The Theosophical Society in Perth The Theosophical...

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February — April 2020 The Theosophical Society in Perth The Theosophical Link The Three Objects of The Theosophical Society: ֍ To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. ֍ To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science. ֍ To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in the human being. INSIDE THIS ISSUE Contacts 2 President’s Report 3 Book Reviews 4 Ceremonial As a Fine Art 5 TOS News 9 Simple Palm Massage 10 Program of Lectures 11 Why You Should Join the TS 16 The Open Field Of The Third Object 19 Time is the substance from which I am made. Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river; It is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger; It is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire. Jorge Luis Borges

Transcript of The Theosophical Society in Perth The Theosophical...

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February — April 2020

The Theosophical Society in Perth

The Theosophical Link

The Three Objects of The Theosophical Society:

֍ To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race,

creed, sex, caste or colour.

֍ To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science.

֍ To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in the human being.

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Contacts 2

President’s Report 3

Book Reviews 4

Ceremonial As a Fine

Art 5

TOS News 9

Simple Palm Massage 10

Program of Lectures 11

Why You Should Join

the TS 16

The Open Field Of The

Third Object 19

Time is the substance from which I am made.

Time is a river which carries me along, but I am the river;

It is a tiger that devours me, but I am the tiger;

It is a fire that consumes me, but I am the fire.

Jorge Luis Borges

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The Theosophical Link Page 2

Freedom of Thought – Official statement

As the Theosophical Society has spread far and wide over the world, and

as members of all religions have become members of it without surrendering the

special dogmas, teachings and beliefs of their respective faiths, it is thought de-

sirable to emphasise the fact that there is no doctrine, no opinion, by whomsoev-

er taught or held, that is in any way binding on any member of the Society, none

which any member is not free to accept or reject. Approval of its Three Objects is

the sole condition of membership.

No teacher, no writer, from H.P. Blavatsky downwards, has any authority

to impose his or her teachings or opinions on members. Every member has an

equal right to be attached to any school of thought which they may choose, but

have no right to force that choice on any other.

Neither a candidate for any office nor any voter can be rendered ineligible

to stand or to vote, because of any opinion held or because of membership in

any school of thought to which they may belong. Opinions or beliefs neither

bestow privileges nor inflict penalties.

The Members of the General Council earnestly request every member of

the Theosophical Society to maintain, defend and act upon these fundamental

principles of the Society, and also fearlessly exercise their own right of liberty of

thought and of expression thereof, within the limits of courtesy and considera-

tion of others.

Open policy

The Minutes of all Executive Com-

mittee (EC) meetings are always

available to members on request at

the office. Rule Books are also avail-

able at the office for members.

Privacy policy

The Perth Branch of the Theosophical Society

respects the privacy of its members. According-

ly, no photos, videos or audio recordings are to

be recorded in hard copy or on the internet at

any Branch event without the prior permission

of each easily identifiable person.

Contact information

The Theosophical Society, Perth

21 Glendower Street, PERTH W.A. 6000 ____________________________________________________________

Phone: (08) 9328 8104 Email: [email protected]

Web: www.tsperth.com.au

[email protected]

[email protected]

[email protected] ____________________________________________________________

For payments such as Membership subscriptions or Event Bookings, please use

the following details: BSB 086 488 - Acct. No. 697 487 911

You MUST include your name and the payment purpose with each transaction,

so that we can identify it and process accordingly.

Monday:

Closed

Tuesday:

1 p.m. to 7:25 p.m.

Wednesday – Friday:

12 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Saturday:

10 am to 2 p.m.

Sunday & Public Holidays:

Closed

BOOKSHOP AND LIBRARY

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed in this

publication are those of the au-

thors and not necessarily those of

the Theosophical Society, unless

specifically marked as official.

Website:

www.tsperth.com.au

Email:

[email protected]

Search for “The Theosophical

Society in Perth”

Submissions

The closing date for all items

for inclusion in the next edi-

tion of the Theosophical Link

is:

1st April, 2020.

Mission Statement

To serve humanity by cultivating an ever-deepening understanding and

realisation of the Ageless Wisdom, spiritual Self-transformation, and the

Unity of all Life.

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President’s Report

With all the fires at the start of the summer we hope that they will not continue on in the season. By

the time this edition gets to you I hope that the situation has eased.

It is a time for all to come together to help those directly affected by the tragedy. The many lives lost

including the immeasurable number of wild and domestic creatures, loss of homes and livelihood, will

take a long time to get over. Not only is it a time to send love and healing but a time to dig into our pock-

ets and give assistance to those affected and to the organisations actively working to help get all affected

back to a normal life.

The Executive Committee has decided to give donations for the benefit of the survivors.

Viv Ward, a long time contributor to the Branch passed on December the 25th. In the words of one

E.C. member “May she truly enjoy her onward journey”.

We all thank you, Viv!

The next step of the Branch refurbishment plan will commence with the appointment of an Interior

Designer, so the project can begin. For those who haven’t as yet forwarded their suggestions and wish to

do so please do as once the process has started it will be too late.

Please email or write to me with your ideas.

[email protected]

The Executive Committee looks forward to a successful 2020 for the Perth Branch.

Franco

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The Theosophical Link Page 4

Measuring the Immeasurable: The Scientific Case for

Spirituality—an anthology

Can your thoughts heal another person, even from across the globe? Does medita-

tion create "superhuman" levels of perception? Can prayer and intention actually

affect reality?

A few decades ago, scientists would have dismissed such ideas as superstition. To-

day, a growing body of persuasive research has turned many skeptics into believers

when it comes to the power of spirituality. Measuring the Immeasurable brings to-

gether some of the most prominent authorities on the new frontier where science

and spirit intersect, including:

• Bruce H. Lipton (The Biology of Belief) on the science of epigenetics, and how

consciousness shapes our health, genetics, and evolution

• Lynne McTaggart (The Field) with the latest findings on the power of mind

over matter from her ongoing "Intention Experiment"

• Gregg Braden (The Divine Matrix and The God Code) on how how prayer and

intention can affect events on a global scale

• Gary Small (The Longevity Bible) on lifestyle changes that improve brain func-

tion

• Daniel Goleman (Social Intelligence) on the "brain’s melody" and our moment-

to-moment perceptions

• Candace Pert (Molecules of Emotion) on the intimate relationship between

mind and body

• Thought-provoking articles from other modern luminaries, including Peter

Russell, Larry Dossey, Andrew Newberg, Dean Radin, Suzanne C. Seger-

strom, Jeanne Achterberg, Marilyn Schlitz, Peter Levine, and more

As we use the methods of science to examine spiritual practices such as meditation,

yoga, and energy healing, not only do we see evidence for the tangible benefits of

these "technologies of the mind," but we are also beginning to illuminate the miss-

ing links in our understanding of evolution, physics, and our role in the universe.

Filled with leading-edge research, startling discoveries, and the breakthrough ideas

of some of today’s most innovative thinkers, this anthology is an invaluable re-

source for exploring the mysteries of the quantum age—and what this new science

will mean for your life. Winner of the 2009 Nautilus Award.

Journey Into the Light—The Three Principles of Man’s

Awakening - by Isha Schwaller de Lubicz

This novel portrays the transformative encounter of the modern, scientific and ra-

tional mentality with the suprarational, spiritual intelligence that guides us on the

Path of the Mysteries. Through dramatic dialogue and interplay between master

and student, we are initiated into the realm of the spirit.

Isha Schwaller de Lubicz (1885-1963) spent her youth studying Christian, Hindu,

Buddhist, and Hebrew theology and mysticism. As pupil of R.A. Schwaller de Lu-

bicz and later as his wife, she went on to investigate other religions and philosophi-

cal systems, including Taoism, Islam. Her most significant work was done in Egypt,

where she lived for fifteen years among the temples and the tombs. There, patient

labor and exceptional circumstances enabled her to penetrate the secret symbolism

of the hieroglyphs. Her discovery aroused the enthusiasm of the eminent Egyptolo-

gist Alexandre Varille, who devoted the last ten years of his life to verifying and

developing its practical application. Thus was unveiled a wisdom that for thou-

sands of years had taught men the science of life... and of its triumph over death.

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Page 5 The Theosophical Link

.. Rligign A Tel Msteliglt

It is a fact, very well known to all students of

Theosophy, that Religion has been and is the main

source of culture and civilization, because Religion

is the channel through which the great Teachers of

the world have sent Their messages for the uplift-

ment of humanity. On the other hand, present-day

ethnologists and anthropologists acknowledge also

the fact that Religion is not only the main source of

all culture but it is the unique manifestation of cul-

ture in primitive peoples.

In the past, each Religion, according to our

Theosophical knowledge, was started by the World

Teacher during one of His several incarnations. Ei-

ther Himself or His followers embodied His teach-

ings in a set of doctrines or sacred texts, and at the

same time they laid the foundations of the special

type of worship connected with that particular Reli-

gion. The forms of doctrine and worship were so

constructed as to provide instruction for the great

mass of the people (exoteric religion), but also they

provided enlightenment for the advanced students

who could develop the vision of the inner worlds

and have direct knowledge of spiritual verities even

to the vision of God Himself (esoteric religion).

These presentations of Truth constituted in

some parts of the world the Mysteries, especially in

India, Persia, Egypt, the Near East, Greece, Rome

and the Keltic Druids.

But in this essay we are concerned only with

these Ancient Mysteries from which our western

culture has derived knowledge of Religion, Philoso-

phy and Science, as it has derived the fundamental

features of rites, pageantries, and even civilian eti-

quette.

The most important Mysteries of Ancient Eu-

rope, from the point of view of their influence upon

our western civilization, are those of Greece and

Rome, on the one hand, and of Egypt and Persia, on

the other. In Greece the most famous were the so-

called Eleusinian Mysteries, because they were cele-

brated in the City of Eleusis. But the most ancient

and honourable were those of Samothrace and the

Orphic Mysteries, the latter originally established by

Orpheus and later reproduced by Pythagoras in his

School of Krotona.

The Egyptian Mysteries are known to us

through the writings of the Neo-Platonic philoso-

phers of Alexandria, especially Iamblichus, better

known to Theosophists as the Master Hilarion, and

through Proclus, a past incarnation of the Master the

Prince.

The Mysteries of Persia, called the Mithraic

Mysteries, spread throughout the Roman Empire

but finally died out and were replaced by the grow-

ing churches of Christendom. It is very likely that in

Christianity there also were Mysteries because we

still have rituals in which phrases and symbols be-

longing to some of the other Ancient Mysteries are

still preserved.

The esoteric purpose of the Ancient Mysteries

was to unfold in the candidates who were mature

for such growth, the vision of the superphysical

worlds, the capacity for using the spiritual forces,

and finally the ecstatic vision of the One.

They were naturally divided into three stages,

which have been preserved in Europe in the three-

fold division of the Schools connected with learning,

either with higher forms of knowledge or with arts

and handicrafts. For example, our Universities still

give three titles – the degrees of Bachelor, Master

and Doctor. In the latter part of the Middle Ages, the

Guilds of craftsmen and workers were divided into

Apprentices, Fellowcraftsmen and Masters of the

trade or profession. The real or esoteric basis for

such divisions is that they represent the stages of

growth of the candidates in the Mysteries.

Ceremonial As a Fine Art

Bs Jnté B. Acuña

(Reprinted from The Theosophist, June 1952, p. 175 – 182)

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The Theosophical Link Page 6

.. Seailt I Tel Msteliglt

The first stage, Akoustikos, Hearers or Learn-

ers, corresponded to that degree of growth in man

in which he is only capable of understanding and

grasping mentally the facts connected with the inner

life, such as post-mortem states of consciousness,

planes and sub-planes of nature, schemes of evolu-

tion, the general outline of the Universe, and the

spiritual downfall of man (the Monad) into matter

and his regeneration or return to the source whence

he came. The students of this grade

were taught orally and they had to learn

almost by heart the knowledge received;

a similar custom is preserved even to-

day in India, where the student learns

by rote-memory the teachings of his

Guru. But in order to make it more

clear, certain aids were used such as

representations or pictures. The repre-

sentations were in the nature of what

today is known as a drama.

The second stage in the Mysteries

was that of the Epoptai, meaning a Vi-

sioner or Seer who has developed his

psychic powers in such a way that he can see or per-

ceive the truth of that which he had previously

learnt in a dramatic or purely memoristic way. A

description of what he saw is given by Plato in his

Phaedro, where he describes what the Soul of man

beholds in the inner worlds before he comes into

incarnation. The Egyptian Mysteries added to this

vision what they called Theurgy or the Invocation of

the Gods, by means of which the Initiate not only

saw the habitats in the inner worlds but the inhabit-

ants of them ranging from the Souls waiting in

Devachan, the elementals and the devas, to the vi-

sion of the Masters. Iamblichus explains in full the

power of those ancient invocations, the rationale of

them, and the effects produced in the apparitions of

the invisible beings known by the Greek name of

Epiphanes (Manifestation or Apparition).

Finally, the third stage was that of Unity with

the Divine. After having transcended all the phan-

tasmagoria of the material and invisible worlds,

whose glory was great but still illusory, the union

with God made the candidate a God himself. He

was illumined and identified with the Light that is

in every man and which at the same time is the

Light from above.

.. Dlcas O Tel Msteliglt

Madame Blavatsky, especially in Vol. 5 (Adyar

ed.) of The Secret Doctrine, relates how the Ancient

Mysteries around the Mediterranean basin slowly

died out, and she states that when Julius Caesar de-

stroyed the City of the Bibractis in ancient Gaul, the

last of the Mysteries in Europe disappeared. But it

seems that, for a long time before that, the teachings

imparted in the Mysteries had become more and

more materialized, due possibly to the lack of Initi-

ates who had direct knowledge of the

inner worlds. The process of materializa-

tion showed itself in the use of purely

mechanical means of teaching, such as

drama or similar kinds of representa-

tion, or in mere verbal expositions some-

what akin to our modern ways of lectur-

ing. The neophyte was no more in touch,

through his higher vision, with the inner

worlds. By degrees the Mysteries be-

came purely political or social institu-

tions in which the leaders of the nation

were trained for the purposes of State

administration. The real knowledge had

vanished from the inner sanctuaries, yet the exoteric

teachings (and by this I mean knowledge that can be

gained by the mind and upon which our reasoning

faculties can be exercised) were imparted by differ-

ent means, not to the Initiates of the Mysteries but to

the world at large.

.. rill Tiail s

The first stage of the Mysteries, that in which

verbal instruction was imparted to the Hearers or

Akoustikos, gave rise to the popular representations

known as religious ceremonies and dramas. Among

the most important religious ceremonies, from

which a dramatic art sprang up in Greece under the

name of tragedy, were the rites connected with the

cult of Dionysus or Bacchus. This God was popular-

ly known as the divinity of Wine and Harvest, and

was represented in the figure of a goat (tragus, or

goat, from which the word “tragedy” is derived). I

will not elaborate in any detail the origin of Greek

tragedy because it is very well known to all stu-

dents, but in those representations first of the life of

Dionysus (who was also the God representing the

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Second Aspect of the Divinity whose death and res-

urrection is commemorated in all religions) and af-

terwards of other Gods as well, teachings belonging

to the Mysteries were revealed to the general public

who attended the tragedies at the Theatre.

H. P. Blavatsky describes how Aeschylus

gives in his Prometheus Bound an account of our Fifth

Root Race, the hero being not a saviour of humanity

but a personification of our race, endowed with

mind. Let us remember that Aeschylus was accused

of divulging the teachings of the Mysteries. We can

say that religious ceremonies were the beginning

and antecedent of a form of art, which in capable

hands reached a great height of development and

became what is known as Dramatic Art. The Drama

is an offspring of the Mysteries. But not only was

drama evolved from these ancient ceremonies; it is

known that many of the Degrees in Masonry came

from the Ancient Mysteries and are direct remnants

of the past.

.. Clilon gai At Aie

H. P. Blavatsky said that the Theosophical

Society is a modern revival of the Ancient Wisdom

as taught in the Mysteries secretly, but openly in

certain Schools of Philosophy, such as the Neo-

Platonic or Alexandrian School, in which for the first

time the word “Theosophy” was used, a word

which we have borrowed from them. Theosophy of

today is a revival of the Ancient Wisdom. It is the

proper channel through which the light of the spir-

itual life can be restored, as well as the vision of the

superphysical worlds and the union with God.

The ceremonies which today survive from

the Ancient Mysteries can be re-enacted by every

one of us, in the Church, in Masonry, and in other

forms of ritual, for the same purposes as they had

originally. In other words, ceremonies can be per-

formed as a form of religious art. One of its purpos-

es clearly stated by Aristotle is that the tragedy

[Note: Tragedy was with the Greeks a religious ceremony,

which they were compelled to attend much in the same

manner that the Catholics are compelled to attend Mass

every Sunday.] served as a means of purifying the

soul. This purification he called Catharsis. It was his

idea – taken from the Mysteries, in which the stage

of Akoustikos was linked with purification of the

mind, the emotions and the physical body – that the

seeing of the Drama, accompanied by an emotional

participation in its happenings, produced in the

mind and the emotions of the spectator an effect

which was felt at the end of the process as a sort of

purging of the soul from vice and fear. A tragedy

was therefore like a bath, in which after many

changes of temperature and massaging of the body,

it was finally cleansed of all its impurities. The idea

of Aristotle is accepted today by modern psycholo-

gists, who not only use the word “catharsis” in the

Aristotelean sense but who have also discovered a

mechanism of the mind by means of which a person,

identifying himself with a hero, feels a sort of re-

lease from his limitations, fears and worries. This

mechanism is clearly seen in the great success that

books of adventure, detective stories, cowboy pic-

tures and such, obtain with the general public.

The Theosophist of today can make real that

purpose of ancient ceremonial, by living the ceremo-

nies in such a way that he will become one with

them, and use them as a channel for the outflow or

sublimation of his desires and repressed emotions,

the force of which causes anxiety in the ordinary

paths of life, but which once released from the

fetters of selfishness can be thrown out into the pure

stream of divine power.

Another ideal which the Theosophists can

bring back into ceremonial is that of using it as a

means of carrying down (there is no sense of direc-

tion in the spiritual life except metaphorically) the

power that is within us. When we release that pow-

er we are at the same time releasing the power of the

Universe because the individual self is only a fiction

created by our mind. Artists, mystics and so-called

magicians (in ancient times known as Theurgists of

the Divine) are in one accord in stating that when

they reach the highest expansion of consciousness

they are no more separate selves, that the ocean of

cosmic power pours through them. through them.

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In other words, we can bring back into cere-

monial work the ideal of the second stage of the

Mysteries, in which vision of the inner worlds was

opened in order to enable the Soul to go from one

world of reality to another until it reached the sum-

mit. The summit was Union with the Divine, which

made man a Theopator (one with God).

The stage of Union is thus described by

Iamblichus:

“After the Theurgic discipline has conjoined

the Soul individually with the several departments

of the universe and with all the divine Powers that

pervade it, then it leads the Soul to the Creator of the

world, places it in His charge, and frees it of every-

thing pertaining to the realm of matter, uniting it

with the sole Eternal Reason (Logos). What I am say-

ing is this: That it unites the Soul individually to the

One, the Father of Himself, Self-Moving. He who

sustains the universe, spiritual, who arranges all

things in order, who leads it to the Supreme Truth, to

the Absolute, the Efficient Cause and other creative

powers of God: Thus establishing the Theurgic Soul

in the energies, the conceptions and creative qualities

of those powers. Then it inserts the Soul in the entire

Demiurgic God. This with the Egyptian Sages is the

end of the Return, as taught in the Sacred Records.”

Three Truths There are three truths which are absolute and cannot be lost, but yet may remain silent for lack of speech.

֍ The Soul of man is immortal, and its future is the future of a thing whose growth and splen-

dor has no limit.

֍ The principle which gives life dwells in us, and without us, is undying and eternally benefi-

cent, is not heard, or seen, or smelt, but is perceived by the man who desires perception.

֍ Each man is his own absolute law-giver, the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself; the decre-

er of his life, his reward, his punishment.

These truths, which are as great as is life itself, are as simple as the simplest mind of man. Feed the

hungry with them.

(From The Idyll of the White Lotus — Mabel Collins)

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TOS Healing Circle Angel meditation:

Third Sundays of the month @ 2:00 pm

TS Hall - 21 Glendower St., Perth

TOS / LCC:

Taize World Peace music meditation:

First Fridays of the month @ 6:00 pm—at the Liberal Catholic

Church, Cnr. Brewer and Lacey Sts., Perth

Greetings,

2019 was a fairly slow year for the TOS,

without a treasurer to keep us in line, however we

ran three fundraising evenings successfully, and

have fulfilled our commitments to the Golden

Link College in the Philippines, and to the home

schooling in Pakistan, and donations to our

speakers from the Cancer Support Group, Lifeline

and our kinesiologist, whom I believe is booked

to do a further talk for the TS.

We have missed the regular presences of

the Rockingham Girls as the constant travelling

became too much. We have been having the

monthly Healing Meditations, to which all are

welcome, if you have someone you know who

needs some absent spiritual healing; and we also

held second-monthly committee meetings.

Many thanks to our members and friends who

contributed to the food for the wonderful meals

we produced, and their help, and to all who came

to share those meals, talks and company.

Please Note: After the next Healing Medita-

tion there will be an acknowledgment of Viv Ward’s

onward journey followed by an afternoon tea for those

who wish to attend.

Very best wishes for a happy, successful

and fulfilling New Year to all.

In service,

Gailene Wester

TOS Chairperson for 2020

TOS News

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Contributed by Andy Khong

The palm is where our major energies join and it is where the life force energy can be

sent to heal others or redirected to yourself. Energy healers who perform emission tech-

niques to amplify and balance another person’s life-force energy frequently use the palms

of their hands to emit energy.

In palmistry, the three major lines are the Life Line, Head Line, and Heart Line. Lo-

cated in the centre of the palm is the Pericardium Point (known as P-8 in Acupuncture);

this point can be found by curling your fingers back – it is located at the tip of the middle

finger.

Start by massaging the Pericardium Point P-8 in clockwise circular motions by using

the thumb. Then massage along the major palm lines using the thumb; with massage mo-

tions towards the thumb.

Pericardium Point P-8 is known in Mandarin as “Lao Gong” (Palace of Merit). The

pericardium is the sack that encases and protects the heart; so this acupuncture points

calms the body/mind, cools heat from the Heart & Blood, and resolve fatigue. You could

also increase internal energy by placing this point on top of your Crown Point.

The Life Line is connected to your Digestive & Respiratory Systems. The Head Line

is connected to your Nervous System; while the Heart Line is connected to your Circulato-

ry & Excretory Systems.

Our bodies are a self-repairing entity that possesses the ability to heal itself, and a

simple self-massage will stimulate your own healing resources. Always remember - the

most profound healer is within us as we produce our own internal medicine!

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Flbiuais

Tues 4 Feb

General Meeting

Emotion and Evolution - Murray Chopping

A chance to ponder eastern and western views and human progress. Get excited like you

used to.

Tues 11 Feb

General Meeting

Diamond Consciousness - Roberta Steedman

Diamond Consciousness is the multifaceted, multidimensional consciousness all higher

dimensional light beings possess and is one that everyone here on Earth will eventually

manifest in the coming Golden Age. This Diamond Consciousness state is embodied and

promoted by the Avatars and the Ascended Masters who have all attained this level of

consciousness through their training and spiritual disciplines. While everyone here on

Earth is at a different level of awareness and understanding, all of us possess the innate

capacity to refine ourselves to reveal this precious, inner jewel of wisdom and purity. A

PowerPoint presentation.

Tues 18 Feb

General Meeting

Adyar Day - George Wester

This is a day to remember those who dedicated their lives to Theosophy. This will be a

PowerPoint exploration of some of the luminaries of the Theosophical Society, past and

present, on the international, national and local arenas. This will flow into a brief Mt Hele-

na Weekend Event and Program Review where members will get a chance to consider pos-

sible events and methods of operation of Mt Helena. A short presentation by some com-

mittee members will be followed by an opportunity to provide suggestions for events and

possible topics and themes. The Mt Helena Retreat belongs to all members and we want to

hear your opinions so we can work together to build inspiring events that encourage

friendship, cooperation and exploration of our spiritual journey. An opportunity for our

service, and maybe an inspiration to future theosophists.

Tues 25 Feb

General Meeting

The Mytho-Poetics of the Wildman - Byron Joel

In this third instalment of his series, this PowerPoint presentation explores the mytho-

poetic and deep-ecological aspects of the global, Wildman phenomena such as the Sas-

quatch, Yeti, Yowie etc.

Definition of meeting types and relevant guidelines

Public Meetings – All members and the public are welcome to attend.

reneral Meetings – For Perth members, with interested members of the public welcome to attend up to 4 meet-

ings, with the objective to explore and confirm an interest in becoming a member of the TS. If after attending 4

meetings the person is not interested in becoming a member they are requested to restrict their visits to other op-

tions open to the public.

Members Only Meetings – Are strictly for current Perth and visiting TS members only. Non-members will not

be admitted to the meeting.

All sessions, unless otherwise stated, run from 7:30 PM ‐ 8:30 PM

The contents presented and opinions expressed in the lectures are wholly the responsibility of the

speaker and are not necessarily those of the Theosophical Society in Perth.

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Maice

Tues 3 Mar

General Meeting

Let’s Talk About Travel - Merrian Styles

A PowerPoint exploration of time travel, astral travel, inter dimensional travel and quantum

physics string theory. Join the discussion & share personal experiences.

Tues 10 Mar

General Meeting

A rreat Australian Medium with Extraordinary Mediumistic rifts:

Margaret Parrott from the Spiritual National Union

During tonight's PowerPoint presentation, I will be introducing you to an ordinary work-

man, Stan Walsh, who had a strong Christian faith, yet he found quite by accident that there

was an invisible intelligence at work and that was to open him to the most amazing devel-

opments through the deep trance state. Many hear of trance mediums and physical phe-

nomena from around the world, yet not much is known about trance mediums from Aus-

tralia. Let us take a look at this man and honour his dedication to a life he never expected,

but was timed to meet the needs of the people facing an extraordinary period in history.

Tues 17 Mar

General Meeting

Personal Development and the Spiritual Path - John Davey

Which comes first or do they run in parallel? In this PowerPoint talk we will take a close

look at our mortal and immortal links and where our focus perhaps could be.

Tues 24 Mar

General Meeting

The Essence of Atmabodha - Dr. Munna Sharma

This PowerPoint presentation will briefly highlight various Vedantic concepts in relation to

“Atmabodha - knowledge of Atman (Self)”. Vedanta, the science of life, explains the art of

living, points out the ultimate goal, and provides schemes to achieve life’s pilgrimage. The

Self is infinite, one homogeneous, but in ignorance it appears finite and multiple. The Self

alone exists as the life-giver and illuminator, and in supreme glory is un-paralleled. This talk

will present means and ways to realising the Self, and will show how it affects the transfor-

mation in thoughts and actions of an individual; and ultimately leads to peace and tranquil-

lity.

Tues 31 Mar

General Meeting

An Exploration of Time - Simon Dunn

This Power Point presentation will be looking at the essence of time. We will explore time in

the conventional way, in a scientific way, in a philosophical manor and lastly in a spiritual

way. What is Time? Does time exist in the spiritual world as it does in the material world?

Can we go back and forward in time? When will the clock run out?

Apigi

Tues 7 Apr

General Meeting

After Death Choice: Reincarnation - Tina Hentisz

This PowerPoint presentation on reincarnation is adapted from the book “Seth Speaks” by

Jane Roberts. “Seth” may be understood to be an essential guide to conscious living - and

the concept that we all create our own reality according to our individual beliefs. This talk

encapsulates much of what may happen. How does this compare to Theosophical principles

and thoughts? You do not want to miss this!

Tues 14 Apr

General Meeting

Decoding Wisdom into Practicality - Helene Fisher

In a world of conflicting information about the state of this planetary home of ours, what

can we draw from the world’s spiritual traditions, to enable us to wisely take the path of the

precautionary principle? How at this uneasy time can we ground the understanding of the

unity of all life into everyday action? This PowerPoint talk will explore these questions.

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Apigi

Tues 21 Apr

General Meeting

Introduction into Kinesiology and Touch for Health - Dorothea Bassett

In this PowerPoint presentation I will demonstrate the effects of energy flow through the

body and explain how emotional, physical and chemical influences may alter the flow of

energy and also a number of techniques and tools that may help to easily improve on the

energy flow and thus facilitate transformational changes within our body-mind. Learn

how to strengthen your Chakra and meridian energy flow.

Tue 28 Apr

General Meeting

TOS Fundraising Night

A TOS fund raising night. Please join the TOS for our delicious snacks and light supper for

$10 at 6:30 pm and to check out the raffle basket and other items for sale. Followed by:

Wheelchairs for Kids - Gordon Hudson

This is a project of the Rotary club of Scarborough, assisted by the Christian Brothers. It was

started in1998 and is staffed completely by volunteers and has sent 45,000 special wheel-

chairs to children in 75 countries. In tonight’s PowerPoint presentation we will explore the

work being done to help other people in need.

Saturday Morning Reading and Discussion Group

A group of Theosophists gather at 10.00am – 12.00pm on Saturday mornings to read and dis-

cuss the following Theosophical classics. Beginning 11th January, we will recommence “The Ma-

hatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett” and on 18th January we will recommence “Esoteric Buddhism”. The

readings/discussions alternate every Saturday.

Discussions; incorporating science, alternate philosophy and spiritual traditions and other Theo-

sophical Texts; are lively and informative by long serving and newer members of The Perth

Branch alike.

Meetings are held in the reading room at the Perth Branch, The Theosophical Society in Perth, 21

Glendower St., Hyde Park. All welcome.

The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett

In Chronological Sequence

Edited by Vincent Hao Chin Jr.

Currently up to Letter 47

Esoteric Buddhism— by A.P. Sinnett

Currently half way through the chapter on Devachan

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Activities & Events

In this presentation and discussion group we take an investigative approach, where all personal contributions are

most welcome. At any meeting you will be surprised with the variety and diversity of opinions, personal experi-

ences and proposals, creating much food for thought and a higher consciousness. Come to this open group and

we will explore and discuss Theosophical matters as never before. Your personal opinion and insight is valuable,

so come and share the experience, idea and notions.

Next Meetings:

29th February 2020 – Cellular Phenomena

Throughout space and time our spiritual or epigenetic DNA houses the encoding or pattern for aspects of per-

sonality; thus memories from former lifetimes and soul knowledge gained. Theosophical thought may be that

each lifetime lived adds to the encoding and this is passed on with the physical DNA codes and may as yet be

undetectable. Can this be known, and how much of an influence will this have on a current life cycle? Come and

join us in this presentation and discussion…

28th March 2020 — Time, Seriality & Synchronicity

When we look into the Science of Synchronicity — or the coincidence and meaning of events — we must natural-

ly consider the flow of time and seriality. We may well wonder how reality is created — and what furthers this

abstract state to an optimum level? Is there a common thread or methodology, how is it all connected? Is reality

therefore totally causative, and if this is so, caused by whom or what? This may be the impossible question, nev-

ertheless, we will discuss the possibilities.

25th April 2020 — Human Evolution.

Where do we go from here? Our awareness is reaching higher levels of consciousness through the practice of

meditation, research, science and technology. A very significant stage has developed where the individual needs

to pay close attention to motive and action. Where will our human evolution take us? Your ideas and proposals

about our future will be important, come and join this discussion.

Meet-Ups are open to members of the Theo-

sophical Society and the Public.

Remember that a deeper truth and higher

consciousness can only be established

through an active participation.

Meet-Up: PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY DISCUSSION rROUP

Theosophical Society Hall Monthly Meetings

on selected Saturdays, 2 p.m. till 3.30 p.m.

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Open Heart Meditation Session Every Wednesday at 6:30 - 7:30 P.M. No Charge - All Welcome

Presenter: Marta Kablar

Venue: Main Meeting Hall, 21 Glendower Street, Perth

At Open Heart we stand for a happy and healthy way of living that comes naturally from the “feeling” heart.

Our spiritual heart is located in the middle of our chest and is the centre of our feelings. The condition of our

heart is indicative of the state of our character. The more developed it is, the more balanced and happier are we.

We then literally feel we are in our middle.

Without any unnatural effort, we will introduce to you how you can develop and heal your heart and body to

reduce stress as well as find greater inner happiness and health in your life.

We bring you Open Heart for effective support of inner peace and happiness as well as for your own personali-

ty and spirituality.

Contact for further information:

Marta on 0410 771 582

Email: [email protected]

or TS Perth ph. 9328 8104

Email: [email protected]

Web site: tsperth.com.au

All the mental, emotional, psychic and spiritual faculties are influenced by the occult properties

of the scale of causes which emanate from the Hierarchies of the Spiritual Rulers of the planets, and not

by the planets themselves. This scale leads the student to perceive in the following order: (1) colour; (2)

sound; (3) the sound materializes into the spirit of the metals, i.e. the metallic Elementals; (4) these ma-

terialize again into the physical metals; (5) then the harmonial and vibratory radiant essence passes into

the plants, giving them colour and smell, both of which “properties” depend upon the rate of vibration

of this energy per unit of time; (6) from plants it passes into the animals; (7) and finally culminates in

the “principles” of man.

The Secret Doctrine, Vol. III, p. 463.

The Scale of Causes

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Wes Ynu Senui Jng Tel

Telntnpegcai Sncgles

I

A Cgicil n Figl tegp

First, because membership adds the friendly

to your circle of friends. Theosophists are friendly

people, might even be called — pardon the phrase

— good mixers. They happen to know that friend-

ship matters infinitely more than opinion or belief or

conviction or social status or race or nationality or

creed. Within The Theosophical Society are men and

women belonging to every race and creed and na-

tion and persuasion under the sun. And each may

hold fast to whatever he has and is. Where the The-

osophist differs from some others is that he does not

think he has the sole monopoly of everything good,

beautiful and true.

He does not think that he and others of simi-

lar persuasion have an exclusive monopoly of right-

eousness, nor that he is favoured above others. He

believes he is favoured, and that all others are fa-

voured too.

He thinks that others have their good and

beautiful and true things for themselves just as he

has them for himself. So he is happy himself and

happy in others’ happiness. And what is more, he

recognizes that others may be treading ways no less

straight than he knows his own to be. Thus, letting

live, he himself is able to live more abundantly. And

it is fascinating to discover and to watch how very

many ways, many so different from others, lead

Home.

On the other hand, happily grateful for the

light Theosophy and The Theosophical Society have

shed upon his own way, he is eager that their light

should shine upon the ways of others. For he knows

that such light helps each where he is, not in any

spirit of dictatorial conversion, but magically help-

ing him to unfold his own nature along its own indi-

vidual lines to its own unique perfection.

Theosophy as the Science of Universal and

Eternal Life is the Science of each individual life at

any time. The Theosophical Society exalts friendship

above differences, and understanding above preju-

dice, to the end that the growth of personal individ-

uality may contribute to the enrichment of collective

solidarity.

II

Fill Ml a Wnol

Second, because through membership you

are brought into touch with people who are intense-

ly free. Many of them may hold the truths which are

called Theosophy. They may be professing Chris-

tians or Hindus or Buddhists or Mussalmans or

Jews or Parsis. They may be agnostics. They may

have strong convictions, amounting to certainties, in

every department of thought and aspiration. They

may be as sure as sure can be that they are right —

for themselves. But they try never to be the slaves of

these things. They try never to allow themselves to

be prisoners in them.

They hold, above all these, the great motto of

The Society: “There is no religion higher than

Truth”; and they know that even their deepest cer-

tainty is at the very best but a fragment of the Truth

— the shadow of a shade. They know that as they

grow they will substantially modify the wisdom

which for the time being, perhaps, seems so perfect,

Why You Should Join

The Theosophical Society

By George S. Arundale

(Reprinted from The Theosophist, May 1937: still very much applicable today!)

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complete, unalterable, final. And they are fascinated

by the thought that as time passes they will change

radically, out of all knowledge of their present

selves. Omnia mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis. “All

things change, and we in them.” What new light is

waiting just round the corner which will make the

present light seem but as darkness? What added en-

lightenment is coming to show how infinitely more

beautiful, wonderful, worth living, Life is even than

it already appears? What peace is waiting our on-

ward movement through sorrow and despair to

make us know for ever and for ever that Love is the

Law?

Theosophists are free men and women, free

within their limitations, free to leave these, free in

their search for Truth, free from prejudices, supersti-

tions, and from the narrow pride of ignorance.

Theosophists are friendly men and women

— friendly to all, counting friendship infinitely

more precious than difference.

Thus, to join The Theosophical Society is to

join the ranks of the Friendly and the Free.

Wel Ynu Senui Jng Tel

Telntnpegcai Sncgles

III

A Was n A vl euil

When you feel you really want to, never be-

cause friends urge you to join. It is a great thing to

join The Theosophical Society, and a challenging

thing, too. It is a great thing, because membership at

once places you among the few who are treading a

narrow way which some day shall become the

broad way of the many. Membership classes you

among pioneers, among the forward-looking,

among those who care not if they have to break

chains and fetters so long as they can escape from

the less into the more. Membership classes you

among those who feel suffocated by the dust of

crowds, who long for the clear air of those sparsely

populated regions where Truth shines undimmed

by the thicker dust.

It is a challenging thing, because member-

ship often means a ceasing to lead lives sheltered by

the sanctions of orthodoxy, tradition, convention:

sheltered by homage to public opinion, and by

movement within established grooves. Membership

of The Theosophical Society often seems to involve

adventure, sometimes even catastrophic cataclysms,

in its magic power of blasting people out of small

self-centredness. Membership often involves the

challenge of that which seems so unalterably estab-

lished, and thus leads to an aftermath of personal

disestablishment out of many of the accepted orders

of life.

Lgvg i Dg lil eis

Membership often leads to an urge to live

differently — differently from the way in which most

people live. And it is difficult to live differently, easy

to live as others live. It is difficult to live ahead of

the times, easy to live in and with them. Member-

ship of The Theosophical Society by no means de-

mands difference. But membership often leads to it.

Yet all these soul-quakes are the “tension-thrills”

which

... hint the larger state

Though but in shadow of a shade…

And the world and happiness and peace

grow because of them.

So you may well hesitate to join The Theo-

sophical Society if you are not quite sure if you will

mind weather somewhat more stormy than that to

which you have been accustomed, or if you really

want to learn how to ride storms spiritedly. You

may well hesitate to join if you are perfectly happy

just as you are and seek for nothing more. Even then

membership of The Society adds to the number of

real friends. But you will be disappointed if you

want all your friends to be more or less like your-

self.

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No; do not rush into membership. Wait — if

you are at all doubtful. Join when you are reasona-

bly sure that membership is your heart’s desire, and

that you will be steadfast in your membership to the

end.

Join when you feel within you stirring a spir-

it of adventure, of seeking more Truth, of under-

standing and appreciating the lives which around

you live so differently from yourself. Join when you

are sure that you are by no means superior to oth-

ers, or that they must become converted to your

own individual certainties.

Hnw Ynu Senui Jng

Tel Telntnpegcai Sncgles

IV

Suppnie Tel Sncgles

In a spirit of determination to make friendli-

ness the dominant note of your life. You come

among those who are Friendly and Free. Among

them be Friendly and Free; and let nothing, no

difference however radical mar the steady shining

of your friendship and understanding, in a spirit of

determination to make The Society stronger for your

membership.

But remember that no one can be either

friendly or free all the time. Were this the state of

any of us, we should be superhuman. We can only

be free and friendly — at best — most of the time.

And when sometimes we lack either or both, then is

there need for patience and understanding on the

part of others.

The Society is always giving much to its

members, even though they are not always con-

scious of receiving it. What are you going to give to

The Society? First and foremost, the strength of

steady Friendship and Goodwill. Other members may

sometimes fall into ill-will, misunderstanding, quar-

relsomeness, narrowness, dogmatism, self-

assurance. We have still to grow amidst success and

failure. Specially should you then try to stand

strongly and imperturbably for goodwill, under-

standing, peace, broadmindedness, tolerance, re-

spect. No member of The Society is perfect. All of us

from time to time fall by the way. When some of us

so fall, let there be many to remain erect, thus help-

ing the fallen to rise and become erect once more.

Then you can give The Society your public

support. Ever be proud of The Society’s Objects, of

the work it has achieved, and of the destiny that

lies before it. Be proud of its great origins. Be

proud of its great protagonists. Be proud of its

Truths. Be proud of its purposes. Be proud of your

membership.

Study the Truths which are The Society’s life.

Strengthen The Society which is their channel.

Serve the world — be it a small world or a large

world — which is the field of its activity.

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The Open Field of The Third Object

N. Sri Ram

122222222222222222222221

The Third Object of the Society reads: “To inves-

tigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers la-

tent in man”. First of all, is the word “unexplained” the

right word in that sentence? Should it not really be

“undiscovered”? The word “unexplained” implies that

we have already identified the laws, we perceive their

existence, but they have not been explained because of

some obscurity in them or because of their complex or

complicated nature, whereas the word “undiscovered”

would imply only the presumption that there are laws

unknown to us at present.

The field of the Third Object suggests an open

expanse, open to exploration, and it can be conceived as

including everything uncommon or seemingly miracu-

lous, such as the phenomena which H.P. Blavatsky per-

formed in her time. In her first work, Isis Unveiled, she

ranges over a vast field covering almost everything out of

the ordinary, or unexplained at that time: clairvoyance of

various sorts, leaving the body at will and travelling to a

distance, feats of levitation, psychometry, reading the

mysteries of the past, intercourse with the dead and other

non-physical entities, materializations, the passage of

matter through matter, and so forth. Perhaps we can in-

clude in such studies even the rationale of astrology, not

the art of astrology or the practice of it, but rather the

whole theory which underlies the significance of the zo-

diacal signs and the planets, their positions and relation-

ships, the attribution to them of certain influences on our

lives and the events that take place. All that is beyond

what we can see directly for ourselves, but while it may

be interesting as a matter of study, it cannot, I think, real-

ly come under the description of Theosophy as the Di-

vine Wisdom. We must not confuse knowledge, even of

the occult side of Nature, with Wisdom which springs

from the depths of a certain nature in ourselves. It would

certainly be of interest and useful to know how gravita-

tion can be reversed. It seems there are scientists both in

the United States and in Russia who are at work on that

very question. But even if one finds out that secret, it

would not necessarily make him wise in any real sense.

Although the Third Object speaks of laws and

powers, much work accomplished through these powers

is a description. For instance, the literature concerning

the astral and mental planes, the etheric body, the chak-

ras, and so forth, reads like the description of some ex-

traordinary region and of the activities taking place there.

It is said some-

times that we do not

pay much attention to

the Third Object these

days, but we have to

realize that such inves-

tigation as it calls for

requires people trained

to undertake it, and

then their competence

and findings cannot

easily be proved to

others. There will always be room therefore for scepti-

cism and differences. A person who is psychic or clair-

voyant may say, “I see such and such things,” but he may

be seeing only projections of what is already subcon-

sciously in himself, creating forms out of his own ideas

and visualizing them. It is only people who have the nec-

essary training and faculties who can undertake investi-

gation in a real sense, as distinguished from mere study

of what others have said on the subject. As what the seers

or investigators, competent in different degrees, say is not

open to verification by us, we have to judge it with our

own reason and understanding. The work of the Third

Object, in the sense of investigating the un-explained and

the latent, can therefore be undertaken only by individu-

als on their own responsibility, or occasionally by a team,

and not by the Society as a whole. Brother C.W. Lead-

beater, or even H.P.B., was not officially commissioned to

undertake any such task; they undertook whatever they

did along that line of their own accord and published the

results of their researches for the benefit of all.

Of course we can interpret the Third Object to

include such activities as are carried on by the Psychical

Research Society. But there seems to be no point in the

Theosophical Society duplicating the work of such a

body, any more than it should duplicate the activities of

scientists, although their activities are also concerned

with truth or aspects of the truth. Nor do I think it would

be wise for us officially to start yoga classes to rouse

kundalini, stimulate the chakras, or do anything of that

sort by which we may be doing the greatest harm to the

people concerned, although there are people who think

that these are things that we should be doing. It is not our

business, as a Society, to engage in activities of a spiritu-

alistic nature, even if some good results could be ob-

tained thereby.

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If the Society’s aims are philanthropic and spir-

itual in essence, we must keep that aim steadily in view

and not cause confusion in the minds of people between

spirituality and psychism. We must be careful not to in-

vest the Society with a character that does not belong to

it, identifying it with psychic pursuits of different sorts.

In the East - especially in India - the great spiritu-

al teachers have regarded the possession of psychic pow-

ers in general as a liability rather than an asset on the

path of spiritual progress. Whether or not that is so

would depend very much on the person who possesses

these powers and the way he uses them, the kind of per-

son he is and his motives. In any case, the seeking of such

powers, which is usually out of motives that tend to-

wards the sensational even when they are not actually

selfish, becomes a distraction from the discovery of the

truth about oneself, from self-knowledge. We may, of

course, consider and discuss what is given out by an indi-

vidual by the use of such powers and all interested can

join in such discussion. In other words, as a Society, we

can only investigate at the intellectual level, that is, study

and discuss, and there are many Lodges which engage in

such work. That kind of investigation is really the widen-

ing of the field of scientific and philosophical observation

and thought.

Hnw ge rilw a Cea il

I might here point out the various versions we

have had in the past of this Third Object, as they throw

light upon the thought of the leading people in the Socie-

ty as it has developed. It will give us a little insight into

what is actually behind the present wording. When the

Society was started in 1875, the only Object mentioned in

its by-laws was as follows: “The Objects of the Society are

to collect and diffuse a knowledge of the laws which gov-

ern the universe.” There is no mention at all of Brother-

hood; the idea of Brotherhood, as the records show, ap-

pears for the first time in the history of the Society in

1878. Colonel Olcott, the President-Founder, records the

fact that Brotherhood was not thought of in the begin-

ning. In fact, the whole question whether Brotherhood

should be the primary Object, or Occultism in the ordi-

nary sense of the term, was a matter of considerable dis-

cussion between the Adepts and those with whom they

corresponded, namely, Mr. Sinnett and Mr. Hume. In

1878, activities commenced in England with the for-

mation of a body entitled the British Theosophical Socie-

ty, and that Society issued a circular in which it was stat-

ed that it was founded “for the purpose of discovering

the nature and powers of the human soul and Spirit by

investigation and experiment” - an ambitious undertak-

ing apparently adopted without any clear idea of what it

involved. In February 1880, the General Council of the

Society formulated certain Objects which correspond to

the present Third Object, and were as follows:

First, “To keep alive in man the spiritual intui-

tions”. It was not stated how that was going to be

attempted.

Secondly, “To oppose and counteract after due

investigation and proof of its irrational nature, bigotry in

every form, whether as an intolerant religious sectarian-

ism or belief in miracles or anything supernatural”.

Thirdly, “To seek to obtain knowledge of all the

laws of Nature and aid in diffusing it; and especially to

encourage the study of those laws least understood by

modern people and so termed the Occult Sciences”.

I do not know whether the words “all of” were

put in advisedly, or whether it was because of the ten-

dency of all of us to speak in unqualified terms exceeding

what we actually mean.

In 1883 and also in 1884 various modifications of

these objects were adopted by different Lodges to suit

their ideas and fancies. Apparently they could do so be-

cause the parent Society was not organized sufficiently to

guide them nor had the aims been generally agreed upon

and fixed at that time. There was the Himalayan Theo-

sophical Society, for instance, which regarded itself as a

rather superior body. It included Mr. A. P. Sinnett and

Mr. A. O. Hume, and its objects were stated in these

terms: First, “Universal Brotherhood”; apparently this

was put down as a concession to the Adepts who insisted

upon Brotherhood as the primary aim. Secondly, “The

union of the individual Monad with the Infinite and Ab-

solute”; an aim laudable enough, but permitting some

doubt as to whether those who formulated it had any

idea of the actual nature of what was adumbrated. Then

thirdly, and this sounds almost commonplace after that

second grandiose aim: “The study of the hidden myster-

ies of Nature and the development of the psychical pow-

ers latent in man.”

The London Lodge, which was a very active and

important body in the early history of the Society when

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Mr. Sinnett was associated with it, formulated this object

as follows: “The investigation of the nature of existence,

with a view to the comprehension and realization of the

higher potentialities of man, and the revival of research

connected with occult science and esoteric philosophy.”

The inclusion of the phrase “the nature of existence”

seems to be also an indication of the vagueness as re-

gards what was to be investigated that obtained in vari-

ous groups at this time. Also we may note a distinction is

made here between occult science and esoteric philoso-

phy, or perhaps the phrases were used to refer to two

different sides of the same undertaking.

In the Annual Report of 1885, ten years after the

founding, the Third Object was defined as follows: “The

Third Object, pursued by a portion of the members of the

Society, is to investigate unexplained laws of Nature and

the physical powers of man”. The First Object was very

much as at present, but the Second Object, instead of

speaking of comparative religion, philosophy and sci-

ence, speaks of “Aryan and other Eastern religions and

philosophies”. Coming down to 1890, we find the Third

Object reduced to a near approximation of its present

form: “To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and

the psychic powers latent in man”. Later the word

“psychic” was omitted and the Object was put in the

form in which it is today. Mr. Jinarajadasa, in The Golden

Book of the Theosophical Society, makes the following com-

ment on these various versions: “It was merely the outer

form that had to find an adequate expression through the

various changes.”

H.P.B., in The Key to Theosophy, makes a clear dis-

tinction between a Theosophist and an occultist. “The

latter,” she says, “is concerned with the hidden processes

in Nature, the secret potency of things in Nature”. In an

article entitled, “Recent Progress in Theosophy” - appar-

ently the article was written at about the same time - she

explained: “The Third Object, pursued by a portion of the

fellows of the Society, is to investigate the unexplained

laws of Nature and the psychic nature of man. There are

two general objects and one restricted object of attention.

Only a portion of our fellows occupy themselves with the

occult properties of matter and the psychical powers of

man.” I do not know if there is any member at present

who is occupying himself with the occult properties of

matter. “The Society as a whole,” she wrote further, “ is

not concerned with this branch of research, and naturally,

for out of every 10,000 people one may meet the chances

are that but a very small minority have the time, taste or

ability to take up such delicate and baffling studies. We

thought it a good thing to proclaim this line of research

and self-discovery as the third of our three Objects. For

those who are interested in it and all enquirers whom

they can reach and encourage the mystical philosophical

books of the present and former times have been

written.”

From what I have just quoted, it is to be noted

that she did not regard the mystical philosophical works

of the past as outdated by later writings. There are per-

sons who think that what we call Theosophical literature

has completely superseded all earlier works, sometimes

called “historical Theosophy”. Also, she includes “self-

discovery” as coming under the Third Object. That is

work in which all of can engage.

Cigeliga n Tiuee

I would like to consider here the kind of mind

that is needed for the study of Occultism. For this study

particularly, also to investigate any aspect of truth, there

must be a mind which is truthful in the strictest sense,

that is, a mind which does not prevaricate, does not gloss

over things the truth of which is inconvenient to itself,

has no vested interest in any ideas, does not deceive it-

self, and does not project concepts agreeable to itself. I do

not know which of us has such a mind, but it seems to

me perfectly obvious that before we can study Occultism

in earnest and make a success of it, we have to have that

kind of mind. If a person is conditioned in certain ways,

whatever concepts he may project are likely to partake of

that conditioning.

We might also consider the question of what

might be regarded as valid knowledge, what we may

apply. Obviously, what is perceived or experienced by a

person is an item of knowledge to him, not necessarily an

absolute proof of the truth he may imagine it to be but

true so far as it goes. I see something that looks to me to

be solid and green, but the nature of the thing may actu-

ally be different from how I see it. In any case, it will have

various aspects which are not evident to me. Therefore it

is not the absolute or the whole truth which I perceive or

experience. Nevertheless, as a perception or as an experi-

ence that has come to me, as evidence, it has its own sig-

nificance. Secondly, when we register certain facts, the

relations between them, the inferences which we draw

from our perceptions, have obviously a validity on the

same plane as the perceptions themselves. It may have

more validity as a process of thought, for the premises

may be wrong while the reasoning is right. Thirdly, we

may accept provisionally statements coming from what

we consider to be knowledgeable sources. In this connec-

tion the question would arise as to whether the source is

really knowledgeable as regards the matters in question.

If I want to know something about conditions in Antarc-

tica, naturally I have to accept the statements of those

who have been to that part of the globe, provided I con-

sider those persons to be trustworthy. In the same way,

there are many statements in The Mahatma Letters which

are accepted by very many members because the sources,

we have reason to think, are highly knowledgeable as to

the matters dealt with. Apart from all this, it is also legiti-

mate to indulge in, if that is the appropriate word, or to

frame a hypothesis which explains, which is consonant

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The Theosophical Link Page 22

with facts and illuminates them. In modern Science there

is the constant framing of hypotheses, theories and equa-

tions and later amendment of them. When we entertain a

theory, we must not equate it in our own minds with ab-

solute truth. It explains; to entertain it on that basis seems

to me to be perfectly legitimate: for then it does not di-

minish the freedom to progress towards a larger or the

absolute truth.

Then one might add that there is what we call

Intuition, a much understood term. Real intuition is ei-

ther an undistorted perception springing from or a crea-

tion by the total consciousness.

To include intuition as a form

of knowing does not seem to

me to be unscientific. It de-

pends on what we mean by

that word. Before the faculty of

true Intuition can come into

play there has to be a cessation

of wishful thinking and the

mind has to be clear of precon-

ceived ideas. Just as there has

to be temperance, moderation,

in our physical living, so there

has also to be austerity in one’s

thinking, not deviation into

pleasant paths. When we imag-

ine because we like to imagine,

go off into fantasies of different

kinds, it becomes a kind of in-

dulgence; but to come to the

truth one should have that

quality of austerity which

keeps clear of the propensity to

fall for what is for the time be-

ing comforting and pleasant.

Lawt n Dg lil e Caeliniglt

The laws of Nature can be of different classes.

First there are the laws of matter in different grades,

whether these are such as to be cognized by our senses or

exist beyond their limited range. Then there are laws

which pertain to the nature of life, its characteristics, its

action and evolution. Then there are the laws of the

mind, of psychology and the psyche. To these I would

add the laws of harmony, which are an entire branch of

the whole subject, involving the intuitive perception of

harmonies and discords in many different fields. When

you listen to music you say: “Well, that is a harmony”.

How do you establish the harmony to your own satisfac-

tion? There is no tangible way or proving to another the

harmony you experience. It is by an intuitive perception

that one knows or feels the harmony in sounds for colors

or movements of anything else. I would say further there

is such a thing as the laws of one’s own inner being or

Spirit. That might sound a little mystical and vague. I will

explain what I mean presently. There can be laws that in

their operation comprehend several different levels of

existence, such as the law of Karma, which in one aspect

is mechanical and invariable, yet in another aspect is

moral and involves the concept of justice. Somehow these

two aspects are co-ordinated in Karma as we understand

it.

I spoke of the law of the Spirit. The question may

be asked: Is not the nature and action of the Spirit to be

identified wholly with freedom? Can you speak of law

when you refer to freedom?

But let us consider this fact:

the action of this most inte-

rior principle of the Spirit

results every time in a per-

fect creation; and what is

perfect or perfectly con-

structed always embodies a

law. For instance, there may

be a perfect musical compo-

sition, or a perfectly shaped

vase. The artist just looks at

the form of the vase or lis-

tens to the music and says it

is perfect. It is also the artis-

tic sense which brought it

into existence. But if with

another type of mind you

examine the construction of

the vase or the musical sym-

phony, you will find certain

concrete laws embodies in

the construction. The artist,

without going through a

process of thought, has em-

bodied a form of law in the

creation which he produces and the law which is embod-

ied is always a law of harmony. It is an un-thought-out

law. So we may say of a creation by the Spirit that it fol-

lows the law of its own being.

Everywhere in Nature there are laws, but there is

also freedom, Nature - including man - being an inter-

mixture of Spirit and Matter. Or, to use the Samskrit

words which are pregnant with meaning, Purusha and

Prakriti. Prakriti is that which has come into existence by

a process, Purusha is eternally one and undifferentiated;

it is the energy that exists always, but periodically electri-

fies the root of matter. The Atman, the universal spiritual

principle that is at the base of that energy, is omnipresent,

it is at every point, and every manifestation of it has an

aspect of eternity. The manifestation is limited, because

to manifest itself, the Atman, the spark of the Divine, has

to be embodied in some type of vesture and its action, its

light, is limited and broken up by the vesture. That which

has in it the nature of eternity can be symbolized by a

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Page 23 The Theosophical Link

circle, whether large or small. But the circle has to be

squared within the limitations of the body of matter. That

is how things are in Nature. Perhaps the various Platonic

solids are really stages in the approximation to the

sphere, which is a form of a circle and is said to be the

perfect geometrical figure.

Pnwlit iliael en Seael n Blg i

Now as regards the powers latent in man. If they

are really latent, how are you going to investigate or ob-

serve them? You cannot investigate that which you can-

not observe, which you cannot touch at all. The powers

have somehow to be brought out of the state of latency,

before you can see them, study or handle them in any

manner. We should not, perhaps, be too literal-minded,

but take these phrases as they are generally understood.

The powers latent in man are latent in nature that exists

as one of a number of approximations to the Ultimate, the

inmost Spirit. At every level there is an approximation

which is a certain layer of being. We might, broadly

speaking, divide these natures into psychic and spiritual.

We might regard the constitution of man as hav-

ing a base and an apex, the apex being a dimensionless

point, which may be regarded as representing the con-

sciousness, as yet untouched by any process of time,

which is in that intangible moment, namely the present,

that divides the past from the future. There are the inter-

mediate levels or planes between that base and the apex.

When the relationship is directly between the apex, that

is to say, the dimensionless point, and the base which

may be regarded as that sub-stratum of all things, akasha,

then the relationship is spiritual. But when the relation-

ship is with one of the intermediate levels, then it can be

spiritual or it can be psychic, as the case may be. There

are powers appropriate to each layer of being.

This is brought out by H.P. Blavatsky in a strik-

ing manner in an article on spiritual progress, in which

she refers to psychic powers and the work of the Theo-

sophical Society. She points out that to become an Adept,

who has marvellous powers, one has to become

“a new man, more perfect in every way than he is

at present, and if he succeeds, his capabilities and

faculties will receive a corresponding increase of

range and power, just as in the visible world we

find that each stage in the evolutionary scale is

marked by the increase of capacity. This is how it

is that the Adept becomes endowed with marvel-

ous powers that have so often been described,

but the main point to be remembered is that these

powers are the natural accompaniments of exist-

ence on the ordinary human plane.”

People so often think of cultivating this or that

power, they want to work on the solar plexus or some

other centre in their bodies, but the way is entirely differ-

ent. The so-called powers are really the fruitage of the

living tree which is the human being. H.P.B. says further:

“The Society was founded to teach no new and

easy paths to the acquisition of ‘powers’; its only

mission is to re-kindle the torch of truth, so long

extinguished for all but the very few, and to keep

that truth alive by the formation of a fraternal

union of mankind, the only soil in which the

good seed can grow.

“In this connection we would warn all our mem-

bers, and others who are seeking spiritual

knowledge, to beware of persons offering to

teach them easy methods of acquiring psychic

gifts; such gifts are indeed comparatively easy of

acquirement by artificial means, but fade out as

soon as the nerve-stimulus exhausts itself. The

real seership and adeptship which is accompa-

nied by true psychic development, once reached,

is never lost.”

In The Mahatma Letters there are some noteworthy

statements concerning the secrets of occultism which ap-

ply to the higher psychic powers. The correspondents of

the Mahatmas at that time complained that the Adepts

seemed to grudge giving out the facts they knew. Then

the Masters says:

“The truth is that till the neophyte attains to the

condition necessary for that degree of illumina-

tion to which, and for which, he is entitled and

fitted, most if not all of the secrets are incom-

municable.”

They cannot be put into words, they cannot even

be transmitted by any telepathic means, when the mind

of the other person is not prepared to receive these se-

crets. If this were not so, all that the Adepts would have

to do would be to publish a handbook of the art which

might be taught in schools. That is apparently the view

that very many people entertain.

Tegi Objlce: Iet Scnpl a Lgogeaegn t

To sum up what I have said: The study of Occult-

ism in general can do much good. It is the study of Na-

ture, taking her as a totality, not only what appears on

the surface but also the hidden laws and processes. It can

be marvellously enlightening, when one takes it up in

earnest; for then instead of seeing only the superficial

aspect of things, he sees through it, penetrates to the

heart of existence, sees what lies behind the facade, the

extension behind the appearance. We can all engage in

such study, but to “investigate” the hidden laws and

powers requires the necessary capacity. The development

of such capacity is an individual affair, not the business

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The Theosophical Link Page 24

The Theosophical Link Contributions

Members of TS Perth Branch are heartily invited to contribute articles, poems, book reviews and any news affiliat-

ed with the Branch to the Editor for possible future inclusions in the Link. Typed/emailed submissions will be

gratefully accepted. The closing date for all items for inclusion in the next edition of the Theosophical Link is:

1st April, 2020.

Email your submissions (preferred) to [email protected], or leave your typed articles in the Editor’s drawer in

the office. Your contributions and any feedback are also appreciated.

of the Society, which cannot have schools for such devel-

opment. The seeking of power is dangerous, as it builds

up self-importance, the desire to enjoy it and dominate,

whether it is power in this world or power of a different

character.

Whatever anyone declares to be true by the exer-

cise of psychic powers may be worthy of consideration -

that depends upon the person. But it should be taken

with a grain of discrimination. When you do not accept a

statement or reject it but just look at it or contemplate it

you will know your own response. If you respond to the

truth of it, your register that fact. That is really the atti-

tude needed with regard to the pursuit of the Third Ob-

ject, which to many minds is exceedingly vague because

they have not sorted out all the implications of what they

believe or refuse to believe, do not have any clear idea of

what Occultism is and what we can accept and what not.

It is necessary to have in our minds a certain clarity with

regard to our aims and undertakings, whether pertaining

to the Third Object of the Society or anything else.

ॐॐॐॐॐॐॐ