The Ancient Wisdom
About This Book
The Ancient Wisdom is Annie Besant's most systematic and comprehensive introduction to the Theosophical teaching — the clearest and most accessible single-volume presentation of the 'perennial philosophy' that forms the backbone of the Theosophical worldview. Written for readers encountering these ideas for the first time, it covers the complete range of the Theosophical cosmology and anthropology: the seven planes of existence, the constitution of the human being, the process of reincarnation and the between-lives period in the higher planes, the mechanics of karma, the evolution of consciousness through the kingdoms of nature, and the nature and role of the Masters of the Wisdom who guide the spiritual development of humanity.
Besant writes with the pedagogical skill of someone who had spent decades presenting complex ideas to diverse audiences — her explanations are clear without being simplistic, and her illustrations are drawn from a range of sources that reflect her breadth of reading across the world's philosophical and religious traditions. What distinguishes The Ancient Wisdom from similar Theosophical introductions is its balance: it presents the conceptual framework with sufficient completeness that a serious student can use it as a working map of reality, while maintaining enough acknowledgment of the framework's hypothetical character that intellectually rigorous readers are not asked to take anything on faith that cannot in principle be verified through inner development.
What You'll Learn
• Master the seven-plane cosmology: the planes of existence (physical, astral, mental, buddhic, atmic, anupadaka, adi), their relationship to each other, the type of consciousness appropriate to each, and how the different vehicles of the human being operate within and across these planes
• Understand the full constitution of the human being as Theosophy presents it: the physical body, etheric double, astral body, lower mental body, causal body, higher self, and the divine spark at the core — what each is, how it relates to the others, and what happens to each at physical death
• Grasp the mechanics of reincarnation and karma in more detail than most introductions provide: the process of withdrawal from the physical and astral bodies at death, the period of 'devachan' (the heavenly rest) in the mental plane, the gradual dissolution of the personality vehicles, and the eventual descent of the ego into a new incarnation equipped with the karmic inheritance of the previous life
• Recognise the evolutionary purpose underlying the entire system: how the process of successive incarnations, karma, and the progressive refinement of the vehicles serves the ultimate goal of consciousness knowing itself fully — from the unconscious unity of the mineral through the increasingly self-aware stages of plant, animal, and human life to the conscious return to divine awareness
• Appreciate the historical context: how The Ancient Wisdom positioned itself in relation to the materialism and scientism of the late nineteenth century as a presentation of an alternative worldview that was simultaneously more spiritually satisfying and — Besant argued — more consistent with the actual evidence from psychical research and comparative religion than the dominant scientific-materialist paradigm
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