Search Results - 拓日新能2025年11月11日股价
- Topic: Controversies
- ssion where the intent of the posting was to get users to explain what Faivre's characteristics of Esotericism and Theosophy meant in their own words. What is important for you to understand is that we have decided on this course of action and have done so for the last year and a half. We're not backing away from our usage of Faivre, so whether or not this is the correct way for Theosophy.Net to proceed is not the question. The affected parts of the discussion have been copied here. If you have questions or comments or want to continue the discussion, please do so in this forum. =============================== Reply by Govert Schuller yesterday Delete Dear all, This is an older e-mail with some thoughts I shared with some of you about half a year ago. I reread it and think it will contribute to the discussion. The pivotal concepts to make sense of the following is the difference between the etic and the emic as developed in anthropology. See wikipedia athttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emic_and_etic. === I have not followed the development of Theosophy.net in detail. I am aware of your recent stance of, let's say, activating a more academic position regarding Theosophy without really giving up on a belief in the truth and value of different esoteric practices. My concern here is that by doing so you are moving from an emic point of view to a somewhat muddled etic pov. That is, from a Theosophical view based on the teachings of HPB and others, to an academic view developed by Faivre, Hanegraaff and other scholars who do not necessarily belief in Theosophy, though you keep some belief intact. This is quite a shift, because you seem to go from a committed, subjective believing position into a seemingly neutral, objective, observing position, but then bring that back into an emic position. I'm not saying that that's impossible or wrong, but it looks to me like a complex hybrid to satisfy an overall non-dogmatic position. My own work on experiential theosophy falls in that category by taking theosophical concepts serious, but then use philosophical methods from the school of phenomenology to 'anchor' such concepts in one's own personal, reflective experience. Anyway, just to be clear and by thinking aloud, I think that the (pure) etic position makes sense for a) Theosophists who just like to explore what academia has to say about Theosophy, b) Theosophists who like to incorporate the academic stance, as far as that might be possible (which is not a given), c) Theosophists with an understanding of science who like to check if their Theosophical worldview might survive academic standards (and if they see an incompatibility, they might have to make a choice), d) those who, for whatever reason, lost their faith in Theosophy, and like to figure out what Theosophy is from a more neutral etic viewpoint, e) persons interested in Theosophy for personal, spiritual reasons, but want a second opinion from academia, f) persons interested in Theosophy out of curiosity, g) critics who like to look deeper into Theosophy to be in a better position to deliver skeptical challenges to Theosophy and/or develop outright refutations of different positions within Theosophy, h) academics who are trained in the development of etic positions through an emphatic understanding of emic positions and last i) academics of a more skeptical stance who develop not merely etic positions, but also hypotheses to explain Theosophy from different angles like psychology, sociology and, now up and coming, evolutionary psychology. The last two academic positions have to be well understood in their difference. The first one, h), concerns itself with the world view of the believer and how to best understand it from within the life world of the believer himself. Crucial to that investigation is the careful suspension, or bracketing, by the investigator of the truth and value of the investigated belief. It might not necessarily develop a skeptical position. Such methodology is grounded in phenomenology. The second, i), is equally legitimate, but concerns itself with scientific explanations of the production/construction of the beliefs investigated. This line of investigation also, and maybe only initially, suspends the truth and value of the beliefs investigated, but can, and often will, develop a position quite antithetical to the believer's emic pov. And for clarity's sake, my own position is a combination now of c, d, g, h and i. And I started out in a, b and c. So, be careful if you start out on this road. 8^) Top of Form ▶ Reply Bottom of Form Message Edit Permalink Reply by Joe Fulton yesterday Delete So there is a coherent whole that isn't readily apparent at this point. And sometimes we confuse the means with the end. You are right where it comes from a shift in a belief system based on the writings of HPB and her followers to an academic view based primarily on the works of Faivre, Hanegraaff, etc. However, please understand that what we are going for is a Theosophy that addresses the lives and the things that most people are concerned about, about living a happier, more fulfilled daily life. To understand how the work of Faivre, Hanegraaff and others fit into this schema we use the analogy of a car manufacturer. Think of the academic works as the high level engineering. This is the world of physics, CAD and engineering. It is a world of abstraction and complexity, as are Faivre's Characteristics of Esotericism and Theosophy. At the consumer end lies sales and marketing or the way we describe what the engineers and scientists have done in a way that people can relate to. We clearly recognize at Theosophy.Net that Faivre's characteristics are at that level and that it is foolhardy to attempt to directly represent those to the public and expect someone with a high school education (whom we refer to as the "educated well-informed") to grasp these ideas at the level we are discussing. However the practical application must tie to the framework established, or as a certain person once said "Occultism does not depend upon one method, but employs both the deductive and the inductive. The student must first learn the general axioms." On Theosophy.Net Faivre's work is what constitutes the general axioms. So the next step on our journey is to work on looking at the implications and uses for specific items within the framework we are using to see how these can be explained and applied to the lives of most people. These discussions are beginning to take place and will show up in initial forms within this group shortly. We're hoping that as you see the ideas flesh out from the abstract to the practical that you will start filling in the blanks with products from your own intuition. These will give way to specific projects and activities designed to give people tools for developing the connections in their own lives using Creative Imaginations, Correspondences, Mediations and other tools implied within Faivre's framework. In addition to the ideas and projects generated by the core group on this site we hope that everyone who can understand the characteristics of Esotericism and Theosophy can reason from the known to the unknown and come up with some really, really neat stuff. We don't have any intent of being top-down about how and what we do here. However, leave no mistake in your minds, we do have a point of view. Reply by Dewald Bester 21 hours ago Delete hi i think i have most in common with Govert. my own experience of postgraduate religious studies at a university is that you cannot serve 2 masters - the academic and religious. you will inevitably fall one side or the other. nor can this site serve 2 masters. Faivre's definitions are, and will be, rejected by academia, for the very reason they are appropriated on this site, because they smack of an 'insiders' bias. the future of academic discourse appears to me to be 'empty/floating signifiers'. if one could define 'theosophy', you could define 'religion', but universities have not been able to successfully define even the topic they study, 'religion'. and i dont think this problem will be solved here. on the whole, i too like the definitions of faivre, naturally so, i already hold those beliefs. From an academic side though i could only see the faivre parameters as serving a limited religious agenda. if it were admitted that those Faivre parameters serve more a 'religious' agenda, and less an 'academic' one then that would make sense to me. at least to the academic side of me. that is the true power of this site, it is opening up the concept ''theosophy' from a narrow Blavatsky definition. it does this through limited, uncritical, use of academic thought, and the purpose of the site is essentially a religious one. i guess that is how i see it at the momentrgds, dewald Top of Form ▶ Reply Bottom of Form Message Edit Permalink Reply by John E. Mead 1 hour ago Delete Dewald - "my own experience of postgraduate religious studies at a university is that you cannot serve 2 masters" The separation is not all that strong, and the trend is that academic arguements are arguing an approach that is a continuum. So, it is not a Black/White matter. Also: "From an academic side though i could only see the faivre parameters as serving a limited religious agenda." are you serious?? we have a religious conspiracy at hand? A couple examples where the emic-etic is viewed as complimentary: == == == (note: emic=inside; etic = outside) http://www2.kenyon.edu/Depts/Religion/Fac/Adler/Reln101/McCutcheon%... "Or is it All Just a Question of Degree? But is this divide between insider and outsider as great as MacIntyre presumes? Instead of being limited only to either the insider's or the outsider's viewpoint, we might ask whether there is a mediating position in this debate. The anthropologist Clifford Geertz might provide just such a position. Geertz argues that, instead of seeing the insider and outsider positions as polar opposites, involving an either/or from the researcher, perhaps it is all a question of degree. Using a terminology capable of suggesting the relative, more-or-less nature of one's viewpoint (that of experience-near and experience-distant perspectives), Geertz suggests that we have misunderstood the work of studying other people if we think our only options are either an "ethnography of witchcraft as written by a witch" or "an ethnography of witchcraft as written by a geometer." The challenge--or, as Geertz puts it, the trick--is to take the experience-near concepts of our informants and to place them "in illuminating connection with experience-distant concepts theorists have fashioned to capture the general features of social life." Where an informant might talk of "fear," the psychologist might talk of "phobia"--but just what are the relations between these two concepts? Surely fear does not exhaust the notion of phobia, demonstrating that the usefulness of such scholarly categories as "phobia" is, at least in part, to be judged by the degree to which they can be used to distinguish and compare, on one level, the similarities and differences in the reports and behaviors of the people we study. Therefore, where the scholar strives to compare, interpret, and explain what they think the insider is experiencing, the informant is most often involved simply in experiencing it." == == == http://books.google.com/books?id=PaO3jsaGkeYC&q=Emic-Etic+disti... P 422 Encyclopedia of Cross-Cultural School Psychology (Springer 2010) == == == It is not hard to find more examples of viewpoints that are examining what is the emic-etic continuum. John Top of Form Reply by John E. Mead 11 hours ago Delete Possibly this way of looking at it helps: One can define mammals by their characteristics. One can define rodents by their characteristics, One can also define Primates by their characteristics, Does that limit, or define, or create in any way, what a specific Rodent, or what a specific Primate will look like, think like? How about the habitat and diet, mental capability/capacity of rodents, primates? No it does not. But one can determine a mammal, rodent, and primate when you stumble into one. Permalink Reply by Govert Schuller 11 hours ago Delete Joe, Thanks for the further clarification. It therefore looks like that that the way you want to use academia puts you in the camp of b): "Theosophists who like to incorporate the academic stance, as far as that might be possible (which is not a given)." The "not a given" caveat refers to the idea that not all academic stances are equally useful for Theosophists. Hanegraaff differentiates between three of them: 1) religionists, who use academic means to defend their religion. The philosopher Alvin Plantinga would be a good example; 2) reductionists, who try to explain religion as a natural phenomenon. For example see Pascal Boyer's "Religion Explained" and, for Theosophists very important, Olaf Hammer who wrote "Claiming Knowledge"; 3) phenomenological empiricists, who carefully suspend the truth and value claims of the religious worldviews they investigate. The pioneer in this methodology as applied to Theosophy and New Age thinking is Hanegraaff, whose "Empirical method in the study of esotericism" is the basic paper defending that methodology. So, to even further refine the classification of the stance you are taking, it looks like that Hanegraaff would classify you with the religionists, because you use some of the etic constructs by academics to further an emic esotericist position. I'm not stating this to just put you in a pigeonhole or problematize that position. It's just the outcome of legitimate etic procedures, which, once embraced, will have to be respected. Of course, as any science, it is in principle open to corrections based on further empirical considerations. Top of Form ▶ Reply Bottom of Form Message Edit Permalink Reply by John E. Mead yesterday Delete "lost their faith in Theosophy" (etic or emic) To talk about "Faith" in theosophy is weird. There is no one/unique/perennial theosophy. I have my personal experiences and interactions with the External world, Divinity within myself, and Insights/intellectus which forms a set of emic data comprising my theosophy. Joe has his personal experiences and interactions with the External world, Divinity within himself, and Insights/intellectus which forms a set of emic data comprising his theosophy. You have your experiences and interactions with the External world, Divinity within yourself, and Insights/intellectus which forms a set of emic data comprising your theosophy. There is no "Faith" to hold or deny. A categorization allows one to track the constellations over time, and to recognize an esotericism and theosophy. These have a complimentary connection One cannot get trapped in the fallacy of an excluded-middle. Without the categorization, there is no definition of what you are studying. Top of Form ▶ Reply Bottom of Form Message Edit Permalink Reply by Govert Schuller 10 hours ago Delete Dear John, I think that if a definition is based on a categorization then, of course, without categorization there is no definition. I do not think the emic-etic differentiation has an excluded middle and would therefore be somehow fallacious. I think that what Joe is trying to pull off, and what I tried before, is something of a hybrid construction using both. Dewald thinks this is impossible, because you cannot serve two masters, the religious and the academic. I think it is possible, but then you have to make clear choices in case of conflict, for example between the scientific theory of plate tectonics and the alleged existence of Atlantis (I know that the excluded middle between the two is represented by David Pratt). I agree that there is no one unique western esotericism, but that there is one and unique Blavatskyan Theosophy. I agree we all have our own unique history, interpretative schemata and personal experiences, but Blavatskyan Theosophy claims to transcend such situated, historical peculiarities and presents a solid product of long ages of scientific experimentation and inter-subjective double-checking. Because the bulk of Blavatskyan Theosophy is beyond our capacity to verify, once one is engaged in studying it, there will be a point, or a sequence of points, at which certain claims are experienced as believable or not. The cumulative effect of such experiences might be conversion. Maybe the best one could do is to relate to Theosophy as if it were a plausible hypothesis, but that is hard to maintain without some psychological and rational training. Most Theosophists I know are true believers, even if they would deny it. Top of Form ▶ Reply Bottom of Form Message Edit Permalink Reply by Joe Fulton 6 hours ago Delete I'm glad you didn't design my car, computer or any other device that required an engineer or some other person with a level of knowledge far beyond mine in order to deal with the theory. Following this either/or logic the architect or engineer is an infidel and I should not trust anything they say or do because they don't use the same words. You must grasp this point if you are to have any idea of what we are out to do. We have multiple audiences and we cannot possibly speak to all of them in exactly the same way. We do our best to address each in accordance to what the situation requires. I buy a product for what it can do for me and because there was someone around to communicate the benefit in terms I can understand. What we are doing here is no different than what anyone else who deals with complicated ideas and has to bring them to the level of understanding of a normal human being. So, from that point of view, honestly Govert, we are only serving one master and that is truth. We use the tools at hand to accomplish our work. If it's engineering we use a computer. If it's changing oil we use a funnel and a pan. Where it comes to choices we are not afraid, not one bit. Where it comes to these choices, sometimes the answer is clear and sometimes it's not. In many cases the facts are clear and the arguments one way or another don't leave much room for doubt. In other cases, it's a muddle and no matter what point of view you take, half of the people (and usually more) will believe you wrong to the bottom of their hearts. Are we so afraid to make a mistake that we become paralyzed? No. We learn and become better for it. Thanks for coming along and keep questioning. Top of Form …
- Added by Joe Fulton to Faivre and Theosophy.Net FAQ at 1:26am on May 25, 2013
- Blog Post: Theosophy and the Second World War
Dear friends,
Today all the theosophical movement is celebrating the White Lotus Day, which this year marks the 120th anniversary of the passing of H.P.Blavatsky on May 8,…
- Added by Joaquim Soares at 1:26pm on May 8, 2011
- Blog Post: Aurobindo, Art, joke, W.Q. Judge, Thubten Chodron - My spiritual Newsletter July 2010
- Added by Katinka Hesselink at 2:08pm on August 31, 2010
- Topic: Zero Point Dynamics within the SD-part II
- (Stanza VI, 2) The seven Layu centres are the seven Zero points, using the term Zero in the same sense that Chemists do, to indicate a point at which, in Esotericism, the scale of reckoning of differentiation begins. (S.D., I, pp. 138-9) According to Blavatsky, the laws of nature manifest in the material worlds are due to divine and spiritual intelligences within super-sensuous states of being. These influences are conveyed by Fohat through zero point dynamics to manifest outwardly within the life of any ‘Son’ –whether that of a universe, a quantum or a human being. Blavatsky describes the influx of formative forces manifesting from within the higher spiritual and divine realms into the lower material realm as acting through “holes dug in Space” –“invisible points” or “zero-points.” Fohat’s influences emerge through the seven Laya (or Layu) Centres, those wheels and vortices are at zero point levels where material differentiation begins. It is this process which “ends as Omnipresent Mind and Life (being) immanent in every atom of Matter.” (S.D., I, p. 139) Blavatsky describes the seven inside as “digging holes in Space” to channel their intelligence/influences into the material realm. Thus, seven invisible zero points holes dug in space are established as a foundation for physical manifestation and the laws of nature: ... all the so-called Forces of Nature, Electricity, Magnetism, Light, Heat, etc., etc., far from being modes of motion of material particles, are in esse, i.e., in their ultimate constitution, the differentiated aspects of that Universal Motion. ... When Fohat is said to produce “Seven Laya Centres,” it means that for formative or creative purposes, the GREAT LAW (Theists may call it God) stops, or rather modifies its perpetual motion on seven invisible points within the area of the manifested Universe. “The great Breath digs through Space seven holes into Laya to cause them to circumgyrate during Manvantara.” (Occult Catechism). We have said that Laya is what Science may call the Zero-point or line; the realm of absolute negativeness, or the one real absolute Force … the neutral axis, not one of the many aspects, but its centre. … “Seven Neutral Centres,” then are produced by Fohat …. (S.D., I , pp.147-8) In this view, the foundation for the laws of nature and of material quanta (and the foundation of human consciousness) are the invisible Laya Centres–which extend from physical dimensions into the underlying metaphysical realm of the Eternal Parent Space and the Ceaseless Breath. The Gods and other invisible powers “clothe” themselves in bodies based upon such zero point dynamics and holes dug in space, through which Fohat acting as an electromagnetic force links the intelligence above to the material realm below. Although the Zero Point is sometimes described as being singular, at other times it is described as having this sevenfold differentiation. Like Fohat, it is One and Seven. It is from such mysterious zero point conditions that the differentiation of a Cosmos, a quantum or Monad begins. Modern scientist, Paul Davis (1984) described such a model of 11 dimensional theory in modern physics where 7 ‘compacted dimensions’ are rolled up into elements at zero point levels. Davis explained, “think of the extra dimensions as somehow inside the atom” (p. 160). Remarkably, Blavatsky explained exactly this type of peculiar inner dimensionality to ‘atoms,’ quanta, Monads and cosmoses over a century ago, Accordingly, Blavatsky’s model suggests that there is a complex metaphysics to reality at zero point levels. The “Imperishable Laya Centres” have a great importance, and their meaning must be fully understood if we would have a clear conception of the Archaic Cosmogony. (S.D., I) Blavatsky maintained an unusual conception of the permanency and impermanency of matter. She states that matter is eternal–but only in its first undifferentiated condition–in “the laya state.” Material quanta, Cosmoses, and Monads are differentiated from a ‘laya state’ –an apparent zero point source or condition. The material quanta, structures and organization come and go through different cycles of cosmic manifestation, but the laya centers are ‘imperishable.’ The following diagram conveys the idea of the various forces underlying any material quantum as represented by the final product of the Tree of Life –the lowest sphere referred to as Malkuth or the Kingdom. The quantum is a function of all of the forces which pass through the higher dimensions of the Tree of Life and which emerge from within the root principles of creation. Ultimately, everything is a derivative of the Theological Trinity of Be-ness, the Eternal Parent Space and the Ceaseless Breath. The Eternal Parent Space has an inherent sevenfoldness and hence produces seven pre-material protyles, or seven Ethers as modifications of the fundamental Akasa. The Ceaseless Breath is similarly differentiated into the Seven Luminous Sons—the Dhyan Chohans. The Seven Fohats mediate between the higher realms and the spheres below. These three–the Seven Protyles, the Seven Luminous Sons and the Seven Fohats—can be considered to form a ‘metaphysical trinity,’ as distinct from the ‘theological trinity’ above. In the Tree of Life, the metaphysical trinity forms a downward turned triangle below, in contrast to the upward turned triangle of the theological trinity above. Other Stanzas depict the unfolding of the Seven Laya Centres in a sequential process. In terms of modern physics, this is called ‘sequential symmetry breaking’ out of a state of ‘perfect symmetry’ hypothesized to exist before cosmic differentiation from the Akasa. This sequential symmetry breaking is depicted in the Stanzas: VI, 2. THE SWIFT AND RADIANT ONE PRODUCES THE SEVEN LAYA CENTRES, AGAINST WHICH NONE WILL PREVAIL TO THE GREAT DAY “BE-WITH-US,” AND SEATS THE UNIVERSE ON THESE ETERNAL FOUNDATIONS SURROUNDING TSIEN-TCHAN WITH THE ELEMENTARY GERMS. 3. OF THE SEVEN—FIRST ONE MANIFESTED, SIX CONCEALED, TWO MANIFESTED, FIVE CONCEALED; THREE MANIFESTED, FOUR CONCEALED; FOUR PRODUCED, THREE HIDDEN; FOUR AND ONE TSAN REVEALED, TWO AND ONE HALF CONCEALED; SIX TO BE MANIFESTED, ONE LAID ASIDE. LASTLY, SEVEN SMALL WHEELS REVOLVING; ONE GIVING BIRTH TO THE OTHER. From the perspective of The Secret Doctrine, all of these higher level and primordial realms underlie material manifestation of a cosmos or quantum. Subsequently, any physics carried far enough has to lead to this ancient metaphysics. In contrast, the naive materialist science philosophy of the past century takes only the last sphere of the Tree of Life as ‘reality:’ the material realm governed by mechanistic laws and considers that there is no underlying metaphysics to such processes. In contrast, Blavatsky explained how all things are created, sustained and dissolved through zero-point dynamics rooted into higher dimensions and the primordial realms. All the laws of physics are founded upon zero point foundations and these are the portals for higher dimensional influences. Further, these processes proceed on successive levels or planes of being, creating manifest reality within-without from zero points levels. H. P. Blavatsky certainly held a remarkable view of physics and the metaphysical processes underlying familiar reality. The zero point teaching provides a highly valuable alternative perspective on the mysteries of creation, as well as on the newest theories of modern physics and cosmology. Blavatsky is suggesting that the true causes of phenomena in the outer world are founded upon these zero point sources—in a manner quite consistent with the newest models of higher compacted dimensions, zero point fields, black-hole information processes and holographic physics—as we shall see. The Gods and other invisible powers clothe themselves in bodies based on such zero point foundations, seven circumgyrating holes dug in space! …
- Added by Christopher P. Holmes at 10:16pm on October 29, 2010
- Blog Post: Swedish Artist Eva Fidjeland Featured by Resident Curator Kristen T Woodward, Professor of Art, Albright College
- Added by Eva Fidjeland at 9:38am on February 1, 2014
- Blog Post: PBS BROADCASTER DENNIS WHOLEY INTERVIEWED BY MIKE SCHWAGER (www.Enrichment.com) on 26 Part TV Series on World Religions
- Mike Schwager, Founder/Editor-in-Chief of www.Enrichment.com Interviews Dennis Wholey on 26 part tv series on world's religions
Mike Schwager, Founder and Editor-in-Chief of… - Added by Mike Schwager at 10:57pm on July 7, 2009
- Comment on: Topic 'Theosophical Society at Adyar - Lawsuits and News'
- ENT'S TERM IS LIMITED TO THREE YEARS -- Here is the full text of the Writ -- A long post -- Enjoy -- ++++ IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS (Special Original Jurisdiction) W.M.P.NO. OF 2018 IN W.P. No.Of 2018 Theosophical society, Represented by the Secretary, Marja Artamaa Having its headquarters at Adyar Chennai - 600 020 ..Petitioner/Petitioner Vs 1. The Secretary Commercial Taxes and Registration Department Government of Tamil Nadu Fort St George Chennai -600 009 2. The Inspector General of Registration Government of Tamil Nadu No.100, Santhome High Road Mylapore Chennai-600 028 3. The District Registrar c** Registrar of Societies South Chennai District Saidapet Chennai-600 015 4. S.Ramu C/o Mr.S.B.Murugesan The Law Association City Civil Court High Court Campus, Chennai -104 5. Kesiraju Krishna Phani H.No.2-2-18/18/4/52, Plot No..38 2nd Floor Durgabai Deshmukh Colony Hyderabad -500013 .......Respondents/ Respondents AFFIDAVIT FILED BY THE PETITIONER I, Marja Artamaa daughter of Mr.Aumo Kalervo Artamaa Christian aged about 65 years, the International Secretary of the Theosophical Society, having offlce at Adyar, Chennai - 600020 do hereby solemnly affirm and sincerely state as follows: 1. I am the Petitioner herein and as such I am well acquainted with the facts of the case. 2. I state that the Theosophical Society was founded by Henry Steel Olcott, Helena Blavatsky and others in the year 1875 at New York, U.S.A. Thereafter the Society was incorporated in India on 3.04.1905 vide Registration No.2 of 1905 - 06 pursuant to Act XXI of 1860 of the Governor- General of India in Council entitled " An Act for the Registration of Literary, Scientific and Charitable Societies Act, 1860. 3. I state that the primary object for establishment of the Society is to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. The Society was also founded to encourage the comparative study of Philosophy, Religions and Science. Moreover it is a spiritual organisation. The Society's motto is There is no Religion higher than Truth'. 4. I state that the Society is 142 years old and has nearly 26,000 members in 70 countries across the Globe. Its international headquarters is located in Adyar, Chennai which has an ashram-like atmosphere. The founder President of the Society was Mr. H. S. Olcott and the Society had as its members, great personalities like Annie Besant, Sir Subramania Aiyer, Judge of Madras High Court, Francesca E Arundate, Upendranath Basu etc. The Society had framed its own Rules and Regulations for its management. 5. I submit that since its inception, President's term of Office is Seven years from the date of assuming office and a President shall serve no more than three seven-year consecutive terms of office. As the members are located in 70 Countries, Election to the Office of the President is conducted once in 7 years since inception of the Society. It will be impossible to hold the Elections once in 3 years as the process of Election as contemplated in the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act will not at all be sufficient. It is further submitted that the procedure for conducting the Elections for the Post of International President is quite cumbersome and it would take considerable time and as such 3 year term for the Post of President as contemplated in the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 is not at all adequate. 6. I humbly state that the President should have longer tenure in order to effectively and successfully carryout various Theosophical projects and plans not only in India, but also in all other Countries. As such existing term of Office of the President may have to be continued. It will be absolutely impossible to hold the Elections once in 3 years as contemplated in Section 15 (4) of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. it is therefore Imperative that the Society is exempted from the purview of Section 15 (4) of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 to enable the Petitioner Society to continue to hold the Elections once in 7 years as hitherto. 7. I respectfully state that the Theosophical Society was already exempted from the provisions of Sections of 14 (1); 15 (2), 15 (3), 16 (3) (b) (ii) and 25 (3) of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 by the Government of Tamil Nadu, Industries Department by G.O. No. 1024 dated 01.07.1980 in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. Further the Society was again exempted from the provisions of Sections 12 (1) and (2) 16 (3) (a) and 24 of Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 by the Government of Tamil Nadu, Industries Department by G.O. No. 952 dated 09.08.1983 in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975; 8. I respectfully submit that the Petitioner Society in its application dated 23.10.2017 to the 2nd Respondent urged upon the Government of Tamil Nadu to grant exemption to the Petitioner Society from the provisions of Sectionl 5 (4) of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 with retrospective effect in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975 and the same is pending with the Government. 9. It is stated that on the basis of false complaints by 4th and 5th Respondents, the 3rd Respondent appeared to have conducted an enquiry and issued an order in his proceedings No.11825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018 and holding that Petitioner Society has been functioning in accordance with the Rules and. Regulations of the Society and there in no violation of any Rules and the provisions of the Act It is further stated that the request of the Petitioner Society to grant exemption from the provision of Act, 1975 to enable the Petitioner Society to continue to hold the Elections for the post of the President once in 7 years as hitherto is recommended to the Government, which is vested with such a power. It is further stated by the 3rd Respondent that till the receipt of G.O from the Government of Tamil Nadu, it is advised that tenure of President may be 3 years. 10. It is respectfully stated that the 3rd respondent has no jurisdiction to pass orders oh the basis of the representation dated 11.06.2015 and 25.11.2015 made by non members of the Society namely, Mr.Ramu and on the basis of the representation dated 08.11.2017 said to have been made by another non member of the Society namely Mr. Kesiraju Krishna Phani of Hyderabad, Both the Respondents have no locus standi to make any complaint pertaining to the Petitioner Society to the Respondent and request him to conduct an enquiry. The Petitioner Society submitted a reply dated 28.10.2015 to the 3rd Respondent and it is not known that the reply of the Petitioner was considered by the 3rd Respondent and it is also not known that what action was taken on the reply of the Petitioner 11. It is submitted that the 5th Respondent filed a Suit in C.S.No.682 of 2014 before the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Madras against the Petitioner Society for a declaration that the Election of the elected President is void and null and void. It is further submitted that the issue relating to the tenure of the President is also an issue in the said Civil Suit. No injunction was granted in favour of the 5 Respondent herein, The 4th Defendant filed a Suit in O.S.No.1654 of 2016 against the Petitioner Society and others before, the I Asst City Civil Court at Chennai for a declaration that the Rules and Regulations of the Petitioner Society is in contravention of 15 (4) of the Societies Act. This pertains to the tenure of the President and this is one of the several prayers sought for by the 4th Respondent in the said Suit The 4th Respondent also filed a Writ Petition in W.P.No.22309 of 2017 before the Hon'ble High Court of Judicature at Madras against 2nd and 3* Respondents and the Petitioner Society regarding the Rules of the Petitioner Society, wherin the issue of the tenure of the President post is an issue. It is submitted that when the matter is pending before the Courts and it is sub judice, the 3rd Respondent ought not to have passed the impugned order relating to the term of the office of the President. 12. It is humbly submitted that the 3rd respondent under the provisions of the Act has jurisdiction only to conduct an enquiry on the basis of an application made by a majority members of the registered Society or not less than 1/3"* members of the registered Society. Admittedly no such complaint was received from the members of the Society and therefore the action initiated by the 3rd respondent on the basis of the allegations made by Mr.Ramu and Mr. Kesiraju Krishna Phani is completely without jurisdiction. It is on this ground alone; the impugned order dated 02.03.2018 in so far as it relates to the last para is liable to be set aside. 13. I submit that the 3rd Respondent is not empowered under the provisions of the Act to exercise any advisory jurisdiction and resolve the alleged controversies between the non members and the Petitioner society. Since the 4th and 5th Respondents are non members of the Petitioner society, they have no locus to initiate any legal proceedings against the Petitioner society in any court of law. The 3rd Respondent has accepted the Returns filed by the Petitioner Society filed In Form VI and Form VII and minutes of the Executive Committee Meeting held on 27th April 2014, wherein it has been clearly mentioned that the President was elected for a period of 7 years by the General Body on 27.04.2014. Therefore the 3rd respondent having accepted the returns that have been filed should not have passed the impugned order relating to the term of the office of the President. 14. I respectfully state that the impugned order of the 3rd Respondent in so far as it holds that the President can function only for 3 years till an exemption application is received by the Petitioner, is in total lack of jurisdiction when a superior authority namely the Government of Tamil Nadu is ceased of the matter relating to the grant of exemption under Section 54 of the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act, 1975. The 3rd respondent should not have made any order holding that the President of the Petitioner society can function only for a period of 3 years till orders are received from the government regarding the exemption. 15. I respectfully submit that the 3rd Respondent under the provisions of the Act could have issued only directions under Section 12 of the Act to amend the bye-laws of the Society and bring it in line with the provisions of the Act. Until such an amendment Is made to the bye - laws of the Society, the existing bye - laws will continue to hold field. 16. I humbly submit that the Petitioner Society is 142 year old International Society consisting of 26,000 members from 70 countries. Since Inception the tenure of the President is 7 years and it Is impossible to hold elections once in-3 years as the Election process of the Society itself will take a long time as stated-above and the Petitioner Society will be forced to function without a head. It may be pertinent to mention that some litigations against the Petitioner Society have been pending and the presence of the President is essential at this crucial juncture. It is therefore just and necessary that the impugned order in his proceedings Nb.1,1825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018 is stayed. 17. Aggrieved by the illegal and arbitrary action of the 3rd Respondent and having no other alternative or efficacious remedy, the Petitioner begs to invoke the extra-ordinary Jurisdiction of this Hon'ble High Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for issuance of a Writ of Certiorari for the ; following among other GROUNDS: a) The Impugned order of the 3rd Respondent in his proceedings No.11825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018, is clearly illegal, arbitrary and is liable to be set aside. b) The impugned order of the 3rd Respondent is totally without jurisdiction and liable to be set aside c) The impugned order is not in accordance with the Tamil Nadu Societies Registration Act and as such it is liable to be set aside d) The impugned order is vitiated for non-application of mind e) The 3rd Respondent ought to have seen that since inception of the Petitioner Society, the Election of the President has been conducted once in 7 years f) The 3rd Respondent ought to have considered that the Petitioner Society is an International Society consisting of 70 countries with 26,000 members and strict application of the Tamil Nadu Act may not be practicable for such a Society g) The 3rd Respondent having recommended to the Government for granting exemption to the Petitioner from the provisions of the Act to continue to hold the Elections of the President once in 7 years, should not have issued the impugned order h) When the 3rd Respondent has come to the conclusion that the Petitioner Society has been functioning in accordance with the Rules and the Act, the impugned order ought not to have been issued i) The impugned order would create utter confusion in the Society and it would destabilise the 142 year old institution presided over by the illustrious predecessors j) The 3rd respondent has no jurisdiction to pass the impugned order on the basis of the representation dated 11.06.2015 and 25.11.2015 made by non members of the Society k) The 3rd respondent under the provisions of the Act has jurisdiction only to conduct an enquiry on the basis of an application made by a majority members of the registered Society or not less than 1/3rd members of the registered Society. Admittedly no such complaint was received from the members of the Society and therefore the action initiated by the 3rd respondent on the basis of the allegations made by non-members is completely without jurisdiction. It is on this ground alone; the impugned order dated 02.0312018 in so far as it relates to the last para is liable to be set aside. l) The 3rd Respondent under the provisions of the Act could have issued only directions under Section 12 of the Act to amend the bye-laws of the Society and bring it in line with the provisions of the. Act. Until such an amendment is made to the bye - laws of the Society, the existing bye - laws will continue to hold field. As such the impugned order in so far as it relates to the last para is liable to be set aside. m) The 3rd Respondent ought to have seen that 3 year tenure for the President is not at all adequate as the Election process as contemplated in the Rules of the Society is quite cumbersome and it will take very long time for holding elections and as such the impugned order is liable to be set aside n) The 3rd Respondent ought not to have passed the impugned order while the matter is sub-judice. 18. I respectfully state that the Petitioner would be put to grave loss and hardship if the impugned order of the 3rd Respondent in his proceedings No.11825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018, is not stayed till such time the exemption is granted by the 1stt Respondent Therefore, the impugned order in his proceedings NO.11825/E2/2015' dated 02.03.2018 issued by the 3rd Respondent has to be necessarily stayed during the pendency of the instant Writ Petition. It is therefore respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to pass an order of interim stay of the impugned order passed by the 3rd Respondent in his order in proceedings No.11825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018 issued by him in so far as it relates to the last para, wherein it is stated that the tenure of the office of the President of the Petitioner Society is 3 years until the order is received from the 1st Respondent on the exemption application, pending disposal of the Writ Petition and pass such further or the other order as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper and thus render justice. It is therefore respectfully prayed that this Hon'ble Court may be pleased to issue Writ of Certiorari calling for the records of the 3rd Respondent in his order in proceedings No. 11825/E2/2015 dated 02.03.2018 issued by him and quash the same in so far as it relates to the last para, wherein it is stated that the tenure of the office of the President of the Petitioner Society is 3years until the order is received from the 1st Respondent on the exemption application and pass such further or the other orders as this Hon'ble Court may deem fit and proper in the circumstances of the case and thus render justice. Solemnly affirmed at Chennai …
- Added by John to News at 1:02pm on April 25, 2018
- Comment for: M K Ramadoss
- rmation concerning the Planetary Union was published in a website called Theosophy Forward, whose authorship is attributed to Theo Curans, probably a pen name because there is not any reference to this person on Internet and this is the only document known with this name. Moreover, the responsibles for Theosophy Forward do not state who they are, they do not have the courage to sign their own ideas (1). The previously mentioned article has been translated into several languages and has been widely distributed via email among the members of the Theosophical Society, sometimes promoted by the own authorities of the National Sections and Federations. This article tries to clarify the "confusion" that according to the authorexists between the Theosophical Society and the Planetary Union (PU). We, the undersigned of the present letter, are members of the Theosophical Society of different National Sections who have the obligation to publish this reply to the Theo Curans' article because it makes assertions and accusations which are not true, and contrary to the proclaimed intention of the article, cause a false image of the institutions and people mentioned in it. Finally, the article tends to confuse and give biased viewpoints, not based upon facts. When Theo Curans' article was published for first time in April, we were cautious enough to not answer that publication, to allow the facts to answer on their own, because it is an article without true authentic foundations. But as its wide distribution was insisted several times without varying its content, we think that it is our duty to clarify some ideas. The Theosophical Society members are free people to realize our ideas into action and we do not need enlightened beings who write anonymously as leaders of our behaviour. The Planetary Union (Uniâo Planetaria) is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) created in Brazil by several members of the Theosophical Society, leaded by Ulisses Riedel Resende, in order to spread the main ideas about human elevation (UP), awareness of the wholeness of life, and the practice of healthier, more responsible and supportive ways of life. The aims and declaration of principles of PU can be read in its website: http://www.uniaoplanetaria.org.br It is true that PU is not the TS, because it was conceived and is run by members of the TS as a separate organization to have more facilities to spread the theosophical message through current mass media, to which the Theosophical Society has difficult access. It is remarkable that PU has no members but simply supporters who can contribute financially through donations, according to its website. They do not hold special meetings nor do they have a specific ideology other than the message to broadcast because they have not got their own books or teachings. The list of institutions that collaborate among which are the Theosophical Society in Brazil and the Theosophical Institute of Brasilia are of a universal character and related to the purposes of PU. Its activity is the spreading of theosophical ideals, of the Theosophical Society and the likes, mainly through the TV channel “TV Supren” that PU operates by broadcasting directly by satellite, through cable and on the Internet ( http://www.tvsupren.com.br ). The economic model of PU, as far as we know, is based on incomes generated by donations, sponsored by public entities, and some advertising and selling of audiovisual material of its own production. Our impression is that, economically, UP shows losses and therefore it requires the input of money from its closest supporters. Then, we can see in PU a model of economically independent initiative but ideologically committed with the theosophical ideals as can be seen in its programming guide, with the particular purpose of the spreading of Theosophy. Isn´t it then the same model of the Theosophical Publishing Houses? 1 For example, let’s take a look at Quest Books ( http://www.questbooks.net/ ), the Editorial of the TS in the USA. In its website it is stated at the footnote: Quest Books publishes nonfiction works to facilitate spiritual growth and healing; to encourage the study of religion, philosophy, and science; and to promote fellowship among all peoples of the world. In addition to a comprehensive selection of Theosophy titles by noteworthy authors like H.P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, C.W. Leadbeater, and others, Quest offers books on a variety of topics including alternative healing, development of creativity, transpersonal psychology, deep ecology, mythology, comparative religion, consciousness, spiritual evolution, ancient wisdom, mysticism, esoteric studies, and perennial philosophy. This website is made possible by generous grants from the Kern Foundation This page and its contents are copyright ©2007 by the Theosophical Society in America. Quest Books ® The Theosophical Publishing House The Theosophical Society in America International Headquarters, Adyar, India Isn´t Quest Books' model similar to PU's? The fundamental difference is that Quest Books is devoted to the spreading of Theosophy by publishing books and PU does it mainly through the production and broadcasting of audiovisual material via TV and Internet. Only the medium is different. The PU’s initiative does not come from India nor from the USA, but from Brazil, and perhaps this fact surprises and causes mistrust which is feeding with this criticism. Wouldn't it be judging PU with a different standard, when accusing PU that many of its programmes have nothing to do with Theosophy and however accepting Quest Book publishing "non theosophical" material? But getting deeper in reasoning, what is theosophical material and what is not? Is it more theosophical reading a book about rounds and chains or invisible protectors, for example, than teaching a vegetarian recipe or listening to one of Bach's concerts? The great leaders of the TS such as Sri Ram made it clear that because of its very nature of Divine Wisdom, Theosophy can’t be defined. If a study doesn’t promote the transformation of the human being and its environment, if it doesn’t inspire to diminish misery and suffering in the world, it doesn’t matter who has written it, it isn’t a real theosophical study (2). In the bookshops and libraries of the Lodges there are many various books of theosophical authors and of others, and there is not such a discrimination like that is asked to PU. Who are the theosophical authors? Just those who have belonged to the TS? What about Plotinus and Pythagoras, for example, weren’t they theosophical authors? And the case of Quest Books is similar to most of the Theosophical Publishing Houses, as can be seen in the following links: TPH in Philippines: http://www.theosophy.ph/publications.html Editions Adyar in France: http://www.editionsadyar.com Editora Teosófica in Brazil: http://www.editorateosofica.com.br/et/index.asp Editorial Teosófica in Spain: http://www.tinet.org/~jgar/ We are not criticizing Theosophical Publishing Houses, we are just showing that they do the same kind of work that PU does but by using other means. Are we then applying the same standards when judging Theosophical Publishing Houses and PU? According to Theo Curans, in parts 6 and 7 of his article, should the hired personnel and collaborators of Quest Books or TPHs refrain from going the TS and mingle with its members and even talk to them? And according to section 8, should we sell books from the Theosophical Publishing Houses or from any other publisher in the Lodges premises? As you can see, it’s an absurd to apply the dead letter to the TS principle of independence. Its spirit tries to keep the TS autonomous and not be used by other organizations and ideologies that attempt to leverage its infrastructure and contacts, but we do not believe that in the General Council´s aims there was the intention of hindering the work of enthusiastic collaborators who have found the opportunity of employing new technologies for this work. We truly believe that PU doesn’t want to use the TS to become wellknown by the world as Theo Curans saysbut, on the contrary, to allow the message of the TS be known in the world. 2 When some of the members of a family have an initiative and decide to put it into motion through founding a company, generally they set up a Limited Liability Company so they do not to transfer risks and responsibilities to the family heritage. Isn’t the PU´s initiative something similar? What is wrong in that? We are glad that the message of Theosophy can be spread through such a wide mass media as Katinka Hesselink says in her blog: http://theosophicalsociety.wordpress.com/2009/04/18/theosophicalpromotionandtheosophicalwork/ . The TS General Council statement on the PU (3), held in December 2008 in Adyar, is clear and it is interpreted as a support because it is what it says, whether Theo Curans likes or not, who tries to minimize it in his/her 5th section. It is a matter of pure grammatical analysis. The fourth section of Theo Curans is worth to be analyzed. It says that “the TS is a vehicle for Theosophy”. So far so good, but…is it the only one? And before the foundation of the TS, there were not vehicles? Should we not earn the members of the TS with our honest, unselfish and intelligent work the right to make the institution a vehicle of Theosophy? Let´s get down from the pedestal, we are students of Theosophy, aspirants to understand the Ancient Wisdom, but it doesn’t seem that we should arrogate the possession of Theosophy as a gift that we lavish to people who approaches to us. The final observations of Theo Curans article are riddled with statements which are not based on facts. How can it be stated that “many of the programmes have nothing to do with Theosophy”? As Ulisses Resende reports, in TV Supren programming there are about 17 hours a day (14 hours in Portuguese, 2 in Spanish and 1 in English), devoted to programmes produced by the Theosophical Society, some of them recorded by the TS in Brazil and by the Theosophic Institute in Brazilia, others yielded by the TS in the USA for its spreading, and others made by theosophists in TV Supren studies. Just like that, for example, the programme "En busca del autoconocimiento" (“In search of the self knowledge”) consists of lectures recorded in the headquarters of the TS in Brazilia. The remaining seven hours of the programming are devoted to varied programmes with theosophical contents such as meditation, Yoga, TaiChiChuan, “Amongst friends”, “ Chatting with the world”, documentary films, arts, ecology, vegetarianism, ethics and sustainability of the Earth, interviews, and other themes. TV Supren programming can be seen in their website: http://www.tvsupren.com.br/GradeHorarios.aspx . Do not have anything to do these topics with Theosophy? The article also says that "In Brazil TS membership has not increased, but rather decreased. Nor do the programs seem to have deepened an understanding of Theosophy". How does Theo Curans, or who hides behind that name, knows about it? Does he have any method to measure the understanding got by the audience of TV Supren? The rate of new members in the TS is decreasing all over the world, that is why this indicator does not give us any clues. The data refute the article vague and biased opinions. Finally, the author attacks the Theosophy LusoHispanic Meeting, at that time under preparation and which was celebrated in Brazilia on July 14th to 19th, 2009. We do not find justifiable the claims that do not conform to facts. Firstly, the article refers to the visit made by a member of the Spanish Section of the TS, María del Carmen César to Latin America. The author claims that the purpose of that tour was the promotion of TV Supren when in fact, the programme was developed according to the necessity of promoting the interest in the LusoHispanic Meeting, as people who has attended it can state (4). We find in the article another unjustified disqualification when placed in quotation marks theosophical character of LusoHispanic Meeting. This does not correspond with the facts. The invitation to the Meeting has been done by the Brazilian Section of the TS and 220 members and sympathizers participated in it. The topics revolved around "Theosophy in the 21st Century" so there is no doubt about the theosophical character of the event. Moreover, there were two more invitations to other events, to “Young Theosophits” and the “International School of Theosophy”. On the one hand, it is true that there were hurries on having 3 anticipated the programme draft, but people were warned that it was an advance and it was later corrected (5). On the other hand, the testimony of assistants (6) and the content of the joint declaration issued by the attendees with the name of “Letter of Brazilia” can prove the event spirit. The best thing of all this is that it is not necessary to believe in opinions that are in favour or against it. Thanks to technology, anyone can watch TV Supren online ( http://www.tvsupren.com.br ), to see its programmes, visit the Planetary Union website ( http://www.uniaoplanetaroa.com.br ), to judge for themselves and draw their own conclusions. We will not waste our time answering each of the missives published by the people who are behind these attacks. This one will be our only communication. We have a more important mission to which we devote ourselves: to understand and to spread Theosophy and improve the world. NOTES (1) The persons in charge of Theosophy Forward do not say in their website who they are, contrary to what is usual. The website manager uses the pseudonym “ST Adelante”, and when some people asked for the identity of the responsible of the website, the answer was: “It is not necessary to know the people who are in charge”. On the other hand, they know that some authority in the TS has said that “it was forbidden to mention who is behind Theosophy Forward”. (2) In the book “Letters from KH to C. W. Leadbeater”, C. Jinarajadasa says: "A very noteworthy fact is that, though the Theosophical Society was originated by the Masters, and is their messenger to the world, and they have guided it in its chequered career, there is no mention of the word Theosophy in the Constitution of the Society which regulates the work of its constituent parts, the National Societies or "Sections." There is no official definition of what is Theosophy. Therefore every member of the Society can claim the right, under the Constitution, to declare what Theosophy is, or what it is not. For the work of the Society is not primarily to proclaim a cutanddried philosophy, but to establish a Universal Brotherhood." (3) Minutes of the meeting of the General Council of the Theosophical Society held in Adyar, December 2008. "Planetary Union, an organization created by members of the Brazilian Section, which broadcasts theosophical lectures to 66 cities in Brazil by cable TV, to all Central and South America by satellite, and globally on the Internet, was explained in detail. The organization is a nonprofit entity and managed independently of the TS so as to place no financial burden or risk on the assets of the TS in Brazil. The directors are all TS members who receive no remuneration. The President noted that this is a new idea and each Section needed to be free to develop its own way of promoting Theosophy." (4) As examples of these testimonials, Silvia Liliana Pastore, President of the TS in Argentina says: "The sister Carmen César visited Argentina, gave public lectures in Buenos Aires and San Rafael. She also held meetings just with members of the TS, emphasizing the essential work of the TS. She never talked as representative of the PU or TV Supren. She invited the members to participate in the LusoHispanic Meeting in the name of the TS Brazil and of his president Marcos Borges Ressende". And Julia Ballesteros, President of the TS in Colombia says: "I testify that the brothers María del Carmen César, Ulisses y Wanda Resende came to Bogotá and Medellín in January 2009 and they specifically devoted themselves to promote the TS and the LusoHispanic Meeting. Thanks to those visits in which they gave public conferences, interviews in Universities and talks to the members, the interest in knowing about the TS and belonging to it grew. I also state that they generously spend their time and money for this trip and that the TS did not have to spend any money during their visit." (5) In this regard, Maria del Carmen César clarifies: "Together with the agenda of the event, a letter of invitation was sent to each member dated April 27th, in which there was this footnote: 'EXPLANATORY NOTE: MEETING AGENDA: In this regard we want to 4 inform you that previously we have sent a draft in advance of the programme. We want to make clear that this DRAFT was sent by requests of some General Secretaries because they wanted to begin studying the themes to be discussed, and they also wanted to know how the works would be distributed (we make clear that several countries have taken part directly, in different ways, in the preparation of the agenda). We also want to clarify that the relevant invitations were sent at the appropriate time to both Presidents of the European and American Federations at the same time as this ADVANCE of programme, to allow them to check their inclusion in the agenda. So far, we have just received the answer of Sister Kind (by a phone call made by our organization a few days), who replied that she would not be able to attend because she would be travelling with her husband that same date. With regard to Mrs. Kim Dieu, we still have not received any answer'." (6) On the Brasilia meeting, Silvia Liliana Pastore reports: "To the LusoHispanic Meeting traveled from Argentina 17 atendees (8 young), who participated in activities, panels and workshops, fully connected with Theosophy and the TS. The atmosphere of brotherhood and excitement experienced during the meeting showed the quality of spiritual energy that only circulates in gatherings engaged with the Service to Mankind." On the other hand, Miguel Martínez de Paz, Madrid, member of the Spanish TS says: "Meeting of Theosophy LusoHispanic held at the Theosophical Institute in Brasilia last July, we went 11 Spanish and were internally motivated by the profound spiritual experience that took place there, being strengthened and will theosophical spirit given to extend that spirit in a global environment, confused and in crisis. " “Eleven Spanish people attended the LusoHispanic Meeting celebrated in the Theosophical Institute of Brazilia, last July, and we were internally motivated by the deep spiritual experience that took place there, begin strengthened the theosophical spirit and with the will commited to extend that spirit in a global environment, confused and in crisis.” Signed by the following TS members: Adela Bonomini Francovich (Madrid, Spain) Ana María Cáceres (Paraguay) Ana María Oncina Cordón (Lanzarote, Spain) Antonio Castillo (Asunción, Paraguay) Antonio Martínez Segura (Bogotá, Colombia) Carlos Pérez Menéndez (Madrid, Spain) Edith Padilla Johnson de Pomar (Lima, Perú) Elena Ortiz (Montevideo, Uruguay) Erica L. Georgiades (Athens, Greece) Julia Ballesteros de Martínez (President, TS in Colombia) Julio Gerardo Pomar (Presidential Agent, ST in Peru) Lissette Arroyo Jiménez (President, TS in Mexico) Marcos Resende (President, TS in Brazil) María del Carmen César Galante (Madrid, Spain) Miguel Martínez de Paz (Madrid, Spain) Mónica Pastore (Rosario, Argentina) Norberto Cicirelli (Rosario, Argentina) Ricardo Lindemann (Brazilia, Brazil) Silvia Liliana Pastore (President, TS in Argentina)…
- Added by MIGUEL MARTINEZ DE PAZ at 3:06pm on November 7, 2009
- Comment on: Blog Post 'Theosophical Wanderings'
- o the languages we speak shape the way we see the world, the way we think, and the way we live our lives? Do people who speak different languages think differently simply because they speak different languages? Does learning new languages change the way you think? Do polyglots think differently when speaking different languages? These questions touch on nearly all of the major controversies in the study of mind. They have engaged scores of philosophers, anthropologists, linguists, and psychologists, and they have important implications for politics, law, and religion. Yet despite nearly constant attention and debate, very little empirical work was done on these questions until recently. For a long time, the idea that language might shape thought was considered at best untestable and more often simply wrong. Research in my labs at Stanford University and at MIT has helped reopen this question. We have collected data around the world: from China, Greece, Chile, Indonesia, Russia, and Aboriginal Australia. What we have learned is that people who speak different languages do indeed think differently and that even flukes of grammar can profoundly affect how we see the world. Language is a uniquely human gift, central to our experience of being human. Appreciating its role in constructing our mental lives brings us one step closer to understanding the very nature of humanity. I often start my undergraduate lectures by asking students the following question: which cognitive faculty would you most hate to lose? Most of them pick the sense of sight; a few pick hearing. Once in a while, a wisecracking student might pick her sense of humor or her fashion sense. Almost never do any of them spontaneously say that the faculty they'd most hate to lose is language. Yet if you lose (or are born without) your sight or hearing, you can still have a wonderfully rich social existence. You can have friends, you can get an education, you can hold a job, you can start a family. But what would your life be like if you had never learned a language? Could you still have friends, get an education, hold a job, start a family? Language is so fundamental to our experience, so deeply a part of being human, that it's hard to imagine life without it. But are languages merely tools for expressing our thoughts, or do they actually shape our thoughts? Most questions of whether and how language shapes thought start with the simple observation that languages differ from one another. And a lot! Let's take a (very) hypothetical example. Suppose you want to say, "Bush read Chomsky's latest book." Let's focus on just the verb, "read." To say this sentence in English, we have to mark the verb for tense; in this case, we have to pronounce it like "red" and not like "reed." In Indonesian you need not (in fact, you can't) alter the verb to mark tense. In Russian you would have to alter the verb to indicate tense and gender. So if it was Laura Bush who did the reading, you'd use a different form of the verb than if it was George. In Russian you'd also have to include in the verb information about completion. If George read only part of the book, you'd use a different form of the verb than if he'd diligently plowed through the whole thing. In Turkish you'd have to include in the verb how you acquired this information: if you had witnessed this unlikely event with your own two eyes, you'd use one verb form, but if you had simply read or heard about it, or inferred it from something Bush said, you'd use a different verb form. Clearly, languages require different things of their speakers. Does this mean that the speakers think differently about the world? Do English, Indonesian, Russian, and Turkish speakers end up attending to, partitioning, and remembering their experiences differently just because they speak different languages? For some scholars, the answer to these questions has been an obvious yes. Just look at the way people talk, they might say. Certainly, speakers of different languages must attend to and encode strikingly different aspects of the world just so they can use their language properly. Scholars on the other side of the debate don't find the differences in how people talk convincing. All our linguistic utterances are sparse, encoding only a small part of the information we have available. Just because English speakers don't include the same information in their verbs that Russian and Turkish speakers do doesn't mean that English speakers aren't paying attention to the same things; all it means is that they're not talking about them. It's possible that everyone thinks the same way, notices the same things, but just talks differently. Believers in cross-linguistic differences counter that everyone does not pay attention to the same things: if everyone did, one might think it would be easy to learn to speak other languages. Unfortunately, learning a new language (especially one not closely related to those you know) is never easy; it seems to require paying attention to a new set of distinctions. Whether it's distinguishing modes of being in Spanish, evidentiality in Turkish, or aspect in Russian, learning to speak these languages requires something more than just learning vocabulary: it requires paying attention to the right things in the world so that you have the correct information to include in what you say. Such a priori arguments about whether or not language shapes thought have gone in circles for centuries, with some arguing that it's impossible for language to shape thought and others arguing that it's impossible for language not to shape thought. Recently my group and others have figured out ways to empirically test some of the key questions in this ancient debate, with fascinating results. So instead of arguing about what must be true or what can't be true, let's find out what is true. Follow me to Pormpuraaw, a small Aboriginal community on the western edge of Cape York, in northern Australia. I came here because of the way the locals, the Kuuk Thaayorre, talk about space. Instead of words like "right," "left," "forward," and "back," which, as commonly used in English, define space relative to an observer, the Kuuk Thaayorre, like many other Aboriginal groups, use cardinal-direction terms — north, south, east, and west — to define space.1 This is done at all scales, which means you have to say things like "There's an ant on your southeast leg" or "Move the cup to the north northwest a little bit." One obvious consequence of speaking such a language is that you have to stay oriented at all times, or else you cannot speak properly. The normal greeting in Kuuk Thaayorre is "Where are you going?" and the answer should be something like " Southsoutheast, in the middle distance." If you don't know which way you're facing, you can't even get past "Hello." The result is a profound difference in navigational ability and spatial knowledge between speakers of languages that rely primarily on absolute reference frames (like Kuuk Thaayorre) and languages that rely on relative reference frames (like English).2 Simply put, speakers of languages like Kuuk Thaayorre are much better than English speakers at staying oriented and keeping track of where they are, even in unfamiliar landscapes or inside unfamiliar buildings. What enables them — in fact, forces them — to do this is their language. Having their attention trained in this way equips them to perform navigational feats once thought beyond human capabilities. Because space is such a fundamental domain of thought, differences in how people think about space don't end there. People rely on their spatial knowledge to build other, more complex, more abstract representations. Representations of such things as time, number, musical pitch, kinship relations, morality, and emotions have been shown to depend on how we think about space. So if the Kuuk Thaayorre think differently about space, do they also think differently about other things, like time? This is what my collaborator Alice Gaby and I came to Pormpuraaw to find out. To test this idea, we gave people sets of pictures that showed some kind of temporal progression (e.g., pictures of a man aging, or a crocodile growing, or a banana being eaten). Their job was to arrange the shuffled photos on the ground to show the correct temporal order. We tested each person in two separate sittings, each time facing in a different cardinal direction. If you ask English speakers to do this, they'll arrange the cards so that time proceeds from left to right. Hebrew speakers will tend to lay out the cards from right to left, showing that writing direction in a language plays a role.3 So what about folks like the Kuuk Thaayorre, who don't use words like "left" and "right"? What will they do? The Kuuk Thaayorre did not arrange the cards more often from left to right than from right to left, nor more toward or away from the body. But their arrangements were not random: there was a pattern, just a different one from that of English speakers. Instead of arranging time from left to right, they arranged it from east to west. That is, when they were seated facing south, the cards went left to right. When they faced north, the cards went from right to left. When they faced east, the cards came toward the body and so on. This was true even though we never told any of our subjects which direction they faced. The Kuuk Thaayorre not only knew that already (usually much better than I did), but they also spontaneously used this spatial orientation to construct their representations of time. People's ideas of time differ across languages in other ways. For example, English speakers tend to talk about time using horizontal spatial metaphors (e.g., "The best is ahead of us," "The worst is behind us"), whereas Mandarin speakers have a vertical metaphor for time (e.g., the next month is the "down month" and the last month is the "up month"). Mandarin speakers talk about time vertically more often than English speakers do, so do Mandarin speakers think about time vertically more often than English speakers do? Imagine this simple experiment. I stand next to you, point to a spot in space directly in front of you, and tell you, "This spot, here, is today. Where would you put yesterday? And where would you put tomorrow?" When English speakers are asked to do this, they nearly always point horizontally. But Mandarin speakers often point vertically, about seven or eight times more often than do English speakers.4 Even basic aspects of time perception can be affected by language. For example, English speakers prefer to talk about duration in terms of length (e.g., "That was a short talk," "The meeting didn't take long"), while Spanish and Greek speakers prefer to talk about time in terms of amount, relying more on words like "much" "big", and "little" rather than "short" and "long" Our research into such basic cognitive abilities as estimating duration shows that speakers of different languages differ in ways predicted by the patterns of metaphors in their language. (For example, when asked to estimate duration, English speakers are more likely to be confused by distance information, estimating that a line of greater length remains on the test screen for a longer period of time, whereas Greek speakers are more likely to be confused by amount, estimating that a container that is fuller remains longer on the screen.)5 An important question at this point is: Are these differences caused by language per se or by some other aspect of culture? Of course, the lives of English, Mandarin, Greek, Spanish, and Kuuk Thaayorre speakers differ in a myriad of ways. How do we know that it is language itself that creates these differences in thought and not some other aspect of their respective cultures? One way to answer this question is to teach people new ways of talking and see if that changes the way they think. In our lab, we've taught English speakers different ways of talking about time. In one such study, English speakers were taught to use size metaphors (as in Greek) to describe duration (e.g., a movie is larger than a sneeze), or vertical metaphors (as in Mandarin) to describe event order. Once the English speakers had learned to talk about time in these new ways, their cognitive performance began to resemble that of Greek or Mandarin speakers. This suggests that patterns in a language can indeed play a causal role in constructing how we think.6 In practical terms, it means that when you're learning a new language, you're not simply learning a new way of talking, you are also inadvertently learning a new way of thinking. Beyond abstract or complex domains of thought like space and time, languages also meddle in basic aspects of visual perception — our ability to distinguish colors, for example. Different languages divide up the color continuum differently: some make many more distinctions between colors than others, and the boundaries often don't line up across languages. To test whether differences in color language lead to differences in color perception, we compared Russian and English speakers' ability to discriminate shades of blue. In Russian there is no single word that covers all the colors that English speakers call "blue." Russian makes an obligatory distinction between light blue (goluboy) and dark blue (siniy). Does this distinction mean that siniy blues look more different from goluboy blues to Russian speakers? Indeed, the data say yes. Russian speakers are quicker to distinguish two shades of blue that are called by the different names in Russian (i.e., one being siniy and the other being goluboy) than if the two fall into the same category. For English speakers, all these shades are still designated by the same word, "blue," and there are no comparable differences in reaction time. Further, the Russian advantage disappears when subjects are asked to perform a verbal interference task (reciting a string of digits) while making color judgments but not when they're asked to perform an equally difficult spatial interference task (keeping a novel visual pattern in memory). The disappearance of the advantage when performing a verbal task shows that language is normally involved in even surprisingly basic perceptual judgments — and that it is language per se that creates this difference in perception between Russian and English speakers. When Russian speakers are blocked from their normal access to language by a verbal interference task, the differences between Russian and English speakers disappear. Even what might be deemed frivolous aspects of language can have far-reaching subconscious effects on how we see the world. Take grammatical gender. In Spanish and other Romance languages, nouns are either masculine or feminine. In many other languages, nouns are divided into many more genders ("gender" in this context meaning class or kind). For example, some Australian Aboriginal languages have up to sixteen genders, including classes of hunting weapons, canines, things that are shiny, or, in the phrase made famous by cognitive linguist George Lakoff, "women, fire, and dangerous things." What it means for a language to have grammatical gender is that words belonging to different genders get treated differently grammatically and words belonging to the same grammatical gender get treated the same grammatically. Languages can require speakers to change pronouns, adjective and verb endings, possessives, numerals, and so on, depending on the noun's gender. For example, to say something like "my chair was old" in Russian (moy stul bil' stariy), you'd need to make every word in the sentence agree in gender with "chair" (stul), which is masculine in Russian. So you'd use the masculine form of "my," "was," and "old." These are the same forms you'd use in speaking of a biological male, as in "my grandfather was old." If, instead of speaking of a chair, you were speaking of a bed (krovat'), which is feminine in Russian, or about your grandmother, you would use the feminine form of "my," "was," and "old." Does treating chairs as masculine and beds as feminine in the grammar make Russian speakers think of chairs as being more like men and beds as more like women in some way? It turns out that it does. In one study, we asked German and Spanish speakers to describe objects having opposite gender assignment in those two languages. The descriptions they gave differed in a way predicted by grammatical gender. For example, when asked to describe a "key" — a word that is masculine in German and feminine in Spanish — the German speakers were more likely to use words like "hard," "heavy," "jagged," "metal," "serrated," and "useful," whereas Spanish speakers were more likely to say "golden," "intricate," "little," "lovely," "shiny," and "tiny." To describe a "bridge," which is feminine in German and masculine in Spanish, the German speakers said "beautiful," "elegant," "fragile," "peaceful," "pretty," and "slender," and the Spanish speakers said "big," "dangerous," "long," "strong," "sturdy," and "towering." This was true even though all testing was done in English, a language without grammatical gender. The same pattern of results also emerged in entirely nonlinguistic tasks (e.g., rating similarity between pictures). And we can also show that it is aspects of language per se that shape how people think: teaching English speakers new grammatical gender systems influences mental representations of objects in the same way it does with German and Spanish speakers. Apparently even small flukes of grammar, like the seemingly arbitrary assignment of gender to a noun, can have an effect on people's ideas of concrete objects in the world.7 In fact, you don't even need to go into the lab to see these effects of language; you can see them with your own eyes in an art gallery. Look at some famous examples of personification in art — the ways in which abstract entities such as death, sin, victory, or time are given human form. How does an artist decide whether death, say, or time should be painted as a man or a woman? It turns out that in 85 percent of such personifications, whether a male or female figure is chosen is predicted by the grammatical gender of the word in the artist's native language. So, for example, German painters are more likely to paint death as a man, whereas Russian painters are more likely to paint death as a woman. The fact that even quirks of grammar, such as grammatical gender, can affect our thinking is profound. Such quirks are pervasive in language; gender, for example, applies to all nouns, which means that it is affecting how people think about anything that can be designated by a noun. That's a lot of stuff! I have described how languages shape the way we think about space, time, colors, and objects. Other studies have found effects of language on how people construe events, reason about causality, keep track of number, understand material substance, perceive and experience emotion, reason about other people's minds, choose to take risks, and even in the way they choose professions and spouses.8 Taken together, these results show that linguistic processes are pervasive in most fundamental domains of thought, unconsciously shaping us from the nuts and bolts of cognition and perception to our loftiest abstract notions and major life decisions. Language is central to our experience of being human, and the languages we speak profoundly shape the way we think, the way we see the world, the way we live our lives. __ NOTES 1 S. C. Levinson and D. P. Wilkins, eds., Grammars of Space: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006). 2 Levinson, Space in Language and Cognition: Explorations in Cognitive Diversity (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2003). 3 B. Tversky et al., “ Cross-Cultural and Developmental Trends in Graphic Productions,” Cognitive Psychology 23(1991): 515–7; O. Fuhrman and L. Boroditsky, “Mental Time-Lines Follow Writing Direction: Comparing English and Hebrew Speakers.” Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (2007): 1007–10. 4 L. Boroditsky, "Do English and Mandarin Speakers Think Differently About Time?" Proceedings of the 48th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society (2007): 34. 5 D. Casasanto et al., "How Deep Are Effects of Language on Thought? Time Estimation in Speakers of English, Indonesian Greek, and Spanish," Proceedings of the 26th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society (2004): 575–80. 6 Ibid., "How Deep Are Effects of Language on Thought? Time Estimation in Speakers of English and Greek" (in review); L. Boroditsky, "Does Language Shape Thought? English and Mandarin Speakers' Conceptions of Time." Cognitive Psychology 43, no. 1(2001): 1–22. 7 L. Boroditsky et al. "Sex, Syntax, and Semantics," in D. Gentner and S. Goldin-Meadow, eds., Language in Mind: Advances in the Study of Language and Cognition (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2003), 61–79. 8 L. Boroditsky, "Linguistic Relativity," in L. Nadel ed., Encyclopedia of Cognitive Science (London: MacMillan, 2003), 917–21; B. W. Pelham et al., "Why Susie Sells Seashells by the Seashore: Implicit Egotism and Major Life Decisions." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 82, no. 4(2002): 469–86; A. Tversky & D. Kahneman, "The Framing of Decisions and the Psychology of Choice." Science 211(1981): 453–58; P. Pica et al., "Exact and Approximate Arithmetic in an Amazonian Indigene Group." Science 306(2004): 499–503; J. G. de Villiers and P. A. de Villiers, "Linguistic Determinism and False Belief," in P. Mitchell and K. Riggs, eds., Children's Reasoning and the Mind (Hove, UK: Psychology Press, in press); J. A. Lucy and S. Gaskins, "Interaction of Language Type and Referent Type in the Development of Nonverbal Classification Preferences," in Gentner and Goldin-Meadow, 465–92; L. F. Barrett et al., "Language as a Context for Emotion Perception," Trends in Cognitive Sciences 11(2007): 327–32. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/boroditsky09/boroditsky09_index.html…
- Added by Bill Meredith at 11:23am on August 6, 2009
- Comment on: Topic 'Occult Effects of Alcohol, Drugs, and Tobacco.'
- omes out of the mouth really defiles a man. Whether He ever made that remark or not, there can be no possible question that a man may be most decidedly defiled by what he puts into his mouth. 853. The food which we eat is taken into the body and we actually make it part of ourselves, so it is clearly evident that the magnetism with which it is charged is a matter of great moment to us. Both its physical and its magnetic purity are important, yet some people neglect one and some the other. In India, for example, great weight is attached to magnetic purity, and a man will not eat food which has been subjected to the magnetism of some one of lower caste. On the other hand he is much less careful than we are in the West as to the physical cleanliness of the preparations, forgetting that nothing which is physically dirty can ever be magnetically pure. We are usually particular as to the physical cleanliness, but we never think of the question of magnetic purity. 854. The fact which most seriously affects the magnetism of food is that it is touched so much by the hands of the cook in the course of its preparation. Now the special magnetism of a person flows out most strongly through the hands, and consequently food which is touched by the hands cannot but be highly charged with that magnetism. This is specially true in the case of pastry and bread, which are kneaded by hand in countries which are too backward to have learnt the use of machinery for these purposes. All food made in that way would be absolutely unfit to be eaten at all, were it not for the fact that fortunately the action of fire in the baking or the cooking removes the traces of most kinds of physical magnetism. Still it is eminently desirable that the cook should touch the food as little as possible, and so ladles and spoons, which can readily be demagnetised, should always be used in cooking and serving everything; and they should be kept rigorously clean. 855. In order to prevent any avoidable mixture of magnetism many an occult student insists upon always using his own private cup and spoon. Madame Blavatsky strongly advised this, and said that when it could not be done the cup and the spoon that were used should be demagnetised before each meal. The ordinary man pays no attention whatever to matters such as these, but the student of occultism who is trying to enter upon the Path must be more careful. It is possible to demagnetise food by a firm effort of the will, and with a little practice a mere wave of the hand coupled with a strong thought will do the thing almost instantaneously. But it must be remembered that demagnetisation removes neither physical dirt nor its astral counterpart, though it may take away other astral influence; and therefore every precaution must be taken to see that cleanliness is perfect in all culinary arrangements. 856. Food also absorbs the magnetism of those who are in close proximity to us when we are eating. It is for that reason that in India a man prefers to eat alone, and must not be seen eating by one of lower caste. The mixture which arises from eating in public amidst a crowd of strangers, as in a restaurant, is always undesirable, and should be avoided as much as possible. The magnetism of one' s own family is usually more sympathetic, and at any rate one is accustomed to it, so that it is much less likely to be harmful than the sudden introduction of a combination of entirely strange vibrations, many of which are most likely quite out of harmony with our own. 857. There are, however, always two kinds of magnetism in every article of food-- the internal and the external-- the former belonging to its own character, the latter impressed upon it from without. The magnetism of the merchant who sells it and of the cook are both of the latter kind, and can therefore be removed by the action of the fire; but the magnetism which is inherent in it is not at all affected by that action. No amount of cooking of dead flesh, for example, can take away from it its inherently objectionable character, nor all the feelings of pain and horror and hatred with which it is saturated. No person who can see that magnetism and the vibrations which it sets up can possibly eat meat. 858. INTOXICATING LIQUORS 859. Indeed, many of the pernicious habits of life of the ignorant would become instantly impossible for them if they could see the hidden side of their selfish indulgences. Even the undeveloped specimens of humanity who cluster round the bar of a public-house would surely shrink back with terror, if they could see the class of entities by which they are surrounded-- the lowest and most brutal types of a rudimentary evolution, a bloated, livid fungus growth of indescribable horror; and far worse even than they, because they are degraded from something that should be so much better, are the ghastly crowds of dead drunkards-- drink-sodden dregs of humanity, who have drowned the divine image in depths of direful debauchery and now cluster round their successors, urging them on to wilder carousals with hideous leers and mocking laughter, yet with a loathly lust awful to behold. 860. All this is entirely apart from the unquestionable deterioration which is brought about in both astral and mental bodies by the indulgence in intoxicating liquors. The man who is eagerly seeking for excuses for the gratification of ignoble cravings frequently asserts that food and drink, belonging as they do purely to the physical world, can have but little effect upon a man' s inner development. This statement is obviously not in accordance with common sense, for the physical matter in man is in exceedingly close touch with the astral and mental-- so much so, that each is to a great extent a counterpart of the other, and coarseness and grossness in the physical body imply a similar condition in the higher vehicles. 861. There are many types and degrees of density of astral matter, so that it is possible for one man to have an astral body built of exceedingly coarse and gross particles, while another may have one which is much more delicate and refined. As the astral body is the vehicle of the emotions and passions, it follows that a man whose astral body is of the ruder type will be chiefly amenable to the lower and rougher varieties of passion and emotion; whereas a man who has a finer astral body will find that its particles most readily vibrate in response to higher and more refined emotions and aspirations. Thus a man who is building for himself a gross and impure physical body is building for himself at the same time coarse and unclean astral and mental bodies as well. This effect is visible at once to the eye of the trained clairvoyant, and he will readily distinguish between a man who feeds his physical vehicle with pure food and another who contaminates it by intoxicating drink or decaying flesh. 862. There can be no question that it is the duty of every man to develop all his vehicles as far as possible in order to make them perfect instruments for the use of the soul, which in itself is being trained to be a fit instrument in the hands of the Solar Deity, and a perfect channel for the divine love. The first step towards this is that the man himself should learn thoroughly to control the lower bodies, so that there shall be in them no thought or feeling except those he approves. 863. All these vehicles, therefore, must be in the highest possible condition of efficiency; they must be pure and clean and free from taint; and it is obvious that this can never be, so long as the man puts into the physical body undesirable constituents. Even the physical vehicle and its sense perceptions can never be at their best unless the food is pure, and the same thing is true to a much greater extent with regard to the higher bodies. Their senses also cannot be clear if impure or coarse matter is drawn into them; anything of this nature clogs and dulls them, so that it becomes far more difficult for the soul to use them. Indulgence in alcohol or carnivorous diet is absolutely fatal to anything like real development, and those who adopt these habits are putting serious and utterly unnecessary difficulties in their own way. 864. Nor is the effect during physical life the only point which is to be borne in mind in connection with this matter. If, through introducing impure particles into his physical body, the man builds himself an unseemly and unclean astral body, we must not forget that it is in this degraded vehicle that he will have to spend the first part of his life after death. Just as, here in the physical world, his coarseness draws into association with him all sorts of undesirable entities who, like parasites, make his vehicles their home, and find a ready response within him to their lower passions, so also will he suffer acutely from similar companionship after death, and from the working out in astral life of the conditions which he has here set in motion. 865. FLESH-EATING 866. All this applies not only to indulgence in intoxicating liquor, but also to the prevalent practice of feeding upon corpses. This habit also, like the other, produces a consistent effect; this also, like the other, draws round its votaries all kinds of undesirable entities-- horrible gaping red mouths, such as those that gather round the shambles to absorb the aroma of blood. It is indeed strange and pitiable to a clairvoyant to see a lady, thinking herself dainty and refined (truly refined and dainty she cannot be, or she would not be there) surrounded by an incongruous nightmare of such strange forms in a butcher' s shop, where she goes to examine the corpses left by the grim, ceaseless slaughter on the battle-field between man' s bestial, tigerish lust for blood and the divine Life incarnated in the animal kingdom. Little she realises that there will come a time when those who by their support make possible this ghastly blot on the record of humanity, this daily hecatomb of savage, useless murder of the forms through which the Deity is patiently trying to manifest, will find themselves face to face with His ineffable Majesty, and hear from the Voice that called the worlds into existence the appalling truth: “Inasmuch as you have done this unto one of the least of these My little ones, you have done it unto Me.” 867. Surely it is time, with all our boasted advance, that this foul stain upon our so-called civilisation should be removed. Even if it were only for selfish reasons, for the sake of our own interests, this should be so. Remember that every one of these murdered creatures is a definite entity-- not a permanent reincarnating individual, but still an entity that has its life in the astral world. Remember that every one of these remains there for a considerable time, to pour out a feeling of indignation and horror at all the injustice and torment which have been inflicted; and perhaps in that way it may be possible faintly to realise something of the terrible atmosphere which hangs over a slaughter-house and a butcher' s shop, and how it all reacts at many points upon the human race. 868. Most of all, these horrors react upon those who are least able to resist them-- upon the children, who are more delicate and sensitive than the hardened adult; and so for them there are constant feelings of causeless terror in the air-- terror of the dark, or of being alone for a few moments. All the time there are playing about us tremendous forces of awful strength, which only the occult student can understand. The whole creation is so closely interrelated that we cannot do horrible murder in this way upon our younger brothers without feeling the effect upon our own innocent children. 869. The pitiable thing about it is that a lady is actually able to enter a butcher' s shop-- that because of the indulgence of her forefathers in this shocking form of food, her various vehicles have become so coarsened that she can stand amidst those bleeding carcasses without being overcome by loathing and repulsion, and can be in the midst of the most ghastly astral abominations without being in the slightest degree conscious of it. If we take into such a place any person who has never corrupted himself with such carrion, there is no doubt that he will shrink in disgust from the loathsome, bleeding masses of physical flesh, and will also feel stifled by the actively and militantly-evil astral entities which swarm there. Yet here we have the sad spectacle of a lady who ought, by her very birthright, to be delicate and sensitive, whose physical and astral fibre is so coarsened that she neither observes the visible nor senses the invisible horrors which surround her. 870. The pity of it is, too, that all the vast amount of evil which people bring upon themselves by these pernicious habits might so easily be avoided. No man needs either flesh or alcohol. It has been demonstrated over and again that he is better without them. This is a case in which actually all the arguments are on one side and there is nothing whatever to be said on the other, except the man' s assertion: “I will do these horrible things, because I like them.” 871. With regard to flesh-eating, for example, it cannot be questioned that: (1) the right kind of vegetables contain more nutriment than an equal amount of dead flesh; (2) many serious diseases come from this loathsome habit of devouring dead bodies; (3) man is not naturally made to be carnivorous and therefore this abominable food is not suited to him; (4) men are stronger and better on a vegetable diet; (5) the eating of dead bodies leads to indulgence in drink and increases animal passions in man; (6) the vegetable diet is in every way cheaper as well as better than flesh; (7) many more men can be supported by a certain number of acres of land which are devoted to the growing of wheat than by the same amount of land which is laid out in pasture; (8) in the former case healthy work upon the land can be found for many more men than in the latter; (9) men who eat flesh are responsible for the sin and degradation caused in the slaughter-men; (10) carnivorous diet is fatal to real development, and produces the most undesirable results on both astral and mental bodies; (11) man' s duty towards the animal kingdom is not to slaughter it recklessly, but to assist in its evolution. 872. These are not points about which there can be any question; the fullest evidence in support of each of them will be found in my book, Some Glimpses of Occultism. No man needs these things, and to take them is just a matter of selfish indulgence. Most men commit this act in ignorance of the harm that it is doing; but remember, to continue to commit it when the truth is known is a crime. Widely spread as they are, these are nothing but evil habits, and with a little effort they can be laid aside like any other habit. 873. SMOKING 874. Another custom, also pernicious and equally widely spread, is that of smoking. In this, as in so many other cases, a man at once resents any suggestions that he should give up his bad habits, and says: “Why should I not do as I like in these matters?” With regard to flesh-diet the answer to this is perfectly clear, for that is a practice which not only seriously injures the man who adopts it, but also involves terrible crime and cruelty in the provision of the food. In the case of alcohol also a clear answer can be given, quite apart from the effect upon the drinker himself, for by buying this noxious fluid he is encouraging a pernicious trade, helping to create a demand for a liquor which tempts thousands of his fellow-creatures to excess and lures them to their own destruction. No man who buys alcohol for drinking purposes can escape his share in the responsibility of that. 875. It may be said that with regard to smoking the position is somewhat different, since no cruelty is necessary in obtaining tobacco, nor are lives destroyed by it as by alcohol. This is true, and if the smoker can entirely shut himself away from any contact with his fellow-men, and if he has no desire to make anything in the nature of occult progress, his argument may, so, far, hold good. If, not being actually a hermit, he has sometimes at least to come into touch with his fellowmen, he can have no possible right to make himself a nuisance to them. There are many people who, being deeply steeped in the same pollution themselves, have no objection to the nauseating odour of tobacco; but all who have kept themselves pure from this thing know how strong is the disgust which its coarse and fetid emanations inevitably arouse. Yet the smoker cares little for that. As I have said elsewhere, this is the only thing that a gentleman will deliberately do when he knows it to be offensive to others; but the hold which this noxious habit gains upon its slaves appears to be so great that they are utterly incapable of resisting it, and all their gentlemanly instincts are forgotten in this mad and hateful selfishness. 876. Anything which can produce such an effect as that upon a man' s character is a thing that all wise men will avoid. The impurity of it is so great and so penetrating that the man who habitually uses it is absolutely soaked in it, and is most offensive to the sense of smell of the purer person. For this purely physical reason no one who comes into contact with his fellows should indulge in this most objectionable practice, and, if he does, he thereby brands himself as one who thinks only of his own selfish enjoyment and is willing in taking it to inflict much suffering upon his fellow-creatures. And all this is quite apart from the deadening effect which it produces, and from the various diseases-- smoker' s throat, smoker' s heart, cancer in the mouth, indigestion and others-- which it brings in its train. For nicotine, as is well known, is a deadly poison, and the effect of even small quantities of it can never be good. 877. Why should any man adopt a custom which produces all these unpleasant results? To this there is absolutely no answer except that he has taught himself to like it; for it cannot be pretended that it is in any way necessary or useful. I believe it to be quite true that in certain circumstances it soothes the nerves; that is part of its deadening effect as a poison, but that result can be equally well achieved by other and far less objectionable means. It is always evil for a man to adopt a habit to which he becomes a slave-- evil for himself, I mean; it is doubly evil when that habit brings with it the bad karma of inflicting constant annoyance upon others. 878. No child by nature likes the loathsome taste of this evil weed but, because others older than himself indulge in it, he struggles painfully through the natural nausea which it causes him at first-- the protest of his healthy young body against the introduction of this polluting matter-- and so gradually he forces himself to endure it, and eventually becomes a slave to it, like his elders. It stunts his growth; it leads him into bad company; but what of that? He has asserted his dawning manhood by proving himself capable of a ` manly' vice. I know that parents frequently advise their children not to smoke; perhaps if they set them the example of abstention, their sage counsels would produce a greater effect. This is another habit with evil results which could so easily be avoided-- all that is needed being simply not to do it. 879. The impurity produced by this obscene practice is not only physical. It may be taken as an axiom that physical filth of any sort always implies astral filth as well, for the counterpart of that which is impure cannot itself be pure. Just as the physical nerve-vibrations are deadened by the poison, so are both astral and mental undulations. For occult progress a man needs to have his vehicles as finely strung as possible, so that they may be ready at any moment to respond in sympathy to any kind of vibration. Therefore he does not want to have his thought-waves deadened and his astral body weighed down with foul and poisonous particles. Many who call themselves students still cling to this unpleasant habit, and try to find all sorts of weak excuses to cover the fact that they have not the strength to break away from its tyranny; but facts remain facts, for all that, and no one who can see the effects on the higher vehicles of this disastrous custom can avoid the realisation that it does serious harm. 880. Its effect in the astral world after death is a remarkable one. The man has so filled his astral body with poison that it has stiffened under its influence, and has become unable to work properly or to move freely. For a long period the man is as though he were paralysed-- able to speak, yet debarred from movement, and almost entirely cut off from all higher influences. In process of time he emerges from this unpleasant predicament, when the part of his astral body which is affected by this poison has gradually worn away. 881. DRUGS 882. The taking of opium or cocaine, though happily less common, is equally disastrous, for from the occult point of view it is entirely ruinous and fatal to progress. These drugs are sometimes a necessity in order to relieve great pain; but they should be taken as sparingly as possible, and on no account be allowed to degenerate into a habit. One who knows how to do it, however, can remove the evil effect of the opium from the astral and mental bodies after it has done its work upon the physical. 883. Nearly all drugs produce a deleterious effect upon the higher vehicles, and they are therefore to be avoided as much as possible. There are definite cases in which they are clearly required, when they are really specifics for certain diseases; but these are few, and in far the greater number of cases nature herself will work a rapid cure if the surroundings are pure and healthy. 884. With regard to the treatment of the body, prevention emphatically better than cure, and those who live rationally will rarely need the services of a doctor. Under all circumstances animal serums and products in any way connected with or obtained by means of vivisection should be absolutely avoided. It should be remembered that tea and coffee contain as their essence drugs called respectively theine and caffeine, which are poisonous, so that an excess of these beverages is a bad thing, especially for growing children; indeed, I incline to the opinion that, while in moderation they do no serious harm, those who find themselves able to avoid them are all the better for it. 885. CLEANLINESS 886. Doctors are usually agreed as to the necessity for physical cleanliness, but the requirements of occultism are far more stringent than theirs. The waste matter which is constantly being thrown off by the body in the shape of imperceptible perspiration is rejected because it is poisonous and decaying refuse, and the astral and mental counterparts of its particles are of the most undesirable character. Dirt is often more objectionable in the higher worlds than in the physical, and, just as in the physical world, it is not only foul and poisonous in itself but it also inevitably breeds dangerous microbes, so in these higher worlds it attracts low-class nature-spirits of a kind distinctly prejudicial to man. Yet many people habitually carry a coating of filth about with them, and so ensure for themselves the possession of an unpleasant retinue of astral and etheric creatures. 887. The thorough daily bath, therefore, is even more an occult than a hygienic necessity, and purity of mind and feeling cannot exist without purity of body also. The physical emanations of dirt are unpleasant, but those in the astral and mental worlds are much more than merely unpleasant; they are deleterious to the last degree, and dangerous not only to the man himself, but to others. It is through the pores of the body that the magnetism of the person rushes out, bearing with it what remains of the vital force. If therefore these pores are clogged with filth, the magnetism is poisoned on its way out, and will produce a pernicious effect upon all those around. 888. We must remember that we are constantly interchanging the particles of our bodies with those about us, and that our bodies therefore are not wholly our own; we cannot do just as we like with them, because of the fact that they thus constantly influence those of our brothers, the children of our common Father. A comprehension of the most rudimentary idea of brotherhood shows us that it is an absolute duty to others to keep our bodies healthy, pure and clean. If the person be perfectly clean, his emanations will carry health and strength, and so when we make ourselves purer we are helping others also. I copied this out and I shall search for the article AnnieBesant wrote about that, she have worked out special about alcohol and drugs. Pity we cannot find on keywords, for what people have written before us, we don't need to do twice or even more than that.…
- Added by christinaleestemaker at 9:02am on September 12, 2009
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