Theos-Talk Archives (September 1994 Message tl00088)

On the question of possible "Dark Brotherhood" intervention in
TS history, to disrupt and paralyze it-- yes and no.

First, the same caveat about the "Dark Brotherhood" that I
would make about the "Great White Brotherhood."  To see them as
organizations with titles, officers and such is to materialize
a spiritual concept and thus to make a travesty of what HPB
intended (IMHO).  In her teaching, the Mahatmas are exemplars
of a future state of human evolution, having attained levels of
wisdom, love, and power that we will all reach in the distant
future.  As such, they are harbingers, a vanguard, way-showers
WHO BY THEIR INHERENT NATURE are uplifting forces inspiring
progressive development.  No need for fancy titles or
hierarchical organizations or meetings in hidden places.  Do
Jupiter and Saturn have meetings and titles in order to figure
out how to cooperate in the solar system?  The higher the
degree of spiritual evolution, the more such trappings are left
behind.

Therefore, by analogy one can identify the Dark Brotherhood as
exemplars of past states of human evolution who exemplify
primitive conditions of consciousness that we should be moving
away from.  As such, BY THEIR INHERENT NATURE they drag down
the progressive evolutionary flow of human history, thwart the
enlightening, liberating movements of their time, etc.  Again,
no need for organizations, titles, meetings, etc.  Of course,
the idea of power is also part of the concept of the dark
brotherhood, but selfish power that is anti-social in nature.
In today's world one might nominate Khomeini, Falwell,
Zhirinovsky as all beings who somehow draw on collective energy
but use their power in an anti-evolutionary direction.

Now, in this abstract definition, one can look at TS history in
a broader way.  To say that the TS was aided by the GWB means
that it was inspired and encouraged by beings who were far in
the evolutionary vanguard.  To say that it was disrupted by the
DB means that it was opposed and thwarted by the
anti-progressive forces of the time.  For example, there was a
Brahmin takeover of the TS of sorts, after which the anti-caste
platform of the Society was quietly relegated to a back seat.  Or,
in Steiner's case, a Christocentric, German-speaking cultural
chauvinistic trend that spun off a large chunk of the Society's
membership, energy, etc.  And so on through TS history-- a
steady progressive movement, aided by "forces of light" but
constantly disrupted by anti-progressive forces seeking to
undermine that movement.

I apologize for naming names above, and my suggestions are only
that, but the general principle of progressive vs. regressive
energies is, I think, the healthiest guide to examining this
question without getting into paranoid weirdness.