Literature
The Daily Theosophy website is meant as introductory to the vast field of Theosophy and its practice – the ancient wisdom of the gods – for those who happen to meet it on the Net or google it up. It is for those who want to know a little more, or much more, about what Theosophy is, and what religion, science and philosophy are in their original meaning, and which are the universal doctrines that form the basis for thought systems throughout the ages. Theosophy is ancient, futuristic and become never of age. It feeds developing humanity at all times. The website is also for those who wish to know more about the work and intellectual output of the modern Theosophical movement. As it is one of the duties of the Theosophical movement to make Theosophy known around the world, theosophists of various characters have worked in their own ways, in many varieties, but always inspired by the same impulse. There are quite a few theosophical organizations and even more theosophical websites. There may be thousands at work without any connection with an organization, and perhaps completely unknown to other Theosophists. What counts is the purity of heart – never honor or position. Such people form an unseen Brotherhood of unselfish service. Since the beginning of the movement in its modern form in 1875, thousands upon thousands of lectures have been given in Asia, Europe, North and South America, Australia and Africa (I am not sure about Antarctica). There have been and are numerous theosophical magazines in many languages with very valuable contributions of those who work within the field of influence of Theosophy. Some emphasize on the fundamentals of Theosophy, others emphasize the intellectual, again others the intuitional side of Theosophy, or they write about Theosophy in practice, personal experience or hopeful signs in society. Some writings touch the mind, others the heart, or the best of emotions, and the best is all these combined. Theosophy is there for everyone – for all who would take the trouble to inform themselves. Life is more than intellect alone – and much more than many in the world can imagine. This editorial is about literature, books, but that does not imply that one has to be an intellectual to call oneself a Theosophist. Key terms of Theosophy have always been: universal brotherhood, truth (‘there is no religion higher than truth’) and truthfulness, compassion, altruism and wisdom. Anyone who practices (or seriously do their best to practice) these fundamental keys to the understanding of the Universe, is a Theosophist (even if he or she has never heard the word). There are no other ‘methods’ to reach true humanhood. Theosophy has no bias, positively or negatively, towards any religion or serious thought system rejects none and embraces all. What counts, is people. The future development of man and the human society will, besides on the exemplifying behavior of theosophists, also be based on right knowledge, while the quality of life and culture will depend on the depth of understanding of core teachings and their elaborations. For those inquisitive souls vast amounts of literature are available. Some of it may be intellectually difficult, but other books and articles stand out by their simplicity and touch the subtle recognitions of the heart. Though on the surface Theosophy may not appear attractive even to scientists and philosophers, if one digs deeper one will discover that Theosophy is a shoreless ocean of unfathomable depth – in which one can wade or dive as far as one dares to go. Though many doctrines and explanations may seem inacceptable for many minds educated within, and thus biased by particular cultures, the purpose of all true literature is to lay a basis for the future development of humanity, and in the first place to develop the spiritual intuition. Though even the best human minds are still far from completely developed intellectually, the spiritual-intuitive or buddhic development of the mind – direct and reliable distinction between universal right and wrong, true and false, just and unjust, high and low is on top of the agenda. This development of the intuitive mind will be the characteristic of the future humanity, and we just wish to sow some seeds for that future. Different people have different characters, and there are those who like to listen to lectures, those who like to talk about theosophical and spiritual matters in groups, those who prefer reading small articles, or big books and those who go for in depth study to the core of the message and will slowly gain the power to ‘read between the lines’ (because noting of true value can be written – it is to be found in the depths of one’s own being – literature however guides and concentrates the mind). All these are available. That what is truly understood is beyond the capacity of the discursive mind. At the same time, since the 19th century (it began even in the 18th) the western world has become interested in the wisdoms of cultures globally. This resulted in translations of key texts of all cultures, which nowadays can be found in any good library and most of it online. This website may partly serve as a guide. Due to the information explosion of the last decades and century it has become difficult to discriminate between the true and the false and especially to sift the true from the false when they are mixed. But who is going to tell you what you should read and what not? Nobody. My personal attraction has always been to direct myself to the basis, the origin rather than to commentaries and explanations in the first place. So I studied the fundamental literature of various cultures. For modern Theosophy I initially focused on a small number of writers who were direct pupils of great spiritual teachers, and whose duty it was to lay the basis for this particular cycle of human development. Not everyone agrees on who these genuine fundamental teachers were or are, but according to one’s own power of recognition one will soon enough find out. As to ancient thought systems I thought it best to turn to (translations of) original texts – and not so much to their interpretations by scholars and gurus – such as the Bhagavad-Gītā and Upaniṣads for Hinduism, the Popol Vuh for pre-Columbian Maya esotericism, the great Greek and Chinese Taoist philosophers, the Gnostic texts of Christianity, the Qur’an for Islam, The Sūtras and Āgamas of Jainism, and so on, just to mention a view. My personal policy has always been to first think for myself, and from that basis I proceed. One has to have hunger before it is good to get food, and nobody can be forced to swallow what his system has no need or wish for at the time. Also one should never eat more than one can digest. Better is to eat little and chew well. Intuition needs to germinate and grow in its own way. Intellectual obesity does not lead to wisdom. Even starvation is better. The modern Theosophical movement strongly opposes dogmatism, crystallization, fixed opinions and ‘systems.’ It also strongly discourages ritualism and the development of lower psychic faculties, especially mediumship, and any ‘occult powers’ one would wish to develop for oneself. They exist in the world, but are fading relics of times gone. These things may have had their function for real good, or for worse, in the past. Some of these may have been or will be useful in other phases of human evolution. But at present such are directly in contradiction with the practice of altruism and the development of higher intuition. Such efforts oppose the human development and the progress of humanity, unless they exist naturally in individual persons – because such have gained it by merit – not by greed. Let us be free and stay free. What we have called on this website ‘Secondary Theosophical Literature’, i.e. those works written by people inspired by what we have called ‘Fundamental theosophical literature’ is vast and widely available – most of it online as well – and represents the natures and qualities of those who worked on this line and wrote down their ideas. This is how Theosophy becomes ‘daily theosophy’ and percolates and impregnates human culture according to the quality of the work. Individual writers cover ever more subjects: scientific, social, artistic, occult, religious, philosophical and other. On this website you find the section Literature, which is subdivided (according to the humble judgment of the editor) into Fundamental Theosophical Literature, Secondary Theosophical Literature and Genuine Spiritual Literature of all Ages. Under these headings you will find a (still very) limited number of texts and books, which are either not easily available, or which have been edited by ourselves (and are therefore unique), or which we wish to emphasize because we think them of great importance. Almost all other literature can be found through the extensive list of Theosophical literature and periodicals presented by he Australian website The Campbell Theosophical Research Library : ‘Links to Theosophical Texts Online’.
May it help us to climb the ladder of many lifetimes gaining wisdom and compassion alike.
