theosophical books to start off on

[Matt Agudelo]

hey guys,

I've just recently joined the site and would love some recommendations of books to read to get a different perspective and understanding of things.  Let me know of any that come to mind.  Thanks!

~Matt

[Joe Fulton]

Well, that's an interesting question to ask, especially for this site which serves to promote all theosophies, which by definition are any systems of thought claiming the possibility of attaining higher, or divine knowledge.  In addition the quality we promote here more than anything is curiosity and service to humanity.

Read the classics from most religions, i.e. The Bible, Bhagavad Gita, Dhammapada, Tao Te King, and whatever else you can get your hands on.  All of these are available for free from any number of sources.  Also check out sites like Eurekalert who have daily updates on science and make sure to check out at least one or two philosophy sites (i.e. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy).  These will give you a fairly well rounded idea of the breadth of what we can cover here.

There is also the tradition called Theosophy that essentially hijacked the term, and was founded by HP Blavatsky in 1875.  There are a number of books in the tradition. The best place to start, to get a real flavor for the ideas is the Theosophist Magazine, which is hosted here, free of charge, for all to download. Great reading and lots of different points of view.

[M K Ramadoss]

Welcome to the site.

I would start off looking at wiki.

Then, the faq book on theosophy - Key to Theosophy by H P Blavatsky. This can be found free on Internet. Search Google.

Blavatsky was solely responsible for the introducing theosophy to the modern world.

Since no one's word is final as far as understanding of theosophy, you are on your own to read other materials and come to your own understanding of the universe and human being.

From what I have seen, exposure to theosophical ideas gives a direction in day to day life and has a transformative effect.

Feel free to ask any question and many would be willing to respond.

[Jon Fergus]

Hi Matt. Imho, it really depends on what you're drawn to. Certain books will jump out at you and you'll naturally want to read them. We all have different dispositions and such - some more scientific, some more religious, etc.. Perhaps let us know more specifically what area you're wanting to explore and we can all chime in with our favorites.

What Joe says below about the classics is a great overall start on the religious/philosophic side. The great thing about the classics is that you'll find dozens of different translations and commentaries. So, with the Bhagavad Gita, for instance, you can read commentaries from Gandhi, Yogananda, William Q Judge, etc. etc. (a quick search on google will come up with many commentaries).

A few of us here are also just beginning to get ourselves setup on a website called Shelfari, which allows us to share with one another which books we've read and loved. It'll be a few days before we've got ourselves situated there, but once we do you'll be able to browse our bookshelves and find ideas for your next read.

You'll find us here: Theosophy.Net's Community of the Curious on Shelfari

[Jaakko Matti Johannes Alhola]

hello!

I would like to introduce you to one of the greatest finnish theosophical writers, Pekka Ervast

From this link you will find the complete list of free pdf books online from this author. There are couple books also in english but most of them are in finnish or swedish.

http://www.pekkaervast.net/teokset/default.html

And here I'll post couple links straight to english books if someone finds it difficult to navigate on a finnish page.

http://www.pekkaervast.net/artikkelit/Esitelmat/1929%2005%2000%20Pe...

http://www.pekkaervast.net/teokset/The%20Mission%20of%20the%20Tehos...

http://www.pekkaervast.net/teokset/The%20Sermon%20on%20the%20Mount%...

http://www.pekkaervast.net/teokset/The%20Esoteric%20School%20of%20J...

I hope you enjoy reading these!