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Denver Theosophical Society |
Upcoming Events: |
January 2012 |
January 18, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Englewood Public Library (Perrin Room) 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110 (just north of Hampden on Inca) Map to Library |
Living Theosophy Series: Preparation for Yoga (Part 2) |
Creative work of any kind gives joy to life, and the transformation of our nature by methods of preparatory Yoga is creative work of the highest order, more real and more dynamic than painting a picture or making a statue. Painters and sculptors create works that represent life out of comparatively dead material, pigment and stone. The person who brings the image of the real Self out of the lower nature is evoking living spirit from living matter. A life problem is being solved. We are bringing the future into the present by becoming what we most truly are. The process of divine creativity in this work transforms our life into a song . . . It is like the living process of a bud opening into a flower with all the natural joy which is always present in such natural unfolding processes. This joyous work is what preparatory Yoga potentially means and can actually mean to anyone who takes it up in earnest. |
The meaning, joy and beauty |
that is released in the blossoming of the soul-nature when it takes place |
is reflected in love, even as we know it. |
-- N. Sri Ram |
The day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom. |
-- Anais Nin |
Remaining tight in a bud is a kind of death when you are being called to blossom into a higher life. |
-- Nick Williams |
Events below are open to the public. Suggested donation for each event: $5.00 |
"It is the hour to rend thy chains, the blossom time of souls." |
--Katharine Lee Bates |
Creativity means either infusing our work with our own uniqueness or bringing ideas from the realms of our mind and imagination into physical reality. |
--Nick Williams |
February 2012 |
Library Open House |
February 11, 2012 (Sat.) 1:00 - 4:00 pm Location: 6929 South Delaware Street Littleton, CO 80120 Map to Library (this is in a residence) |
The Denver Theosophical Society is throwing open the doors to its library so you can browse to your heart's content. Although the library is always available by appointment (call 303-797-1345), this |
is a perfect time to stop by and pick up some great reading while it's still "curl up with a good book" weather. |
"Knowledge is free at the library. Just bring your own container." --author unknown |
Living Theosophy Series: The Eight Steps of Yoga (Part 1) |
February 22, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Englewood Public Library (Perrin Room) 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110 (just north of Hampden on Inca) Map to Library |
Like other systems of yoga (meaning union with your deepest and truest nature), Patanjali's Yoga Sutras prescribe an eight-step system which we can pursue systematically. It is difficult to get much overall benefit from a random practice of the steps. To be really beneficial, all the steps need to be taken sequentially. This month, we begin with two foundational moral practices: self-restraint and observances. Transmuting our lower nature is not easy. The chief difficulty is that in spite of our idealism and determination, undesirable tendencies continue to trouble us. Learn the key to successfully neutralize a negative tendency. |
Photo by Luc Viatour--Licensing |
Photo by Alan D. Wilson--Licensing |
The human spirit has its source in the divine fountain which must be permitted to flow freely through man. |
Anyone who flows as life flows has solved the enigma of human existence and needs no other power. |
--Lao-Tsu |
The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that |
comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty. --Theodore Parker |
March, 2012 |
Baháí Tour and Celebration |
Join us as we visit a metro-Denver area Bahá'í congregation to learn about their faith and traditions. Details to follow--please check back. |
What do Bahá'ís believe? Bahá'ís believe that there is only one Supreme Being and that the core values of all religions emanate from the same Source; therefore, religions are one. They believe that moral, social, and spiritual laws have been revealed throughout the ages by divinely-inspired Messengers. Although Bahá'ís believe that Bahá'u'lláh is the Promised One of this age, they nevertheless also embrace and revere Abraham, Krishna, Zoroaster, Moses, Buddha, Jesus Christ, and Muhammad as divine messengers and feel a sense of unity with their followers. The central theme of Bahá'u'lláh's writings is that all people belong to one human family. In addition to their strong commitment to principles of unity, Bahá'ís also believe in the equality of men and women, universal education, religious tolerance, the harmony of science and religion, a universal auxiliary language, universal peace upheld by federated nations, and the independent investigation of truth. These beliefs are applied as they create a strong community that is racially unified and culturally diverse. |
There will be no peace among the nations without peace among the religions and no peace among the religions without dialogue. --Fr. Hans Kung |
Living Theosophy Series: The Eight Steps of Yoga (Part 2) |
March 21, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Englewood Public Library (Perrin Room) 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110 (just north of Hampden on Inca) Map to Library |
This month we examine more components of Patanjali's Yoga: posture, breath, and "going inward," as well as the three essential techniques of Yoga: concentration, contemplation, and union. Posture and breath control are preparatory techniques for practicing Yoga that involve harmonizing our dense physical and subtler etheric bodies. "Going inward" is a process of deliberately withdrawing our attention from the distractions of the surrounding world so we can meditate effectively. Concentration, contemplation and union are three progressive stages of meditation leading to a knowledge of the reality behind the object of meditation and a consequent mastery of the power associated with that knowledge. |
as characteristic of divinity is indeed realizable in the heart of man. |
--C. Jinarajadasa |
Within a man's own nature are inexhaustible sources of power and happiness, and every ideal which we postulate |
April, 2012 |
Living Theosophy Series: Self-Realization and the Quest for Happiness |
April 11, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Englewood Public Library (Perrin Room) 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110 (just north of Hampden on Inca) Map to Library |
If we look at human life as a whole, dispassionately, we find it is a continuous play of desire and mind in different forms and circum- stances. All human beings are driven constantly by desire in search for happiness. But in our ultimate identity, we are a monad, a unit of the One Consciousness in the universe. We are unalloyed being, knowing, and rejoicing. We become frustrated in our pursuit of happiness in the ever-changing world of manifesta- tion, but gradually we recognize our true nature of will, direct knowledge and pure bliss. The world is not a mistake or an exile; it is where we have the opportunity to discover who and what we are. |
"I am led, then, to a wonderful faith--in itself a joy--that everyone can find and can know this deep joy. Joy is not only your right, your heritage; joy is you at the deepest |
--Robert Ellwood, Finding Deep Joy |
Photo by Ernst Vikne; Licensing |
level, and your joy is one with the infinite, timeless joy of the unbound universe. Find it and drink all you want of it--there's more than enough for all." |
Spiritual Simplicity with Tim Boyd, President of the Theosophical Society in America |
We're on a path of ever-increasing aware- ness, and have access to the spiritual teachings of all the world's people. This situation is both good and bad. |
The fact that there is so much information available has created a tendency for today's aspirant to develop a spiritual practice which has great breadth, but little depth. In this talk we will seek to simplify--to identify the foundations for a deep and lasting spiritual practice. |
Tim Boyd is currently President of the Theosophical Society in America. He co-produced, narrated and conducted interviews for the Eternal Quest radio series, broadcast on stations in the U.S and Canada. He is a founding member of a spiritual community which was situated in the heart of Chicago in what had been a deteriorating urban area. The group established organic food gardens on vacant lots, purchased and renovated numerous buildings in the area, and placed bee hives on the roofs of buildings. He has lectured throughout the US and internationally. |
TS members: There will be a Members' Dinner on April 26, 2012 (details to follow via email) with Tim and Lily Boyd, after which Tim will speak about "Desirelessness - the difficult qualification." Imprecise ideas abound about desire in our unfoldment. What does it mean to desire? What aspects of our constitution are engaged and how? What is its effect on us? A proper understanding of this key concept will be of great benefit to all serious students. |
April 25, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Metaphysical Research Society 1001 E 7th Ave (at Ogden, NE corner) Denver, CO 80218 Map to Location |
Good because qualified teachers from both ancient spiritual traditions and emerging approaches to spirituality are available to us all. Bad because the availability of so many potential avenues has confused and distracted many sincere seekers. |
May, 2012 |
Living Theosophy Series: The Question of Guidance |
May 9, 2012 (Wed.) 7:00 pm Location: Englewood Public Library (Perrin Room) 1000 Englewood Parkway, Englewood, CO 80110 (just north of Hampden on Inca) Map to Library |
We can be taught and guided in many ways. But finally, we cannot depend on help from outside. We must learn to seek the Light within ourselves. The Light, from whatever source it comes, if it is the True Light, is the same Light in all of us. And that Light is ever available to us from within. |
Wisdom Walk at Denver Botanic Gardens |
May 19, 2012 (Sat.) 2:00 pm Location: Denver Botanic Gardens 1007 York Street, Denver, CO 80206 Map to Gardens |
We conclude our season with a contemplative stroll through nature's beauty. After you purchase your ticket, mete us just inside the frong entrance (please be on time, but if you miss us, we'll see you on the deck later), and you'll be given a tidbit of wisdom to ponder as you stroll. At 3:00, we'll meet on the deck in the Monet Gardens and share the insights that arose. Please check our schedule online at www.DenverTS.org, as this date is subject to change or cancellation depending on the Botanic Gardens' occasional closures for private events. |
Clairvoyant author and teacher Dora VanGelder Kuntz (co-developer of Therapeutic Touch) wrote, "When teaching meditation, I always suggest that we should try to listen to the sounds of the brook, birdsong, or the wind in the trees, for by so doing we open ourselves to the inner harmony of nature." |
Continuing on, she explained, "If you want to become sensitive to plants or trees you have to lose your sense of separateness. Setting aside your ego, you become aware of the vital energies you share with the rest of nature, and feel their rhythm." --Devic Consciousness, 1990 |
Belonging to the Natural World |
The beauty of nature and the natural world is almost always a good place to start when you need a stabilizing focus for steadying your |
attention and for reflecting on themes of belonging and interconnectedness. Who has not paused to marvel at a beautiful sunset or to wonder at the night sky or to smile at a bird calling its companions? |
Our attention seems naturally drawn to such natural beauty, and feeling touched by it, the mind relaxes a bit, and the heart can soften and open. |
In such moments, it may seem like your usual ego boundaries disappear, and you can feel yourself expanding into and being part of something much larger and more beautiful--present here and now--something that you were not aware of even a moment ago. |
Excerpted from True Belonging by Jeffrey Brantley, MD, and Wendy Millstine, NC. New Harbinger Publications, Inc., copyright 2011. |
Adopt the pace of nature; her secret is patience. |
--Ralph Waldo Emerson |