THEOSOPHY, Vol. 55, No. 6, April, 1967 (Pages 167-169; Size: 8K)
WHAT IS THEOSOPHY?A SERIES of definitions of Theosophy, supplied by "A Paramahansa of the Himalayas," was published in the Theosophist for August, 1882. The accompanying editorial note read: "Paramahansas are the order of the highest Yogi-Sannyasis, who alone are allowed to throw off the yoke of the Hindu caste superstitions. While all the others have to perform, more or less, the daily exoteric ceremonies of their respective Ashrums or orders, no rules of action can be assigned to these." (H.P.B.'s two footnotes are here placed within brackets.) The definitions follow:
1. Theosophy is that branch of human perfection, by which one may establish himself with the eternal cause of invisible nature; to which this physical effect is a visible bubble.
2. Theosophy is that knowledge which leads one from animalism to Divinity.
3. Theosophy is that branch of human philosophy, which theoretically teaches one what he really is beyond mind and personal individuality (Ego).
4. Theosophy is that branch of chemistry, by which one begets IMMORTALITY.
5. Theosophy is that branch of painting (one's self) which Time cannot efface.
6. Theosophy is that branch of husbandry (agriculture) by which one may preserve the seed without rearing the tree.
7. Theosophy is that branch of optics, which magnifies one's view to see beyond physical nature.
8. Theosophy is that branch of human surgery, which separates physical nature from the spiritual.
9. Theosophy is that branch of Masonry, which shows the universe in an egg.
10. Theosophy is that branch of music, which harmonises physical nature with spirit.
11. Theosophy is that part of gardening, which teaches one how to rear trees out of charcoal.
12. Theosophy is that branch of sanitation, which teaches one how to purify nature by means of cause and effect.
13. Theosophy is that branch of engineering, which bridges the gulf between life and death.
14. Theosophy is that warlike art, which teaches one how to subdue (subjugate) time and death, the two mightiest foes of man.
15. Theosophy is that food, which enables one to taste the most exquisite sweetness in his own self.
16. Theosophy is that branch of navigation, which teaches one the starting point and the final goal of human life.
17. Theosophy is that branch of commerce, which makes one fit to select unerringly the commodities for both lives.
18. Theosophy is that branch of politics, which unites past and future into one present, and establishes peace with the most tumultuous off-shoots of debased nature.
19. Theosophy is that branch of mineralogy, by which one may discover the source of eternal wealth, combining life, knowledge and eternal joy into one.
20. Theosophy is that branch of astronomy, which proves that spirit is the only fixed star which sets not throughout the revolutions of nature.
21. Theosophy is that branch of gymnastics, which invigorates the mind, expands the intellect, unites the thought with the tie of breath [this relates to occult practice], removes the heat of lust, and produces a balmy calmness, which is the heart's eye, to penetrate the mysteries of nature.
22. Theosophy is that branch of mental philosophy, by which one may know the exact centre of his individual Self and its identity with the entity of the second principle of the Vedantists, or the seventh one of the present Theosophists [Jivatma, in the sense of the Vedantin, is the Soul of all life, and in that of the Theosophists it is Jiva -- vital principle], or what is commonly known by the name, God.
23. Theosophy is that branch of medicine by which one may rid himself of his sins from time immemorial.
24. Theosophy is that branch of natural philosophy, by which one may watch and witness nature in her birth -- chastity -- adultery and the present old age.
25. Theosophy is that occult branch of the Christian church, on which the groundwork of that church was originally planned, -- i.e., the essential non-difference of God with the individual witness.
26. Theosophy is that branch of Christianity, which eliminates the spiritual Christ from the corporeal one of the orthodox generation.
27. Theosophy is that part of the Christian theology, which shows that the present churches of the West are abusing the Bible by misinterpretations.
28. Theosophy is that part of the Aryan independence, by which one may exist without the help of nature.
29. Theosophy (to be brief) is the sum total of the wisdom of the Aryan Brahma -- the happiest eternal -- and the life everlasting. It is Theosophy which taught the Aryans how to soar far beyond the region of Shakti and to be in perpetual joy -- (the playground of Shakti). In short, it is the basis of all the knowledge that exists in the eternity.
--A PARAMAHANSA
COMPILER'S NOTE: The following is a separate item which followed the above article but was on the same page. I felt it was useful to include it here:
PHILOSOPHY OF ACTIONTheosophy is the only philosophy that can be used in every direction in daily life. It can be used in all directions, high or low, because that use comes from an understanding of the Spirit itself, from acting for that Self and as that Self -- for the Self acts only through the creatures. Acting for and as that Self in every direction, all else flows into line. All the destruction that is around us, all the misery that we see, has been brought about through our denial of the Holy Ghost -- our denial of the Spirit within us. We deny it when we act as if we are our bodies, or our minds. THAT will not be denied. So man, meeting all the results of that denial and seeing them to be evil, learns that this is not the way. Then he seeks for Truth, and finding the truth, obtains all that he can desire. It was to give to men all they could take in regard to the nature of the soul that those Beings known as Divine Incarnations have descended here of Their own will. They have carried forward from age to age this knowledge of nature and of man and of the purpose of life, learned through many civilizations of mankind.
--ROBERT CROSBIE
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