Been moving around the religion circles quite a lot, and only get (to paraphrase Lewis Carroll) "confuseder and confuseder." Cannot seem to get down to what I am looking for. Recently into "Sant Mat" and like it a lot, but also reverting to my Islamic "roots" from long ago (in a mystical way). Anyone have any good advice for an old man who wants the "secret of life" before his death?
:P

Bupanishad!

Welcome back. I remember seeing your name on the Buddhist Forum not too long ago.

Are you trying to define your belief system?

Yes, and Yes! I dropped out of the Buddhist, and several other Forums (at least temporarily), since they became stultified and were not leading me the way I felt I should go. I seem to be obsessed with the idea of combining the Old Testament, New Testament, and Qur'an altogether into what I call the "Abrahamic Faith," but in a mystical, theosophical way. Sufism is whereI may wind up, but I like Sant Mat also. I just cannot seem to "stick to" pure Theosophical ideas alone without some kind of personal faith. "Fundamentalisms" are definitely OUT OF THE QUESTION, but perhaps something else can satisfy me. I'm using the name I was given when I took Shahada as a Muslim about 40 years ago, and it has served me well in many ways. It's good to get reaquainted, and I hope I didn't say anything I would regret when I left about a year ago. Anyway, I'm sorry for being so hypocritical and fickle. Thanks for taking me back on board!

It is like you never left.

Well, now you got me curious. How does your belief system differ from Theosophy?

Why is "pure Theosophical ideas alone" something that must be strengthened with some kind of personal faith? Where does that-which-is-Theosophy become that-which-cannot-be-a-personal-faith?

Aha, my friend! Let me ponder this awhile. Thanks for questioning me.
:unsure:

I think the answer is wrapped up in existentialist philosophy (especially Kierkegaard), and the concept of the "knight of faith," that I have been reading. Somehow, looking outside myself is not working, and I am finding not much within either. How does Theosophy deal with existentialism? While we generally do not call ourselves "atheists," we still seem to push the deity farther and farther away; e.g., Blavatsky's "prayer kills self-reliance" ("Key to Theosophy"). How does Theosophy resolve the existentialist axiom "existence precedes essence" (Sartre)?

I am unfamiliar with existentialist philosophy.

"existence precedes essence"

--> Does this mean something like the physical body preceeded the soul? Which do you think came first, the body or the soul (assuming you believe in a soul)?

I will not presume to be an expert or even well-read on existentialism, but they do have some ideas that give me, at least, some consternation. The critical thing is how to become an "authentic" human being. That means being an individual, a "singularity" so to speak, rather than following the crowd. "Existence precedes essence" means, more or less, that we are the totality of our decisions in life. In view of karma and reincarnation, this would have many ramifications. As to the "knight of faith" (of which Abraham was Kierkegaard's example), he/she follows something singularly spiritually deep inside (God?) rather than worry about what others say. By any standard, HPB was an authentic human being, as have been many spiritual people (cf. Richard Maurice Bucke's "Cosmic Consciousness"). These "knights of faith" are the real "Masters" of humanity, but often they are not known to each other and may never achieve worldly notariety. I would hope that someone can direct me to a URL where Theosophy and existentialism are compared/contrasted. I found one which might lead somewhere in this question:

http://www.alpheus.org/html/articles/philo...theos_print.htm