Theos-Talk Archives (August 1995 Message tl00312)

>>Then imagine what we are in danger of doing
>>when we present our own ideas about Theosophy as being Theosophy itself,
>>and not an opinion about Theosophy.
>
> IMHO, anything that is true is theosophy. My understanding of the
>original intention of the Mahatmas in inspiring this idea was (and would
>continue to be so today) to be inclusive of all of wisdom both pure and
>manifest. For most of my life I looked for a word that would describe what I
>felt and be inclusive of all of the path's to "God" and the idea of theosophy
>is this. We can discuss/debate the truth of our opinions but the ideal of
>theosophy, as taught by the Mahatma's, remains as truth inclusive.
>
>Best Regards,
>Patrick

Patrick:

It depends upon in what sense you refer to Theosophy. (I use a capital 'T'
because I consider it a religious-philosophy or as the Wisdom Religion.)

When we equate Theosophy with wisdom or the spiritual, we can certainly
find it everywhere. When we narrow our focus and consider it as a specific
body of Teachings, something that can be learned, studied, contemplated,
then it can be found in some places, but not in others. If we were to
consider everything in existence as precious, then whatever rock we pick
up off the ground is as valuable as any other. If we take a narrower
focus on "precious," we might consider gold as special, and go looking
for veins of gold to mine. I'd consider the source literature of Theosophy
as a "gold mine" in this sense.

It would be the same with mathematics. We can see number and order in
all things. The mathematics are often obvious to our eyes, although when
something undergoes turbulance and gets into a chaotic state, the appearance
of order may disappear. We could sit under a tree and contemplate nature
and perhaps learn something of mathematics. Or we could enroll at a top
university and take courses in advanced mathematics. It's true that mathematics
can be found everywhere, and we could derive it on our own, if given sufficient
time. I'd also suggest, though, that when we find experienced, wise Teachers,
that we can learn much more than on our own initiative. (This is not to say,
of course, that in a particular lifetime that our "teacher" may be the
circumstances in life brought to us by our own karma.)

The reason that I think that it's important to look to the Teachings and
perhaps to Teachers for a deep study of Theosophy is that we are in an
age and on a plane of existence where external nature itself does not support
certain experiences. Internally we can hasten our evolution, perhaps by
visiting the other globes on our planetary chain, and seeking embodiment on
those globes (and their respective planes). Externally, the senses, our
physical forms, and the social and cultural context that we find ourselves in
does not support it. Fifth Round consciousness and experiences won't be here
until the Fifth Round actually happens. Until then, Fifth-Round type experiences
can only be *internally experienced.*