Theosophy

Nebra Sky Disc, from c. 1800 BCE showing the Sun and moon crescent, as well as the solstices and stars such as the seven Pleiades.
Courtesy Wiki

The Principles & Values of Theosophy

Some key concepts of the philosophy of Theosophy which enquirers may find helpful.

Some ask “What is Theosophy?” – its essential values and principles may be summarised in these few ideas.

Origins
Everything in the universe originates from one boundless, eternal, unknowable source. After a period of manifested existence the universe returns to that source.

An harmonious whole
The Cosmos itself is a self-sustaining entity, made up of numberless Universes – all alive, intelligent, conscious and divine.

Laws
The laws of nature are the result of intelligent forces.
Nature is fundamentally one, the same structural, geometric and evolutionary principles apply throughout.

Karma
The law of Karma holds throughout the universe. It operates at all levels, ensuring justice, harmony and balance.

Reincarnation
We reincarnate into successive lives. Once we have reached the human level we do not regress back into animal forms.

Karma & Justice
The law of Karma acts over our successive lives to ensure justice. (We don’t get away with it.) We are the cause of every joy and pain.

Cycles
A law of cycles (or periodicity) provides a fundamental structure.

The Evolutionary Pilgrimage
The soul gets involved in this world of matter. It experiences and learns, then works its way back in a long pilgrimage to its source, following a cyclic pattern.

Increasing perfection
This evolution achieves experience, self-awareness – and ever increasing perfection. Evolution occurs on three planes – physical, mental and spiritual.

Conscious evolution
“Survival of the fittest” along with gradual accumulation of small beneficial changes does not explain the “origin of the species”. The origin of the species requires intelligent design…

Towards the Self of All
We can strive to reach our Higher Self – ATMA – by:

  • Listening to the still small voice of conscience
  • Noting the dreams from the Higher Self
  • Developing our intuition
  • Meditating

Brotherhood
Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. We are ONE at the highest spiritual component of our nature. We are sparks from one flame. We are the fingers on one hand.

Instructors of mankind
Periodically the great teachers come amongst us to help us in this evolutionary path. They may create another branch or leaf on the tree suited to those times.

Myth
Mythology often transmits some of this knowledge in (veiled) symbolic form.

Unity
Humanity’s potential is infinite and every being has a contribution to make towards a grander world. We are all in it together. We are one.

The Divine Will is Plato’s “Divine Idea,” a universal Intelligence everywhere in space, by whose direction the objective forms of universes and galaxies are called into being. So can man, “the microcosm of the great Macrocosm,” do the same in proportion with the purification and development of his will-power.

A full version with commentaries is also available in Power Point slides for class work or PDF.

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An Ash-throated Flycatcher foraging for insects.
[Image kind courtesy of Stephanie Becker, SF, USA]
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