Surendra's Brother: "Sir, what do you think of Theosophy?"
Sri Ramakrishna : "I have heard that man can acquire superhuman powers through it and perform miracles. I saw a man who had brought a ghost under control. The ghost used to procure various things for his master. What shall I do with superhuman powers? Can one realize God through them? If God is not realized then everything becomes false."
Source: Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna
3 comments:
Surely Ramakrishna hadn't the full intention of Theosophy in mind. The spiritual Self realization is the point of Theosophy not to obtain superhuman powers, which may be useful to the aid of all life in its evolution.
Namaste @Ananymous ji,
Sri Ramakrishna always focused on Self Realisation / having Divine vision (Darshan) of God then any other thing.
As far as Theosophy and other related New-age Phenomenon like Reiki, Pranic Healing, etc are concerned, there is an urge to explore the subtle worlds and master the subtle bodies. They also focus on healing people through energy healing. Thus the focus is diverted and so in the exploration and in the quest to heal more people and the spread the teachings there is a big probability that one's goal of Self Realisation gets diverted. Even Patanjali has warned Yogis to not fall for Siddhis.
Sri Ramakrishna didn't even wished to open an Ashram or a school or a hospital, as he once replied that if God gives you Darshan (he manifests in fronts of you), what will you ask to him - 1) I want to build schools and hospitals or 2) Give me a permanent place at your lotus feet, grace me with your devotion.
Madame Blavatsky and her co-founder William Q. Judge stated several times that siddhis and phenomena is not the goal of Theosophy, as its goal is Universal Brotherhood — in fact Theosophy follows the Raj Yoga of Patanjali who also agreed that thirst after Siddhis are a hindrance. Damodar, a Theosophist and chela of one of the Mahatmas said “the true Yogi does not study Occultism for the purpose of acquiring powers. In his onward spiritual progress toward deliverance from the shackles of Maya, the Siddhis come to him of themselves.” William Q judge, the co-founder of the Theosophical society also said : ”But some Theosophists have been guilty of ventilating in the papers the statement that Theosophy is astralism, that is to say, that the object of the Society is to induce people to go into the study and practice of spirit raising, cultivating the abnormal faculties, of clairvoyance and the like, ignoring entirely the prime object, real end, aim and raison d'etre of the movement-universal brotherhood and ethical teaching. In fact, we make bold to assert, from our own knowledge and from written documents, that the Mahatmas, who started the Society, and who stand behind it now, are distinctly opposed to making prominent these phenomenal leanings, this hunting after clairvoyance and astral bodies, and they have so declared most unmistakably, stating their wish and advice to be, that "the Society should prosper on its ethical, philosophical and moral worth alone." (William Q. Judge “Theosophy in the Press”, The Path, August 1886) There are at least several pages longer of quotes to this effect. It is very likely that Ramakrishna unintentionally mistook PSEUDO-Theosophy for the genuine Theosophy of the founders. The pseudo-Theosophy of C.W Leadbeater, Annie Besant, Alice Bailey, Guy Ballard, Choa-kok sui and many others are constantly being confused with the original, and the New age teachings are also diametrical to that of Theosophy. For more information on pseudo-Theosophy and the real Theosophical teaching…the site BlavatskyTheosophy.com is very insightful and highly recommended.
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