November 2016 Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the November 2016 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
Essence of Theosophy
By Geoffrey Hodson
I. Man is a threefold immortal spiritual being, incarnated in four mortal material bodies.
II. The three parts of his spiritual self are reflections of the Divine Will, Divine Wisdom and Divine Intelligence.
In this spiritual aspect of his nature, man is one with the Logos. The difference between the Logos and man lies in the degree in which their triune powers are made manifest.
In God these are fully manifested; in man they are manifested in a gradually increasing degree of fulness, as his evolution proceeds.
III. Man’s four material bodies in the order of their density are:
(a) His mental body composed of mental material; his vehicle of thought.
(b) His emotional body, composed of emotional material; his vehicle of feeling.
(c) His vital or etheric body, composed of etheric material; this is the conserving principle of his physical vital forces and the link between the superphysical and physical bodies.
(d) His physical body, composed of physical, solid, liquid and gaseous material; his vehicle of action and self-expression in the physical world.
In this fourfold material aspect of his nature man is temporarily unconscious of his unity with God. As his evolution proceeds he gradually rediscovers his lost knowledge; this rediscovery is the object of all spiritual endeavour.
IV. The purpose of man’s existence is growth.
Growth consists of the gradual unfoldment from latency to full potency of man’s threefold spiritual attributes on the one hand; and on the other, the evolution of his four material vehicles to a condition in which they perfectly make manifest his threefold spiritual attributes. The true purpose of religion is to help man towards this attainment.
V. The goal of human evolution is the standard of perfection described in Christianity as “The measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
This implies the attainment of a divine state of omnipotence, or perfected and resistless will; omnipresence or perfected and all-embracing love; and omniscience or perfected and all-inclusive knowledge. The attainment of this perfection is absolutely certain for every man. The command “Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” will be literally obeyed by all human beings.
VI. Beyond this state of human perfection is a still higher stage of superhuman perfection; beyond that again there is a gradual ascent towards the spiritual stature of the Logos Himself.
The
Logos is the Creator, Sustainer and Transformer of all worlds and the Spiritual
Parent of all men. He Himself is evolving, together with His whole system and
all which it contains, towards a goal which is beyond the comprehension of
mortal man.
Since man is a god in the becoming, his future splendour, wisdom and power is
entirely without limit.
VII. The goal of human perfection has already been reached by men.
Such perfect men are known as Adepts and Masters of the Wisdom.
VIII. These superhuman beings constitute the Inner Government of the World, and are the true spiritual rulers, teachers and inspirers of men.
They are the august body of “Just men made perfect,” the “Communion of saints.”
IX. The goal of human perfection is attained by means of successive incarnations in material vehicles newly formed during the pre-natal period of each succeeding life.
X. The multifarious experiences of these repeated incarnations are all designed to draw out the latent powers of the evolving God, which is Man.
The purpose and effect of repeated physical existence is education in the true meaning of the word.
After the achievement of perfection, rebirth is no longer a necessity; all further progress can be achieved in superphysical worlds. “Him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out.” Rev.
XI. All incarnations are connected to each other by the operation of the law of cause and effect or readjustment.
All actions, feelings and thoughts produce their own natural and perfectly appropriate reaction. Reactions may follow actions immediately, later in the same life, or in succeeding incarnations. This law is referred to in the test: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The Sanskrit word “karma” is used to designate the operation of this eternal law.
XII. Actions based on a recognition of unity and motived by love, service and unselfishness, produce a pleasure, a health and a growing freedom of self-expression which encourage the actor to repeat them.
XIII. Actions based on separateness and motived by dislike, greed and selfishness, produce a pain, an ill-health, and an increasing limitation of self-expression, which discourage the actor from repeating them. Thus the law moves men to righteousness.
The intensity of the pleasure or the pain is governed by the degree in which the unselfish or selfish motives found expression in action.
Suffering is neither a punishment inflicted from above, nor an accidental adversity; it is self-inflicted and is designed to apprise the actor of his transgressions; it is therefore truly beneficent and educative in its purpose and effect.
XIV. The spiritual man inhabiting his four bodies is continually aware of the operation of this educative law and gradually acquires knowledge, wisdom, power and character as a result.
These constitute man’s only true and eternal possessions. They are the “treasurers in heaven which neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.”
All material possessions and temporal powers are transient, and the exclusive pursuit of them is utterly vain.
XV. The action of the law of readjustment constitutes the only control or judgment to which man is ever subjected.
Man makes his own destiny by his own actions, and within this law is absolutely and unconditionally free. Man is subject to no external spiritual authority or power. All religion which is based on the fear of, or desire to gain favours from an external God is false.
XVI. There is a spiritual alchemy, by means of which adversity, resulting from actions motived by selfishness, can be diminished or even dispersed by the deliberate exertion of energies and the enactment of deeds motived by love.
Love is the true philosopher’s stone, service the alchemical process by which baser human qualities and the pains of adversity may be transmuted into the fine gold of spiritual power and happiness.
XVII. The alchemy of the spirit may be applied to the healing of disease by the sufferer himself, and constitutes the true science of spiritual healing.
XVIII. The process of the transmutation of the imperfections of human nature into their opposite perfections may be deliberately applied to increase the rapidity of human evolution.
The goal of perfection which awaits all men in the far distant future can be attained in a relatively short time.
XIX. This spiritual mode of life constitutes the short and narrow way of Christianity, the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism, and the razor-edged path of Hinduism. It leads to salvation, Nirvana or liberation.
The life of Christ as portrayed in the Gospels is a dramatic representation of the experiences of the soul in this path.
The Sermon on the Mount, the teachings of the Lord Buddha, and the Hindu Scripture, known as the Bhagavad Gita, define the conduct necessary for the achievement of perfection.
XX. This path of swift unfoldment is open today as of old: it can be only trodden by purity of life and selfless service to the Divine Will: it is the pathway to health, happiness, perfection and eternal peace.
The Message of Theosophy to Man
By Geoffrey Hodson
Reprinted from Sharing the Light, Vol. II
IN essence, the message of Theosophy to all mankind is a revelation of the true meaning and purpose of life which is self-fulfilment. Each individual, says Theosophy, is potentially a genius, an Adept, and a Director of the evolutionary process in worlds and spheres of increasing number, magnitude and complexity. Every man is destined to become an agent of that inherent will to fuller, freer and ever more beautiful self-expression which is the driving force behind all Creation. Theosophy thus gives to each individual, if he will receive it, a vision of himself, his powers and his destiny, and reveals them as being entirely without limit.
Throughout the unending series of successive Creations by, or external manifestations of, the One Life, man continues individually to unfold in parallel with the Universe of which he is a part. The attainment of awareness, self-manifestation, self-rule and evolutionary directorship in ever-widening fields is the motif of the symphony of human existence. The inherent potentiality is infinite. Infinite in consequence, also, is the degree of unfoldment.
This knowledge is the greatest of all gifts, for it not only gives to the recipient a clear plan of his own life and that of all Nature around him; it also bestows upon him the sense of dignity appropriate to one born spiritually to become a King, with Kingship as the basic attribute of his nature.
‘Become that which you are’ has ever been the message, the, counsel and the guidance given by Sages to their fellow men. Once a man accepts this counsel, directs his thinking and his life thereby, both his character and the conduct of his life become ennobled. Nobility, then, is the ideal of character and conduct presented by Theosophy to man. Theosophy ennobles as well as informs, inspires, and directs.
Theosophy further asserts that the several parts of which the whole Creation is apparently composed are interdependent. The fulfilment of the life of any one part depends upon that of every other. From this unity in multiplicity and its implications there is no escape. It is one of the fundamental facts of existence. Its recognition is, therefore, of the greatest importance. That which obtains throughout all Nature must be recognised by man and applied to every phase of human life.
The key, therefore, to happiness and to harmonious human relationships in terms of intellect, consists of recognition of this fact of unity amid multiplicity. If only for selfish motives, undesirable though they are, it pays every individual to assist the unfoldment of every other individual whom he can reach; for the giving of such aid increases and extends his own evolutionary development.
Yet the sense of separated selfhood is an illusion. A purely selfish motive for any action can only arise from sheer blindness, to, and ignorance of, two facts. The first is, that all units in the scheme of Nature are mutually interdependent for evolutionary progress, happiness and wellbeing. The second fact is that the life, intelligence and inherent will to unfoldment is identical in all.
Once these two facts are realized, the greatest single cause of human suffering, unhappiness and seeming failure is removed. That cause is the delusion of Self-Individuality as a unit separated from every other, with a different life and a different objective from the rest.
Through successive ages the Sages have delivered to humanity this happiness-giving and health-giving truth, have taught that a recognition of the indivisible unity of all beings and the application of this truth to thought, motive and conduct are the only assurances of happiness and health. On the other hand, failure to recognise that unity, expressed as individualistic, separative thought, motive and conduct, brings unhappiness as inevitably as night follows day. This part of the message of Theosophy to mankind has been inescapably demonstrated by the course of events in the history of international relationships.
From this statement of basic component ideas of Theosophy the value of the message is immediately apparent: The individual who perceives their truth, and applies them to the conduct of life, will with absolute certainty enjoy ever increasing health, happiness and fulfilment. He will experience a growing sense of interior development of increasing spiritual and intellectual power, and will advance with relative swiftness to the human goal of Adeptship in which alone is perfect happiness and perfect peace.
42nd Edition of A Course in Theosophy
As part of our continuing effort to achieve our twin-object of popularizing a knowledge of theosophy and induction of new members, we will be starting our 42nd edition of A Course in Theosophy on Monday, 14 November 2016.
Theosophy encompasses the science of life and the philosophy of living and has helped many people in the world. All members can help in the mission of popularizing a knowledge of theosophy. You will be doing humanity a great service by reaching out and bringing newcomers to the Society, to expose them to the theosophical teachings. As the Master has said, “Spheres of usefulness can be found everywhere. The first object of the Society is philanthropy. The true Theosophist is a philanthropist who—‘not for himself but for the world he lives’…” “This, and philosophy—the right comprehension of life and its mysteries—will give the ‘necessary basis’ and show the right pathway to pursue. Yet the best ‘sphere of usefulness’ for the applicant is now in his own land.”
You would have received our email appeal to publicize this course by appending the following course information to the end of all your out-going emails between now and the commencement of the course. That way we can collectively reach out to as many people as possible.
The schedule of the next course is posted on our website at singaporelodge.org/btc_dates.htm.
Do them a service, get your relatives and friends to enroll online for A Course in Theosophy.