Hey, I'm new here. I am a relatively new student of theosophy. I'm 23 and I live in Alaska. In my search for the truth I was at first skeptical of HP Blavatsky's teachings. I used to equate occultism with satanism and the worship of evil, and that kept me from investigating the ideas behind it. I have never been a Christian, and I have never associated myself with any particular religion or belief system, but was hesitant to involve myself in the study of anything associated with the occult.

Learning a little about quantum physics and investigating the possibility that we are living in a "holographic universe" led me to Mme. Blavatsky's teachings. I now understand occultism to be more of a "science of the soul" and I am quite intrigued by the possibilities. I ordered Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine and set about trying to understand the enormously complex ideas presented by Theosophy. I am not well versed in philosophical texts so it is easy to get lost in the teachings of HP Blavatsky.

These forums have been very helpful in translating her teachings into ideas that I can better understand. There is an enormous amount of learning involved in Theosophy and I have found what I have learned already to be very rewarding. The hidden potential that lies in us all for advanced levels of consciousness and the mysteries of the non-physical world are quite intriguing and exciting.

Ebb,

You said,

"I used to equate occultism with satanism and the worship of evil..."

--> This is due to a smear campaign put out by church authoriities against occultism. The smear campaign against occultism has been very successful. It is only normal that you had such an attitude towards occultism in the beginning.

"I am not well versed in philosophical texts so it is easy to get lost in the teachings of HP Blavatsky."

--> Theosophy is the most complicated philosophy I have ever seen. Just the list of concepts seems to go on endlessly. Please feel free to share any new concepts you come across, and how they fit or do not fit into your belief system. Ask questions!

"There is an enormous amount of learning involved in Theosophy...."

--> I have been studying Theosophy for decades, and I can see that I still have a lot to learn.

"...I have found what I have learned already to be very rewarding."

--> I like Theosophy because it makes absolute, perfect, logical sense to me. I cannot find any flaw in its concepts whatsoever. (I always run like heck whenever I find a religion with discrepancies. I have not found any discrepancies in Theosophy so far. Furthermore, Theosophy actually encourages us to look for discrepancies — which religion does that?)

"The hidden potential that lies in us all for advanced levels of consciousness and the mysteries of the non-physical world are quite intriguing and exciting."

--> To me, that is why Theosophy is such fun. Theosophy provides me with answers that I cannot find anywhere else. To find such previously unavailable answers is, for me, downright exciting.

Ebb,

One more thing. There are a lot of concepts and terms in Theosophy that need to be deciphered, figured out, understood and learned, Then, we need to put them all together into some kind of unwieldy jigsaw puzzle that makes sense to us. Then, we need to take each piece and see if it fits into our own personal belief system. Then, we need to make a huge, sweeping value judgement as to how well Theosophy fits into our general belief system.

Each one of these steps, all by themselves, is a lot of work. Completing all four levels is even more work. It is a daunting task that scares away a lot of people. It is worth every minute of it.

Welcome Ebb! Best of good fortune in your studies.

Welcome, Ebb..

As a noob, you may find HPB's works a bit daunting. They are full of period language, and somewhat disorganized. Don't give up in frustration.
You might want to start with something more introductory, like Judge's Ocean of Theosophy.

Before I read the Secret Doctrine, I read Barborka's Divine Plan, which is like a detailed, organized outline of HPB's concepts. Still a large book, but far less frustrating.

Good luck!

The board should find this an exemplary compliment. Good luck on your research.