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Alice Bailey and Theosophy
Welcome to the sixth e-newsletter of The
Foundation for Theosophical Studies, which lists our
events this week at the London headquarters of the
Theosophical Society in England.
The work of Alice Bailey and her Masters is
being featured in two of our events this season. The
second of these is on Thursday at the
Blavatsky Lodge. This is very much in the
spirit of the Society's first object: 'To form a nucleus
of the Universal Brotherhood of humanity without
distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.'
Alice Bailey left the Theosophical
Society after she received poor treatment from
some other TS members of the American Section in
the 1920s, but
she always remained loyal to HPB and the founding
tenets of Theosophy. In the 21st
century, Theosophists strive to uphold the
first object and to heal the hurt caused by these splits.
We offer friendship and brotherhood to other
esotericists and organisations which both recognise
their debt to the Theosophical Movement and
whose own teachings support its aims. Therefore, we
are delighted to feature the work of Alice Bailey
in our programme.
Thank you for all your comments so far about the
newsletter and the sign up process (though the click-
throughs still need attention – apologies!). Please
keep sending them and let us know if there are any
topics you would like us to feature in the future. Do
please forward this
newsletter to your friends and fellow TS members
and encourage them to sign up! And if you can't get
to 50 Gloucester Place, you can always buy
CDs or tapes of many of
our lectures.
Very best wishes,
Colyn Boyce
Publicity and Administrator
The Foundation is an educational charity which
uses theosophical principles to promote knowledge
and the study of religion, philosophy and science;
which also researches the laws of nature and the
powers latent in man; and which promulgates the
unity of all people
| This week at 50 Gloucester Place |
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WEDNESDAY 21 February
2007
7 – 9 pm: ASTRO-NUMEROLOGY AND YOUR
LIFE
STORY
Clemens Brenan
Your Essence numbers foretell the big events
destined to occur in each year of your life. How they
combine with your Personal Year numbers and
Planetary Influences further delineates your destiny.
In this course you will learn to construct your own
Destiny Chart out of these vital elements. To interpret
it we will deeply examine the Pythagorean meanings
of the nine single-digit numbers. Come prepared to
share and discuss your chart openly, and so compare
it with your actual life so far. The insights you gain will
fill you with compassion and wonder for the journey
you are on.
Clemens Brenan is a psychic consultant and
healing practitioner. He combines clairvoyance with
readings in Numerology, Tarot and Mayan
Astrology.
£8 (£6 concessions + TS members)
THURSDAY 22 February
2007
6.45 pm BLAVATSKY LODGE: The Life and Work
of Alice Bailey
Christine
Morgan
Open meeting of the
Blavatsky Lodge.
£5 (£2 members of Blavatsky Lodge, £3 other TS
members)
SUNDAY 25 February 2007
2.30 - 4.30 pm: MARTINUS COSMOLOGY Study
Group
Leader: Arendse Plesner
An introduction to the work of the Danish mystic
philosopher Martinus (1890-1981), in which we shall
explore the main principles in Martinus Cosmology,
the spiral cycles, the feminine and masculine
principle, reincarnation, the law of karma etc. The
class is informal, with plenty of opportunity to ask
questions. Arendse Plesner has been studying the
Martinus philosophy for many years
Donations welcomed
4.45 – 5.45 pm: THEOSOPHY: Way to Self-
Discovery
Leader: Colin Price, National President of
The Theosophical Society in England
An informal on-going class in which the basic
teachings of Theosophy (Greek for Divine Wisdom)
are explored and discussed. In this class we will
consider the sevenfold nature of humanity and the
cosmos and how karma and reincarnation are
involved. The book Deity, Cosmos and Man
will be used as the main source text for the
meetings.
Free admission
6 pm: THE GNOSTIC GOSPEL OF JUDAS
George Wood
Lost for over 1800 years the Gnostic Gospel of Judas
has not been seen since it was condemned
as ‘heresy’ by Irenaeus in 180 A D. This Gospel
presents a radical reinterpretation of the spiritual
relationship between Jesus and Judas. Far from
being the most maligned person in history Judas is
presented as the only apostle who understood who
Jesus really was. There is also a startling re-
appraisal of the ignorance of the other apostles whom
Jesus condemns as unwittingly worshipping the
demiurge/prince of this world.
George Wood leads occasional courses in Gnostic
Christianity at the Theosophical Society in London.
£7(£5 concessions + TS members)
TUESDAY 30 January 2007
7– 8.30 pm: THE SECRET DOCTRINE
Leader:
Victor Hangya
In the midst of today’s
materialism and ruins of old
religions you are invited to join the excavation of the
perennial wisdom! The tool used in our exploration is
The Secret Doctrine, which
claims ‘logical
coherence and consistency’ and expects to be
treated as a ‘working hypothesis’, so freely accepted
by modern science. The SD sheds light on some of
the greatest mysteries concerning Man, God and the
Universe. Victor Hangya has been exploring the
Ageless Wisdom for more than 20 years.
Free admission
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ALICE BAILEY AND THEOSOPHY |
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“Spiritual Mother of the New Age” is the
phrase sometimes used to describe Helena
Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), the co-founder of
the Theosophical Society. With the wisdom of
hindsight it is possible to see now that her highly
fertile higher nature led, in time, to the creation of a
number of esoterically-minded, international
organisations.
One of these, the Arcane School, was
founded in 1923 by Alice A. Bailey
(1880-1949), who is pictured above. She, like HPB,
was a pupil of one of the
Masters of Wisdom, the Master Koot Hoomi,
one of the esoteric co-sponsors of the TS. He, it was,
who paid her a visit when she was a hateful little girl of
15 and told her of her future mission if she
could "achieve real self-control".
Twenty years later, in 1915, living in America,
she made contact with Theosophy,
The Secret Doctrine volumes, and with
some of HPB’s old pupils, who began to teach her
what they knew. In 1919 she had her first inner
contact with the Master Djwhal Khul, who
spoke to her telepathically of books she could write for
the public, with his help. Her immediate reaction was
“Certainly not. I’m not a darned psychic!” But
after much thought, some agonising, and a
consultation with her Master, KH, she eventually
agreed, and thirty years’ work began.
This was not the “automatic writing” she
wished to avoid. The words and ideas were dictated
to her telepathically by the Master DK while
she was in full control of all her senses of perception.
The Swiss psychologist, C G Jung (1875-1961) heard
about AAB’s “inner contact” with a
Tibetan, and concluded that this Tibetan was
a personification of her higher self. Alice Bailey
remarked “How is it that a personification of
my higher self can send me parcels from
India?”
The result of this telepathic co-operation with
the Master DK was 19 deeply esoteric
volumes (all still available today) on subjects
relating to modern-day aspiration: on meditation,
telepathy, cosmic fire, white magic, the seven
rays, to name just a few. These are quite
obviously the product of an extraordinary mind, and
they form a rich 20th Century addition to the works of H
P Blavatsky.
Some devoted supporters of HPB have
avoided the works of Alice Bailey, believing
that HPB said it all, and that the works of AAB were
psychically produced, thus being quite inferior. The
answer to this point was provided by Sarah
McKechnie, a prominent member of the
Arcane School, lecturing at 50 Gloucester
Place a fortnight or so ago. She said that the works of
AAB/The Tibetan should not be
simply “accepted” or “rejected”, but they
should be read, assessed, pondered over, and one’s
intuition brought into play to discern their truth or
falsity. How they were produced was really of no great
consequence, it was their content that mattered.
But, like the works of HPB, an intellectual
grasp of these profound works is not enough; they
need to be inwardly digested, understood, and made
part of one’s life and being. Only then will they have
achieved their aim: fostering wisdom and spiritual
development.
Alice Bailey died in 1949, but her work lives
on, expanding and enriching the Theosophical
Movement
worldwide.
Source:
The Unfinished
Autobiography by Alice A. Bailey
Find out more....
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