Unlocking the Secrets of “The Secret Doctrine”
A Review Essay of
“The Secret Doctrine Commentaries -
The Unpublished 1889 Instructions.”
Barry Thompson
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The following text was first published at “Esoterica” magazine, the
journal of the Foundation for Theosophical Studies, London
edition, pp. 18-19. The article was revised by the author for its publication
at www.TheosophyOnline.com, www.Esoteric-Philosophy.com and
www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com . Barry Thompson is a long-standing
www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com . Barry Thompson is a long-standing
member of the Theosophical Society (Adyar) in England
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Madame Blavatsky [HPB], founder of the modern Theosophical Movement, died in 1891 at the age of 59, leaving behind a voluminous literature on Theosophy & spirituality, including the classics ‘The Secret Doctrine’ [SD], ‘Isis Unveiled’ and ‘The Voice of the Silence’. But the SD, challenging the conventional mind-set of generations, posed - and still poses - a challenge to the new student. Is there a key to this labyrinth of Science, Religion and Philosophy brought together by the Esoteric Philosophy? Yes there is, and serious students have just had a few more doors opened for them. During the last years of her life HPB oversaw question and answer sessions on the new-old material she had presented to the world, and a portion of the stenographic record of these exchanges was re-written and published as ‘Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge’ [some subsequent editions were re-printed under the title ‘Secret Doctrine Commentary’.] The original minute books of these meeting were lost until recently, but with their rediscovery we all now have the opportunity to read the unexpurgated stenographic record of these meetings in this volume published by the I.S.I.S. Foundation of The Hague
A communication received from one of HPB’s Adept Teachers shortly before the SD’s publication might truly be said to apply to this elucidation of the Esoteric Philosophy before us:
“Every mistake or erroneous notion, corrected and explained by her from the works of other theosophists was corrected by me, or under my instruction. It is a more valuable work than its predecessor [Isis Unveiled], an epitome of occult truths that will make it a source of information and instruction for the earnest student for long years to come...”
[“Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom”, TPH, First Series, letter 19.]
For generations as seekers we have been torn by our paradoxical situation: possessing a consciousness that can seemingly soar into the infinite and which seeks for enduring values, yet seemingly trapped in a world of materiality that dooms our noble aspirations to a short period of fluctuating fulfilment and disappointment until our presence is erased from the world forever. How did it all begin, what is the purpose of it all, what part am I playing in all this? Are we the victims of chance and necessity - the tragic-comic result of atoms and the void - or the fallen children of a benign cosmic parent? We question, we wonder, we speculate and even build philosophies on and lives around the answers we provide. But HPB startles us out of our complacency:
“You want to go beyond even the first manifestation, beyond what they call the Supreme Cause...You try to understand first the Supreme Cause...and I can assure you, you won’t understand it; it is all a figment, all our imagination. We try to do the best we can, but it does not stand to reason at all. We do not even approach this absolute, this merely logical speculation which dates from thousands ...of years. If ... modern science can say or invent something better, let it do so, but it has not done it yet. There are gaps and flaws everywhere.” [“The Secret Doctrine Commentaries”, p. 30.]
We need new ways of approaching our predicament, casting aside religious and scientific dogmas on a bold and imaginative search for the truth:
“You may intuitively know a thing without being able to give it expression, but you must understand it...in your spiritual understanding, but very likely you cannot give it an expression, because the European languages cannot convey it, not even Sanskrit, which is a thousand times richer. There are things you have to use your soul language for ... the inner perception, and the unspoken language.” [“The Secret Doctrine Commentaries”, p. 631-632]
Similarly, echoing the insights of mystics and visionaries throughout the ages:
“...If we go from the beginning, and if we imagine for ourselves this one life, this eternal, omnipresent homogeneity ... you have to take the whole thing and then proceed from the universals to the particulars. Otherwise you cannot grasp the thing....To me it is clear and intelligible as can be. It may be because I am an innocent fool, but it has never presented me any difficulty.” [Pp. 629/630]
Our human journey, we are told, is one of awakening, in which “this incarnating ego...collects the experiences of every life” until it “approaches more and more of the Absolute [p. 610]” , a reaffirmation of the traditional teaching of the divinity and brotherhood of mankind. But what drives this process? “Maya is an illusion. You think yourself a very grand fellow....But you make a fool of yourself and then comes Nirvana and shows it to you....it is illusion or ignorance that brings us to commit all the acts which awaken the Nidanas [causation]...and there is Karma....The sense of separateness is at the root of all evil. [p. 49]”
In the light of this doctrine of Maya, some conventional ideas about the law of Karma, or cosmic justice, could bear some re-examination. In a frank exchange, HPB is reported as saying:
“HPB - Well, I say it does not act. In my conception, it does not act. Well, Karma does not act any more than water drowns you.”
“Mr. B. Keightley - But water does drown you.”
“HPB - Water does not drown you. You drown yourselves in the water. Don’t go into the water and you won’t get drowned [...] in saying that it acts, we use the same expression as if we said that the sun was setting. The sun does not set at all.” [p. 593]
Madame Blavatsky’s distinctive message still holds much of interest to today’s enquirer; perusing the discussions (22 meetings in all) contained in this volume leaves a feeling that her voice is calling to us from out of the past, offering a unique opportunity to encounter the wisdom of this wonderful teacher.
NOTE:
[1] “The Secret Doctrine Commentaries”, H. P. Blavatsky, Transcribed/Annotated by Michael Gomes, The I.S.I.S. Foundation, Netherlands, 2010, 687 pp., hardback.
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Always visit www.Esoteric-Philosophy.com , www.TheosophyOnline.com and www.FilosofiaEsoterica.com .
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