Jon Fergus

For those interested.

HPB says that the khecara is “explained in the 6th Adhyāya of that king of mystic works the Jñāneśvari”

You can find the beautiful, poetic and deeply philosophical explanation starting around verse 295 of the 6th Adhyaya. Here’s a translation (links to source material below):

Arjuna, when the Shakti loses her power, the…

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Just a few thoughts on the meaning of Tao.

Charles Johnston (and some other translators) relates the term Tao to the term “Logos”, which I think is an apt approach.

A fellow student recently pointed this out to me, from the Secret Doctrine, II:335:

“… the mode of thought in which they [ancient religious texts] were originally written has to…[Read more]

I’ve been enjoying reading the Secret Doctrine Dialogues recently, and can’t help but share a couple more quotes that made me chuckle and wonder what kind of quips or chastisations HPB would hurl upon us during this discussion. 😉

On the Hindu systems (I’ve underlined one sentence which I think is particularly relevant to us here):

Mme.…

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I’ve been enjoying reading the Secret Doctrine Dialogues recently, and can’t help but share a couple more quotes that made me chuckle and wonder what kind of quips or chastisations HPB would hurl upon us during this discussion. 😉

On the Hindu systems (I’ve underlined one sentence which I think is particularly relevant to us here):

Mme.…

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Thanks Peter. I really appreciate your contributions here. You say:

“That said, do we need to keep in mind that ‘the rootless root’ is still some kind of root, and ‘the causeless cause’ is still some kind of causation?”

From my perspective, these and other terms or phrases we use for “The Absolute” are essentially but symbols or figurat…[Read more]

I want to add a portion of a discussion between HPB and her students from the Secret Doctrine Dialogues. It’s a bit long for a forum, but I really think it tackles the philosophical issues around Parabrahma quite well. The discussion arises because the students are trying to wrap their mind around what Parabrahma is, and you’ll notice them also…[Read more]

So, the five vestures idea comes from Hindu systems (summarized nicely on page 157 of the SD). My question is: what is the difference between a “vesture” (Sanskrit “kosha”) and a “vehicle” (Sanskrit “upadhi”)? And, in relation to the quote from Aphorisms on Karma, how does each vesture connect with the body, mind, intellectual and psychical nature?

Personally, one of the major effects my understanding of the Absolute has had on my practical life is that it has helped me ground the sense of “oneness” with all beings in a deeply philosophical sense. Realizing that no matter how differentiated manifestation becomes it is still One, is an idea that I have found useful daily. For instance, we may…[Read more]

It seems to me that Krishna is being identified as what we theosophists would call the Logos, in a way that encompasses the first, second and third Logos. He is all three at once, though we can mark the distinctions in various ways; sometimes we can speak of him as the first logos, sometimes as the second or third depending on our intention and…[Read more]

Thanks Peter and Pierre for these outstanding replies. Peter, I think you’re right on the money, one of the flaws in our article is that we perhaps swayed too far in the direction of evidence supporting the points we were attempting to demonstrate as counter-arguments and thus failed to provide a balanced set of quotations on the subject (early…[Read more]

Thanks for this clarification, David. This is very helpful!

Thanks for fully clarifying your position, David. My replies were partly prompted by what you said in your reply to James here, where you seemed (to me) to be providing your own justifications based on eastern texts and Sanskrit definitions as to why the interpretation “beyond brahman” is incorrect. For instance, you say:

. . . this is not what…

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May I ask if you would regard the “Wisdom of God” for the meaning of Theosophy as a mistake, an error that should be corrected?

It all depends on what that specific student means by “God”. We would need to have a discussion about that (heck, we could start by asking: by “God” do you mean brahmā, brahma or parabrahma? 😉 Besides the term God we’d…[Read more]

Thanks David for your clarification. I feel this is an area where it can become difficult to bridge the gap between theosophy/theosophists and the various traditions of the world and their adherents, and one of the reasons the latter tend to dismiss or disparage the former. To my view it all hinges on that exoteric vs. esoteric notion. This is…[Read more]

David, with due and deserving respect, I must disagree with your point of view on terminology. You say “This is not what the oriental means when he says parabrahman”, whereas I would edit this to say: “This is not what the exoteric oriental means when he says parabrahman”. HPB is clear that these terms aren’t the ones used in the actual occult…[Read more]

Thanks Peter. Really good info there, and I think an incredibly important point made in the ML quote there.

I want to suggest that something being a “collective consciousness” doesn’t imply that it isn’t also an individual consciousness at the same time. This is from the Secret Doctrine Dialogues (p. 478):

“Mr. B. Keightley: Question 8. Has a…

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“the term Iśvara-praṇidhānāt, is first used in the Sutras in Book II, verse 32”

Just wanted to mention that the term also occurs earlier in sutra 1:23, which leads into the verse Peter shared below regarding Isvara (1:24).

Here’s another quote from the SD (just shared on another discussion) which gives an occult approach to the meaning of Isvara (italics added for emphasis):

“Atma is not-Spirit in its final Parabrahmic state, Iswara or Logos is Spirit; or, as Occultism explains, it is a compound unity of manifested living Spirits, the parent-source and nursery of…

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That’s a great question Gerry. I’ll give one perspective just from my limited experience.

I’d say perhaps the most important step is the first major “pledge” of commitment to “walk the path” (without which I don’t think there can be much progress), but then the tipping point of actual identification with separateness?… seems at this stage of…[Read more]

Thanks Kirk. That commentary really brings together the ideas well, especially in connecting them to love.

Taimini mentions both Karma-Yoga and Bhakti-Yoga. If we turn to sutra 2:1, we’ll find Kriya-Yoga mentioned in direct relation to this “Iśvara-praṇidhānāt” as well:

tapaḥsvādhyāyeśvarapraṇidhānāni kriyāyogaḥ

Here we have these three: tap…[Read more]