Theosophy

Charles Johnston (1867-1932) was a clear and profound exponent of Theosophy. Here is a sample of Johnston's lucid mind and words from his "An Outline of the Secret Doctrine":

Linked with Consciousness on every plane and range of being is a sense of moral life, an aspiration to, and dim perception of, higher and diviner life above, and a sense of relation with and obligation to, the cognate lives around us.

On the lower range of being these two moral perceptions are dim and clouded.

As life rises higher and higher, entering deeper and deeper into the divine power that was first only dimly felt above, side by side with this upward growth is an outward growth by which the boundaries, which had at first seemed hard and impassible, between us and the cognate souls around us, begin to soften and melt away; and at last on the great day, when we become one with the divine soul above us, we have also by the same growth become one with the cognate souls beside us; and, though still knowing our own existence in the divine, we are no longer conscious of any distance between our own souls and the souls of our fellow-men—then no longer men, but divine beings, at one with us, and at one with the divine.

http://www.universaltheosophy.com/articles/johnston/an-outline-of-the-secret-doctrine/
 
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An excerpt from the new pdf of The Secret Doctrine:

The fundamental Law in that system, the central point from
which all emerged, around and toward which all gravitates, and upon
which is hung the philosophy of the rest, is the One homogeneous
divine Substance-Principle, the one radical cause.

It is called “ Substance-Principle,” for it becomes “ substance ” on the
plane of the manifested Universe, an illusion, while it remains a
“ principle ” in the beginningless and endless abstract, visible and
invisible Space. It is the omnipresent Reality : impersonal, because it
contains all and everything. Its impersonality is the fundamental conception
of the System. It is latent in every atom in the Universe, and is the
Universe itself.
 
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Who is going? (from here I meant) How many theosophists are there in the world.... along with Bahai, this site seems well represented.
 
wil said:
Who is going? (from here I meant) How many theosophists are there in the world.... along with Bahai, this site seems well represented.
Click to expand...

Wife and I went to several when they were on the West Coast USA, but Europe is too far and we are too old.

Not being part of the administration of any theosophical group I would guess 10-12 thousand worldwide, adding the Adyar, ULT & Pt Loma varieties.
 
My estimate of theosophical groups' membership was too low. Turns out it is closer to 30 thousand, says a member who knows the facts.
 
This universe is regarded by many modern astronomers as dead, except for a
little patch of life on this and possibly a few other planets. But according to the view
I am putting forward, which is also the ancient view, it is a universe of life. Life is
everywhere—even in the smallest speck—though manifested in different degrees,
matter being its vehicle or medium. Since you cannot ask for a material proof of a
non-material reality, any more than you can ask for proofs of the so-called geometry
of space, you have to regard this view—the essential independence of life—as a
hypothesis, which, the more you consider it in relation to facts of our experience,
confirms itself all the more.
If life is not a mere patch on matter, bound to consume itself like a brush-fire, and
if life is in every particle, then it is a universe of evolution. We know that life in any
form has this extraordinary quality, which not only grows, reproduces, and adapts,
but also brings out of a seemingly inexhaustible store new species, new capacities,
new ways and methods of action. In other words, it ascends.
Life means consciousness—the capacity to respond, to register, to be aware—and
consciousness gives rise to intelligence. Although we see this intelligence in the
activities of Nature, we see its unfettered action in man who constitutes at present,
at least in his own estimation, the summit of evolutionary progress. But is this the
summit or are there higher heights to be reached? The future will show.

From "Our Place in the Universe", by N. Sri Ram.
 
I believe the current thought is that it is full of life (be it microbial, viral, carbon based, methane based) as to life more intelligent or as intelligent as our own...that potential is also there with the number of planets they have discovered and extrapolating that to where we can't/haven't looked...
 
"Before we find the Master within our own hearts and seventh principle - we need an outside Master."

HP Blavatsky in a letter to Franz Hartmann.
 
Nicholas Weeks said:
This universe is regarded by many modern astronomers as dead
Click to expand...

Not true. Quite the opposite actually. Modern cosmologists think there is a very reasonable chance that life is abundant everywhere. And they, of course, are referring to life as modern science understands the term.

For me, the deeper meaning of life you mention is plausible. The universe is evolution, every particle, be it mass or energy, playing its own little part in the evolving creation in which we live. So called Intelligent life is the rare one. For the 4 billion years this planet had life, the tiniest fraction of it has been intelligent life as humans consider it. And I am not at all convinced that human evolution is anything more than a random spin of the DNA wheel. Far from us being the inevitable outcome of ever evolving evolution - we are a cosmic whim. Stumbled upon now, and when our species dies something similar arising has little to no chance of occurring on this planet - if past history is any indication.
 
Today at 9:38 am Pacific time is the Summer Solstice, which has a sacred meaning.

"The Summer-Solstice, is symbolic of full maturity in a man's life-span. With the latter there also comes a time of temptation; the one great problem of a life-time asserts itself, different for every individual and dependent to a large extent upon his previous lives. He gathers all his strength and produces, whether spiritually, mentally, or otherwise, the fruitage of former years, the result of his "spring flowering," and this fruitage may be good, bad or indifferent, according to the man. This season stood as a symbol of "mature manhood" in the spiritual life of the Initiate, when his career was in full sway and he had taken his rightful place in the life of the Hierarchy to which he belonged." Boris de Zirkoff
 
The power to know does not come from book-study nor from mere philosophy, but mostly from the actual practice of altruism in deed, word, and thought; for that practice purifies the covers of the soul and permits that light to shine down into the brain-mind. As the brain-mind is the receiver in the waking state, it has to be purified from sense-perception, and the truest way to do this is by combining philosophy with the highest outward and inward virtue.

HPB in CW IX:400-G - "Conversations on Occultism"
 
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wil said:
Know what?
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Occult, hidden knowledge beyond the sensory dominated mind. Here is the question and Blavatsky's reply just before 'The power to know...':

Student.—How is one to know when he gets real occult information from the Self within?

Sage.—Intuition must be developed and the matter judged from the true philosophical basis, for if it is contrary to true general rules it is wrong. It has to be known from a deep and profound analysis by which we find out what is from egotism alone and what is not; if it is due to egotism, then it is not from the Spirit and is untrue.
 
There are no dark places in the chambers
of the Soul: it is wholly an abode of living light
and knowledge. We need not look outside ourselves
for the grandeur and the aid our hearts
are craving. The secret and key to all situations
is in the heart. All truth is within. It has been
on those inner planes for ages, and still lies sleeping
in the Spirit of Man.

No one can tell it in words; no one can
convey it in speech or writing; none can reveal
to you the Secret of Life. Keys and hints may
be given; enthusiasms may be awakened; hearts
may be aroused and minds stimulated to thought;
but the Reality is a thing each one must find
for himself.

Greater than all the books that ever were
written; greater than all the wisdom the Teachers
of old brought to mankind, are the Books of
Revelation a man may read in within himself.

Move out into the fields of thought where
Reality is, and you will have left your volumes
of theology behind; and you will have ceased to
do injustice to your own Soul. Your personal
god will have died a natural death in your mind;
he will be sitting no longer aloof in space nursing
his moods of love or revenge, or cutting you off
after a single lifetime from all opportunity to
gain experience or do service and shutting out
the splendor of infinite and eternal existence from
you: all that fantastic creation of human brainminds
will have vanished away.

Katherine Tingley, The Gods Await
 
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