require to believe, that by the same word he framed the ages?

I observe, in the second place, that according to the definition of faith, given in the first verse of this chapter, that it is “the evidence of things not seen,” it is clear, that St. Paul is speaking in this passage of something invisible. Since then αἰῶνας (aeonas) is neither worlds nor ages, what shall we say it is ? I answer, the aeones of the Valentinians: and, agreeably to this, the whole passage should be translated as follows: “By faith we understand, that the aeones were framed by the word of God, in order that things which are seen, might be gene rated from such as do not appear (i. e. from things invisible).”  Every one who is much conversant with Greek authors, must certainly be convinced, that εἰς τὸ (eis to) means in order that: and I was glad to find, that Bishop Pearson translates as I have done, the latter part of this verse.

 

Now we learn from the second book of Irenaeus against the Heretics, that according to the Valentinians, all created things are the images of the aeones, resident in the pleroma, or fullness of deity.And does it not clearly follow, from the above version, that according to St. Paul too, the aeones are the exemplars of visible, or created things? To which we may add, that this sense of the passage wonderfully accords with the assertion, that “faith is the evidence of things not seen.” For here the things which do not appear are the aeones; these, according to the Valentinians, subsisting in deity. So that from our version, St. Paul mightsay, with great propriety, that “we understand by faith, that the aeones were framed by the word of God, in order that things which are seen, might be generated from such as do not appear:” for this naturally follows from his definition of faith.

It appears likewise, that St. Paul mentions these aeones, Heb. i. ver. 2, where he asserts, “that they were produced by God through Christ.”

 

I farther add, that among these aeones of the Valentinians were nous, buthos, sige, aletheia,sophia i.e. intellect, a profundity, silence, truth, and wisdom, which, as the learned Gale well observes in his notes on Jamblichus de Mysteriis, &c. prove theirdogmas to be of Chaldaic origin. For these words perpetually occur in the fragments of the Chaldaic oracles; not to mention that the middle of the Chaldean intelligible triad, is denominated αἰῶν, aeon.

 

It will be said, perhaps, that these oracles were forged by certain heretical Christians; but this may be easily confuted by considering, that they were largely commented on by Porphyry, Jamblichus, and Proclus, who are well known to have been great enemies to the Christian religion; and that it is very unlikely, men of such uncommon learning and sagacity should have been so grossly deluded *. Besides, though these oracles were the fountains of the Valentinian dogmas, yet it will be found, by a diligent inspection, that they are repugnant in most particulars to the leading tenets of Christians of all denominations. Hence Proclus has largely shewn, in his books on Plato's Theology, that the several orders of gods men tioned in these oracles, are perfectly conformable to those delivered by Plato in various parts of his works.

I only add, that as these aeones of St. Paul, and the Valentinians, are the exemplars of the visible universe, it is evident that in this respect they are analogous to the ideas of Plato.

* That some of these oracles may be confidently ascribed to Zoroaster, and that others of them are of much less antiquity, is, I think, evident from the following considerations: in the first place, Johannes Picus, earl of Mirandula, in a letter to Ficinus, informs him, that he was in possession of the oracles of Zoroaster, in the Chaldean tongue, with a commentary on them, by certain Chaldean wise men. And that he did not speak this from mere conjecture (as Fabricius thinks, and many other learned men have thought he did) is evident, from his expressly asserting, in a letter to Urbinatus (Op. p. 256) that, after much labour, he had at length learned the Chaldean language.And still farther, he has inserted in his works, fifteen conclusions, founded on this very Chaldean manuscript, though they appear to have escaped the notice of all the critics.

In the next place, Proclus cites one of these oracles as prior, and another as posterior, to Plato. And what is still more, inwill be found, by a diligent inspection, that they are repugnant in most particulars to the leading tenets of Christians of all denominations. Hence Proclus has largely shewn, in his books on Plato's Theology, that the several orders of gods mentioned in these oracles, are perfectly conformable to those delivered by Plato in various parts of his works. I only add, that as these aeones of St. Paul, and the Valentinians, are the exemplars of the visible universe, it is evident that in this respect they are analogous to the ideas of Plato. his MSS. Scholia on the Cratylus, he says, that certain oracles respecting the intelligible and intellectual orders, were delivered by Theurgists, under the reign of Marcus Antoninus,

 

Geoffrey Farthing on Reincarnation

Geoffrey Farthing's writings are accurate and well-researched; a recommend author. Here are two helpful charts from his book When We Die dealing with the Theosophical description of the reincarnation process (The term Etheric Double corresponds to the earlier terms, Astral Body or Linga Sarira):

http://www.blavatskytrust.org.uk/html/when_we_die/WhenWeDie_GFarthing.pdf

Book Review: The Secret Doctrine - abridged by Michael Gomes

In 2009, mainstream Tarcher /Penguin published theosophical historian Michael Gomes very short 237-page abridgment of H. P. Blavatsky’s magnum opus The Secret Doctrine, a sprawling 3-volume work of over 2000 pages. The first two volumes are divided into three sections, the first dealing with the stanzas of Dzyan and commentaries thereon, the second section is devoted to comparative myth symbolism, while the third section covers ancient and modern science.
Gomes effects an interesting structural simplification: about half the book is devoted to the cosmogonic and anthropogonic stanzas of Dzyan from vols. 1 & 2 and the other half covers 16 chapters of symbolism from both volumes. He boldly eschews the section on science altogether despite aptly stating that chapters 11, 15, and 17 contain much fundamental information. The science section tends to get neglected, so the absence is understandable although regrettable because I feel that this section is underrated. Even though the section is probably the most obsolete with much outdated scientific information, much of it deals with what can be called philosophy of science and is often still relevant, sometimes even more so. Moreover, notably absent from the text is the interesting introduction, the ‘misconceptions’ and ‘explanations’ sections from the first part, the five-part section on the symbolism of the number seven
The stanzas abridgement section is well-done. There is a kind of natural cleavage point to the stanzas if one considers that the original draft of this section was apparently quite short, with later explanations added, which tend to give general semantics explanations that, while helpful, are not essential. And Gomes’ seems aware of this potential for retrieving the original succinct commentary text.

Moreover, although the original sections and many chapters function as self-contained works the structure also has a complementary aspect in the sense that parts of the second and third sections tend to complete the exposition of section one and so one only gets a complete picture by working through the work in sequential order.

The introduction by Gomes is informative and interesting, including a very apt comparison with the neoplatonic Chaldean Oracles fragments, but could have benefitted from more didactic explanations of the technicalities of the theosophical concept of spiritual evolution that the Secret Doctrine develops. A glossary of the very copious terminology would also have been helpful, although he does include useful brief definitions of terms in the index.

Not the only way to go about abridging this difficult and complex work (other more straightforward abridgments have been published), the appeal of this edition is probably the maximum degree of simplification – it is probably the easiest and most reader-friendly edition available (by no means easy for all that), representing the most popular aspects of the work. It makes for a good introduction text for first-time readers (although there are other preliminary readings that would be helpful as well), it can also be useful for long-time readers as a quick-reference copy of the stanzas and the commentaries

The Daily Initiation 3 & 4

For completion's sake, we present a third text by William Q Judge dealing with his concept of initiation as a daily life practice. This is again from his commentary on chapter 2 of the Baghavad Gita:                                                "Having so concluded, we know that this long life is in itself another initiation, wherein we succeed or fail just as we learn the lesson of life. Some, I know, will not hasten to adopt this view, for they desire the Law to work in the manner appointed by them; they wish to have a sign or a password or a parchment or some wonderful test propounded, to which they shall be ready to submit at a certain time and place. But this is not the manner of it, and all true students know that. Surely if the little circumstances of life are not understood, if they have yet power to light the torch of anger or blow up the smoldering fire of lust, no set time or tournament will be offered for you by the Masters of this Lodge. Those set times and larger tests are given and have in their place to be overcome, but they belong to the day when you have raised the arch of attainment all perfect but the keystone — that is found or lost in the appointed trial."

PS. This final paragraph of the previously posted second 'Musings on the True Theosophist's Path' is a fourth take on this concept:

"Know then, Disciples, that you only can lift yourselves by your own efforts. When this is done, you may have the knowledge that you will find many to accompany you on your heretofore lonely journey; but neither they or your Teacher will be permitted to push or pull you one step onward.

This is all a very essential part of your preparation and trial for Initiation.

You look and wait for some great and astounding occurrence, to show you that you are going to be permitted to enter behind the veil; that you are to be Initiated. It will never come. He only who studies all things and learns from them, as he finds them, will be permitted to enter, and for him there are no flashing lightnings or rolling thunder. He who enters the door, does so as gently and imperceptibly, as the tide rises in the nighttime.

Live well your life. Seek to realize the meaning of every event. Strive to find the Ever Living and wait for more light. The True Initiate does not fully realize what he is passing through, until his degree is received. If you are striving for light and Initiation, remember this, that your cares will increase, your trials thicken, your family make new demands upon you. He who can understand and pass through these patiently, wisely, placidly — may hope."
American Mystic - The Path – October 1886

Part 5