The Secret Doctrine’s author and founder of Theosophy, Madame Helena P. Blavatsky, addressed her scientific contemporaries as not brilliant conveyers of newly discovered truths, but as fallible men, whose inquiries into the very subjects of the day they popularized, as being too shallow to accurately inform their public. At the time of her writings in the 1860s, scientific discoveries were propelling the industrial age and Western medicine forward, but in the subtle subjects such as psychology, understanding the precursors to thought entering the human mind and how to discern wisdom from falsehood, the coarseness of their mentalities impeded accuracy. She sites materialism, complete rejection of the soul and our Higher Self and more, as their fateful impediments, yet manages to she brightens the path to informed discernment for her readers.

Cycles take place at all levels; cosmic, planetary, racial, national, etc. H.P Blavatsky said it best, when she described their significance, “The ancients divided time into endless cycles, wheels within wheels, all such periods being of various durations, and each marking the beginning or the end of some event either cosmic, mundane, physical or metaphysical.” Explore your place in the universe, with this episode.

Part 2 of the Sevenfold Constitution of Man, delves further into each plane of our human nature. Understanding the physical brain’s limited role opens insights into our existence, which lies far beyond the tangible substance that science claims as the sole reality. Here we become acquainted with the upper and lower forms of Manas, our mind’s earthly wants and desires versus our intuition, as the better informer. With Manas and Buddhi clarified, the difference between knowledge and wisdom becomes apparent, as does its source, Atman. Without the lens of dogmatic religion, how the individual man is identical to the entire cosmology, is brilliantly clarified.

Though we commonly perceive ourselves as having a body, mind and spirit, we’re rarely offered an explanation of the latter two or the subdivisions of them, which actually represent seven aspects of ourselves. Here in our third episode of the Musings on Theosophy podcast, we come to have an intimate understanding of each of these levels of existence and how they work in tandem to support the whole being. Just as the human body has infinitesimal systems that work simultaneously with each other, whether we are aware of them or not, the more subtle parts of the human being have equal complexity and brilliance. The continuing existence of aspects of ourselves after the body is shed, clarifies misconceptions commonly held, broadening our understanding of the journey of the human race.

The legacy of reincarnation, comparatively taught by major religions, can both bring clarity to our own development and understanding of the path of the whole human species. Through knowledge of cause and effect, we can assist our individual karma and find ways to support the soulful trajectory of others.

Several short articles written by William Q. Judge for Path magazine in the late 1800s, on the topic of karma are narrated. How is karma defined? What are its Eastern historical roots? Why and when was it omitted from Christian teachings? Most importantly, how does understanding karma inform us about ourselves and the evolution of our surroundings?