I'm involved in the study of the two Esoteric Tradition volumes by G de Purucker for about two years now. Reading and taking notes on Isis Unveiled volumes are what drew me to intensifying my Theosophical interest with the aid of a teacher.

I constantly struggle with drifting into many different area's of thought. So, in becoming a member of this forum, I see it as digression of a minor infraction. In otherwords, when I go to this forum, at least I'm still reading Theosophical material.

Sun, Mercury and Venus is in Pisces. Saturn is in Capricorn, Jupiter in Sagittarius, Uranus in Leo, Neptune in Scorpio. I forget where Pluto is, I think I lost it somewhere. :) With these planets being in so many different zodiacal signs, perhaps they merit more attention than my Sun sign. I really don't know, I'm still lacking in this kind of knowledge. Leo is my ascendant, so I draw too much attention to what is underneath it all, a weak little Piscean man.

My extreme ways are reigned in, and I'm back in my mountainous place of birth simply wondering.

Hi, mensagitat, and welcome to the Forum.

I will be curious to hear your reactions to de Purucker's writings. Have you found any new concepts in his book that do or do not fit into your belif system?

Thanks nick. I just now came back because when I logged off earlier, my connection had degraded, and I suspect that the log-off didn't go through. I was right, still logged in.

Actually, GdeP is very adept at expressing truth, logic, evidence, consistency and fact. I only had trouble in a couple chapters devoted mostly to Buddhism. Not that I don't see verity, but I am not fully capable of adjusting myself to thinking along the same line. I like western logic, and when it is appropriate to go transrational, I want it to come from same. Or perhaps I can only accept for now, sources from the Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan, as you might describe the spices used on the main course.

I once seen an example given, moving on to a different matter. An author, Willa Cather, and her college curriculum. The level of difficulty and immensity of it, and then the comparison made between a person today, who possesses a phD, not likely capable of passing the college entrance exams of a high school senior, of her day. This degradation of our schools began just before WWI. I'm only coming to the point of why I respect GdeP to a high degree. Also, this explains the difficulty one might find in reading material written by people in the late Nineteenth century and early twentieth. They had highly developed minds.

Welcome. I did not think I would enjoy any one else's writings but Madame Blavatsky but G de Purucker's words are poetry. I have all of his books from The Theosophical Society and I am constantly amazed at how his writings in his books seem to be different ever time I read them. I am glad you are taking your time. I have been a Theosophist for fiteen years and i am still learning more and more every day.

Sara, thank you for you welcome. I think Helena P. Blavatsky was better than de Purucker with the use of beautiful wordings. For example, the following:

Comte as a professed reformer. "In the irremediable darkness of his political, philosophical and religious views, we often meet with isolated observations and remarks in which profound logic and judiciousness of thought rival the brilliancy of their interpretation. But then, these dazzle you like flashes of lightning on a gloomy night, to leave you, the next moment, more in the dark than ever." "Isis Unveiled" vol I pps. 76-83. She also had the benefit of guidance from Great Masters.

G. de Purucker is not quite as colorful, or perhaps so, only it is expressed through his clarity of thought forged from many years of advanced study. I enjoy beauty expressed through symbolism but also see beauty in words obviously coming from a state of relative perfection beyond mine.

Well no one can compare Madame Blavatsky's writings to anyone. I discovered G de Purucker later in my studies and when I read Clothed with the Sun and Golden Precepts of Esoteric ism I was amazed that such a simple man from Suffern Ny could be so beautiful I think of Madame Blavatsky as more unapproachable and G de Purucker as someone I could meet on a walk and converse with. I have since of course read Katherine Tingley, before that it was William Quan Judge who I first started with. I guess for me Madame Blavatsky touched my mind but G de Purucker touched my heart.

Hi Sara. I think that I have been holding onto a false assumption. Dr. de Purucker was educated in Geneva, Switzerland and privately tutored. He was versed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. Also Sanskrit. H. P. Blavatsky was among Russian Noble class, so I assume a very high degree of education on her part as well. However, I've never really seen the details of her educational background. I never looked because the presence was evident in her writings.

I assumed Dr. Purucker to be advanced beyond her in education, which in contrast to Helena Blavatsky was nevertheless paled through her adventerous travels and meetings with extraordinary individuals.

I hold both in high regard. I have volumes authored by each of them. I've considered acquiring volumes from a third author, but it appears I could study the writings of these two exceptional human beings the rest of my life.

HPB had no formal education, but did spend hours in her grandfather's library when a girl. She also traveled extensively, though her travels are hard to verify.

In the preface to The Secret Doctrine, she claims to be the writer, but not the author. I do not believe her writings to be wholly her own. They are indeed remarkable.

Jon

Hi back. Dr. G de Purucker was a man and born in Suffern NY and was the son of a Anglican minister. He was indeed educated abroad, but he never forgot his roots and was humble as well as kind. Madame Blavatsky was born of royal blood and traveled extensively and was taught by many beings. I think of her as a more world wide view and Dr, Purucker as a more quiet world view. He was a brilliant man but always seemed approachable to me. He loved to just get out in the early morning and walk around Point Loma. I always wonder how such a man from such a small town ended up where he did. As I said, his words stirred something in me the first time i read them. I do not know why, they just did.

Sara,

Did you know GdP? Did you used to live in Point Loma?

No. I wish I could say I did. My teacher however was raised at Point Loma and taught by Katherine Tingley and told me all about life there and Dr. de Purucker. I also live a half hour away from Suffern New York. I have all of Dr. de Purucker's books, some I have given away, but for some reason his teachings resonates with me. As I said I started out with William Quan Judge and then Madame Blavatsky but as soon as my teacher gave me Dr. de Purucker's books I felt I was home. I am also a member and fellow of the Society and am privileged to be among so many wonderful and compassionate human beings.

Sara,

I am glad to hear you have made such a warm connection with a Theosophical teacher.

By the way, I am an airline pilot. I stay at a hotel in Point Loma (San Diego) five nights a week. I fly over (and look down upon) the old Point Loma TS campus five mornings a week. To see a campus built in the name of Theosophy (even though it has been sold and is now a college campus) is very inspiring.

Nick the pilot is really a pilot, how wonderful. I have a picture that were given me of the one's who are left. I put it in a safety deposit box. I think about what a fantastic place Point Loma must have been. You are so lucky to be able to see it but how sad that it is now a college. Although all the memories and good energies are still there. If I remember correctly I believe Dr. de Purucker died taking a walk there. I am happy that there is a forum like this where we can all learn from each other, It is a good thing you are doing.

I was fortunate enough to have a tour of what is left of the Point Loma community a couple of years ago while in San Diego for a summer conference. There are only a few of the original buildings left. The Spalding House now houses the offices of the President of Point Loma Nazarene U. The Greek theater is still there and it is inspiring to imagine the Point Loma Theosophists putting on plays there over a hundred years ago, with the public from San Diego invited to watch.
Ironically, GdeP grew up near Point Loma, and was to return there to serve with KT. They called him 'the professor'.

Also wonderful to see is the ornate carved wooden doors in the Spalding House (the big ones from the Temple of Peace are gone) carved in 1901 by Reginald Machell. Machell also did many paintings for the Society, one of which hangs in the Pasadena HQ today.

The cobalt blue glass cupola on top of the Spalding House is a recreation done by Richard Robb (the wiz), and another fellow who still works at the University (can't remember his name). The original blue cupolas were lit from the inside and could be seen for miles out at sea.

There is a great book called California Utopia by Emmett Greenwalt about Point Loma - with a lot of great photos of the early days.

Jon

I was born at the wrong time. I would have loved to have grown up there and been taught by Katherine Tingley. I have the satisfaction of claiming Dr. de Purucker as he was born a half hour away from where I lived. He might have grown up at Point Loma and educated in Europe but he will always be a New Yorker by birth.

I'm grateful that you shared so much of yourselves on this thread. I'm afraid my light pales in comparison. Not that I concern myself over such things. I never made it further South than Monterey and San Louis Abispo, when I lived in Calif., and the other half of my life was in outlying area of Washington D.C., and now I'm really rural. :)

I purchased "The Path" by Reginald Mackall. It has an interpretation included. I want to get an artist to paint it for me. I'd like it in oil.

I signed up for pilot lesson's at Half Moon Bay airport, a long long time ago, but dragged away at the last moment. I envy people who discovered Theosophy at an early age, and to have known such emanant figures, thats intense! I delved into it as soon as I discovered it. That was only about four years ago. It sincerely helped this weary battler of his own and other's shadowy lunar path type of thought learn that empathy and sympathy have more than dictionary definitions (shells).

Yes, there are seemingly endless revolvings, repetitions of the same thoughts, words, actions, results. Every now and then, there is an emanation, a creation, of something good, wholesome. A thing to cherish, nurture and watch it evolve. A thing seperate from expectations based on investment. Perhaps I might be able to say more at another time. Must be the Evening Star, t'night playing with her light, making tinkling sounds to delight.

Madame Blavatsky wrote all her pertinent works with the help of the Masters. Her body suffered terribly from their use. Isis unveiled is a little unsure in some places as she said some of the information was hard to decipher through her body as a receiver. I was fortunate to see the Northern Lights on a plane flying to Holland in 1989. I was looking for something or the meaning of life. I drifted in and out with other teachings and groups and one day I saw a little ad in Fate magazine for Theosophical studies. That was in 1993 and I have never looked back. I was asked a few years ago to go to the Worlds religion with other Theosophists but I was sick and could not make it. I was quoted though for something I had said at the World Religions and have the booklet from there with my quote. That was indeed an honor. I think you will enjoy your stay here. Leo Rising is interesting just do not let that get in your way, sometimes people with leo rising can't see through ther Lion's mane. :rolleyes:

I think an Adept can spiritually visit a venue to be instructed by That which is higher, and not be harmed. Adepts however, were her instructor. They could not always be in her vicinity, and as a result she received communication acting as a medium. This is how I comprehend your statement that she suffered from communications with them. I would not want to be a medium. I read something once that indicated being an Adept was immediately removed as a possibility the very first time a person communicated as a medium. I still have thirty to fifty years of life left, and haven't ruled out 100%, the possibility of being an Adept. Now, coming back suddenly to reality, I'll be satisfied with even a very small improvement in my relative perfection regarding to harmonious being.

I don't normally write about certain subjects in such a casual manner. I only do it rarely and hope nothing ill comes of it. Its the wind and mane thing. ;)

I was a medium since I was fifteen. It took a toll on my body which am paying for now. I could not do it anymore. I am still a subconscious channel, but I do not use it to work with other people as much. I have a friend that is a medium and he sends dead people over to the other side. I do not know how he does this, as his health is suffering. I was a medium for over twelve years and it took a toll psychologically spiritually and physically. To be honest if faced with it today, I would not do it either. Madame Blavatsky knew the risks , yet she let the Masters use her body. What a brave unselfish woman. She knew how important it was to get the Masters message out there. I do not know, but I think I would do the same this the Masters needed me. It is one to ponder.

I am sorry about that. Being young and a medium must mean you were precocious. To keep yourself open and receptive means you were knowledgeable and/or a serene person from being raised to trust. The only thing I ever trusted was my reflexes and seeing an event before it occurred. But I would have never participated in communicating with anything that nobody else could hear or see.
C'est la vie!

"Nothing better than those MYSTERIES, by which, from a rough and fierce life, we are polished to gentleness (humanity, kindness), and softened." -- Cicero; de Legibus, ii, 14.

Mars in Gemini means I'll argue about anything anytime and can feel boredom as if it is a physical infirmity.

Thank you. I think it prepared me for my Theosophical studies along with my HSOM studies. Mars in Gemini hey. I am a Gemini with Mars in Scorpio. AAAAAH. :lol:

If you will sara, tell us who your teacher was and relate some of the stories about life at Point Loma.

Sara,

I agree it would be nice to hear some of your Point Loma stories, and perhaps see a scanned photo or two. When you get a chance, start a Point Loma thread, and let's hear some of those stories.

Mars in Scorpio followed by screaming. You don't know how much I enjoyed that. It was funny.

Well I am glad I made you laugh. I will never have a show in Vegas though. Smile. It is a hard life for some who take the road of being a medium. I have nothing but respect for the ones who do.

>I hold both in high regard. I have volumes authored by each of them. I've considered >acquiring volumes from a third author, but it appears I could study the writings of these >two exceptional human beings the rest of my life.

I recommend Mabel Collins's and J Krishnamurti's texts. HPB recommends Collins, and Besant & Leadbeater (from Indian TS) would have recommended Krishnamurti at least until he quit OS. He wrote At The Feet of The Master as a child: a great book. This and Collins' books may be abstract, but short and about practices/path. Of course Krishnamurti's other philosophy texts are long, but perhaps not as important as HPB; Pythagoras, Plato, neo-Platonists (of which I also recommend Rosicrucians to post-Theosophy ;) and many Eastern sacred texts. Krishnamurti's philosophy seems quite Eastern, but as practical as [neo-]Platonism, though not as helpful to me as HPB (very Western but with accounts of many Eastern ideas.)

I was directed to this site once, and read an interesting article concerning Archetypal vs. Noumenal. http://www.teosofiskakompaniet.net/BPWadia...ineStudies4.htm

For some reason, when you mention Krishnamurti, I remembered the above site, I've went to a few times. Mabel Collins, I've never heard of before this.

Sarah, I've never considered being a medium as doing so always made me have a feeling of dread. I don't know why, propaganda perhaps? I try to carry out with increasing frequency, brief quasi-ritualized meditation. I simply feel as if I don't need to do those things. If I want to go to the appropriate place within to contemplate on a thing, I get there quickly and usually come back with, more often than not, exactly what I didn't want; truth. :)

>Mabel Collins, I've never heard of before this.

Yeah, HPB recommended Light on The Path & Through The Gates of Gold. I think she even said one of them is from the same source of the stanzas of Dzyan and The Voice of The SIlence,

Mabel Collins Light on the path is phenomenal, as is When the Sun Moves Northward. She incurred disfavor as some felt she betrayed Theosophy in that she put ideas out there and claimed they were her own. I was told when I first started studying that the Masters do not mind you writing about Theosophy but you must give credit where credit is due, or you occult abilities will be taken away. Mabel Collins was never thought of the same because she did not give the credit. My teacher was raised at Point Loma and taught by Katherine Tingley, she taught quite a few there. She sent me a group picture. I will ask her if it is alright to mention her, about the picture I am not sure. If she says it is okay, then I have got to figure out how to download it, it is not a small photograph. A few of my books were given to me as gifts from my first teacher. He sent me a book translated by Henry S. Olcoltt, of course we all know who he is. It is called Posthumous Humanity and it was written by a French Doctor by the name of Adolphe D'Assier. It is about what happens after death and before. There are parts that scared the heck out of me. He covers the astral shells, astral vampires, the mistakes doctors made thinking someone was dead when they were not. I highly recommend it as it gives a different perspective on the subject.

Sara,

Wow, you mentioned a lot of things. Regarding the photo, I can help you post it, or just e-mail me a scanned copy of it, and I will take care of it for you (once you have received permission to post it).

I am going to email her later and ask. I hope she says yes. They are the sweetest people in the world, times when I had such trials and doubts and problems, they never turned their backs on me. I have never been taught in such a wonderful manner. They are extremely secretive as they are afraid there will be stuff put out that is not true. I will hopefully hear in a few days, if she does not answer that means no way. I know that it was almost Utopian in the raising of the children, most of the children were of course The children of Theosophist some were children Ms. Tingley had decided who would be taught. I remember my teacher said before you ever get out of bed in the morning breathe the day, thank the masters for another day to do good learn to love all . Ah I am waxing Philosophical, comes from being a Gemini with Mars in Scorpio, , Taurus rising and Moon in Libra. :D

Moon in Libra. Your lucky. Isn't Libra associated with being well balanced? Two and a half days before and after a full Moon and new Moon are difficult. At some point Friday, a new moon type of difficulty will probably have to be met with. Stress is placed on being careful with other people as they might have some introverted type of turmoil going on.

I think I will try to exude rays of loving kindness to everyone tomorrow. Of course, I will not make it through this goodness completely unpunished. :D