Theos-Talk Archives (March 1996 Message tl00052)

Re the Brothers of the Shadow,

No doubt there are such in the world. No doubt there was Hitler, but Nazis
in the lower echelons were often either dragged in by Hitler's charisma,
which was considerable (even my Jewish Uncle, when he saw & heard him ws
drawn to what he said, which makes my skin crawl when I think of it), or
they went along with the crowd. I think really evil men are very few & far
between. For the every day, I agree with Jerry, & the Buddhists who say
they're ignorant, rather than evil. I truly believe that the bugaboo of
black magicians is overdone by Theosophists.
liesel


>Jerry S. writes:
>>>	I think many theosophists get hung up on this idea of Brothers
>>>of the Shadow. Judge and G de P talk about this a lot, following a few
>>>comments from HPB on it.  But it is not as it seems.  There is NO fellowship
>>>of Black Magicians or Black Magic Guild, or Guild of the Shadow that we can
>>>go out and join.  There is not one, not a single person, who would admit to
>>>being "evil" or "Black."  Crowley, for example, always considered himself
>>>to be a White Magician, and sent from the same White Lodge as HPB.
>
>>>	What they are doing only seems black to others who
>>>are doing other things.  Black and White, insofaras good and evil are
>>>concerned are entirely relative concepts.  The Brotherhood of the Shadow
>>>only exists because theosophically-minded people set up the idea of a
>>>Brotherhood of Compassion.  Without the one, the other would dissolve
>>>simultaneously.  As long as we view treading our spiritual Path as "good"
>>>then we will see others who tread different paths as "evil."  They, on the
>>>other hand, see themselves as "good" and you as "evil."  Only the intent
>>>or motivation makes an act black or white.  And who makes the
>>>determination?  One person's good is another's evil.  Best, I think, to
follow
>>>your own Path the best you can, and try not to throw stones at others.
>>>
>>>	Jerry S.
>>>	Member, TI
>
>
>Of course, GdP, Judge and Blavatsky didn't know what they were talking
>about.  Right?
>
>Jerry S. tells us:
>
>>The Brotherhood of the Shadow
>>>only exists because theosophically-minded people set up the idea of a
>>>Brotherhood of Compassion.  Without the one, the other would dissolve
>>>simultaneously.
>
>Who are these "theosophically-minded people"?  HPB?  Koot Hoomi?  Morya?
>
>Koot Hoomi many times in the Mahatma Letters mentions Brothers of the Shadow.
>
>KH speaks of the Brothers of the Shadow as "our greatest, most cruel...our most
>potential [powerful] enemies."
>
>In another letter he speaks of the "direct hostility of the Brethren of the
>Shadow always on the watch to perplex and haze the neophyte's brain."
>
>Elsewhere, he speaks of the "opposition and igorant malice guided by the
>Brethren of the
>Shadow...."
>
>etc. etc.
>
>And in HPB's Collected Writings, Vol. III,  HPB writes that "one must become
>a co-worker with nature, either for *good* for for *bad*, in her work of
>creation and reproduction, or in that of destruction."  To this comment,
>Koot Hoomi appends this remark:  "This sentence refers to the two kinds of
>the initiates---the adepts and the sorcerers."
>
>In this same passage, HPB writes:  "There are thoroughly wicked and depraved
>men, yet as highly intellectual and acutely *spiritual* for evil, as those
>who are spiritual for good."
>
>KH adds a note that these "thoroughly wicked and depraved men" are "The
>Brothers of the
>Shadow."
>
>And in another note KH says:  "If you believe in us how can you disbelieve
>in them?"
>
>Of course, KH was probably making all of this up!  Or speaking in
>"metaphors"!  Or else KH was naive enough to believe in "sorcerers"!
>Obviously KH, as Jerry S. phrases it, is "hung up on this idea of Brothers
>of the Shadow"!  See also the Cumulative Index (Vol. 15) to HPB's Collected
>Writings under "Brother of the Shadow" for HPB's words on this subject.
>
>Jerry S. writes: " There is not one, not a single person, who would admit to
>>>being "evil" or "Black.".....	What they are doing only seems black to
>others who
>>>are doing other things.  Black and White, insofaras good and evil are
>>>concerned are entirely relative concepts.
>
>Of course, Hitler and his legion of Nazi thugs and murderers probably
>wouldn't have admitted
>to being "evil" or "Black".  But ask the millions of victims of the
>concentration camps about these terms Black, White/ good and evil.
>
>"What they are doing only seems black to others who are doing other
>things."???????
>
>
>Of course, anyone has the right to question these statements by KH, HPB,
>Judge and GdP.
>But in turn, does Jerry S. really know what he is talking about?  Certainly
>one may question
>KH's "ipse dixit" on the subject but why not also question Jerry S.'s "ipse
>dixit", too?  The sword cuts both ways.....
>
>
>Everything in the physical world is not all good, sweet and light.
>Everything in the inner worlds is not necessarily all good, sweet and light.
>If Brothers of the Light exist, then is it  not
>reasonable to think that Brothers of the Shadow might also exist?
>Personally I would rather
>believe that there are no "Brothers of the Shadow". But one's preferences
>and beliefs may not
>coincide with reality.
>
>Some food for thought.  Thanks Jerry for your comments.
>
>Daniel H. Caldwell
>
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