May Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the May 2004 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
We learn from our theosophical books that the Lord Gautama Buddha, instead of devoting Himself wholly to other and higher work after His Mahaparanirvana, has remained sufficiently in touch with our world to be reached by the invocation of His successor when necessary, so that His advice and help can still be obtained in any great emergency. He also undertook to return to the world once in each year and shed upon it a flood of blessing.
The Lord Buddha has His own special type of force, which He outpours when He gives His blessing to the world, and this benediction is a unique and very marvellous thing; for by His authority and position, a Buddha has access to planes of nature which are altogether beyond our reach, hence He can transmute and draw down to our level the forces peculiar to those planes. Without this mediation of the Buddha these forces would be of no use to us here in physical life; their vibrations are so tremendous, so incredibly rapid, that they would pass through us unsensed at any level we can reach, and we should never even know of their existence. But as it is, the force of the blessing is scattered all over the world; and it instantly finds for itself channels through which it can pour (just as water instantly finds an open pipe), thereby strengthening all good work and bringing peace to the hearts of those who are able to receive it.
The occasion selected for this wonderful outpouring is the full moon day of the Indian month of Vaisakh (Wesak), and usually corresponding to the month of May, the anniversary of all the momentous occurrences of His last earthly life—His birth, His attainment of Buddhahood and His departure from the physical body.
In connection with this visit of His, and quite apart from its tremendous esoteric significance, an exoteric ceremony is performed in the physical plane at which the Lord actually shows Himself in the presence of a crowd of ordinary pilgrims. All Members of the Great Occult Hierarchy, except the Lord of the World and the three Kumaras, usually attend this ceremony.
The place selected for this stupendous occasion is a small plateau surrounded by low hills, which lies on the northern side of the Himalayas, not far from the frontier of Nepal, about 400 miles west of Lhasa. This location is commonly referred to as the Wesak Valley and the occasion is referred to as the Wesak Festival. Bishop C. W. Leadbeater gave a first-hand account from his personal participation and the Wesak Festival is described in great detail in his book The Masters And The Path which was first published in 1925. Geoffrey Hodson verified the account of the Wesak Festival, as described by CWL, when he attended it on May 30, 1949 as entered in his occult diary (Light of the Sancuary).
Normally this day coincides with the 15th (full-moon) day of the Fourth Month of the Chinese Lunar calendar, which is always a public holiday in Singapore. This year, Wesak Day, as we know it esoterically, falls on 4th May, 2004 while the official Wesak Day public holiday is on 2nd June 2004. This is due to the additional (leap) Second Month in the Chinese Lunar calendar this year. We shall hold our annual Wesak Day celebration on 2nd June 2004, that day being a public holiday.
White Lotus Day
Madame H. P. Blavatsky has always been a tremendous source of inspiration for all students of occultism. Not only was she well loved and remembered by members of the original Theosophical Society, she also had many friends and followers outside of the T. S. Indeed, many movements were founded outside the T. S. to study her teachings. Even today, more than a century after her death, new movements are still being formed pledging personal allegiance to H.P.B. and faithfully adhering to her original teachings. This is especially true in the cyberworld of the Internet. We could almost say that many people are fiercely loyal to our founder, Madame Blavatsky.
We join all these followers and students throughout the world to commemorate the passing of Madame H.P. Blavatsky on May 8. This is the 113th anniversary of the death of one of the greatest occultists in recent history. We call this day White Lotus Day to remember with fondness the founder of the Theosophical Society. White Lotus Day was declared by the co-founder and President Col. H. S. Olcott in 1892 as a Day of Remembrance to "express the feeling of loving regard for her who brought us the chart of the climbing Path which leads to the summit of knowledge". Come to the lodge on Saturday, May 8, at 5 p.m. to participate in the White Lotus Day programme.
The Life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky
In memory of our great founder, we will be screening a video, The Life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, on White Lotus Day, Saturday, May 8, 2004 at 5 p.m. after our commemoration programme. The video produced by The Blavatsky Trust is a revealing Drama-Documentary portrait of one of the most remarkable and fascinating women of modern times—the 19th century Russian mystic, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Members and friends are all welcome to see the video.
Clairvoyant Diagnosis of Disease
The phenomenon of clairvoyance or supernormal cognition in man has presented itself continuously throughout the whole range of human history. Geoffrey Hodson was one of the renowned seers in the twentieth century who devoted seventy years of his life to service for the Theosophical Society. He has used his clairvoyance to aid research in various fields, such as scientific research as well as to help humanity understand more about the occult causes of health and disease. This talk focuses on six cases which he studied in detail, using his varied psychic abilities. They give us deeper insights into the occult causes of tumours, dementia, subnormal mentality, sleeping sickness, dipsomania or alcoholism and last but not least, that affliction which is so widespread today - cancer. The after-death life of one of the cases was studied, giving us a glimpse into the nature of that life for one who was physically handicapped when alive.
The Lost Continents of Lemuria and Atlantis
Theosophy teaches us that the scheme of evolution of which our Earth forms a part is not the only one in our solar system, for ten separate chains of globes exist in that system which are all of them theatres of somewhat similar progress. Each of these schemes of evolution is taking place upon a chain of globes, and in the course of each scheme, its chain of globes goes through seven incarnations. The plan, alike of each scheme as a whole and of the successive incarnations of its chain of globes, is to dip step by step more deeply into matter, and then to rise step by step out of it again.
Each chain consists of seven globes, and both globes and chains observe the rule of descending into matter and then rising out of it again. Furthermore, in each incarnation of a chain (commonly called a chain-period) the wave of divine Life moves seven times round the chain of seven planets, and each such movement is spoken of as a round. The time that the life-wave stays upon each planet is known as a world-period, and in the course of a world-period there are seven great root-races. These are subdivided into sub-races, and those again into branch-races. All this must be awfully confusing for new students. In order to help the student understand a little better, Chong Sanne will conduct two special lectures for members. One will be on the fundamentals of the Doctrine of Cycles and the other, some glimpses of the lost continents of Lemuria and Atlantis based on clairvoyant investigations. Don’t miss the first of these lectures on Saturday, 29 May 2004 at 5 p.m.
Basic Theosophy Course
In line with our mission to spread the theosophical teachings, we shall again be conducting the Basic Theosophy Course (BTC) for non-members, free of charge.
The next Basic Theosophy Course will be conducted on Thursday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. commencing on May 20, 2004. Spread the word and help popularize a knowledge of theosophy by getting more friends to enroll for the free course. Interested parties with access to the Internet may enroll on-line by going to www.singaporelodge.org/btc.htm .(Please note that enrolment is necessary.)
Our Website
Our website, www.singaporelodge.org has proven to be very popular and useful. In the first six weeks since the website was launched we had 10,000 ‘hits’. Intending visitors to the Indo-Pacific Conference have found the on-line advance registration facility to be very convenient. Likewise, those interested in attending our Basic Theosophy Course have enrolled themselves with ease through our on-line enrolment page. Our own members find the on-line library catalogue most useful. Look out for more features in our website. Remember, the monthly programme is also found in the website.
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