SPANISH SUMMER SCHOOL. August Presented by G.A. FARTHING 2 : A BROAD OUTLINE OF THE TEACHINGS 4 : SPIRITUALISM & SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

Transcription

1 SPANISH SUMMER SCHOOL August 1996 FOUR PAPERS ON Presented by G.A. FARTHING 1 : SETTING THE SCENE 2 : A BROAD OUTLINE OF THE TEACHINGS 3 : AFTER-DEATH EXPERIENCES 4 : SPIRITUALISM & SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

2 SETTING THE SCENE The Mahatma Letters must be seen against the whole position regarding religion, philosophy and science at the end of the 19th century. At that time there was a vast religious literature; more important works from India and the East generally but all countries had a religious literature. There was also a long tradition of Esotericism including the Mysteries, Alchemy, the Kabala and the more practical aspects in Shamanism, Witch Doctors, Yogis, etc. In a religious field institutions had largely taken over spiritual training and teaching generally according to specific teachers and being based on commonly accepted scriptures. In the scientific field great strides had been made. In the previous 150 years or so modern science had definitely been born. The scientists of the day considered that, with their present knowledge and rate of progress, they would soon understand all the mysteries of Nature and life. This was in fact an ignorant and an arrogant point of view. At the time the Letters were written there was a considerable vogue in spiritualism which had started about 40 years previously in America but has spread all over Europe. Man's thinking was then conditioned by both his religion and science. It was essentially materialistic because of economic conditions tending to make men very selfish. An overall view of the Letters indicates that the Masters hoped to introduce a scheme of knowledge and spiritual practice to transcend the existing system. Their scheme is essentially acceptable to the intellect. It is based on deep premises concerning the origins of the universe and the law with numerous aspects which 'governs' all natural processes. From these starting premises the whole structure of their teaching can be evolved. In reading the Letters is has to be borne in mind that they were the first attempt at a formulation of the grand theosophical system. This had been foreshadowed in Isis Unveiled but the main 'framework' had not been established nor had any terminology been agreed on. The terminology was agreed between the Masters and A.P. Sinnett and elaborated and refined by H.P. Blavatsky later on in her writings, particularly The Secret Doctrine.

3 The teachings as given us in the Masters' Letters foreshadow what was to be considerably expanded later. In many places the material given is very condensed and its meaning obscure but a reading of the Letters after a study of The Secret Doctrine reveals the depth of the teachings. One of the difficulties the Masters had to encounter was the deep-seated prejudices and preconceptions of the recipients of the Letters. They were conditioned by their particular Christian upbringing which had instilled into them some very firm beliefs, particularly concerning the nature of 'God'. Sinnett was also interested in spiritualism and found it very hard to accept what the Masters had to say about 'spirits' who commonly manifested in seances through mediums. Another important factor in assessing the worth of the Letters is a proper knowledge of what a Master or an Adept or an Initiate in the sense used in the Letters is. Again at that time the Masters were unable to be specific about their proper occult standing and how their attainment of enlightenment and extraordinary powers was achieved. This can only be understood against a knowledge of the occult constitution of man with its distinction between individuality and personality as so clearly given out by H.P.B. in The Key to Theosophy. To be functioning in consciousness at the individual level (Egoic) is to transcend all the limitations of the ordinary 'personal' man. The liberated Egoic state is one that the ordinary person can hardly envisage. The attainment of this state is the end result of the teaching and training which the Masters give to their accepted pupils. This is dealt with in the last of this series of four talks. The content of the Letters can be roughly divided into four main sections. Those used by A.T. Barker who published the Letters in September 1893 were: 1) The Occult World Series 2) Philosophical and Theoretical Teachings 3) Probation and Chelaship 4) The Phoenix Venture and the Condition of India Mr Barker wrote an Introduction to his original edition of the published Letters explaining the circumstances of his taking upon himself the responsibility of making them public.

4 The Occult World Series refers to a book being written by A.P. Sinnett based on information received in the early letters. The Phoenix Venture refers to an attempt to start an Anglo- Indian newspaper. Both these subjects are of only incidental interest to a modern student. The Letters on Philosophical and Theoretical teachings and Probation and Chelaship most concern the modern enquirer but the other Letters should be read because they convey much indirect teaching and indicate the Masters' attitude to their correspondents and Western Society in general. The teachings, whilst against a background of extant religions and philosophical writings all available in the West at that time, were different in much content from them, and were being given out for the first time publicly. A terminology had not yet been agreed and this caused difficulty in giving out the more complicated of this new material. It was difficult for the recipients to comprehend the Masters' meaning. This led to much questioning and even argument. The new teachings - both destructive of errors and constructive of a genuine, practical Brotherhood... The Chiefs want a "Brotherhood of Humanity" [ML 6]

5 OUTLINE OF THE TEACHINGS The teaching in the letters is scattered throughout them but certain letters do concentrate on specific subjects although not exclusively so. All the Letters have to be read with close attention. _ SAMPLE EXTRACTS FROM RELEVANT LETTERS SPECIMEN SUBJECT MATTER References Letter (No.) and Page 2nd Ed. 3rd Ed. Chron. Without a thorough knowledge of Akas... (1) 3 3 (1) 3 The mission of the planetary Spirit is but to strike the KEYNOTE OF TRUTH (9) (18) 59 There can be no Planetary Spirit that was not once... human. (Buddha - patron of all adepts)... highest form of adeptship... on our planet "... there is a hierarchy of souls from the lowest forms of matter up to the World Soul" Man's evolutionary cycle Worlds of causes, worlds of effects /6 Unconscious Ego - foetus - victim of transgressions of its old Self Truth is One new continent of thought

6 The God of the Theologians is simply an imaginary (10) power - never manifest Our chief aim is to deliver humanity of this nightmare (The "God" letter) (READ passages) (The Universal Mind). 1) We deny the existence of a thinking conscious God... 2) Matter we know to be eternal God, no one has ever seen him... unless he... is the very essence... of this boundless eternal matter, its energy and motion. We have solved the mystery of mind ages ago Evil has no existence per se... Evil, sources of, 1) Selfishness one third 2) Religion, the sacerdotal caste, the priesthood and the churches... those illusions that man looks upon as sacred The Samkharas (causes of suffering)... the cessation of suffering - knowledge Metaphysical letter - Swabavat (11) (65)165 Matter, Force, Energy - indestructible Dissertation latent and potential energy Modern Science is our best ally Volumes of the most perfectly constructed information cannot reveal to man life in the higher regions... what powers one gets he must himself acquire... no distinction of persons Origins of a Chain of Globes (like beads), started by the life impulse - progression round each Globe /70 (12) (46)126

7 Manvantara - Pralaya - End of Chain Entry into Nirvana of Spirit-man Rebirth of Planets, successive stages of evolution, proceed from where process stopped Analogies of Nature - continuous process time periods of manvantaras - the law of justice Five Races - we are Fifth Agreement on terms Law of gradual evolution... Law of analogy, e.g. human birth Cosmology is the physiology of the Universe spiritualized... there is but one Polarization - positive and negative Worlds of effects... worlds have their principles like men World principles set out Problem of races on our planet... not created Present "appearances"... transitory One and only Element - All Maya Everything has antecedents Inert germs awaken to life (13) (44) Descent of life into matter - Globe A - birth simile again Character of seventh principle - not quality or quantity or form - latent force in every principle Nature of life in earliest forms - degrees and classes - all have to run seven Rounds

8 Intelligence and consciousness of man will awake but when his fourth principle Kama is matured... end of evolutionary (physical) journey Fourth principle - centre of energy, volition, will - Personality/Individuality / Globes, Chains, Rounds, Races Kingdom - man in Planet diagram - Intellect, enormous development in Fourth Round Evolutionary process - on each Globe of Chain Analogous processes (e.g. teaching) (14) (15) (66) (67) Here follow a series of Letters on the After-Death states listed separately Follow up to 'God' letter (10) Cerebrum, cerebellum - involuntary power of the infinite mind Theological arguments re God untenable Universe is infinite and limitless God, not lawmaker Out of the invisible and subjective they (forms of life)... have entered our little area of the visible and objective Law is law of harmony Matter per se is indestructible Annihilation of atoms and molecules Matter, force and motion are the trinity of physical objective nature... Motion is eternal... no modes of motion can ever be conceived unless they be in connection with matter (22) (90) More about God The world of force is the world of Occultism Chela becomes the Master, eventually 142/ / /

9 Various general questions and answers - a 'magazine' of interesting information, Races, Civilisations, Sun, Rain-making, etc. e.g. life must be studied in conjunction with universal life - sun radiates "Life" Contradictions dealt with Powers of an adept etc. - after-death states (23A) and (23B) (24a) (24b) (93A) and (93B) (85A) (85B)

10 THE AFTER-DEATH STATES AND PROCESSES 1) Essential Information, Constitution of Man, etc. The stages in the after death processes are: 2) Dying and just after 3) Kama-Loca, "Death Struggle" and the "Gestation" period 4) Second Death and Entry into Devachan 5) Descriptions of Devachan 6) Rebirth and Karma Further information: 7) The case of exceptions, viz. Accidents and Suicides 8) Spiritualistic Phenomena (communication with deceased possible?) 9) More information - Immortality and Nature of Ego A good summary of the main facts in The Key to Theosophy, chap.ix _ 1) Essential Information i) Constitution of Man (as per The Key to Theosophy) Table on p 91 (chap.iii) Paras on p 135 (chap.viii) Paras on p 176 (chap.ix) ii) Spirit and its Vehicles Man's constitution reflects that of Cosmos (see dia. SD III, 555) iii) The Law - The World of Effects ML 48:48 2) Dying and Just After

11 Importance of last impression and thoughts ML 167:170 When a man dies... consciousness leaves him ML 125:128, ML 171: sleep in Kama-Loca ML 184:186 Mayavi-rupa may be thrown into objectivity ML 125:129 3) Kama-Loca - Death Struggle and "Gestation" State Death struggle, division of principles, elementaries ML 101:103 Possibility of a "lost" life ML 101:104 Need for manas in Monad ML 102:105 Consciousness of "shell" - past lives remembered ML 168:171 More about shell's consciousness and nature of shell ML 171:174 Reviving Consciousness 197:199 ML 4) The Second Death and Entry into Devachan Length of stay in Kama Loca Return of consciousness a) to Ego b) to Shell 2nd review of past life and what remains of it ML 184:187 Who goes to Devachan? ML 98:100 5) Descriptions of Devachan State of intense selfishness, perpetual Maya... recollection of earth life ML 98:101

12 Can Devachanees watch earth life? ML 103:106 Wide variety of experience ML 100:102 Can ordinary people qualify for this 'spiritual' state? And more about the individual's experience... ML 101:103 Possibility of intercourse between Devachanees? ML 195:198 Monad "personally" unconscious... no sorrow in Devachan ML 101:103 ML 102:105 Devachan not monotonous ML 123:127 ML 188:191 Change of occupation in Devachan ML 194:197 Devachan cannot really be described... different for all ML 185:187 Karma decides our Devachanic experience ML 192:195 Regions in Kama-Loca and Devachan ML 195:198 Devachan and Avitchi ML 196:199 Loss of Consciousness and Rebirth ML 103:106 6) Rebirth and Karma Duration of periods a) in Kama-Loca b) of "Gestation" ML 103:105 c) Devachan ML 103:106 Skandhas condition this new life ML 107:110 ML 108:111

13 Reincarnation of children etc. ML 169:172 Nature of next family ML 398:404 7) The Case of Exceptions Suicides ML 119:123 Accidents, various fates ML 106:109 ML 127:131 Effect of causes of premature death ML 128:132 8) Spiritualistic Phenomena Suicides... ML 119:123 Devachanees cannot communicate ML 45:45 Communion with them possible by elevation of consciousness to their level ML 99:101 Suicides and Accidents can communicate ML 106:109 Bad effects of 'consorting' with mediums ML 109:112 Possible change of Skandhas ML 107: derive a new set ML 132:136 Shells speak through brain of some living being ML 170:174 9) Immortality - The Nature of the Ego. Do we possess more knowledge in Devachan? KEY 156 Worlds of Causes and Effects ML 47:47

14 Types of Beings in Inner Worlds ML 104:107 What happens to our principles when we die ML 71:71 Large scale view of the cycles of activity and rest ML 68:68 Nature of Space ML 398:404 Immortality ML 125:128 ML 126:129 Full remembrance of our lives ML 167:17 ML Miscellaneous Sex - Chance and Karma ML 114:117 Motive, importance of... ML 129:132 Social status ML 197:200 Dhyan Chohans protect victims ML 127:131 No annihilation for Individual Consciousness CW V, 5 Nirmanakayas CW XII, 31 The State of Adeptship CW XII, 531 Absorption of Devachan experience into the Universal KEY 108 Liberation from the PERSONALITY SD III, 453

15 SPIRITUALISM AND SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT SPECIMEN SUBJECT MATTER References Letter (No.) and Page 2nd Ed. 3rd Ed Chron. SPIRITUALISM... tidal wave of phenomena... made revival of theosophical enquiry a necessity (8) (15) 51 Spirits of departed (cannot) hold direct psychic communication with incarnated souls... they can be visited in Spirit (9) (18) 63 Guides - elementals and elementaries (18) (62)161 Objective phenomena due to 'shells'... suicides and accidents (20A) (70A) 206 Extracts re SPIRITUALISM included in Paper III on AFTER-DEATH STATES SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT... chief object of T.S. - to serve our fellow men (2) 8 8 (2) 8 to toil wearily... up the hard steep road Olcott's devotion - never questions etc. (4) (5) 17 Powerless to send a neophyte... without pledge... need to change mode of life Brotherhood... only secure foundation Letters impressed - all mistakes corrected (5) (10) 26

16 The study of arcane knowledge... brings gradual (8) (15) 46 understanding - READ Risks Magic to humanize our natures - comparison Occult Science - a jealous mistress (18) (62)161 [I] confess my inability to describe the indescribable... Unless the intuitive perceptions of a trained chela (25) (104) 356 come to the rescue Our laws and restrictions with regard to money or any financial operations... are extremely severe you have to remember that you are at a hard school, and dealing now with a world entirely distinct from your own. (27) (21) 77 We want true and unselfish hearts; fearless and confiding souls... (to Hume) (28) (11) 34 Society as a Universal Brotherhood Conscience... may perchance tell us what we must not do; yet it never guides us as to what we ought to perform

17 M. promises to look at K.H's work while he is away (29) (29) he, who is desirous to learn how to benefit humanity and believes himself able to read the character of other people, must begin first of all to learn to know himself the first requisite in even a simple fakir is that he should have trained himself to remain as indifferent to moral pain as to physical suffering you are trying to penetrate the things of the spirit with the eyes of the flesh Probation: something every chela who does not wish to remain simply ornamental, has nolens volens to undergo 227 (30) (74) we work and toil, and allow our chelas to be temporarily deceived, to afford them means never to be deceived hereafter We seek to bring men to sacrifice their personality - a passing flash - for the welfare of the whole humanity

18 ... dugpas draw out the whole inner nature of the chela (30) (74)223 We believe that it is moral to tell the truth and immoral to lie... whole truth impossible in Western Society If you really want to be a chela, i.e. to become the recipient of our mysteries you have to adapt yourself to our ways, not we to yours second class minds... you sin against the multitudes... there comes a moment in the life of an adept, when the hardships he has passed through are a thousandfold rewarded... the adept sees and feels and lives in the very source of all fundamental truths - the Universal Spiritual Essence... (31) (17) 55 "Absorbed in the absolute self-unconsciousness of physical Self, plunged in the depths of true Being, which is no being but eternal, universal Life", his whole form is immoveable and white as the eternal summits of snow in Kailasa where he sits, above care, above sorrow, above sin and worldliness, a mendicant, a sage, a healer, the King of Kings, the Yogi of Yogis, such is the ideal Shiva of Yoga Shastras the culmination of Spiritual Wisdom I have tried... to simply draw your attention, excite your curiosity if not your better feelings to the one and only truth (See also Maha Chohan's letter No.1 - first series of "Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom")

19 All you can do is to prepare the intellect; the impulse toward "soul-culture" must be furnished by the individual. (35) (54)148