Lessons in Theosophy

Lesson 12, The Ancient Wisdom vs.
Today's Major Religions

“...H. P. Blavatsky's work contains, as she states, the body of teaching given to the western world by those who may be regarded as the custodians of the Ancient Wisdom. Not only have they access to ancient records, such as the Book of Dzyan and its Commentaries, in which these teachings are to be found, but of even greater significance, they are able to expound and explain the profound and recondite doctrines upon which the teachings are based. This Ancient Wisdom, or Esoteric Philosophy, represents the teachings that were brought to mankind by the Divien Beings who enlightened humanity during the epoch known as the Third Race.” (The Divine Plan, by Geoffrey Barborka, p. xv)

• Religions become “ossified” and corrupt over the years. The original teachings become changed. This creates the need for religious information to be periodically re-released.
• The religious Mysteries (also called esoteric teachings) are slowly being released to humanity as the centuries go by. Humanity is finally ready to hear some of the esoteric teachings — released through Theosophy and other sources. (But other esoteric teachings must still be kept secret.)
• There are different types of religions, for different types of people. (But the source of information is still the same.) Different types of religions appear in a cycle.

“Since the calculation of [the age of our solar system. 311 trillion years] is the same whether the Chaldean figures are used or the Hindi series of numbers, it hardly seems necessary to point out that both systems were unquestionably derived from the same source — The Secret Doctrine of the ages.” (The Divine Plan, by Geoffrey Barborka, p. 17)

“The Darkness breathes over the slumbering Waters [as described in the Stanzas of Dzyan in The Secret Doctrine], and we are reminded of the verse in Genesis,

'And Darkness was upon the face of the Deep'.

“In the Hermetic Corpus the same theme occurs:

'There was darkness in the deep and water without form and there was a subtle breath, intelligent, which permeated the things in Chaos with divine power. Then when all was yet undistinguished and unwrought there was shed forth holy light and the elements came into being'.

“Again, in the famous Vedic Creation hymn included in the Hindu sandhya ritual, Darkness and waters are the symbols of the primal pair:

'From That arose the primal darkness; from That arose the waters of the ocean'.

“In the Zohar, Darkness is called the strongest fire of the many different coloured (i.e. manifest) fires — the Heracleitean Fire in its condition of ultimate unnknowability — and the same text speaks of a nucleus, which is the 'germ' of our verse, that is of no colour at all. This absence of colour is found in the Upanishads:

'The One who himself without colour, by the manifold application of his power distributes many colours in his hidden purposes'.

“These citations have been included, not because they make the position very much clearer for the average reader, who may perhaps find them altogether too full of 'darkness', but because they show the universality of the doctrine which the Stanzas are setting forth.” (Man, the Measure of All Things (p. 105)

“Since the calculation of the [age of the solar system] is the same whether the Chaldean figures are used or the Hindu series of numbers, it hardly seems necessary to point out that both systems were unquestionably derived from the same source — the Secret Dotrine of all ages.” (Geoffrey Barborka, The Divine Plan, p. 17)

      “... the motto adopted by the Theosophical Society [is] ‘There is no religion higher than truth.’ The chief aim of [Theosophy is] ... to reconcile all religions, sects and nations under a common system of ethics, based on eternal verities.” (H.P. Blavatsky, The Key to Theosophy, pp. 3-4, online or hardcopy)

      [Devotional religions have] “... been recently dominant.... [Some examples in the Christian world are] the wonderful powers exhibited by the earlier saints ... the Gnostic sect whose central idea was the necessity of the true wisdom, the Gnosis ... in the strangely distorted efforts to develop will-power by the endurance of painful or loathsome conditions, as did St. Simeon Stylites or the Flagellants.... the Alchemists and Rosicrucians of the Middle Ages.... the ecstasies of the contemplative monastic orders, and the seventh cycle would produce the invocations and exact adherence to external forms of the Roman Church.” (Charles Leadbeater, The Masters and The Path, paragraph 1160 online or page 243 hardcopy)

      “Hinduism might be thought distinctly cold by devotional people. The religion of Shiva, God the Father, the First Person of the Blessed Trinity, spread almost entirely over India; and even to this day three-fourths of the Hindus are worshippers of that aspect of the Divine.... They worshipped law and order, and did not approve of discontent as applied to environment, but taught that the way to God was to use to the utmost the conditions in which a man found himself. If he did that, those conditions would improve from birth to birth. Nevertheless, they always said that the door to God was open to a man from any caste if he lived rightly, not seeking to better his opportunities by strife, but by doing his dharma to the uttermost in the state of life to which God had called him.” (Charles Leadbeater, The Masters and The Path, paragraph 1164 online or pages 244-245 hardcopy)

      “To the very devotional mind [devotionalism described in the previous quotation] would seem cold and scientific, and perhaps it was; but when the devotional Ray began to influence the world there came a great change, and the worship of the Second Person of the Trinity, Vishnu, incarnating as Shri Krishna, came prominently forward. Then devotion surged forth without restraint; so extreme it was that it became in many ways a mere orgy of emotion; and it is probable that there is greater devotion at this moment among the followers of Vishnu in India than can be found even among Christians, whose religion is confessedly devotional. The emotion is so great that its demonstration is often uncomfortable for us of the colder races to watch. I have seen hard men of business throw themselves into an ecstasy of devotion, which led them to burst into tears and apparently to break up and change entirely, merely at the mention of the Child Shri Krishna. All that has ever been felt for the Child Jesus among Western nations, is felt for the Child Krishna among the Hindus.” (Charles Leadbeater, The Masters and The Path, paragraph 1165 online or page 245 hardcopy)

      “Buddhism also can hardly be called a devotional faith. The Buddhist religion was a gift of Hinduism to the great Fourth Race, and the devotional cycle for that race does not necessarily coincide with ours. That religion does not hold the necessity for prayers; it tells its people, in so far as it recognizes the existence of God, that He knows His own business very much better than they can hope to know it; that it is quite useless for them to pray to Him, or to try to influence Him, for He is already doing better than any man can think. The Buddhists in Burma would say: “The boundless Light exists, but that is not for us. We shall reach that one day; meantime our business is to follow the teaching of our Lord, and see to it that we do those things which He would have us do.

      “It is not that they disbelieve in a God, but that they set God so far — so infinitely far — above us all; they are so sure about Him, that they take it all for granted. The missionaries say that they are atheistical. I have lived among them and know them more intimately than does the average missionary, and my impression is that they are not in the least atheistical in spirit, but that their reverence would be too great for them to put themselves on such familiar terms with God, or, like many in the West, to talk with intimacy of Him, as if they knew precisely what He is going to do and all about His work. That would strike the Oriental as a very irreverent attitude.

      “Buddhism itself has been touched by this fire of devotion, and in Burma they worship the Lord Buddha almost as a God.” (Charles Leadbeater, The Masters and The Path, paragraphs 1166-1168 online or pages 245-246 hardcopy)

      “So this wave of devotion has influenced the world powerfully since the coming of the Child Krishna two thousand four hundred years ago, but now the special intensity of that ... phase has gone....

      There is still ignorant devotion among the peasantry in many Aryan countries, but the more educated people are not now readily moved to devotion unless they have at the same time some understanding of its object. There was a phase which had its own value, in the fourth sub-race particularly, when the people were prepared to be devoted to almost anything that would draw out their emotion, and from that, with the stronger development of the lower mind in the fifth sub-race, there was a reaction into agnosticism. That now in its turn has proved unsatisfactory, so that that wave has practically passed over, and men are now ready at least to inquire and examine instead of frantically denying everything.” (Leadbeater, Charles, The Masters and The Path, paragraphs 1170-1171 online or page 247 hardcopy)

      “What I can tell you with regard to the ancient mysteries is not derived from any special study of old manuscripts, or of the history of this subject. It happened to me in another life to be born in ancient Greece, and to become initiated there into some of the mysteries. Now a man who was initiated in this way in Greece gave a pledge not to reveal what he had seen, and this pledge is binding, even though it was given in a former incarnation; but Those who stood behind those mysteries have since thought fit to give out to the world much of what was then taught only under the vow of secrecy, and so They have relieved us from our promise as far as those teachings go. Therefore I break no pledge when I tell you something about the instructions which were given in those ancient mysteries. Other subjects were taught, however, which I am not at liberty to name, because they have not yet been made public by the Great Ones.” (Charles Leadbeater, The Inner Life, page 51 online or hardcopy)

      “ ... always the gospel contained milk for the babes and meat for grown men. There was both an exoteric and an esoteric doctrine. The former was broadcast among the masses, and did its proper and salutary work for them; the latter, however, was imparted only to the fit and disciplined initiates in secret organizations. Much real truth was hidden behind the veil of allegory; myth and symbol were employed. This aggregate of precious knowledge, this innermost heart of the secret teaching of the gods to mankind, is, needless to say, the Ancient Wisdom — is Theosophy. Or at least Theosophy claims the key to all this body of wisdom. It has always been in the world, but never publicly promulgated until now.” (Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom, pages 223-225 online or hardcopy)

      “... all peoples and all religions have had their mysteries, including the Christian religion. I have often heard people say that in the Christian religion, at least, nothing was hidden: that everything was open for the study of the poor and the unlearned. Any one who says that does not know the history of the Christian Church. Now, indeed, everything the Church knows is given out, but that is only because it has forgotten the mysteries which it used to keep hidden. If you study the earliest history of the Church, you will find that old writers speak very distinctly of the mysteries, which were taught only to those who were full members of the Church.

      “There were many points on which nothing was said to those who were only ‘katechoumenoi,’ who had just entered the Church, but were still candidates for full membership....

      “But one of the reasons of the failure of the Christian Church to control her more intellectual sons, as she should have done, is the fact that she has forgotten and lost the supernatural and philosophical mysteries which were the basis of her dogma. To see something of this hidden side of her teachings you have only to read the works of the great Gnostic writers. Then you will find that when we take this side as the inner doctrine for the scholars, and the present form of the Christian religion as the outer doctrine for the illiterate, we get in the two combined a perfect expression of the ancient Wisdom. But to take either of these teachings by itself, and to condemn the other as heresy, gives us only a one-sided view. So every religion has instruction for those who do not get beyond its outer form, but has always also higher instruction for those who penetrate to the inner....

      “The Christian Church has had the habit — probably justifiable from her point of view — of destroying all books which stood for teachings other than her own, and we must not forget that almost all of our knowledge with regard to early Christian times comes to us through the hands of the monks of the middle ages. They were practically the only educated people of that time, and it was they who copied all the manuscripts. They had very pronounced opinions about what was useful and what was not; so very naturally only that part survived which agreed with their views, this being reported with emphasis, while anything of opposite character was discarded. Above all, the greater part of the knowledge which is accessible to the general world about the mysteries is found in the works of the Church Fathers, who were opposed to them. Without wishing to accuse the Fathers of having purposely misrepresented, we may certainly conclude that they tried to put forward their own view in the best and strongest light. Even at the present day if you wished to know the whole truth concerning the doctrine of some Protestant sect, you would not go to Catholic priests for information; nor, if you wanted good and just explanations concerning Catholicism, would you go to the Salvation Army to get them. In regard to the mysteries we are in a similar situation, only much worse, because of the many and bitter disputes between the followers of the old religion and its mysteries and the Fathers of the Christian Church. Therefore we may accept only with considerable reserve and with great prudence what the Fathers say in regard to this subject....” (Charles Leadbeater, The Inner Life, pages 51-53 online or hardcopy)

      “ ... until man’s moral nature grows, it is not well that he should have too much knowledge of the unseen forces that lie behind the veil; he would misuse them instead of utilizing them, use them for oppression and for selfish purposes instead of for the lifting and helping of man. Therefore it is that knowledge [which] is not more widely given.... ” (Annie Besant, The Path of Discipleship, paragraph 104 online or page 138 hardcopy

      “What we desire to prove is that underlying every ancient popular religion was the same ancient wisdom-doctrine, one and identical, professed and practiced by the initiates of every country, who alone were aware of its existence and importance. To ascertain its origin and precise age in which it was matured, is now beyond human possibility. A single glance, however, is enough to assure one that it could not have attained the marvelous perfection in which we find it pictured to us in the relics of the various esoteric systems, except after a succession of ages. A philosophy so profound, a moral code so ennobling, and practical results so conclusive and so uniformly demonstrable, is not the growth of a generation... Myriads of the brightest human intellects must have reflected upon the laws of nature before this ancient doctrine had taken concrete shape. The proofs of this identity of fundamental doctrine in the old religions are found in the prevalence of a system of initiation; in the secret sacerdotal castes, who had the guardianship of mystical words of power, and a public display of a phenomenal control over natural forces, indicating association with preter-human beings. Every approach to the Mysteries of all these nations was guarded with the same jealous care, and in all, the penalty of death was inflicted upon initiates of any degree who divulged secrets entrusted to them.” (H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol II, page 99 online or hardcopy)

      “It is only fair to state, however, that the full and complete exposition of The Secret Doctrine is only attainable by means of the “seven keys” to its understanding. ...the seven keys were not provided in the volumes....” (The Divine Plan, by Geoffrey Barborka, p, xv)

      “Though the Theosophical Society is recent, theosophy, in the sense of an esoteric philosophic mystic system of religious thought, must be ranked as one of the most ancient traditions.... It is a summation and synthesis of many cults of all times. It is as broad and universal a motif, let us say, as mysticism. It is one of the most permanent phases of religion, and as such it has welled up again and again in the life of mankind. It is that “wisdom of the divine” which has been in the world practically continuously since ancient times. The movement of today is but another periodical recurrence of a phenomenon which has marked the course of history from classical antiquity. Not always visible in outward organization — indeed never formally organized as Theosophy under that name until now — the thread of theosophic teaching and temperament can be traced in almost unbroken course from ancient times to the present. It has often been subterranean, inasmuch as esotericism and secrecy have been essential elements of its very constitution. The modern presentation of theosophy differs from all the past ones chiefly in that it has lifted the veil that cloaked its teachings in mystery, and offered alleged secrets freely to the world. Theosophists tell us that before the launching of the latest “drive” to promulgate Theosophy in the world, the councils of the Great White Brotherhood of Adepts, or Mahatmas, long debated whether the times were ripe for the free propagation of the secret Gnosis; whether the modern world, with its Western dominance and with the prevalence of materialistic standards, could appropriate the sacred knowledge without the risk of serious misuse of high spiritual forces, which might be diverted into selfish channels. We are told that in these councils it was the majority opinion that broadcasting the Ancient Wisdom over the Occidental areas would be a veritable casting of pearls before swine; yet two of the Mahatmas settled the question by undertaking to assume all karmic debts for the move, to take the responsibility for all possible disturbances and ill effects.” (Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom, page 1 online or hardcopy)

      “ ... religions never evolve; they always degenerate. Contrary to the assumptions of comparative mythology, they do not originate in crude primitive feelings or ideas, and then transform themselves slowly into loftier and purer ones. They begin lofty and pure, and deteriorate into crasser forms. They come forth in the glow of spirituality and living power and later pass into empty forms and lifeless practices. From the might of the spirit they contract into the materialism of the letter. No religion can rise above its source, can surpass its founder; and the more exalted the founder and his message, the more certainly is degeneration to be looked for. There is always gradual change in the direction of obscuration and loss of primal vision, initial force. Religions tend constantly to wane, and need repeated revivals and reformations. Nowhere is it possible to discern anything remotely like steady growth in spiritual unfolding.

      “It is the occult theory that what we find when we search the many religions of the earth is but the fragments, the dissociated and distorted units of what were once profound and coherent systems. It is difficult to trace in the isolated remnants the contour of the original structure. But it is this completed system which the Theosophist seeks to reconstruct from the scattered remnants.” (Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom, pages 3-4 online or hardcopy)

      “Religions come periodically; and they are given to men from high sources, by supermen. The theory of growth from crude beginnings to spirituality tacitly assumes that man is alone in the universe and left entirely to his own devices; that he must learn everything for himself from experience, which somehow enlarges his faculties and quickens them for higher conceptions. This view, says occultism, does unnatural violence to the fundamental economy of the universe, wrenching humanity out of its proper setting and relationship in an order of harmony and fitness. Humankind is made to be the sole manipulator of intelligence, the favored beneficiary of evolution, and as such is severed from its natural connection with the rest of the cosmic scheme. So small and poor a view does pitiable injustice to the wealth of the cosmic resources. Bruno, Copernicus, and modern science have taught us that man is not the darling of creation, nor the only child in the cosmic family, the pampered ward of the gods. Far from it; he is one among the order of beings, occupying his proper place in relation to vaster hierarchies than he has knowledge of, above and below him.

      What is the character of that relationship? It is, says the esoteric teaching, that of guardian and ward; of a young race in the tutelage of an older; of infant humanity being taught by more highly evolved beings, whose intelligence is to that of early man as an adept's to a tyro's. It is the relationship of children to parents or guardians. Throughout our history we have been the wards of an elder race, or at least of the elder brothers of our own race. The members of a former evolutionary school have turned back often, like the guardians in Plato's cave allegory, to instruct us in vital knowledge. The wisdom of the ages, the knowledge of the very Ancient of Days, has at times been handed down to us. The human family has produced some advanced Sages, Seers, Adepts, Christs, and these have cared for the less-advanced classes, and have from time to time given out a body of deeper wisdom than man's own. Theosophy claims that it is the traditional memory of these noble characters, their lives and messages, which has left the ancient field strewn with the legends of its Gods, Kings, Magi, Rishis, Avatars and its great semi-divine heroes. Such wisdom and knowledge as they could wisely and safely impart they have handed down, either coming themselves to earth from more ethereal realms, or commissioning competent representatives. And thus the world has periodically been given the boon of a new religion and a new stimulus from the earthly presence of a savior regarded as divine.” (Alvin Boyd Kuhn, Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom, pages 5-6 online or hardcopy)

• Blavatsky, Helena, The Secret Doctrine of the Archaic Ages
  http://www.theosophical.ca/SDArchaicAges.htm#why
• Knoche, Grace F., The Mystery Schools
  http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/mysterys/mystsch.htm