Introduction
One of the original objects of The Theosophical Society was and is “the study of powers latent in man and nature.” It is a fundamental teaching of Theosophy that physical matter is only a very small aspect of the totality of nature. In fact physical matter and its forces, studied by mainstream science, is no more than a coarse crust of manifestation on top of the worlds which are are imperceptible for our sense organs and its technical instruments, but never as real and truly existing as the world we see. The understanding of the wholeness of life it is part of the destiny and duty of humanity though periods of many millions of years in the future. Subtle types of matter of many different kinds and divisions belong to ‘the unseen worlds’ and all of them have their energies, forces and consciousnesses. These forces and energies can be strong or weak, or of grosser, subtle or spiritual material, they can be ‘good’ or ‘evil,’ ‘higher’ or ‘lower,’ and beyond as well as below the present stage of human evolution. They can be far behind in evolution than our own human consciousness, but at the same time more spiritual human consciousness, or can have left the human stage of the development of self-consciousness left far behind – but not necessarily of the highest spirituality. They can beneficial as well as harmful beyond guess. They can become our slaves or our good masters, helpers and evolvers. Nature can never be really understood as long as the totality of it is not understood, and human consciousness can never reach its full evolution and expression in the ages upon ages still before us without having learned to function in all lokas3 or regions of existence in our universe and having gained self-consciousness therein. This teaching has been hinted at and partly elaborated in the occult-scientific doctrines of many religions – notably Hinduism, Jainism, and some native American systems such as that of the Hopi and the Mayas, and many others. Stories about occult powers, and about heroes and divinities possessing knowledge of these unseen worlds and gain or possess powers over them are found in uncountable old mythologies the world over.
Among such ‘powers latent in man’ are great powers of intelligence, intellectuality, spiritual recognition, penetrating insight in spiritual matters, essential understanding or reality, the powers to ‘see’ and ‘hear’ the higher phenomena of the unseen worlds, reading other’s minds, perceiving every unspoken thought and motivation, powers to destroy any and every illusion, overcoming death, leaving the body and returning in the same or another at will, ‘omniscience’ as far as our human circle is concerned, the powers of compassion and the ‘skillful means’ to implement knowledge and wisdom for compassionate purposes. Among these powers are also those of ‘extrasensory perception,’ clairvoyance, clairaudience and self-conscious functioning in the astral and higher realms. As all these powers are latent in us, it belongs to our innate right and duty and destiny to develop them and use them. It also belongs to our innate right and benediction that we do not possess any of such powers to any large extend in our phase of existence. It would be the opposite of a blessing for us, often even a damnation, to be in possession of such powers when we are not mentally and spiritually prepared. They will develop naturally, over periods of thousands or years or longer, just as we have partly developed the now normal powers of intelligence, reasoning, memory, sense faculties and others in the past.
Nevertheless, to some it seems attractive to have this future powers right now and at once, and to show off with them. Even when their mental motivation are positive, helpful and compassionate, there is a deeper wisdom keeping these powers away from them ‘because nobody knows what is latent in his own box of Pandora.’ Scores of ‘yogis’ from India who have gained themselves a little bit of some of these powers and generally talk about chakras and their colors, sounds , mantras, bijas, seed syllables, yantras, nadis, ‘channels,’ root-sounds, pranic energies, kundalini etc. have presented themselves to the world (often for good money) as traveling teachers, through colorful books and fancy websites, and they promise people to develop such ‘spiritual’ powers when one follows their methods. Some of such practices may have some success – and the pupil may solve his or her own problems, many of which are practically unsolvable for people in their present stage of evolution and can cause unfathomable suffering and damage, perhaps to last over lifetimes The criminal laws of the country should include clauses of punishment for such ‘yogis.’
In many theosophical circles one finds great reserve and even hostility concerning these matters. Still the Theosophists of the nineteenths and early twentieth centuries were the first to talk about ‘supernatural’ powers and defense their actual reality. Innumerable references and examples are found in their literature as well as substantial proof. This reticence is partly due to the popularity at large of such subjects in particular periods since the founding of the TS, and the numerous efforts of individuals to try to gain, despite the warnings, some of these powers for themselves – and being partly successful brought such people could bring about great distortions in the genuine teachings of Theosophy. Such powers are only safe and reliable in the hands of those who are unselfish to the core of their heart, and have no more desires for their own benefit or satisfaction of curiosity, collection ‘proof,’ etc.
On the other hand one should not forget that there are people around who possess some of such powers naturally as a result of noble former lives. In that case, if the person is unbiased, clairvoyant investigation can be a great help in understanding the reality behind theory, and such clairvoyants, though not necessarily always able to correctly verify all his perceptions mentally and spiritually. Clairvoyance and other forms of non-physical perception are genuine ways of perception, but even more than physical perception apt to lead to distortion and wrong judgement. Several Theosophists have worked hard in these fields, and their written experiences fill many volumes. Often things were perceived in this way which were ahead of their time and could not be understood or interpreted by regular science, but proved at least partly true later – or are as yet unestablished. It remains to be emphasized though that numerous would-be clairvoyants and psychics have brought confusion and annoyance, resulting in complete rejection of even the possibility of such powers and realms of nature by mainstream science. People who have genuinely earned such powers are still rare and will probably remain rare in our consumptive and indulgent society.
This is the reason why the editors have decided to introduce a separate section on writings by Theosophists based on clairvoyance. Careful study may proof valuable, among others for young and innovative scientists to extract hints for directions they might choose for their own research.
Theosophical books resulting from clairvoyant investigation:
- by Charles Webster Leadbeater (most of them based on clairvoyant investigation)
- by C.W. Leadbeater & A. Besant (idem)
- by Arthur E. Powell
- by Geoffrey Hodson
