Blavatsky on the I-Ching or Book of Changes

"The Yi-King, “the very essence of ancient thought and the combined work of the most venerated sages, fails to show a distinct cosmogony.” Nevertheless, there is one, and a very distinct one. Only as Confucius did not admit of a future life† and the Chinese Buddhists reject the idea of One Creator, accepting one cause and its numberless effects, they are misunderstood by the believers in a personal God.
The “great Extreme” as the commencement “of changes” (transmigrations) is the shortest and perhaps the most suggestive of all Cosmogonies, for those who, like the Confucianists, love virtue for its own sake, and try to do good unselfishly without perpetually looking to reward and profit.
The “great Extreme” of Confucius produces “two figures.” These “two” produce in their turn “the four images”; these again “the eight symbols.” It is complained that though the Confucianists see in them “Heaven, Earth and man in miniature,” . . . we can see in them anything we like. No doubt, and so it is with regard to many symbols, especially in those of the latest religions. But they who know something of Occult numerals, see in these “figures” the symbol, however rude, of a harmonious progressive Evolution of Kosmos and its beings, both the Heavenly and the Terrestrial. And any one who has studied the numerical evolution in the primeval cosmogony of Pythagoras (a contemporary of Confucius) can never fail to find in his Triad, Tetractis and Decade emerging from the one and solitary Monad, the same idea. Confucius is laughed at by his Christian biographer for “talking of divination” before and after this passage, and is represented as saying: “The eight symbols determine good and ill fortune, and these lead to great deeds. There are no imitable images greater than heaven and earth. There are no changes greater than the four seasons (meaning North, South, East and West, et seq.). There are no suspended images brighter than the sun and moon. In preparing things for use, there is none greater than the sage. In determining good and ill-luck there is nothing greater than the divining straws and the tortoise.”*

Therefore, the “divining straws” and the “tortoise,” the “symbolic sets of lines,” and the great sage who looks at them as they become one and two, and two become four, and four become eight, and the other sets “three and six,” are laughed to scorn, only because his wise symbols are misunderstood.

† If he rejected it, it was on the ground of what he calls the changes — in other words, rebirths — of man, and constant transformations. He denied immortality to the personality of man — as we do — not to man." (The Secret Doctrine I, p. 440-41)

12 Theosophical Books that Changed the World

It is now generally accepted that the early Theosophical Society was tremendously influential. Why was that so? One reason can be found by taking a glance at some of the early publications. The twelve works presented below are all in their own way, very remarkable, original, innovative works. Many of them were very successful, had a stunning level of erudition, and/or have become spiritual classics. Note that the important classic works of Blavatsky and William Q. Judge have not been included; therefore even without the major works of two of the main founders, the early theosophical literature gives evidence of an intellectual force to be reckoned with and these works all remain compelling reading today.

1. James Ralston Skinner - Key to the Hebrew-Egyptian Mystery in the Source of Measures Originating the British Inch and the Ancient Cubit (1875)

https://books.google.ca/books?id=X2lsCgAAQBAJ&pg=PT85&lpg=PT85&dq=blavatsky+ralston+skinner+theosophical&source=bl&ots=eACV2aYFYC&sig=054qDK7yTB2j1iaxhlbk5beQsQA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwichNj1wpHMAhUkx4MKHcO8Ap0Q6AEINjAF#v=onepage&q=blavatsky%20ralston%20skinner%20theosophical&f=false

James Ralston Skinner (1830-1893) was an attorney, a very learned freemason and kabbalist from Cincinnati, Ohio whose correspondence with Blavatsky has survived. http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/James_Ralston_Skinner

2. Henry Steel Olcott – Buddhist Catechism (1881)

http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/tbc/

Colonel Henry Steel Olcott  (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907) was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society.

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Henry_Steel_Olcott

3. Anna Kingsford – The Perfect Way, or the Finding of Christ  (1882)

http://www.theosophical.ca/books/PerfectWay_ABKingsfordEMaitland.pdf

Anna Mary Kingsford (née Bonus, September 16, 1846 – February 22, 1888) was an English anti-vivisection, vegetarian and women's rights campaigner and was a prominent figure among mystics and theosophists in the 1880's. She was one of the first English women to obtain a degree in medicine.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_Kingsford

4. William Stainton Moses – Spirit Teachings (1883)

http://www.meilach.com/spiritual/books/st/spteach.htm

William Stainton Moses (originally Moseyn) (November 5, 1839 - September 5, 1892) was an English clergyman, writer, and editor. He was a Spiritualist and member of the Theosophical Society

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/William_Stainton_Moses

5. Alfred Percy Sinnett – Esoteric Buddhism  (1883)

http://blavatskyarchives.com/sinnettesobuddgateway.htm

Alfred Percy Sinnett (18 January 1840, in London – 26 June 1921) was an English newspaper editor, author and theosophist.
http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Alfred_Percy_Sinnett

6. Gerald Massey – The Natural Genesis (2 vols.)  (1883)

http://www.metaphysicspirit.com/books/The%20Natural%20Genesis%20Vol.%20I.pdf

http://www.metaphysicspirit.com/books/The%20Natural%20Genesis%20Vol.%20II.pdf

Gerald Massey (29 May 1828 – 29 October 1907) was an English poet and writer on Spiritualism and Ancient Egypt. He contributed several articles to early issues of Blavatsky's magazine, Lucifer.

http://www.levir.com.br/theotext.php?cod=0068

7. Laura Holloway & Mohini Chatterji – Man, Fragments of a Forgotten History (1885)

http://www.theosophical.ca/books/ManFragmentsOfAForgottenHistory_MChatterjiLCHolloway.pdf#

Laura Carter Holloway-Langford (1843-1930) was an American journalist and writer.

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Laura_Holloway-Langford

Mohini Mohun Chatterji (1858 - 1936) was a Bengali attorney and scholar who belonged to a prominent family that for several generations had mediated between Hindu religious traditions and Christianity.^[1] He joined the Theosophical Society in 1882 and became Assistant Secretary of the Bengal branch.

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Mohini_Mohun_Chatterji

8. Mabel Collins – Light on the Path  (1885)

http://www.duhovnirazvoj.com/ElektronskaBiblioteka/Light%20on%20The%20Path%20and%20Through%20the%20Gates%20of%20God.pdf

Mabel Collins (9 September 1851 – 31 March 1927) was a theosophist and author of over 46 books.

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Mabel_Collins

9. T. Subba Row – Notes on the Baghavad Gita (1888)

http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/gita-sr/nbg-hp.htm

Tallapragada Subba Row Garu (July 6, 1856 - June 24, 1890) was a brilliant Advaita Vedantist who became an early Theosophist. A strict Brahman, he was trained as a Vakil (Pleader) within the Indian justice system, a highly profitable profession. He practiced law at Madras.

http://www.theosophy.wiki/en/Subba_Row

10.  Franz Hartmann – Magic, Black and White (1888)

http://blavatskyarchives.com/theosophypdfs/hartmann_magic_black_and_white.pdf

Franz Hartmann (22 November 1838, Donauwörth – 7 August 1912, Kempten im Allgäu) was a German medical doctor, theosophist, occultist, geomancer, astrologer, and author. His works include several books on esoteric studies and biographies of Jakob Böhme and Paracelsus. He translated the Bhagavad Gita into German and was the editor of the journal Lotusblüten. He was at one time a co-worker of Helena Blavatsky at Adyar. In 1896 he founded a German Theosophical Society.

http://www.mysticmissal.org/franz_hartmann.htm

 11. G.R.S. Mead – Orpheus (1896)

https://archive.org/details/orpheus00meadgoog

George Robert Stowe Mead (March 22, 1863 in Peckham, Surrey^[1] (Nuneaton, Warwickshire?)^[2] - September 28, 1933 in London)^[3]) was an English historian, writer, editor, translator, and an influential member of the Theosophical Society, as well as the founder of the Quest Society. His scholarly works dealt mainly with the Hermetic and Gnostic religions of Late Antiquity, and were exhaustive for the time period.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G._R._S._Mead

12. Frederick Myers – Human Personality and its Survival after Bodily Death (2 vols.) (1903)

https://archive.org/details/humanpersonality01myeruoft

https://archive.org/stream/humanpersonality02myeruoft#page/n5/mode/2up

Frederic William Henry Myers (6 February 1843, in Keswick, Cumberland – 17 January 1901, in Rome) was a poet, classicist, philologist, early British theosophist and a founder of the Society for Psychical Research.^[1] Myers' work on psychical research and his ideas about a "subliminal self" were influential in his time.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frederic_W._H._Myers

 

William Q. Judge on Critical Thinking

"A Fundamental axiom in Theosophy is that no one should accept as unquestionably true any statement of fact, principle, or theory which he has not tested for himself. This does not exclude a reasonable reliance upon testimony; but only that blind credulity which sometimes passes for faith.
As we understand the rule, it is that we should at all times keep a clear and distinct boundary between what we know, and what we only accept provisionally on the testimony of those who have had larger experience until we reach a point of view from which we can see its truth. We owe it to ourselves to enlarge the sphere of clear knowledge and to push back as far as possible the boundary of opinion and hypothesis.

The realm of knowledge has various departments. Our physical senses furnish us one class of knowledge; our intellectual powers investigate another field on mathematical lines; and yet another faculty enables us to apprehend ethical teachings and to trace them to their true basis in Karma. That we have other faculties, now largely latent, which when developed will enable us to enter other fields of observation and investigation, is beginning to be seen and appreciated."

From "Rounds and Races", The Path, December, 1892

image courtesy of:
https://secularpolicyinstitute.net/

Blavatsky on Spiritual Resurrection

"Two things become evident to all in the above passages (Matthew, 24:4-30), now that their false rendering is corrected in the revision text: (a) "the coming of Christ," means the presence of CHRISTOS in a regenerated world, and not at all the actual coming in body of "Christ" Jesus; 

(b) this Christ is to be sought neither in the wilderness nor "in the inner chambers," nor in the sanctuary of any temple or church built by man; for Christ — the true esoteric SAVIOR — is no man, but the DIVINE PRINCIPLE in every human being. 

He who strives to resurrect the Spirit crucified in him by his own terrestrial passions, and buried deep in the "sepulcher" of his sinful flesh; he who has the strength to roll back the stone of matter from the door of his own inner sanctuary, he has the risen Christ in him.(3) The "Son of Man" is no child of the bond-woman — flesh, but verily of the free-woman — Spirit (4), the child of man's own deeds, and the fruit of his own spiritual labor. "

"The first key that one has to use to unravel the dark secrets involved in the mystic name of Christ, is the key which unlocked the door to the ancient mysteries of the primitive Aryans, Sabeans and Egyptians. The Gnosis supplanted by the Christian scheme was universal. It was the echo of the primordial wisdom-religion which had once been the heirloom of the whole of mankind; and, therefore, one may truly say that, in its purely metaphysical aspect, the Spirit of Christ (the divine logos) was present in humanity from the beginning of it. 

The author of the Clementine Homilies is right; the mystery of Christos — now supposed to have been taught by Jesus of Nazareth — "was identical" with that which from the first had been communicated "to those who were worthy," as quoted in another lecture. (16) We may learn from the Gospel according to Luke, that the "worthy" were those who had been initiated into the mysteries of the Gnosis, and who were "accounted worthy" to attain that "resurrection from the dead" in this life . . . . "those who knew that they could die no more, being equal to the angels as sons of God and sons of the Resurrection." 

In other words, they were the great adepts of whatever religion; and the words apply to all those who, without being Initiates, strive and succeed, through personal efforts to live the life and to attain the naturally ensuing spiritual illumination in blending their personality — (the "Son") with (the "Father,") their individual divine Spirit, the God within them. 

This "resurrection" can never be monopolized by the Christians, but is the spiritual birth-right of every human being endowed with soul and spirit, whatever his religion may be. Such individual is a Christ-man. On the other hand, those who choose to ignore the Christ (principle) within themselves, must die unregenerate heathens — baptism, sacraments, lip-prayers, and belief in dogmas notwithstanding. " (Blavatsky - The Esoteric Character of the Gospels, part I, Lucifer, Nov. 1887)

painting by: Mikhail Vrubel , Kiev 1887

The Spiritual Meaning of Easter 2

There's actually some very intimate connections between William Stainton Moses and Theosophy, as can be ascertained from the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett. He was a critical investigator of spiritualism and an important early British TS member.  A future post on this is on the drawing table.
"The whole course of the typical life of the Pattern Man is emblematic of the progressive development of the life begun on earth, completed in heaven (so to use your terms), born of self-denial, and culminating in spiritual ascension. In the Christ life, as in a story, man may read the tale of the progress of spirit from incarnation to enfranchisement. Thirty years and more of angelic preparation fitted the Christ for His mission: three short years sufficed to discharge so much of it as man could bear. So man's spirit in its development progresses through the course covered by the Festivals of the Christian Church, from the birth of self-denial to the festival of the completed life. Born in self-denial, progressing through self-sacrifice, developed by perpetual struggles with the adversaries (the antagonistic principles which must be conquered in daily life, in self, and in the foes), it dies at length to the external, and rises on its Easter morn from the grave of matter, and lives henceforth, baptized by the outpoured spirit of Pentecost, a new and risen life, till it ascends to the place prepared for it by the tendency of its earth life.

This is spirit's progress, and it may be said to be a process of regeneration, shortly typified by crucifixion and resurrection. The old man dies, the new man rises from his grave. The old man, with his lusts, is crucified; the new man is raised up to live a spiritual and holy life. It is regeneration of spirit that is the culmination of bodily life, and the process is crucifixion of self, a daily death, as Paul was wont to say. In the life of spiritual progress there should be no stagnation, no paralysis. It should be a growth and a daily adaptation of knowledge; a mortification of the earthly and sensual, and a corresponding development of the spiritual and heavenly. In other words, it is a growth in grace and in knowledge of the Christ; the purest type of human life presented to your imitation. It is a clearing away of the material, and a development of the spiritual--a purging as by fire, the fire of a consuming zeal; of a lifelong struggle with self, and all that self includes; of an ever-widening grasp of Divine truth.

By no other means can spirit be purified. The furnace is one of self- sacrifice: the process the same for all. Only in some souls, wherein the Divine flame burns more brightly, the process is rapid and concentrated; while in duller natures the fires smoulder, and vast cycles of purgation are required. Blessed are they who can crush out the earthly, and welcome the fiery trial which shall purge away the dross. To such, progress is rapid and purification sure.

This, briefly, is the life of the progressive spirit--self-sacrifice, whereby self is crucified; self-denial, whereby the world is vanquished; and spiritual conflict, whereby the adversaries are beaten back. In it is no stagnation; even no rest; no finality. It is a daily death, out of which springs the risen life. It is a constant fight, out of which is won perpetual progress. It is the quenchless struggle of the light that is within to shine out more and more into the radiance of the perfect day. And thus only it is that what you call heaven is won."

Spirit Teachings, Section 30, William Stainton Moses

Astrology: Lunar Eclipse - March 23, 2016

Dynamic Mercurial Spring Resurrection
Coming four days after the Spring equinox, this  lunar eclipse highlights the transition from submersion in the Piscean mystical waters to the rebirth into the manifesting energies of Aries; the renewal of spring, marking the end of the zodiacal initiatory cycle and the beginning of a new cycle of experience and transformation.

Aries-Libra Axis
This is the final sequence of Aries-Libra eclipses begun in October 2013 and so can represent a culmination of relationship issues focused on individual needs versus relational needs. The challenge of harmonizing one’s personal needs with the needs of others will not be so easy as the Sun/Mercury conjunction, in the sign of Aries, in a Trine with Mars (in Sagittarius) gives a powerful energy for vocal self-assertion (there will be no lack of loquaciousness), whereas the moon’s effectiveness is muted in Libra and the sextile aspect with Mars is less powerful; and with a full moon, emotional energy can be strong. Hence the balance between intellect and emotion is a major challenge with this eclipse.

Saturn-Neptune-Jupiter T-Square
This powerful T-Square is strongly balanced by Neptune/Pluto, Saturn/Uranus and Jupiter/Pluto trines; along with the Uranus/Pluto square, the outer planets are all inter-connected by powerful aspects, bringing socio-political changes in areas of bureaucratic/political power (Pluto in Capricorn), philosophical ideologies (Saturn in Sagittarius), religious policies and environmental issues (Jupiter in Virgo), technological developments and social protest (Uranus in Aries) as well as art and spirituality (Neptune in Pisces); and so we are at a pivotal moment in the current outer planetary transits. In the last eclipse, most of the planets were focused around the T-Square, whereas now, all of the inner planets are somewhat inter-spread between these aspects, although still very close to the planets Neptune, Uranus, Jupiter, and Saturn. The Jupiter (retrograde) -Saturn square goes exact practically at the same time as the eclipse occurs and Saturn will go retrograde on March 25th. With all this movement going on, the Venus-Neptune conjunction may perhaps get muted, but it could be quite potent in terms of creative, romantic and spiritual inspiration if one can achieve a strong practical, realistic, grounded balance and discipline, while avoiding the problem of deluded emotionalism. Additionally, the Venus/Neptune trine with Pluto, can serve to favor spiritual insight.

Summary
If one follows the news, one may have noticed how the solar eclipse of March 8th shook things up quite a bit, (and also brought encouraging signs of productive cooperative changes). Perhaps some long-standing problems flared up, or old wounds re-opened. With this eclipse, there is an exceptionally positive energy for completing the zodiacal cycle of transformation and renewal. With five planets in fire signs and the Uranus, Pluto, Saturn and Mars squares, a certain amount of dramatic volatility can be expected; moreover, the strong Jupiter-Saturn square can bring dramatic change in one’s life structure (a change to allow for a more fluid organization). The main challenge with this eclipse would be to take care to use the mercurial masculine individualistic, intellectual insightfulness in a holistic manner that integrates the more feminine, emotional, intuitive, altruistic aspects of the full moon in Libra. Hence, one would do well to consider diplomacy, listening skills, and empathy in one’s drive to engage in resolving lingering problems and disputes.

As a possible hint to the deeper meanings of this eclipse, I suggest the above image of the alchemical Rebus as envisaged by Basile Valentin from FIGVRA XCVIII (48), Viridarium chimicum (1624) by Daniel Stolcius. For a good explanation of this symbol see:
http://www.freemasons-freemasonry.com/double-headed-eagle.html

Gauri Viswanathan on the Mahatma Letters

Sometimes it’s good to look at what’s being written about theosophy in academic circles and reflect upon the diversity of opinions thereof. The selected quotations that I propose to present are from the pioneering “The Ordinary Business of Occultism”, by Gauri Viswanathan (Vol. 27, No. 1 (Critical Inquiry, Autumn, 2000), pp. 1-20 University of Chicago Press) http://www.jstor.org/stable/1344224. Professor Viswanathan specializes in the field of literary historiography and has written several award-winning books in the field. I propose to focus on her views of The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett.

 

Basically, I think the paper succeeds in describing the underlying dramatic historical reality of the Mahatma Letters, with their eloquent descriptions of the socio-political tensions of colonial India and the significant cultural and spiritual dynamics between Hindu (and South East Asian) and Western societies, thus successfully arguing for its literary distinctiveness and historical importance. Yes, the Mahatma Letters have gained a respectable position in academia – who would have imagined it? Although the position is, of course, not without considerable perplexity and skepticism, and so, much more research would be required to attempt to solve the many unanswered questions.

Just to clarify, of course A.P. Sinnett's Esoteric Buddhism is almost completely based on letters from the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett; and obviously, reincarnation is a central aspect of both works, and was the first major exposition of the theosophical ideas on this question and remains a classic exposition thereof - even Blavatsky's exposition on reincarnation in Key to Theosophy seems based mainly on the Mahatma Letters.

“Reading Theosophy-as one among many so-called fringe spiritual movements of the nineteenth century-poses the sorts of challenges to critical thinking that secular intellectuals would prefer not to contemplate. A cosmopolitan movement that acquired worldwide adherents, Theosophy developed in reaction to orthodox Christianity, as it sought the roots of spiritual life not in dogma but in an experiential religion recapturing a non-deity-centered, pantheistic theology. Its appeal lay in finding a common ground between many world religions, without necessarily subscribing to the tenets of any one particular religion. Although it is sometimes grouped along with other spiritualist cults, it is necessary to distinguish it from the more plebian movements with which spiritualism was often identified.” (p. 4)  

“The Mahatma Letters to A. P Sinnett is an extraordinary work. Marvelously constructed and richly textured, it justly deserves much closer attention than it has received, particularly since it sheds valuable light on the complex dynamics of colonial relations, as well as on the institutionalization of Eastern thought and the disenchantment of religion in the modern world.” (p.12)  

“At once prophetic and cautionary, the Mahatmas' communications are designed not so much to disrupt the secular moment as to pry it open in order to salvage a past that exceeds the past of European sectarianism. Agents of a new secularism, the Mahatmas conceive of their role as a tearing away of the mask of legal tolerance to show the "religious dogmatism [that] lingers in the hearts of the multitudes" (ML, p. 4). For the Mahatmas it is essential to recognize this as a starting point for reconstructing a nondogmatic world order. But in opening up sectarian history to new, frightening contemplation, they succeed in drawing attention to a long view of history that would otherwise not be visible. For instance, in a series of letters Koot Hoomi uncovers the evolution of life forms whose progressive differentiation results in the fragmentation of a uniform world consciousness. Even as he shows that such fragmentation is the essence of sectarianism, he also points to a much larger biological process that is integrative in its impulses. The revelation of occult secrets thus becomes a mechanism for imagining a future in which a world consciousness might be recaptured from its moments of rupture.” (p.16 )

“On another level, however, an alternative culture of governance is imagined, which would draw upon the insights of spiritual teachers to cultivate an expansive secularism, a secularism open to its past. Indeed, the role of the Theosophical Society is proposed as a narrowing of the chasm between rational secularity and occult knowledge. This allows the Anglo- Indian officers of the society to project their organization as oppositional while appropriating the teachings of the truly anti-colonial masters to construct their own self-serving version of a secular society, less opposed to religion than to a present-minded, ahistorical view of life. 

Finally, I realize how complicated it is to write about the Tibetan Masters in The Mahatma Letters as if they had a reality independent of their interlocutors and authors. And perhaps that is the whole point of the work, as it challenges its readers to imagine whose world is being imagined, whose perspective dominates the disenthralment of the modern world, whose viewpoint ultimately prevails in the reception of astral secrets, and, most of all, whose personae the masters assume. Whatever the answers to these questions, it seems clear the masters are intended to function as agents of a new secularism that is less present-minded and more open to a long view of time, as evident in the Theosophists' fondness for genealogies beginning with primordial matter. The expansiveness of the temporal framework is also designed to allow for a displacement of religious teleology by evolutionary history, which by the nineteenth century had begun to yield new units of scientific analysis such as race and ethnicity.” (p.20) 

ps.

for an example of further research that has since been done on this question, see:

Mriganka Mukhopadhyay. The Occult and the Orient: The Theosophical Society and the Socio-Religious Space in Colonial India - Presidency Historical Review http://presidencyhistoricalreview.com/presijournal/index.php/phr/article/view/18

varia: upcoming lecture on theosophy at McGill University https://www.mcgill.ca/creor/files/creor/gauri_viswanathan_poster_2016.pdf