March 2023 Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the March 2023 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
Ever the Twain Shall Meet
By Geoffrey Hodson
After being held with distinction by three leaders from the West, the office of President of the Theosophical Society has now passed to an Eastern leader and sage. Whilst for the first seventy years of its life, Western attributes have predominated in its leadership, the global Movement is now led by a man from the East. The international character of The Theosophical Society is clearly indicated by this development and an active blending, of East and West continues to be its outstanding characteristic.
This evidently was part of the original purpose; for although the Movement was conceived and initiated by two great Eastern Adepts, the Indian Mahatmas, M. and K.H., Those Great Ones chose as Their first agents, a man and a woman from the West. The preliminary blending of East and West had occurred.
From the beginning, European and Egypto-Greek Adepts lent their aid to Their Eastern Brothers. An English Platonist, a Hungarian Philosopher, a Greek Master and certain Adept Members of the Brotherhood of Luxor, joined the two Indian Mahatmas and Their Eastern Associates in writing Isis Unveiled and directing the activities of The Theosophical Society in its early years. The West and the Middle East thus played a prominent part in the early development of the Society.
In the fourth year of its existence, the founders of the Theosophical Society moved to, and soon after established the Headquarters in India, the true home and source of the Movement. Modern Western founders of an occult Society found support and a stable centre for their work in the immemorial East.
H. P. Blavatsky [H.P.B.] and H. S. Olcott, whilst in Western bodies, constantly indicated their affinity with the East and both were disciples of Mahatma M. This affinity was deep-rooted in the past. In a former life, H.P.B. had been Shivaji, the great Mahratta Warrior, who, born 627 A.D., ‘summed up in himself all that was most fervent in Hindu religion and most fiery and heroic in Indian Nationality’. She was also Abdul Fazl, Prime Minister at the Court of Akbar the Great, who reigned from 1556 to 1605 and with his Prime Minister’s aid formulated a universal faith. Colonel Olcott was no less a King reincarnated than the second Asoka, the great Buddhist Monarch who reigned from 234 to 198 B.C. These two highly evolved Egos, who had achieved greatly in and had received the imprint of the East, took Western bodies for their work in the modern world. Both deeply loved and greatly served India as their Motherland and both adopted the Buddhist Faith. Thus in the persons of the founders of The Theosophical Society, East and West were united with East as luminous soul, West as body and India as best-loved physical home. In these several ways, Orient and Occident were intimately blended in the early years of the Society’s existence.
Then in Celtic body, as Annie Besant, came Hypatia from the Middle East, uniting the fiery power and mysticism of the Irish people with the profound wisdom of the virgin philosopher of Alexandria. Eastern in philosophy and religion, disciple of Mahatma M., Middle Eastern as Hypatia, European as Giordano Bruno and Irish in body as Annie Besant, the second President continued the blending of East and West. India she deeply loved. Hinduism she adopted as her faith. Adyar she took as her home. To unite East and West in an Indo-British Commonwealth of Nations became part of her world work.
Dr G. S. Arundale, markedly Indian in soul, yet Western in body, was elected as her successor. In him, dynamic power was directed by Eastern wisdom. He married a great Indian lady Shrimati Rukmini Devi. He was inspired with a devotion to India which mounted to a controlled passion. West and East were veritably fused in the flame of that spiritual fire which was G. S. Arundale. An Indian funeral pyre has recently received and transmuted the body of this third great Western servant of the Masters of the Wisdom, as it also received that of the first and second Presidents.
A most interesting change has now occurred. The fourth President of The Theosophical Society, Mr C. Jinarajadasa, was born in Ceylon. An Eastern people has provided the body for a soul which, though deeply impressed with the wisdom and power of the East, long ago, as again in this life, drank deeply at that fountain of philosophy and beauty which was Ancient Greece. This great Ego had but recently left an English body, that of Gerald, the younger brother of Mr C. W. Leadbeater. Yet the inmost heart is surely that of Chatta, the great soul who whilst still a boy found the presence and the favour of the supremely Enlightened One, Gautama, the Buddha of the Fifth Root Race (See the Lives of Alcyone and The Perfume of Egypt by C. W. Leadbeater and Christ and Buddha by C. Jinarajadasa).
A Western education has made its imprint upon Mr Jinarajadasa, who so notably unites in his person the highest qualities and graces of both East and West. World wide experience, Western scholarship, mastery of occidental languages, science and philosophy, combined with profound wisdom, mysticism and poesy, make of the fourth President of The Theosophical Society a unique individual and one in whom East and West are again combined.
Of great interest is the change of Ray in the Leadership of our Movement. The first Three Presidents, though possessed of a variety of talents, exhibited to a marked degree the power of the First Ray, the Ray of Will. In the wisdom with which he unfailingly directs affairs, and as unfailingly reveals in his writings and addresses, Mr Jinarajadasa, a man of immovable will though he is, displays especially the genius of the Second Ray. A sage, rather than a dynamic general, now leads The Theosophical Society; one who has revealed that to become a Buddha is his dharma and ideal as they are those also, it is said, of his great Guru, the Mahatma K.H. Fortunate indeed is the Society that in its ranks at this time was one so trusted and so revered to whom its Fellows could turn for the leadership of its world wide activities.
These several unification’s of East and West within The Theosophical Society are surely far from being accidental. Behind them must be a far reaching purpose, some part of which can perhaps be discerned. Adept-conceived and executed, that purpose would appear to be to bring together in harmonious co-operation the profound wisdom of the Ancient East and the dynamic activity of the youthful West. Our Society, in both its mission and its Presidents, is an example and a model to the world of that much to be desired co-operation.
East and West have always been intimately and successfully blended at Adyar. Indians and members of other Nations have from the beginning worked harmoniously together there. At the time when India, whilst being offered her independence, is invited to become a member of the British Commonwealth of Nations, it may be significant that a President with a Sinhalese body should be at the head of the Society with its predominantly Western membership. The election by members throughout the world of an Indian President constitutes at this time an example to all peoples of brotherhood without distinction of Race. Furthermore, the position of our Society in an India from which Britain may soon withdraw could well be rendered more favourable by the Presidentship of Mr C. Jinarajadasa.
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Justifiable though these several observations may be, the student of Theosophy does not forget that the division of the earth into so-called East and West is artificial and illusory. There is in fact but one world with one family of some sixty thousand million Monads incarnating thereon. Bodies may be chosen from one or other hemisphere or continent, but Monads are Cosmic Beings. They abide in unity in that pure realm where the Sun is always at its meridian.
The Theosophical Society, also, is a world organization. Its Presidents are world figures. ‘All one’, is its message to mankind. Mr C. Jinarajadasa clearly transcends hemispherical and national limitations. He is nothing if not universal in his genius, his capacities and his vision and cosmopolitan in his personality. Yet I have little doubt that, in his purely human consciousness, he himself would affirm that for him — Ex oriente lux.
Theosophy in New Zealand, Vol. 7, No. 3, 1946, p. 78
Reproduced from Sharing the Light
Chakras, Prâna & Kundalinî
The Etheric Double, or Prânamâyakosha, has two main functions. Firstly, it absorbs Prâna, or Vitality, and distributes this to the whole body. Secondly, it acts as an intermediary or bridge between the dense physical body and the astral body, transmitting the consciousness of physical sense-contacts through the etheric brain to the astral body, and also transmitting consciousness from the astral and higher levels down into the physical brain and nervous system. In addition, the Etheric Double develops within itself certain Centres by means of which the man is able to cognise the etheric world and its hosts of etheric phenomena. These force centres are the chakras we often hear about these days.
Kundalinî, or the Serpent-Fire, is one of the forces which emanate from the sun, and has been variously called the Serpent-Fire, the Fiery Power, and the World’s Mother. To clairvoyant vision it appears in very truth like liquid fire as it rushed through the body, and the course through which it ought to move is a spiral one like the coils of a serpent. The name of the World’s Mother is appropriate because through it our various vehicles may be vivified. Its home in man’s body is the Chakram at the base of the spine, and for the ordinary man it lies there unawakened and unsuspected during the whole of his life.
The secret to psychic abilities lies in the awakening of the kundalinî and the vivification of the chakras in one’s etheric double. In the lecture on Chakras, Prâna & Kundalinî on 4 March 2023, Chong Sanne talks about the functions of the chakras and their interrelation with Prâna and Kundalinî. We shall also discuss the dangers of premature awakening of the chakras and kundalini.
This is a members-only
programme.
Spiritual Healing
One of the highest and one of the commonest of human aspirations is to become a healer. This talk examines what spiritual healing is, what can and what cannot be done by spiritual healing alone, the parts played respectively by the healer and sufferer, how spiritual healing works and how one may train oneself effectively to heal by the powers of mind and Spirit.
The true cause and healing of ill-health is discussed. This talk also examines methods of healing other than spiritual such as pranic and magnetic healing, mesmerism and hypnotism. Are there any cautionary considerations regarding the latter? Also, should one heal by the power of the Will? Find out the answers to these questions and others regarding healing by attending this talk by our Hon. Secretary, Sis. Lily Chong, on 18 March 2023 at 4:30 p.m. Don’t miss this most interesting talk which is for members only!
The Noble Eightfold Path Workshop
The Four Noble Truths state that suffering exists, it has a cause, it has an end and there is a way to end it. The Noble Eightfold Path opens a portal to end this suffering. Although it is a foundational tenet of Buddhism, the truth it expresses is timeless and beyond religion.
The Lotus Circle is organizing a workshop on the following Sundays from 2.30pm to 5pm:
1st Session — 12 March
2nd Session — 26 March
3rd Session — 2 April
To join, sign up here: https://forms.gle/CgapyHKHsVi6euCP9
Basic Meditation
Meditation sessions conducted by the Lotus Circle that is open to the public and suitable for beginners.
Saturday, 3.30pm - 4pm
Schedule for March: 4, 11 & 18 March
Invite your friends to learn the art of awareness and mindful living through our short meditation sessions. Please arrive 5 minutes earlier as the door will be locked during our meditation.