Lucifer7, December 2007
Contents
Online
& New on Katinka Hesselink Net
Short Quotes
Obituary
- Ton den Hartog
California Fires burn theosophical archives
Maya
or Illusion, H.P. Blavatsky
Progressive Revelation, George E. Creed
New on Katinka Hesselink Net
Online
W.Q.
Judge in The Vahan, August, 1891
Mercy
and forgiveness should have the highest place in that branch of
Theosophy
which treats of ethics as applied to our conduct. And were it
not for
the perfect mercifulness of Karma - which is merciful because it is
just
- we ought long ago to have been wiped out of existence. The
very fact
that the oppressor, the unjust, the wicked, live out their lives is
proof
of mercy in the great heart of Nature. They are thus given
chance after
chance to retrieve their errors and climb, if even on the ladder of
pain,
to the height of perfection. It is true that Karma is just,
because
it exacts payment to the last farthing, but on the other hand, it is
eternally
merciful, since it unerringly pays out its compensations. Nor
is the
shielding from necessary pain true mercy, but is indeed the opposite,
for
sometimes it is only through pain that the soul acquires the precise
knowledge
and strength it requires. In my view, mercy and justice go
hand in
hand when Karma issues its decrees, because that law is accurate,
faithful,
powerful, and not subject to the weakness, the failure in judgment, the
ignorance
that always accompany the workings of the ordinary human judgment and
action.
Buddha, Dhammapada,
Translation Juan Mascaro
61 - If on the great
journey of life a man cannot find one who is better or at least as good
as himself, let him joyfully travel alone: a fool cannot help him on
his journey.
Paul Brunton, The Spiritual Crisis of Man, Chapter XII
No man may rightly say that he has had a full experience of
life if he
has not had any spiritual experience during life.
Practical Occultism 74.
Virtue and wisdom are sublime things, but if they create pride and a
consciousness
of separateness from the rest of humanity, they are only the snakes of
self
reappearing in a finer form.
Obituary
- Ton den Hartog
As most of you know, Ton den Hartog
was responsible for putting the
Collected
Writings of HPB online. Not having heard
from him recently,
I wrote a few days ago. His parents responded with the
saddening news
than Ton passed beyond on 21 September.
Nicholas Weeks
California Fires burn
theosophical archives
Ken Small
reports on the website of Point Loma Publications, an independent
theosophical publishing house, that their archives have suffered major
losses in the recent fires in California - specifically San Diego. In
response they are starting an effort to digitalize the remaining
material. Please consider helping them. Here's the complete message on
the Point Loma
Publications Website:
I have very
unfortunate news. The recent fire consumed virtually all of PLP's back
inventory (95% of its published in print books)
and 85% of the library, etc. (Some
books and all the archive of photos and art work are safe and some
archive originals at another location.) Additionally a
complete copy of
the archive was made about 6 years ago, but much original material was
lost. A complete
overview of the loss will be accomplished during the next 1-2
weeks. The
fire storm came through at 1000 degrees+ so everything burned from the
inside out with near 100 mph winds according to the fire department
Sunday night October 21. This fire burned around 80,000 acres
during
last week in San Diego County. A second fire burned almost 200,000
acres in the north part of the county. Such
is the impermanent nature of things, and though the
wisdom lives
on,
there is the importance and necessity of safeguarding and
maintaining for future generations the literature of the
Theosophical
Movement in an accessible way as well. To that end we are
initiating
with the cooperation of Theosophical friends and groups in the US and
Europe a project to digitally scan the entire Point Loma
Theosophical literary heritage. Those interested in more
information about this or contributing to its support may contact us at
info@....
Direct financial contributions may be made via paypal (CLICK
HERE). (Donations are tax deductible.) As
this project develops we will also be re-building the library
and
collaborating with others in establishing long term
centers in
different location(s) for Theosophical study, research and
practice.
Maya or Illusion
H.P.
Blavatsky, Secret Doctrine I, p. 39, 40
Maya or illusion is an element which enters into all finite things, for
everything that exists has only a relative, not an absolute, reality,
since
the appearance which the hidden noumenon assumes for any observer
depends
upon his power of cognition. To the untrained eye of the
savage, a
painting is at first an unmeaning confusion of streaks and daubs of
colour,
while an educated eye sees instantly a face or a landscape.
Nothing
is permanent except the one hidden absolute existence which contains in
itself
the noumena of all realities. The existences belonging to
every plane
of being, up to the highest Dhyan-Chohans, are, in degree, of the
nature
of shadows cast by a magic lantern on a colourless screen; but all
things
are relatively real, for the cogniser is also a reflection, and the
things
cognised are therefore as real to him as himself. Whatever
reality
things possess must be looked for in them before or after they have
passed
like a flash through the material world; but we cannot cognise any such
existence
directly, so long as we have sense-instruments which bring only
material
existence into the field of our consciousness. Whatever plane
our consciousness may be acting in, both we and the things belonging to
that plane are, for the time being, our only realities. As we
rise in the scale of development we perceive that during the stages
through which we have passed we mistook shadows for realities, and the
upward progress of the Ego is a series of progressive
awakenings, each advance bringing with it the idea that now, at last,
we
have reached “reality;” but only when we shall have reached the
absolute
Consciousness, and blended our own with it, shall we be free from the
delusions
produced by Maya.
Progressive Revelation
Theologians proclaim that the whole Bible is the inspired word
of God
and an infallible guide for Christian conduct.
Such teachings become quite difficult to accept however, when
one reads
in the Old Testament such statements as God's command to
Saul: "Thus
saith the Lord of hosts . . . now go and smite Amalek, and utterly
destroy
all that they have, and spare them not, but slay both man and woman,
infant
and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass" ( I Samuel
15:3.)
And again, (in Jeremiah 13:14): "And I will dash them one against the
other,
even the fathers and the sons together, said the Lord; I will
not pity,
nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them." - hardly the words of a
benevolent
God.
In an effort to find a way out of the dilemma and to explain
away the
obvious contradiction, the theory of "progressive revelation" has been
put
forth. That is to say, inquirers are told that the Bible is a record of
man's
gradually changing and developing ideas concerning the nature of God.
If that be the true explanation, it is equivalent to stating
that large
portions of the Bible were not divinely inspired at all but were
written
by ignorant, cruel and semi-barbarous humans who did not understand the
truth.
If the theologians are correct in what they claim, large
portions of the
Old Testament ought to be scrapped as quickly as possible. Or, assuming
the
theory of progressive revelation to be correct, the teaching of the
Bible
ought to be accompanied by a clear explanation that large portions of
it
must on no account be considered as being the word of God but only as a
collection
of man's crude ideas concerning God.
It is significant to note that in spite of the theologians'
claims concerning
progressive revelation, the Bible continues to be taught in our Sunday
Schools
and churches as being divinely inspired from cover to cover. It is only
when
our religious leaders are forced into a corner, so to speak, that they
resort
to the theory of progressive revelation. Then, when the pressure is
removed,
almost invariably they spring back to their original contention that
the
whole Bible is the inspired word of God.
What would we think of a medical college where the students
were required
to study from a textbook, two-thirds of which advocated such medieval
medical
practices as burning holes in the patient with red hot irons to let out
the
evil spirits, administering portions of powdered skulls as a remedy for
fever,
and so on? Then, towards the end of the book the best and most modern
methods
of treatment would be described, but with nothing to indicate that all
the
teachings in the book were not equally valid. Then, when thoughtful
students
objected to swallowing it all blindly, the professor would explain:
"Well,
you see, it is progressive revelation."
Actually, the Bible was not dictated for us by God, neither is
it the
work of semi-barbarous men. It is a collection of the
teachings of
men who lived in ancient times, men who attained to the most exalted
wisdom
in spiritual affairs and who have passed on their knowledge to us in
the
form of allegories, which serve as containers for sublime truth.
The error of the Christian church for the past sixteen
centuries has been
in mistaking these allegories for literal history and thus turning
large
portions of the Bible into fantastic nonsense.
When the true esoteric interpretation of the Bible is restored
to its
rightful place in our churches and Sunday Schools, there will be no
need
to resort to the theory of "progressive revelation" - that alibi for
misunderstanding.
Previous
issues of Lucifer7 can be found at the online index of
Lucifer7
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