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Theosophy and Philosophy: An Introduction
Theosophy and Philosophy: An Introduction - Govert Schuller
Both philosophy and Theosophy attempt to arrive at essence. This section explores the roots of each discipline, attempts to define their key similarities and differences, and then shows how they can work fruitfully together.
Download handouts:
Philosophy and Theosophy
The group may want to initially read the handout aloud, though do not spend too much time on it since the handout is in note form and the key points will be illustrated through the following questions and activities.
Discussion questions
1- Philosophy requires certain moods to be accessible. We do not often begin a discussion about philosophy by focusing on the importance of mood, though since philosophy depends on creative thinking using new paradigms it certainly makes sense to do so. For each of the four primary dominant moods listed below, discuss their relationship to a philosophical inquiry.
A. Wonder.
B. Faith.
C. Doubt.
D. Anxiety.
2- Plato's Theory of Forms asserts that Forms (or Ideas), and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. The Forms are the only true objects of study that can provide us with genuine knowledge. Plato spoke of forms (sometimes capitalized in translations: The Forms) in developing his solution to the problem of universals. Form answers the question "what is that?" Plato was going a step further and asking what Form itself is. He supposed that the object was essentially, or "really," the Form and that the phenomena were mere shadows mimicking the Form; that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances. The problem of universals - how can one thing in general be many things in particular - was solved by presuming that Form was a distinct singular thing but caused plural representations of itself in particular objects.
Have an experienced Theosophist briefly summarize theosophical concepts about the process of physical manifestation. How would you relate Plato’s Theory of Forms to the Theosophical view about the process of physical manifestation?
3- (20 minutes) To look at causality from a deeper than normal philosophical perspective (A causes B because B follows A), we have to suspend our normal suppositions. Imagine using four of the dominant questioning moods of philosophical inquiry to explore the deeper mysteries and possibilities of causality.
3A- Have a group facilitator time the group in the following exercise. Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical wonder in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of wonder into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of wonder.”
3B- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical doubt in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of doubt into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of doubt.”
3C- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical anxiety in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of anxiety into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of anxiety.”
3D- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of spiritual faith in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of spiritual faith into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of faith.”
3E- Have group members now spend 5-10 minutes writing down their own impressions of exploring causality from these different mindsets and moods. Have the group share any images and insights they had during the exercise.
3F- After everyone in the group has shared, the group facilitator can read the following ideas by philosophers who also have tried to take a deeper look at the phenomenon of causality, allowing members to comment after each one:
* Hume: The notion of causality comes out of habit. If B follows A, then habitually one might think that A causes B (But is this certainly correct?)
* Kant: Causality is experienced as too necessary; it can’t be a habit. It is the way we organize phenomenal experience. It is impossible to determine if noumenal reality (independent of experience) is causal.
* Merleau-Ponty: We pre-verbally, implicitly, tacitly understand causality as it
occurs in our lived body, based on a more philosophical notion of experience,
time and the ‘lived body,’ which the scientific paradigm cannot provide.
4- What moods do you think Theosophy encourages as most helpful for access to the divine realm?
5 - Try to remember a time when you had a philosophical epiphany—perhaps due to a passage in a text, an artistic image, or your own meditation. Try to describe the mood that dominated you at the time of the epiphany. How would you describe the relationship between that mood and the arrival of the epiphany?
6 - Consider meditation and contemplation as two primary moods. How would you describe the differences and similarities between contemplation and meditation?
7 - In your own words, how would you describe the process by which contemplation or meditation opens us up to wisdom from the Divine Realm?
After everyone has shared, the group facilitator might read the following brief yet formal explanations for the way in which contemplation or meditation opens us up to wisdom from the Divine Realm:
a. Through the opening of the faculty of clairvoyance
b. Through connection to, and instruction by, meta-empirical beings
c. Through intuitive insights into the essential structures of the conscious universe
8 - The group facilitator might read the following description of Theosophy out loud a couple times and then invite any comments:
Per the Encyclopaedia Britannica "Theosophy, those forms of philosophic and religious thought [including moods, attitudes and experiences] which claim a special insight into the divine nature and its constitutive moments or processes. Sometimes this insight is claimed as the result of the operation of some higher faculty or some supernatural revelation to the individual; in other instances the theosophical theory is not based upon any special illumination but is simply put forward as the deepest speculative wisdom of its author. But in any case it is characteristic of Theosophy that it starts with an explication of the divine essence and endeavors to deduce the phenomenal universe from the play of forces within the divine nature itself."
Proposed activities
* In preparation for team debates and before the debate topics are given, as a group, agree on working definitions for the following terms:
A) Philosophical depth (as it pertains to insight)
B) Philosophical profundity
C) Positive psychological transformation
D) Happiness
Team A will represent the philosophical moods of Wonder and Faith.
Team B will represent the philosophical moods of Anxiety and Doubt.
* Each team should spend 5-10 minutes listing, as a group, the positive philosophical positives of their two concepts. (Team A= wonder and faith ; Team B=anxiety and doubt.) For example, a philosophical positive of wonder is that it may trigger imagination. A philosophical positive of anxiety is that it might produce a sense of urgency, etc.
1-Each team should now, as a group, discuss how their two philosophical moods are much more helpful than the other teams two philosophical moods when it comes to encouraging philosophical depth (as it pertains to insight), Philosophical Profundity, Positive psychological Transformation, and Happiness.
2-The groups can decide if they would like a single debate spokesperson or have people take turns.
3-The debate can then begin, with the moderator having the groups take turns debating as follows.
ROUND 1
4-“Group A” will begin our debate with a 3 minute opening statement giving a definition of philosophical wonder and then arguing why the mood of wonder is more helpful than the mood of anxiety when it comes to encouraging philosophical depth and profundity.
5-“Group B” will continue our debate by giving a 3 minute opening statement by giving a definition of the philosophical mood of anxiety and then arguing why anxiety is more helpful than the philosophical mood of wonder when it comes to encouraging depth and profundity.
ROUND 2
6-Group A will now have two minutes to respond to group B concerning the superiority of the mood of wonder over the mood of anxiety in producing depth and profundity.
7) Group B will now have two minutes to respond to group A arguing for the superiority of the mood of anxiety over wonder in producing depth and profundity.
ROUND 3
8-“Group B” will begin the next section our debate with a 3 minute opening statement arguing why the mood of faith is more helpful than the mood of doubt when it comes to encouraging positive psychological transformation and happiness.
9-“Group A” will continue our debate with a 3 minute opening statement arguing why the mood of doubt is more helpful than the mood of faith when to comes to encouraging positive psychological transformation and happiness.
ROUND 4
10-Group B will now have two minutes to respond to group B concerning the superiority of the mood of faith over the mood of doubt in producing depth and profundity.
11- Group A will now have two minutes to respond to group A arguing for the superiority of the mood of doubt over faith in producing depth and profundity.
12- Teams can break into groups again to summarize their final points for a final 3 minute concluding statement for each team.
ROUND 5
13- Covering all of the points in the debate now the groups will give their respective three minutes conclusions arguing for the superiority of the two philosophical moods they represented in the debate. The moderator can flip a coin to decide who goes first. The moderator should then, cautiously, declare a winner.
Resources:
Books
- Blavatsky, H. P., Foundations of Esoteric Philosophy, T B614 FEP
- Blavatsky, H. P., The Key to Theosophy : Being a Clear Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics, Science, and Philosophy for the Study of which the Theosophical Society has been Founded, T B614 KT 1968
- Ferm, Vergilius Ture Anselm, A History of Philosophical Systems, 109 FER HPS
- Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, The Phenomenology of Mind, 193 BAI POM
- Judge, William Quan, Occult Philosophy : Articles, T-PAM J897.08 OP
- Leitgeber, Bolesław, East and West in Man's Perennial Quest, T L536 EWMP
- Mehta, Rohit, The Intuitive Philosophy, T M474 IP
- Pancoast, S, The Kabbala, or, The true science of light : an introduction to the Philosophy and theosophy of the ancient sages, together with a chapter on light in the Vegetable Kingdom, RARE
- Poortman, J. J. , Philosophy, Theosophy, Parapsychology : some Essays on Diverse Subjects, T P796 PTP
- Steiner, Rudolf, Philosophy & Theosophy, AR 0461
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
- Algeo, John, The Key to Theosophy, AR 5027-7
- Bonnell, Robert, Theosophy in the Renaissance : Raphael's The School of Athens, AR 4775
- Lysy, Anton, Clues to the Labyrinth : Religion, Philosophy, Science, and Theosophy, AR 4928-6
- Mills, Joy, Theosophy - Religion, Philosophy or Science, AR 0949-3
- Ravindra, Ravi, Krishnamurti and Eastern philosophy, CDA 0413
Videorecordings
(VR: VHS Videocassette)
- Lemkow, Anna F., The Birthing Process of the New Whole, VR 0808
- McOwen, Rob, Theosophic Worldview: 3---Bridging Science, Religion, and Philosophy, VR 0821
- Mills, Joy, Theosophy - Religion, Philosophy or Science, VR 0293 pt.1
Both philosophy and Theosophy attempt to arrive at essence. This section explores the roots of each discipline, attempts to define their key similarities and differences, and then shows how they can work fruitfully together.
Download handouts:
Philosophy and Theosophy
The group may want to initially read the handout aloud, though do not spend too much time on it since the handout is in note form and the key points will be illustrated through the following questions and activities.
Discussion questions
1- Philosophy requires certain moods to be accessible. We do not often begin a discussion about philosophy by focusing on the importance of mood, though since philosophy depends on creative thinking using new paradigms it certainly makes sense to do so. For each of the four primary dominant moods listed below, discuss their relationship to a philosophical inquiry.
A. Wonder.
B. Faith.
C. Doubt.
D. Anxiety.
2- Plato's Theory of Forms asserts that Forms (or Ideas), and not the material world of change known to us through sensation, possess the highest and most fundamental kind of reality. The Forms are the only true objects of study that can provide us with genuine knowledge. Plato spoke of forms (sometimes capitalized in translations: The Forms) in developing his solution to the problem of universals. Form answers the question "what is that?" Plato was going a step further and asking what Form itself is. He supposed that the object was essentially, or "really," the Form and that the phenomena were mere shadows mimicking the Form; that is, momentary portrayals of the Form under different circumstances. The problem of universals - how can one thing in general be many things in particular - was solved by presuming that Form was a distinct singular thing but caused plural representations of itself in particular objects.
Have an experienced Theosophist briefly summarize theosophical concepts about the process of physical manifestation. How would you relate Plato’s Theory of Forms to the Theosophical view about the process of physical manifestation?
3- (20 minutes) To look at causality from a deeper than normal philosophical perspective (A causes B because B follows A), we have to suspend our normal suppositions. Imagine using four of the dominant questioning moods of philosophical inquiry to explore the deeper mysteries and possibilities of causality.
3A- Have a group facilitator time the group in the following exercise. Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical wonder in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of wonder into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of wonder.”
3B- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical doubt in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of doubt into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of doubt.”
3C- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of philosophical anxiety in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of anxiety into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of anxiety.”
3D- Spend two minutes trying to establish the essence and momentum of spiritual faith in yourself. After three minutes, the group facilitator will direct meditating participants to now try to take that atmosphere of spiritual faith into the concept of causality. “For the following three minutes, approach the question of causality with a sense of faith.”
3E- Have group members now spend 5-10 minutes writing down their own impressions of exploring causality from these different mindsets and moods. Have the group share any images and insights they had during the exercise.
3F- After everyone in the group has shared, the group facilitator can read the following ideas by philosophers who also have tried to take a deeper look at the phenomenon of causality, allowing members to comment after each one:
* Hume: The notion of causality comes out of habit. If B follows A, then habitually one might think that A causes B (But is this certainly correct?)
* Kant: Causality is experienced as too necessary; it can’t be a habit. It is the way we organize phenomenal experience. It is impossible to determine if noumenal reality (independent of experience) is causal.
* Merleau-Ponty: We pre-verbally, implicitly, tacitly understand causality as it
occurs in our lived body, based on a more philosophical notion of experience,
time and the ‘lived body,’ which the scientific paradigm cannot provide.
4- What moods do you think Theosophy encourages as most helpful for access to the divine realm?
5 - Try to remember a time when you had a philosophical epiphany—perhaps due to a passage in a text, an artistic image, or your own meditation. Try to describe the mood that dominated you at the time of the epiphany. How would you describe the relationship between that mood and the arrival of the epiphany?
6 - Consider meditation and contemplation as two primary moods. How would you describe the differences and similarities between contemplation and meditation?
7 - In your own words, how would you describe the process by which contemplation or meditation opens us up to wisdom from the Divine Realm?
After everyone has shared, the group facilitator might read the following brief yet formal explanations for the way in which contemplation or meditation opens us up to wisdom from the Divine Realm:
a. Through the opening of the faculty of clairvoyance
b. Through connection to, and instruction by, meta-empirical beings
c. Through intuitive insights into the essential structures of the conscious universe
8 - The group facilitator might read the following description of Theosophy out loud a couple times and then invite any comments:
Per the Encyclopaedia Britannica "Theosophy, those forms of philosophic and religious thought [including moods, attitudes and experiences] which claim a special insight into the divine nature and its constitutive moments or processes. Sometimes this insight is claimed as the result of the operation of some higher faculty or some supernatural revelation to the individual; in other instances the theosophical theory is not based upon any special illumination but is simply put forward as the deepest speculative wisdom of its author. But in any case it is characteristic of Theosophy that it starts with an explication of the divine essence and endeavors to deduce the phenomenal universe from the play of forces within the divine nature itself."
Proposed activities
* In preparation for team debates and before the debate topics are given, as a group, agree on working definitions for the following terms:
A) Philosophical depth (as it pertains to insight)
B) Philosophical profundity
C) Positive psychological transformation
D) Happiness
Team A will represent the philosophical moods of Wonder and Faith.
Team B will represent the philosophical moods of Anxiety and Doubt.
* Each team should spend 5-10 minutes listing, as a group, the positive philosophical positives of their two concepts. (Team A= wonder and faith ; Team B=anxiety and doubt.) For example, a philosophical positive of wonder is that it may trigger imagination. A philosophical positive of anxiety is that it might produce a sense of urgency, etc.
1-Each team should now, as a group, discuss how their two philosophical moods are much more helpful than the other teams two philosophical moods when it comes to encouraging philosophical depth (as it pertains to insight), Philosophical Profundity, Positive psychological Transformation, and Happiness.
2-The groups can decide if they would like a single debate spokesperson or have people take turns.
3-The debate can then begin, with the moderator having the groups take turns debating as follows.
ROUND 1
4-“Group A” will begin our debate with a 3 minute opening statement giving a definition of philosophical wonder and then arguing why the mood of wonder is more helpful than the mood of anxiety when it comes to encouraging philosophical depth and profundity.
5-“Group B” will continue our debate by giving a 3 minute opening statement by giving a definition of the philosophical mood of anxiety and then arguing why anxiety is more helpful than the philosophical mood of wonder when it comes to encouraging depth and profundity.
ROUND 2
6-Group A will now have two minutes to respond to group B concerning the superiority of the mood of wonder over the mood of anxiety in producing depth and profundity.
7) Group B will now have two minutes to respond to group A arguing for the superiority of the mood of anxiety over wonder in producing depth and profundity.
ROUND 3
8-“Group B” will begin the next section our debate with a 3 minute opening statement arguing why the mood of faith is more helpful than the mood of doubt when it comes to encouraging positive psychological transformation and happiness.
9-“Group A” will continue our debate with a 3 minute opening statement arguing why the mood of doubt is more helpful than the mood of faith when to comes to encouraging positive psychological transformation and happiness.
ROUND 4
10-Group B will now have two minutes to respond to group B concerning the superiority of the mood of faith over the mood of doubt in producing depth and profundity.
11- Group A will now have two minutes to respond to group A arguing for the superiority of the mood of doubt over faith in producing depth and profundity.
12- Teams can break into groups again to summarize their final points for a final 3 minute concluding statement for each team.
ROUND 5
13- Covering all of the points in the debate now the groups will give their respective three minutes conclusions arguing for the superiority of the two philosophical moods they represented in the debate. The moderator can flip a coin to decide who goes first. The moderator should then, cautiously, declare a winner.
Resources:
Books
- Blavatsky, H. P., Foundations of Esoteric Philosophy, T B614 FEP
- Blavatsky, H. P., The Key to Theosophy : Being a Clear Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics, Science, and Philosophy for the Study of which the Theosophical Society has been Founded, T B614 KT 1968
- Ferm, Vergilius Ture Anselm, A History of Philosophical Systems, 109 FER HPS
- Hegel, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich, The Phenomenology of Mind, 193 BAI POM
- Judge, William Quan, Occult Philosophy : Articles, T-PAM J897.08 OP
- Leitgeber, Bolesław, East and West in Man's Perennial Quest, T L536 EWMP
- Mehta, Rohit, The Intuitive Philosophy, T M474 IP
- Pancoast, S, The Kabbala, or, The true science of light : an introduction to the Philosophy and theosophy of the ancient sages, together with a chapter on light in the Vegetable Kingdom, RARE
- Poortman, J. J. , Philosophy, Theosophy, Parapsychology : some Essays on Diverse Subjects, T P796 PTP
- Steiner, Rudolf, Philosophy & Theosophy, AR 0461
Sound recordings
(AR: audiocassette; CDA: Compact Disc)
- Algeo, John, The Key to Theosophy, AR 5027-7
- Bonnell, Robert, Theosophy in the Renaissance : Raphael's The School of Athens, AR 4775
- Lysy, Anton, Clues to the Labyrinth : Religion, Philosophy, Science, and Theosophy, AR 4928-6
- Mills, Joy, Theosophy - Religion, Philosophy or Science, AR 0949-3
- Ravindra, Ravi, Krishnamurti and Eastern philosophy, CDA 0413
Videorecordings
(VR: VHS Videocassette)
- Lemkow, Anna F., The Birthing Process of the New Whole, VR 0808
- McOwen, Rob, Theosophic Worldview: 3---Bridging Science, Religion, and Philosophy, VR 0821
- Mills, Joy, Theosophy - Religion, Philosophy or Science, VR 0293 pt.1
Tags: philosophy, plato
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