By Lex Hixon (1941 – 1995).

223 Pages | A Quest Original 1994 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 083560702X.

‘MA! MA! MA’! The Wise Woman Way – so exquisitely brought to life by Lex Hixon in these verses – has been spinning and spiraling since time out of mind, yet its message is as fresh, vital, and empowering as ever. She calls in these poems. She who is matter, mater, mother, Mary. She calls. She calls you. Listen! You may save your life or the earth.

Mother of the Universe presents, through the vivid mode of Goddess worship, the Mother Wisdom which is always unitive, never divisive. These pages do not introduce some philosophical or literary alternative but unveil the living force, which exists at the very heart of awareness as the upward flowing power of liberation and illumination called Mother Kundalini. These poems are existential inquiry. They are Goddess energy.

What is presented in this book are the visionary Hymns of Ramprasad Sen from eighteenth-century Bengal. The author has not worked from the original Bengali tekst. Selected from English translations by Jadunath Sinha of the two hundred fifty extant songs of Ramprasad, these one hundred twenty-six expanded versions have gradually unfolded over the last twelve years, The Bengali verses are shorthand, as lyrics always are. The contemplative versions represent an articulated literary form, designed not to be sung but recited aloud, thereby retaining a sense of the oral tradition, which these poems represent. Rather than using scholarly footnotes, the expanded poems themselves contain commentary on the esoteric Mother Wisdom of India, and more particularly, on the tantric tradition of Bengal, which has its roots in both Buddhism and Hinduism.

From Page 43:

Even the deepest darkness of this world is simply her Light!:

Will the blessed day ever dawn, O Goddess,

when fiery tears stream from these eyes

upon uttering your exalted name?

Will subtle obscurations of the mind dissolve,

as this body dances and tumbles on the ground

in the boundless ecstasy of Kali, Kali, Kali?

Will the day of truth finally arrive 

when I cast away every distinction,

free from this and that, here and there?

Will the immense longing of my Soul be fulfilled?

Esoteric scriptures of the Goddess declare:

‘Ma Tara is utterly formless.

She is clear light beyond all form.’

This poet madly responds:

‘Mother exists also as each life, every event.

Open your foolish eyes, cease formless meditation,

and perceive the Goddess everywhere!

Even the deepest darkness of this world

is simply her Light!’ “

By Lex Hixon (1941 – 1995).

267 Pages | A Quest Original 1988, third printing 1995 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606368.

Meditations and Illuminations from the Scripture of Islam.

In the tradition of meditation of the Holy Koran, Lex Hixon’s contemplative illumination of selected passages from the Holy Book of Islam is devotional and uplifting. It is a meditation of the Holy Koran, which has been generated from within the mystical embrace of Islam. Therefore, Heart of the Koran is an offering to the Muslim world as well to members of other cultures and traditions, who have an intellectual curiosity or a spiritual desire to learn about Islam from within.

The Arabic word Islam simply means surrender. Muslims are those, who consciously and constantly surrender their lives to the single Source of universe. This is the practice of living Prayer that enables humanity to realize balance, responsibility, freedom, ecstasy, and peace. May we all experience such surrender.

From Chapter ‘The Koranic Vision – World View of Islam (p. 33):

” The very shapes and sounds of the Arabic letters of the Koran are considered to be a mode of access to the spiritual realm of the living Koran, to its radiance and resonance to its union of heart-awakening sound with eternal meaning. ‘The Ever Present Source thus reveals Eternal Meaning through the medium of time as the resonant chanting of the Arabic Koran so that humanity can awaken and truly understand’ (12:1-6). “

By Michael Ortiz Hill and Mandaza Augustine Kandemwa, Afterword by Deena Metzger.

220 Pages | First Quest Edition 20o7 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835608527.

A gift to a world divided by race, this book is the memoir of two contemporary shamans born in divergent cultures and drawn together by destiny. Both became sacred healers, or ngangas, in traditional Bantu African medicine and came to see themselves as spiritual twins. Their meeting began an elegant process of mutual initiation so that they might lead their entire lives in the service of Spirit.

One ’twin’ among the poor in Africa, the other in an American hospital, together they explore the borderland between Western medicine and shamanic practice. Ultimately, theirs is a powerful statement about peacemaking, as it requires stripping to the elemental truth of oneself to meet ’the other’ as friend and teacher.

From Chapter 39 – ‘I AM HERE’ (p. 181):

” MANDAZA: You cannot separate the Ancestors from God. You can’t. These are the faces of God. I agree with the Jewish scripture that says ‘no graven images’, because what people do is create an image and then worship that image, and it becomes a God. You cannot make a God. God is not an object. If you want to see the faces of God, look at a mountain. You will really see the power of the Creator. Look at another person; you will see God. But I don’t pray to that person. I pray to the power that made that person and that mountain.

Nobody is perfect. Nobody is righteous. We are all young babies. We stand up, and we fall. We stand up, and we fall. I am not a perfect Mandaza. I am not righteous. I am just being told to say things to God’s people, to God’s animals. This is my message. Over and over again I repeat, ‘I am here’. It is all that I have to say. “

By John L. Hill.

240 Pages | A Quest Original 1987 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606155.

Whatever is our world coming to? The prophets of boom herald an age of plenty. The prophets of doom, a world in despair. Are these our only choices? There is also an enlightenment, suggests Hill, who writes about man as he is, and about man as he could, should and will be. The author believes that nature has an inherent propensity to evolve and flourish, and man, as a part of nature, is participating in the process. Thus, not only is the individual getting better, but so is society. The end result could be an enlightened society, one that has become integrated, non-judgemental, and compassionate. One that considers the world-at-large to be a sacred phenomenon.

Importantly – this is not merely a book of educated conjecture. Although the author’s contention that society will become enlightened makes good theoretical sense, Hill decided to strenghten his position with a personal experiment. Thus in his Chapter ‘A New Image of Humankind’ he relates the story of his own spiritual revitalization as he undertook a regimen of regular meditation.

From Chapter 9 – ‘A New Image of Humankind: A Personal Account’ (p. 9):

” To this point, this book has been theoretically oriented with an emphasis on outlining an underlying metaphysical and psychological theory of evolution. If one has had the impression that all this talk of self-transformation was only abstract ‘stuff and nonsense’ – a metaphysic without a reality, a rarefied world view to replace one or another previous paradigm, equally inefficient in winning genuine moral and existential conviction, I hope now to dispel that suspicion. I consider the last seven years of my life something of an objective, if not ‘scientific’ experiment. I believe, as a result of this experiment, that evolution is a process that may be augmented, encouraged along the lines that await us. We may take a part in our own evolution. Life should be – and can be – a process of always getting better. Everything we should do add up to making each of us more wise, compassionate, humane and, yes, happy as individuals. Life should be a process of accumulation , but it is Wisdom and love that should be accumulated. What follows is a very personal, idiosyncratic, and sometimes embarrassing account of my own experience with meditation and the effects it had on my life. ” 

By Richard Heinberg.

308 Pages | Originally published in 1989, First Quest Edition 1995 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 083560716X.

‘Exploring the Universal Myth of a Lost Golden Age’.

Nearly every culture has been nourished by tales of a lost Golden Age, in which people lived in a peaceful harmony with nature and cosmos. Is the persistent image of an earthly Paradise merely the product of a perennial nostalgia for ‘good old days’ that never really existed? Or could it be a memory of a simpler time, before organized agriculture and industry enticed us away from the Garden?

In this revised and updated edition of his classic cross-cultural study of mythology, psychology and history, Richard Heinberg traces the roots and branches of human longing for Paradise lost, and with candor and hope, points the way toward its possible return.

From Chapter 3 – ‘In Search of Eden’:

” The first Age was Golden. In it faith and righteousness were cherished by men of their own free will without judges or laws. Penalties and fears there were non, nor were threatening words inscribed on unchanging bronze; nor did the suppliant crowd fear the words of its judge, but they were safe without protectors. Not yet did the pine cut from its mountain tops descend into the flowing waters to visit foreign lands, nor did deep trenches gird the town, nor were there straight trumpets, nor horns of twisted brass, nor helmets, nor swords. Without the use of soldiers the peoples in safety enjoyed  their sweet repose. Earth herself, unburdened and untouched by the hoe and unwounded by the ploughshare, gave all things freely . . . Spring was eternal . . . untilled the earth bore its fruits and the unploughed field grew hoary with heavy ears of wheat. “

By Richard Heinberg.

265 Pages | First Quest Edition 1999 | Hardcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607720.

Is Cloning a wonderful opportunity for the human race or a dangerous attempt to play God?

With penetrating common sense, eco-philosopher and journalist Richard Heinberg tackles some of the thorniest ethical questions we face. Fascinating examples from plant and animal research; interviews with scientific, political, and religious leaders; and a clear overview of the helpful and harmful effects of biotech on our food supply, reproductive choices, and environment give thinking readers ample evidence for making up their minds.

From Chapter 8 – ‘Cloning the Buddha’ (p. 230):

” Ultimately, if we as society wish to employ some form of genetic technology for truly beneficial purposes we must begin, not with the technology itself, but with an ethical reappraisal and reform of our collective institutions and priorities. “

By Andrew Harvey and Eryk Hanut.

170 Pages | First Quest Edition 1999 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607674.

‘Before any garden or grape or wine existed, our Soul was drunk on eternal wine’.  – Rumi.

Intoxicate your Soul with Harvey’s & Hanut’s favourite Sufi teaching stories, sayings and ecstatic poetry, featuring new translations of Rumi. In the hope of awakening the sacred heart in all of us and infusing its passion into all the choices of life, this anthology has been created. Only those poems, stories or philosophical fragments are included, that have directly inspired the authors. They wanted each section to ‘smell of the desert’ and to inebriate with its fragrance. Sufi talk or instruction is never linear; Sufi poets and sheikhs will try almost anything to shock their listeners awake, will swerve from the highest philosophy to the fragment of a great ode of Hafiz or Rumi, to a story in yesterday’s newspaper, to a joke from Nasrudin.

From Chapter ‘The Inner Secret’; (p. 64):

THE SWING

” Between the posts of ‘conscious’ and ‘unconscious’

The mind has strung a swing:

On it bang all beings, all worlds

And it never stops swaying.

Millions of beings sit on it

And the sun and the moon also.

Millions of eras come and go

But the swing remains.

Everything swings!

Sky and earth, air and water

And the Beloved Himself

As He comes into form – 

Seeing this

Has made Kabir a servant. “

– Kabir.

By Andrew Harvey and Mark Matousek.

274 Pages | First Quest Edition 1994 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607046.

‘Dialogues with a Modern Mystic is a silent offering of ethereal word flowers at the feet of the Beloved’.  – Ram Dass.

The Dialogues themselves took place over the course of two, fourteen-day marathons in California and Germany. They are modeled after the Sufi tradition known as sorbet, literally the spiritual talk of friends. This style of informal investigation between brothers and sisters on the path is, we believe, central to the way of the Mother, free of dogma, authority, hierarchy and conclusion.

For the sake of clarity, we have ordered this free-flowing movement into a four-part composition, corresponding to the following four questions:

1. Where is the human race today?
2. Where are we going?
3. How will we get there?
4. What will we find?

Thus, our talks progress from a necessarily harsh analysis of the ‘concentration camp of reason’, to a description of the Mother’s way (and the future evolution of humankind envisioned by Sri Aurobindo), to a discussion of the ways and means of spiritual life and, finally, to a brief description of the mystic tenets of darkness, silence and nonduality,

From Chapter 3: ‘Straddling East and West’ (p. 54):

Andrew Harvey: 

” This great revolution that Aurobindo envisioned would be enacted under the aegis of the Divine Mother. Nothing in any of my reading or inner experience prepared me for what I found in his work when I first encountered it at twenty-six in Pondicherry, a vision of the Divine Mother, of God as the Mother, so radical, so potent, so all-embracing that it overturned and transformed completely everything I had hitherto understood of God. At last I found a vision of the Divine that satisfied my heart and mind and answered my profound needs for a belief in a dynamic Feminine Power that could reshape a world I experienced as deformed by patriarchal rationalism and greed; for a relationship with the Divine that would be fearless, unpuritanical and as completely tender, shameless and intimate as the ideal relationship between mother and child. “

298 pages | Paperback | TAT Foundation, 1980

This classic work addresses magic as the exercise of spiritual power obtained by practicing self-control. Dr. Hartmann considered the spiritual regeneration of Man the highest form of Magic. This book gives the reader a priceless formula for mental power and spiritual achievement.

“Magic may be said to be that science which deals with the mental and moral powers of man, and shows what control he may exercise over himself and others.”

“Before one can become a magician he must learn to control his own mind; for mind is the substance with which the magician acts, and the power to control it is the beginning of magic.”

“The beginning of all knowledge is the knowledge of self; the knowledge of the soul and not the vagaries of the brain.”

By Iverson L. Harris.

174 Pages | Published in 1971 | Softcover | Point Loma Publications Inc., San Diego, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0913004014.

Refutation of falsehoods, slanders, and misrepresentations published by the National Broadcasting Company, Truman Capote, Walter Winchell, the John Birch Society, Time magazine and others.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was not a revolutionary, except possibly that all efforts toward human enlightenment and decency are a revolution against bigotry, ignorance, hypocrisy, selfishness, superstition and other traits of human nature that tend to corrupt modern civilisation. She was tireless in exposing and opposing these.

What is Theosophy? Theosophy is two-fold. It is an enquiry into the nature of man in his relationship to the universe, and as such incorporates the heart of all the world religions. It is also a way of life. The members of the Theosophical Society are expected to live up to the high ethical principles embodied in the teachings.

From Page 154:

” The universal religion can only be one if we accept the real primitive meaning of the root of that word. We Theosophists so accept it; and therefore say we are all brothers – by the laws of nature, of birth, of death, as also by the laws of our utter helplessness from birth to death in this world of sorrow and deceptive illusions. Let us then love, help and mutually defend each other against the spirit of deception; and while holding to that which each of us accepts as his ideal of truth and unity – i.e., to the religion which suits each of us best – let us unite to form a practical nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, or color. “

Edited by Virginia Hanson (1898 – 1991).

240 Pages | Published in 1974 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835604489.

In every age and in every land there have been individuals, who have broken through the shell of everyday concerns and inherited beliefs into a dimension of consciousness, which gives direct insight into fundamental truth. This mystical experience has come to millions, and all mankind is destined to know it as a natural outgrowth of evolution. It is the ‘silent encounter’ with the Self, usually unexpected and often unsought, yet revealing the essence of Reality.

In this book, such writers as Haridas Chaudhuri, Manly P. Hall, Geoffrey Hodson, Phoebe B. Bendit, Arthur W. Osborn and others explore this subject from varying backgrounds and approaches. The reader, who has known the mystical experience will meet his own realizations in ways, which deepen his understanding. Those, who have yet to break through into this realm of consciousness will catch glimpses of an inevitable experience and perhaps be led closer to it.

From Chapter 19 – ‘The Mystical Element in Creativity’ (p. 186):

” Thus our recognition of the horizon principle in all experience as a meeting in ourselves of sky and earth, of spirit and matter, provides an accurate focus for seeing all pairs of opposites as two aspects of the same thing and thereby reversing our position relative to them from that of conflict to one of transcendence. It is in this sense that Francis Bacon wrote in his ‘Essay on Truth’: ‘Surely it is heaven upon earth for a man’s mind to move in charity, rest in Providence [i.e., the Law] and turn upon the poles of truth. “

Compiled by V. Hanson and C. Pedersen.

127 Pages | First Quest printing 1985, 2nd printing 1987 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835605930.

In a spiritual sense one might describe the philosophy of Ralph Waldo Emerson as that of a nineteenth century ‘Voice of America’. Contained within his writings one will find almost incomparable insights into the nature of America, of America’s people and their destiny.

Emerson’s essays are based on his sensitivity to the fundamental fellowship of all that lives. The 301 excerpts in this book have been culled from the author’s best-known works including The Oversoul, Compensation, Fate, Friendship, Nature, Heroism and Self-Reliance. Here then is The Sage from Concord at his transcendental best – a selected digest of his philosophy particularly suitable for today’s seeker, who must ‘read as he/she runs‘.

Terminus (p. 127):

” As the bird trims her to the gale

I trim myself to the storm of time

I man the rudder, reef the sail,

Obey the voice at eve obeyed at prime:

‘Lowly faithful, banish fear,

Right onward drive unharmed;

The port, well worth the cruise, is near,

And every wave is charmed’. “

By Virginia Hanson (1898 – 1991).

25 Pages | First Edition 1977, first reprint 1986 | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170590256.

Today’s Encounter with the Wisdom of the Ages.

The philosophy of The Mahatma Letters is timeless; the story of The Mahatma Letters is in time. What results is a cross-fertilization from which a rare kind of drama emerges – a drama in which, quite unexpectedly at times, one sees oneself and the whole of humankind reflected with pitiless clarity. Tragedy and comedy, courage and cowardice, pathos, compassion, frustration and fulfilment, despair and hope – all these are there as in life through-out the millenia of recorded, and unrecorded history. What is there, in addition, is a perspective which gives it all meaning.

From page 4:

” The question would not arise if those concerned knew something of what an Adept is, as explained in The Mahatma Letters . . . Writing about Themselves, one of Them says: ‘None of you have ever formed an accurate idea of the ‘Masters’ or of the Laws of Occultism they are guided by . . . The Adepts do not advertise Themselves, nor do they seek followers. Their work, for the most part, lies away from the world, whose ways are not their ways. If we understand this, there will be none amongst us ready to lend an ear to persons, who seek to impress others by claiming occult connection with mysterious beings, or that they themselves are the manifestations of such beings. “

240 pages | Paperback | Quest Books, 1988

An anthology of Blavatasky’s contributions to world thought.

Virginia Hanson (1898-1991) joined the Theosophical Society in 1949 where she was first active in the Washington Branch, of which she was president for several years. She was also president of the Mid-Atlantic Federation and a frequent lecturer for the Society. In 1990 she was awarded the T. Subba Row medal in recognition of her contributions to Theosophical literature, including Masters and Men, and The Reader’s Guide to the Mahatma Letters.

227 pages | Gebonden/Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House Adyar, 1971

Commentaries On Her Contributions to World Thought

An Adyar book, imported from India.

By Manly P. Hall (1901 – 1990).

52 Pages | Published in 1982 | Softcover | The Philosophical Research Society Inc. | ISBN: 0893148121.

Humanity is the only form of life in our physical environment capable of the experience of joy; therefore, it should be assiduously cultivated. If pleasures are normal, require no compromise of moral or ethical values, and are free from dissipation, they are a valuable defense against morbid conditions arising in the mind or body.

A bit advice stated by the English scholar Robert Berton, author of The Anatomy of Melancholy, is summarized in the six words, ‘Be not solitary, be not idle‘. We should all maintain a direct and friendly contact with the society to which we belong, and regardless of the availability of leisure, we should never permit ourselves to be idle. If we remain concerned with the common good and contribute in various practical ways to the well-being of the community in which we reside, we have every reason to hope that health problems can be controlled and for the most part overcome. Health, like happiness, must be earned. It is a reward for constructive involvement in labors dedicated to the common good.

From Page 10:

” Paracelsus regarded disease as an organism with its roots in the invisible nature of man, like parasitic plants or, like lecherous animals, sucking the blood of his Soul. He declared that as lions and tigers attack and devour humans and each other, so diseases are ravenous beasts loosed from the matrix of perverse impulses, and must be treated as such; not as mere aggregations of irrational malignancies. A disease is a story or diary, usually a rather comprising document. It sets forth that which we would tell no man, for it is a forced confession. When man can be laid low in no other way, he is humiliated by infirmity. But even the ailment may be a blessing in disguise, for by such checking we are often protected from ourselves. We are prevented by a lesser ache from doing a greater wrong. “

By Steve Hagen.

343 Pages | A Quest Original, First Edition 1995 | Hardcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607194.

An Inquiry for the New Millennium into Science, Philosophy, and Perception. 

In this wise and original book, science writer and Zen priest Steve Hagen helps us learn to perceive the world directly – as it is, not merely as we conceive it to be. Using a provocative mix of examples from quantum physics and philosophy as well as Zen teaching stories, Hagen helps us see ourselves and the world with the clarity and wisdom born of a new innocence. When we are able to just see, we are able to live a life of beauty, awareness and Truth, in a world in which everything is utterly immediate and alive.

From page 1:

” All phenomena, existing and apparent,
Are ever transient, changing and unstable;
But more especially the worldly life
Hath no Reality, no permanent gain.
And so, instead of doing work that’s profitless,
The Truth Divine I’ll seek.
To the Dragkar-Taso Cave I’ll go,
to practice meditation. “

• Milarepa. 

By His Holiness the XIVth Dalai Lama.

178 Pages | First Adyar edition, fourth reprint 2015| Paperback | The Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar ISBN: 9788170591245.

This important book by the Dalai Lama the gives an authentic account of the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. It is hoped that its publication will contribute to a greater understanding of Tibetan culture. The main part of the book is preceded by a short account of the spread of Buddhism in Tibet, also written by His Holiness. The whole range of Buddhist teachings as practised in Tibet is expounded with great clarity, yet with brevity.

From page 12:

HOMMAGE TO SUPREME WISDOM PERFECTLY ANALYZING ALL DHARMAS

” According to Buddhist tradition, the present era is called the time for virtue (śila-kāla) being one of the divisions of the five-thousand year period during which it is said the teaching of the fourth Buddha to appear in this Aeon, will actually endure. The most important religious feature of this era lies in the observance of the moral precepts. “

By Jean Gullo, Joseph D. Gullo & Diana Dunningham-Chapotin.

88 Pages | A4 Study Course | Quest Books, U.S.A. | No ISBN.

This guide is designed for use as a series of workshops. The information, questions and discussion matter contained herein are aimed towards service in the spirit and with the underlying principles of Theosophy. It may be used effectively in groups of any size, but can be useful to individuals as well. Where there are questions for discussion, responses by an individual might be written down or put in a journal.

From Part One: ‘True Theosophists’ (p.1 & 2):

” Many of us, though caring, are overwelmed by the enormity of the social and ecological changes needed, and the problems to be dealth with. It is well to bear in mind that many millions of people are feeling same concern and frustration. Our individual yearning for change and the goodwill to bring it about are part of a huge and growing tide of thought. We may begin where we are, and with a few or many others, then work toward greater realization and growth.

In heeding the admonition of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (HPB), co-founder of the Theosophical Society (TS), that we are not true Theosophists until we help humanity, we may join the flow of ‘people power’ sweeping the planet. This is the time for such female qualities as nurturing, caring and compassion to come to the fore in humanity. Many individuals and organizations are already working toward these ends. We may work in theosophical groups or in harmony with others and thereby greatly increase the effectiveness of our efforts. Working with others (networking) is important now if we are to make the greater changes.

Where can we start? Contemporary issues such as ecology, peace, international economic and political cooperation, human and animal rights, poverty, the weakening of family structures, the homeless, health and healing are becoming increasingly urgent. “

By Jean-Paul Guignette.

12 Pages | Softcover/leaflet | First British Edition June 1987 | Theosophical History Centre, London | ISBN: 0948753056.

This bibliography consists of biographical studies on Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), the main founder of the XIXth Century Theosophical Movement. This is the second edition and it includes corrections, changes and a few additions. As the contents of the books herein quoted are often very diverse in nature, they have been dealt with under several chapters according to their characteristics. Apart from some rare exceptions, only original editions of these works have been mentioned. The subsequent reprints (except if they involve important changes, or corrections) and the various translations into foreign languages have been omitted.

The numerous articles on H.P. Blavatsky published in magazines, as well as the vast number of books mentioning her incidentally, have been purposely left out. No doubt, as it stands, the present bibliography does not cover the whole ground and may be improved upon in the future – thus, all suggestions are welcome.

NB: No quote; the bibliography solely consists of book titles.

By Michael Grosso.

384 Pages | First Quest Edition 1995 | Hardcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607119.

In The Millenium Myth, Michael Grosso highlights the chief prophetic vision of the Western world and where it may be leading us. We can see it, the author tells us, unfolding in the high-tech of today and tomorrow: space colonization, terra-forming, bio-engineering, life-extension, cryonics – the lurch toward bionic superhumanity. Grosso’s coinage, technocalypse, sums up his insight that technology is secretly driven by the Millenium Myth, a vision that is piloting human history toward recreating nature and reinventing humanity.

From the Conclusion: ‘The Meaning of the Millennium Myth’ (p. 359):

” The ‘devil’ is also called a dragon. The dragon is a fabulous beast, a serpent with wings. As such, it suggests the marriage of earth and heaven. The dragon symbolizes the Tao, the harmony of yin and yang, the dance of Shiva and Shakti, the coincidence of opposites. The dragon, thus seen in a more congenial, Eastern light, turns into a synthesis, of dialogue between the new and the old brain. As such, I take the dragon to be a fine image of the future of human evolution. John’s error, then, is worse than we thought. Not only did he create the perfect myth for compulsive dualizers and demonizers, but he hobbled, by indulging in dragon baiting, any hope of improvement. Obviously, if the dragon symbolizes our evolutionary future, we need to embrace it, not ban it from our consciousness. In short, the Book of Revelation, by divorcing us from the Wisdom of the dragon, becomes a stumbling block to our spiritual evolution. “

By Michael Grosso.

246 Pages | A Quest Original, first published in 1992 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606767.

Exploring Psychic Evolution.

People all over the world have experienced paranormal phenomena. But few have attempted to examine these phenomena from the standpoint of their message for humanity. Michael Grosso believes that paranormal powers and experiences actually foreshadow humanity’s evolutionary future. Eventually, he says, paranormal powers may become commonplace.

Dr. Grosso shows how our idea of God may be based on paranormal experiences and how the Christian religion was built around them. He discusses our co-creative role in such experiences as visions of the Virgin Mary or encounters with aliens, which we interpret through our understanding and conditioning. He examines the transformative nature of the near-death experience and the ways it points towards our evolutionary potential.

From Chapter 13 – ‘Aliens, Allies and Evolution’ (p. 204):

” One day when the sky was serene and clear, there was heard in it the sound of a trumpet, so shrill and mournful that it frightened and astonished the whole city. The Tuscan sages said that it portended a new race of men, and a renovation of the world . . . heaven had allotted to each [race] its time, which was limited by the circuit of the Great Year; and when once race came to a period. and another was rising, it was announced by some wonderful sign from either earth or heaven. ”  – Plutarch. “

By Duncan Greenlees (1899 – 1966).

404 Pages | World Gospel Series: First Edition 1952, 2nd edition 1960, 3rd edition 1968, 4th edition 1975, 5th edition 1994 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170592364.

Sikhism is the religion taught through Guru Nanak in the forms of the Ten Gurus, and now through the Guru-Granth Sahib and the whole community of disciples. It is a practical way of life that does not involve itself in verbose theorizing but leads a man straight to his goal.

To protect the young community of disciples (Sikhs) that had become subject to persecution, the sixth Guru converted it into a semi-military brotherhood, arming it with outward insignia and sacraments, and thus subjecting it to the purifying fires of martyrdom, which instilled the necessary courage and resolution in its heart. The Sikhs should therefore have a great place in the future of their country, as so pure and spiritual a religion as theirs has already a great place among the religions of the world.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duncan Greenlees was educated in England and spent much of his life in India. He was associated with Dr. Annie Besant in her educational work for India and served as Principal of one of the many theosophical high schools she founded. He participated in the Indian national struggle for freedom, was associated with Gandhi, and drafted the Indian National Education Policy. Later, withdrawing from all worldly and political activities, he made a study of the religious scriptures of the world. His detailed expositions of the underlying philosophy of the religions are published as the World Gospel Series.

From Chapter 6 – ‘The Way to God’ (p. 294):

“7. Happiness is not for those, who make many friends in the world; it is those who keep the mind on the One, who ever enjoy happiness (K. śloka 21). The servants serve [Him] who uplifts [them] by kindness; dewy is the night of those in whose heart is a yearning [for Him] (N.Āsa di vār, 5 Sl.2). Bliss is in the heart which delights in love [N. Barah Maha, 16], so there is always bliss for devotees; they are put into ecstasy by singing the excellences of God (Ar.Āsa, 10:2). “

By Duncan Greenlees (1899 – 1966).

438 Pages | World Gospel Series: third reprint 2003 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170592585.

The literary language in Zarathushtra’s days in Eastern Irān was the dialect of Avesta (an Aryan tongue close to Sanskrit) known to us as Gāthic. This has generally been assumed, because more primitive in form, to be older than the normal Avesta, but as Jackson suggested it is quite as likely to be a geographic, not chronologic, variation – for Bactria is far from Persis.

Two books in this Gāthic dialect survive, both of them forming part of the Yasna included in the original Stot-Yasht Nask. These two books are the Gāthās and the Haptanghaiti Yasna (Y.35-42) and considered two most important sources for the Prophet’s teachings. Of the Prophet it was Khwāja Kamāluddin, who said: ‘Zoroaster was the true Prophet of God’.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duncan Greenlees was educated in England and spent much of his life in India. He was associated with Dr. Annie Besant in her educational work for India and served as Principal of one of the many theosophical high schools she founded. He participated in the Indian national struggle for freedom, was associated with Gandhi, and drafted the Indian National Education Policy. Later, withdrawing from all worldly and political activities, he made a study of the religious scriptures of the world. His detailed expositions of the underlying philosophy of the religions are published as the World Gospel Series.

From page 267:

AIRYEMA-ISHYO

” To both men and women of Zarathushtra, may the dear Friendship, the grace of Love, come down! I pray for that precious reward, the blessing of Righteousness, which is won through the Faith – a longing which the Lord God satisfies. (Y.54:1).

Zarathushtra closes his Divine Message by invoking God’s full blessing and intimate fellowship upon all who loyally and righteously serve the Cause of his Religion. So may it be! “

By Duncan Greenlees (1899 – 1966).

438 Pages | World Gospel Series: First Edition 1955, first reprint 1987, second edition 1991 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170591384.

The Gospel of Israel is at the same time like and unlike every other. It is the story of a great love, changeless through the ages and filled with a noble purpose of universal good. It tells how the infinite and eternal God, a most loving and lovable Personality, created the universe solely that He might share that love which is His inmost nature with created beings and give them the infinite satisfaction of directing that love to Himself, its only worthy object.

This is the story of the infinite Lover’s great love for a people representing all humanity, and for every individual who identifies himself with its great ideal. But as love can only thrive in an atmosphere of good will, it is also the story of the highest ethics. As we treat others, so will God’s laws treat us; and if we would enjoy His love, we must reflect it on all with whom we come in contact.

Duncan Greenlees was educated in England and spent much of his life in India. He was associated with Dr. Annie Besant in her educational work for India and served as Principal of one of the many theosophical high schools she founded. He participated in the Indian national struggle for freedom, was associated with Gandhi, and drafted the Indian National Education Policy. Later, withdrawing from all worldly and political activities, he made a study of the religious scriptures of the world. His detailed expositions of the underlying philosophy of the religions are published as the World Gospel Series.

.  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .

From Chapter 6 – ‘Human Life’ (p. 199):

” No nation has suffered like Israel, or the Jews, though few have clung more closely to their code of ethics or their God; so the problem of undeserved suffering has always haunted the Jewish mind. All alike know sorrow, but that sorrow can be found sweet by the righteous, because God uses it to purify and teach him, and then rescues him from the affliction. Though he prosper not in things of the world, happier is the poverty of the righteous man contented with his little than the excessive luxury of those, who do not look to God. “

By Duncan Greenlees (1899 – 1966).

438 Pages | World Gospel Series: First Edition 1948, first reprint 1973, second reprint 1996, 3rd reprint 2000 | Hardcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170592771.

Islam is the religion of self-surrender to God, which alone can bring peace to the world and peace to the Soul of man. It was given to the world more than thirteen centuries ago through the life and preaching of Muhammad the Prophet of Arabia. But it does not derive from him, and claims to be nothing but a re-statement of the natural and primeval religion of the world, dropping the accretions that time brings in to corrupt it from age to age.

It teaches that all the universe, seen and unseen, was brought into being at a word by the One and Only God, whose Nature is perfect Goodness, absolute Justice, and almighty Power. To man, God has given reason and conscience as a guide towards righteous life in accordance with His will. To make man’s path in life easier to trace, He has sent down in all ages and to all people of the world His messengers, to teach the ways of peace and to warn against unrighteous paths.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Duncan Greenlees was educated in England and spent much of his life in India. He was associated with Dr. Annie Besant in her educational work for India and served as Principal of one of the many theosophical high schools she founded. He participated in the Indian national struggle for freedom, was associated with Gandhi, and drafted the Indian National Education Policy. Later, withdrawing from all worldly and political activities, he made a study of the religious scriptures of the world. His detailed expositions of the underlying philosophy of the religions are published as the World Gospel Series.

From Chapter 7 – ‘The Muslim’ (p. 166):

82. And Kind to Parents

” 1 | Your Lord has ordained Goodness to parents; if one or both of them reach old age in your presence, do not say ‘Pooh!’ to them, nor scold them, but speak to both of them with polite words, and make yourself tenderly submissive and gentle, and say, ‘My Lord, have compassion on them both, just as they cared for me when little.’ (17:23-24). “

By Michael Gomes.

248 Pages | First edition 1847 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606236.

It all began in 1874 on a farm in Chittenden, Vermont, at that time a mecca for spiritualists. There, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Russian born noblewoman, world traveler, respected psychic, outspoken iconoclast, first met Henry Steel Olcott (1832 – 1907), lawyer, journalist, Civil War administrative hero. It was on November 17, 1875 that this initial meeting culminated in the founding of the Theosophical Society.

Historical researcher Michael Gomes charts the dramatic origins of the theosophical movement, one of the most influential philosophical systems to arise during the last hundred years. In this skillfully woven story of the early years of theosophy, the author re-creates the key events involving Blavatsky, Olcott and a small group of like-minded occultists. His account covers the publication of Blavatsky’s ‘occult encyclopedia’ Isis Unveiled, concluding with the pilgrimage to India by the ’theosophical twins’.

By Michael Gomes.

196 Pages | Copyright 2004 | Softcover | TRM – Theosophical Research Monographs | ISBN: 0974188905.

Theosophical Studies Presented to Ted G. Davy on His Seventy-fifth Birthday.

One of the writers in the present Volume, trying to articulate the contribution of Ted G. Davy to the field of Theosophical research, sent in the following: ‘He is not famous. It may be that when at last his life comes to an end, he will leave no more trace of his sojourn on this earth than a stone thrown into a river leaves on the surface of the water. Yet it may be that the way of life he has chosen for himself may have an evergrowing influence over his fellow men, so that, long after his death perhaps, it may be realized that there lived in this age a very remarkable creature. “

‘Remarkable’ would certainly be the word agreed upon by most of the presenters in this Volume. Aside from his role as mentor, friend, advisor to many in the field of Theosophical studies for almost half a century, Ted Davy functioned as editor of The Canadian Theosophist from 1961 – 1991. Continuing the tradition of its founder, A.E.S. Smythe, the Journal was regarded as ‘the conscience of the Theosophical movement‘.

From the end page:

” An Acrostic for Doris and Ted Davy by John Robert Colombo
Taken from the Index to H.P. Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine (1888: 3rd ed., reprinted 1928).
‘A strange story – a legend rather – ‘ Section XLI, ‘The Doctrine of Avataras, ‘ Volume III.

* * *

Doors of ancient dwellings

One manifested

Rounds, actuality of seven

Immetalized, light

Scale, angelic beings

&

Thought, abstract absolute

Earth-born cement, nitrogen

Dinosaurians of gigantic proportions

Dazzling face, great king

Astral, action comes from the North

Vault, starry

Year of Brahma. “

By Joscelyn Godwin, Foreword by Richard Smoley.

200 Pages | First Question Edition 2007, second printing 2013 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 9780835608602.

The ancient sages of the Western Mystery Traditions passed on a knowledge beyond reason, allowing us to access transcendent states, that reveal our own nature and that of the cosmos. Such sages exist in every age and elevate all of humanity, says Joscelyn Godwin, whether we realize it or not. Among those whose wisdom he traces from antiquity to the present include:

• Hermes Trismegistus
• Zoroaster
• Orpheus
• Pythagoras
• Plato
• The Gnostics
• The Alchemists
• The Rosicrucians
• The Freemasons
• The Theosophists

Each stage is always with us, Godwin emphasizes, and so offers a potential source of inspiration and action for today.

From Chapter 16 – ‘The End of the Thread?’ (p. 149 & 150):

” The transcendent philosophy that rises above so manu useless arguments has always been there, and never so available as it is today. Knowledge has been put into our hands that was once the closely guarded property of initiates, together with the freedom to discuss and follow it without fear of being executed for heresy. Is this not cause for rejoicing? The price we pay for this historically unique situation is living in the modern world, in which the lunatics quite obviously are running the asylum. So be it. The philosopher knows that the Gods are playing their games, the cosmic machinery turns, and history rattles on. But he also knows the timeless, the secret place from which all this can be surveyed with mild amusement, as a flutter on the surface of the ocean. “

By Edward Lewis Gardner (1869 – 1969).

226 Pages | Copyright 1987 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835602362.

About Creation and Consciousness.

When ideas are based on fundamental truths, their value must remain undiminished with the passing of time. Such is the case with this Theosophical Classic. Edward L. Gardner, a man of extraordinary sensitivity, offers his views on creation and consciousness.

• CREATION: Why it happened and how it is structured.
• CONSCIOUSNESS: What it is and how it evolves.

This is a book about the web-like fabric, which carries within itself all the material forms of the world; bears and supports them eternally. This is a book about life and light, which is consciousness becoming self-conscious, becoming transpersonally conscious. Based closely on the Stanzas of Dzyan from H.P. Blavatsky’s The Secret Doctrine (1888), Gardner’s contribution to truth can be a most valuable tool for all serious seekers into the nature of Reality.

From Chapter 18 – ‘Creative Energy: Lunar, Terrene and Solar’ (p. 198):

” There is an inmost centre in us all

Where truth abides in fulness . . . and to know

Rather consists in opening out a way

Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape

Than in effecting entry for a light

Supposed to be without. “

– Paracelsus.

By Ralph Gardner.

24 Pages | Issued by the Theosophical Society in England in 1947 | Mini-booklet | The Chameleon Press, London | No ISBN.

This mini-booklet is an attempt by one, who belongs to and loves the Church of England, to justify to himself and explain to others his belief in palingenesis or rebirth. He invites the reader to consider the theory that human beings are not confined to a single experience of earthly life, but are subject to many successive rebirths. It is a theory immensely old – it is found as a belief, almost and an assumption, in some of the most ancient religious documents in the world. It is accepted to-day as a truism by several hundred of millions of Buddhists and Hindus. A belief so long-lived and so wide-spread should be of interest to us.

From page 11:

” We are familiar with the idea that a man’s personality is the result of all his previous experiences. Many of those experiences may be what we call ‘forgotten’; yet their effects are elements in his present character and consciousness . The psycho-analyst will seek for the cause of some disruption or dis-ease in a patient’s mind by helping him to recover a memory of the decisive event or events, which started the tangle. It is recognised that a man, well or ill in mind, is the product of his past. The doctrine of rebirth simply asserts that a man’s past is a very much longer one than that of his present personality; and the doctrine of karma means that his present quality as a man, his virtues and defects, derive from his efforts in this life based on the material passed on to him from previous lives. Karma properly regarded is not a chain binding a man to earth; it is the condition he must accept before he can attain to heaven. “

Edward Lewis Gardner (1869 – 1969).

15 Pages | Reprinted 1966, 1975, 1991 | Mini-booklet | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.

From the Appendix to The Web of the Universe.

A study of the Earth Chain is a study in essence of the whole Scheme. Just as in embryology one may trace the evolution of the physical form through all the earlier stages of development from the simple cell, so in the first three Rounds of our Chain the work of the first three Chains is recapitulated. On these Rounds certain work is done rapidly that took untold ages of effort on the earlier chains. The Scheme works onwards to the Climax of its involution in the fourth Round of its fourth Chain. The Rounds are the big and important divisions of a Chain’s manifestation.

From page 3:

OUR TERRENE SCHEME

” In each Planetary Scheme there are seven successive incarnations or circuits of the great Life Waves from the Solar Logos. On each Chain, from the first onwards, all the stages of consciousness known as the kingdoms of nature, from the elemental to the human, are present. The broad rule appears to be that, for the span of a Chain, a given impulse of the Logoic consciousness functions through the forms of one kingdom only. “

By Gopalakrishna Gandhi.

26 Pages | First edition 2001 | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170594324.

‘Where does the real India reside?’‘ asks the author, for India is a land of enormous disparities and contradictions. In 1916, his grandfather Mahatma Gandhi denounced before an august assembly at Varanasi the existence of pomp and wealth amidst degrading penury, filfth around holy places, and the domination of a foreign language over native tongues. He also pronounced other unpalatable truths.

This lecture contains and eloquent description of the same contradictions, existing even today all over India, because the same attitudes of callousness and cruelty continue. But there is also an aquifer of goodness that is essentially Indian, which must be tapped and never allowed to run dry.

‘What we are, the world is’. Here is a compelling call to every Indian to tap that goodness and be what is needed for the redemption of the nation.

From page 10:

” Where does India, the real India, reside? Not in cities, surely, where money grows but humanity shrinks; where you have, for example, this hush so wonderful, this air so pure, but just beyond, a steaming slum which bravely, hopefully (perhaps sarcastically?) is called ‘Jasmine Town’ (mallippoo nagar). Soweto in Johannesburg, the world’s most famous informal settlement, is an eldorado compared to the slums in India’s cities, slums that are home to what Valentine Chirol in his essay on Kalighat described as ’tangled knots of perspiring humanity’. Is this, the Theosophical Society, which affords divine knowledge (brahmajñana), the real thing, or is it mallippoo nagar? “

By Rajmohan Gandhi.

32 Pages | First edition 1994 | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar | ISBN: 8170592275.

The deep commitment of this grandson of Mahatma Gandhi to the well-being of India led him to participation in the public life of the nation and to being a member of the Rajya Sabha. The present publication consists of the Besant Lecture delivered at the annual international convention of the Theosophical Society, Adyar, Madras in 1993.

Rajmohan Gandhi is Research Professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi and was formerly Editor of Indian Express and Himmat. Among his well-known publications are: The Rajaji Story; A biography of his grandfather C. Rajagopalachari: a biography of Vallabhbhai Patel; and Eight Lives: A Study of Hindu-Muslin Encounter.

From page 20:

” Was God absent-minded then when designing the Indian character? Is the Indian Soul inferior in quality? No! No with a dozen exclamation marks! Often the Indian citizen is heroic in his or her response to the trials of every day, fighting for standing room, for elbow room, for space in the place of work, in the home and on the way from one to the other, for a place in school or college, or for a job. Where in the world do you see greater endurance? Our failing is that we evoke one another’s worst rather than best. “

By Maneka Gandhi.

182 Pages | Published in 1994 | Softcover | The Other India Press in association with People for Animals | No ISBN.

This is a cult book. It is a selection from the columns by Maneka Gandhi, which reach 10 million readers through a huge network of newspapers and magazines in India. It is also telecast on six TV channels reaching fifty nations. It is a practical book that makes ahiṃsā (non-violence) the key to a new world. By suggesting simple ways to combat exploitation and cruelty towards animals. It recommends, in the process, a more humane and sustainable lifestyle. Five editions in five months is an all time record. You must read the book to know why. Why it has converted so many to the cause of ahiṃsā and vegetarianism worldwide.

From Part I – ‘All in the Name of Food: Milk, Meat and Violence’ (p. 39):

” We all know that the planet needs healing – and everyone I have come across has asked me what they can do to contribute. After years of trying to discover where the problem begins, I believe now it is with our food choices. These merely don’t affect your own health, but have an impact that extends all over the globe bringing up questions of land use and water use and waste and right to life and forest decimation. Our food choices affect not this one body of yours but your genes – which means the children you will bring into this world. Do you really want to walk around in a poisoned and defective body? “

Introduction by Aldus Huxley (1894 – 1963), translation by Swami Prabhavananda (1893 – 1963) and Christopher Isherwood (1904 – 1986).

179 Pages | First published in 1944, fourth edition 1987 | Softcover | Vedanta Press, Hollywood | ISBN: 9780874810431.

The Bhagavad Gita is one of the great religious classics of the world and one of the most translated next to the Bible. The story concerns the plight of Arjuna, the commander of an army, who must fight  a war. After seeing his friends and kinsmen on the opposing side, Arjuna tells Krishna, his friend and spiritual guide, that he won’t fight, even though it’s his duty.

Krishna’s reply deals not only with Arjuna’s problem of whether or not to fight a just war, but with with questions that concern all of us. How should we deal with our problems in a hostile world? Why is there misery? Why do we exist? Krishna goes to heart of these matters to help solve our most difficult problems. Yet, there is no one answer.

From Chapter X – ‘Divine Glory’ (p. 107):

SRI KRISHNA:

” I am where all things began, the issuing-forth of the creatures. Known to the wise in their love when they worship with hearts overflowing:

Mind and sense are absorbed, I alone am the theme of their discourse: Thus delighting each other, they live in bliss and contentment.

Always aware of their Lord are they, and ever devoted: Therefore the strength of their thought is illumined and guided toward me. 

There in the ignorant heart where I dwell, by the grace of my mercy, I am knowledge, that brilliant lamp, dispelling its darkness. “

By John Redtail Freesoul.

217 Pages | A Quest Original, First edition 1986, second printing 1987 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835606112.

The Pipe as spirit, object and art.

Breath of the Invisible traces the dramatic revival of the Plains Ceremonial Pipe as a tool of self-realisation and unity. But there is much more to this story. In its fullness it is actually a broad overview of the spiritual heritage of the American Indian, incorporating chapters on The Sacred Sweat; A Hopi Indian’s Healing Power, and the Odyssey of the Medicine Wheel (how to make one; how to use one, and why). Comfortably, effortlessly the author blends these aspects of Indian life into a cohesive, meaningful spiritual culture. He includes many illuminating human interest anecdotes as he brings to light the essential humane-ness of the American Indian based on a conviction that all life is sacred and interdependent; that there is nothing whatsoever that is not alive. Here then is the Native American as a faithful caretaker of the sacred things in life.

Cheyenne-Arapahoe – John Redtail Freesoul – is the spokesman for the Redtail Hawk Medicine Society, an ‘intertribal’ spiritual society embracing the traditions of many tribes. The society also works for the revival of traditional Indian medicine as spiritual and therapeutic healing tools. John is an artist, teacher and professional therapist. For his distinguished artistry he has received twenty-seven awards including many first-place ribbons for Ceremonial Pipes given by the Southwestern Association on Indian Affairs. The author lives on a ranch in the foothill of Santa Fe, New Mexico.

From Chapter 7 – ‘Medicine Wheel I: The Circle, the Spirits and the Totem’ (p. 46):

” Of all existing symbols, the most universally occurring in nature is the circle. It is the approximate shape of Earth Mother, Grandmother Moon, Father Sun and other planets. It is essentially the shape of planetary orbits and the path of smoke rising from fire. It is the shape of the nests of the winged ones, the hunting patterns and territorial markings of animals, and the growth patterns in trees, flowers, and rocks. Biochemical reactions that comprise the physiology of body, as well as the thought processes of mind, are cyclic. Psychological behavior patterns are cyclic. The shape of the eye and the pupil are round. The shapes and orbits of atoms and molecules are circular, as are eggs and the seeds of life. The entrance to the womb and all open orifices to the body are circular. “

Edited by Georg Feuerstein and Trisha Lamb Feuerstein.

442 Pages | First Quest Edition 1993 | Quest Books U.S.A. | Softcover | ISBN: 0835606929.

What does the future hold? What kind of world will our children inherit? These questions are especially relevant today as we approach a new millennium. Voices on the Threshold of Tomorrow, compiled by Georg Feuerstein and Trisha Lamb Feuerstein, opens the doorway into that unknown future. This book:

• Is a symphony of outspoken, spontaneous, passionate, prophetic voices and visions from the premier thinkers of today.
• Contains succinct statements, in which 145 leading personalities, scientists, artists, politicians, educators, yogis, theologians, writers, environmentalists, and other theorists of the possible confess their hopes and fears about the future.

From Chapter 23 – ‘Gini Graham Scott’ (p. 65):

Finding the Middle Ground:

” Writing this shortly after the election of 1992, I feel a new spirit of hope and change and a new coming together across party, ethnic, religious, and generational lines to begin a new healing. I believe that the 80s have been a time of focus on individuality, personal freedom, and material gain that we have gone too far in this direction. But now havind realized this, we are snapping back in the other direction toward a concern with community, personal responsibility, and a more altruistic outlook toward others. I feel this is a good and much-needed corrective, although the risk is of going too far in this direction, so that we become too conformist and look too much to the power of the state for guidance, just as we concentrated too much on glorifying business and business values in the 1980s. What is important id finding a middle ground, and my hope is that in this period of transition we a re now going through, we can find it. To a great extent, this swing we are experiencing is part of what has always been the human condition and paradox – the conflict between personal desire and the good of the community, the conflict between individuality and the state. The sages throughout history have always stressed the need for balance and harmony between ourselves and the world around us. “

By Georg Feuerstein (1947 – 2012), Subhash Kak and David Frawley.

341 Pages | Published in 1995, second edition 2001 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607410.

Contrary to the schoolbook notion, the real cradle of civilization may well have been, not Sumer, but India. This pathbreaking work completely revisions ancient history and suggests that by understanding how our ancestors faced their problems of existence, we can find important answers to our own unprecedented crises.

The authors cite the latest archaeological, geological, and linguistic evidence to show that the ancient Indians had a highly evolved culture that has influenced the Western world decisively and still has much to teach us today. They find the magnificent sacred text. the Rig-Veda, to be much older than assumed, and they decode the profound spiritual Wisdom hidden in its symbols, metaphors, and myths. They also unravel the astonishing mathematical and astronomical code hidden in the Vedic hymns.

From Chapter 2 – ‘The Vedas: Pyramids of the Spirit’ (p. 16):

” The Sanskrit word Veda means literally ‘knowledge’ or ‘Wisdom’. The term is applied to the four ancient collections of hymns – the ‘Rig-Veda’, ‘Yayur-Veda’, ‘Sama-Veda’ and ‘Atharva-Veda’. These hymnodies, about which we will say more shortly, are deemed to be records of revealed Wisdom. They are in fact the largest body of sacred literature surviving from the ancient world. For literally thousands of years they have been passed down faithfully by special families within the brahmin communities of India.

The transmission of this sacred knowledge appears to have been primarily by word of mouth, usually from father to son, generation after generation. The Vedic lore, thought of as divine revelation, was kept in such high regard that every word was painstakingly memorized. Even when the original meaning of many of the words had been lost, the brahmins vigorously adhered to the ideal of remembering and reciting the hymns with utmost fidelity. After the passage of several thousand years, only one uncertain reading of a single word can be found in the entire Rig-Veda (VII.44.3), the oldest of the four Vedic hymnodies. “

Door Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).

51 Pages | A Blavatsky-lecture delivered at the Summerschool of the Theosophical Society in England, King Alfred’s College Winchester, Sunday 29 July 2001 | Brochure | No ISBN.

Dutch translation: Theosofie: Een Weldadige Bron van Inspiratie | Published in 2008 | Brochure | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9789061750871.

Theosophy is in its fulness a comprehensive knowledge of the Nature and the working of Nature, in which man plays a prime part. The human kingdom is a critical stage in the immens evolutionary programme when ‘Man’, the thinker, is born. The knowledge of Theosophy is gained by generations of trained seekers and enquirers, Initiates in the Arcane Mysteries. It claims to be an expression of Truth, the facts of existence. It is therefore not a matter of conjecture or belief.

From the Introduction:

” But you, Occultists, Kabbalists and Theosophists, you well know that a Word, old as the world, though new to you, has been sounded at the beginning of this cycle, and the potentiality of which, unperceived by others, lies hidden in the sum of digits of the years 1889; you well know that a note has just been struck which has never been heard by mankind of this era; and that a New Idea is revealed, ripened by the forces of evolution. This Idea differs from everything that has been produced in the nineteenth century; it is identical, however with the thought that has been the dominant tone and the keynote of every century, especially the last- absolute freedom of thought for humanity. “

• From: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Collected Writings XI, p. 133.
  

Compiled by G.A. Farthing.

84 Pages | 2003| Softcover |Theosophical Publishing House, London –  in collaboration with The Blavatsky Trust

These extracts from Helena Petrovna Blavatsky’s (H.P.B. ‘s) voluminous works are intended to give some information about Masonry and the flavour of her thinking on the subject as she dealt with it over the period of her writing from 1875 – 1891.

H.P.B. was exposed to Masonry via relatives and friends in her formative years, and later many of her associates were Masons. Among them were some, including Colonel Olcott (1832 – 1907), who helped in the founding of the Theosophical Society and became its first President. At the time of the founding of the Theosophical Society, however, there had been no public exposition of Theosophy. Later, there were intimations of it in Isis Unveiled and in many of H.P.B’s early writings. The great comprehensive teaching only came out in The Secret Doctrine published in 1888.

The significance of this in the matter of Masonry vis-a-vis Theosophy is that with the publication of the theosophical teachings sometimes hitherto closely guarded occult secrets were made public for the first time. Against this, as the reader of the extracts will perceive, the really significant secrets of Masonry, relating to the nature and processes of Nature herself, had been lost from early times.

By Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).

53 Pages | Revised and enlarged edition December, 1999 | Softcover | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.

ISIS UNVEILED (1877) | THE SECRET DOCTRINE (1888) | THE CORNER STONE.

Theosophy is a relatively recent name for the Ancient Wisdom known from time immemorial, ever since there were minds to apprehend it. It is variously known as the Wisdom Religion, the Ancient Wisdom, the Science of Sciences, Esotericism and Occultism. It has been kept secret to preserve it from distortion, adulteration and misuse. As much of it as was thought wise by two if the Masters was made public for the first time at the end of the 19th century. This was mainly in the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891); something of how this was done is told herein. The word ‘modern’ can only properly be applied to this outpouring, not to the ever-enduring Wisdom itself.

The expressed purpose behind this release of information was the eradication of superstitious ignorance and crass materialism, and the earnest desire to establish a Universal Brotherhood of Mankind on a truly spiritual basis.

From page 45:

” Help Nature and work with her and Nature will regard thee as one of her creators and make obeisance.

And she will open wide before thee the portals of her secret chambers, lay bare before thy gaze the treasures hidden in the very depths of her pure virgin bosom. Unsullied by the hand of matter she shows her treasures only to the eye of Spirit – the eye which never closes, the eye for which there is no veil in all her kingdoms.

Then she will show thee the means and way, the first gate and the second, the third, up to the very seventh. And then, the goal – beyond which lie, bathed in the sunlight of the Spirit, glories untold unseen by any save the eye of the Soul. [V.S. vs 66, 67, 68]. “

By Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).

36 Pages | May 25th 1974 | Softcover | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.

The Blavatsky Lecture delivered at the Annual Convention of the Theosophical Society in England, May 25th 1974.

Life is something we all feel we know something about at first hand, because we are alive. We know what it feels like. We may never examine that realization much, but to the extent that we do, we know what life is. Similarly, we all dream or at least can remember having dreamed, and we are all certain of our own eventual demise even if that prospect does not unduly worry us. The subject of life, death and dreams is one then, that concerns us all even if we do not pay it much attention in the ordinary way. For theosophical students, however, it is of more interest. The word ‘Theos’ is, for them, synonymous with ‘Deity’ in a pantheistic sense, and in Madame Blavatsky’s writings Deity equates to life in all its aspects. Theosophy is therefore a study or knowledge of life, in the very widest and deepest sense.

From page 3:

” The Mysteries of life as of death, of the visible and invisible worlds, have been fathomed and observed by initiated Adepts in all epochs and in all nations. They have studied these during the solemn moments of union of their divine monad with the universal Spirit . . . and they have recorded the observations of one with those of another, and finding none of the contradictions so frequently noticed in the dicta, or communications of the mediums, but on the contrary, having been able to ascertain that the visions of Adepts, who lived 10.000 years ago are invariably corroborated and verified by those of modern Adepts, to whom the writings of the former never do become known until later – the truth has been established. A definite science, based on personal observations and experience, corroborated by continuous demonstrations, containing irrefutable proofs, for those who study it, has thus been established. I venture to belief that this science is just as good as that which relies on the accounts of one or even of several somnambulists (C.W., V,51). “

A thought-provoking study of Occultism.

If you are fascinated with stories of the unknown, and would also like to understand the reasons why there are so many strange and marvelous things going on around us, this is a book you will appreciate. Geoffrey Farthing takes us on an exciting journey into inner and outer space. He tells us what Astral Light is. He describes and explains the Elemental Kingdom of Nature. He writes about magic, mesmerism, and the inexplicable finding of lost articles; about animal and plant telepathy, spiritualism, psychism and much more.

All of the above are based on the teachings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 -1891), called the greatest Occultist in the history of Western civilization, as she and her principal collaborators have provided us with the complete picture of creation. Here is nature as one holistic entity, yet a nature that is eternally and dynamically evolving. The entire book seeks to provide the reader with a legitimate and thoroughly optimistic philosophy of living.

From Chapter 4 – ‘The Wonderful Psychic’ (p. 37):

” Her [H.P.B.’s] family was interested to observe her growing control over phenomena. Her sister says: This was proved by her stopping such phenomena at her will, and by previous arrangement, for days and weeks at a time. Then when the term was over, she could produce them at her command and leave the choice to what should happen to those present. In short, it is the firm belief of all that, where a less strong nature would have certainly wrecked in the struggle, her indomitable will found somehow or other the means of subjecting the world of the invisibles – to the denizens of which she has ever refused the name of ‘spirits’ and Souls – to her own control. “

By Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).

49 Pages | Published in 2001 | Brochure | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.

Nederlandse vertaling: Aspecten van de Goddelijke Wet | Published in 2004 | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9061750849.

Most in this brochure is extracted from the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891). It has been said that these writings constitute a quarry from which generations of students can extract treasures of information concerning the truths of existence. What follows has been taken from these writings by the use of indexes, and the numerous extracts classified very roughly according to aspect. The story is a vast one. The universe manifests dynamism in all its operations and these operations apparently exhibit order. Whatever chaos there may have been in the remote beginnings of things now manifests this order as harmony and equilibrium. Where this not so the whole cosmic scene would be chaotic and self-destructive, whereas it is self-preserving as is evidenced by its very existence after countless millions of years.

From page 49:

” If Theosophy prevailing in the struggle, its all-embracing philosophy strikes deep root into the minds and hearts of men, if its doctrines of reïncarnation and karma, in other words, of hope and responsibility, find a home in the lives of the new generations, then, indeed, will dawn the day of joy and gladness for all, who now suffer and are outcast. For real Theosophy is ALTRUISM, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to Truth. If once men do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found, and never in wealth, possesions, or any selfish gratification, then the dark clouds will roll away, and a new humanity will be born upon earth. Then, the GOLDEN AGE will be there, indeed . . . “

From: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Collected Writings XI, p. 202.

By Robert Ellwood, vertaald door Marijke Koekoek.

240 Pagina’s | Eerste editie 1986, Theosophical Publishing House, Nederlandse vertaling 1994 | Soft cover | Kosmos – Z&K Uitgevers, Utrecht / Antwerpen. | ISBN: 9021522586.

De theosofische opvattingen over de schepping hebben in de loop van ruim een eeuw de aandacht en sympathie verworven van een nog steeds groeiend aantal mensen over de hele wereld. Er verschijnen steeds vaker boeken over reïncarnatie, karma, evolutie, de Eenheid van alle leven, de cyclische aard van de schepping en het mysterie van het bewustzijn. Allemaal begrippen die mede door de theosofische school zijn ontwikkeld.

Dat juist in onze tijd de belangstelling voor deze uiterst tolerante leer opnieuw krachtig groeit, heeft niet alleen alles te maken met de huidige drang van de mens naar dieper inzicht in zichzelf, maar ook met de modernste ontwikkelingen op wetenschappelijk gebied die tot inzichten leiden die vaak sterk verwant lijken met de spirituele opvattingen van de theosofen.

Uit Hoofdstuk 4 – ‘Op het Pad’ (p. 139):

Met een kenmerkende theosofische nadruk onderstreept Leadbeater het belang van dienstbaarheid. In het hoofdstuk over de Proeftijd haalt hij een Meester aan:

” Ik weet dat het enige doel in je leven het dienen van de Broederschap is; vergeet niettemin niet dat er hogere stappen voor je liggen, en dat er om vooruitgang op het Pad te boeken wakkere oplettendheid nodig is. Je moet niet alleen bereid zijn te dienen, je moet altijd uitkijken naar gelegenheden – nee gelegenheden scheppen – om in kleine dingen behulpzaam te zijn, zodat wanneer het groter werk komt, je dit niet over het hoofd zult zien. (p. 81). “

By Robert Ellwood.

164 Pages | First Quest Edition 1996 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. | ISBN: 0835607399.

” Life is . . . a series of sunrises, with night following behind them – each night a little death, each sunrise a minor birth . . . linked together by a single secret, the secret of who you really are. “

So begins this deceptively simple, poetic jewel of a book by Robert Ellwood, author of the best-selling inspirational classic Finding the Mind. Drawing on the teachings of Theosophist Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Ellwood describes the individual self as a Pilgrim journeying from life to life, learning, growing, evolving toward that state of infinite purity from which we come and which is our true home.

A spiritual Passages for today’s seeker, Ellwood’s gentle travelogue for the soul points to the deeper meaning of the stages and sign-posts of human life – childhood, adolescence, midlife, aging – offering guidance for the Pilgrim who is each of us, as we walk life’s winding Path.

From Chapter 2 – ‘Chinks of Eternity’ (p. 29):

As the Secret Doctrine puts it:

” The universe is worked and guided, from within outwards. As above, so it is below, as in heaven, so on earth; and man, the microcosm and miniature copy of the macrocosm, is the living witness to this Universal Law and to the mode of its action.

And again:

From Gods to men, from Worlds to atoms, from a Star to a rush-light, from the Sun to the vital heat of the meanest organic being – the world of Form and Existence is an immense chain, the links of which all are connected. “

By Robert Ellwood.

155 Pages | Original edition 1983, seventh printing 2008 | Paperback | Quest Books, Wheaton | ISBN: 9780835605762

If you are interested in calming your mind and reaching inner resources of joy and power for daily living, but are not too concerned about exotic-seeming schools and techniques of meditation. then you are the sort of person for whom Finding the Quiest Mind is intended. In writing this guide to meditation, Ellwood has drawn from teaching experience and from a wide range of material Eastern and Western. Ellwood has endeavored to bring it all together into a coherent synthesis and put it into contemporary language for the modern reader.

By Robert Ellwood.

193 Pages | First Quest Edition, 1997 | Softcover | Quest Books, U.S.A. } ISBN: 0835607607.

Many Christians today yearn for a deeper, more inward practice of their faith. Drawing on the ancient wisdom tradition and the themes and symbols of medieval romance, Robert Ellwood shows Christianity at its most profound to be a philosophical, meditative, and mystical path.

The two symbols at heart of Christian belief – the Cross and Grail – represent the two faces of contemporary Christianity. The Cross is its outward face – masculine, public, exalted. The Grail is its hidden and esoteric face – magical, feminine, sought by many, found only by those who are able to ask the right questions. This book teaches you to ask the right questions. Its readings, stories, prayers, and practices can help you plumb into the hidden depths of a faith you may have taken for granted.

From the Preface (p. x & xi):

” The Grail of medieval and Arthurian and Christian romance, reminds us that the Path is also a great quest for the holy, for that which will transform us and the world. There are many versions of the Grail story. It is not my purpose here to sort them out, and in the end the Holy Grail means something unique to each sincere seeker of the hidden and eternal treasure it represents. However, in one way or another, the narratives generally tell of a knight, who journeys to a blighted land, perhaps ruled over by maimed king. Reaching the country’s center, the knight dares to enter a castle containing as its great treasure a chalice of imperishable brightness, which is guarded by knights and maidens bearing enigmatic tokens, such as a broken sword or a lance dripping blood. The puzzling question: ‘Whom does the Grail serve?’ must be asked by the knight in order to transform himself and restore the wasteland. In all versions there is a feeling of magical and dreamlike strangeness, suggesting, that the story is ultimately about initiation and a transformation taking place inwardly, at the deepest levels of consciousness from which come dream and inspiration. “