November 2022 Newsletter
The following articles are reproduced from the November 2022 Newsletter to members. Non-members may or may not be able to relate to the contents.
Essence of Theosophy
By Geoffrey Hodson
I. Man is a threefold immortal spiritual being, incarnated in four mortal material bodies.
II. The three parts of his spiritual self are reflections of the Divine Will, Divine Wisdom and Divine Intelligence.
In this spiritual aspect of his nature, man is one with the Logos. The difference between the Logos and man lies in the degree in which their triune powers are made manifest.
In God these are fully manifested; in man they are manifested in a gradually increasing degree of fulness, as his evolution proceeds.
III. Man’s four material bodies in the order of their density are:
(a) His mental body composed of mental material; his vehicle of thought.
(b) His emotional body, composed of emotional material; his vehicle of feeling.
(c) His vital or etheric body, composed of etheric material; this is the conserving principle of his physical vital forces and the link between the superphysical and physical bodies.
(d) His physical body, composed of physical, solid, liquid and gaseous material; his vehicle of action and self-expression in the physical world.
In this fourfold material aspect of his nature man is temporarily unconscious of his unity with God. As his evolution proceeds he gradually rediscovers his lost knowledge; this rediscovery is the object of all spiritual endeavour.
IV. The purpose of man’s existence is growth.
Growth consists of the gradual unfoldment from latency to full potency of man’s threefold spiritual attributes on the one hand; and on the other, the evolution of his four material vehicles to a condition in which they perfectly make manifest his threefold spiritual attributes. The true purpose of religion is to help man towards this attainment.
V. The goal of human evolution is the standard of perfection described in Christianity as “The measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”
This implies the attainment of a divine state of omnipotence, or perfected and resistless will; omnipresence or perfected and all-embracing love; and omniscience or perfected and all-inclusive knowledge. The attainment of this perfection is absolutely certain for every man. The command “Be ye perfect, as your Father in heaven is perfect” will be literally obeyed by all human beings.
VI. Beyond this state of human perfection is a still higher stage of superhuman perfection; beyond that again there is a gradual ascent towards the spiritual stature of the Logos Himself.
The
Logos is the Creator, Sustainer and Transformer of all worlds and the Spiritual
Parent of all men. He Himself is evolving, together with His whole system and
all which it contains, towards a goal which is beyond the comprehension of
mortal man.
Since man is a god in the becoming, his future splendour, wisdom and power is
entirely without limit.
VII. The goal of human perfection has already been reached by men.
Such perfect men are known as Adepts and Masters of the Wisdom.
VIII. These superhuman beings constitute the Inner Government of the World, and are the true spiritual rulers, teachers and inspirers of men.
They are the august body of “Just men made perfect,” the “Communion of saints.”
IX. The goal of human perfection is attained by means of successive incarnations in material vehicles newly formed during the pre-natal period of each succeeding life.
X. The multifarious experiences of these repeated incarnations are all designed to draw out the latent powers of the evolving God, which is Man.
The purpose and effect of repeated physical existence is education in the true meaning of the word.
After the achievement of perfection, rebirth is no longer a necessity; all further progress can be achieved in superphysical worlds. “Him that overcometh I will make a pillar in the temple of my God and he shall go no more out.” Rev.
XI. All incarnations are connected to each other by the operation of the law of cause and effect or readjustment.
All actions, feelings and thoughts produce their own natural and perfectly appropriate reaction. Reactions may follow actions immediately, later in the same life, or in succeeding incarnations. This law is referred to in the test: “Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.” The Sanskrit word “karma” is used to designate the operation of this eternal law.
XII. Actions based on a recognition of unity and motived by love, service and unselfishness, produce a pleasure, a health and a growing freedom of self-expression which encourage the actor to repeat them.
XIII. Actions based on separateness and motived by dislike, greed and selfishness, produce a pain, an ill-health, and an increasing limitation of self-expression, which discourage the actor from repeating them. Thus the law moves men to righteousness.
The intensity of the pleasure or the pain is governed by the degree in which the unselfish or selfish motives found expression in action.
Suffering is neither a punishment inflicted from above, nor an accidental adversity; it is self-inflicted and is designed to apprise the actor of his transgressions; it is therefore truly beneficent and educative in its purpose and effect.
XIV. The spiritual man inhabiting his four bodies is continually aware of the operation of this educative law and gradually acquires knowledge, wisdom, power and character as a result.
These constitute man’s only true and eternal possessions. They are the “treasurers in heaven which neither moth nor rust doth corrupt.”
All material possessions and temporal powers are transient, and the exclusive pursuit of them is utterly vain.
XV. The action of the law of readjustment constitutes the only control or judgment to which man is ever subjected.
Man makes his own destiny by his own actions, and within this law is absolutely and unconditionally free. Man is subject to no external spiritual authority or power. All religion which is based on the fear of, or desire to gain favours from an external God is false.
XVI. There is a spiritual alchemy, by means of which adversity, resulting from actions motived by selfishness, can be diminished or even dispersed by the deliberate exertion of energies and the enactment of deeds motived by love.
Love is the true philosopher’s stone, service the alchemical process by which baser human qualities and the pains of adversity may be transmuted into the fine gold of spiritual power and happiness.
XVII. The alchemy of the spirit may be applied to the healing of disease by the sufferer himself, and constitutes the true science of spiritual healing.
XVIII. The process of the transmutation of the imperfections of human nature into their opposite perfections may be deliberately applied to increase the rapidity of human evolution.
The goal of perfection which awaits all men in the far distant future can be attained in a relatively short time.
XIX. This spiritual mode of life constitutes the short and narrow way of Christianity, the Noble Eightfold Path of Buddhism, and the razor-edged path of Hinduism. It leads to salvation, Nirvana or liberation.
The life of Christ as portrayed in the Gospels is a dramatic representation of the experiences of the soul in this path.
The Sermon on the Mount, the teachings of the Lord Buddha, and the Hindu Scripture, known as the Bhagavad Gita, define the conduct necessary for the achievement of perfection.
XX. This path of swift unfoldment is open today as of old: it can be only trodden by purity of life and selfless service to the Divine Will: it is the pathway to health, happiness, perfection and eternal peace.
What Theosophy Gives
By Geoffrey Hodson
An extract from Sharing the Light, Volume I, reprinted from The American Theosophist, Vol. 29, Issue 1, January 1941
Theosophy gives a sense of the worth of life, a realization of its supreme importance which inspires and nerves its students to evolutionary effort.
Theosophy provides a coordinating philosophy of life and opens up to the thought and aspiration of the student the vast vistas of the future with their challenge to the present.
Theosophy, by revealing the great plan of life, sends the student on his way into that future confident, serene, knowing that happiness and fulfilment await him.
Theosophy offers a scientific philosophy of life which embraces both the physical and superphysical worlds, each with their varied forces and phenomena. Nevertheless, Theosophy affirms that each man can, and eventually must, win his own spiritual experience and understanding.
Theosophy teaches that every man has tremendous spiritual power at his disposal. This power, he can discover and release both for his own regeneration and for the regeneration of the race. He who discovers and radiates this inner force becomes as a pillar of light in both the spiritual and the material worlds.
Theosophy inculcates in the student reverence for the Divine Life in all beings and in all things, reverence for those greater than himself, reverence for every woman as mother or potential mother and preserver of the race, for every child as symbol of the Christ Child, ‘for of such is the Kingdom of Heaven’.
Theosophy gives to each his own deeply religious faith consistent with scientific thought. This faith need not be blind. It can be founded upon direct inner experience and be therefore unshakeable.
Theosophy thus emancipates the spirit of man from the wall of suffocating dogmatism, which, upheld by formalism and the inculcation of fear, so long closed in upon that spirit and stifled its voice.
Theosophy strikes the note of spiritual and intellectual freedom and this great note The Theosophical Society sounds forth continually.
Theosophy teaches the divinity of man as a spirit, the uniqueness of man as a soul and the freedom of man as a Personality. Yet within that uniqueness and that freedom exists the fact of unity. From realization of unity springs the greater love, the impersonal love for all that lives.
This impersonal and selfless love guides every thought and action of the true Theosophist. By it, he knows, the world and all within it will one day be set free from the darkness of ignorance, sorrow and pain.
To that great day of liberation the Theosophist looks. For it he works, confident that by his labours, and by the labours of all who love their fellow men, the age of light, of brotherhood and of peace will dawn upon earth.
In abundance, these riches of the mind and spirit Theosophy gives to the world.
Foundation Day Celebration
We shall commemorate the 147th anniversary of the founding of The Theosophical Society on Saturday, 19 November at 4:30 p.m. at the Lodge. Let us rejoice together with a look at our history. However, in view of COVID-19 precautionary measures, there will be no sharing of food or drink this year.
51st Edition of A Course in Theosophy
As part of our continuing effort to achieve our twin-object of popularizing a knowledge of theosophy and induction of new members, we will be starting our combined 51st edition of A Course in Theosophy on Saturday, 26 November 2022.
Theosophy encompasses the science of life and the philosophy of living and has helped many people in the world. All members can help in the mission of popularizing a knowledge of theosophy. Get your relatives and friends to enroll for the 51st Edition of this popular course which is conducted only twice a year. More than 3,000 individuals have attended this free course since 1998. To enroll, just send an email giving full name and contact no. to act@singaporelodge.org
The schedule of the next course is posted on our website at singaporelodge.org/btc_dates.htm.