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Blavatsky

Black magic versus white magic – it's all about motive…

Blavatsky was rather fond of the concept of ‘black magic’ and I’ve had this on my list of topics to write about ever since I started this blog. But it’s a difficult topic, a messy one. For one thing – I’m not too happy about labeling people, especially into such (literally) black and white categories. [...]

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Remembering Blavatsky – White Lotusday

On May 8th theosophists all over the world, whatever theosophical organization they belong to, commemorate Blavatsky’s passing on May 8th 1891. This day is called White Lotusday. Traditionally quotes from three texts are read: The Bhagavad Gita, The Voice of the Silence and Light of Asia. So here goes from chapter ten of the Bhagavad [...]

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About being observant of life… poverty and riches

I’d like to start this off with a story one of our Dutch theosophical teacher sometimes tells. Ronald Engelse was frequently at Saanen to hear Jiddu Krishnamurti talk. Krishnamurti would say, in his talks, that one should observe everything, the sky, the mountains, the grass… After a lecture like that, what did Ronald see people [...]

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Big Bang or Cyclical Universe? Why not both!

My blog has mostly been about spiritual growth & stuff. But as a theosophist part of my interest is in science and cosmology as well. So when one of my theosophical friends shared this article from Edge about a cyclical universe – I  thought I had to break my recent pattern. This is an interview [...]

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Blavatsky on Atlantis

Atlantis is a Western myth that many have written about. The source of all the stories about Atlantis are the Ancient Greeks. In Blavatsky’s words: The story about Atlantis and all the traditions thereon were told, as all know, by Plato in his “Timæus and Critias.” Plato, when a child, had it from his grand-sire [...]

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Tidbits about enlightenment – neurologically & spiritually

Still reading Consciousness: an introduction. Still thrilled The book closes with two chapters about spiritual aspects of the subject: awareness and Buddhism. Just some interesting tidbits thrown our way: People who start out meditating are more neurotic than average. People who continue their practice are more extroverted than those who quit (us introvert people naturally [...]

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Blavatsky a medium? about consciousness, channeling and more

Warning: this is going to be a rambling post. I’ve got too many thoughts singing through my head about this – and they aren’t organized into anything clearcut yet. Let me start by sharing a fascinating book I’ve started reading yesterday: Consciousness: an introduction, by Susan Blackmore. I read fast – so I’ve already started [...]

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Blavatsky on Yoga

Since we’ve been studying the yoga suttras in the The Hague lodge of the Theosophical Society (inspiring meetings), I thought I’d look up what H.P. Blavatsky has to say about the subject. Unfortunately I find she’s so busy debunking misconceptions rampant in her time, she finds little room to talk about the real thing. Some [...]

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Looking at the body spiritually

Last week I explained how theosophists look at consciousness: how it is mapped. In doing so I almost completely ignored the biological basis of life. The phenomena I want to map today are considered by the sciences of biology and medicine as aspects of the body – to the extent that is that these phenomena [...]

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States of consciousness: from divine to normal

[Warning: a lot of technical language in this piece.] My usual Friday piece about Blavatsky is based on The Key to Theosophy. ‘The Key’, as theosophists call this book, is the one book by Blavatsky with a traditional linear setup. In other words: the ordering of the subjects is like you would expect in an [...]

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