Why The Secret Doctrine Q.
& A.
Deserves a Place in Everyone’s
Library
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Carlos Cardoso Aveline

Three photos of the author Geoffrey A. Barborka
(1897-1982)
A commentary
on the book “Secret Doctrine
Questions & Answers”, by Geoffrey A. Barborka,
Wizards
Bookshelf, USA, 2003, 197 pp.
What
actually reincarnates in us?
What is it that becomes an Initiate?
What is the difference between prana and animal magnetism?
Is there a limit to the number of incarnations in one Manvantara?
Questions lead us to study. They make us search. They widen our
attention and stimulate our intuition. As time passes and we slowly grow in
wisdom, we are able to give better answers to the same old, fundamental
questions.
These are some of the reasons why philosophical questions are often more
important than the answers we can provide them, and perhaps in some cases they
are more significant than our present, limited understanding of the answers
given by sages.
The ancient practice of questions and answers - intimately connected to
the Socratic and Platonic methods of teaching - was employed in the 19th
century by the Adept-Teachers that exchanged letters with lay disciples, as we
can see in the “Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett”. It was widely adopted by H.P.
Blavatsky in “The Key to Theosophy”, in her “Conversations on Occultism” and
other texts. The method can also be
seen in the first volumes of the
magazine “The Theosophist”, when HPB was its editor.
Following the same, well-established tradition, Geoffrey Barborka
published between 1964 and 1980, in the bi-monthly periodical “The Canadian
Theosophist”, a series of questions and answers about the book “The Secret
Doctrine”, by H.P.B. In 2003, those 275
stimulating questions and answers were published in a hardcover book by Wizards
Bookshelf, California.
The clear, documented answers make a long and illuminating conversation
on the eternal truth and on the complex interaction linking each man to the
universe. In order to sense the book’s flavour,
it is worthwhile taking a look, for instance, at the discussion about planetary
spirits and the seven chief or sacred
Planets, on p. 25.
“Well, then, what are the Seven Sacred Planets?” - says a question. And Geoffrey Barborka answers:
“Here is the enumeration. First, a sacred planet for which the Sun is
named as a substitute; then Jupiter; Venus; Saturn; Mercury; Mars; a sacred
planet for which the Moon is named as a substitute.”
“But you have not included Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Are not these ‘Sacred
Planets’? Could these be included in the un-named planets?”
“No - to both questions. These three are not included in the enumeration
of the Seven Sacred Planets of the ancients, in spite of their astrological
importance.”
“Can you give the reason why they are not included as Sacred Planets;
even though astronomers regard these three planets as pertaining to our solar system;
and you have said that they do have an astrological significance?”
“In the Esoteric Philosophy Uranus, Neptune and Pluto are regarded as
belonging to what may be termed as ‘the Universal Solar System’, instead of to
the solar system over which our Sun has its regency. The reason that the seven
enumerated planets are termed ‘Sacred’ is this: each one of the seven has an especial
relationship to one globe in particular of the seven globes of the Earth-Chain,
in that it acts in the capacity of a Regent during the building of that one particular globe of the Chain.”
“Can you name the Regency provided by the Seven Sacred Planets to the seven
globes of the Earth-Chain?”
“Yes. The Sacred Planet having regency over Globe A during its formative
period is the one for which the Sun is named as a substitute; Jupiter has
regency over Globe B; Venus has regency over Globe C; Saturn and the Moon have
regency over Globe D; Mercury has regency over Globe E; Mars has regency over
Globe F; the planet for which the Moon is named as substitute has regency over
Globe G.”
A well-known theosophist, Geoffrey Barborka (1897-1982) wrote several
books, among them “The Divine Plan” (1961), “H.P. Blavatsky, Tibet and Tulku”
(1966) and “The Story of Human Evolution” (1979). Richard Robb, the editor of SD Questions & Answers, writes
about Barborka on page 186 of the volume:
“In temperament he was very reserved, and early on embraced a degree of
asceticism, demonstrating extraordinary self-discipline with total commitment
to his studies. He was seldom known to engage in casual conversation, remaining
attentive and silent.”
Resulting from decades of study and work, “Secret Doctrine Questions & Answers” goes beyond the important
tasks of explaining difficult passages in HPB’s work, inviting us to better study
the Secret Doctrine or giving a
general view of the esoteric philosophy.
Helpful to both new and old students, this inspiring book offers us a fluent,
fascinating dialogue on the law of the
universe, on the ways of its eternal life and - last but not least - on the process
and cycles of each man’s evolution.
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An initial version of the above article was
published at “The Aquarian Theosophist”,
in its Special Issue of August 2005, pp. 8-10. Original title: “A Conversation on the Eternal Truth”.
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On the role of the esoteric movement in
the ethical awakening of mankind during the 21st century, see the book “The Fire and Light of Theosophical
Literature”, by Carlos Cardoso Aveline.

Published in
2013 by The Aquarian Theosophist,
the volume has 255 pages and can be obtained through Amazon Books.
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