HUU Sermon Archives

Theosophy: Religious Science, Scientific Religion

by Beryl Lawson
April 28, 2002

Lighting the Chalice: As the fire reduces fuel to ashes, let us in the fire of service and knowledge, reduce unworthy thought and deeds to ashes.

Meditation: The three questions every system of thought, religious or scientific try to answer: What is the Cause of all we see; How does everything work and Why, where is it all heading.

What, How and Why.

Service:

The term Theosophy is derived from the Greek theos meaning god or gods and sophia meaning wisdom. Some have translated it as the wisdom of god but it is more properly thought of as divine wisdom, such as that possesses by godlike beings.

Theosophy is an old term referring, to the third century CE time of the Neoplatonists and before. Ammonius Saccas started what was called the Eclectic Theosophical system. Also called Analogeticists because of their practice of interpreting all sacred legends and narratives, myths and mysteries by a rule or principle of analogy and correspondence, as above, so below, so that events which were related as having occurred in the external world were regarded as expressing operations and experiences of the human soul.

Ammonius' aim was to look for the underlying similarity in all religions, regarding such similarities as evidence of a common source of the truths therein. Myth and history indicate that there have always been presenters of truth, whether called gods, prophets, sons of god, or enlightened ones. Odin, Moses, Zoroaster, Buddha, Krishna, Jesus. They are all teachers of the same truths.

The most resent representation of these ancient truths was presented as the modern Theosophical movement by HP Blavatsky in 1875.

HPB did not claim godlike qualities but only that she had been taught these ancient truths and was representing them to a world much in need of ideas that would throw some light on the troubles facing mankind.

Theosophy is not presented as something one must believe. It is not a religion, rather a system of thought which, when understood, will help answer our three deepest questions: what caused all this, how does it work and why or what is the purpose of all that exists in the world.

Theosophy offers three propositions as explanations for these three questions. Offers them as hypotheses which need to be tested and verified for each person for himself. In other words, consider what do these ideas explain? Do they clarify points that others systems of thought fail to explain satisfactorily? Are they consistent within themselves, that is, non contradictory?

the first: that there is an absolute, eternal, limitless principle which is the cause and sustainer of everything in the world. It is beyond thought, cannot be named and cannot be considered in any form. God cannot be less than space. The Tao that can be named is not the Tao. Call it That, It. Any of the gods of religions, ancient or modern, can only be lesser spirits or powers, not the one absolute cause of everything.

The second: that there is an absolute and all pervading law of periodicity or cycles, which works everywhere and all the time in the universe. We see its operation in the many cycles in the world, our breathing, the hours, minutes and seconds of time, day and night, the seasons of the year, the law of action and reaction, called karma, which states that every action is followed by a reaction, commensurate with the nature of the original action, reincarnation, the rebirth of the spirit, soul and mind of man into successive bodies of matter, are all evidences of this all pervading law of cycles or periodicity. By extension so it must be with planets, suns, solar systems and manifested universes.

And now the why, the third proposition. The Absolute's only attribute can be described as the Great Breath: the periodic breathing out when universes manifest and on the in breathing all returning to the source plus the experience gained while in manifestation. Spirit and Matter are two sides of the coin – Mind, the bridge between the two. Evolution of form from the lower kingdoms produces the form. The incarnation of spirit and mind are from above as the lighting of the candle from a match, or previously lit candle, produces the spark that ignites the potential of the light within the form.

What we see of the world is only a portion of the degrees of matter that exist in the universe. There are finer degrees of matter, called astral, which though finer and most often invisible to us, wherein lies the pattern for all the forms on the earth and the receptacle of all our thoughts.

There are degrees of evolution as there are grades in school. Just as there are beings below us so there are beings above us. Those who have disciplined themselves to realize their true nature and allowed the light of the Higher Self shine through the form of matter. We call these Elder Brothers, Mahatmas, great souls or Masters of Wisdom. They understand the workings of the universe. The knowledge which exists in the All is theirs to preserve and periodically share with humanity. These are the teachers of humanity in the beginning of the cycle of manifestation and throughout manifestation a reintroducing the truths of life.

What can a knowledge of these ideas do for us? How can we use them to face the problems and mysteries that face us in our individual lives and in the world? Karma and reincarnation explain genius, retardation, birth defects, sudden changes of fortune, affinities and dislikes. It explains natural disasters as the balancing of forces that have been building up as the result of our thoughts and actions. As much as we would like to blame others for our circumstances we see that no outside god is the cause, nor in a universe of law, can there be such as thing as accident. "It just happens" only indicates that we don't understand the cause. There has to be one. And most of all Theosophy reminds us that brotherhood is more than a nice ideal, it is a fact in nature, we all coming from the One Source, and that we are responsible for the happiness, as the dahli lama states, of all humanity. Our thoughts are actions and are powerful. Our motives are most important. Everything we think and do sets up causes of which someday we must reap the results. If we plant a garden we know we must reap its fruits where we have planted the seeds, so even causes whose results we haven't yet seen will come to us where we have planted the seeds.

To fully realize the SELF within each of us we have to begin to control the lower portion of our nature, the passions and desires, the selfish motives and actions that are such a large part of our activity in this life. When we begin to get a greater glimpse of the true nature of all of life and the true understanding of the connected web of which we are all a part, then we act for the happiness of all. Our thoughts and actions affect every particle of life in the entire universe. These effects come back to us as our karma. If our thoughts and acts are for the Self of All there cannot be any detrimental effects to us as individuals. We become helpers of those great souls we call Masters of Wisdom and eventually we also become the knowers of the wisdom of the universe.

Closing: From an Article by HPB called Practical Occultism: Why we call ourselves students of Theosophy:

"It is easy to become a Theosophist. Any person of average intellectual capacities, of pure, unselfish life, who finds more joy in helping his neighbor than in receiving help himself; one who is ever ready to sacrifice his own pleasures for the sake of other people; who loves Truth, Goodness and Wisdom for their own sake, not for the benefit they may confer – is a Theosophist."

(The best online link about Theosophy is: www.blavatsky.net

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