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Taking Theosophical
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The Difficulties of Esoteric Study
for
the Intellectually Dominated Mind
“book-learning, and
here I refer only to the subject
of
Occultism—vast as it may be,will always prove
insufficient even to the analytical mind—the most
accustomed toextract the
quintessence of truth,
disseminatedthroughout thousands of contradictory
statements—unless supported by personal
experience and practice.”
From Occultism or Magic By
H P Blavatsky
Posted
In her article Occultism or Magic, H P Blavatsky begins by
exploring the difficulties faced by anyone trying to engage in esoteric study
in a world which is
dominated by the rational sciences. She refers to the upholders of the
scientific establishment as “
self styled positive scientists”.
She says;
“the self-styled positive scientists, ever on the
alert, present to the courageous scholar who tries
to deviate from the beaten highway traced out for him by his dogmatic
predecessors, a formidable range of serious obstacles.”
She cites
the work of the 17th century occult writer Hiraf,
who although very knowledgeable on esoteric subjects, is really only a
researcher who has no direct experience of the inner circles of occult
societies.
She
praises his efforts;
“for theoretical knowledge, at least, the author need fear
few rivals, still less superiors.”
but goes on to say;
“My desire
is simple: to help him in his scientific, but, as I said before, rather hypothetical
researches, by telling a little of the little I picked up in my long travels
throughout the length and
breadth of the East—that cradle of Occultism”
She also
points out that not all information available through research is bona fide;
“certain erroneous notions….
….which are calculated to confuse uninitiated sincere enquirers, who
might desire to drink at his own source of knowledge.”
The modern intellectual and rational scientific approach is also
inadequate;
“book-learning, and here I refer only to the subject
of Occultism—vast as it may be, will always
prove
insufficient even to the analytical mind—the most
accustomed to extract the quintessence of truth,
disseminated throughout thousands of contradictory
statements — unless supported by personal experience and practice.”
As indicated in the above extracts,
the seeker of esoteric knowledge is confronted with two problems;
1) The approach required involves intuition, personal revelation
and experience and much of this cannot be communicated in words.
2) Occult knowledge is often a closely guarded secret within the
inner circles of esoteric groups and sometimes information is put out to
mislead.
Although it falls outside the scope of “Occultism or Magic”, H P
Blavatsky has circumvented the problem of acquiring inner circle knowledge for
seekers of esoteric wisdom by providing writings such as “The Secret Doctrine”
which are directly obtained by communication with “Ascended Masters.” With the
knowledge now available and interpreted for the Western Mind, the seeker is
given a head start and will undoubtedly find what they need.
H P Blavatsky explains;
“those who are willing to learn the
Great Truth will ever find the chance if they only “try” to meet some one to
lead them to the door of one “who knows when and how.”
This reference is specifically for those seeking enlightenment
in the West. H P Blavatsky does not spell it out but the Theosophical Society
provides that opportunity.
Occultism or Magic
by H P Blavatsky
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Taking Theosophical
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