From dalval14@earthlink.net Tue Nov 01 05:51:49 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: dalval14@earthlink.net X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 92811 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 13:51:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.216) by m30.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 13:51:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtpauth04.mail.atl.earthlink.net) (209.86.89.64) by mta1.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 13:51:48 -0000 Received: from [209.178.164.42] (helo=DALLAS) by smtpauth04.mail.atl.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1EWwXl-0000LY-MW; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 08:51:24 -0500 To: "AA-BNStudy" Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 04:50:57 -0800 Message-ID: <001a01c5dee2$ebd92960$2aa4b2d1@DALLAS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 1 (Highest) X-MSMail-Priority: High X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Importance: High In-Reply-To: X-ELNK-Trace: c552449649a8b16d1aa676d7e74259b7b3291a7d08dfec798fde337888b9fdf711d3f1344d509e2c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 209.86.89.64 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" Reply-To: Subject: RE: Theos-World The Seven Keys of Symbolism? X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=52898573; y=SqUNrU9NM7uHGhRjUy_4x6vBD6xADIpM1od19HBzFjketQ X-Yahoo-Profile: dalval2 Nov 1 2005 Dear Desmond : A serious and devoted study of the SECRET DOCTRINE will engage a lifetime. I suggest you acquire (as a preliminary, if not yet acquired) from The OCEA= N OF THEOSOPHY (200 pp) , and The KEY TO THEOSOPHY (300 pp), an overview, then approach the SECRET DOCTRINE . [ Also keep detailed notes as you go.] If you seek to analyse it or approach it with some pre-set or prejudiced ideas it will yield only more puzzle to your mind. It helps if you are a "generalist," i.e.: one who is familiar with and interested in anything that provides more information and knowledge explanatory of all that surrounds us. I have found that the study of THEOSOPHY provides many links to bridge the "gaps" for which our scientific researchers provide "hypotheses, and theories."=20 The SECRET DOCTRINE is an introduction to the HISTORY of our world and Kosmos -- so it starts with the basic ideas and developments. There are man= y students in the world who study and share their findings. It is NOT written as a "text-book." I mean the SECRET DOCTRINE . This is because it has to show gradually the underlying structure of what w= e think is matter and reality. It uses as evidence ancient history as well a= s modern science and continues to do this as devoted students continually add to its data and include fresh evidence. A record of this will be found in magazines such as THEOSOPHY (93rd. volume) and the THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT (75th. vol.)=20 Here are some questions (as an instance): 1 what provides the underlying structure to any form or body patterns ? [What holds the atoms, molecules, cells and organs in their particular cooperative arrangements ?] 2 Is there a vast PLAN that is evident in every aspect of NATURE ? [Who or what designed it ? ] 3 Is there a reactive sensitivity (psychology) in our environment ? [I there evidence of thought and will affecting matter and other living things= ? ] 4 Do ancient religions and philosophies hold information ? [ One has to acquire a facility to grasp ancient languages and descriptive names and events -- a form of pre-history -- myth, legend and symbology -- the SECRET DOCTRINE employs this -- you mention Kabala and the wisdom of the ancient Jews -- this was borrowed from still more ancient scriptures: the Hindu Vedas. [The Jews and Semites as a sub-race, emigrated progressively from India since about 3,000 B C: JUDAISM (Tchandala Emigrants from India - Yadus) Is II 433 ]=20 5 Are not our scientists and investigators uncovering the plans and arrangements that NATURE has put into place intelligently? Nature has always placed the same patterns for us to uncover. "It got there first!" 6 What is the pattern of these ? 7 Is NATURE conscious and intelligent?=20=20 8 Where do we derive our mind and sensations from? 9 Is there somewhere a purpose and a reality ? 10 Can we discover it ? Since most of the quotes that we will discuss come from SD, I hope the following extracts from Robert Bowen's notes of personal teachings given by H.P.B. to private pupils during the years 1888 to 1891 on how to study SD may be of some help. "At last we have managed to get H.P.B. to put us right on the matter of the study of the S.D. Let me get it down while it is all fresh in mind. Reading the S.D. page by page as one reads any other book (she says) will only end us in confusion.=20 The first thing to do, even if it takes years, is to get some grasp of the "Three Fundamental Principles" given in the Proem.=20 Follow that up by study of the Recapitulation -- the numbered items in the Summing Up to Vol. I. (Part 1.).=20 Then take the Preliminary Notes (Vol. II.) and the Conclusion (Vol. II.)......=20 She talked a good deal about the "Fundamental Principle."=20 She says: If one imagines that one is going to get a satisfactory picture o= f the constitution of the Universe from the S.D. one will get only confusion from its study. It is not meant to give any such final verdict on existence= , but to LEAD TOWARDS THE TRUTH. She repeated this latter expression many times.=20=20 It is worse than useless going to those whom we imagine to be advanced students (she said) and asking them to give us an "interpretation" of the S.D. They cannot do it. If they try, all they give are cut and dried exoteric renderings which do not remotely resemble the Truth. To accept suc= h interpretation means anchoring ourselves to fixed ideas, whereas Truth lies beyond any ideas we can formulate or express. Exoteric interpretations are all very well, and she does not condemn them s= o long as they are taken as pointers for beginners, and are not accepted by them as anything more.=20 Many persons who are in, or who will in the future be in the T.S. are of course potentially incapable of any advance beyond the range of a common exoteric conception.=20 But there are, and will be others, and for them she sets out the following and true way of approach to the S.D.=20 Come to the S.D. (she says) without any hope of getting the final Truth of existence from it, or with any idea other than seeing how far it may lead TOWARDS the Truth. See in study a means of exercising and developing the mind never touched by other studies.=20 Observe the following rules:=20 1. No matter what one may study in the S.D. let the mind hold fast, as the basis of its ideation to the following ideas=20 (a) The FUNDAMENTAL UNITY OF ALL EXISTENCE. This unity is a thing altogethe= r different from the common notion of unity -- as when we say that a nation o= r an army is united; or that this planet is united to that by lines of magnetic force or the like. The teaching is not that.=20=20 It is that existence is ONE THING, not any collection of things linked together.=20 Fundamentally there is ONE BEING.=20 This Being has two aspects, positive and negative. The positive is Spirit, or CONSCIOUSNESS. The negative is SUBSTANCE, the subject of consciousness.= =20 This Being is the ABSOLUTE in its primary manifestation. Being absolute there is nothing outside it. It is ALL-BEING. It is indivisible, else it would not be absolute.=20 If a portion could be separated, that remaining could not be absolute, because there would at once arise the question of COMPARISON between it and the separated part.=20 Comparison is incompatible with any idea of absoluteness. Therefore it is clear that this fundamental One Existence, or Absolute Being must be THE REALITY IN EVERY FORM THERE IS.=20 I said that though this was clear to me I did not think that many in the Lodges would grasp it.=20 "Theosophy," she said, "is for those who can think, or for those who can drive themselves to think, not mental sluggards."=20 .... 4 Fundamental Ideas Given by HPB=20 (a)The Atom, the Man, the God (she says) are each separately, as well as al= l collectively, Absolute Being in their last analysis, that is their REAL INDIVIDUALITY.=20 It is this idea which must be held always in the background of the mind to form the basis for every conception that arises from study of the S.D.=20 The moment one lets it go (and it is most easy to do so when engaged in any of the many intricate aspects of the Esoteric Philosophy) the idea of SEPARATION supervenes, and the study loses its value.=20=20 (b) The second idea to hold fast to is that THERE IS NO DEAD MATTER. Every last atom is alive. It cannot be otherwise since every atom is itself fundamentally Absolute Being. Therefore there is no such thing as "spaces" of Ether, or Akasha, or call it what you like, in which angels and elementals disport themselves like trout in water. That's the common idea. The true idea shows every atom of substance no matter of what plane to be i= n itself a LIFE.=20 (c) The third basic idea to be held is that Man is the MICROCOSM. As he is so, then all the Hierarchies of the Heavens exist within him.=20=20 But in truth there is neither Macrocosm nor Microcosm but ONE EXISTENCE. Great and small are such only as viewed by a limited consciousness.=20 (d) Fourth and last basic idea to be held is that expressed in the Great Hermetic Axiom. It really sums up and synthesizes all the others.=20 =93As is the Inner, so is the Outer; as is the Great so is the Small; as it= is above, so it is below; there is but One Life and Law; and he that worketh i= t is ONE. Nothing is Inner, nothing is Outer; nothing is Great, nothing is Small; nothing is High, nothing is Low, in the Divine Economy. =93 No matter what one takes as study in the S.D. one must correlate it with those basic ideas." [Notes by Cmdr. Bowen ]=20=20=20 Best wishes, glad to help, Dallas =20 ----------------------------------------------- Here are some of the references that may help you: SEVEN KEYS, RAYS, DHYAN CHOHANS.DOC =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D 7 RAYS -- DHYAN CHOHANS RAYS SVAR=C2J (Sk.). =93The last or seventh (synthetical) ray of the seven sola= r rays; the same as Brahm=E2. These seven rays are the entire gamut of the se= ven occult forces (or gods) of nature, as their respective names well prove. These are: Sushumn=E2 (the ray which transmits sunlight to the moon); Harikesha, Visvakarman, Visvatryarchas, Sannadhas, Sarvavasu, and Svaraj. A= s each stands for one of the creative gods or Forces, it is easy to see how important were the functions of the sun in the eyes of antiquity, and why i= t was deified by the profane.=92 Glos 315 SUSHUMN=C2, (Sk.). =93The solar ray--the first of the seven rays. Also the name of a spinal nerve which connects the heart with the Brahma-randra, and plays a most important part in Yoga practices.=94 THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY, p. 314 PRINCIPLES 7 Cosmic and Human principles S D II 596=09 PRINCIPLES. The Elements or original essences, the basic differentiations upon and of which all things are built up. We use the term to denote the seven individual and fundamental aspects of the One Universal Reality in Kosmos and in man. Hence also the seven aspects in the manifestation in the human being=97divine, spiritual, psychic, astral, physiological and simply physical.=94 Glos 262-3 `PHYSIOLOGY PHYSIOLOGY [ SECRET DOCTRINE ] denies a vital principle I 603=20 ignorant of Moon's influence I 264=20 magician of the future I 261=20 of man & animals II 187-90=20 occult facts of II 295-8=20 of organisms II 116-17=20 psychic knowledge would widen II 370n=20 septenate in II 623 &n PSYCHOLOGY PSYCHOLOGY SECRET DOCTRINE II 107n Aryan & Egyptian, not understood I 226=20 deals only w false personality II 254=20 Eastern I 54=20 esoteric, septenary II 632-3=20 fifth element & II 135=20 "laws of association" I 292=20 in lunar worship I 398=20 monism, materialism & negative I 124 &nn=20 sees man as evolved animal I 636=20 shifted to crass materialism II 156n=20 spiritual vs materialistic I 620n DHYAN CHOHANS There are seven chief groups of such DHYAN CHOHANS, which groups will be found and recognised in every religion, for they are the primeval SEVEN Rays. Humanity, occultism teaches us, is divided into seven distinct groups and their sub-divisions, mental, spiritual, and physical. [SD I, 573] DHYAN-CHOHAN(S). in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 Absolute beyond grasp of highest I 51=20 agents of cosmic law I 274-5=20 aggregate of, Divine Intelligence I 452, 471-2, 595, 604=20 Ah-hi (dhyan-buddhic) parinishpanna I 53=20 Aletae, Lares, Kabiri or II 360-1, 393=20 Amshaspends II 358, 365-6=20 angels I 222n, 226, 274, 611=20 anupadaka [aupapaduka] & I 52=20 architects of visible world I 16=20 astral man reflection of II 170=20 boughs of Hiranyagarbha I 406=20 builders & watchers I 233=20 can do better than initiates I 234-5=20 Chenresi II 178=20 clothed in souls, atoms I 619=20 conscious, intelligent powers I 93=20 cosmic, cause terrestrial phenomena I 604=20 cosmic, dual host of beings I 604=20 cosmic mind & law are I 278, 579n, 595=20 create man & world II 242, 510=20 Deity's incarnated beams II 584=20 devas I 288n; II 307=20 direct causative agents of man I 229-30=20 do not fully remember former cosmos II 310=20 do not pass thru lower kingdoms I 188=20 dual nature of hosts of I 280=20 elements stand for I 339, 372-3 &n=20 elohim II 37=20 endow man w self-consciousness II 232-3n=20 esoteric hierarchy of II 465=20 evolved first races II 307, 365-6=20 failures among I 188; II 232-3n=20 first group of I 197=20 forbidden fruit & II 267=20 form manifested Verbum I 278=20 four arms of II 179=20 four classes of II 60, 102=20 four Maharajas kings of I 122=20 four primal natures of I 82=20 four suns of life & II 239=20 guide elemental forces I 277-8=20 Hermetic daimones, genii I 288n=20 hierarchy of, & 31415 I 90, 93=20 higher creative, or Demiurgos I 110=20 highest, know solar system II 700n=20 Host, Elohim, Jehovah or II 510=20 incarnate in man I 188, 295n; II 92=20 invisible deity I 114=20 karmic agents I 274, 278=20 Keely under class of I 559=20 Kwan-shi-yin aggregate of I 471=20 made worlds fr primary stuff I 598n=20 manifest divine thought & will I 38=20 manifested theogony I 434=20 man's seven principles & I 226-7=20 manus or I 452; II 308-9, 365-6=20 manvantaric emanations of Logos I 429=20 man will merge into his I 265=20 man needs two rounds to become II 257=20 men fr other manvantaras I 277=20 minor logoi or elohim II 37=20 nature's guiding intelligences I 146, 277-8=20 never-resting breaths I 103=20 in nirvana during pralaya I 116n=20 not perfect or to be worshiped I 280=20 objective universe built on I 375=20 ophanim ['ophannim] or I 92, 337=20 pass thru Circle of Necessity II 303=20 planetary spirits I 635=20 popular description of II 178-9=20 populations of, in other worlds I 583n=20 preside over constellations I 638 primordial mind or I 52=20 races, rounds, & I 42, 233, 442, 573 &n=20 reflect universal ideation I 280=20 refused to create II 246=20 rupa, arupa I 197; II 318n=20 septenary groups of I 573-4; II 361=20 seven primordial sages II 267n=20 seven rays fr Logos I 130, 573=20 seven rupa classes of II 318n=20 sixfold, minus physical I 222n, 235=20 six hierarchies of, & saktis I 292-3=20 sources of revelation I 10=20 substance of I 289-90=20 three lords or II 212=20 various names for I 42, 375; II 90, 365-6=20 wanted man to become a god II 246 ------------------------------------------------- KEYS KEY(S) in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 allegories & symbols have seven II 291n=20 geometry the fifth II 471=20 Hebrew physiological I 311=20 human, one of seven II 291n=20 IU gave, one turn I xxxviii=20 Massey used two or three II 632=20 Mysteries unlocked by seven II 632=20 new, needed for mysteries II 795=20 occult science a I 341=20 Rabbis lost II 537=20 Ragon on the, to symbols I 363=20 required for old theogony II 248=20 seven, must not be mixed II 517=20 seven, open past & future I 325=20 seven, taught in occultism I 155n; II 523=20 seven, to man's genesis I 323=20 seven, to meaning of swastika II 99=20 seven, to universal symbology I xxxviii, 310-11, 363=20 in Skinner's Source of Measures I 318 &n=20 to theogonies & Secret Doctrine II 23, 767=20 three of seven, only given II 517=20 three or four used in Secret Doctrine II 797=20 of wisdom found in nature II 797=20 to Zohar & Bible II 536-45, 590-8 ALLEGORY (IES). in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 allegory within an II 94=20 ark & seven rishis an II 139=20 astronomical II 380=20 based on reminiscence II 293=20 Bible, now unveiled I 315=20 bisexuality universal in II 125=20 esoteric teaching uses II 81=20 Fohat key to many I 673=20 foolishly called fables II 103=20 Garuda origin of other II 564-5=20 of initiation & adeptship II 380=20 interpretation of I 310; II 94n, 384, 765=20 of Noahs, Vaivasvatas, etc II 314=20 Puranas are history & I 520; II 253, 323=20 record of real events II 235=20 reject, based on creeds II 194=20 seven, 10, 21=20 rishis, munis, etc II 259n=20 of Soma & Tara II 498-9=20 symbolism &, in Mysteries II 124=20 wisdom preserved in I 307, 466; II 235, 410=20 years of patriarchs are II 426=20 zodiacal, historical II 353 ANALOGY (IES). in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 in chemistry I 218n; II 627=20 betw cosmos & man I 173, 177, 206, 227n, 606; II 29n=20 fr cosmos to smallest globe II 66=20 dhyani-chohans & II 700n=20 false I 472=20 guided ancient philosophers II 616=20 guide to occult teachings I 173=20 images on various planes II 268=20 law in nature I 604; II 153, 699=20 limitations of I 150=20 logic of, & giants II 154n=20 betw man & manvantara I 263n=20 pralaya known by I 116n=20 principles, rounds, races II 254n, 257, 684-5=20 scientific corroborations I 585-6n=20 seven rounds & seven-month embryo II 257=20 seven turns of key of I 150-1 CORRESPONDENCES,=20 law of I 585-6n; II 197, 301.=20 SEVEN(S). in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 adopted on this plane II 312n=20 ages of man II 117, 312n=20 in Anugita II 637-8=20 Apollo patron of II 772n=20 astral phenomena & II 627=20 became eight (ogdoad) II 358n=20 Bible, prominent in I 387; II 4=20 in Book of the Dead (Egy) I 674=20 born fr upper triangle II 574=20 bright Sravah or Amshaspends II 516=20 chemical elements governed by II 627-8=20 in Christian dogmas I 310-11=20 churches, Sodalian Mysteries II 633=20 circles II 80=20 classes of pitris II 77, 89, 91-2=20 colors fr one ray II 492=20 columns, rectores around tree II 293=20 creations I 21, 217, 445-60; II 53n, 612, 624=20 cross, circle & oldest symbols II 582=20 crucifixion, esoteric meanings of II 560-1=20 dialects of Mystery language I 310=20 dvipas & planetary chain II 320=20 earths, heavens, seas I 447-8=20 elements, cosmic I 137, 140, 347, 460 II 596 elements of man (Gnostic) II 604-5, 632=20 every scripture has, aspects II 496=20 eyes of the Lord II 22, 626=20 feminine number of generation II 581-2=20 -fold division secret I xxxv=20 forces, powers, planets II 602 &n=20 forms, colors, sounds, taste & II 622=20 forty-nine &, fires II 363=20 forty-nine &, in Sanskrit texts II 611=20 found in all religions II 34-7=20 four lower, three higher II 92, 581-2, 598=20 generative number w Hebrews I 114=20 Gnostic vowels of St John II 565=20 governors of dhyani-chohans I 601=20 Greek, fr Hindus II 408=20 -headed serpent of space I 342=20 heart, skin plexuses & II 92=20 heavens, dhyanis of II 273=20 heavens, vowels (Gnostic) II 563=20 Hebrew word for week II 624n=20 hosts build world II 489=20 initiators linked w II 529=20 keys I 310, 318, 325; II 291n, 335, 471, 538, 632-3=20 keys to meaning of swastika II 99=20 keys to symbol language II 471, 538, 584, 765=20 kings, rishis I 376=20 Laycock on cycles of II 622-3 &n=20 letters of Jehovah's name I 335=20 Logos, -voweled sign I 79=20 magic number II 629-30=20 manifested universe II 626=20 master of the Moon II 601=20 modes of interpretation I 374=20 not confined to any nation II 603=20 number of divine mysteries I 36=20 number of present manvantara II 590=20 occult virtues of, (Hippocrates) II 312n=20 pass fr India to Christians II 612=20 Philo on I 407=20 planes, keys, sciences II 335=20 planetary spirits II 318n=20 point, triangle, quaternary became II 612=20 powers of, & cycles I 36=20 powers of nature, angels of II 273=20 powers of the Logos II 359=20 primeval gods II 514=20 principles, states of matter II 29, 92, 491, 631-2=20 properties of nature (Boehme) II 595=20 in Puranas, Esoteric Buddhism I 348=20 Qabbalah (Myer) re various I 347-8=20 races, continents II 1-12, 77, 91=20 real scale of natures I 656n=20 regents of Pymander of elohim II 488=20 root nature-number present cycle I 460; II 621=20 sacred in every nation I 114=20 sacred islands II 326=20 senses & seven hotris (Anugita) I 87, 96=20 sins, virtues, sacraments I 310-11=20 -skinned, space called I 9=20 son of seventh son II 213=20 sons of Priyavrata II 320=20 sound, color & II 627-9=20 spheres of action II 621n=20 Spirits of the Presence I 312=20 spring, summer & II 583=20 states of consciousness I 96=20 three, four, ten & II 564=20 triad emanates the I 427=20 truths, four only given in fourth round I 42=20 various, -fold symbols II 529-30, 612-18, 637-41, 771-2n=20 virgin men (kumara) II 281=20 vowels & forty-nine powers I 410-11; II 564 HEBDOMAD(IC) in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 Gnostics had three I 448-9=20 mysteries of II 590-1=20 structure of men, gods II 91-2, 590-8,=20 MAN & UNIVERSE 596=20 tetrad unfolded becomes II 599=20 of Valentinus I 446 SYMBOL(S). in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 ancient, adopted by Christians I 402-3=20 ancient use of I 466=20 Church Fathers disfigured II 98, 481-2=20 Confucian, & esoteric I 440-1=20 cosmic, astrological, religious I 229, 241=20 of cosmogenesis I 4-5=20 cruciform, of Dii Termini II 542=20 emblems &, compared I 305-6=20 esoteric meanings of I 443-5=20 exoteric, & creeds II 194=20 Fohat key to many I 673=20 heirloom fr Atlantis II 431=20 Hindu & Chaldean II 383=20 history contained in I 267; II 437=20 initiates' knowledge of II 439=20 Jews killed spirituality of II 459n=20 levels of I 407=20 many-faceted diamond I 305=20 many meanings to every II 359=20 Massey on importance of I 303-5=20 most, archaic I 320-1=20 occult II 335=20 Ophidian II 355=20 origin of, older than Egypt II 630 &n=20 phallicism reigns supreme in II 273=20 Pythagorean I 618-19=20 rationale of II 81=20 religion & esoteric hist in I 272-3, 307=20 Renan ignorant of pagan II 457=20 revelation of the godlike, (Carlyle) I 303=20 serpent a divine, not evil II 505=20 seven meanings to every I 363; II 22n, 335, 357, 538, 547, 584, 765=20 sources of error in I 119=20 of symbols II 547n=20 Talmudic Jews profaned II 471=20 of third race,of forth race II 30=20 universal language II 469=20 years of Patriarchs are II 426 SYMBOLOGY, SYMBOLISM. in SECRET DOCTRINE=20 Bible, Indian, Chaldean, Egyptian I 320-5=20 Christian fr Hebrew, Hebrew fr Chaldean II 354=20 discussed I 303-9=20 fourth stage of, & generation I 36=20 Hebrew-Egyptian I 308-9, 364n=20 Hindu I 667=20 history of world found in II 438=20 interpretation of II 335=20 kabbalistic II 457=20 of marriage ceremony I 614-15n=20 of Meru & Patala II 357=20 Mosaic, became crude under Ezra I 319=20 Mystery language or I 309; II 124=20 & origin of evil II 274=20 of Pentateuch & New Testament I 115n=20 power of occult I 272=20 representing abstractions I 615=20 seven departments of I 305=20 seven keys to universal I xxxviii, 310-11, 363; II 335=20 spirit & value of II 469=20 of temple curtain I 125 ----------------------------------------------------------- -----Original Message----- From: desmontes Sent: Monday, October 31, 2005 9:49 PM To:=20 Subject: The Seven Keys of Symbolism? Greetings, I have been currently engaged in the study of the Secret Doctrine and=20 I have encountered continual references by HPB to the "key that must=20 be turned seven times" with regard to the seven systems of symbolic=20 interpretation. In the following paragraph she made distinct=20 reference to three of them, anthropologic, psychic, and astronomical,=20 but it is unclear to me if she is identifying the remaining four. She=20 writes, (S D I: 363 Ragon quoted) Does she give a concise listing and explanation of these seven keys=20 in any of her other writings, or perhaps somewhere else in the Secret=20 Doctrine? If not, can someone more learned in the subject explain it=20 me? The distinctions in the above paragraph seem unclear. Thanks, Desmond=20 From saidevo@yahoo.co.in Tue Nov 01 06:54:59 2005 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 2502 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 14:54:59 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.166) by m30.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 14:54:59 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n2a.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.36) by mta5.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 14:54:58 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.69.5] by n2.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 14:54:51 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.81] by mailer5.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 14:54:51 -0000 X-Sender: saidevo@yahoo.co.in X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 80406 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 12:54:17 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m34.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 12:54:17 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n7a.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.41) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 12:54:17 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.69.2] by n7.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 12:54:03 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.81] by mailer2.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 12:54:03 -0000 Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 12:54:01 -0000 To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-system X-Originating-IP: 66.94.237.41 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 61.2.225.134 From: "saidevo" Subject: Sanatana Dharma for Kids: Sacred Symbols: AUM X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=227523244; y=fn-aqqB94xC9FO7wGJg1VtxbYn7r3A9G3IKfRqU1ZJ42Mw X-Yahoo-Profile: saidevo X-eGroups-Approved-By: eldon_tucker via web; 01 Nov 2005 14:54:51 -0000 "Today we'll discuss AUM, the most sacred of the symbols of Sanatana=20 Dharma", said daddy, as they sat for dinner.=20 Mummy had prepared vegetable briyani with onion raita and green=20 salad, and the usual curd rice with mango pickles for dinner. Two=20 large bowls of briyani and curd rice with the side dishes in=20 satellite bowls were neatly arranged on the table. The aroma of=20 briyani wafted in the air, increasing everyone's appetite.=20 "Before we start eating", said daddy, "let us close our eyes for a=20 full minute and intently listen to this sacred mantra." He pressed=20 the Enter key of his laptap on the tall stool, and the sacred sound=20 of AUM reverberated in the room, wave after wave, as the computer=20 played the sound file for a full minute.=20 The children had promptly closed their eyes as had the elders, and=20 everyone listened to the mantra. When it was over, daddy said,=20 "Don't open your eyes now, but repeat the mantra AUM inside=20 yourselves, with your mouths closed, pronouncing every sound as you=20 heard just now, for another thirty seconds."=20 The children did as they were told, and finally opened their eyes at=20 their daddy's word. Daddy asked mummy to serve the dinner, and=20 started his discussion.=20 "The mantra you heard now is called the mula mantra or the root=20 mantra. AUM is also known as the maha mantra. First you should know=20 how to pronounce this mantra. Any idea, children?"=20 "Daddy, we have been pronouncing this mantra as simply om", said=20 Padma.=20 "Yes dad, we pronounced the vowel O for a longer time than the=20 consonant M. We sarted with Ohhhhhhh... but stopped rather short at=20 the M, without humming it properly as your demo showed now."=20 "How did you pronounce the mantra?" daddy asked mummy.=20 "Well, I knew that the mantra is written using the three letters A,=20 U, M. But I have not been articulating it the way we heard it here."=20 "I have also been guilty of your mummy's habit", admitted daddy.=20 "From now on, let all of us give due regard to this great mantra and=20 articulate it properly, in the way we heard it here. Reciting the=20 mantra correctly will greately benefit us."=20 Daddy continued: "Even though the mantra has three sounds A, U and=20 M, it is considered as a single letter and as a single syllable. You=20 already know that it is written as a single letter, and now you know=20 that it is pronounced with a long AU sound, which starts with a=20 short, bursting Ah sound, followed by a long O (or Oo as in moo)=20 sound, and an equally emphatic humming sound M, which gradually=20 wanes into silence. A single chant of the whole mantra takes at=20 least five seconds."=20 They continued eating the delicious briyani, between bites on their=20 green salad. When they paused for a second helping, daddy asked the=20 children, "Did both of you utter the mantra inside yourselves?"=20 "Yes, daddy", said the children in chorus.=20 "Well, did you notice or feel anything?"=20 "Yes daddy", said Padma. "It slighly choked in my throat."=20 "And it seemed to pass out of my ears", said Arvind.=20 "I felt peaceful", said mummy. "What did you feel?"=20 "Well, since I knew how it would feel, I did not feel anything=20 today!" said daddy. "My mind was preoccupied with how to teach this=20 great mantra to the children in a way that they will never forget."=20 "Did we feel the correct way, daddy?"=20 "Is there anything more, dad?"=20 "You are both wonderful children. I am really blessed to have you=20 two and mummy for a family", said daddy, his tone echoing his=20 gratitude and pride. "All the three of you felt it exactly the way=20 it would be felt. And there is a lot more to it."=20 The children looked at each other with widened eyes.=20 "There are three ways of reciting a mantra personally. In the adhama=20 or inferior way, a mantra is uttered loudly, as most of us do. Some=20 people just lisp a mantra, pronouncing the words without sound, but=20 with their lips moving. This is the madhyama or the medium way. The=20 uttama or the best way is to recite a mantra inside us with our=20 mouths closed, mentally listening to the articulations of the=20 mantra."=20 "We chant the mantras loudly in the morning assembly at school",=20 said Padma.=20 "The pundits chant the Veda mantras out loudly dad", said Arvind.=20 "Both are examples of community chanting", said daddy. "In a family=20 or community chanting of a prayer or a ceremony, the mantras are not=20 chanted for personal gains, so they must be recited out loudly.=20 Vedas are chanted by a group of pundits in order that the vibrations=20 set forth by the mantras benefit the people around, and the house=20 they are chanted at. In a personal chant, a mantra is best recited=20 in the uttamic way, because its vibrations mainly need to propagate=20 in the inner space."=20 "And how does this uttamic chanting of AUM benefit us, dad?"=20 reminded Arvind.=20 "As you say the AUM mantra inwardly, it reechoes inside you, causing=20 vibrations in your throat and ears. The vibrations travel upward to=20 the skull and downward to the navel. If the mantra is chanted with=20 pure aspirations and devotion, these vibrations calm the nerve=20 centers and tune up your chakras for meditation."=20 "But I didn't feel anything in my skull or navel", said Padma.=20 "I think I felt a slight knotting up in my navel", said Arvind.=20 "Padma felt the vibration in her throat, Arvind in his ears and=20 mummy had a peace of mind. So all of you are on the right track.=20 With sincere practice and when you learn yoga and meditation, the=20 benefits of AUM will be felt more and more. Yogis hear this pranava=20 sound in their meditation."=20 "Mummy has told us that Ganesha is the symbol of pranava. What=20 exactly is pranava dad?"=20 "The term pranava is from the Sanskrit roots pra + nu, and means to=20 utter or bring forth a droning or humming sound. This sound is AUM,=20 with which Brahma created the world. This is the primordial sound of=20 the universe, and is the base of every form of manifestation.=20 Pranava pervades everything from the macrocosm of the universe to=20 the microcosm of the atoms, from the outer space to the inner space,=20 so the term stands for these two forms of manifestations, as well as=20 Brahman from whom it all originates."=20 "That is why Brahman is also known as the Nada Brahman", said mummy.=20 Daddy nodded at her and continued. "In the term pranava, the suffix=20 nava indicates new. Every moment something is born and something is=20 destroyed. As modern science has discovered, atomic particles turn=20 into energy and energy crystallizes back into particles. Our cells=20 die and are replaced constantly. This is why Shakespeare said, And=20 so, from hour to hour, we ripe and ripe, And then, from hour to=20 hour, we rot and rot; And thereby hangs a tale.."=20 "I think the quote is from the play As You Like It", said mummy who=20 was an M.A. English. "Jaques used these words of the court jester=20 Touchstone, remarking that he met that motley fool in a forest."=20 "You have a good memory", said daddy. "Mandukya Upanishad has the=20 AUM mantra for its entire subject matter. Of the three letters of=20 this mula mantra, the letter A represents the Adimatwa or the=20 beginning, the letter U represents the Utkarsha or progress and the=20 letter M represents Mitti or limit or dissolution. Thus the letters=20 A, U, M stand for creation, preservation and dissolution, and=20 represent the Trimurti--Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva."=20 "How deep and correlating our concepts are!" exclaimed mummy.=20 "There are other correlations. The letter A stands for the Satva=20 guna, U for Rajas and M for Tamas, which are the three gunas or=20 qualities of Prithvi or Nature. And then, the letters also stand for=20 the three worlds: A stands for the earth, the Bhurloka, U for the=20 astral world, the Bhuvarloka and M for the heavens, the Svarloka".=20 "Wonderful", said mummy.=20 "There is more", said daddy. "Children, don't worry if you can't=20 follow the relationship between AUM and yoga meditation that I am=20 going to explain now. Just listen to these advanced concepts without=20 seeking any explanation. Things will be clearer to you as you grow=20 older and practice meditation."=20 "I heard that AUM has a significant role in meditation", said mummy.=20 "But I am not familiar with the details."=20 "To understand the details, you need to know that the mantra AUM has=20 actually four parts: the three sounds A, U, M--and silence. These=20 four parts are associated with the four levels of consciousness. The=20 sound A represents the waking level, called vaishvanara. The sound A=20 has a bursting quality. It arises quickly, in a flash from the=20 previous level of silence."=20 "I see. The sound O is actually a diphthong, comprising A and U",=20 said mummy, drawing on her knowledge of the English language. "Of=20 these two sounds A and U here, A is short and U is longer. Together=20 they make the O, pronounced Oh... and then Oo... in AUM. So AU is=20 svara and M anusvara that completes the vibration into silence."=20 "Nicely put", said daddy. "The U sound represents the dreaming level=20 of consciousness, called taijasa. The M sound stands for the deep=20 sleep level, called prajna. The fourth level is turiya which is=20 Consciousness itself permeating all other levels. At this level, the=20 observer, the observed and the process of observing all become one."=20 "Is turiya the equivalent of samadhi?" said mummy.=20 "Turiya is said to be a case of high samadhi. You might say that=20 turiya is the highest level of consciousness that results in the=20 state of samadhi."=20 The children appeared dumbstruck and were eating the curd rice=20 silently, as daddy continued his Vedanta.=20 "It is not just the sacred sound, but the very letter AUM=20 represents the four levels of consciousness.", said daddy, pointing=20 to the AUM letter displayed on the laptap screen. The children=20 looked up eagerly.=20 "The lower curve of the letter represents the waking level, the=20 right curve represents the dreaming level and the upper curve stands=20 for the deep sleep level."=20 "Above the upper curve is an arc, daddy" said Padma.=20 "On top of that is a dot" said Arvind. It was obvious that the=20 children wanted at least a small part in the discussion of which=20 they understood nothing.=20 Daddy smiled at them benevolently. "The dot or point or bindu=20 represents the fourth level turiya. The arc below the dot indicates=20 that the bindu or turiya level is separate from the other three, and=20 oversees them silently, standing above as well as permeating them.=20 Swami Jnaneshvara Bharati, popularly known as Swami J, of the=20 Himalayan Yoga tradition, has a very detailed analysis of all the=20 aspects of yoga meditation as he calls the process, in his Website=20 http://www.swamij.com. A nice feature of this Website is that the=20 concepts expounded by Swami J are those of Vedanta. This Website is=20 a treasure house of pure spiritual information and instructions."=20 Mummy closed her eyes and took a deep breath, savouring the=20 pronouncements made by daddy. She said, "I have a question. When you=20 say that the individual sounds of AUM represent a level of=20 consciousness, what exactly does that mean in practice?"=20 "A good question. Swami J says that as you medidate, when your=20 awareness is on each sound of the AUM mantra, 'you cultivate and=20 train yourself to have a simultaneous awareness of each level of=20 consciousness' at the personal microcosm and gradually transfer it=20 to the universal macrocosm. I think this is something like=20 meditating on successive chakras, starting from the muladhara, the=20 base chakra."=20 They had finished their dinner a little while back and their hands=20 started to dry up. Daddy belched loudly and said, "AUM is also used=20 in Buddhist and Jain rituals. Well, I think that's all I can explain=20 about this great mantra."=20 "I have a question, dad" said Arvind. "How do you spell the mantra=20 in English--AUM or just OM?"=20 "You can spell it either way. You can also pronounce it AUM with=20 full articulation or the simpler OM that we say in our shlokas. The=20 AUM articulation, however is used in meditation, and as a personal=20 mantra for the spiritual benefits it offers."=20 "The mantra is captivating daddy", said Padma. Arvind played the=20 sacred sound once again on daddy's laptap. With their eyes glowing,=20 the children played the mantra repeatedly for sometime, before they=20 dispersed to complete their school homework.=20 Regards, saidevo From danielhcaldwell@yahoo.com Tue Nov 01 07:10:30 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: danielhcaldwell@yahoo.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 31397 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 15:10:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m22.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 15:10:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n25.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.54) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 15:10:30 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.69.4] by n25.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:09:59 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.68] by mailer4.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:09:57 -0000 Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:09:57 -0000 To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: In-Reply-To: User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-compose X-Originating-IP: 66.94.237.54 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 69.9.23.244 From: "Daniel H. Caldwell" Subject: Desmond on "The Seven Keys of Symbolism" X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=39205895; y=ZwXTuxeCXoDVN8zL9XZgYQhs9-4PiuS1TIgTwWJ4VHws8QngiTTbKPwj X-Yahoo-Profile: danielhcaldwell Desmond, To point you in the direction of finding an answer to your interesting question, I would read what HPB writes about this subject in other parts of the SECRET DOCTRINE: BELOW are a limited number of index references in her book: KEY(S) in SECRET DOCTRINE allegories & symbols have seven II 291n geometry the fifth II 471 Hebrew physiological I 311 human, one of seven II 291n IU gave, one turn I xxxviii Massey used two or three II 632 Mysteries unlocked by seven II 632 new, needed for mysteries II 795 occult science a I 341 Rabbis lost II 537 Ragon on the, to symbols I 363 required for old theogony II 248 seven, must not be mixed II 517 seven, open past & future I 325 seven, taught in occultism I 155n; II 523 seven, to man's genesis I 323 seven, to meaning of swastika II 99 seven, to universal symbology I xxxviii, 310-11, 363 in Skinner's Source of Measures I 318 &n to theogonies & Secret Doctrine II 23, 767 three of seven, only given II 517 three or four used in Secret Doctrine II 797 of wisdom found in nature II 797 to Zohar & Bible II 536-45, 590-8 SYMBOL(S) seven meanings to every I 363; II 22n, 335, 357, 538, 547, 584, 765 SYMBOLOGY, SYMBOLISM. in SECRET DOCTRINE Bible, Indian, Chaldean, Egyptian I 320-5 Christian fr Hebrew, Hebrew fr Chaldean II 354 discussed I 303-9 fourth stage of, & generation I 36 Hebrew-Egyptian I 308-9, 364n Hindu I 667 history of world found in II 438 interpretation of II 335 kabbalistic II 457 of marriage ceremony I 614-15n of Meru & Patala II 357 Mosaic, became crude under Ezra I 319 Mystery language or I 309; II 124 & origin of evil II 274 of Pentateuch & New Testament I 115n power of occult I 272 representing abstractions I 615 seven departments of I 305 seven keys to universal I xxxviii, 310-11, 363; II 335 spirit & value of II 469 of temple curtain I 125 Hope this helps! Daniel Blavatsky Study Center http://blavatskyarchives.com From saidevo@yahoo.co.in Tue Nov 01 07:43:26 2005 Return-Path: Received: (qmail 58132 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 15:43:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.217) by m35.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 15:43:25 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n24.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.53) by mta2.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 15:43:24 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.66.59] by n24.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:37:41 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.85] by mailer8.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:37:18 -0000 X-Sender: saidevo@yahoo.co.in X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 85328 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 15:24:07 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.216) by m35.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 15:24:07 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n23.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.52) by mta1.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 15:24:06 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.66.59] by n23.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:23:55 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.87] by mailer8.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 15:23:55 -0000 Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:23:54 -0000 To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: In-Reply-To: <003101c5dddd$a0144100$6401a8c0@usera62c0b3c73> User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-system X-Originating-IP: 66.94.237.52 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 61.2.37.3 From: "saidevo" Subject: Re: Theos-World Spiritual Initiatives: Chemicals in Daily Life X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=227523244; y=RWfeLbWf8FBJfN83LGrKNdqKXr6j5itrmt16HILas7QPEQ X-Yahoo-Profile: saidevo X-eGroups-Approved-By: eldon_tucker via web; 01 Nov 2005 15:37:18 -0000 Dear Dennis, That fluoride is not beneficial to grown up teech is new to me. Thanks for the information. Does having plastic teeth make any difference to taste? Regards, saidevo=20 --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "DENNIS KIER" wrote: > > Thanks! A pleasant message for a change. Not attacking any body. I hope you=20 > last here. >=20 > When I was a small boy in the first grade, the teachers taught us to use 1/2=20 > salt, and 1/2 baking soda to make tooth paste. The first commercial=20 > prepration was powder that came in a can. Flouride paste benefits only=20 > growing teeth, but has a very bad effect on adults, contributing to=20 > altheimers disease, and the other diseases of the old. >=20 > I am lucky in that way, I have had all plastic teeth since 1946, and have=20 > avoided most of the exposure to flouride. >=20 > Dennis >=20 >=20 > ----- Original Message -----=20 > From: "saidevo" > To: > Sent: Friday, October 28, 2005 8:01 AM > Subject: Theos-World Spiritual Initiatives: Chemicals in Daily Life >=20 >=20 > > Gone are the days when as a boy I used a toothpowder that my > > grandfather gave me. Made from a mixture of burnt paddy husk, > > salt, lemon juice and clove oil, it was heavenly, and kept > > my teeth sparkling white. > > > > Today, I won't settle for anything less than a fluoride-based > > toothpaste. Companies making gel-based toothpaste compete with > > those making fluoride-based toothpaste. Each company claims > > its own product to be superior to the other's. And the same > > company makes both kinds of toothpastes, to be on the safe side! > > Truth decays in the spate of advertisements, and my teeth are > > far from sparkling white, but they at least remain. > From ringding@online.de Tue Nov 01 08:23:12 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: ringding@online.de X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 55455 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 16:23:10 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.172) by m25.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 16:23:10 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO moutng.kundenserver.de) (212.227.126.188) by mta4.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 16:23:10 -0000 Received: from p54BFC806.dip0.t-ipconnect.de [84.191.200.6] (helo=captain70e702a) by mrelayeu.kundenserver.de (node=mrelayeu1) with ESMTP (Nemesis), id 0MKwpI-1EWyuY3sOc-0005h9; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 17:22:58 +0100 Message-ID: <012c01c5df00$a2491620$152ca8c0@captain70e702a> To: References: Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 17:23:43 +0100 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2900.2670 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2670 X-Provags-ID: kundenserver.de abuse@kundenserver.de login:d066391b47e67c594ae06bf3d758d7eb X-Originating-IP: 212.227.126.188 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "Frank Reitemeyer" Subject: Re: Theos-World The Seven Keys of Symbolism? X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=224426186; y=PVx0TRLsEzP6BWWOBxFqmiqTBq4MRYIu03ZUSpFGnQlvx9ifXiucg8dwkQ X-Yahoo-Profile: frank_reitemeyer Desmond, Gottfried de Purucker explains the 7 keys in his commentary to HPB's "The Secret Doctrine", his "Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy," ch. 15: click here: http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/fund/fund-15.htm hope, this helps. Best Frank ----- Original Message ----- From: "desmontes" To: Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 6:49 AM Subject: Theos-World The Seven Keys of Symbolism? Greetings, I have been currently engaged in the study of the Secret Doctrine and I have encountered continual references by HPB to the "key that must be turned seven times" with regard to the seven systems of symbolic interpretation. In the following paragraph she made distinct reference to three of them, anthropologic, psychic, and astronomical, but it is unclear to me if she is identifying the remaining four. She writes, As truly stated by Ragon, "the ancient Hierophants have combined so cleverly the dogmas and symbols of their religious philosophies, that these symbols can be fully explained only by the combination and knowledge of all the keys." They can be only approximately interpreted, even if one finds out three out of these seven systems: the anthropological, the psychic, and the astronomical. The two chief interpretations, the highest and the lowest, the spiritual and the physiological, they preserved in the greatest secrecy until the latter fell into the dominion of the profane. Thus far, with regard only to the pre-historic Hierophants, with whom that which has now become purely (or impurely) phallic, was a science as profound and as mysterious as biology and physiology are now. This was their exclusive property, the fruit of their studies and discoveries. The other two were those which dealt with the creative gods (theogony), and with creative man, i.e., the ideal and the practical mysteries. These interpretations were so cleverly veiled and combined, that many were those who, while arriving at the discovery of one meaning, were baffled in understanding the significance of the others, and could never unriddle them sufficiently to commit dangerous indiscretions. The highest, the first and the fourth -- theogony in relation to anthropogony -- were almost impossible to fathom. We find the proofs of this in the Jewish "Holy Writ." (I: 363) Does she give a concise listing and explanation of these seven keys in any of her other writings, or perhaps somewhere else in the Secret Doctrine? If not, can someone more learned in the subject explain it me? The distinctions in the above paragraph seem unclear. Thanks, Desmond Yahoo! Groups Links theos-talk-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com From desmontes@gmail.com Tue Nov 01 09:52:30 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: desmontes@gmail.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 84518 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 17:52:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m25.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 17:52:30 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO zproxy.gmail.com) (64.233.162.193) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 17:52:30 -0000 Received: by zproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id 13so1069622nzp for ; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:52:26 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.37.12.35 with SMTP id p35mr1133744nzi; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:52:26 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: Received: from zinger ( [68.71.13.111]) by mx.gmail.com with ESMTP id 14sm2998214nzp.2005.11.01.09.52.23; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:52:25 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <000f01c5df0c$dafde0c0$6701a8c0@zinger> To: References: <012c01c5df00$a2491620$152ca8c0@captain70e702a> Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 09:51:12 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1437 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441 X-Originating-IP: 64.233.162.193 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "Desmontes" Subject: Re: Theos-World The Seven Keys of Symbolism? X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=203135694; y=__-f7kJMprnegjUJI6UZXAoQk2bY-PZzK1YFYKsddhj3g-QS X-Yahoo-Profile: desmontes Thanks Frank, But it appears to me that these are a different set of Keys pertaining to the key points of Theosophical Doctrine, and not strictly to the interpretation of myths and symbols. As I see it the keys to symbolism represent not points of doctrine but different aspect of reality to which a symbol is illustrative. This is an application of the law of correspondences, in other words. For example, in talking about the symbolism of the serpent and the egg, which HPB calls inseparable in Vol. 1, Book II - on a physiological or developmental level it indicates the ferilization of the ovum by the sperm, on a planetary level (astronomical?) it represents the fertilazing of the earth by the comet, geometrically it is represented by the point or line within a circle, expressed arithmetically as 1 and 0, or the union of male and female, with its important correlation to the Pythagorean Tetraktys, etc. These keys to symbolism illustrate the harmony of cosmic processes on several different levels or spheres of existence. I am simply having a hard time trying to identify all of them. The paragraph that I copied in my former post seems to be the closest that she has come in my reading to explaining the whole system. I appreciate this suggestion, though, as I am very fond of the writing of de Purucker. He seems to have been a very intelligent and inspiring orator and I plan to read his lectures on the S.D. as soon as I finish the latter. -Des. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Frank Reitemeyer" To: Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 8:23 AM Subject: Re: Theos-World The Seven Keys of Symbolism? > Desmond, > Gottfried de Purucker explains the 7 keys in > his commentary to HPB's "The Secret > Doctrine", his "Fundamentals of the Esoteric > Philosophy," ch. 15: > > click here: > http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/fund/fund-15.htm > > hope, this helps. > Best > Frank > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "desmontes" > To: > Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 6:49 AM > Subject: Theos-World The Seven Keys of > Symbolism? > > > Greetings, > > I have been currently engaged in the study of > the Secret Doctrine and > I have encountered continual references by > HPB to the "key that must > be turned seven times" with regard to the > seven systems of symbolic > interpretation. In the following paragraph > she made distinct > reference to three of them, anthropologic, > psychic, and astronomical, > but it is unclear to me if she is identifying > the remaining four. She > writes, > > As truly stated by Ragon, "the ancient > Hierophants have combined so > cleverly the dogmas and symbols of their > religious philosophies, that > these symbols can be fully explained only by > the combination and > knowledge of all the keys." They can be only > approximately > interpreted, even if one finds out three out > of these seven systems: > the anthropological, the psychic, and the > astronomical. The two chief > interpretations, the highest and the lowest, > the spiritual and the > physiological, they preserved in the greatest > secrecy until the > latter fell into the dominion of the profane. > Thus far, with regard > only to the pre-historic Hierophants, with > whom that which has now > become purely (or impurely) phallic, was a > science as profound and as > mysterious as biology and physiology are now. > This was their > exclusive property, the fruit of their > studies and discoveries. The > other two were those which dealt with the > creative gods (theogony), > and with creative man, i.e., the ideal and > the practical mysteries. > These interpretations were so cleverly veiled > and combined, that many > were those who, while arriving at the > discovery of one meaning, were > baffled in understanding the significance of > the others, and could > never unriddle them sufficiently to commit > dangerous indiscretions. > The highest, the first and the fourth -- > theogony in relation to > anthropogony -- were almost impossible to > fathom. We find the proofs > of this in the Jewish "Holy Writ." (I: 363) > > Does she give a concise listing and > explanation of these seven keys > in any of her other writings, or perhaps > somewhere else in the Secret > Doctrine? If not, can someone more learned in > the subject explain it > me? The distinctions in the above paragraph > seem unclear. > > Thanks, > Desmond > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > theos-talk-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > From desmontes@gmail.com Tue Nov 01 09:55:39 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: desmontes@gmail.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 82926 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 17:55:39 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m29.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 17:55:39 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO zproxy.gmail.com) (64.233.162.206) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 17:55:39 -0000 Received: by zproxy.gmail.com with SMTP id m7so2853594nzf for ; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:55:38 -0800 (PST) Received: by 10.36.33.20 with SMTP id g20mr615634nzg; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:55:37 -0800 (PST) Return-Path: Received: from zinger ( [68.71.13.111]) by mx.gmail.com with ESMTP id 15sm1372822nzo.2005.11.01.09.55.33; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:55:37 -0800 (PST) Message-ID: <001d01c5df0d$4d03f100$6701a8c0@zinger> To: References: Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 09:54:22 -0800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Priority: 3 X-MSMail-Priority: Normal X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2800.1437 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2800.1441 X-Originating-IP: 64.233.162.206 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "Desmontes" Subject: Re: Theos-World Desmond on "The Seven Keys of Symbolism" X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=203135694; y=eB6Gg9pnXU_Gtw26C6bQ5TdKTqdkwb_Hf-xtIi1KvjFUWu7T X-Yahoo-Profile: desmontes An excellent set of references, Daniel, thank you very much. I will have to get started on a research project and share my findings. -Des. BTW, I appreciate your site, the Blavatsky Study Center. It is very useful to students such as myself. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Daniel H. Caldwell" To: Sent: Tuesday, November 01, 2005 7:09 AM Subject: Theos-World Desmond on "The Seven Keys of Symbolism" > Desmond, > > To point you in the direction of > finding an answer to your interesting > question, I would read what HPB writes > about this subject in other parts of > the SECRET DOCTRINE: > > BELOW are a limited number of index references > in her book: > > KEY(S) in SECRET DOCTRINE > allegories & symbols have seven II 291n > geometry the fifth II 471 > Hebrew physiological I 311 > human, one of seven II 291n > IU gave, one turn I xxxviii > Massey used two or three II 632 > Mysteries unlocked by seven II 632 > new, needed for mysteries II 795 > occult science a I 341 > Rabbis lost II 537 > Ragon on the, to symbols I 363 > required for old theogony II 248 > seven, must not be mixed II 517 > seven, open past & future I 325 > seven, taught in occultism I 155n; II 523 > seven, to man's genesis I 323 > seven, to meaning of swastika II 99 > seven, to universal symbology I xxxviii, 310-11, 363 > in Skinner's Source of Measures I 318 &n > to theogonies & Secret Doctrine II 23, 767 > three of seven, only given II 517 > three or four used in Secret Doctrine II 797 > of wisdom found in nature II 797 > to Zohar & Bible II 536-45, 590-8 > > SYMBOL(S) > seven meanings to every I 363; II 22n, 335, 357, 538, 547, 584, 765 > > SYMBOLOGY, SYMBOLISM. in SECRET DOCTRINE > Bible, Indian, Chaldean, Egyptian I 320-5 > Christian fr Hebrew, Hebrew fr Chaldean II 354 > discussed I 303-9 > fourth stage of, & generation I 36 > Hebrew-Egyptian I 308-9, 364n > Hindu I 667 > history of world found in II 438 > interpretation of II 335 > kabbalistic II 457 > of marriage ceremony I 614-15n > of Meru & Patala II 357 > Mosaic, became crude under Ezra I 319 > Mystery language or I 309; II 124 > & origin of evil II 274 > of Pentateuch & New Testament I 115n > power of occult I 272 > representing abstractions I 615 > seven departments of I 305 > seven keys to universal I xxxviii, 310-11, 363; II 335 > spirit & value of II 469 > of temple curtain I 125 > > Hope this helps! > > Daniel > Blavatsky Study Center > http://blavatskyarchives.com From dalval14@earthlink.net Tue Nov 01 11:39:50 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: dalval14@earthlink.net X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 38014 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 19:39:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m30.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 19:39:49 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtpauth09.mail.atl.earthlink.net) (209.86.89.69) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 19:39:49 -0000 Received: from [209.178.167.199] (helo=DALLAS) by smtpauth09.mail.atl.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1EX1yr-0008Kr-1L; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 14:39:45 -0500 To: Date: Tue, 1 Nov 2005 10:39:09 -0800 Message-ID: <000b01c5df13$925035b0$c7a7b2d1@DALLAS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 1 (Highest) X-MSMail-Priority: High X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 Importance: High In-Reply-To: <000f01c5df0c$dafde0c0$6701a8c0@zinger> X-ELNK-Trace: c552449649a8b16d1aa676d7e74259b7b3291a7d08dfec793cd902f7e2c1e0259b86b482309164cb350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 209.86.89.69 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" Reply-To: Subject: RE: The Seven Keys of Symbolism? X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=52898573; y=m783B_F-VS0evMjZz3kAfPZ-Y5U7HAgiORSBOOw87NIz9g X-Yahoo-Profile: dalval2 Nov 1 2005 Dear Friend: Allow me to add to the references given a while ago: ---------------------------------------- 6 HEPTAGRAM =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D Heptachord - Lyre of Apollo -------------------------------------------------- MAHATMA LETTERS 345-6 explained =93Does your B.T.S. know the meaning of the white and black interlaced triangles, of the Parent Society's seal that it has also adopted? Shall I explain? =96=20 the double triangle viewed by the Jewish Kabalists as Solomon's Seal, is, a= s many of you doubtless know the Sri-antara of the archaic Aryan Temple, the "mystery of Mysteries," a geometrical synthesis of the whole occult doctrine.=20 The two interlaced triangles are the Buddhangums of Creation. They contain the "squaring of the circle," the "philosophical stone," the great problems of Life and Death, and -- the Mystery of Evil.=20 The chela who can explain this sign from every one of its aspects -- is virtually an adept.=20 How is it then that the only one among you, who has come so near to unravelling the mystery is also the only one who got none of her ideas from books? Unconsciously she gives out -- to him who has the key -- the first syllable of the Ineffable name!=20 Of course you know that the double-triangle -- the Satkiri Chakram of Vishn= u -- or the six-pointed star, is the perfect seven. In all the old Sanskrit works -- Vedic and Tantrik -- you find the number 6 mentioned more often than the 7 -- this last figure, the central point being implied, for it is the germ of the six and their matrix.=20 It is then thus . . . [At this point in the original there is a rough drawing of the interlaced triangles inscribed in a circle. -- ED.] -- the central point standing for seventh, and the circle, the Mahakasha -- endles= s space -- for the seventh Universal Principle.=20 In one sense, both are viewed as Avalokitesvara, for they are respectively the Macrocosm and the microcosm.=20 The interlaced triangles -- the upper pointing one -- is Wisdom concealed, and the downward pointing one -- Wisdom revealed (in the phenomenal world).= =20 The circle indicates the bounding, circumscribing quality of the All, the Universal Principle which, from any given point expands so as to embrace al= l things, while embodying the potentiality of every action in the Cosmos.=20 As the point then is the centre round which the circle is traced -- they ar= e identical and one, and though from the standpoint of Maya and Avidya -- (illusion and ignorance) -- one is separated from the other by the manifested triangle, the 3 sides of which represent the three gunas -- finite attributes.=20 In symbology the central point is Jivatma (the 7th principle), and hence Avalokitesvara, the Kwan-Shai-yin, the manifested "Voice" (or Logos), the germ point of manifested activity; -- hence -- in the phraseology of the Christian Kabalists "the Son of the Father and Mother," and agreeably to ours -- "the Self manifested in Self -- Yih-sin, the "one form of existence," the child of Dharmakaya (the universally diffused Essence), bot= h male and female.=20 Parabrahm or "Adi-Buddha" while acting through that germ point outwardly as an active force, reacts from the circumference inwardly as the Supreme but latent Potency.=20 The double triangles symbolize the Great Passive and the Great Active; the male and female; Purusha and Prakriti.=20 Each triangle is a Trinity because presenting a triple aspect.=20 The white represents in its straight lines: Gnanam -- (Knowledge); Gnata -- (the Knower); and Gnayam -- (that which is known). The black-form, colour, and substance, also the creative, preservative, and destructive forces and are mutually correlating, etc., etc.=20 Well may you admire and more should you wonder at the marvellous lucidity o= f that remarkable seeress [Mrs. Kingsford], who ignorant of Sanskrit or Pali, and thus shut out from their metaphysical treasures, has yet seen a great light shining from behind the dark bills of exoteric religions. How, think you, did the "Writers of the Perfect Way" come to know that Adonai was the Son and not the Father; or that the third Person of the Christian Trinity i= s -- female? Verily, they lay in that work several times their hands upon the keystone of Occultism. Only does the lady -- who persists using without an explanation the misleading term "God" in her writings -- know how nearly sh= e comes up to our doctrine when saying: -- "Having for Father, Spirit which i= s Life (the endless Circle or Parabrahm) and for Mother the Great Deep, which is Substance (Prakriti in its undifferentiated condition) -- Adonai possesses the potency of both and wields the dual powers of all things."=20 We would say triple, but in the sense as given this will do.=20 Pythagoras had a reason for never using the finite, useless figure -- 2, an= d for altogether discarding it.=20 The ONE, can, when manifesting, become only 3.=20 The unmanifested when a simple duality remains passive and concealed. The dual monad (the 7th and 6th principles) has, in order to manifest itself as a Logos, the "Kwan-shai-yin" to first become a triad (7th, 6th and half of the 5th); then, on the bosom of the "Great Deep" attracting within itself the One Circle -- form out of it the perfect Square, thus "squaring the circle" -- the greatest of all the mysteries, friend -- and inscribing within the latter the -- WORD (the Ineffable name) -- otherwise the duality could never tarry as such, and would have to be reabsorbed into the ONE.=20 The "Deep" is Space -- both male and female. "Purush (as Brahma) breathes i= n the Eternity: when 'he' in-breathes -- Prakriti (as manifested Substance) disappears in his bosom; when 'he' out-breathes she reappears as Maya," say= s the Sloka. The One reality is Mulaprakriti (undifferentiated Substance) -- the "Rootless root," the. . . But we have to stop, lest there should remain but little to tell for your own intuitions.=20 Well may the Geometer of the R.S. not know that the apparent absurdity of attempting to square the circle covers a mystery ineffable. It would hardly be found among the foundation stones of Mr. Roden Noel's speculations upon the "pneumatical body . . . of our Lord," nor among the debris of Mr. Farmer's "A New Basis of Belief in Immortality"; and to many such metaphysical minds it would be worse than useless to divulge the fact, that= =20 the Unmanifested Circle -- the Father, or Absolute Life -- is non-existent outside the Triangle and Perfect Square, and -- is only manifested in the Son; and that it is when, reversing the action and returning to its absolut= e state of Unity, and the square expands once more into the Circle -- that "the Son returns to the bosom of the Father."=20 There it remains until called back by his Mother -- the "Great Deep," to remanifest as a triad -- the Son partaking at once, of the Essence of the Father, and of that of the Mother -- the active Substance, Prakriti in its differentiated condition.=20 "My Mother -- (Sophia -- the manifested Wisdom) took me" -- says Jesus in a Gnostic treatise; and he asks his disciples to tarry till he comes. . . . The true "Word" may only be found by tracing the mystery of the passage inward and outward of the Eternal Life, through the states typified in thes= e three geometric figures.=20 The criticism of "A Student of Occultism" (whose wits are sharpened by the mountain air of his home) and the answer of "S.T.K. . . . Chary" (June Theosophist) upon a part of your annular and circular expositions need not annoy or disturb in any way your philosophic calm. ... If anyone can unravel it from such tangled threads as are given him, very well; and a fine proof it would indeed be of his or her spiritual insight. Some -- have come very near it. But yet there is always with the best of them just enough error, -- colouring and misconception; the shadow of Manas projecting across the field of Buddhi -- to prove the eternal law that only the unshackled Spirit shall see the things of the Spirit without a veil.=20 No untaught amateur could ever rival the proficient in this branch of research; yet the world's real Revelators have been few, and its pseudo-Saviours legion; and fortunate it is if their half-glimpses of the light are not, like Islam, enforced at the sword's point, or like Christian Theology, amid blazing faggots and in torture chambers.=20 Your Fragments contain some -- still very few errors, due solely to your tw= o preceptors of Adyar, one of whom would not, and the other could not tell yo= u all. The rest could not be called mistakes -- rather incomplete explanations. These are due, partly to your own imperfect education in your last theme -- I mean the ever-threatening obscurations -- partly to the poo= r vehicles of language at our disposal, and in part again, to the reserve imposed upon us by rule. ... The trouble is that (a) you cannot be given the real figures and difference in the Rounds, and (b) that you do not open doors enough for explorers... : at all events Try. "Nothing was ever lost by trying."=20 You share with all beginners the tendency to draw too absolutely strong inferences from partly caught hints, and to dogmatize thereupon as though the last word had been spoken. You will correct this in due time.=20 You may misunderstand us, are more than likely to do so, for our language must always be more or less that of parable and suggestion, when treading upon forbidden ground; we have our own peculiar modes of expression and wha= t lies behind the fence of words is even more important than what you read. But still -- TRY....=20 Meanwhile, I shall, with your permission, close this first volume.=20 =09 K. H.=20 MAHATMA LETTERS 345-6=20=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------= - ---------------- See TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE: p. 106 STANZA III. (continued).=20 Sloka (2). THE VIBRATION SWEEPS ALONG, TOUCHING WITH ITS SWIFT WING (simultaneously) THE WHOLE UNIVERSE; AND THE GERM THAT DWELLETH IN DARKNESS= : THE DARKNESS THAT BREATHES (moves) OVER THE SLUMBERING WATERS OF LIFE.=20 Q. How are we to understand the expression that the vibration touches the whole universe and also the germ?=20 A. First of all the terms used must be defined as far as possible, for the language used is purely figurative. The Universe does not mean the Kosmos o= r world of forms but the formless space, the future vehicle of the Universe which will be manifested. This space is synonymous with the "waters of space," with (to us) eternal darkness, in fact with Parabrahm. In short the whole Sloka refers to the "period" before there was any manifestation whatever. In the same way the Germ=97the Germ is eternal, the undifferentia= ted atoms of future matter=97- is one with space, as infinite as it is indestructible, and as eternal as space itself. Similarly with "vibration," which corresponds with the Point, the unmanifested Logos.=20 It is necessary to add one important explanation. In using figurative language, as has been done in the Secret Doctrine, analogies and comparison= s are very frequent. Darkness for instance, as a rule, applies only to the unknown totality, or, Absoluteness. Contrasted with eternal darkness the first Logos is certainly, Light; contrasted with the second or third, the manifested Logoi, the first is Darkness, and the others are Light. 105 Sloka (3). DARKNESS RADIATES LIGHT, AND LIGHT DROPS ONE SOLITARY RAY INTO THE WATERS, THE MOTHER-DEEP. THE RAY SHOOTS THROUGH THE VIRGIN EGG; TH= E RAY CAUSES THE ETERNAL EGG TO THRILL, AND DROP THE NON-ETERNAL (periodical) GERM, WHICH CONDENSES INTO THE WORLD-EGG.=20 Q. Why is Light said to drop one solitary ray into the waters and how is this ray represented in connection with the Triangle?=20 A. However many the Rays may appear to be on this plane, when brought back to their original source they will finally be resolved into a unity, like the seven prismatic colors which all proceed from, and are resolved into th= e one white ray. Thus too, this one solitary Ray expands into the seven rays (and their innumerable sub-divisions) on the plane of illusion only. It is represented in connection with the Triangle because the Triangle is the first perfect geometrical figure. As stated by Pythagoras, and also in the Stanza, the Ray (the Pythagorean Monad) descending from "no-place" (Aloka), shoots like a falling star through the planes of non-being into the first world of being, and gives birth to Number One; then branching off, to the right, it produces Number Two; turning again to form the base-line it beget= s Number Three, and thence ascending again to Number One, it finally disappears therefrom into the realms of non-being as Pythagoras shows.=20 Q. Why should Pythagorean teachings be found in old Hindu philosophies?=20 A. Pythagoras derived this teaching from India and in the old books we find him spoken of as the Yavanacharya or Greek Teacher. Thus we see that the Triangle is the first differentiation, its sides however all being describe= d by the one Ray.=20 Q. What is really meant by the term "planes of non-being"? 106 A. In using the term "planes of non-being" it is necessary to remember that these planes are only to us spheres of non-being, but those of being and matter to higher intelligences than ourselves. The highest Dhyan-Chohans of the Solar System can have no conception of that which exists in higher systems, i.e., on the second "septenary" Kosmic plane, which to the Beings of the ever invisible Universe is entirely subjective.=20 Sloka (4). (Then) THE THREE (Triangle) FALL INTO THE FOUR (Quaternary). THE RADIANT ESSENCE BECOMES SEVEN INSIDE, SEVEN OUTSIDE. THE LUMINOUS EGG (Hiranyagarbha), WHICH IN ITSELF IS THREE (the triple hypostases of Brahma, or Vishnu, the three Avasthas) CURDLES AND SPREADS IN MILKWHITE CURDS THROUGHOUT THE DEPTHS OF MOTHER, THE ROOT THAT GROWS IN THE OCEAN OF LIFE.=20 Q. Is the Radiant Essence the same as the luminous Egg? What is the Root that grows in the ocean of life?=20 A. The radiant essence, luminous egg or Golden Egg of Brahma, or again, Hiranyagarbha, are identical. The Root that grows in the ocean of life is the potentiality that transforms into objective differentiated matter the universal, subjective, ubiquitous but homogeneous germ, or the eternal essence which contains the potency of abstract nature. The Ocean of Life is= , according to a term of the Vedanta philosophy=97if I mistake not=97the "One Life," Paramatma, when the transcendental supreme Soul is meant; and Jivatma, when we speak of the physical and animal "breath of life" or, so t= o speak, the differentiated soul, that life in short, which gives being to th= e atom and the universe, the molecule and the man, the animal, plant, and mineral.=20 "The Radiant Essence curdled and spread through the depths of Space." From an astronomical point of view this is easy of explanation: it is the Milky Way, the world-stuff, or primordial matter in its first form. 107 Q. Is the Radiant Essence, Milky Way, or world-stuff, resolvable into atoms= , or is it non-atomic?=20 A. In its precosmic state it is of course, non-atomic, if by atoms you mea= n molecules; for the hypothetical atom, a mere mathematical point, is not material or applicable to matter, nor even to substance. The real atom does not exist on the material plane. The definition of a point as having position, must not, in Occultism, be taken in the ordinary sense of location; as the real atom is beyond space and time. The word molecular is really applicable to our globe and its plane, only: once inside of it, even on the other globes of our planetary chain, matter is in quite another condition, and non-molecular. The atom is in its eternal state, invisible even to the eye of an Archangel; and becomes visible to the latter only periodically, during the life cycle. The particle, or molecule, is not, but exists periodically, and is therefore regarded as an illusion.=20 The world-stuff informs itself through various planes and cannot be said to be resolved into stars or to have become molecular until it reaches the plane of being of the visible or objective Universe.=20 Q. Can ether be said to be molecular in Occultism?=20 A. It entirely depends upon what is meant by the term. In its lowest strata= , where it merges with the astral light, it may be called molecular on its ow= n plane; but not for us. But the ether of which science has a suspicion, is the grossest manifestation of Akasa, though on our plane, for us mortals, i= t is the seventh principle of the astral light, and three degrees higher than "radiant matter." When it penetrates, or informs something, it may be molecular because it takes on the form of the latter, and its atoms inform the particles of that "something." We may perhaps call matter "crystallized ether." 108 Q. But what is an atom, in fact?=20 A. An atom may be compared to (and is for the Occultist) the seventh principle of a body or rather of a molecule. The physical or chemical molecule is composed of an infinity of finer molecules and these in their turn of innumerable and still finer molecules. Take for instance a molecule of iron and so resolve it that it becomes non-molecular; it is then, at onc= e transformed into one of its seven principles, viz., its astral body; the seventh of these is the atom. The analogy between a molecule of iron, befor= e it is broken up, and this same molecule after resolution, is the same as that between a physical body before and after death. The principles remain minus the body. Of course this is occult alchemy, not modern chemistry.=20 Q. What is the meaning of the allegorical "churning of the ocean," and "cow of plenty" of the Hindus, and what correspondence is there between them and the "war in heaven"?=20 A. A process which begins in the state of "non-being," and ends with the close of Maha-Pralaya, can hardly be given in a few words or even volumes. It is simply an allegorical representation of the unseen and unknown primeval intelligences, the atoms of occult science, Brahma himself being called Anu or the Atom, fashioning and differentiating the shoreless ocean of the primordial radiant essence. The relation and correspondence between the "churning of the ocean" and the "war in heaven" is a very long and abstruse subject to handle. To give it in its lowest symbolical aspect, thi= s "war in heaven" is going on eternally. Differentiation is contrast, the equilibrium of contraries: and so long as this exists there will be "war" o= r fighting. There are, of course, different stages and aspects of this war: such for instance as the astronomical and physical. For everyone and everything that is born in a Manvantara, there is "war in heaven" and also on the earth: for the fourteen Root and 109 Seed-Manus who preside over our Manvantaric cycle, and for the countless Forces, human or otherwise, that proceed from them. There is a perpetual struggle of adjustment, for everything tends to harmonize and equilibrate; in fact it must do so before it can assume any shape. The elements of which we are formed, the particles of our bodies, are in a continual war, one crowding out the other and changing with every moment. At the "Churning of the Ocean" by the gods, the Nagas came and some stole of the Amrita=97the water of Immortality,=97and thence arose war between the gods and the Asura= s, the no-gods, and the gods were worsted. This refers to the formation of the Universe and the differentiation of the primordial primeval matter. But you must remember, that this is only the cosmogonical aspect=97one out of the seven meanings. The war in heaven had also immediate reference to the evolution of the intellectual principle in mankind. This is the metaphysica= l key.=20 Q. Why are numbers so much used in the Stanzas; and what is really the secret of their being so freely used in the World-Scriptures=97in the Bible and in the Puranas, by Pythagoras and by the Aryan Sages?=20 A. Balzac, the unconscious occultist of French literature, says somewhere, the Number is to Mind the same as it is to matter, 'an incomprehensible agent.' But I would answer=97 perhaps so to the profane, never to the initiated mind. Number is, as the great writer thought, an Entity, and at the same time, a Breath emanating from what he called God and what we call the ALL; the breath which alone could organize the physical Kosmos, 'where naught obtains its form but through the Deity, which is an effect of Number.=94* "God geometrizes" says Plato.=20 Q. In what sense can numbers be called Entities?=20 A. When intelligent Entities are meant; when they are *(Vol. I., p. 66.) 110 regarded simply as digits they are, of course, not Entities but symbolical signs.=20 Q. Why is the radiant essence said to become seven inside and seven outside= ? A. Because it has seven principles on the plane of the manifested and seven on that of the unmanifested. Always argue on analogy and apply the old occult axiom "As above so below."=20 Q. But are the planes of "non-being" also Septenary?=20 A. Most undeniably. That which in the Secret Doctrine is referred to as the unmanifested planes, are unmanifested or planes of non-being only from the point of view of the finite intellect; to higher intelligences they would b= e manifested planes and so on to infinity, analogy always holding good. 111 VIII =20 STANZA III. (continued).=20 THE ROOT REMAINS, THE LIGHT REMAINS, THE CURDS REMAIN, AND STILL OEAOHOO IS ONE.=20 Q. What is meant by saying that these remain?=20 A. It means simply that whatever the plurality of manifestation may be, still it is all one. In other words these are all different aspects of the one element; it does not mean that they remain without differentiation.=20 "The curds are the first differentiation, and probably refer also to that cosmic matter which is supposed to be the origin of the 'Milky Way'=97the matter we know. This 'matter,' which, according to the revelation received from the primeval Dhyani-Buddhas, is, during the periodical sleep of the Universe, of the ultimate tenuity conceivable to the eye of the perfect Bodhisatva=97this matter, radical and cool, becomes, at the first reawakeni= ng of cosmic motion, scattered through Space; appearing, when seen from the Earth, in clusters and lumps, like curds in thin milk. These are the seeds of the future worlds, the 'Star-stuff'."* Q. Is it to be supposed that the Milky Way is composed of matter in a state of differentiation other than that with which we are acquainted?=20 A. I thoroughly believe so. It is the store-house of the materials from which the stars, planets and other celestial bodies are produced. Matter in this state does not exist on earth; but that which is already differentiate= d and found on earth is also found on other planets and vice-versa. But, as I * (Vol.I.,p. 69.)=20 113 understand, before reaching the planets from its condition in the Milky Way matter has first to pass through many stages of differentiation. The matter= , for instance, within the Solar system is in an entirely different state fro= m that which is outside or beyond the system.=20 Q. Is there a difference between the Nebulae and the Milky Way?=20 A. The same, I should say, that there is between a highway road and the stones and mud upon that road. There must be, of course, a difference between the matter of the Milky Way and that of the various Nebulae, and these again must differ among themselves. But in all your scientific calculations and measurements it is necessary to consider that the light by which the objects are seen is a reflected light, and the optical illusion caused by the atmosphere of the earth renders it impossible that calculations of distances, etc., should be absolutely correct, in addition to the fact that it entirely alters observations of the matter of which the celestial bodies are composed, as it is liable to impose upon us a constitution similar to that of the earth. This is, at any rate, what the MASTERS teach us.=20 Sloka (6). THE ROOT OF LIFE WAS IN EVERY DROP OF THE OCEAN OF IMMORTALITY (Amrita) AND THE OCEAN WAS RADIANT LIGHT, WHICH WAS FIRE AND HEAT AND MOTION. DARKNESS VANISHED AND WAS NO MORE. IT DISAPPEARED IN ITS OWN ESSENCE, THE BODY OF FIRE AND WATER, OF FATHER AND MOTHER.=20 Q. What are the various meanings of the term "fire" on the different planes of Kosmos?=20 A. Fire is the most mystic of all the five elements, as also the most divine. Therefore to give an explanation of its various meanings on our plane alone, leaving all the other planes entirely out of the question, would be much too ardu- 114 ous, in addition to its being entirely incomprehensible for the vast majority. Fire is the father of light, light the parent of heat and air (vital air). If the absolute deity can be referred to as Darkness or the Dark Fire, the light, its first progeny, is truly the first self-conscious god. For what is light in its primordial root but the world-illuminating an= d life-giving deity? Light is that, which from an abstraction has become a reality. No one has ever seen real or primordial light; what we see is only its broken rays or reflections, which become denser and less luminous as they descend into form and matter. Fire, therefore, is a term which comprehends ALL. Fire is the invisible deity, "the Father," and the manifesting light is God "the Son," and also the Sun. Fire=97in the occult sense=97is =E6ther, and =E6ther is born of motion, and motion is the eterna= l dark, invisible Fire. Light sets in motion and controls all in nature, from that highest primordial =E6ther down to the tiniest molecule in Space. MOTION is eternal per se, and in the manifested Kosmos it is the Alpha and Omega of that which is called electricity, galvanism, magnetism, sensation=97moral a= nd physical=97thought, and even life, on this plane. Thus fire, on our plane, = is simply the manifestation of motion, or Life.=20 All cosmic phenomena were referred to by the Rosicrucians as "animated geometry." Every polar function is only a repetition of primeval polarity, said the Fire-Philosophers. For motion begets heat, and =E6ther in motion i= s heat. When it slackens its motion, then cold is generated, for "cold is =E6ther, in a latent condition." Thus the principal states of nature are th= ree positive and three negative, synthesized by the primeval light. The three negative states are (1) Darkness; (2) Cold; (3) Vacuum or Voidness. The three positive are (1) Light (on our plane); (2) Heat; (3) All nature. Thus Fire may be called the unity of the Universe. 115 Pure cosmic fire (without, so to speak, fuel) is Deity in its universality; for cosmic fire, or heat which it calls forth, is every atom of matter in manifested nature. There is not a thing or a particle in the Universe which does not contain in it latent fire.=20 Q. Fire, then, may be regarded as the first Element?=20 A. When we say that fire is the first of the Elements, it is the first only in the visible universe, the fire that we commonly know. Even on the highes= t plane of our universe, the plane of Globe A or G, fire is in one respect only the fourth. For the Occultist, the Rosecroix of the Middle Ages, and even the mediaeval Kabalists, said that to our human perception and even to that of the highest "angels," the universal Deity is darkness, and from thi= s Darkness issues the Logos in the following aspects, (1) Weight (Chaos which becomes =E6ther in its primordial state); (2) Light; (3) Heat; (4) Fire.=20 Q. In what relation does the Sun, the highest form of Fire we can recognize= , stand to Fire as you have explained it?=20 A. The Sun, as on our plane, is not even "Solar" fire. The Sun, we see, gives nothing of itself, because it is a reflection; a bundle of electro-magnetic forces, one of the countless milliards of "Knots of Fohat.= " Fohat is called the "Thread of primeval Light," the "Ball of thread" of Ariadne, indeed, in this labyrinth of chaotic matter. This thread runs through the seven planes tying itself into knots. Every plane being septenary, there are thus forty-nine mystical and physical forces, larger knots forming stars, suns and systems, the smaller planets, and so on.=20 Q. In what respect is the Sun an illusion?=20 A. The electro-magnetic knot of our Sun is neither tangible nor dimensional= , nor even as molecular as the electricity 116 we know. The Sun absorbs, "psychizes" and vampirizes its subjects within it= s system. Further than this it gives out nothing of itself. It is an absurdity, therefore, to say that the solar fires are being consumed and gradually extinguished. The Sun has but one distinct function; it gives the impulse of life to all that breathes and lives under its light. The sun is the throbbing heart of the system; each throb being an impulse. But this heart is invisible: no astronomer will ever see it. That which is concealed in this heart and that which we feel and see, its apparent flame and fires, to use a simile, are the nerves governing the muscles of the solar system, and nerves, moreover, outside of the body. This impulse is not mechanical but a purely spiritual, nervous impulse. =93=09=09 -------------------------------------- I hope this is not too confusing, but it shows how vast is the subject of symbology, and how extensive a knowledge of the keys has to be. Best wishes, Dallas From christinaleestemaker@yahoo.com Tue Nov 01 12:52:31 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: christinaleestemaker@yahoo.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 47205 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 20:52:31 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.218) by m34.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 20:52:31 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO n26.bulk.scd.yahoo.com) (66.94.237.55) by mta3.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 20:52:29 -0000 Comment: DomainKeys? See http://antispam.yahoo.com/domainkeys Received: from [66.218.69.3] by n26.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 20:50:25 -0000 Received: from [66.218.66.85] by mailer3.bulk.scd.yahoo.com with NNFMP; 01 Nov 2005 20:49:54 -0000 Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 20:49:53 -0000 To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Message-ID: In-Reply-To: User-Agent: eGroups-EW/0.82 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Mailer: Yahoo Groups Message Poster X-Yahoo-Newman-Property: groups-compose X-Originating-IP: 66.94.237.55 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 X-Yahoo-Post-IP: 83.85.214.69 From: "christinaleestemaker" Subject: Re: Seeker's Questions: The World Before Closed Eyes X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=162317756; y=3PzFd8VSIXJ3akGMy_v5RBAqO-aefL8iApju6AyIawTIyJG6Vc3r_azLIUhppJU X-Yahoo-Profile: christinaleestemaker Or the once see no difference between red and blue.? --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Drpsionic@a... wrote: > >=20=20 > In a message dated 10/30/2005 11:49:08 PM Central Standard Time,=20=20 > bartl@s... writes: >=20 > Ask 10 people to point to which color is "indigo" in the spectrum.=20 If=20 > two people point to the same place, I would be greatly surprised. >=20 >=20 >=20 >=20 > It's got to be in there somewhere! >=20=20 > Chuck the Heretic (who is looking and can't see it) >=20 >=20 > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > From bartl@sprynet.com Tue Nov 01 13:23:55 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: bartl@sprynet.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 91467 invoked from network); 1 Nov 2005 21:23:54 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m29.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 1 Nov 2005 21:23:54 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtpauth09.mail.atl.earthlink.net) (209.86.89.69) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 1 Nov 2005 21:23:54 -0000 Received: from [151.198.22.21] (helo=sprynet.com) by smtpauth09.mail.atl.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1EX3bm-0004PO-1g for theos-talk@yahoogroups.com; Tue, 01 Nov 2005 16:23:54 -0500 Message-ID: <4367DCED.2000204@sprynet.com> Date: Tue, 01 Nov 2005 16:23:57 -0500 User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows; U; Windows NT 5.1; en-US; rv:1.4) Gecko/20030624 Netscape/7.1 (ax) X-Accept-Language: en-us, en MIME-Version: 1.0 To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com References: In-Reply-To: Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-ELNK-Trace: 5be619ec394aa49c25eb773df4b61cba7019730907401884ea8ea0f3f2873aaa3d22eb99cf5c6dcb350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 209.86.89.69 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: Bart Lidofsky Subject: Re: Theos-World Re: Seeker's Questions: The World Before Closed Eyes X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=690370; y=nOBIMLoOKr8bGKbTFNCKnF7eVqu8mHpnBv6RE1W3-3287lM X-Yahoo-Profile: bml07646 Let's not get political about this... christinaleestemaker wrote: > > > > > > Or the once see no difference between red and blue.? > > > > > > > --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, Drpsionic@a... wrote: > >> >>In a message dated 10/30/2005 11:49:08 PM Central Standard Time, >>bartl@s... writes: >> >>Ask 10 people to point to which color is "indigo" in the spectrum. > > If > >>two people point to the same place, I would be greatly surprised. >> >> >> >> >>It's got to be in there somewhere! >> >>Chuck the Heretic (who is looking and can't see it) >> >> >>[Non-text portions of this message have been removed] >> > > > > > > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > > > > > > > From dalval14@earthlink.net Wed Nov 02 05:21:28 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: dalval14@earthlink.net X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 88690 invoked from network); 2 Nov 2005 13:21:24 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.167) by m30.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 2 Nov 2005 13:21:24 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtpauth02.mail.atl.earthlink.net) (209.86.89.62) by mta6.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 2 Nov 2005 13:21:24 -0000 Received: from [209.178.163.62] (helo=DALLAS) by smtpauth02.mail.atl.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1EXIXw-0002mo-9u; Wed, 02 Nov 2005 08:20:59 -0500 To: "AA-BNStudy" Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 04:20:35 -0800 Message-ID: <003401c5dfa7$d70b6d70$3ea3b2d1@DALLAS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 1 (Highest) X-MSMail-Priority: High X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626 Importance: High X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 X-ELNK-Trace: c552449649a8b16d1aa676d7e74259b7b3291a7d08dfec79563e382ab955a48ff1fff6962de58314350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 209.86.89.62 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" Reply-To: Subject: reading, not between the lines and within the words. X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=52898573; y=van_x2-rgSHvJ1_GjS6pIg3JGebihSYcnA3ulafBrlhjpQ X-Yahoo-Profile: dalval2 ON READING THEOSOPHY IN SEARCH OF TRUTH ---------------------- A suggestion from the author of LIGHT ON THE PATH : There is another way of reading, which is, indeed, the only one of any use with many authors. It is reading, not between the lines but within the words. In fact, it is deciphering a profound cipher.=20 All alchemical works are written in the cipher of which I speak; it has bee= n used by the great philosophers and poets of all time. It is used systematically by the adepts in life and knowledge, who, seemingly giving out their deepest wisdom, hide in the very words which frame it its actual mystery. They cannot do more.=20 There is a law of nature which insists that a man shall read these mysterie= s for himself. By no other method can he obtain them. A man who desires to live must eat his food himself: this is the simple law of nature=97which applies also to the higher life A man who would live and act in it cannot b= e fed like a babe with a spoon; he must eat for himself. =85 To a deaf and dumb man, a truth is made no more intelligible if, in order t= o make it so, some misguided linguist translates the words in which it is couched into every living or dead language, and shouts these different phrases in his ear. But for those who are not deaf and dumb one language is generally easier than the rest; and it is to such as these I address myself= . There are four proven and certain truths with regard to the entrance to occultism.=20 The Gates of Gold bar that threshold; yet there are some who pass those gates and discover the sublime and illimitable beyond. In the far spaces of Time all will pass those gates.=20 But I am one who wish that Time, the great deluder, were not so over-masterful. To those who know and love him I have no word to say; but t= o the others=97 and there are not so very few as some may fancy=97to whom the passage of Time is as the stroke of a sledge-hammer, and the sense of Space like the bars of an iron cage, I will translate and retranslate until they understand fully. 1. Kill out ambition. 2. Kill out desire of life. 3. Kill out desire of comfort. 4. Work as those work who are ambitious.=20 Respect life as those do who desire it.=20 The four truths written on the first page of Light on the Path,=94 refer to the trial initiation of the would=97be occultist. Until he has passed it, cannot even reach to the latch of the gate which admits to knowledge. Knowledge is man=92s greatest inheritance; why, then, should he not attempt= to reach it by every possible road ?=20 The laboratory is not the only ground for experiment; science, we must remember, is derived from sciens, present participle of scire, =93to know,=94=97its origin is similar to that of the word =93discern,=94 =93to k= en.=94=20 Science does not therefore deal only with matter, no, not even its subtlest and obscurest forms. Such an idea is born merely of the idle spirit of the age.=20 Science is a word which covers all forms of knowledge It is exceedingly interesting to hear what chemists discover, and to see them finding their way through the densities of matter to its finer forms; but there are other kinds of knowledge than this, and it is not every one who restricts his (strictly scientific) desire for knowledge to experiments which are capable of being tested by the physical senses. Everyone=85 has guessed, or even perhaps discovered with some certainty, at there are subtle senses lying within the physical senses. There is nothing at all extraordinary in this; if we took the trouble to call Nature into th= e witness box we should find that everything which is perceptible to the ordinary sight, has something even more important than itself hidden within it; the microscope has opened a world to us, but within those encasements which the microscope reveals, lies a mystery which no machinery can probe. The whole world is animated and lit, down to its most material shapes, by a world within it. This inner world is called Astral by some people, and it i= s as good a word as any other, though it merely means starry; but the stars, as Locke pointed out, are luminous bodies which give light of themselves.=20 This quality is characteristic of the life which lies within matter; for those who see it, need no lamp to see it by. The word star, moreover, is derived from the Anglo-Saxon stir-an,=94 to steer, to stir, to move, and undeniably it is the inner life which is master of the outer, just as a man=92s brain guides the movements of his lips. So that although Astral is = no very excellent word in itself, I am content to use it for my present purpose. The whole of =93Light on the Path=94 is written in an astral cipher and can therefore only be deciphered by one who reads astrally. And its teaching is chiefly directed towards the cultivation and development of the astral life= . Until the first step has been taken in this development, the swift knowledge, which is called intuition with certainty, is impossible to man. And this positive and certain intuition is the only form of knowledge which enables a man to work rapidly or reach his true and high estate, within the limit of his conscious effort.)=20 To obtain knowledge by experiment is too tedious a method for those who aspire to accomplish real work; he who gets it by certain intuition, lays hands on its various forms with supreme rapidity, by fierce effort of will = ; as a determined workman grasps his tools, indifferent to their weight or an= y other difficulty which may stand in his way. He does not stay for each to b= e tested=97he uses such as he sees are fittest. All the rules contained in =93Light on the Path,=94 are written for all disciples, but only for disciples =97those who =93take knowledge.=94 To non= e else but the student in this school are its laws of any use or interest. To all who are interested seriously in Occultism, I say first=97take knowle= dge To him who hath shall be given. It is useless to wait for it. The womb of Time will close before you, and in later days you will remain unborn, without power. I therefore say to those who have any hunger or thirst for knowledge, attend to these rules. They are none of my handicraft or invention. They are merely the phrasing o= f laws in super-nature, the putting into words truths as absolute in their ow= n sphere, as those laws which govern the conduct of the earth and its atmosphere. The senses spoken of in these four statements are the astral, or inner senses. --------------------------------------------- HPB in the SECRET DOCTRINE makes a suggestion: =93The processes of natural development which we are now considering will a= t once elucidate and discredit the fashion of speculating on the attributes o= f the two, three, and four or more "dimensional Space;" but in passing, it is worth while to point out the real significance of the sound but incomplete intuition that has prompted=97among Spiritualists and Theosophists, and several great men of Science, for the matter of that *=97the use of the mod= ern expression, "the fourth dimension of Space."=20 To begin with, of course, the superficial absurdity of assuming that Space itself is measurable in any direction is of little consequence.=20 The familiar phrase can only be an abbreviation of the fuller form=97the "Fourth dimension of MATTER in Space." =86 But it is an unhappy phrase even thus expanded, because while it is perfectly true that the progress of evolution may be destined to introduce us to new characteristics of matter, those with which we are already familiar are really more numerous than the three dimensions.=20 The faculties, or what is perhaps the best available term, the characteristics of matter, must clearly bear a direct relation always to th= e senses of man. Matter has extension, colour, motion (molecular motion), taste, and smell, corresponding to the existing senses of man, and by the time that it fully develops the next characteristic=97let us call it for th= e moment PERMEABILITY=97this will correspond to the next sense of man=97let u= s call it "NORMAL CLAIRVOYANCE;" thus, when some bold thinkers have been thirsting for a fourth dimension to explain the passage of matter through matter, and the production of knots upon an endless cord, what they were really in want of, was a sixth characteristic of matter=85=94=20 S D I 251 =93Nature is never stationary during manvantara, as it is ever becoming, = =86 not simply being; and mineral, vegetable, and human life are always adapting their organisms to the then reigning Elements, and therefore those Elements were then fitted for them, as they are now for the life of present humanity= . It will only be in the next, or fifth, Round that the fifth Element, Ether=97the gross body of Akasa, if it can be called even that=97will, by becoming a familiar fact of Nature to all men, as air is familiar to us now= , cease to be as at present hypothetical, and also an "agent" for so many things.=20 And only during that Round will those higher senses, the growth and development of which Akasa subserves, be susceptible of a complete expansion.=20 As already indicated, a partial familiarity with the characteristic of matter=97permeability=97which should be developed concurrently with the six= th sense, may be expected to develop at the proper period in this Round. But with the next element added to our resources in the next Round, permeabilit= y will become so manifest a characteristic of matter, that the densest forms of this will seem to man's perceptions as obstructive to him as a thick fog= , and no more. =93 S D I 257-8 Best wishes,=20 Dallas =20 From samblo@cs.com Wed Nov 02 10:56:37 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: Samblo@cs.com X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 88771 invoked from network); 2 Nov 2005 18:56:36 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.166) by m35.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 2 Nov 2005 18:56:36 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO imo-m21.mx.aol.com) (64.12.137.2) by mta5.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 2 Nov 2005 18:56:35 -0000 Received: from Samblo@cs.com by imo-m21.mx.aol.com (mail_out_v38_r6.3.) id r.1f0.47274f01 (4340) for ; Wed, 2 Nov 2005 13:52:39 -0500 (EST) Message-ID: <1f0.47274f01.309a64f7@cs.com> Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 13:52:39 EST To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com MIME-Version: 1.0 X-Mailer: 6.0 sub 10512 X-Spam-Flag: NO X-Originating-IP: 64.12.137.2 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 2:4:8:0 From: samblo@cs.com Subject: Re: Theos-World reading, not between the lines and within the words. X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=27151446 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dallas, Thanks for your post and comments. I'd like to post what I think corresponds in a way as I have wanted to see something appropriate before doing so. Vincent Bridges has an Alchemy website and published works. But years ago I read an article online of his that impressed me, see both below: Vincent Bridges Books & Alchemy http://www.vincentbridges.com/ Reading the Green Language of Light - Vincent Bridges http://www.jwmt.org/v1n4/readlight.html mentioned as important to the Green Language: I Ching: Richard Wilhelm Translation http://www.wisdomportal.com/IChing?IChing-Wilhelm.html the sister to the I Ching: The Shu King: Or, the Chinese Historical Classic, Being an Authentic Rec http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=102392782 John [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] From dalval14@earthlink.net Wed Nov 02 12:34:54 2005 Return-Path: X-Sender: dalval14@earthlink.net X-Apparently-To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com Received: (qmail 87852 invoked from network); 2 Nov 2005 20:34:52 -0000 Received: from unknown (66.218.66.172) by m32.grp.scd.yahoo.com with QMQP; 2 Nov 2005 20:34:52 -0000 Received: from unknown (HELO smtpauth06.mail.atl.earthlink.net) (209.86.89.66) by mta4.grp.scd.yahoo.com with SMTP; 2 Nov 2005 20:34:52 -0000 Received: from [209.178.166.99] (helo=DALLAS) by smtpauth06.mail.atl.earthlink.net with asmtp (Exim 4.34) id 1EXPJh-0000Mn-6r; Wed, 02 Nov 2005 15:34:49 -0500 To: Date: Wed, 2 Nov 2005 11:34:13 -0800 Message-ID: <000501c5dfe4$6e82ca90$63a6b2d1@DALLAS> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Priority: 1 (Highest) X-MSMail-Priority: High X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook, Build 10.0.6626 Importance: High X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2900.2180 In-Reply-To: <1f0.47274f01.309a64f7@cs.com> X-ELNK-Trace: c552449649a8b16d1aa676d7e74259b7b3291a7d08dfec79f48df9ad8453ba415f8b94d6e84cf327350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c350badd9bab72f9c X-Originating-IP: 209.86.89.66 X-eGroups-Msg-Info: 1:12:0:0 From: "W.Dallas TenBroeck" Reply-To: Subject: RE: Theos-World reading, not between the lines and within the words. X-Yahoo-Group-Post: member; u=52898573; y=dXuRmx-rDtEAHVSyV74yh5SqJDn6SqroI0EcPqjD-76Z9w X-Yahoo-Profile: dalval2 Nov 2 RE: Theos-World reading, not between the lines and within the words. Thanks John: will visit -- glad to have your help. How much is true and fact? Guesses?=20=20 If Jesus died at 80 (?) then..... (let me offer this ) =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D= =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D WAS JESUS A REAL PERSON? "An impression seem to have arisen that H.P.B. denied that Jesus ever lived at all.=20 My understanding is that she never said that but only denied the historicit= y of the Gospel=92s =93Jesus,=94 -- i.e., Jesus, as portrayed in the four Gos= pels, she says is a fabrication, a concoction.=20 She brings forward esoteric teaching to show that the Gospel account is an historizing of the zodiacal signs and cycles of the most ancient philosophers, under which they concealed some of their Cosmogonical facts a= s myths, and she adds there indeed lived a great reformer, the Adept Jesus.= =20 Let me offer some notes made in the course of studying ISIS UNVEILED and Th= e SECRET DOCTRINE.=20 =20 ISIS UNVEILED II 132 and 133 :-=20 Whether Jesus belonged to the sect of the Nazarenes or Essenes is difficult to establish but Jesus preached the philosophy of Sakyamuni, the Buddha.=20 While Nazars of olden time were the Chaldean Kabalists, the Essenes were th= e converts of Buddhist missionaries who had overrun the Middle East, Egypt, Greece and even Judea at one time, since the reign of king Asoka [Glos. pp. 55-6], a zealous Buddhist, who sent out missionary Buddhist monks far and wide -- even as far as Ireland it is rumored.=20 The Essenes [Glos. p. 115] were Buddhists, and have the honour of the Nazarene reformer, Jesus, as a pupil, yet, the latter is found disagreeing with his early teachers on questions of formal observance. "He cannot strictly be called a Nazar, or a nazaria of the older sect. What Jesus was, may be found in the Codex Nazaraeus, in the unjust accusations of the Bardesanian Gnostics." (we must note this hint and inquire into the Codex and accounts of Bardesanian Gnostics). [Glos. pp. 226, 129, 50] =20 What does the Codex Nazareus [Glos., p. 86] say ? "Jesu is Nebu, the false Messiah, the destroyer of the old orthodox religion." It is further said in ISIS UNVEILED : He is the founder of the sect of the new nazars -- a follower of the Buddhist doctrine. Nebu is from naba, meaning inspiration i= n Hebrew, and Nebo is god of wisdom. "But Nebo is also Mercury, and Mercury i= s Buddha [Wisdom] in the Hindu monogram of planets. Moreover, we find the Talmudists holding that Jesus was inspired by the genius of Mercury [Bodha - Wisdom. Glos. p. 226]." =20 Jesus preached the philosophy of Buddha--Sakhyamuni. He belonged to one of these sects who were cursed by the Sanhendrin and was secretly persecuted b= y the orthodox. =20 Both in the KEY TO THEOSOPHY and ISIS UNVEILED we see parallels drawn between the two great Reformer--Teachers : Jesus and Gautama Buddha. [see ISIS UNVEILED II p. 133] It is said that both of them had the same motive: 1. to reform the current popular Jewish religion, and, 2. teaching pure Ethics, the true teaching having been concealed as an exclusive property of certain esoteric sects. =20 ISIS UNVEILED II 135 :- Jesus is there said to be over 40 years of age, according to Kabalists, when he arrived at Jerusalem. I U II p. 136 and 137 -- an account is given of how Iranaeus manipulated the Gospels to make it appear that=20 (a) Jesus did not belong to the sect of Nazarenes, the school of John the Baptist, and=20 (b) that his appellation Nazarene is derived from the fact that his father 's residence was at Nazareth, and not because he belonged to the sec= t of Nazarenes. I U II p. 127 We are given a clue that Jesus was a true Nazarene. With ideas of reform, we must not look for evidence in the Gospels, which are fabrications, but seek in the true original Christianity -- the remnants of the Gnostics. H P B writs: "Thus, if we take into account all that is puzzling and incomprehensible in the four Gospels, revised and corrected as they now stand, we shall easily see for ourselves that the true, original Christianity, such as was preached by Jesus, is to be found in the so-calle= d Syrian heresies. Only from them can we extract any clear notions about what was primitive Christianity". =20 ISIS UNVEILED II p. 144. Jesus belonged to and received initiation from Nazarenes in the desert and separated himself from them and became an independent wandering Nazaria -- a travelling therapeutae, a healer. =20 Here we see parallel between Gautama Buddha and Jesus. The former received initiation from Brahmin Initiates and learnt all from them, and seeing that the great life-giving truths were withheld by this proud and exclusive cast= e from the masses, he separated himself from his teachers and began preaching pure ethics and the non-violent life to despised out-castes, servants, villagers, and pariahs. =20 I U II p. 144 "Both Jesus and St. John the Baptist preached the end of the Age ; which proves their knowledge of the secret computation of the priests and Kabalists, who with the chief of the Essene communities alone had the secret of the duration of the cycles. The latter were kabalists and theurgists." We are told that the meaning of the division of time into age= s is esoteric, and Buddhistic. The uninitiated Christians never understood this, and accepted the words of Jesus literally, believing the world would end abruptly. =20 ISIS UNVEILED II p. 145 : Virtues such as renunciation, charity, non-violence, etc., taught by Jesus were practiced by both Essenes and Nazarenes. Christ was a teacher of =91metempsychoses=92 or reincarnation -= - repeating the Essenean teachings. The Essenes were Pythagoreans in their doctrines and habits. Jesus spoke in parables and metaphors that can be traced to the Essenes and Nazarenes.=20=20 ISIS UNVEILED II p.147 : Like Pythagorean-Essenean methods Jesus divided his teachings into the exoteric and the esoteric, and divided his followers into =93neophytes,=94 =93brethren=94 and the =93perfect.=94 "= But his career at least as a public Rabbi, was of a too short duration tallow him t= o establish a regular school of his own ; and with the exception, perhaps, of John, it does not seem that he had initiated any other apostle.=94 =20 I U II p. 148 : Sadducees (Zadokites) accused and crucified Jesus for practicing the magic of Egyptians. I U II p. 150 : Here Jesus is shown to be a real historical character, a great reformer.=20 "All this points to the fact, that except a handful of self-styled Christians who subsequently won the day, all the civilized portion of the pagan world who knew of Jesus honoured him as a philosopher an adept whom they placed on the same level with Pythagoras and Apollonius. Whence such a veneration on their part for a man, were he simply, as represented by the Synoptics, a poor, unknown Jewish carpenter from Nazareth ? As an incarnate= d God there is no single record of him on this earth capable of withstanding the critical examination of science ; as one of the greatest reformers, an inveterate enemy of every theological dogmatism, a persecutor of bigotry, a teacher of one of the most sublime codes of ethics, Jesus is one of the grandest and most clearly-defined figures on the panorama of human history...." =20 I U II p. 152 : Early Nazarenes believed Jesus to have been over-shadowed by the Divine and that its influence waned when he was on the cross. 'THEOSOPHIST' for March 1883, has an article on the =93Real Jesus.=94 Ther= e it states that Jesus was never a historical personage but a myth built on the historical Jeshu of Lydda -- a Jewish Adept who lived from 120 to 70 B C, and that the real founder of Christianity was St. Paul. =20 Jesus was also known as Ben Panthera [also PANDERA] (son of Panthera) [Glos= . p 248,=20 I U II p. 201, H P B Articles III 173]. For the origin of the non-existent Jesus of the Gospels we must turn to accounts of the Gnostic sect of Marcion. [ Glos. p. 207] In I U II p. 137 we are told, "To assure ourselves that Jesus was a true Nazarene-- albeit with ideas of a new reform--we must not search for the proof in the translated Gospels, but in such original versions as are accessible...Thus, if we take into account all that is puzzling and incomprehensible in the four Gospels, revised and corrected as they now stand, we shall easily see for ourselves that the true, original Christianity, such as was preached by Jesus, is to be found only in the so-called Syrian heresies. Only from them can we extract any clear notions about what was primitive Christianity." =20 Who were the Syrian Gnostics ? They are early sects founded by Marcion and Bardesanes. Hence it would be highly profitable to study whatever is available of these two sects and their philosophy. C. W. King recalls (GNOSTICS AND THEIR REMAINS) that according to tradition they were of Persian origin and Magians by religious training. In I U II 157-60 and 161-164 and in the Glossary more information is available. Here is a brief summary of these references : =20 Gnostic doctrines held that Christ did not and cannot ever die but only the bodily form which he had occupied died.=20 But the Church regards this as a heresy. [Dictionary says: =93heresy=94 is questioning Church dogmas.] Gnostics taught the doctrine of Maya--Illusion, of the Real and the Unreal, as Buddhists and Vedantins do.=20 Orthodox Christians called the Gnostics 'Illusionists' for believing that Christ did not and never could die.=20 Gnosis was an off-shoot of Buddhism and held the same metaphysical ideas. They made a clear distinction between Christos and the illusionary Jesus.=20 Christos was for them what it is for Theosophists -- the Higher Manas, Ego, Son of the Universal Mind, MANASA-PUTRA, the Vedic VISHVAKARMAN, who sacrificed himself to himself [his Higher Self to serve the Lower Self, and thus to redeem the worlds]. [S D II 167] Christos or Christ--Krishna is explained as: "=85the incarnating Egos have taken upon themselves, voluntarily and knowingly, the burden of all the future personalities. Thence it is easy to see that it is neither Mr. A nor Mr. B, nor any of the personalities that periodically clothe the Self-sacrificing Ego, which are real sufferers, but verily the innocent Christos in us." Transactions of Blavatsky Lodge, p. 68. [ BCW Vol. X ] VICARIOUS ATONEMENT The Church dogma of Vicarious Atonement arose from the mystico-metaphysical doctrine that Jesus died on the cross to save the world. This imposed as dogma and enforced by the Church is productive of immorality (another can b= e made to take our blame) and this is the source of much evil in society.=20 THE FIRST SON OF GOD Gnostics held the old theosophical doctrine that described Christ as the LOGOS, the first emanation from the invisible ABSOLUTE [the God-Head] manifesting itself as tangible in Spirit. It is the same as the Greek Logos= , the Hebrew Messiah, the Latin Verbum, the Hindu Viraj -- they are viewed metaphysically as =93collective entities, flames detached from the one eter= nal centre of Light.=94 (I U 1 p. 59). "Thus Christos, as a unity, is but an abstraction : a general idea representing the collective aggregation of the numberless spirit-entities, which are the direct emanations of the infinite, invisible, incomprehensibl= e FIRST CAUSE--the individual spirits of men." (I U II p. 159)=20 In the majority of mankind this Christos [the HIGHER SELF] is latent. It only overshadows the mortal, (which are its radiations [Rays] on earth, but also, actively manifesting in such god-like figures as the Buddha, Jesus, Krishna, etc., because all these succeeded earlier in uniting themselves permanently with their divine prototype, their "Father in Heaven."=20 Gnostic sects held this view of Christ, and of the perfectibility of all men, which the ambitious, ignorant Church Fathers sought to destroy and declared, as =93pre-existence=94 to be anathema. =20=20=20=20 Marcion, [Glos p. 207] one of the prominent Gnostics, wrote =93Antithesis" challenging the Church corruptions of the pure philosophy regarding the tru= e nature of the Christos, and the Church responded with its "Refutations" -- full of lies and falsehoods -- Tertulian and Epiphanius, also early Church Fathers, excelling in the art of falsification. The Church destroyed most o= f the works of the Gnostics, yet preserved a record of their doctrines in the =93Refutations.=94 =20 Marcion recognised no other Gospel than a few Epistles of Paul. He rejected totally the anthropomorphism of the Old Testament and drew a clear line of demarcation between old Judaism and the new =93Christianity.=94=20 He looked on Jesus as neither a king, nor a Messiah of the Jews, nor a =93s= on of David.=94 He declared that he was "=85 a divine being sent to revel to = man a spiritual religion, and a God of goodness and grace hitherto unknown" ( I U II p. 162).=20 Jesus ignored Jehovah and preached against the religion of the Siniatic god= . The Marcionites showed that the Church made a great blunder in identifying Jehovah as the "Father in Heaven" of Jesus.=20 Marcion said that the mission of Jesus was to terminate the concept of Jehovah being the Lord-God of the Israelites, and, instead, to establish a pure spiritual religion, a universal faith based on unadulterated Truth. Th= e Universal Wisdom-Religion he desired to establish, he had learned at the feet of the Gurus in the Himalayas, not on mount Sinai. Marcion shows the contradictory character of Jehovah and denies any relationship to Jesus, hence the so-called Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament are done away with. =20 I U II p. 164 shows a set of tables that compare the teachings of Manu, Buddha and Jesus and thus demonstrate them to be identical.=20 In summation, we could observe that the amount of evidence brought forward is overwhelming. One might repeat:=20=20 Theosophy, is not a creed or dogma invented by theologians, by fallible men= , but ANCIENT and UNIVERSAL KNOWLEDGE. It is the cumulative testimony of an innumerable, endless series of Seers. [S D I 272-3] It is not a religion, not a creed, nor does it have dogmas. It is not built on anything but that ancient foundation upon which every one of the religions of the world have been based. Concerning the Knowers of the Wisdom of the Universe, We find H P B wrote: = =20 "Their spiritual visions, real explorations by, and through, physical and spiritual senses untrammeled by blind flesh, were systematically checked an= d compared one with the other, and their nature sifted. All that was not corroborated by unanimous and collective experience was rejected, while tha= t only was recorded as established truth which, in various ages, under different climes, and throughout an untold series of incessant observations= , was found to agree and receive constantly further corroboration." [Key, p. 85] =93The Secret Doctrine is the accumulated Wisdom of the Ages, and its cosmogony alone is the most stupendous and elaborate system: e.g., even in the exotericism of the Puranas. But such is the mysterious power of Occult symbolism, that the facts which have actually occupied countless generation= s of initiated seers and prophets to marshal, to set down and explain, in the bewildering series of evolutionary progress, are all recorded on a few page= s of geometrical signs and glyphs.=20 The flashing gaze of those seers has penetrated into the very kernel of matter, and recorded the soul of things there, where an ordinary profane, however learned, would have perceived but the external work of form. But modern science believes not in the "soul of things," and hence will reject the whole system of ancient cosmogony. It is useless to say that the system in question is no fancy of one or several isolated individuals.=20 That it is the uninterrupted record covering thousands of generations of Seers whose respective experiences were made to test and to verify the traditions passed orally by one early race to another, of the teachings of higher and exalted beings, who watched over the childhood of Humanity. That for long ages, the "Wise Men" of the Fifth Race, of the stock saved and rescued from the last cataclysm and shifting of continents, had passed thei= r lives in learning, not teaching.=20 How did they do so? It is answered: by checking, testing, and verifying in every department of nature the traditions of old by the independent visions of great adepts; i.e., men who have developed and perfected their physical, mental, psychic, and spiritual organisations to the utmost possible degree. No vision of one adept was accepted till it was checked and confirmed by th= e visions=97so obtained as to stand as independent evidence=97of other adepts= , and by centuries of experiences.=94 S D I 272-3 "Let no man set up a popery instead of Theosophy, as this would be suicidal and has ever ended most fatally" has been the plea of H.P.B. to students.( "Five Messages to American Theosophists=94 from H. P. Blavatsky. First Message, 1888 ).=20 =20 Students are invited to seek for and make their own in-depth study for of all the keys H.P.B. gives out in her books: ISIS UNVEILED, SECRET DOCTRINE= , and other of her numerous articles pertaining to the roots of Christianity, the pagan origins of Church rituals and dogmas ; of those Keys, we might mention: the Anthropological, Mystical, Historical, Astrological, Astronomical, Metaphysical, Cosmogonical, Psychical, Physiological, Numerical, Ethnological Keys she has furnished in respect to both Old and New Testaments, especially, the Book of Genesis, the Gospels and the Revelations, and some Kabalistic texts. ----------------------------------------------------- [from vol II, 151-53 of Isis Unveiled.]=20 =93Epiphanius brings it as an idolatrous charge against the Carpocratians t= hat =93they kept painted portraits, and even gold and silver images, and in oth= er materials, which they pretended to be portraits of Jesus, and made by Pilat= e after the likeness of Christ. . . . These they keep in secret, along with Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle, and setting them all up together, they worship and offer sacrifices unto them after the Gentiles=92 fashion.=94 What would the pious Epiphanius say were he to resuscitate and step into St= . Peter=92s Cathedral at Rome! Ambrosius seems also very desperate at the id= ea =97 that some persons fully credited the statement of Lampridius that Alexander Severus had in his private chapel an image of Christ among other great philosophers. =93That the Pagans should have preserved the likeness = of Christ,=94 he exclaims, =93but the disciples have neglected to do so, is a notion the mind shudders to entertain, much less to believe.=94 All this point