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The Key to Theosophy

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'The Key to Theosophy' is a classic of Theosophical mysticism and esoteric doctrine. This book is a must-have for anyone seriously interested in philosophy or religion.

The name "Theosophy" is derived from the ancient Greek for "Divine Wisdom," and is used by the Theosophical Society (founded 1875) to describe a synthesis of philosophy, ancient spiritual mysticism and modern science.

But be aware that Theosophical works such as 'The Key to Theosophy' present a rather controversial view of the universe, and the reader should be prepared for a long process of in-depth study and consideration of ideas that do not follow the normal mainstream of traditional dogma.

The unorthodox philosophy contained in 'The Key to Theosophy' has been abused by such infamous figures as Adolf Hitler and others. But great personalities such as Alexander Graham Bell, Henry Ford, Thomas Edison, Albert Einstein, and Mahatma (Mohandas) Ghandi have also been associated with Theosophical studies. This work is a classic among intellectuals of the 19th and 20th centuries.

'The Key to Theosophy' describes the Universe in terms of Pantheism (which refers to the intimate connection between Divinity and Nature, not "multiple gods" as is commonly misunderstood), and in this way, explains in logical terms a common set of fundamental principles behind many of the religions of the world. Theosophy shows the relationship of the Inner Essence of the soul of mankind to the Divine Source, and makes clear the "how" and "why" behind the Golden Rule and all the moral teachings of the various religions.

In light of the Theosophical explanations, traditional morals, ethics, and spirituality become more than a set of arbitrary dogmatic rules. For those who look closely, even such fundamental Christian principles as salvation and sacrifice become clear.

In addition to 'The Key to Theosophy,' other works of Helena Blavatsky, as well as William Q Judge, Annie Bessant, and Charles Ledbeater provide insight into this fascinating area of philosophy.

I would particularly recommend 'Man, Visible and Invisible,' 'Isis Unveiled,' 'Thought Forms,' 'The Hidden Side of Things,' and 'Golden Precepts.'

This book is an excellent introduction to the views of Theosophy, which in many respects is not a religion or a philsophy; it is a helpful guide to distinguish and compare theosophy both to the world religions as they are practiced and the "secret wisdom" that is also found in all world religions. As another reviewer remarked, the Glossary is a very helpful set of definitions for learning further about the theosophical perspective.

Exhaustive, penetrating, and wholly satisfying, you will refer to this tome for years to come. The A to Z glossary alone has proved invaluable to me as I struggle to understand concepts far weightier than I ever imagined existed!

This reviewer can claim some intimate knowledge of this subject, i.e. the source of the true God.

I base that claim on my personal search to find God which involved many years in the practice of various spiritual doctrines and disciplines. I deliberately say "practice", rather than "study". Why? Well, I certainly spent some time reading and acquainting myself before jumping into each new fire. However, for me, I was searching for a REAL experience that would demonstrate that I had indeed met the true God.

I already knew that I was imperfect and not in communion with God. A sinner I would have called it had I been brought up a Christian, instead of an atheist. How then to reach that God, and experience the undoubted joy, light, purpose, blessing, etc., that I knew I would feel when the true God became a real entity to me?

I started with left wing politics - not a religious pursuit you might say? Not so, since the underpinning of socialism is that man is fundamentally good, and that it is the competitive nature of the capitalist system that causes all our flaws. In a socialist system there is no God, so it is within man's ability to build a non-competitive paradise here on earth. And so, I marched, and organized, and attempted to convince my fellow oppressed co-workers. But after a couple of years of this activity, it occurred to me that;

1 - the leaders of the left wing groups that I admired appeared to be no closer to happiness or satisfaction, and definitely not truth, than anyone else. They often made policy statements that were proved to be wrong, or lies, or both.

2 - the existing socialist countries that had the longest time to implement their policies and thereby remove the evil effects of capitalism, appeared to be in no better shape than the USA or the UK, for example.

So this was when I met Hatha (physical exercise) Yoga, and subsequently Raja (meditational) Yoga, two Hindu practices that promise to provide a path to meet the true God. Both gave me a short but pleasant feeling of peace, and for me this was alot closer to my goal. After all, if I found God, wouldn't He be in utter peace? If this was a game of hide and seek, I was surely a least a little hotter. The only problems with these two disciplines were as follows;

1 - the feelings of peace were fleeting, at best. And I would feel just the same as before whenever I stopped the required physical or mental exercise.

2 - I was left still feeling the same old "sinful" desires that I started out with, i.e. I wanted to repeat every remotely pleasurable habit on a continual basis. This didn't seem like a path to peace.

So it occurred to me that perhaps if I tried much harder at the more serious Raja Yoga, perhaps I would see more success in controlling my desires for earthly pleasures. Consequently, through being introduced to a book written about a Hindu guru named Ramana Maharshi, I unknowingly found my way into Zen Buddhism, perhaps the most intense and determined form of meditational practice in the world.

Something important that I should mention before continuing is that Yoga, Hinduism, and Buddhism, all agree with socialism on one important, fundamental factor - that man is basically good at his core. Except that the former believe that man's mind (a.k.a. his ego) stands in the way of his realizing this goodness, and that what one needs to do to meet the true God (reach Nirvana) is eradicate the mind/ego, or realize that it doesn't really exist, and then one reaches Enlightenment - their version of meeting and living with the true God.

So, off I went into a 12 year practice of Zen Buddhism. However at the end of the 12 years I found myself no nearer to enlightenment (or Nirvana) than I was at the start of my efforts. It seemed that the harder I worked to obtain my own salvation, the more my frustration with the lack of hard results increased. Until I reached a permanently, life changing experience on a Zen retreat. During this 3-day intensive session, I started to realize that even the best of my efforts might not result in my breaking the cycle of birth and rebirth, at least during this current lifetime. And after all, even though we may say it doesn't matter when enlightenment is achieved, we all want to get there now, or at least before we die.

I began to seriously consider that when the Bible says, "it is appointed to man once to die, and after that the judgement", perhaps that it might be correct. And where would that leave me in God's eyes? Still a sinner, separate from Him. And as I began to give this idea serious consideration, God reached down in His unlimited grace and favoured me by revealing that His Son, Jesus, had already paid the price for my salvation (enlightenment) with His sacrificial death, and through His resurrection had shown me the way to the salvation I was so desperately, and unsuccessfully, seeking through my own efforts and works. This was supernaturately revealed to me through the Roshi who lead the Zen Buddhist temple that I was attending in Manhattan, NY. God caused him to stand up, during an encouragement talk or sermon, that he was delivering on the Sunday morning of the retreat. During the talk, the Roshi stood and lifted his arms up, as if he were Jesus on the cross, and said these words, "If you have faith in Jesus Christ, you can be saved".

At that moment I can only describe the experience I had as follows; the Holy Spirit entered into me, and told me that Jesus had already done what I was forlornly seeking to achieve myself. The Buddha is only a guide, he doesn't offer to do the work for you - and I only had to follow Jesus since the work had been done for me. What a relief! Peace, finally! And although I left the retreat thinking to myself that I was still a Zen Buddhist, I soon discovered, within days, that God had changed me from within - I was "born-again", as it says in the Bible.

If you are seeking like I was, look to accept and follow Jesus. He has done everything necessary for you, and all we need to do is give our lives to Him, and He will do the remainder. As Jesus said, "All you who are heavy laden, come to me, and I will give you rest". If you have any questions or problems wth the above, please consider contacting me at djrandmpr@yahoo.com. Perhaps I can answer your question(s).

David

Almost all expositions of Tibetan Buddhism that are current in the west, logical studies of mahdyamika, ethical studies of prajanaparamita, mantra and tankha practice from the Tantric or Varjayana presume upon an intimate knowledge of the arguments, psychology and metaphysics of a Buddhism as described in this work. Even Madame Blavatksy wrote in Key to Theosophy, a popular introduction to the context of her theosophy embodied in her magnum opus The Secret Doctrine, recommended that the Buddhism of Tsong-kha-pa would be an explanation to her own occultism. It took many years before any attempt was made to summarize or introduce even parts of this work. Not because the text was scarce but that the technical command of Tibetan scholastic language, logic, hermeneutics, and exegeses of Buddhist scripture were needed to approach this powerful work. The Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path of Enlightenment is the first of a series of three projected volumes. In this first volume the reader is brought into basic Buddhist teachings as characterized in a Buddhist monastic setting, for people of little or middling capacity in religion to cultivate the awakening of Bodhichitta. The work is being expedited by a committee of exceptional Buddhist scholars and is being translated in a straightforward manner without commentary or cumbersome notes.

In a nutshell this is a good book to use as a reference that outlines what on the outside appears to philosophical with waffling of words, but as anyone who is familiar with H.P. Blavatsky knows in the end that which is sought in her book is Lucifer, Satan the Devil.

If one is at all interested in Theosophy(literally "god-wisdom" or "divine wisdom") and Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, you NEED three books - "Isis Unveiled", "The Secret Doctrine", and "The Key to Theosophy"... forget the nonsense about Mdme. Blavatsky being a proto-Nazi or a fraud, that's complete hogwash.

We have been lied to all our lives - about history, about religion, etc... there is no religion higher than TRUTH.

For someone who teaches that we must be pure in thought and emotion in order to seriously labor for spiritual ends, she sure does like to take shots at mainstream christianity and judaism... The Madame flirts with bigotry in this epic discourse of things she probably shouldn't be writing about because the "science" she reveals has no practical use for the average reader, or the average reader who thinks he/she is above average.