The Aquarian Theosophist, July 2025

 

The July edition of the Aquarian starts with a time travel of 19 centuries: the short article “How to Stop Disappointing Yourself” is a direct message from ancient philosopher Epictetus.

On page two Helena Blavatsky writes:

“There Are Three Kinds of Light, in Occultism”.

Page three presents “Love is the Creative Energy”, by Joseph Rodes Buchanan. Good Will Runs the Universe, and Cold Reason is as Blind as a Bat.

Other topics:  

* Theosophy in Daily Life - The Time Must Come When We Shall Not Be Afraid of Our Fellowmen, a text by Robert Crosbie.   

* Thoughts Along the Road - Lessons From Your Own Suffering: the Voice of the Master Emerges From the Totality of the Circumstances Around You.

* One Hundred and Six Texts on Mahatmas, Disciples and the Search for Discipleship. 

See all the texts of this thematic section on the websites of the ILT.

* Study and Practice: A Prayer for Our Planetary Community.

* The Practice and the Training - a link to the transcription of two lectures by Musonius Rufus, the Stoic Sage of Ancient Rome, on page two.

* A Lesson From Ancient Rome - the dialogue of two flies, as the emperor arrives at the capital.  

The July edition has 19 pages.   

Click Here to Read

“The Aquarian” for July 2025

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The above edition of The Aquarian was published on 10 July 2025 with a precise full Moon in Capricorn.  

The entire collection of the journal is available HERE.

Give your friends a practical tool to better understand themselves, and better understand the world. Invite them to join the study-group E-Theosophy in Google Groups.

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Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.

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Thoughts Along the Road - 86

 
In All Aspects of Life, Four Factors
Are Essential Tools for One’s Victory
 
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
 

* The science of life is a practical form of knowledge.

* Regardless of appearance, the pursuit of pleasure is the exact opposite of the pursuit of happiness. Lust and hatred never get too far from one another. Lust easily becomes anger, and the other way around.

* A civilization based on the search for short-term pleasure is doomed to live in growing ill-will, frustration, fear, anger and other forms of spiritual ignorance.

* These factors constitute a chain of causation which leads to large scale dishonesty, social injustice, wars and despair. On the other hand, valuable goals, honesty of purpose, purity of feelings and elevation of mind form a chain of causation which produces peace, both individually and in nations and communities around the world.

* The pursuit of true happiness is no different from the search for a knowledge of one’s spiritual soul, an understanding of universal wisdom and a love for the Law of the Universe. In order to be in harmony with the Law, all we need is a moderate amount of common sense, a modest degree of discernment, and an enduring will to improve oneself.

Solitude and Contemplation

* A degree of solitude may be comfortable - and even necessary - for those who seek to build a contemplative life. On the other hand, one must avoid any excess in the practice of self-isolation, which may become neurotic. Regarding the importance of preserving an open mind and good will towards all beings, a Master of the Wisdom wrote to a lay disciple:

* “Beware (…) of an uncharitable spirit, for it will rise up like a hungry wolf in your path, and devour the better qualities of your nature that have been springing into life. Broaden instead of narrowing your sympathies; try to identify yourself with your fellows, rather than to contract your circle of affinity.” [1]

* In every aspect of life, four factors are essential tools for one’s victory: balance, discernment, firmness, and a humble ability to learn.  

Intelligent Human Beings

* Few people use their intelligence indeed, for intelligence is inseparable from ethics, humbleness and other qualities of the spiritual soul. Many human beings are educated from childhood to limit themselves to trying to be clever, instead of being intelligent.

* A Master of the Eastern Wisdom wrote:

* “Only the progress one makes in the study of Arcane knowledge from its rudimental elements, brings him gradually to understand our meaning. Only thus, and not otherwise, does it, strengthening and refining those mysterious links of sympathy between intelligent men - the temporarily isolated fragments of the universal Soul and the cosmic Soul itself - bring them into full rapport. Once this established, then only will these awakened sympathies serve, indeed, to connect MAN with - what for the want of a European scientific word more competent to express the idea, I am again compelled to describe as that energetic chain which binds together the material and Immaterial Kosmos, - Past, Present, and Future - and quicken his perceptions so as to clearly grasp, not merely all things of matter, but of Spirit also.” (“The Mahatma Letters”, p. 29.)

* The Eastern teacher goes on:

* “I feel even irritated at having to use these three clumsy words - past, present and future! Miserable concepts of the objective phases of the Subjective Whole, they are about as ill-adapted for the purpose as an axe for fine carving. Oh, my poor, disappointed friend, that you were already so far advanced on THE PATH, that this simple transmission of ideas should not be encumbered by the conditions of matter, the union of your mind with ours - prevented by its induced incapabilities! Such is unfortunately the inherited and self-acquired grossness of the Western mind; and so greatly have the very phrases expressive of modern thoughts been developed in the line of practical materialism, that it is now next to impossible either for them to comprehend or for us to express in their own languages anything of that delicate seemingly ideal machinery of the Occult Kosmos.” (“The Mahatma Letters”, same p. 29.)

* Each student of philosophy must constantly challenge his own limitations, and expand horizons all the time.

NOTE:

[1] Second paragraph of letter 66, p. 367 in “The Mahatma Letters”.

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The article “Thoughts Along the Road - 86” was published on the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists on 09 July 2025.  An initial version of it is part of the September 2022 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 13-15.          

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Read more:

* The Invisible Monastery.

* The Mahatmas and Christianity.

* Helena Blavatsky’s Self-Criticism.

* The Right View of Life.

* A Prayer for Those Who Heal. 

* Do Theosophists Fight Demons?

* The Notebook of Willpower.

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Print the texts you study from the websites of the Independent Lodge. Reading on paper helps us attain a deeper view of philosophical texts. When studying a printed text, the reader can underline sentences and make handwritten comments in the margins that link the ideas to his personal reality.

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Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.

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A Lesson From Ancient Rome

  
The Dialogue of Two Flies, as
the Emperor Arrives at the Capital
 
 
Carlos Cardoso Aveline

According to the Yoga Sutras of Patañjali, one of the positive qualities we must develop along the path to wisdom is Asteya, abstention from stealing. The idea is more complicated than it seems, because there are subconscious forms of theft.

Some sectors of the lower self, for example, are always ready to steal the place of the higher self or immortal soul.

How many times, despite its enormous imperfections, does one’s lower personality try to attribute to itself the characteristics of the immortal soul and considers itself most spiritual if not infallible and worthy of everyone’s applause?

It is said that once upon a time, during the Roman Empire, the emperor himself arrived back at the capital city after a great military victory. It was morning. The day was sunny. Standing on his quadriga - war chariot pulled by four horses - the emperor smiled and saluted the people gathered to applaud him in that moment of glory. But to whom did the glory belong?

A piece of manure, produced by the horses, was stuck to the outside of the car of the Emperor. Firmly accommodated in the organic substance, two flies chatted in all comfort while enjoying their breakfast and experiencing the moment of arrival in Rome.

While pointing to the applauding crowd, the older fly said to his colleague:

- Do you see how popular I am in this place?

And he interrupted the meal, and started greeting the crowd with his front paws. At the same time, he looked at his companion with an eloquent attitude, as if he wanted to say:

- Look carefully - it’s a historic moment.

What is the theosophical lesson from such an episode?

Often, this is the behavior of the lower self, in the inner world of those who seek for eternal wisdom. Each time the pilgrim achieves a victory on the path of self-improvement, his lower self gets ready to receive the applause, while saying to itself:

“This time I was truly magnificent.”

The warrior-emperor in the story represents that part of the lower self that fights and wins battles in the search for truth. It destroys the grosser aspects of ignorance and expands the learner’s area of self-knowledge. The two flies, traveling in the lower outer part of the car, represent the backward aspects of the lower self. The insects are slaves to comfort. They make a feast of unhealthy things. And in order to overcome boredom, they cultivate vainglory based on fantasy.

Each human being has within himself a warrior-emperor and a fly, or two. It is necessary to renounce the smelling meal enjoyed by the fly, to tread the narrow steep path of a self-responsible warrior.

It is the combination of courage and humbleness that produces victory. It is easy to have courage if there is no humility. And anyone can be humble if there is no courage. But the merit lies in combining these two qualities and managing them based on discernment and common sense.

To do this, one must understand a few basic facts:

* The lower-self can only live for a short time, often less than one century.

* It is imperfect.

* In addition to being short-lived, the lower self has significant learning difficulties and, like certain domestic animals, parts of it may become stubbornly self-opinionated.

But the lower self can also work loyally for That which is permanent.

Despite the difficulties, it is able, little by little, to learn. It is within its power to fight and correct its own mistakes, but it cannot eliminate the mistakes of others. By persevering in the right direction, it can liberate itself from a large amount of ignorance.

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The article “A Lesson From Ancient Rome” is available on the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists since 27 June 2025. It was first published at the April 2024 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 1-3.  

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Read more:

* From Ritualism to Raja Yoga.

* Berdyaev and the Search for Truth.

* Experiencing the Yoga Aphorisms.

* Good Sense in Approaching Raja Yoga.

* The Mahatmas and Christianity.

* Helena Blavatsky’s Self-Criticism.

* The Mystery of the Templars.

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Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.

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The Aquarian Theosophist, June 2025

 

The June edition of the Aquarian starts with a text by John Garrigues entitled A Philosophy of Action, whose subtitle says:

This is a Universe of Inherent Law and Justice.

Page three presents a selection of ironical sayings by George Bernard Shaw, under the title True Perception Is Quicker than Reasoning.

On page five, Moral Education: The Evolution of Genius, by Joseph Rodes Buchanan. The article comes from a book that was highly recommended by Helena Blavatsky.

Other topics:  

* A Few Lessons from George Orwell.  

* A History of Russian Philosophy.

* The Mystery of Collective Will: Knowing the Right Sequence of Things, Lin Yutang.

* HPB, On the Intelligence of the Mimosas.

* Thoughts Along the Road - The Philosophy of Peace Through Inner Strength. 

* Lin Yutang Makes a Diagnosis - Lifeless Erudition and Blind Thought Systems in the Western World.

The June edition has 18 pages.   

Click Here to Read

“The Aquarian” for June 2025

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The above edition of The Aquarian was published on 12 June 2025.  

The entire collection of the journal is available HERE.

Give your friends a practical tool to better understand themselves, and better understand the world. Invite them to join the study-group E-Theosophy in Google Groups.

000

Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.

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Thoughts Along the Road - 85

 
The Law of Karma is Never in a
Hurry, But It Rarely Postpones Anything
 
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
  

* Wise is the one who knows how to learn. The apprentice-disciple knows that he does not know. He tries to learn how to acquire real knowledge. 

* Only fools lie to themselves thinking they don’t need to seek the truth, and adopt the elegant pose of someone who thinks he knows all.

* The first step on the road to truth is to humbly acknowledge our profound ignorance. Thus we avoid foolishness. Next, it is necessary to take practical steps to strengthen one’s ability to learn. And this is a long-term task which requires persistence.

The Source and Foundation of Victory

* Many forget the fact that external reality - as seen by human beings - is but a reflection of one’s own inner reality.

* As we reduce the degree of spiritual ignorance to which our view of daily life is attached, the world seems to make more sense.

* The inner and the outer are deeply connected. Let us imagine that one’s horizon is wide enough and one has accumulated the right kind of experience in seeking a noble goal. In such conditions, each victory in inner self-discipline paves the way for a new victory in life, which may be visible or not.

* But a weak self-discipline does not help in achieving victory in the outer realms of reality.

* Before dreaming of a victory that includes the different levels of reality, ask yourself how efficiently you have prepared and obtained victory in your soul. Investigate how peacefully you have waited for its calm maturation, which may take place in the present lifetime or in a future one.

* The most important victory consists in acting in a correct way here and now, while one is guided by a long-term perspective.

* The law of karma is never in a hurry, but it rarely postpones anything. Its action is often invisible. Sometimes it seems to be too slow. Other times, it acts with surprising speed. It may even emerge as the light of a lightning in the darkest hour of the night. [1]

* In painful moments, one may think and feel that the amount of suffering is undeserved. Someone or something seems to be unfair in such a situation. But who said that suffering is not part of life? Nobody said that. Perhaps it was only because of our own self-indulgence and naiveté that we expected to be luckier than we are.

* If we accept the facts and see the karma of life as it is, we will cease to lose energy in rejecting actual reality. We then can concentrate in, (A) understanding the facts and their causes properly, (B) making the right decision or decisions, and (C) developing the right kind of action.  

Doing the Best We Can Here and Now

* Before complaining about some difficult circumstances or the ethical decay around us, there is a small meditation we can practice: 

* Om.

* May the inhabitants of the places that are important to me improve themselves on the moral plane, and elevate themselves spiritually.

* It is my duty to give a silent personal example of such an effort. I must act in constructive ways.

* Every nation can decide to live in the most correct way possible, and strengthen itself in ethics, and grow in self-purification. I hope a growing number of citizens reject wrong and unethical attitudes in their lives.

* Such is my practical commitment.

* The decision made by each pilgrim involves self-responsibility. It depends on his own moral strength. It must happen regardless of outward circumstances.

* As we improve ourselves, the world gets better. Sooner or later, all individuals reap what they sow.

* Om, shanti. Om.

NOTE:

[1] The paragraphs under the subtitle “The Source and Foundation of Victory” are an updated version of a note on page 32 of “CCA Notebook 14”.

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The article “Thoughts Along the Road - 85” was published on the websites of the Independent Lodge of Theosophists on 10 June 2025.  An initial version of it is part of the August 2022 edition of “The Aquarian Theosophist”, pp. 09-10.

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Read more:

* The Right View of Life.

* A Prayer for Those Who Heal. 

* Do Theosophists Fight Demons?

* The Invisible Monastery.

* The Notebook of Willpower.

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Print the texts you study from the websites of the Independent Lodge. Reading on paper helps us attain a deeper view of philosophical texts. When studying a printed text, the reader can underline sentences and make handwritten comments in the margins that link the ideas to his personal reality.

000

Helena Blavatsky (photo) wrote these words: “Deserve, then desire”.

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