Post by fellowmark on Aug 15, 2009 16:25:16 GMT
Greetings,
Returning to the Theosophy's roots one may find the following words at the introduction of the Secret Doctrine:
The 20th Century saw the overdevelopment of groups and schools -- aka Neo-Theosophy, "all of them hailing back to HPB and her teachers, and each of them claiming (or more often insinuating) to have the right interpretation" (source)
Yet, in the first quarter of the 20th century, there was an individual, former student of the Theosophical Society, whose work and writings came into our midst almost incognito or otherwise dismissed without any substantiated reason; although those same writings did start by proclaiming:
And then this disciple sent by the Masters of Wisdom1 taught, among many other things (cf. Hamlet: Act I, Scene V):
Currently, the majority, if not all, esoterically inclined minds, whether in Masonry, Theosophy or any other school of thought, usually seem to listen the deep sayings of an outstanding prolific occult and mystic writer and scholar called Manly Palmer Hall.
Yet, from my viewpoint, few seem to have paid the due attention to Hall's words regarding the opening to public of these deeper esoteric Teachings, when previously "the disclosure of many things, freely spoken about now, was forbidden":
Insights and constructive viewpoints are welcome.
Thank you for your attention.
Regards.
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1 « This being the case, you will appreciate the care which the Elder Brothers must take here confiding so important a message to anyone, particularly as such a teaching may only be given out at certain times. As the seed of plants is planted at the beginning of the yearly cycle, so also must a philosophical seed such as that of the Rosicrucian teachings be planted and the book published in the first decade of the century, which commences a new cycle, or the opportunity is lost till the next cycle rolls around. One messenger had proven faithless by 1905. Then the Brothers turned to myself, and entrusted the teachings to me after I have passed a certain test in 1908. The "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" was published in November, 1909, a little more than a year before the end of the first decade. (...) Had it not been for the support of the Brothers I must have gone under. It was their work, however, and they saw me through. All that I was expected to do was to work to the limit of my endurance and ability and leave the rest to them, yet I was almost a wreck when the strain was past.
Now, perhaps you will understand my attitude towards the "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception." I admire and marvel at its wonderful teaching more than anyone else, and can do so without violating proper modesty for the book is not mine--it belongs to humanity. »
-- Max Heindel in Our Work in the World (issued May, 1912)
Returning to the Theosophy's roots one may find the following words at the introduction of the Secret Doctrine:
« Speaking of the keys to the Zodiacal mysteries as being almost lost to the world, (...) In Century the Twentieth some disciple more informed, and far better fitted, may be sent by the Masters of Wisdom to give final and irrefutable proofs that there exists a Science called Gupta-Vidya; and that, like the once-mysterious sources of the Nile, the source of all religions and philosophies now known to the world has been for many ages forgotten and lost to men, but is at last found. » Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine, op. cit., vol. I, p. xxxviii.
The 20th Century saw the overdevelopment of groups and schools -- aka Neo-Theosophy, "all of them hailing back to HPB and her teachers, and each of them claiming (or more often insinuating) to have the right interpretation" (source)
Yet, in the first quarter of the 20th century, there was an individual, former student of the Theosophical Society, whose work and writings came into our midst almost incognito or otherwise dismissed without any substantiated reason; although those same writings did start by proclaiming:
« When a new philosophy [Ancient Truths in Modern Dress] is presented to the world it is met in different ways by different people. (...) Both these classes stand in their own light. "Set" ideas render them impervious to rays of truth » in A Word to the Wise from The RCC.
And then this disciple sent by the Masters of Wisdom1 taught, among many other things (cf. Hamlet: Act I, Scene V):
« EVOLUTION AS SHOWN IN THE ZODIAC: It is a matter of common knowledge among mystics that the evolutionary career of mankind is indissolubly bound up with the divine hierarchies who rule the planets and the signs of the Zodiac, and that passage of the Sun and the planets through the twelve signs of the Zodiac, marks man's progress in time and in space. (...) [But we want to make it clearly understood that we do not cast horoscopes for money, or tell fortunes. Our work is a strictly humanitarian undertaking. To us, Astrology is a phase of religion.] » in The Message of the Stars
Currently, the majority, if not all, esoterically inclined minds, whether in Masonry, Theosophy or any other school of thought, usually seem to listen the deep sayings of an outstanding prolific occult and mystic writer and scholar called Manly Palmer Hall.
Yet, from my viewpoint, few seem to have paid the due attention to Hall's words regarding the opening to public of these deeper esoteric Teachings, when previously "the disclosure of many things, freely spoken about now, was forbidden":
« If we should feel ashamed if our leaders should return to us again and we should know that we have failed them, let us rededicate ourselves to them. Let the spirit of H.P. Blavatsky be reborn in the heart of each Theosophist and the spirit of Max Heindel live again in the heart of each Rosicrucian. When this time comes, and may it come, the mystics and the occultists of the world can clasp hands across the gulf of their differences and, united in purpose, be an army of spiritual reconstruction marching like the prophets of old in the vanguard of progress. » in Manly P. Hall's Introduction to Heindel's Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine (published in 1933 [posthumous work], from Max Heindel's 1905/6 lectures delivered around the time Heindel was a member of the Theosophical Society of Los Angeles; see also an addendum).
Insights and constructive viewpoints are welcome.
Thank you for your attention.
Regards.
-------
1 « This being the case, you will appreciate the care which the Elder Brothers must take here confiding so important a message to anyone, particularly as such a teaching may only be given out at certain times. As the seed of plants is planted at the beginning of the yearly cycle, so also must a philosophical seed such as that of the Rosicrucian teachings be planted and the book published in the first decade of the century, which commences a new cycle, or the opportunity is lost till the next cycle rolls around. One messenger had proven faithless by 1905. Then the Brothers turned to myself, and entrusted the teachings to me after I have passed a certain test in 1908. The "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception" was published in November, 1909, a little more than a year before the end of the first decade. (...) Had it not been for the support of the Brothers I must have gone under. It was their work, however, and they saw me through. All that I was expected to do was to work to the limit of my endurance and ability and leave the rest to them, yet I was almost a wreck when the strain was past.
Now, perhaps you will understand my attitude towards the "Rosicrucian Cosmo-Conception." I admire and marvel at its wonderful teaching more than anyone else, and can do so without violating proper modesty for the book is not mine--it belongs to humanity. »
-- Max Heindel in Our Work in the World (issued May, 1912)