TheosophyItsBeneficentPotentialities GFarthing
Author: Karen
Date: 2018-05-28T04:30:08.647160+00:00

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities
by Geoffrey Farthing

2001 Blavatsky Lecture

delivered at the Summer School of the Theosophical Society in England

King Alfred’s Col ege, Winchester, U. K. Sunday 29 July 2001

The Theosophical Publishing House 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA

Geoffrey Farthing has authorized us to reproduce this document
for purely non-commercial purposes only.

Page 1

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

INTRODUCTION

But you, Occultists, Kabbalists and Theosophists, you well know that a Word, old as the world, though
new to you, has been sounded at the beginning of this cycle, and the potentiality of which, unperceived
by others, lies hidden in the sum of the digits of the years 1 8 8 9; you well know that a note has just
been struck which has never been heard by mankind of this era; and that a New Idea is revealed,
ripened by the forces of evolution. This Idea differs from everything that has been produced in the
nineteenth century; it is identical, however, with the thought that has been the dominant tone and the
keynote of every century, especially the last - absolute freedom of thought for humanity. [C.W.XI, 133]

Theosophy is in its fulness a comprehensive knowledge of the nature and the workings of Nature, in
which man plays a prime part. The human kingdom is a critical stage in the immense evolutionary
programme when ‘Man’, the thinker, is born. The knowledge of Theosophy is gained by generations of
trained seekers and enquirers, Initiates in the Arcane Mysteries. It claims to be an expression of Truth,
the facts of existence. It is therefore not a matter of conjecture or belief. Nature herself is seen as a
collectivity of al that comprises her in a series of hierarchies of living beings from the very lowliest to the
highest, from the elements comprising the matter of our objective world, up the evolutionary ladder
through the kingdoms of Nature to man and beyond, into the realms of super-humanity. Theosophy
postulates grades of superhuman beings which, as col ective beings with their accumulated wisdom and
knowledge, comprise the ‘creators’ and ‘governers’ of our planetary system.

Theosophy tel s us that at the heart of al things is one common Essence. This essence manifests as

‘Life’. Everything is endowed with it; there is no dead matter. Similarly everything has its degree of
sentience, even if only an ability to respond to, or just ‘feel’, i.e., react to outside stimuli, and even
memory. In its more developed forms sentience becomes consciousness. This sentiency manifests from
the lowliest elemental or mineral forms, through the more complex ones of vegetable and animal, to full-
blown consciousness in man. Thereafter it passes through al gradations to levels of awareness of a
grandeur hardly dreamt of at our level of evolution. Because of the developed faculties and purified
spiritual nature of these denizens of the highest levels of being, they may be regarded as gods. As they
have developed them in themselves, so they can bequeath to man who can express them the most
ennobling and compassionate impulses. These increase as the ladder of evolution is ascended.

The potentialities of Theosophy then can be thought of in terms of the ways that they affect behaviour.

This is particularly the case in man himself and the whole human situation. Twelve aspects of these
potentialities can readily be identified:

1. THE NOTION OF DEITY.

2. THE OCCULT STRUCTURE OF COSMOS AND MAN

3. DIVINE LAW

4. EVOLUTION, LIFE EVER-BECOMING

5. REINCARNATION

6. RELIGION

Page 2

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

7. THE AFTER-DEATH STATES, SPIRITUALISM

8. ECOLOGY

9. THE ORDERING OF SOCIETY

10. EDUCATION

11. SCIENCE

12. ART, HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGY and PARAPSYCHOLOGY

Some students of Theosophy may wonder why Theosophy’s grand Cosmology has not been mentioned.

The Cosmology when studied in depth provides answers to many questions as to how things come to be
and to be as they are, and ‘things’ here include those things which to us at the physical level are not only
objective but subjective, pertaining to our inner natures. This Cosmology, or an acknowledgment of it, is
not, however, a potentiality for the benefit of humanity ordinarily at the present time.

One of the principal potentialities of Theosophy is its explanatory nature. It provides us with an
encyclopaedic knowledge, data for a viable universal model or paradigm to use the language of modern
science, until we can know for ourselves.

Page 3

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality One:

THE NOTION OF DEITY

The notion of Deity can be regarded as Theosophy’s foremost beneficent potentiality. By it man, in his
inner essence, is regarded as divine, with an inseverable relationship to the Cosmos. He is not just in it,
he is of it. This is exemplified in the theosophical constitution of man, wherein all his principles reflect the
cosmic planes of being. Cosmos functions on various levels, from the physical to the highest spiritual.

The total universal process is an expression of the One Life. This is the animating dynamism behind the
activities of everything. It is its life manifesting as its internal energy. It is the vast dynamic force which
keeps the whole ordered process going, right from the beginning of a period of activity, i.e., the birth of
the Cosmos (Manvantara), to its end when the whole mighty process subsides into rest (Pralaya) bearing
with it the fruits of its immense period of activity. These fruits are the aggregate experience of countless
myriads of lives that have come and gone in their season during the whole mighty process. All is
garnered and stored as universal memory.

Deity is the very essence of each man’s being. The influence of this idea may at first be tentative and
spasmodic but it increases as does his spiritual nature with his experiences in his long series of personal
lives. He slowly becomes more or less conscious of his inner divine nature. This manifests as inspired
motivation in his actions; he feels the guidance of conscience.

Concerning the notion of Deity in the creation and governance of the universe, there is a passage in the

The Secret Doctrine:

It [the Secret Doctrine] admits a Logos or a collective “Creator” of the Universe; a Demiourgos - in the
sense implied when one speaks of an “Architect” as the “Creator” of an edifice, whereas that Architect
has never touched one stone of it, but, while furnishing the plan, left al the manual labour to the masons;
in our case the plan was furnished by the Ideation of the Universe, and the constructive labour was left to
the hosts of intel igent Powers and Forces. But that Demiourgos is no personal deity, - i. e., an imperfect
extra-cosmic god - but only the aggregate of the Dhyani-Chohans [Archangels] and the other forces.

As to the latter - They are dual in their character; being composed of (a) the irrational brute energy,
inherent in matter, and (b) the intelligent soul or cosmic consciousness which directs and guides that
energy, and which is the Dhyani-Chohanic thought reflecting the Ideation of the Universal Mind. [S. D. I,

279]

The Theosophical Deity is an Entity, but only in the sense of a collectivity, an aggregate of the Dhyani-

Chohans, described as “the highest gods . . . the divine intelligences charged with the supervision of

Kosmos”. (Theosophical Glossary)

This might cause us to think of Deity as “out there”, something apart from us individually. We must,

Page 4

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
however, be mindful of the teaching in How to Study Theosophy (H. P. B. - The Bowen Notes) where it
says (p8), No matter what one may study in the S. D., let the mind hold fast, as the basis of its ideation,
to the following ideas: a) The FUNDAMENTAL UNITY OF ALL EXISTENCE. This unity is a thing
altogether different from the common notion of unit - as when we say that a nation or an army is united;
or that this planet is united to that by lines of magnetic force or the like. The teaching is not that. It is that
existence is ONE THING, not any col ection of things linked together. Fundamentally there is ONE

BEING.

The implications of this are profound, far reaching and hard to realize, but the clear meaning is that there
is not Deity and us. There is only one thing. Everything, including each human being, is that ‘One Thing’.

For Theosophy to become real, every student must come to this realization. What a change in
perspective, in attitude towards one s self, is thus engendered!

This principle of UNITY is of greatest significance in the fields of Science, Religion, Education and

Ecology.

Unity expresses itself during manifestation as almost infinite diversity. This diversity leads to the sense of
separateness in humans causing the prolific difficulties in human affairs. Eradication of the effects of
these difficulties in our society is a major benefit of this Potentiality. The notion of Deity as Unity, when
sufficiently realized and worked out, becomes a powerful background to our attitudes.

There is a significant corollary to the idea of Unity in the Bowen Notes (p 9(a)): The third basic idea to be
held is that Man is the MICROCOSM. As he is so, then al the Hierarchies in the Heavens exist within
him. But the truth is there is neither Macrocosm nor Microcosm but ONE EXISTENCE. Great and small
are such only as viewed by a limited consciousness.

This idea should be kept in mind when studying the Constitution of Man, Potentiality Two.

Page 5

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Two:

THE OCCULT STRUCTURE OF COSMOS AND MAN

In the teachings of the Great Knowledge, Theosophy, there are seven levels of cosmic being, each
classified according to its characteristic nature. Of these seven one is physical, the others are non-
physical, inner and invisible to it. They are: first, at the highest level, Spirit (Atma) which is supreme, but
without some vehicle to operate in or through it is ineffective. The next level down is that of the vehicle

(Buddhi). Taken together these two levels constitute a duality, or two poles of Being, Spirit and Matter,
referred to as Monad, which pass down through al levels of creation. The duality is the basis of
subjectivity and objectivity manifesting in us as consciousness, and that in which consciousness can
arise, i.e. form or vehicle. It is also that of which consciousness can be objectively aware.

The two aspects of the One in manifestation (the Monad) give rise to the dualities of life and form,
positive and negative, active and passive, male and female, and so on. Their Essence is the ultimate
universal Unity, common to every thing in existence, to al creatures including man. Their existence is
according to cyclic law. Periodical y they (or it, the Monad) manifest as substance or things with form, the
objective side of Nature, and as inner or subjective which is motion or activity, the basis of sentience or a
degree of consciousness depending on evolutionary status, i.e., the development of forms.

All activity of living things is subject to alternations of activity and rest, in-breathing and out-breathing,
heart beats, tide and season, and so on. These rhythms are universal. The nature of their diverse
expressions depends upon the characteristics of the vehicles, the life forms, through which they function.

These vehicles, in the aggregate, constitute manifest or objective Nature, at all her levels, physical and
non-physical.

In man his Individuality (Ego), his feeling of “I”, is focussed in his mind, his thinking principle (Manas). In
universal terms this is Mahat, the cosmic principle of Mind or Divine Ideation. Manas has two aspects, an
upper and a lower. The upper is orientated towards the Monad, i.e., Spirit (Atma) operating through its
vehicle Buddhi, and the lower is the vehicle for the normal personal thinking process. There is, however,
only one mind principle but it operates at these two levels: one the divine (the Universal) and the other
the personal self, during the life of a man.

Ordinarily these two aspects of mind are in effect separate, the higher affecting the lower only
occasionally. The lower mind is the personal one, periodically in incarnation in distinct successive
physical bodies. The higher spiritual individuality (Ego) is on a long evolutionary journey. It gathers its
nurture from the purely spiritual experience of its personalities. The ordinary experiences of personal life
do not contribute to it.

The personal man is four-principled. He has his lower mind (Manas), emotions (Kama), a ‘life’ principle

(Prana), with its vehicle (Astral) and lastly the objective, physical body.

In the average man the personal mind is associated closely with his desires, passions, and concerns of a

Page 6

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
mundane, purely personal nature, his immediate family, his possessions, his livelihood, his social
position, etc. This personal mind is his ‘tool’ for performing al the necessary functions of a mental nature,
i.e., calculating, memorizing, forming judgments, coming to decisions, al necessary for his effectiveness
as a person in the world.

The majority of them are not spiritual. Faculty and competence may be acquired by experience at
personal level but they are of no consequence to the development of the divine Egoic entity. Only the
highest of motivations like duty, love, compassion, pity, altruistic helpfulness and so on, affecting actions,
are of a spiritual nature.

This list of spiritual qualities not only reflects the nature of our divine selves but reflects into the sub-
principles of our personal emotional nature. There are aspects of them in different modes at different
levels of being. In their pure form they are spiritual but at personal level most of even our highest
emotions are tinged with selfishness.

Below mind (Manas) the next principle is the personal emotional one: the principle of desire in al its
forms. This principle is closely coupled with the lower mind, which can always justify what we ‘want’ to
do. This combination of mind and emotion is sometimes referred to as the ‘psyche’ or mortal soul.

The last of our principles is our physical body, in which during earth life all our internal subjective
activities are focussed. Emotional urges are turned into appetites, hence our more animal urges. Our
bodies are our means of perception and action in the physical world. It is in our bodies (physical brains)

that we are normal y conscious. The ‘here and now’ for us wherein we have our very existence is tied up
with our bodies. There is evidence, however, that independent subjective existence is possible, for
example, in out-of-the-body experiences.

It is obvious that our physical bodies are endowed with ‘life’ which is regarded as a separate principle.

This ‘life’ principle (Prana or Jiva), as animating energy, is ‘collected’ and stored in another principle
closely associated with the physical, a very important one, known as the Astral body. It reflects the Astral

Plane wherein exist the forms that are projected into the physical world. The Astral as either a body or
plane is also the reservoir of memory.

This information about the occult constitution of man is, perhaps, not in itself a beneficent theosophical
potentiality but it is essential to an understanding of the religions, the post mortem states, the spiritualistic
phenomena, the operations of Karma. [ To the more advanced student, man’s relationship to the

‘Hierarchies of the Heavens” becomes of importance to his fuller understanding (see Bowen Notes,

Collected Writings, Volume II, page 568, and Diagram V opposite, page 660)].

It is through our physical bodies, however, that normally all our activities both inner and outer express
themselves. On its activities depend the significant experiences we gain from living.

Our physical bodies are living entities, composed in their entirety of hosts of subordinate lives (cel s). All

Page 7

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
of them are specialised to perform the body’s various functions. Even our brains are composed of such
specialised cells. One of the secrets for the proper understanding of the functioning of our brains is that
they, and even each of their constituent cel s, like us, have their principles in the invisible worlds. Each
cell of our body is a living thing, very importantly with its own consciousness and memory (and even will).

It has its counterpart in the Astral and, whether active or dormant, at even higher levels of being, i.e., the
emotional, mental and spiritual. Obviously also the cel s are suffused with the life energies which sustain
and animate our physical bodies.

Through the inner subjective realms we are given some understanding of ourselves otherwise unknown
to us. For example, they provide data for a more comprehensive system of psychology, relating us not
only to emotional but to mental and spiritual levels, right up to the divine.

These principles of man are seen as reflections of the seven cosmic planes. By analogy, “as above, so
below”; man’s total being in al respects is the same as that of the Universe. He is a microcosm to its

Macrocosm. As everything in Cosmos is living, the planes are constituted of lives which in turn are
members of an ascending Hierarchy. Overriding all these various aspects of being is that of Unity, never
to be overlooked or forgotten by the student. [ See Appendix for the Occult Constitution of Man as given
in The Key to Theosophy, pages 22, 91, 175, Original Edition].

Page 8

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Three:

DIVINE LAW

All of us are born at a certain time to certain parents living in a certain place in a certain country. We are
of a certain nationality and religion and come into the world endowed with certain personal gifts or
deficiencies, as a male or a female, born into a house of riches or poverty, to parents of culture and
refinement or the very opposite. This place we are born into is somewhere on the surface of the planet.

When we are old enough we will look into the heavens and see something there of the endless spaces
and something of the multitudes of stars. When we are even older maybe we will discover the enormity of
those spaces. We will learn that the whole vast scheme of things has been going for unimaginable ages
in terms of earth years. But there it al is, now; in some miraculous way the whole boundless plane,
periodical y “the playground of numberless Universes incessantly manifesting and disappearing . . . ”

(See S. D .I. Proem), has survived.

The Ancient Wisdom teaching is that both our private individual affairs and those of the boundless
universe are all ordered according to universal or divine law. When the law is applied to human beings
particularly it is referred to as the Law of Karma, but it is nevertheless always an aspect of the universal

Divine Law, of which H. P. B. has this to say: . . . we consider it as the Ultimate Law of the Universe, the
source, origin and fount of all other laws which exist throughout Nature. Karma is the unerring law which
adjusts effect to cause, on the physical, mental and spiritual planes of being. As no cause remains
without its due effect from greatest to least, from a cosmic disturbance down to the movement of your
hand, and as like produces like, Karma is that unseen and unknown law which adjusts wisely, intel igently
and equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter back to its producer. Though itself unknowable, its
action is perceivable. [Key, 201. Original Edition]

Its action is the endless flow of events through time, with everything in that flow determined by what went
before. In this sense the law is that of causation, of action and also of effect. Everything in the Cosmos,
including ourselves, is an effect of causes generated in the past. All our actions become causes for future
effects. Just as the universe and everything in it persists for periods of time long enough for everything in
it to perform its function in the total process, so men, animals and plants live long enough to fulfil their
part in the scheme of things. In the case of man this period is variable depending on many factors, such
as state of health and so on, but those factors themselves are the effects of causes set up in the past.

The teaching says quite unequivocally that according to law we and our circumstances are all determined
as a comprehensive result of what we have done in the past. What we have done includes our
relationships with other people: our immediate families, our relations, our religious group, our nation, our
race. All of these in themselves generate their own Karma to which to an extent we are al heirs. Although
we are al responsible for what befalls us in life, this is not wholly dependent on our own doings but on
those of the groups to which we belong. Again according to the Law the circumstances of our birth and
our parents are al predetermined, so is our physical constitution with a tendency to, or an immunity from,
certain diseases.

Page 9

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

All that befalls us in life might have been considered as fate, providence, even chance or luck, which
some over-ruling Power arbitrarily dispenses, but the grand teaching tells us quite otherwise. It tel s us
that, whether we are aware of it or not, all that befalls us is the result of what we have done. The ‘doing’

involves even thinking and feeling. The law is one of perfect justice. We get our deserts no more and no
less. As we said earlier, however, these desserts can to a degree be modified both by ourselves in our
present actions and by the groups that we have belonged to: we cannot escape that group Karma but as
a member of that group we contribute towards it.

The beneficent aspect of this potentiality is its perfect justice. The law takes account of the degree of our
immaturity and of our motives for whatever we do. The Karmic effects of a child’s actions will be different
from those of similar acts performed by a responsible adult.

This may be difficult to understand as it is said that the Law adjusts wisely, intelligently and equitably
each effect to its cause. How can a universal law be wise or intelligent? The answer is in the livingness of
everything, be it the life of a sub-atomic particle or of a great being. The essential beingness of al things
is not in their objective but in their interior state, in the subjective worlds.

The great beings who, so to speak, operate the Law are collective beings, aggregates in terms of
consciousness, knowledge and experience of many, many lives at al levels of development. They do,
however, manifest a unit intel igence or a single consciousness, at a level commensurate with their
development. These great beings function through subordinate entities on lower hierarchical levels who
in their turn constitute the ordering principle of the universe. Their aggregate action is the Law in
operation, but they are themselves subject to it. By the continuous cycle of Nature’s processes these
beings are heirs to a vast experience extending back into unimaginable epochs of time. It is this
accumulated experience that conditions or regulates their actions in the ordering of things. They are the
agents of the Law, or of the laws to which Nature in al its collective activities subscribes.

The certain operations of the Law, in which we are inescapably involved, gives us an unshakeable
assurance that in the end all will be well. As an old hymn says, “God is working his purpose out”, and
according to the Ancient Wisdom that purpose is the evolutionary process for everything, a journey to
perfection by stages. We are part of that process.

Again, an immediate aspect of the Law for each of us is not only this confidence that all will be well but it
bestows self-reliance and responsibility on each of us. In the light of it, insofar as we can accept it, we
become mature beings, knowingly playing our part in Nature’s endless progressive journey.

A significant insight applying the Law to the human condition is the following:Nor would the ways of

Karma be inscrutable were men to work in union and harmony, instead of disunion and strife. For our
ignorance of those ways - which one portion of mankind cal s the ways of Providence, dark and intricate,
while another sees in them the action of blind Fatalism, and a third, simple chance, with neither gods nor
devils to guide them - would surely disappear, if we would but attribute all these to their correct cause.

With right knowledge, or at any rate with a confident conviction that our neighbours will no more work to
hurt us than we would think of harming them, the two-thirds of the World’s evil would vanish into thin air.

Were no man to hurt his brother, Karma-Nemesis would have neither cause to work for, nor weapons to

Page 10

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
act through. It is the constant presence in our midst of every element of strife and opposition, and the
division of races, nations, tribes, societies and individuals into Cains and Abels, wolves and lambs, that is
the chief cause of the “ways of Providence”. [S. D. I, 643]

Page 11

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Four:

EVOLUTION, LIFE EVER-BECOMING

The whole order of nature evinces a progressive march towards a higher life. There is design in the
action of the seemingly blindest forces. The whole process of evolution with its endless adaptation is a
proof of this. The immutable laws that weed out the weak and feeble species, to make room for the
strong, and which ensure the “survival of the fittest”, though so cruel in their immediate action - al are
working toward the grand end. The very fact that adaptations do occur, that the fittest do survive in the
struggle for existence, shows that what is called “unconscious Nature” is in reality an aggregate of forces
manipulated by semi-intelligent beings (Elementals) guided by High Planetary Spirits (Dhyani-Chohans),
whose collective aggregate forms the manifested verbum of the unmanifested LOGOS, and constitutes
at one and the same time the MIND of the Universe and its immutable LAW. [S. D. I, 277/8]

In the spiritual realms of being the life process is continuous and virtually everlasting but al the forms that
life uses or inhabits, from mineral up to human, are only temporary and must necessarily have an end.

Ends, however, are always followed by beginnings in the continuous but cyclic process.

In Potentiality Two we saw man in a direct relationship with the universe. His existence, as is that of
every thing, is subject to law, and an aspect of the Law is the evolutionary process. The process has
many aspects, all beneficent in their way. They work in their own time and involve factors relating to the
inner worlds not yet recognized in modern philosophies. The problems of evil involve universal balance
and the Law’s cause and effect aspect. Every thing in existence is as it is as a result of what went before.

Always there are antecedents to everything.

The human lifespan is variable. It is a cycle within a greater cycle in the graded evolutionary process.

The progress of the whole human kingdom depends, in the aggregate, on the efforts made by, and the
achievements of, its members. These are of infinite variety: they include, for example, a wide range of
mental processes at one level, down to the most humdrum physical work, all of which are necessary for
the survival of the race. These activities result in rich experience, the fruit of living. The aggregate of
individual experience is that of the race. As the race persists, so is this experience on-going and is
accumulated and stored in the cosmic memory.

Much experience is in terms of relationships, either between individuals or between the individual and the
environment. In theosophical terms both kinds are complex because of their effects in the inner worlds, in
man particularly on his inner principles, all of which are modified by experience. Everything in Nature also
has its inner principles, more or less developed and active, or dormant.

Evolution is the process of the ever-improvement of life forms to fit themselves to express more and
more of the potentialities of spirit. Improving forms are in effect the development of the Monad. By its
nature the Monad, reflecting the absolute in existence, or as the One Manifest, does not change or grow.

It is the forms that it energizes or animates, and through which it expresses or manifests its own
unlimited characteristics or qualities, that have to grow or expand both in size and complexity. All Nature
has its ‘form’ aspect; its spirit is ‘Life’ itself.

Page 12

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

The mere exigencies of existence ensure that in the long run, in due season, forms do grow, expand,
develop, in all the ways that are necessary. This growth in accomplished by accumulating experience on
the one hand, and ‘effort’ on the other. Living forms develop by effort; muscles grow thereby, so do
minds. Both need exercise.

In our opening paragraph to this Potentiality the phrase “survival of the fittest” is used. It is significant and
contains a lesson for us all. It is by survival that the process of adaptations can work. This process
applies to us all. The moral is that we are here in earth life, life after life, to learn, passively by experience
and often suffering but actively by making effort in the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Easy
lives are unproductive in the evolutionary sense. Having had this pointed out to us the rest is up to us.

Page 13

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Five:

REINCARNATION

The immortal spiritual Egoic principle in the occult constitution of man is a key factor in the understanding
of reincarnation: this is, however, not generally recognized. Reincarnation is commonly understood to
mean a return to earth of a deceased personality, a rebirth of that same person, a kind of resurrection.

The theosophical teachings correct and amplify this popular view. Reincarnation and its associated Law
of Karma was dealt with by H. P. Blavatsky in one of her essays: If Theosophy prevailing in the struggle,
its al -embracing philosophy strikes deep root into the minds and hearts of men, if its doctrines of

Reincarnation and Karma, in other words, of Hope and Responsibility, find a home in the lives of the new
generations, then, indeed, will dawn the day of joy and gladness for al who now suffer and are outcast.

For real Theosophy is ALTRUISM, and we cannot repeat it too often. It is brotherly love, mutual help,
unswerving devotion to Truth. If once men do but realize that in these alone can true happiness be found,
and never in wealth, possession, or any selfish gratification, then the dark clouds will rol away, and a
new humanity will be born upon earth. Then, the GOLDEN AGE will be there indeed. [C. W. XI, 202]

This passage refers to Reincarnation and Karma as doctrines of Hope and Responsibility. Elsewhere H.

P. B. refers to them as the twin doctrines. The one cannot be properly understood without the other. We
dealt with Karma under Potentiality Three, the Law, which has a number of aspects all more or less
relating to that of cause and effect. Successive personalities are the effects of causes set up by their
immediate predecessors and possibly those before that.

But what is the process of reincarnation? It is the flow of ‘Life’ through a series of successive temporary
forms. The process is continuous but alternately passive and active. It applies to the largest of manifest
things, e.g. universes, down to the very smallest, e.g., sub-atomic particles. Everything has a period of
existence and a period of withdrawal, but there is THAT which continues through both states, LIFE itself,
everlasting Essence or Spirit.

Man is regarded as essentially a unit of the Universal Spirit, an Ego or Individuality. At intervals of a few
mil ennia of earth time (variable with circumstances) this Spiritual Entity projects into the physical world
by a complicated process of rebirth a new personality. Each personality is linked to its predecessor by a
number of “hereditary” factors which condition the new one from birth, and each personality has an
allotted life span of a relatively short duration (commonly 70 to 80 years).

During each life the personality is subject to Karma, even to his/her inherited characteristics. In a lifetime
the personality gains many experiences, then eventually dies. Life experience is said to be of two kinds,
personal and spiritual. The purely personal becomes a hereditary factor in the conditioning of later
personalities. The spiritual is separated out after death and is assimilated by the spiritual Individuality
during a very long inter-life period in an unalloyed blissful subjective state.

The importance of a person’s realization of his/her essential divine nature is much stressed in
theosophical literature. If it can become a consciously recognized fact in our lives it affects every aspect
of our behaviour for the better. As H.P.B. has expressed it, it humanises the otherwise animal man.

Page 14

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Reincarnation, as far as man is concerned, is the modus operandi of the vast evolutionary journey that
we are al engaged in.

Against a background knowledge of the reincarnation process death can be seen in perspective. This
can reflect into the making of very different decisions. For example, in the case of brain damaged
patients on life-support machines, what is the purpose of our striving to keep physical bodies alive
beyond their useful conscious lifespan? Similarly we are casting doubt on the usefulness of much
vivisection research and other cruelties inflicted on animals to produce medicines. Our bodies may be
kept alive for a period longer than if we did not take animal-tested drugs, but in the light of reincarnation
and Karma is such a practice justified?

The teaching tel s us of a virtually endless progressive unfoldment of the potentialities of spirit. These
reflect into the personalities which are also progressively developing, manifesting as they do more and
more of the qualities of the divine Essence. Personalities are also on a journey to perfection, by stages,
culminating in their complete spiritual regeneration.

These stages are marked by the progressive unfoldment of proper human faculties with their expression
on one hand in the personality’s living, its relationships, attitudes and actions and on the other in an
expanding consciousness. The person becomes increasingly sensible of the spiritual powers. As he
grows, so he becomes aware of the fact that he is inseverably linked with whatever beings there are at
those high levels.

All these great ideas must surely give us a vision or a hope for our future that we could never otherwise
have had. Our responsibility is to discover the ways and means, according to the Law, of realizing them.

Page 15

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Six :

RELIGION

Another potential of Theosophy is in the field of religion. Its beneficence is that, if the tenets of Occultism
were more widely known and accepted, and allowed to affect human behaviour, a mass of the world’s
religious strife would be ended. This strife has persisted through long ages. It results from the differing
belief systems propagated by institutional religions, and this is often aggravated by political factions for
their own ends. Essentially religions are based on universal verities but they have become overlaid by
superstitions, ignorance and irrelevant practices. Many differences are due to arbitrary interpretation of
scriptural writings. The proper meanings of their myths and allegories have been lost or remain hidden in
the stories.

An example of this is the supposed sacrifice of Jesus on the cross to atone for the sins of the whole
world, past, present and future. This omnibus pardon was for all who would believe in him. Anyone who
thinks seriously about this must realize that an omnipotent and omniscient God with a knowledge of the
past, present and future would have foreseen the events of the life of Jesus, his only son, including the
crucifixion. He would surely have been moved to compassion and intervened to prevent such a tragedy.

One can also ask whether the Ruler of the Universe could or would real y require such a sacrifice. If not,
one must assume that it could not possibly be true, or that the whole episode was actually contrived by
that God. Does not the whole idea stem from the ancient primitive custom of sacrifices to gods to
appease their wrath or to ensure their favour in national preservation or bountiful harvests? Was Jesus
really a scapegoat? Surely these ideas are quite untenable in this age and yet the story is a main tenet of
the present Christian Church.

The religions referred to here are the religious establishments, institutions, with their hierarchical,
sacerdotal government structures. These establishments are powerful and generally wealthy, with their

‘servants’ making a living from preaching, usually in the name of God. This promotes the religion but at
the same time promotes the interests of the institution and ensures its preservation. The power of these
establishments can reflect into, or even become factors in, secular government. State religions or
religious states are thereby born. Instead of a man being able or encouraged to see his relationship to

‘god’ within himself and in his own way, he is forced by social pressures to subscribe to priestly authority,
to adopt passively a ready-made belief system which he dare not challenge or examine at all critically. All
this makes for not only artificial barriers in human society but bitter enmity and strife between those of
differing beliefs.

Theosophy is the great, nay the only, remedy for al this. It reconciles all the various religions, showing
that in their origins they are all the same, and demonstrates the common spiritual heritage of al men,
furthering the idea of Universal Brotherhood with al that that means in terms of right relationships.

Theosophy purports to be the “eternal verities”. Its literature indicates that, in the first instance, these
relate to an “Everlasting Divine Principle” which always IS, unchanging and unchangeable. It is referred
to as The Absolute beyond al conception or power of thought. Theosophy does not countenance the idea
of an anthropomorphic God with human feelings of jealousy, wrath, vengeance, albeit merciful, just and
loving, to whom prayers can be addressed, or of vicarious atonement by any kind of sacrifice.

Page 16

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

In the light of these ‘verities’ may not the crucifixion story be an al egory depicting the crisis point (nadir)

on the descending arc of the “materialising” of Spirit. The moment of the crucifixion is when the son of

Man (Monad plus Manas = Ego or Christos) knows that the end of the phase has come. Thereafter the

Spirit looks upward to the process of the spiritualization of matter (resurrection) on the ever-rising spirals
of the ascending arc. Then starts the regeneration, the redemption, of matter when it can the better act
as a vehicle for the ever-growing spirit of man during the cycles of his tremendous journey, cycling in the

Rounds, through Globes E, F or G of the ascending arc, until the culmination of his life span on this

Earthly Chain, at the end of Round Seven, before he moves on to higher ones on a superior succeeding

Chain. The verities of Theosophy relate to the manifest universe and all that comprises it. These verities
tel us of the origins of “matter”, the essential constituent of forms, the generation of which is from pre-
existent patterns. They tel of universal memory and the living processes of expanding consciousness.

They give us details of the after-death states and the vast evolutionary process. They tell of a working
constitution of man at all levels of being, and the ful reincarnation story. We are told of endless cycles of
existence, with their greater and lesser cycles, of the Law by which everything is self-governed, and
where man fits into the whole grand scheme.

All these constitute the very ‘verities’ of existence. Change is inherent in everything, but for practical
purposes for us here and now these verities as such are in principle unchangeable. It is upon them that

Theosophy bases its ideas on religion. They are ‘truths’, not opinions or beliefs, and about them H. P. B.

has the fol owing to say: It is perhaps necessary first of al , to say, that the assertion that “Theosophy is
not a Religion,” by no means excludes the fact that Theosophy is Religion itself. A religion in the true and
only correct sense, is a bond uniting men together - not a particular set of dogmas and beliefs. Now

Religion, per se, in its widest meaning is that which binds not only al MEN, but also all BEINGS and al
things in the entire Universe into one grand whole. This is our theosophical definition of religion; [C. W. X,

161]

She gave us many other il uminating passages on religion. An often quoted one is: The ever unknowable
and incognizable Karana alone, the Causeless Cause of al causes, should have its shrine and altar on
the holy and ever untrodden ground of our heart - invisible, intangible, unmentioned, save through “the
still small voice” of our spiritual consciousness. Those who worship before it, ought to do so in the silence
and the sanctified solitude of their Souls; making their spirit the sole mediator between them and the

Universal Spirit, their good actions the only priests, and their sinful intentions the only visible and
objective sacrificial victims to the Presence. [Secret Doctrine, Volume 1, page , 280]

Page 17

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Seven:

THE AFTER-DEATH STATES, SPIRITUALISM

A background knowledge of the natural processes involved in these fields is not only of inestimable value
to mankind but essential to our understanding of them. Present beliefs about the after-death states are
vague and misleading. Probably the most damaging is the idea that nothing is actual y known about
them, hence widespread ignorance and superstition and often apprehension, fear of the unknown.

Interest in spiritualism and psychic phenomena comes and goes in cycles. Spiritualists commonly hold
the view that their phenomena are due to the ‘spirits’ of the dead. Theosophy opposes this view; it
defines ‘spirit’ precisely and in its terms it says that neither spiritualistic happenings nor psychic
phenomena can properly be the result of the activities of ‘spirits’, but it does not deny the phenomena. It
has its own explanations which involve a knowledge of the principles of man’s constitution and of the
corresponding planes of Nature.

In certain psychic phenomena ‘Spirits’ are not involved, for example, in psychokinesis, thought
transference, clairvoyance or clairaudience. These are explicable in terms of a knowledge of human
principles and their characteristics. This knowledge is also essential to an understanding of what goes on
after death.

In the Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett the after-death processes are described in some detail. Nowhere
else are these facts available in such detail and in plain language. Their importance is that they remove
the doubts and profitless speculation surrounding this subject. Our earthly personalities obviously do not
survive death, neither do our mortal souls, i.e. our mento-emotional principles. Our spiritual Individuality

(Ego), does survive and is virtual y immortal. It gains experience, growing accordingly, from the spiritual
experience of its many successive personal lives. At birth each personal life is conditioned according to
its immediate predecessor and probably its more remote ones. Every new person gets his just desserts
by way of inbuilt characteristics, tendencies and potentialities, determined by the doings of past lives.

The teachings tel us that spiritualistic phenomena through mediums are predominantly due to the
psychic (mento-emotional) reliquiae of the deceased which continue for a period, sometimes some tens
of years, after the death of the physical body. They enjoy a declining life, and retain memories and
attributes of the past personality for as long as they persist. They persist as living simulacrae of the dead,
but they are devoid of their spiritual Egos. These shades, as they are sometimes called, are the direct
agents for the majority of spiritualistic phenomena, messages, etc. In the meantime the real spirits of the
deceased have, after a period of sloughing off their ex-personal principles, entered into a state of
unal oyed bliss where they normal y remain for a number of centuries of earth life. This is a state of
uninterrupted recuperation, rest and happiness during which the truly spiritual experience of the last life is
assimilated into the Ego.

Psychic paranormal phenomena occur whilst personalities are still alive. They depend on activities at
their various levels of the astral, the emotional and mental principles of a person who can operate in
these subjective realms, consciously or unconsciously. The modus operandi of these phenomena varies

Page 18

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
with the phenomena but this is a subject of its own.

Page 19

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Eight:

ECOLOGY

The student of Theosophy soon learns that the grand processes of Cosmos, or Nature, are all
expressions of One Life manifesting in numberless forms. This Life is also his life: he cannot therefore be
separate from his universe.

To the extent that this is realized, he is in direct contact with Nature. All things and creatures are sharing
his life. They express it each in its own way, and to the degree that its form is developed to express it.

Forms become more and more complex as they rise through the kingdoms of Nature. As they do so, their
inherent sentience, which to start with may be a mere response to environment, expands, giving rise to
instinct in the animal kingdom. This response is without any mental modification but it motivates action
appropriate to the entity and its environment.

Man’s reactions to his environment, etc., are on the contrary modified by mind. He has the capacity to
think about and originate action against a background of a whole variety of criteria from innate
unconscious promptings or experience gained from upbringing, schooling, relationships, work, etc. Al
these can amplify, or even justify, but interfere with, the otherwise automatic unconscious promptings of
instinct.

With this recognition of the ‘livingness’ of al things a caring for them can arise, an urge to nurture them, a
feeling of responsibility for the environment and al that comprises it is engendered.

Further, the beneficence of this Potentiality Eight is that in acquainting us with the ongoing progressive
march of Nature, which must necessarily involve us al , we see where we fit into the grand scheme. We
not only learn of the scheme but we are inevitable participators in it. As we learn of this inescapable
relationship we become worthy cooperators with Nature to both her benefit and our own.

Man’s perception of his intimate kinship with Nature is, however, almost total y eclipsed by his intense
preoccupation with his material well-being, motivated by insistent self-gratification at almost any cost,
hence his unfeeling, ruthless exploitation of Nature.

Everything we have and everything we are, including not only our bodies but even our internal
psychological and mental make-up, stems from Nature. There is no other source. Latterly when nearly al
the processes of man’s life have become mechanised and he lives in a self-created, superstructured
environment virtually isolated from Nature in her natural state, he feels himself apart from her instead of a
part of her.

Theosophy considerably enlarges the above picture of the world we live in by reason of its teachings on
cosmology and anthropology. It helps us thereby the better to understand our intimate relationship. Our
planet earth is a living entity. By analogy the same processes apply to it as they do to us. In its economy

Page 20

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
and al its functions it is self-regulating. It has healing and recuperative abilities, but as in the case of our
bodies, any adjustments it has to make take time. If therefore we make demands on our earth’s
resources at a rate faster than they can be regenerated, they must run out.

Scientists tell us that we are pol uting our atmosphere to such an extent that we are even affecting the
earth’s temperature. Naturally a compensating restorative process will be set going but it takes time for
what it can do to become effective. The natural economy is finely tuned. It is very much in our interests to
become sensitive to this. Men have used the phrase that Nature is to be conquered or tamed, but Nature
is our mother and sustainer, not our enemy. Our arrogant enmity towards her conditions the attitude of
the elemental kingdom towards us. Caring friendliness towards Nature will work much more to our benefit
than unfeeling indifference or even cruelty.

A similar argument arises over cosmetics. We inflict misery and suffering on animals to test our products
for safety. When we see what dire consequences these experiments have on some of the test animals,
then the karmic effects on the human race must be seen as an inevitable consequence.

The elemental kingdom plays a large and vital role in the workings of the global economy. We are not
given many details of the way Elementals work but we are told that nothing happens without them. This
includes even the awful catastrophes like earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, droughts, or just the weather,
all result from the activities of the Elementals. They are the proximate, the immediate cause of al that
happens on earth. As the forces of Nature they are the agents of Karma. But man can harmonise his
relations to them. They are only quasi intelligent, doing just what they have to do in the scheme of things.

They are, however subservient to the great post-human beings above man in the hierarchical echelon,
being subject to their will.

Hear H. P. B.: There is not a single thing going on about us, no matter what, that elementals are not
concerned in, because they constitute a necessary part of nature, just as important as the nerve currents
in your body . . . [C. W. X, 271]

Page 21

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Nine:

THE ORDERING OF SOCIETY

Human society is a collectivity of individual human beings and any characteristic or quality it may have
reflects an average of the qualities of its members. The collectivity is also a karmic entity formed not only
of its present activities but those of its past. Any section of Society also has its individual Karma affecting
all its members.

The degree of governance of any society will reflect its spiritual development and its overall character.

The more developed the society the greater the freedom it can enjoy. What laws are necessary will be
those relating to the common economy, tax raising for public services, etc.

What has just been said reflects into the rules of how wealth is generated. For example, there is the
straight forward earning a living for one’s self and family. There are certain aspects to the acquiring of
money (purely as such) in our modern way of life where little or no such contribution is made, e.g.,
gambling on the stock exchange in exchange rates and in land speculation. Al these are non-productive
and for every winner there is a loser; they are immoral and quite unacceptable in a sane world. Further,
there is as yet no public conscience about the inequitable distribution of wealth, however it is generated.

There is a saying that money makes money, justifying usury. In spite of our enormously complicated and
extensive system of loan and interest, sustaining an ever-expanding economy, the saying is not true. The
ever-expanding economy, with its attendant waste, and a growing realization that an abundance of

‘things’ beyond al reasonable need does not buy happiness, may prove disastrous to the system,
especially when repayments (capital and interest) become too burdensome.

Money as such is sterile, it does not make real wealth. Only man’s ingenuity and work does that. More
and more money finds its way into the hands of fewer and fewer people. Moreover, the means of
production of wealth can overstretch the capabilities of Nature’s resources to supply them.

Theosophy demonstrates a prime need for altruism. All selfish acts, particularly those which adversely
affect our fellow men, incur adverse Karma.

Theosophy teaches us of a hierarchical structure in the ordering of Cosmos. The Secret Doctrine, in
tel ing us of the origins of the Universe says that there is the eternally unmanifest ‘THAT’ from which the

Manifest One periodical y emanates. This One differentiates into Seven Great Beings who characterise
seven rays of development which in turn permeate al Nature with their qualities and attributes. Below
them are an ever-descending series of Beings which constitute Architects, Builders, etc., down to three
grades of Elementals representing the ultimate workers. They are the forces of Nature, each grade of
which has its characteristic. A proper structure of society would reflect this model, the wisest, the most
experienced heading a cone of authority over those lower in the scale who are of lesser development.

Nature is not a democracy but those ‘in authority’ have fitted themselves by Nature’s processes to fulfill
their exalted roles. This fitting has regard to their slow development in their series of personal lives
according to the process of reincarnation.

Page 22

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

In India the laws of Manu reflected this process in the caste system. Against the caste system, however,
is the fact that it became rigid. One could not change caste irrespective of merit or demerit. It is
noteworthy that the Master K. H. commended Damodar who renounced his caste at considerable cost to
his social standing. The system is also divisive.

We in the West have now become ‘democratic’. The aristocratic ‘nobles’ (members of the ruling class) by
and large became unfit or just ceased to fulfil their traditional role. Whereas the hierarchical system has
obvious advantages, there is the difficulty of choosing and electing persons of high integrity and
motivated by altruism able to fil the senior positions in a modern hierarchy. The very process of election,
or choosing, nowadays presents practical difficulties. Our present democratic system could provide a
working compromise if Theosophy were to become a significant factor in our lives. Any system of
government can work satisfactorily if those working it make it do so.

Theosophy tel s us of the differences between sections of humanity by way of Root Races, sub-Races,
families and so on. Each of these groups has an historic background and each of them is developing its
own aspect of man’s constitution. The main races of humanity develop their respective principles in due
season. At this time in the 4th Round the 5th Root Race is developing the mental aspects of Kama (the

4th principle). Each Sub-Race of each Root Race is developing or has developed one or other of these
aspects but the Races and Sub-Races overlap. Later ones start before older ones have run their course.

In this way we are all at different stages. Our cultures manifest this. Seeing that we must all live in the
planet together, tolerant al owances are essential if misunderstandings between the groups are to be
avoided.

The occult view of human progress is that it is cyclical. The development and progress of human
societies, in whatever units we may be thinking, from large national ones to small individual family
groups, proceed by cycles. There is a birth, a period of prospering, a decline, and a natural death. This
rise and fall is analogous to the life of an individual man. The length of these cycles is variable depending
upon the operations of the law of Karma. For example, if a group of people or a nation misuses its
powers the karmic consequence is inevitable sooner or later in terms of time in the life of the community.

Greedy exploitation would certainly have its effects; maybe it would shorten the life of one group, remove
one nation’s dominance over another, and so on. Wrong practices and habits of living tend to generate
diseases, sometimes on a large scale, inevitably shortening the life of the community.

The beneficent potentiality of a well-ordered social society ensures the spiritual development of the
members of that society. Every member of it would have enough free time to do ‘his own thing’. This
proper ordering of daily life would reflect not only into the opportunity of individuals having time
consciously to undertake some personal development but into the betterment of group health, with an
attendant increased happiness.

Under the beneficent potentiality of Theosophy the whole complexion of human society could and would
change if it were but general y known. . . . from the depths of the dark, muddy waters of materialism . . . a
mystic force is rising . . . At most it is but the first gentle rustling, but it is a superhuman rustling -

“supernatural” only for the superstitious and the ignorant. The spirit of truth is passing now over the face
of the dark waters, and in parting them, is compel ing them to disgorge their spiritual treasures. This spirit
is a force that can neither be hindered nor stopped. Those who recognize it and feel that this is the

Page 23

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
supreme moment of their salvation will be uplifted by it and carried beyond the il usions of the great astral
serpent. The joy they will experience will be so poignant and intense, that if they were not mentally
isolated from their bodies of flesh, the beatitude would pierce them like sharp steel. It is not pleasure that
they will experience, but a bliss which is a foretaste of the knowledge of the gods, the knowledge of good
and evil, and of the fruits of the tree of life. [C. W. XI, 131/2]

Page 24

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Ten:

EDUCATION

Theosophy would not have much to say about the content of secular education but it would about the
development in young people of character, unselfishness, helpfulness, self control, truthfulness and
competence. It would tend to discourage al nationalistic propaganda and any religious education of a
particular denominational character. It would be concerned, however, to teach the laws of Karma and
reincarnation and their effects in our lives. It would also teach the ‘Humanities.’ It would enlighten pupils
as to their inherent spiritual nature, making them aware that they share their spirituality with everybody
else, with al living things and even the earth itself, the solar system and the outer universe. They thereby
have a direct relationship with everything in Cosmos. By it they are under an obligation to seek to further
the happiness and well-being of al their fellow creatures. Here we enter into the basics of a common
ethic of caring, cooperation and sharing; al out of real regard for others and with mutual respect and
even affection for them.

In The Key to Theosophy H. P. B. stresses the importance of cooperation as against competition, of
which the system of competitive examinations is an example. It is an easy step to extend this regard for
other individuals to other groups, to other nationalities and members of other races, to inculcate ideas of
inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness towards all. Whereas regard for local traditions, habits and
customs, and even patriotism, are worthy, bel igerent nationalism, religious intolerance and
exclusiveness are certainly not.

In expounding the Law of Karma to children, its aspect of “do as you would be done by” is
understandable. The Law in its other aspects of cause and effect and the maintenance of equilibrium and
harmony is something to which every child can respond. It might be a truism to say that a good teacher is
better than many books, or even a computer! A living communication makes learning an exciting process.

Talent of every sort whether it be physical by way of manual ability or artistic, emotional or mental skills,
is obviously recognized and encouraged.

In this age of computing virtual y all basic data are available at the touch of a button, so too are many
aspects of calculation. These are tools perhaps useful in modern ultra-dol ar efficient society but they do
not develop mental faculty, memory, sound logic and judgment. They demand no initiative, encourage no
real adventure or courage, so much in demand in the ‘real’ world. Ideas on the progressive evolution of
all things give purpose to existence. Apart from the absorbing immediate concerns of school life children
would then acquire ideas about the long-term purpose of being in incarnation.

Parents and teachers, brothers and sisters, playmates: all are worthy of respect for what they are in their
particular relationships to each child. They are factors in their upbringing, forming a background, each in
his or her own way, to the child’s life, having repercussions by way of conditioning for years to come. The
inculcation of the need for effort is an educational necessity. Very few children are so gifted that they can
perform their scholastic tasks or exercises without effort. The truth is that it is by effort that they develop
their faculties or even the strength for doing anything. The making of effort can also be enjoyable and
stimulating; it is not necessarily wearisome or a drudgery.

Page 25

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

In The Key to Theosophy, amongst much else on education, H. P. B. has this to say: Children should
above al be taught self-reliance, love for al men, altruism, mutual charity, and more than anything else,
to think and reason for themselves. We would reduce the purely mechanical work of the memory to an
absolute minimum and devote the time to the development and training of the inner senses, faculties and
latent capacities. We would endeavour to deal with each child as a unit, and to educate it so as to
produce the most harmonious and equal unfoldment of its powers, in order that its special aptitudes
should find their full natural development. We should aim at creating free men and women, free
intellectually, free moral y, unprejudiced in all respects, and above al things, unselfish. And we believe
that much if not all of this could be obtained by proper and truly theosophical education. [Key, 270,

Original Edition].

She also said, A proper and sane system of education should produce the most vigorous and liberal
mind, strictly trained in logical and accurate thought, and not in blind faith.

Page 26

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Eleven:

SCIENCE

The word Science is derived from the Latin sciens, present participle of scire, to know. It has latterly
become applied to a specific aspect of ‘knowing’, a particular discipline or way of knowing, but properly it
is unspecific. Theosophy has been referred to as the Science of Sciences; it includes all knowledge of a

‘real’ nature.

One of the Masters of the Wisdom said that “Modern science is our best ally . . . ” (Mahatma Letters to

A.P.Sinnett, Letter 11, chron. 65). He said this at the end of the 19th century when science was
establishing itself as the fearless enquirer into all natural phenomena. It was making rapid progress in
exploring outer space, in discovering the nature of matter, the composition and function of living cel s and
the part they play in living organisms, and so on. Darwin had just propounded his Origin of the Species
and his theory of the survival of the fittest. This growing understanding of the natural world was
challenging the views of religion on Divine Creation. Science encouraged the asking of many questions
about dogmatic assertions previously believed to be unquestionable. The Masters were encouraging this
liberalisation of thought and fearless enquiry into the actualities of existence regardless of the many
existing long-standing accepted views.

Science may not nowadays be quite so sure of itself as it was at the end of the 19th century. Its views are
more lightly held, its foundations are not so secure as they were only a few years ago. Discoveries and
theories are rapidly and continuously changing. Science has consequently become more flexible, and
willing to look into areas which were previously ‘no-go’ areas, principal y those of subjectivity as opposed
to the accustomed pure objectivity. Quantum physics with its ideas of non-locality has opened up new
fields. Some scientists are beginning to pose questions which suggest the possibility of non-physical
realms of being. Near-death experiences, for example, have forced attention away from the strictly
material. Now there is also an increasing view that paranormal phenomena like thought reading or
transference, psychokinesis, materialisations at spiritualistic seances, distant healing and so on, ought to
be acknowledged and investigated. Current models of scientific thought cannot accommodate such
happenings.

Theosophy provides ready-made models to explain many of these phenomena but so far they have been
ignored. These answers include explanatory material on the nature of space and time, the existence and
characteristics of various non-physical planes of existence. As an example, the one next to the physical,
the formative plane (the Astral), has several functions. To a theosophist these correspond to the various
sub-planes of that plane. It is where memory resides; where vitality, the universal life force, is stored for
suffusion into the physical. From this plane ‘subjective’ forms are projected into physical, objective
existence.

H. P. B. makes an important statement in The Secret Doctrine: Now the Occultists, who trace every atom
in the small universe, whether an aggregate or single, to One Unity, or Universal Life; who do not
recognise that anything in Nature can be inorganic; who know of no such thing as dead matter - the

Occultists are consistent with their doctrine of Spirit and Soul when speaking of memory in every atom, of
will and sensation. [Secret Doctrine, Volume II, Page 672]

Page 27

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

The relatively recent idea in the scientific world that the observer affects the results of experiments at the
sub-atomic levels is beginning to suggest that the observer is a participator in the experimental process.

According to Theosophy, this is so because of the nature of the inner subjective planes, particularly the
mental plane wherein incidentally, it is said, space has no dimension (in the physical sense) and time as
ordinarily understood does not apply. In subjective space therefore the square law relating to affects and
distance does not apply.

There is another current scientific speculation on non-locality. Sub-atomic particles can affect one
another at distances such that changes in one in any given place affect immediately another in another
place. So far there is no scientific explanation for this but in the matter of non-locality, students are
reminded of “the Point which is everywhere and the circumference nowhere”, supplemented by the part
of the Hermetic Axiom “Nothing is great, nothing is small”. Similarly, the Occultist could ask, “Where is a
thought?” The scientist might answer, “In the brain”, but a thought is immaterial and the brain is
something material. How does the material give rise to the immaterial? Again the answer to this can be
by way of the inner nature of matter, which has its subjective principles and sub-principles. The
theosophist also sees that, as any particle of matter is a living entity, its own inherent energy is life, the

One Universal Life.

A comprehensive metaphysical view of non-locality becomes very complex. The interweaving of causes
and effects in these non-physical fields becomes extraordinarily complicated, especially because what
happens in them can be reflected into, and therefore affect, the physical plane. In Occultism the
existence of Elemental beings, has some relevance to this. They constitute a modus operandi for most
phenomena. The Elementals are regarded as semi-intelligent entities and act as the forces of Nature.

Modern science still lacks a model of the structured universe such as that provided by Theosophy with its
seven planes of being, each with its own main characteristics. It also lacks the idea, and all that stems
from it, that there is no such thing as ‘dead’ matter. The two concomitants of consciousness and memory,
and matter as living, reflect into an understanding of the grand process of evolution. Everything is
building on what went before. This is the basis for Rupert Sheldrake’s considerable work The Presence
of the Past.

Science has sub-disciplines. One is biology, the science of living things. Theosophy extends this by its
notion that there is no dead matter, nothing is inorganic, and by furthering the idea that everything
manifests an aspect of the One Life. This One Life shows two inseparable aspects: form (matter) on the
one hand, and energy as dynamism (life or spirit) on the other. Consciousness, memory and will are
inherent in the combination. ‘Volition’ is therefore an attribute in al things. These are elements of basic
data not yet fully appreciated by science but clearly enunciated by Theosophy.

Once Theosophy and its principles are known, it will be demonstrated that our philosophy is not only a

“close relative of modern science,” but its forbear, though greatly transcending it in logic; and that its

“metaphysics” is vaster, more beautiful and more powerful than any emanating from a dogmatic cult. It is
the metaphysics of Nature in her chaste nakedness, both physical, moral and spiritual, alone capable of
explaining the apparent miracle by means of natural and psychic laws, and of completing the mere
physiological and pathological notions of Science, and of killing for ever the anthropomorphic Gods and
the Devils of dualistic religions. No one believes more firmly in the Unity of the eternal laws than do the

Page 28

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Theosophists. [C. W. VIII, 76]

Page 29

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

Potentiality Twelve:

ART, HEALTH, PSYCHOLOGY and PARAPSYCHOLOGY

With the advent of Theosophy a whole set of new concepts arise in the field of art, primarily from the
occult view of the nature of the artist. Theosophy teaches that every human being is a microscopic but
unique reflection of the macrocosm, the universal whole. Each of his faculties derives ultimately from
great Beings who have progressed in the aeons of evolutionary time far above him in the scale of being.

These are collective entities, aggregates of many lesser living beings, each with its intelligence and
memories. These together constitute a vast accumulated experience acquired by multitudes of ‘Lives’ as
they have moved up the evolutionary ladder. Life in this context, known as the Monad, has passed
through al the kingdoms of Nature and thence into the human kingdom where it becomes individualised
and proceeds through the sub-Races and Races, in which it sequential y develops human faculties.

Ultimately its vehicles are fitted to proceed as entities into the superhuman kingdoms.

Nature provides al that constitutes not only the physical being of man but his non-physical principles.

Each cell, even of his body, has its own inner principles, through which that cell is in touch with the
corresponding cosmic plane. It thereby reflects something of that plane’s characteristics. All the time the
whole man is resonating in the various aspects of his being to what takes place in the universe, to the
extent that they have been developed and attuned.

The artist responds to the harmonies in Nature whether by sound, colour, form or feeling. He sees
something of the grand cosmic pattern in symmetrical patterns, facial expressions, in movement, in
rhythm and the lilt of language and sound. Musicians hear with their inner ears the celestial music; they
can set it down in writing, and with the instruments and techniques at their disposal, can express what
they hear of the melody and harmony. The dancer and the singer too in their way interpret and bring forth
something of these unheard rhythms and harmonies. Their responsive souls can speak to us but we
have to be able to respond. We need eyes to see and ears to hear. Without these we cannot respond
and without our response any art form is a mere shadow, a presentation without meaning. A response to
any art form, by vision or sight, involves our soul; but further, insofar as it responds, it is itself quickened.

There is a sanctity and a holiness in this appreciation, leading us into the spiritual realms. Our characters
are modified. The highest emotions of devotion, courage, perseverance, sympathy, love and compassion
are all evoked. Real art will do this for us if we give it our attention and can see and hear. We all have the
necessary internal instrument but maybe it needs tuning.

Quoting the Master K. H., “the melomanic knows of no higher state of bliss and happiness than music -
the most divine and spiritual of arts . Whereas this is specific to one art form we have the expression that

Divinity is expressed in, “goodness, truth and beauty”. There is also the expression that “beauty is in the
eye of the beholder”. Without that ‘eye’ there is no beauty. It could also be said that Theosophy is in the
eye - or soul response - of the student; without that it does not exist for him or her. __________

We dealt with some aspects of spiritualistic phenomena and psychism in Potentiality Seven. The main
criterion in the theosophical explanation of them is the planes of Nature and the occult constitution of

Page 30

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing
man by principles (see Appendix). In either case there is a significant division in them - at the mid point in
the 5th plane or 5th principle of Manas of mind. The dividing line is referred to as a barrier or bridge, the

Antahkarana. Nature above this line is regarded as ‘formless’ and subjective, and below it objective. In
terms of planes, in terms of principles it is spiritual (Egoic) at high levels, or manifestly material, personal
at lower levels (but matter can be non-physical). This information is essential to an understanding of
psychology and parapsychology.

Some psychologists have recognised a distinction between the personal ego (id) and a super-ego. Their
ego has been relatively well studied and much therapeutic practice developed from clinical experience.

The super-ego, however, - the theosophical spiritual Ego or Individuality - so rarely manifests that very
little is known of its true nature, its real potentialities. It is still largely a postulate but there is evidence of
its existence by way of its reflection into the upper three sub-principles of the kamic or emotional main

(4th) principle. Even those reflections, although stil coloured by egotism, demonstrate some of the higher
spiritual aspects of the personality.

Parapsychology was mentioned briefly in Potentiality Seven. Theosophy enriches this field of activity
again by way of the characteristics and qualities of the planes and principles. The mental plane and mind
play a large part in ‘spirit’ messages, ‘automatic’ writing and obviously in thought transference. In other
phenomena the astral (3rd) plane and the Astral Body are involved, sometimes with the aid of

Elementals, e.g. materialisations, apports, precipitation of pictures and letters.

Psychological phenomena include split personality, obsession and possession. Again a knowledge of the
after-death processes helps towards an understanding of what is happening. A man is his spiritual Ego,
or Individuality, but associated with a personality during earth life. In cases of obsession the personality
can be taken over by one or more powerful Elementals, often but not always of its own creation, by
prolonged habits for example. Possession proper occurs when the personal principles are taken over
completely, or partly and temporarily, by an ‘Elementary’. An Elementary is the persisting psychic
reliquiae of a deceased person, from which the spiritual Ego has been separated during the normal death
process. The ‘Elementary’ as long as it persists can remain powerful. It can seek ‘life’ to fulfil its urges in
the physical body of a living person. It is motivated by intense craving for carnal satisfaction, such as
sexual perversions, drunkenness, often fiendish cruelty, etc. It is completely without conscience or decent
restraint because of its separation from its spiritual soul. [ Regarding examples of and cures for
obsession etc, see Collected Writings Index and Volume II, page 399]

Theosophy has something significant to say about health. The following quotation may appear superficial
but it has wide repercussions: Every individual is making Karma either good or bad in each action and
thought of his daily round, and is at the same time working out in this life the Karma brought about by the
acts and desires of the last. When we see people afflicted by congenital ailments, it may be safely
assumed that these ailments are the inevitable results of causes started by themselves in a previous
birth. It may be argued that, as these afflictions are hereditary, they can have nothing to do with a past
incarnation; but it must be remembered that the Ego, the real man, the individuality, has no spiritual origin
in the parentage by which it is re-embodied, but is drawn by the affinities which its previous mode of life
attracted round it into the current that carries it, when the time comes for rebirth, to the home best fitted
for the development of those tendencies . . . [Key, 212]

Page 31

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

CONCLUSION

The potentialities of Theosophy can only become actualities and their benefit to humanity felt as they are
known. It is over one hundred years since they were made available in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky and
her Initiate Masters. For various reasons however, notably opposition by self-interested parties, they
have been suppressed or ignored. It was envisaged that the Theosophical Society, as it was originally
founded, would be the means of letting it be known that all these potentialities were available to the world
in general. It is our duty, as members of that Society, to familiarize ourselves with all aspects of the
theosophical teachings, particularly these potentialities, so that we can broadcast them, making them
available widely as was originally intended.

The advent of Theosophy was a unique world event, ranking even above that of Christianity. The
founders of the great religions in history have been Initiates of high order in the occult Hierarchy (with its
several branches). The Masters of the Wisdom who inspired the founding of the Theosophical Society
were members of that Brotherhood. They not only made available to the world in general the expansive
and very deep theosophical teachings but committed them, via H. P. Blavatsky and to some extent
directly themselves, into writing. No other Teacher previously had done that. Even though now we do not
have the Masters with us, we do have that incomparably valuable literature - and that for al time, or for
as long as it shal be preserved.

We have to acknowledge H. P. B.’s great self- sacrificing work in this, with all the sincere appreciation it
deserves. We owe her an immense debt of gratitude not only for this ‘actualising’ of the potentiality of

Theosophy as far as she could in writing, but for her direct association with some of the Masters, and the
evidence of their existence that this provided. They became ‘realities’ and thereby an inspiration to many.

As witness we have what she said about them in her account of the writing of Isis Unveiled and what they
themselves said about their part in the writing of The Secret Doctrine.

THE ULTIMATE POTENTIALITY Practical Theosophy is not one Science, but embraces every science in
life, moral and physical. It may, in short, be justly regarded as the universal coach , a tutor of world-wide
knowledge and experience, and of an erudition which not only assists and guides his pupils toward a
successful examination for every scientific or moral service in earthly life, but fits them for the lives to
come, if those pupils will only study the universe and its mysteries within themselves . . . [C. W. X, 165]

Page 32

Theosophy: Its Beneficent Potentialities by Geoffrey Farthing

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Geoffrey Farthing was born in England on 10 December 1909; educated conventionally at two boarding
schools; matriculated London University, but became apprenticed into engineering, attended night school
at Manchester Col ege of Technology of which he became an Associate; served six years in the Army in
the Royal Signals, leaving the service as Major.

Geoffrey joined Leeds Lodge of The Theosophical Society in England (Adyar) in 1945. With his
background of reading it was soon discovered by the Lodge members that he was knowledgeable
enough to start giving lectures, and this he did almost as soon as he joined. Since then he has lectured in
many countries around the world and held most positions in the Theosophical Society in England,
including a spell as General Secretary (1969 - 72). He served a term as a member of the Society’s

General Council at Adyar, India, and was a member of the Executive Committee of the European

Federation for several years.

During the 1980s and 1990s, Geoffrey was a regular course leader at annual residential weekends
exploring The Secret Doctrine, held at Tekels Park, Camberley, Surrey. He has taken an active part in the

Theosophy/Science weekends held each year within the English Section and continues as a tutor in the

European School of Theosophy, of which he is a founding member. In the 1970s, Geoffrey set up a sister
organization - Blavatsky Trust - whose aim is to disseminate knowledge of the writings of H. P. Blavatsky

Mr Farthing has written a number of theosophical books: After-Death States and Consciousness; Deity,

Cosmos and Man; Theosophy, What’s It Al About?; When We Die; and Exploring the Great Beyond. In

1974, he gave the prestigious Blavatsky Lecture at the Annual Convention of the English Theosophical

Society on Life, Death and Dreams, and in 1996, he was awarded the Subba Row Medal for his
significant contribution to theosophical literature.

Page 33

Document Outline

- INTRODUCTION
- Potentiality One:
- THE NOTION OF DEITY
- Potentiality Four:
- EVOLUTION, LIFE EVER-BECOMING
- Potentiality Seven:
- THE AFTER-DEATH STATES, SPIRITUALISM
- Potentiality Ten:
- EDUCATION
- CONCLUSION
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES

Table of Contents

- INTRODUCTION
- Potentiality One:
- THE NOTION OF DEITY
- Potentiality Four:
- EVOLUTION, LIFE EVER-BECOMING
- Potentiality Seven:
- THE AFTER-DEATH STATES, SPIRITUALISM
- Potentiality Ten:
- EDUCATION
- CONCLUSION
- BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES