In-Depth Book Study

Basic Theosophy by Geoffrey Hodson

Started on the 2nd of February, 2022

Chapter 1 – The Human Monad

Idyll of the White Lotus –

https://www.masonicexchange.com/The-Idyll-of-the-White-Lotus_p_3373.html
First published in book form in 1894, The Idyll of the White Lotus is a tale of initiation into a mystery
school in Ancient Egypt. Narrated by the neophyte himself, the story gives us insights into the
initiatic process, from the perspective of one individual: Sensa. Initiation is experienced differently by
each person, but the perspective of one gives understanding to those who have yet to knock on the
door of the temple. And, for those already initiated, the allegorical nature of this book provides new
perspectives to assist in understanding their own journey. The author of this work, Mabel Collins,
was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, which reached England in 1878. Though
fiction, the lessons contained within Idyll can serve as important guiding principles for Seekers of
Wisdom.

Chapter 2 – The Human Ego

 p 13 – From which animals do we individualise?

Esoteric Psychology 1 by Holy Master D K through Alice Bailey, page 260:

Elephants - 1st ray
Dogs - 2nd ray
Cats - 3rd ray
Horse - 6th ray
Animals upon other rays are not yet ready for individualisation.

 p 14 – Athanasian Creed

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Athanasian-Creed
Athanasian Creed, also called Quicumque Vult (from the opening words in Latin), a Christian
profession of faith in about 40 verses. It is regarded as authoritative in the Roman Catholic and some
Protestant churches. It has two sections, one dealing with the Trinity and the other with the
Incarnation

 p 18 Holy Grail
https://www.history.com/topics/middle-ages/holy-grail
The Holy Grail is traditionally thought to be the cup that Jesus Christ drank from at the Last Supper
and that Joseph of Arimathea used to collect Jesus's blood at his crucifixion. From ancient legends to
contemporary movies, the Holy Grail has been an object of mystery and fascination for centuries

 p 30 – Anupadaka meaning parentless or self-existing

 p 30 – Bheda and Abheda

https://iep.utm.edu/bhed-ved/
Bhedābheda Vedānta is one of the several traditions of Vedānta philosophy in India. “Bhedābheda”
is a Sanskrit word meaning “Difference and Non-Difference.” The characteristic position of all the
different Bhedābheda Vedānta schools is that the individual self (jīvātman) is both different and not
different from the ultimate reality known as Brahman. Bhedābheda reconciles the positions of two
other major schools of Vedānta. The Advaita (Monist) Vedānta that claims the individual self is
completely identical to Brahman, and the Dvaita (Dualist) Vedānta that teaches complete difference
between the individual self and Brahman. However, each thinker within the Bhedābheda Vedānta
tradition has his own particular understanding of the precise meanings of the philosophical terms
“difference” and “non-difference.” Bhedābheda Vedāntic ideas can traced to some of the very oldest
Vedāntic texts, including quite possibly Bādarāyaṇa’sBrahma Sūtra (app. 4th c. CE). Bhedābheda
ideas also had an enormous influence on the devotional (bhakti) schools of India’s medieval period.
Among medieval Bhedābheda thinkers are Vallabha (1479-1531 CE), founder of the Puṣṭimārga
devotional sect now centered in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, and Caitanya (1485-1533 CE) the founder of
the Gaudīya Vaiṣṇava sect based in the northeastern Indian state of West Bengal.

 p 33 – Plotinus

According to Michael Robbins (of the Morya Federation http://www.makara.us/portal/?

page_id=203) Plotinus may have been one of the previous incarnations of Holy Master D K.

https://iep.utm.edu/plotinus/
Plotinus (204 – 270 CE) is considered to be the founder of Neoplatonism. Taking his lead from his
reading of Plato, Plotinus developed a complex spiritual cosmology involving three foundational
elements: the One, the Intelligence, and the Soul. It is from the productive unity of these three
Beings that all existence emanates, according to Plotinus.

The ‘concept’ of the One is not, properly speaking, a concept at all, since it is never explicitly defined
by Plotinus, yet it is nevertheless the foundation and grandest expression of his philosophy. Plotinus
does make it clear that no words can do justice to the power of the One; even the name, ‘the One,’
is inadequate, for naming already implies discursive knowledge, and since discursive knowledge
divides or separates its objects in order to make them intelligible, the One cannot be known through
the process of discursive reasoning (Ennead VI.9.4).

The One effortlessly “‘overflows’ and its excess begets an other than itself” (V.2.1, tr. O’Brien 1964)
— this ‘other’ is the Intelligence (Nous), the source of the realm of multiplicity, of Being.
The soul is composed of a higher and a lower part — the higher part being unchangeable and divine
(and aloof from the lower part, yet providing the lower part with life), while the lower part is the
seat of the personality (and hence the passions and vices)

 p 33 – Neoplatonism

https://iep.utm.edu/neoplato/
Neo-platonism (or Neoplatonism) is a modern term used to designate the period of Platonic
philosophy beginning with the work of Plotinus and ending with the closing of the Platonic Academy
by the Emperor Justinian in 529 C.E. This brand of Platonism, which is often described as ‘mystical’ or
religious in nature, developed outside the mainstream of Academic Platonism.

 p 33 – Ennead

Literally meaning a group of set of nine.

The philosophy of Plotinus is represented in the complete collection of his treatises, collected and
edited by his student Porphyry into six books of nine treatises each. For this reason they have come
down to us under the title of the Enneads.

The standard citation of the Enneads follows Porphyry’s division into book, treatise, and chapter.
Hence ‘IV.8.1’ refers to book (or Ennead) four, treatise eight, chapter one.

 p 35 – Paramita

One of the perfect virtues (as morality, charity, patience, wisdom) that must be practiced by one
who undertakes the path to Buddhahood

“Paramita.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/paramita. Accessed 15 Jan. 2022.

https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195393521/obo-9780195393521-
0034.xml
The perfections are the virtues that are fully developed by a bodhisattva (Buddha-in-training) to
become a Buddha. All Buddhist traditions acknowledge that the perfections are practiced through
multiple lifetimes extending over aeons of time for the purpose of achieving full buddhahood for the
welfare of beings.

The lists of perfections varied according to the genre of literature in which they appeared. The
practices that constitute the varied lists of perfections and how the perfections are conceived differ
not only between groups but also between scholarly authors. The pāramitās appear in Buddhist
literature as a group of perfections in varying lists, but the lists are notoriously unfixed, with six and
ten perfections being the most common amount.
The Theravada tradition recognizes ten, although only eight perfections are listed in the
Buddhāpadāna and seven in the Cariyāpiṭaka (Horner 1975, cited under Editions and Translations).
The ten perfections in the Theravada tradition are (1) generosity (dāna), (2) morality (sīla), (3)
renunciation (nekhamma), (4) insight (pañña), (5) energy (viriya), (6) patience (khanti), (7)
truthfulness (sacca), (8) resolution (adhiṭṭhāna), (9) loving-kindness (metta), and (10) equanimity
(upekkhā).

A set of six perfections became common among some genres of mainstream Buddhist literature and
developed into a standard list in a number of Mahayana sutras. The six are (1) generosity (dāna), (2)
morality (śīla), (3) patience (kṣānti), (4) vigor (vīrya), (5) concentration (dhyāna), and (6) wisdom
(prajñā).

This list was expanded to complement the ten stages (bhūmi) traversed by a bodhisattva in the
course leading to full buddhahood. The additional perfections are (7) skill-in-means (upāya-
kauśalya), (8) resolution (praṇidhāna), (9) strength (bala), and (10) knowledge (jñāna).

The manner in which the perfections have been understood in different Buddhist cultures, such as in
Tibet or Southeast Asia, is dependent on the Buddhist literature that is accessible or acceptable to
the particular culture and the interpretive attention given to that literature.

 p 37 – Pleroma

a: the fullness of divine excellencies and powers

the pleroma of the Godhead resides in Christ corporeally

b: the fullness of being of the divine life held in Gnosticism to comprise the aeons as well as the
uncreated monad or dyad from which they have proceeded

“Pleroma.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-

webster.com/dictionary/pleroma. Accessed 15 Jan. 2022.

 p 37 – Pistis Sophia

https://www.theosophical.org/publications/quest-magazine/2395-the-pistis-sophia-an-introduction

The original text of the Pistis Sophia, written in Greek, has been lost; the earliest version we have is
an ancient translation into Coptic. The codex containing it was brought to England around 1772 and
was later sold to the British Museum. The complete text was translated into Latin in the mid-
nineteenth century by M. G. Schwartze, but it was only half a century later that it was translated into
modern European languages, such as French (Amalineau, 1895), German (Carl Schmidt, 1905) and
English (G. R. S. Mead, 1921). A much more recent translation was made by Violet MacDermot and
published in 1978.

The text is divided into three major parts. In the first, Jesus is with his disciples for eleven symbolic
years (perhaps eleven months) after his return from the dead, at the Mount of Olives. (According to
this and other Gnostic texts, the resurrected Jesus spent some time instructing his disciples before
making his final ascension to heaven.) Suddenly, in the midst of thunder and lightning, he is elevated
to the heights of heaven in the midst of intense, blinding light. After thirty hours, Jesus returns,
surrounded by three robes of light, with a brighter glow than when he had ascended. Henceforth he
starts to instruct his disciples about his experiences and other occult matters.

The other two components of the text are the narrative of the story of Pistis Sophia and additional
instructions to the disciples in the form of a dialogue. This article will endeavor to provide the main
features of the Sophia myth, which, like the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke's Gospel and the
Hymn of the Pearl in the Gnostic Acts of Thomas, is a profound revelation of the pilgrimage of the
soul.

Chapter 3 – The Etheric Double

 p 48 Congeries – a disorderly collection, a jumble

 p 48 Eliphas Levi – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89liphas_L%C3%A9vi#

Éliphas Lévi Zahed, born Alphonse Louis Constant (8 February 1810 – 31 May 1875), was a
French esotericist, poet, and author of more than twenty books about magic, Kabbalah,
alchemical studies, and occultism. He pursued an ecclesiastical career in the Catholic Church
until, after great personal struggle, at the age of 26, he abandoned the Roman Catholic
priesthood. At the age of 40 he started to profess a knowledge of the occult, also becoming a
reputed ceremonial magician.

 p 48 Nidus - a place or situation in which something develops or is fostered.

Chapter 4 – The Astral Body

 p 56 Interstice - an intervening space, especially a very small one

 p 58 Sanguine – a blood-red colour

 p 59 Gamboge - a gum resin produced by various East Asian trees, used as a yellow pigment and
in medicine as a purgative.

 p 59 Primrose yellow – a pale, yellow colour

 p 61 Specific gravity = relative density

 Chapter 5 – The Mental Body

 p 97 Percept - an object of perception; something that is perceived.

A concept that is developed as a consequence of the process of perception.

 p 97 Concept - an idea or mental image which corresponds to some distinct entity or class of
entities, or to its essential features, or determines the application of a term (especially a predicate),
and thus plays a part in the use of reason or language.

 p 101 Opalescent - showing many small points of shifting colour against a pale or dark ground

 p 105 Calumny - the making of false and defamatory statements about someone in order to
damage their reputation; slander.

Chapter 6 – The Arcane Wisdom of the Ages

 p 122 Cosmogony - the branch of science that deals with the origin of the universe, especially the
solar system.

 Cosmology is the study of the structure and changes in the present universe, while the scientific
field of cosmogony is concerned with the origin of the universe.

 p 122 Glyph – a hieroglyphic character or symbol.

 p 122 Hieroglyph – a stylized picture of an object representing a word, syllable, or sound, as

found in ancient Egyptian and certain other writing systems.

 P 129 Dowsing - a technique for searching for underground water, minerals, ley lines, or anything
invisible, by observing the motion of a pointer (traditionally a forked stick, now often paired bent
wires) or the changes in direction of a pendulum, supposedly in response to unseen influences.

Chapter 7 – Man’s Life After Physical Death

 p 138 – Norman Vincent Peale (born May 31, 1898, Bowersville, Ohio, U.S.—died December 24,
1993, Pawling, New York), influential and inspirational American religious leader who, after World
War II, tried to instill a spiritual renewal in the United States with his sermons, public-speaking
events, broadcasts, newspaper columns, and books. He encouraged millions with his 1952 best
seller, The Power of Positive Thinking.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Norman-Vincent-Peale

 p 142 Through the Gateway of Death by Geoffrey Hodson

https://www.theosophy.world/resource/ebooks/through-gateway-death-geoffrey-hodson
pdf copy available for download

 Augoeidses

Chapter 8 – Reincarnation