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Ancient India is considered to be the spiritual motherland of our planet. According to The Secret Doctrine, it was the home of the once universal Wisdom Tradition. From ancient India, called Åryåvarta, the wisdom teachings went forth into all the religions and philosophies of the world. H. P. Blavatsky writes: |
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Does Christianity believe in reincarnation? Of course, it does not. Yet, students of the Wisdom Tradition may seek to find evidence that early Christians did accept reincarnation. Similarly in Buddhism. Does Buddhism believe in the åtman, the permanent self? Certainly, the Buddhist religion does not. Yet, there is evidence that the Buddha when teaching his basic doctrine of anåtman, no-self,… |
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The existence of the once universal Wisdom-Religion was made known to the modern world by H. P. Blavatsky, who called its modern form Theosophy. She early on described its original form as “pre-Vedic Buddhism.” Today, no one knows of any pre-Vedic Buddhism. Buddhism is thought to have originated with Gautama Buddha around 500 B.C.E., while the Vedas are much older than that. |
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Much of our understanding of Gnosticism comes from a Christian perspective which may be conditioned because the Gnostics were branded as heretics by Christianity and condemned. Irenaeus, a Greek and early Church father in the late second century, famously wrote Adversus Haeresus (Against Heresies) attacking Gnosticism. |
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From the Proceedings of the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society, Amsterdam 1904 Published in 1915 Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai [Madras] India The Theosophist Office, Adyar, Madras. India (The scheme of transliterating Sanskrit words adopted in this essay is mainly that agreed upon by western scholars) [Page 1]
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The title question of these ruminations might seem to be pointless—a query to which the answer is obvious and well known. After all, the very first question and answer in H.P. Blavatsky´s handbook, The Key to Theosophy (p.1), go like this:
ENQUIRER. Theosophy and its doctrines are often referred to as a newfangled religion. Is it a…
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True open-mindedness is not a condition we are born with. Children assume that their parents' values and prejudices are the correct ones and that the way things are is the way they ought to be. In adolescence, we may begin to challenge the values and assumptions of our childhood and become open to other ways of thinking and acting. This attitude of receptiveness to new ideas develops in stages… |
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In a generous comment on my book The Yoga of the Christ, the justly highly regarded comparative religionist, Huston Smith, hailed it as a landmark in interfaith dialogue. However, I have become increasingly uneasy about this comment because I do not believe that I was engaging in interfaith dialogue in that book or in any of my other writings or talks. I have wished to engage in what may be… |
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Why is it important to understand religion? What is the real picture of religion in the world today? And why is seeing that portrait, with all its contours, all its foreground activity, and deep background important for Theosophists and others interested in the spiritual evolution of individuals and the world? To begin with, consider the second object of the Theosophical Society: To… |
