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Books > Religion & Spirituality > Alternative belief systems > Syncretist & eclectic religions & belief systems > Post-renaissance syncretist / eclectic systems > Theosophy & Anthroposophy
Charles Webster Leadbeater was an ordained Anglican priest who left
his Church to follow the spiritual disciplines and teachings of the
Theosophical Society. In 1883 he traveled to India and underwent
strict spiritual training, including Kundalini Yoga, a discipline
that vivifies the chakras and opens the third eye. Leadbeater
endeavoured to communicate these spiritual revelations to the
general public in a series of books, of which 'The Devachanic
Plane' remains an enduring classic. The work describes all aspects
of Devachan - the astral 'Heaven World' - its characteristics, its
language, and the human, non-human and artificial inhabitants that
exist there. Essential reading for all students of the Occult.
For many a year men have been discussing arguing, enquiring about
certain great basic truths - about the existence and the Nature of
God, about His relation to man, and about the past and future of
humanity. So radically have they differed on these points, and so
bitterly have they assailed and ridiculed one another's beliefs,
that there has come to be a firmly-rooted popular opinion that with
regard to all these matters there is no certainty available -
nothing but vague speculation amid a cloud of unsound deductions
drawn from ill-established premises. And this in spite of the very
definite, though frequently incredible, assertions made on these
subjects on behalf of the various religions.
Seven answers are given to this question, of which the following by
Eub. U. (Eusebio Urban, a nom de plume of W. Q. Judge) appears as
the 6th and has special reference to the 5th immediately preceding
Mr. Judge's answer, a statement by "B.F.D." which reads: "B.F.D. --
I sometimes think that zealous Theosophists, in a creditable
anxiety to promote general charity, go a little too far in their
assertion of fraternal duty. They speak as if anything is
pardonable because done by another man, who, because a man, is a
brother. Yet it would seem that the basis of Brotherhood is equal
rights and mutual affection, and to these I have the same claim as
any other man. He is no more privileged to violate my rights than I
to violate his, and I am therefore entitled to the same protection
as is he. Hence it cannot be the fact that I am any more bound to
look leniently on unfraternal aggressions by him upon me, than I
should be upon like acts by me upon him. In other words, it is as
much my duty to restrain him from outrage upon myself, as myself
from outrage upon him. Theosophy cannot, and does not, teach that
all protective appliances are to be thrown down, and that the way
is to be freed for every attack by the greedy or the selfish. We
must be careful, in our zeal for charity, to remember that justice
is the antithesis, not to charity, but to injustice."
Lachman brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively
exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing
Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the 19th
century, as well as the controversies that continue to colour the
discussions of her life and work.
Alfred Percy Sinnett was an English journalist who, at the age of
thirty-nine, moved to India to become editor of 'The Pioneer', the
premier English daily on the sub-continent. It was in India he met
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and began his studies into
Theosophy and other aspects of the occult world. 'Esoteric
Buddhism' was first published in 1883. Wide-ranging in scope, the
book covers topics as diverse as life after death, Karma, the
origin of Evil, The Chain of Globes, psychic perception, Nirvana,
and Esoteric Cosmogony. Delving so deeply into what Sinnett
considers "absolute truth," the work also highlights the many ways
in which Buddhist esotericism agrees with the occult wisdom of
other faiths.
A Lecture Delivered In The Albert Hall, Leamington, By Annie
Besant.
From the author's archive of rare archival Theosophical documents,
he has produced several books on the early history of Theosophy.
This is Volume 5 in the Krotona Series. It will be of particular
interest to some because its archival documents reveal Theosophical
conversations from the period when Krishnamurti broke away from the
organization of Theosophy. We also witness first-hand the ongoing
founding and building of Krotona and the first Star Camp. We become
privy to the internal conversation of the Esoteric School and
communications between Annie Besant, Leadbeater, Jinarajadasa,
Arundale, Warrington and others as their world is drastically
changing with Krishnamurti's dissolving of the Order of the Star
and his venture on a pathless truth.
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book
may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages,
poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the
original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We
believe this work is culturally important, and despite the
imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of
our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in
the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
++++ The below data was compiled from various identification fields
in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as
an additional tool in helping to ensure edition identification:
++++ Popular Lectures On Theosophy: By Annie Besant Annie Wood
Besant Theosophical Pub. House, 1919 Theosophy
THIS BOOK is in no sense dogma to be believed. It is an attempt at
exploration of Ideas which are alive and can therefore enter our
consciousness and bring change. We can all recognise the faculty
for apprehending an idea for its very beauty. We seize it out of
the ether, with a feeling "that's lovely, that gives meaning to
life". And then, all too often, the cold intellect comes in and
says, "Oh, no you don't! You can't prove that and you must not
accept what cannot be demonstrated to the senses". But we are
exploring the supersensible worlds. The technique is to take these
ideas (if we like them) and learn to live with them as if we
believed, while at the same time reserving judgement and watching
life in the light of them. Then there is no need for argument, that
debased form of human exchange. Ideas of this sort are alive and
will therefore draw to themselves a certainty as one lives with
them. A remarkable change is taking place in the intellectual
climate mate of our time. The holistic world view is penetrating
our consciousness and superseding the rational materialism which is
surely proving inadequate to explain our fantastic universe. Really
we are recovering what was called the Ageless Wisdom of the ancient
Mysteries, which knew that the Universe is Mind not mechanism, that
the Earth is a sentient creature and not just dead mineral, that
the human being is in essence spiritual, a droplet of Divinity
housed in the temple of the body. This vision, once apprehended,
lifts the basic fear of death in our death-ridden culture. The body
may be destroyed, but the soul! spirit in each of us is deathless
and immortal. Our age is filled with prophecies of doom and
breakdown, which are obviously alarming. But the greater truth is
that there is no death without rebirth, no renewal without the
breaking down of outdated structures and habit patterns. Just
because the world is so mad and so bad and so dangerous, it is
valid to look at the apocalyptic picture. This suggests that behind
disaster is a transforming power at work out of the Living Whole,
which can cleanse the planet, sweep away much that is negative and
bring in a New Age. We certainly approach years of dramatic change.
Technocratic man in greed, avarice and ignorance has failed
lamentably in his stewardship of the planet and the Living Earth
hits back at him in ever increasing disaster. But the grasping of
the holistic world view leads directly to the emergence of an
alternative lifestyle, working with the Living Earth and not merely
raping and polluting her. This means nothing less than the
emergence of a new human species, filled with a love for all life
and a readiness to serve the Whole in caring, cooperation and
compassion. It has been called MULIER/HOMO NOETICUS a human being
balanced male-female, of developing consciousness. This may give
meaning to the statement "the meek shall inherit the Earth", for
behind NOETICUS is a divine power which in the long run is
absolutely unconquerable. Certainly the vision of the spiritual
nature of man and the universe brings the conviction that the human
potential is unlimited and that we stand at the threshold over
which a quantum leap in consciousness is possible. Cosmic
consciousness, a blending of mind with Universal Mind, is being
achieved and demonstrated by more and more people. This world
picture by no means implies that we just sit back and let God do
the job. Human initiative is the vital factor, but we are working
with energies of life and being from the ocean of Divine
Intelligence which can bring about change. There never was such a
generation in which to be alive. "Look up, for your redemption
draweth nigh".
2012 Reprint of 1949 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original
edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. Steiner
gained initial recognition as a literary critic and cultural
philosopher. At the beginning of the 20th century, he founded a
spiritual movement, Anthroposophy, as an esoteric philosophy
growing out of idealist philosophy and with links to Theosophy.
Steiner's work argues that body, spirit, and soul are bound
together and determine the capacity of cognition. Exploring and
developing ideas of occult science, the world, human nature, and
similarly large, difficult concepts, this work asserts the
existence and importance of the 'supersensible' world. Chapters:
The Characters of the Occult Science; The Nature of Man; Sleep and
Death; The Evolution of the World and Man; Perception of Higher
Worlds; Concerning Initiation; The Present and Future Evolution of
the World and of Humanity; Details from the Domain of Occult
Science; Man's Ether Body; The Astral World; The Course of Human
Life; The Principles of Man; The Dream State; Super Physical
Knowledge; Beings in the Spiritual World.
This book is a sequel to A Vision of the Aquarian Age first
published by Coventure Books in 1977. In that volume discussion of
the meaning and role of the Christ Impulse in our present age was
somewhat deliberately suppressed for fear of drawing negative
reactions in certain quarters. Many readers did however detect the
omission, which stands like an empty hole in the argument of the
book. In the present volume I have tried to set this right. My hope
however is that this in no way makes the book sectarian in its
nature. It is concerned with the holistic world-picture and its
application to current problems, for axiomatically the Oneness
Vision must touch and colour every aspect of our living. It is
concerned with the coming of the Light, the prospect of the
redemption of mankind by the forces of higher intelligence in the
living universe. This implies God ubiquitous and in action.
Furthermore it implies the Blakean conception of a spiritual sun
behind the physical sun, the focus of operation of the Elohim, the
highest beings of spiritual Light. The Lord of all these is known
in esoteric knowledge as the Christos and by other names in other
religions. But all recognize this over-lighting source which can
reach and be in personal touch with all souls of every race and
creed, just as the physical sun warms all our bodies. Thus the
concept of the Cosmic Christ is central to the holistic vision and
this has little to do with any sectarian thinking in any particular
church. It must be a vital strand of our world view, and my hope is
that it will not be taken as narrow dogma. I have also referred not
infrequently to the thinking of Rudolf Steiner, since this is the
approach which I personally found most meaningful and inspiring.
Again my hope is that even for those who are not anthroposophists,
these comments will help clarify basic issues in our dramatic time.
Steiner achieved an intensification of intuitive thinking which
enabled him to explore into the spiritual worlds in a manner
consonant with scientific method, and to give us his findings in a
great structure of clear thoughts which in no sense have a
mediumistic character. Thus in our age of breakthrough, when
spiritual knowledge is flooding from so many sources, the body of
Steiner's thinking may stand as a kind of touchstone which can
prove of deep significance to many different movements concerned
with the spiritual awakening of the New Age. Ours is an age of
dramatic and even sensational change. The great theme is that there
can be no renewal without a dying process, no death without
resurrection. Thus events in the coming two decades are likely to
be apocalyptic in nature. This implies what I have called
'Operation Redemption', a supreme hope that tribulation and
cleansing change are a prelude to a new dawn.
2012 marks the end of the current Piscean era. In the years leading
up to this date, the great tumult, the final battle between Light
and darkness, the Armageddon, will try us. It will not be a big
disaster, but things will gradually fall apart. The people around
you will act like the insane, and you'll wonder if the sky is
falling in when you open the newspapers. The Sanctus Germanus
Prophecies explains from a mystic's point of view the reasons for
the current world insanity and how we are already cutting the path
to a New Golden Era. So hang on, for just around the bend, a
glorious new era awaits us.
This third volume of The Sanctus Germanus Prophecies completes a
trilogy which first appeared in 2002. In this volume, Dr. Mau
focuses on the next fifty years and the great cosmic healing of the
earth's badly damaged mental body and the role the Spiritual
Regions will play in leading humanity out of the chaos of the
economic depression and the coming earth changes. Finally, he
offers advice on how to navigate through the present turmoil as
well as how to develop spiritual discernment to avoid being led off
the Path. Volume 3 points to the future and suggests how to cope
with the tumultuous events ahead of us.
THIS BOOK, the third of a trilogy, follows A Vision of the Aquarian
Age and Operation Redemption. As I worked on it, I suddenly knew
that its title must be "Exploration into God". What presumption I
thought! Who am I, who have no qualifications whatever as a
theologian, to use such a title? Yet I knew it was right and
fitting. The phrase comes from a passage in Christopher Fry's play
"A Sleep of Prisoners". Prisoners of war, locked in an empty church
at night (itself a powerful symbol) talk and banter, joke and
smoke, but one after another they are taken over and speak from
higher inspiration out of the spiritual world. Finally Meadows, the
Sergeant, touched with the higher consciousness, says this: The
human heart can go the lengths of God. Dark and cold we may be, but
this Is no winter now. The frozen misery of centuries breaks,
cracks, begins to move; The thunder is the thunder of the floes,
The thaw, the flood, the upstart Spring. Thank God our Time is now
when wrong Comes up to face us everywhere, Never leave us till we
take The longest stride of soul men ever took. Affairs are now soul
size. The enterprise Is exploration into God. Where are you making
for? It takes So many thousand years to wake But will you wake for
pity's sake? I have quoted this frequently in lectures, since it
gives a powerful expression of the age we live in and the hope of a
change in consciousness which will usher in a New Age. While
Principal of Attingham Park, I invited a distinguished theologian
and Shakespearean scholar to conduct a weekend course on the work
of Christopher Fry. I spoke of my admiration of the above passage
and to my great surprise he responded: Oh, Christopher went badly
wrong there! There can be no question of our exploring into God.
All we can do is to pray and wait for God's grace to be granted to
us. And then I saw that the emergence of the spiritual and holistic
world view in our time was calling and challenging us to go beyond
academic or traditional viewpoints and really take our own
initiative in exploring into the field of God-thought. So I offer
it, with due humility, as truth.
Originally published in 2002, the Sanctus Germanus Prophecies Vol.
1 predicts the financial crisis of 2007-2012 and the onset of WW
III based on revelations from the Spiritual Hierarchy. These major
events are part of the ongoing cosmic transition from the Piscean
Age and into the New Age. This futuristic work also gives us a peek
of what is to come during the early part of the New Age.
2012 Reprint of 1945 Edition. Exact facsimile of the original
edition, not reproduced with Optical Recognition Software. "A
Treatise on White Magic" is considered to be one of her most
important writings, as it is less abstract than most, and deals
with many important subjects of her works in an introductory, even
programmatic fashion. It was first published in 1934 with the
subtitle 'The Way of the Disciple'. She promulgated White Magic as
a discipline to serve humanity. Bailey said the work was dictated
telepathically by the Tibetan Master, Djwal Khul. It is offered as
a "basic textbook" for the Western aspirant to initiation, and is
divided into fifteen rules of magic, each one taking the reader
further into the mysteries of spirituality. Topics discussed
include: how an aspirant can best prepare himself for service, the
various ray types of their influences, the relationship between the
macrocosm and microcosm, the spiritual, causal, astral and physical
realms and their interactions, the spiritual psychology of man
(although this is dealt with much more fully in the Esoteric
Psychology volumes), The Hierarchy of Masters, esoteric groups and
schools, the spiritual centers (or chakras), the occult concept of
the Seven Rays, meditation work and much more. One of the main
themes is that of soul control. Students of the works of Alice A.
Bailey and Theosophy believe that the ultimate purpose of White
Magic is furtherance of the spiritual and material evolution of
humanity. Specifically, this evolution is conceived in terms of the
increased benevolent manifestation of seven spiritual energies or
Seven Rays. It is further believed that adept practitioners of
White Magic, wielding the power of the Seven Rays, can contribute
to this evolution.
On the one hand, New Testament scholarship has been preoccupied
with a search for the "historical Jesus." On the other, twists and
turns occurring after the first century brought about "an enforced
orthodoxy" that views modern visionaries as heretics. The
inconclusive nature of theology pits those who are reluctant to
support the miraculous against the witness of the original oral
tradition. One result of the confusion over the New Testament
record is that contemporary fiction such as The Da Vinci Code has
emerged to fill the void. It has been so popular because there is
hunger for a better understanding of those events. The author of
this book aims to fill the gap. Drawing on the visionary reports of
Anne Catherine Emmerich (1774-1824) and Judith von Halle (b. 1973),
as well as the spiritual research of Rudolf Steiner and Robert
Powell, Charles Tidball traces the events of two thousand years ago
in Palistine, including scenes in the life of John the Baptizer,
Jesus' forty days in the wilderness, healings, the Transfiguration,
the raising of Lazarus, the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension of
Christ, and much more. The author's purpose is to "present these
relatively unknown facets of the life of Jesus Christ as stories
so] they can achieve the broader recognition they deserve." The
result is that this book breathes new life and meaning into
familiar stories, offering the reader a fresh beginning in
understanding the profound wisdom contained in the New Testament.
In 1882, at the age of 21, Rudolf Steiner's life was changed
forever by a seemingly chance meeting on a train. Traveling between
Vienna and his home town of Pottschach, Steiner fell into
conversation with Felix Koguzki, a lowly herb-gatherer who claimed
to have personal and direct knowledge of higher worlds of spiritual
attainment. Koguzki arranged for the young man to meet a mysterious
individual, someone Steiner refers to only as a 'Master', who seems
to have guided him successfully towards spiritual enlightenment.
Steiner's book 'Theosophy' was published 28 years later, in 1910,
and is a detailed account of this 'spiritual science', a method of
attaining to the higher worlds that is replete with descriptions of
esoteric realities, and what one may expect at the various
milestones of human development. This is a book that will repay a
slow and careful study, a treatise on the higher worlds that the
reader can, with profit, return to again and again.
In this book the author illuminates the knowledge given by the
Masters through Helena P. Blavatsky in the 19th century and makes
an attempt to restore the Truth about the fall of Lucifer, the fall
of angels and the fall of humanity. This book has been created
under the guidance of the Masters of Wisdom.
The book "Good and Evil" is a revolution in human consciousness. Up
until today millions of people still hold a belief that Lucifer was
a dark fallen angel whom everyone needs to fight against in order
to save the world. This book proves that such a belief is a
horrible misconception, a complete error and one of the most
unfortunate dogmas created accidentally in the past. A thorough
analysis of ancient manuscripts clearly shows that the truth about
Lucifer has been forgotten and the real events differ so greatly
from what was left open as public knowledge on this subject up
until our days. Today nobody even knows the true meaning of the
"battle in heaven," nor the battle between the so-called "forces of
darkness" and "forces of light." We have forgotten our own ancient
history. And we should return to it and look over it thoroughly
again one more time.
The reader may be surprised to know that even in the early
Christian times one respected Roman Pope chose the name Lucifer for
himself. Doesn't that sound incredible or contradictory to you?
Multiple evidences are given in this book proving that the
so-called "Lucifer's rebellion" had a far deeper esoteric meaning
than just a fight between Archangel Michael and the dragon. Who was
that dragon? What was his purpose? What was his mission on Earth?
The reader will find answers to those and many other questions
relating to early stages of the history of mankind.
The works of Madam Blavatsky were given a central focus in "Good
and Evil" because "The Secret Doctrine" written by her can be used
as a valuable source of references and descriptions of certain
historical facts which are not so well known even to our modern
scientists these days. With the help of Ascended Masters and the
author the sacred knowledge provided by Blavatsky in "The Secret
Doctrine" has finally been clarified and explained in relatively
simple terms so that people can now read it and understand it to
its full extent.
Along with the subject of Lucifer and the fall of angels the reader
will also find in this book a description of ancient races and
continents, references to which can be found in various manuscripts
of the past. These races and continents are known to the current
generation as Lemuria, Atlantis and others. "Good and Evil"
provides us with a detailed explanation of how these races were
formed on Earth one after another, explains how humanity got to its
lowest point of materiality and how it will, in accordance with the
law of cycles, return back to its spiritual source. This certainly
gives us some hope Even though this will happen very gradually and
will only become visible when the time comes. But the time will
come again when we will be like angels and when all of us unite in
God.
One will read here about the times when we were sinless and also
the truth about the origins of sin, the origins of good and evil.
There was a time when distinct clairvoyance and clairaudience were
innate abilities of every man and woman, and there even was a time
when the division between a man and a woman did not exist. We all
used to be angel-like and there are certain evidences proving that
ancient fact.
"Good and Evil" also tells us about the history of the Earth's
formation and describes in detail the process of evolution of life
on all the planes of existence (such as physical, astral, mental
and others).
Would you also like to know where we used to dwell before coming to
Earth? The answers to this and many other interesting questions the
reader will find in this book.
THESE volumes, complete in themselves as a series of studies in a
definite body of tradition, are intended to serve ultimately as a
small contribution to the preparation of the way leading towards a
solution of the vast problems involved in the scientific study of
the Origins of the Christian Faith. They might thus perhaps be
described as the preparation of materials to serve for the
historic, mythic, and mystic consideration of the Origins of
Christianity, -where the term "mythic" is used in its true sense of
inner, typical, sacred and "logic," as opposed to the external
processioning of physical events known as "historic," and where the
term "mystic" is used as that which pertains to initiation and the
mysteries. Though the material that we have collected, has, as to
its externals, been tested, as far as our hands are capable of the
work, by the methods of scholarship and criticism, it has
nevertheless at the same time been allowed ungrudgingly to show
itself the outward expression of a truly vital endeavour of immense
interest and value to all who are disposed to make friends with it.
For along this ray of the Trismegistic tradition we may allow
ourselves to be drawn backwards in time towards the holy of holies
of the Wisdom of Ancient Egypt. The sympathetic study of this
material may well prove an initiatory process towards an
understanding of that Archaic Gnosis. And, therefore, though these
volumes are intended to show those competent to judge that all has
been set forth in decency according to approved methods of modern
research, they are also designed for those who are not qualified to
give an opinion on such matters, but who are able to feel and think
with the writers of these beautiful tractates.
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