Man The Measure Of All Things

Ranked #5,513 in Culture & Society, #114,400 overall

By Sri Madhava Ashish and Sri Krishna Prem

Deep, engaging and insightful interpretation of Blavatsky's 'The Secret Doctrine'.

'Man the measure of all things' is one of those books I've heard about for years, but never had the opportunity to read. Having read Blavatsky's magnum opus myself, I was not inclined to read this commentary. However, the second hand bookshop of the Dutch TS brought it into my hands recently and I was pleasantly surprised.

Few people combine insight and wisdom with an ability to write as Sri Madhava Ashish does. He has taken the notes made by Sri Krishna Prem on the subject and turned it into a spiritual master piece.

I can't find words to describe just how good I think this book is. It's not the easiest book you'll ever read, but compared to the Stanzas of Dzyan and Blavatsky's own commentary on them, it's an easy read.

Man The Measure Of All Things

Man, the Measure of All Things

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The real purpose of the ancient cosmogenies

Quote

This, however, is the real purpose of the ancient cosmogonies: to invite us to turn our gaze inwards to the source and origin both of the 'outer' universe of phenomena and of the 'inner' universe of consciousness, to find there the ever-present and eternal simultaneity of what is here seen as a flow of separate events in time; and above all, to fathom the ultimate mystery of selfhood.

But what has the Self, the mysterious root of human consciousness, got to do with a cosmogony, an account of the origination of the material universe? Such a question can only arise when, as most of us do, we explicitly or implicitly draw distinctions between ourselves and the things (phenomena or sense experience) around us: things we desire or fear to possess; events we desire or fear will happen; qualities of mind or feeling that add to or subtract from our self-opinion; things we value as adding to our pleasure, power or importance (etc.) (pp. 17, 18)

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Love it! Great read.

Norman Simpson says:

If we can really rise up through the RINGS PASS NOT then it is a great book. Regards:Norman Simpson.

mike tisdale says:

I've been interested in Theosophy for many years, and have read through this book at least four times, and I continue to be amazed at the depth of knowledge contained within. I believe the commentary does much to illumine the text of the stanzas, which are almost impossible to understand without commentaries on the deeper meanings. I think Krishna Prem has revealed much of the mystic meanings within the stanzas, and I consider him to be a true mystic who sees through the eyes of eternity.

Sorry, not my cup of tea.

 

The essence of the essence

The ancient Cosmogonies and Creation Myths were, in effect, affirmations of the divine nature of all things, giving significance to human life and validity to the moral and social codes formulated on the patterns of what they represented man to be, or rather, what he should become. The Stanzas of Dzyan represent such an affirmation.

(p. 8)

Self in relation to the ALL

quote

If we make an effort to isolate our selfhood from the phenomena of sense, one of the things we see is that, apart from the conventions of ownership, we do not really possess anything, not even our bodies. We are usually in the position of observers, often against our will, of a flow of 'external' or 'internal' events, and we are led to question whether those events have independent reality apart from an observer.

This is where the problem of self meets the problem of matter. We have to find an integral understanding of all experience which will resolve the dilemma in the interdependence of conscious observer and content of experience. (p. 18)

Krishna Prem's inspiration

Oriental philosophy

Buddhist and Hindu philosophy are often quoted and referred to in this book, more than any other philosophy. Here follows more on oriental philosophy.
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More about and by Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish

Man the Measure of All Things, Sri Krishna Prem and Sri Madhava Ashish
I hope it is clear from these few sentences that it is not everyday man (or woman) that is seen as the measure of all things. It's the ideal person, that is seen as a symbol and representation of the Ultimate, the Real, the Total Universe.
The Secret Doctrine as a Contribution to World Thought, Sri Madhava Ashish, Modern Theosophy
The world's many religious teachings are human attempts to express mankind's half defined ideas about himself and the world he lives in. As we become richer in our wealth of concepts and more knowledgeable about our environment, we find it necessary from time to time to reformulate our religious ideas. H.P. Blavatsky's contribution to world thought was such a reformulation.
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In 1978 Ginsburg found Sri Madhava Ashish in India and wrote 'In Search of the Unitive Vision' of his experiences. Ashish advised Sy to get in touch with Gurdjieff groups, which he did and later became co-founder of the Gurdjieff Institute of Florida. Sy Ginsburg is also one of the founders of All & Everything International Humanities Conference.
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