The School of the Wisdom

November 2009 – February 2010

The Purpose of the School of the Wisdom

The aim of the School of the Wisdom is to enable the individual to cease from being one who gives intellectual adherence to a particular school of philosophy, and become one who learns to survey the problem of life directly by himself or herself. The essential search is to discover life as it is, life being inseparable from consciousness.

The School of the Wisdom aims at bringing each student to survey things “from the centre” which is intuitive awareness. An intense sense of Life must always accompany every true student. There can be no Wisdom without an ever-increasing sense of Wonder.

The aim of all studies in the School of the Wisdom is not the perfection of the individual but to enable the individual to use every faculty of his or her being for “lifting a little of the heavy Karma of the world”.

Essential in the progress towards Wisdom is a growing intimacy with all aspects of Nature. The message which each tree, flower, animal, meadow, sea, sky and cloud has, must be listened to and understood.

(From the Inaugural Address of the School of the Wisdom

by C. Jinarājadāsa, 17 November 1949)

9 to 15 November 2009

Intuitive Awareness: a Silent Retreat

Director: Venerable Ajahn Sumedho Bhikkhu

Being present here and now with total attention and awareness is the way to liberation from ignorance and suffering. The Buddha proclaimed this truth 2552 years ago and the importance and the reality of this teaching is being increasingly recognized. During these classes we will explore the relevance of such teaching for our lives.

Venerable Ajahn Sumedho Bhikkhu was born in the United States. He went to Thailand in 1966 and became a disciple of Venerable Ajahn Chah (Pbra Bodhinyana Thera) in the forest monastery of Wat Nong Pah Pong, Ubon Province. He is the head of the Amaravati Buddhist Monastery in West Sussex, England. He is also a former President of the Buddhist Society in London. He is the author of The Teachings from the Silent Mind; Mindfulness, Path to the Deathless; The Four Noble Truths and The Way It Is.

Students will be encouraged to take the Eight Buddhist Precepts for the duration of the retreat. Participants are also advised to observe silence during the time of the retreat. Traditional Pali chants, containing the teachings of the Buddha, will be sung at the beginning and ending of each session.

16 to 27 November 2009

Brain, Consciousness and Transformation

Director: Dr Satish Inamdar

This session will explore four subjects: intelligence (sense of survival, significance of life, fear, desire and reasoning); evolution (animal brain, human brain, brain-mind, consciousness); structure and function of human brain and function and behaviour (average behaviour, perversions, creativity, thought, knowledge, superstition, religious life, transformation and mutation of brain cells).

Dr Satish Inamdar worked professionally as a Cancer Surgeon and is interested in enquiring about life.  He has been associated with the Krishnamurti Foundation India since July 1988 and is presently the Director of the Foundation’s Bangalore Education Centre.  He has also been Director of the School of the Wisdom at Adyar for several sessions in the past.

30 November to 11 December 2009

Human Evolution and Spirituality

Director: Prof. C. A. Shinde

Theosophical teachings suggest that there are three schemes of evolution: physical, intellectual and spiritual. Consciousness and matter affect each other because they are two constituents of one whole. Spirit and matter, life and form are ever inseparable. This session will explore of the evolution of form and the unfoldment of consciousness in the light of Theosophy.

Recommended reading:

Ancient Wisdom by Annie Besant

A Study in Consciousness by Annie Besant

Prof. C. A. Shinde is the Director of the Adyar Library and Research Centre and a National Lecturer for the Indian Section of the TS.

5 January to 4 February 2010

Theosophy and its Practical Implications

Director: Mr Colin Price

There are aspects of Theosophical doctrine which are highly technical and only of interest to the serious student of philosophy and metaphysics. However a major portion of the teachings have direct relevance to human life in the twenty-first century. Their deeper meaning only becomes evident to the student after many steps have been taken into the hall of learning. This session will seek to explore the vastness of Theosophy and its great significance for understanding the meaning of life and the mystery of human consciousness.

Recommended reading:

The Mahatma Letters

The Key to Theosophy

H. P. Blavatsky Collected Writings (Vol. XII)

Fundamentals of Esoteric Philosophy by G. De Purucker

Deity, Cosmos & Man by G. A. Farthing

Mr Colin Price is a former General Secretary of the English Section of the TS, a featured speaker at the European School of Theosophy and a member of the Blavatsky Trust in England.

Classes and Timings

Monday to Friday

Meditation: 8 to 8.30 a.m.

Classes: 8.30 to 11 a.m. and 3.30 to 5 p.m.

    Some afternoons will be reserved for presentations by the students, who may spend other afternoons doing individual research on their own or at the Library. Applications for Library reading/ borrowing cards are available.

Additional Information:

• All sessions are held in Blavatsky Bungalow.
• Applications, providing membership details and a recommendation from the Section/Federation Secretary, to be sent to:

              The International Secretary, The Theosophical Society

Adyar, Chennai 600 020, India

                  Tel: ( +91 44 ) 2491 2474 and 2491 7198

Email: study.hq@ts-adyar.org

• The Application Form may be downloaded in Word or PDF format.
• Students may register for all or some of the sessions and are expected to attend all the classes in the session chosen.
• Scholarships, full or partial, may be provided for some deserving TS workers. Applications should be made well in advance, providing full details and suitable recommendation.
• Attendance at the School of the Wisdom does not confer the right of residence at the Theosophical Society, Adyar. For accommodation in the Society’s premises, please apply to the Accommodation Officer, The Theosophical Society, Adyar, Chennai 600 020, India.
• Those members who wish to stay for the International Convention (26-31 December) are requested to register separately at the Convention Office and book accommodation.

=================================================================================

PAST SESSIONS

January 7 to February 11, 2009

SUBJECT: Insights from the Bhagavad Gita

DIRECTOR: Prof Ravi Ravindra

THEME:  This five-week session of the School of the Wisdom will be devoted to a study of the Bhagavad Gita, a classic of ancient wisdom and perhaps the single most important text to originate from India.

The participants are expected to have a copy of the Bhagavad Gita with translation. After a discussion of some of the key expressions, we will continue using them in Sanskrit without translation in order to develop an in-depth feeling for them. No prior knowledge of Sanskrit will be assumed.

Frequent references will be made to the following three books in order to deepen our understanding:

Sri Aurobindo: Essays on the Gita

Sri Krishna Prem: The Yoga of the Bhagavad Gita

Ravi Ravindra: Yoga and the Teaching of Krishna

The classes will be held in the morning from Monday through Thursday. Some afternoon sessions will be arranged for presentation by the students or by invited scholars and guests.

Professor Ravi Ravindra is retired Professor of Comparative Religion and Physics from Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada, and the author of many papers in Physics, Philosophy and Religion and of several books, including Whispers from the Other Shore, The Yoga of the Christ and Science and the Sacred.

&

December 1 to 15, 2008

SUBJECT: The Mahatmas on Theosophy and the TS

DIRECTOR: Bro. Pedro Oliveira

THEME: One of the Elder Brethren who inspired the founding of the Theosophical Society wrote: ‘The chief object of the TS is not so much to gratify individual aspirations as to serve our fellow men’.  His teacher stated that ‘the Theosophical Society was chosen as the corner stone, the foundation of the future religions of  humanity’.

The same Teacher also said that ‘to be true, religion and philosophy must offer the solution of every problem’.

This course will explore these and other core statements from the inner Founders of the TS and their enduring vision of a ‘regenerating  practical Brotherhood’.

Suggested Reading: Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom (First and Second Series) edited by C. Jinarajadasa.

The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in

chronological sequence, edited by Vincente Hao Chin, Jr

Bro. Pedro Oliveira has a degree in Philosophy, is former International Secretary of the Theosophical Society, a  Past President of the Indo-Pacific Federation, and the Education Co-ordinator of the Australian Section. He  directed the School of the Wisdom on ‘The Theosophy of the Mystics’ a few years ago.

&

November 17 to 29, 2008

SUBJECT: Theosophy – Exponents and Exposition

DIRECTOR: Prof R.C. Tampi

THEME: Theosophy – Divine Wisdom – is the ‘substratum and basis of all the world-religions and philosophies, taught and practised by a few elect, ever since man became a thinking being’ (HPB). There is an underlying unity in the different expositions of theosophy through the ages. The course will attempt a study of these.

Suggested Reading - H.P. Blavatsky: The Key to Theosophy

Aldous Huxley: The Perennial Philosophy, Harper & Co., New York

Philip Sidney Harris (ed.): Theosophical Encyclopedia, Theosophical Publishing House, Philippines

S.Abhayananda: History of Mysticism, Sri Sadguru Publications, India

Professor R.C. Tampi  is a retired Professor of English. He joined the Theosophical Society in 1959. He is a National Lecturer of the Indian Section, and President of the Kerala Theosophical Federation.

&

7 January to 1 February 2008

Theme: ‘Theosophy, Science, and Esoteric Science’

Director: Mr Colin Price

SUBJECT: The relevance of Esoteric Science to current religious, philosophical and scientific ideas will be discussed. Theosophical teachings will be explored in depth under fourteen separate headings demonstrating how they form a coherent structure of knowledge which provides answers to many questions on the meaning of life and existence and the mystery of human consciousness.

RECOMMENDED READING: H. P. Blavatsky's The Key to Theosophy.

Mr Price is a retired research scientist, a lifelong Bible student and teacher, an international Theosophical lecturer, and General Secretary of the English Section of the TS since 1999.

3 to 15 December 2007

Theme: ‘Ancient Wisdom and Modern Insight’

Director: Prof. R. C. Tampi

SUBJECT: H. P. Blavatsky hoped: 'The day is not far off when Science will show a better appreciation of the Wisdom of the ancients than it has hitherto done' (The Secret Doctrine, I, 586). The purpose of the course is to take advantage of the recent insights of modern science for a clear understanding of the principles of Theosophy. The approach will be so chosen as to enable even those participants who do not have specialized knowledge of science to take active interest in the course.

RECOMMENDED READING: Shirley Nicholson's Ancient Wisdom -- Modern Insight and René Weber's Dialogues with Scientists and Sages.

Prof. Tampi is a retired Professor of English. He joined the TS in 1959 and has been an active member. He is also a National Lecturer of the Indian Section.

&

19 November to 1 December 2007

Theme: ‘Basic Theosophy and the Future of Man’

Director: Prof. C. A. Shinde

SUBJECT: The course will provide a clear understanding of the theme through an appreciation of its expression in 'The Three Great Truths', which are said to be absolute and at the same time as great as life itself, though simple as the simplest mind of man.

RECOMMENDED READING: 'The Three Great Truths' per Mabel Collins' The Idyll of the White Lotus.

Prof. Shinde is a retired Professor of Zoology. He has been an active member of the TS for many years, a National Lecturer of the Indian Section, and is currently Librarian of the Adyar Library and Research Centre.

&

5 to 17 November 2007 

Theme: ‘Fundamental Theosophical Principles’

Director: Mrs Dolores Gago

SUBJECT: The purpose of the course is to clarify what is a Theosophical approach. The declarations of 'Freedom of Thought' and 'Freedom of the Society' will be analyzed. Some of the classes will function as a workshop.

RECOMMENDED READING: 'Freedom of thought' and 'Freedom of the Society' declarations (in article by John Algeo, The Theosophist, April 2007); and 'The Nature of Our Freedom' by Joy Mills (The Theosophist, March 2007).

Mrs Gago has been a member of the Theosophical Society for more than 50 years, having been General Secretary of the Uruguayan Section and a member of its National Committee. She was the international Secretary and is currently Secretary of the School of the Wisdom at Adyar.