Category: Theosophy

The First Theosophical Ray is the Ray of strong leadership. This Ray pertains to strength and controls wise government and social organization. The leadership of the Ray rests in Sanat Kumara, the Manasaputra “Lord of the World.” Beneath him resides the Manu, the Hindu term for a primordial man and lawgiver who is the progenitor of each age of the world; in Theosophy each Root Race has its own Manu. Finally, Master Morya works on this Ray. A.G.H.

Source:

Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. p. 141

The Third Theosophical Ray is the Ray of adaptability and a subtle sense of timing and of interrelationships. Controlling it is the entity Mahachohn who it seems has authority like a Prime Minister over the Third to Seventh Rays since they each affect in some way the mind, bliss or activity. The Masters of these Rays are similar to ministers of his Cabinet. This Ray’s function might be considered astrological; that is, astrology properly being thought of as the science of interconnectedness of all things in the universe, both the movement of the stars and the affairs of men, to some these are interrelated. Also influenced by this Ray is the correct understanding of history and its great cycles. Its Master is known as Venetian. A.G.H.

Source:

Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. pp. 142

The society was formed in September 1875. Its co-founders were Henry Steele Olcott and William Q. Judge. Its secretary was Helena P. Blavatsky who was the actual instigator of the organization.

Its name was furnished by Charles Sotheran who was of independent means, a high Mason, a Rosicrucian, and a student of the kabbalah. Sotheran looking through a dictionary, found the word theosophy, a word that was unanimously agreed on at the next meeting because it seemed to express esoteric truth as well as covering the aspects of occult scientific research, both of which were goals of the Society.

After its establishment the Theosophical Society expounded the esoteric tradition of Buddhism aiming to form an universal brotherhood of man, studying and making known the ancient religions, philosophies and sciences, and investigating the laws of nature and divine powers latent in man. The direction of the society was claimed to be directed by the secret Mahatmas or Masters of Wisdom.

Following Olcott the successive international presidents were Annie Besant, G. S. Armdale, C. Jinarajadasa, and in the 1970’s N. Sri Ram.

In 1882 the international headquarters was established in Adyar, Madras, India, with national organizations in more than 60 countries by the 1970’s. The headquarters of the American Theosophical Society is in Wheaton, Ill. There are over 150 branches. At Wheaton there is a Reference and Lending Library. The Society publishes The American Theosophist a monthly magazine.

The three objectives of the Theosophical Society are (1) to form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color; (2) to encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy, and science; (3) to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.

The society’s policy is one of complete freedom of individual search and belief. A.G.H.

Sources: 9, Joy Mills, The Theosophy Society in America 61.

Meade, Marion, Madame Blavatsky: The Woman Behind the Myth, New York, G. P. Putman’s Sons, 1980.
Williams, Gertrude Marvin, Priestess of the Occult: Madame Blavatsky, New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1946

The theosophical concept of evil as stated in The Secret Doctrine by Helena Blavatsky is not the negative result of a thought but rather the opposing Power generated by the “thought per se: something which, being cogitative, and containing design and purpose, is therefore finite, and must thus find itself naturally in opposition to pure quiescence, as the natural state of absolute Spirituality and Perfection.

This opposing Power assumes innumerable shapes or forms which have a variety of immediate effects. Some are willfully enacted such as robbery, lying, cheating, bribing, and killing while others wrongful acts may just be mild human sins of omission when the person fails to alleviate suffering and spread love.

One should be careful when labeling evil especially when ascribing it to various sources. Some suffering, apparently caused by evil, is inherently caused by nature itself such as earthquakes, floods, tornadoes, incurable diseases, animals devoured by predators. Such natural phenomena just exist.

Some define evil as the feeling of what is but should not be. St. Paul described it as the “mystery of iniquity.” Jesus said it was “the abomination…standing where it ought not.”

In human life, according to theosophy, evil prevents something from becoming something it should have become but did not. It stops the individual’s physical attainment of maturity and old age; and, on a deeper level, the enriched spiritual enjoyment of life. The seeing of natural killing of animals by nature in the wild, young soldiers and boys senselessly blown to bits in wars, the horrors of Auschwitz, and victims of plagues and famines hardly supports the concept that life is reasonably controlled. A.G.H.

Sources:

Campbell, Bruce F. Ancient Wisdom: A History of the Theosophical Movement. Berkeley. University of California Press. 1980 p. 47
Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. pp. 146-147

Theosophic addition is determining the theosophic value of a number by adding together all the figures in a sequence; for example, 4 equals all the digits from 1 to 4 added together thus: 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 which together equal 10. A.G.H.

Source: 2, 303.

Spiritual plane, occurring beyond time, space, and human comprehension, in occultism is the highest of the levels of existence, the primary level of creative power from which all other levels unfold. This spiritual plane, like other planes pertaining to occult theory, metaphorically speaking is the “above,” however in reality all planes interpenetrate the realm of material experiences through the senses. A.G.H.

Source:

Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 448

The Sixth Theosophical Ray is the Ray of the devotional path. Controlling it is the entity Mahachohn who it seems has authority like a Prime Minister over the Third to Seventh Rays since they each affect in some way the mind, bliss or activity. The Masters of these Rays are similar to ministers of his Cabinet. Guiding this Ray is Master Jesus. Here it must be observed that Theosophy distinguishes Jesus and the Christ, the initiate Jesus having been overshadowed in his last years by a greater being, the Christ who is the World Teacher on the Second Ray. The Sixth Ray rules the devotional path, the path of saints, mystics, and devotees of every faith. A.G.H.

Source:

Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. p. 142

Siddhl, Sanskrit, “attainment,” is a term related to Theosophy and other related Hindu traditions meaning a supernormal power resulting from the systematic practice of spiritual disciplines. Theosophy like other disciplines has discouraged the striving for siddhl for its own sake, pointing out such a pursuit distracts from the adherent’s true spiritual betterment. Siddhl attainment alone can promote an inflated ego. A.G.H.

Sources:

Greer, John Michael. The New Encyclopedia of the Occult. St. Paul, MN, Llewellyn Worldwide. p. 438

The Seventh Theosophical Ray is the Ray that governs ceremony in human life. Controlling it is the entity Mahachohn who it seems has authority like a Prime Minister over the Third to Seventh Rays since they each affect in some way the mind, bliss or activity. The Masters of these Rays are similar to ministers of his Cabinet. The Master, also or lesser known as Rakoczy, is sincerely believed to be Counte de St. Germain, the celebrated and mysterious eighteenth-century French occultist. Rakoczy, a Hungarian adept, is said to have previously appeared as a number of famous personalities including Francis and Roger Bacon. This Ray governs every type of ceremony whether Confucian in the East, Vedic in India, or ecclesiastical or magical in the West. The purpose of this Ray’s control and influence is considered to be the fact that often in the performance of the ritual the person loses his or her ego-self to become something greater frequently depicted in the role he or she is portraying; thus fostering self-improvement. A.G.H.

Source:

Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. pp. 142-143

The Seven Rays of Theosophy form a modern hierarchy of beauty and power called speculative by some by has inspired works of art. This is certainly the hierarchy of the Masters who guide the world in a certain way enhanced by their disciples.

The fundamental components of this hierarchy are the Seven Rays, analogous to the seven lamps in the Book of Revelation and the “seven ways of bliss” in The Secret Doctrine. All human history and all human temperaments, all ways to serve and all ways to joy, are seen as manifestations of one or another of the seven “rays” which channel divine energy into the life of the world. Furthermore, each ray is associated with one or more Masters, who is an expression of it and also aids on inner planes its benign work in the world.

Some modern Theosophists picture this hierarchy as the model of the divine Trinity: the First Ray is at the top; the Second Ray forms the first lower corner; Rays Three through Seven form the second.

The Seven Rays:

First Ray is the Ray of strong leadership.
Second Ray is the Ray of wisdom and teaching.
Third Ray is the Ray of adaptability and a subtle sense of timing and of interrelationships.
Fourth Ray is the Ray of beauty and harmony.
Fifth Ray is the Ray concerned with the accuracy of observation, so with science.
Sixth Ray is the Ray of the devotional path.
Seventh Ray is the Ray that governs ceremony in human life.

A.G.H.

Source:

Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A modern expression of the wisdom of the ages. Wheaton, IL. Quest Books. 1994. pp. 140-143