Theosophy – What’s It All About?
By Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).
84 Pages | Softcover | Theosophical Publishing House, London | ISBN: 0722952597.
What indeed is Theosophy about? It is about the universe, its nature and origins and the processes that operate in it. It is about man and his nature and origins and his relationship to the Whole of which he is a part. It is about law that operates throughout Nature; it is about evolution and individual responsibility, about Life and living and the purpose of it all, and it is about the ways of knowing that may set men free. The field of Theosophy is vast, and its literature is extensive. This book is an introduction to an absorbing and life-long study.
From Chapter – ‘The Purpose of Life (p. 20)’:
” The purpose of life is then to live. Living involves change and this change, as we shall see later, is cyclical but always on an expanding progressive scale, growth. Spirit or life on the one hand is descending into manifestation in the physical world, and on the other it is ascending by gradually improving forms through ever-unfolding consciousness, until the sage when Man endowed with mind achieves true self-consciousness. The activities of Spirit in physical forms give rise to the production and multiplication of individualized self-conscious units of Itself, human and ultimately super-human beings, each eventually returning to its source with its harvest of unique experience, attributes and power. Life, in short, is a journey to perfection. “
Theosofie: Een Weldadige Bron van Inspiratie (Blavatsky Lecture 2001)
Door Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004), vertaald door Louis Geertman.
54 Pagina’s | Uitgegeven in 2001 door de Theosophical Society, London; deze Nederlandse editie is uitgegeven in 2008 | Brochure | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9789061750871.
Engels origineel: Theosophy, Its Beneficent Potentialities | Een Blavatsky-lezing gehouden in Winchester op 29 juli 2001 tijdens de Zomerschool van de Engelse afdeling van de Theosophical Society | Geen ISBN.
Theosofie is in haar totaliteit een allesomvattende kennis van de aard en van de wijzen waarop de Natuur werkzaam is, waarbij de mens een fundamentele rol speelt. Het mensenrijk vertegenwoordigt een kritische fase in het immense evolutionaire programma, wanneer de ‘mens’, de denker, geboren wordt. Kennis van de Theosofie wordt verkregen door generaties van getrainde zoekers en onderzoekers, ingewijden in de esoterische mysteriën. Zij maakt er aanspraak op een uitdrukking te zijn van waarheid, van de feiten van het bestaan. Daarom berust zij niet op gissingen of geloof.
Afkomstig uit de ‘Inleiding’ (blz. 7):
” Occultisten, kabbalisten, theosofen, jullie weten heel goed dat een Woord, zo oud als de Wereld, hoewel nieuw voor jullie, geklonken heeft bij het begin van deze cyclus, waarvan de potentie onopgemerkt door anderen, verborgen ligt in de som der cijfers van de jaren 1889; jullie weten heel goed, dat er zojuist een toon is aangeslagen die nooit eerder door de mensheid van dit tijdperk is gehoord; en dat er een Nieuw Denkbeeld wordt onthuld, gerijpt door de krachten van de evolutie. Dit denkbeeld verschilt van alles wat er in de negentiende eeuw is voortgebracht; het is echter identiek met de gedachte, die de overheersende toon en de grondtoon vormde van iedere eeuw, in het bijzonder van de afgelopen eeuw – absolute vrijheid van denken voor de mensheid. “
– Uit: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Collected Writings XI, blz. 133.
De Natuur zelf wordt gezien als een geheel van alles wat in haar aanwezig is, in een reeks van hiërarchieën van levende wezens, van de allerlaagste tot de allerhoogste, van de elementen waaruit de materie van onze objectieve wereld bestaat, omhoog langs de evolutionaire ladder, door de rijken van de Natuur tot aan de mens en verder, tot in de rijken van het bovenmenselijke. De Theosofie stelt dat er rangen van bovenmenselijke wezens bestaan die, als collectief met het totaal aan door hen verzamelde wijsheid en kennis, de ‘scheppers’ en ‘bestuurders’ van ons planetaire systeem omvatten.
Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities (Blavatsky Lecture 2001)
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.
The Right Angle – H.P. Blavatsky on Masonry in Her Theosophical Writings
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.
Modern Theosophy – Origins And Intentions – A Trilogy
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]. “
Life, Death And Dreams
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). “
Exploring The Great Beyond
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. “
Deity Cosmos And Man – An Outline Of Esoteric Science
By Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).
253 Pages | Published in 2010 | Softcover| Blavatsky Trust Publications, London | ISBN: 0913004820.
Esoteric Science, the Wisdom Religion, embraces all that is good and true in the great religions of mankind, but yet transcends them all. As far as can be expressed in words, it reflects ’truth’, insisting on the Unity of the cosmic process in which each individual is as a spark to the flame. We are of nature with the Cosmos, and being of one Essence, we are members of one family, a family that includes all things and all beings.
From this outline of the Wisdom teaching, we learn of the various levels of operation in the Cosmos, and in relation to man. Further, by emphasizing the important distinction between them, it shows how the personality, when unrestrained, tends to be entirely self-concerned, creating for itself a condition of psychological isolation from the rest of humanity. The Individuality, on the other hand, is rooted in the Unity, of which it is a direct expression. As we become increasingly responsive to this Individuality, it exercises a unifying influence in our lives, enabling us to recognize that identity of nature, which makes of all living things one Universal Brotherhood.
DEDICATION:
” This book is dedicated to those, who would help to alleviate the lot of humanity by liberating the human mind from its imprisonment in ideas generated and perpetuated by institutional and academic orthodoxy in the fields of religion and philosophy. […] The book is further dedicated to those who would work towards establishing peace and harmony among all peoples by promoting the practical realization of the brotherhood of humanity, transcending differences of race, religion, caste, class, political creed, or any other divisive element in human affairs. “
Aspects of Divine Law
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.
Aspecten van de Goddelijke Wet
Door Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004), vertaald door Louis Geertman.
52 Pagina’s | Uitgegeven in 2004 | Brochure | Uitgeverij der Theosofische Vereniging in Nederland, Amsterdam | ISBN: 9061750849.
Engels origineel: Aspects of Divine Law | Published in 2001 | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.
Deze brochure is grotendeels ontleed aan de geschriften van Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891). Men zegt dat deze geschriften een bron vormen waaruit generaties bestudeerders schatten aan informatie kunnen putten over de waarheden omtrent het bestaan. Wat hier verteld wordt is buitengewoon veelomvattend. Het universum is op alle gebieden dynamisch werkzaam en in die werkzaamheid is duidelijk een ordening aanwezig. Hoe chaotisch deze ordening in het verre begin van all bestaan ook mag hebben geleken, thans manifesteert zij zich evenwel als harmonie en evenwicht. Als dit niet zo was, dan zou de hele kosmos chaotisch zijn en zich te gronde richten, terwijl zij zichzelf in stand houdt, zoals blijkt uit het feit dat hij nog steeds na talloze miljoenen jaren bestaat.
Afkomstig van pagina 49 & 50:
” Als de Theosofie in de strijd zegeviert, haar allesomvattende filosofie diep geworteld in het denken en in de harten van de mensen, als haar leringen over reïncarnatie en karma, met andere woorden, over hoop en verantwoordelijkheid, een thuis vinden in de levens van de nieuwe generaties, dan zal, inderdaad, de dag van glorie en blijdschap aanbreken voor allen die nu nog lijden en verstoten zijn. Want ware Theosofie is ALTRUISME, en dat kunnen we niet vaak genoeg herhalen. Het is broederlijke liefde, wederzijdse hulp, onwankelbare toewijding aan de ‘waarheid’. Als mensen maar eenmaal beseffen dat hierin alleen het ware geluk gevonden kan worden, en nooit in rijkdom, bezittingen, of welke zelfzuchtige bevredigingen dan ook, dan zullen de donkere wolken optrekken en er zal een nieuwe mensheid op aarde geboren worden. Dan zal het GOUDEN TIJDPERK werkelijk aanbreken . . . “
Uit: Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831 – 1891), Collected Writings XI, blz. 202.
Het universum is op alle gebieden dynamisch werkzaam en in die werkzaamheid is duidelijk een ordening aanwezig. Hoe chaotisch deze ordening in het verre begin van alle bestaan ook mag hebben geleken, thans manifesteert zij zich evenwel als harmonie en evenwicht. Als dit niet zo was dan zou de hele kosmos chaotisch zijn en zich te gronde richten, terwijl hij zichzelf in stand houdt, zoals blijkt uit het feit dat hij nog steeds na talloze miljoenen jaren bestaat. Wat geldt voor het geheel geldt ook voor de delen en onze aarde is zo’n deel; voor ons mensen die er op leven is het een heel belangrijk deel. Het is ons thuis. Ook de aarde vertoont in al haar natuurlijke processen diezelfde harmonie die ook kenmenrkend is voor het geheel.
Theosophy – The Truth Revealed
Compiled by the Merseyside Lodge of The Theosophical Society in England. With an Introduction and editorial notes by Geoffrey A. Farthing (1909 – 2004).
58 Pages | Published in 2000 | Softcover | The Theosophical Publishing House, London | No ISBN.
Madame Blavatsky was at pains to say in many places what Theosophy is vis-a-vis the current scientific, religious and philosophical views of her time, and to show its relationship to the Theosophical Society, which she and others had founded in New York in 1875. The Society among other things (its three objects) was intended to promulgate a knowledge of Theosophy exists, and to help them to ascend towards it by studying and assimilating its eternal verities. [KEY,57].
From Chapter 2 – ‘Theosophy, the Perennial Wisdom’ (p.9):
IT LIES AT THE ROOT OF EVERY MORAL PHILOSOPHY. RELIGION AND SCIENCE.
” How long, O radiant Gods of Truth, how long shall this terrible mental cecity [blindness] of the nineteenth century Philosophists last? How much longer are they to be told that Theosophy is no national property, no religion, but only the universal code of science and the most transcendental ethics that was ever known; that it lies at the root of every moral philosophy and religion; and that neither Theosophy per se, nor yet its humble unworthy vehicle, the Theosophical Society, has anything whatever to do with any personality or personalities. To identify it with these is to show oneself sadly defective in logic and common sense. [C.W.XI,437]. “