All Blog Posts (1,161)

unsure if im own my own beliefs?

I am only 17 and i spend most of my time trying to figure out my beliefs. Ive researched alot but ive never found anything that is close to how i feel about life. I started thinking alot and writing down everything that came to me naturally before i even started researching any type of philosophical ideas. The weird part is there was nothing that influenced me to start wondering about this stuff ive never even really heard of it till i started researching so i thought i was just strange. I… Continue

Added by Brandi Mitchell on November 25, 2009 at 10:49pm — 3 Comments

New Secret Doctrine Abridgement published

There is a new abridgement of the Secret Doctrine out by Michael Gomes, and published by Penguin Paperbacks in paperback and ebook, both at $17.95 US. (288pp.) It is good to see a major publisher have a Blavatsky book out. Gomes has a good intuition in his historical papers, so I imagine it is a good selection. There are probably many abridgements of the SD, the only I know of are, One edited by Elizabeth Preston and Christmas Humphreys for Quest Books and Theosophical Publishing house (260pp,… Continue

Added by Mark R. Jaqua on November 22, 2009 at 4:05pm — 5 Comments

A bit of hidden Theosophical History

From the Akashic DVD series, Madame Blavatsky, the Unknown Years.

While it is well known that HPB had a long-running feud with the spiritualist A. O. Hume, relatively few know the roots of the feud.

It all began one afternoon when Madame Blavatsky was paying a visit to Mr. Hume. They were in the library on the second floor of his house and she sat in an antique chair near the door. Unfortunately the combination of the immense gravity of her person and the age of the chair… Continue

Added by Charles Cosimano on November 21, 2009 at 11:58am — 7 Comments

Moderator www.light-weaver.com - Theosophical and Spiritual Website

I was very fortunate to find the light-weaver website created by Duane Carpenter, a theosophist. The stunning website speaks for itself what is possible in the hands of a talented artist. It also it contains links to a lot of information. You visit and enjoy the site

Added by M K Ramadoss on November 16, 2009 at 10:25am — 1 Comment

Talbot Mundy: Theosophical Novelist

Mundy and the Khyber Rifles

Rene Wadlow

He who would understand the Plains must ascend the Eternal Hills, where a man’s eyes scan Infinity. Be he who would make use of understanding must descend on the Plains where Past and Future meet, and men have need of him.

Talbut Mundy Om-The Secret of Abbor Valley

The current fighting on both sides of the Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier and the Khyber Pass which links the two countries brings to mind the theosophical novel… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on November 14, 2009 at 10:55am — 1 Comment

Krishnamurti and Theosophy

The comments on my latest blogpost about theosophical popquizes went a bit off topic. So I thought I'd start a new blogpost discussing the issue.

I've written about this before, so I'll start by quoting myself a few times. Let's start with my first attempt at discussing this:

I still do appreciate Krishnamurti's teachings as valid on the path for many, but aspects of it just don't work… Continue

Added by Katinka Hesselink on November 13, 2009 at 3:09am — 5 Comments

Let's have some fun with trivia quizes :)

Squidoo has created a template for online quizes that I've been having some fun with. So test out if you really practice the second object of the TS by studying religion, by taking my quiz about religion in general. Or whether you know enough about the largest world religion: Christianity. Perhaps a bit closer to home: I also made… Continue

Added by Katinka Hesselink on November 11, 2009 at 3:30pm — 13 Comments

Moderator Ordering Joseph Ross’ books on Krotona and other titles

Many readers have inquired where Joseph Ross’ books on Krotona and other
titles can be purchased. I am given to understand that soon, one would be
able to purchased them on-line.

In the interim, anyone interested in purchasing them can contact the author
directly at:

JEUGENER_AT_PACBELL.NET - Replace [AT] by the symbol in the email address.

MKR

Added by M K Ramadoss on November 6, 2009 at 8:10pm — 6 Comments

Moderator Joseph Ross' books on Krotona

Joseph Ross’ books on Krotona

Sometimes, reading historical material gives a better perspective of TS.

Some take a simplistic view of TS as another world-wide worldly organization

like the various business and political organizations were are all familiar

with. Considering the unusual origin of TS and how and why it was launched

and the intense on-hands Adeptic guidance of TS in the early days, it makes

one think and possibly meditate.

Much of the… Continue

Added by M K Ramadoss on November 4, 2009 at 10:56pm — No Comments

Religious symbolism, organised religion vs atheism, global warming ...

Contents of my spiritual newsletter November 2009

New online

Short Quotes

Space

Is Buddhism a Religion?

New online

On Katinka Hesselink Net

Buddhism banners

New on All Considering…

Continue

Added by Katinka Hesselink on November 4, 2009 at 5:32am — No Comments

Moderator Lives of Alcyone - now available at scribed.com for download

The book - Lives of Alcyone by CWL and AB is fascinating to read even if you consider it all fiction. It was not republished by TPH since 1924. The original publication used very poor quality paper which later became brittle and most threw them away. Courtesy of Internet and digital scanning, it is now available for download at scribed.com. It is in three files and here is the link for the first.

a… Continue

Added by M K Ramadoss on November 1, 2009 at 12:12am — 5 Comments

Theosophical Quarterly

I just put the index to this 35-volume (1903-1938) periodical online at scribd.com (below). Most would consider this New York based group "ultra-conservative." It formed around Ernest T. Hargrove (pres of Am. T.S. after Judge died) after he left Katerine Tingley's group. It included Hargrove, Charles Johnston, Julia and Archibald Keightley, C.A. Griscom and many others. There's 17 1/2 volumes online. (link)…

Continue

Added by Mark R. Jaqua on October 30, 2009 at 1:07pm — No Comments

Khalil Gibran: Spirits Rebellious

Khalil Gibran : Spirits Rebellious

Khalil Gibran (1983-1931) is one of the most quoted prose poets, especially his 1923 work The Prophet. In The Prophet, we are told that Almustafa, a holy man, has been living in exile, in a city called Orphalese for twelve years. A ship is coming to take him home to the island of his birth. People gather and ask him for his final words of wisdom — on love, on work, on joy, on children. The book has become bedside reading for all those who… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on October 28, 2009 at 5:02am — 2 Comments

Moderator Give up meat to save the planet

Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet

Here is an interesting article. It looks like, meat eating may go out of fashion like smoking. It may take time. But eco concerned men and women may be at the forefront of the vegetarian movement.

Lord Stern, former chief economist of World Bank says:

People will need to consider turning vegetarian if the world is to conquer climate change, according to a leading authority on global warming.

He… Continue

Added by M K Ramadoss on October 26, 2009 at 8:59pm — 5 Comments

Analysis of New Age Currents: Book Review

Alice O. Howell

The Heavens Declare: Astrological Ages and the Evolution of Consciousness

(Wheaton, IL: Quest Books,2006, 281pp.)

There are a number of currents of thought which hold that humanity is coming to the end of an historical cycle and is entering into a new age with the start of the new millennium. The most widely spread of these currents of thought is a complex of ideas and practices known as the New Age or the Age of Aquarius. The contemporary New Age began as a… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on October 21, 2009 at 1:46pm — No Comments

Esoteric Groups and Political Currents: Book Review

Gary Lachman

Politics and the occult : the left, the right and the radically unseen

(Wheaton, IL: Quest Books, 2008, 261pp.)

Gary Lachman has written a very useful and sober book on esoteric current in modern political thought — modern meaning here from the Protestant Reformation to the present. A sober book is necessary as the internet is filled with wild speculation about the role of the Illuminati on the political and financial system. The current meltdown of the banks… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on October 18, 2009 at 12:42pm — No Comments

Blavatsky's "The Durbar in Lahore" online

H.P. Blavatsky's "The Durbar in Lahore" was originally serialized in a Russian publication in 1881, and later translated and serialized in "The Theosophist" (uncopyrighted). This is my transcription and scans. This is the only book-length material of Blavatsky's that has never been published in book-form. Thanks to Paul Johnson on giving me a tip on it. Link:

http://www.scribd.com/doc/21184316/The-Durbar-in-Lahore-Blavatsky

Added by Mark R. Jaqua on October 18, 2009 at 6:23am — 4 Comments

The Founding Fathers and Astrology.

I saw Matt Lauer and Dan Brown discussing "The Lost Symbol" on NBC last night. They showed a painting of G. Washington in Masonic garb dedicating the cornerstone of the Capitol. Brown mentioned that it was the custom of the founding fathers to use astrology to select an auspicious time for the laying of the cornerstone of important buildings so that good things would happen in those buildings. Matt and Dan then poo pooed the idea. If astrology is true (and I think it is) it is part of how the… Continue

Added by leslie marlar on October 17, 2009 at 12:29pm — 3 Comments

Russian Magic: Book Review

I am pleased to post a review of a new Quest book which deals with the structure of Russian folk tales. The author does not follow the school of C.G. Jung to look at what psychological needs folk tales meet or what tales may tell us about the contents of the subconscience, but she looks at their structure and the way that they are used in Russian society today.

Cherry Gilchrist

Russian Magic: Living Folk Traditions of an Enchanted Landscape

(Wheaton, IL: Quest Books,… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on October 14, 2009 at 5:19pm — No Comments

Nobel Peace Prize to President Obama

Obama’s Nobel : A Hope Not Yet An Achievement

Rene Wadlow*

Only very rarely has a person to the same extent as Obama captured the world’s attention and given its people hope for a better future. His diplomacy is founded in the concept that those who are to lead the world must do so on the basis of values and attitudes that are shared by the majority of the world’s population. Nobel Committee Statement

The five-person Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize Committee has chosen… Continue

Added by Rene Wadlow on October 10, 2009 at 6:04am — 1 Comment