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The Conditionalist Faith of Our Fathers, vol. 2 - Contents
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    III. Amazing Conglomerate of Theosophy-related Groups

    Few are aware of the amazing number and variety of modulations and developments of Theosophy and the Eastern occult that have infiltrated and established themselves in the West during the past century. These all, to greater or lesser degree, draw upon the basic principles of Theosophy-often stressing reincarnation, all holding the concept of Innate Immortality, and relying on the principle of self-salvation.CFF2 1210.4

    They comprise an amazing list, springing from the East and penetrating the West. The leading groups. include Psychiana (founded by Robinson), Father Divine’s Peace Mission, the I AM Movement (Ballard), and the Unity School (Fillmore). They have much in common.CFF2 1211.1

    Then there is the bizarre array of the less-known Vedanta Society (founded in Vivekananda), the Self-Realization Fellowship (Yogananda), Rosicrucianism, the Church of Illumination (with man’s soul part of the Cosmic Soul), the Liberal Catholic Church (Leadbeater), the Church of the Radiant Light (Schaefer), the Institute of Mentalphysics (Dingle), the Temple of Yahweh (Jeffers), the Church of Truth Universal (Bonnier), the Brotherhood of the White Temple (Doreal), the Brotherhood of Light, the Order of the Cross (Ferrier), and the Institute of Religious Science and School of Philosophy. Their names often indicate their special emphasis. But all are theosophic.CFF2 1211.2

    But these are not all. There is also the Mayan Temple group (with reincarnation and continuity), the Humanity Benefactor Foundation (Lawson), the Life Study Fellowship, the Altruist Church, the Mazdaznan Philosophy (Hanisch), the Metaphysical School of Health, the Fellowship of the Order of Christian Mystics (Curtis), the Modern Church (a syncretism of all religions with Spiritualism), the Fellowship Following of Buddha (Goddard), and the Maha Bhodi Society (following the Yoga path). 6464) See F. E. Mayer, The Religious Bodies of America (1961 rev. ed.); Charles S. Braden, These Also Believe (1949); Frank S. Mead, Handbook of Denominations in the United States 1961 ed.); Vergilius Ferm, An Encyclopedia of Religion; Ferm, Living Schools of Religion 1961); M C. Poinsat, Encyclopedia of Occult Sciences (1939). Each attracts a certain following, and they have similar concepts of the soul.CFF2 1211.3

    It is a conglomerate array. But it indicates how susceptible the restless West is to the occult overtures of the East, 6565) For comparison the following extracts from recent Indian masters concerning man, God, immortality reincarnation, et cetera, reveal the Indian concept of the godship of man and the immortality of the soul:SWAMI VIVEKANANDA: “Chit, the soul, is the same as God” (Inspired Talks, 1938, p.116). “You are God and whatever else you may think is wrong” (p 120). “The highest worship there is, is to worship man, for example, men like Krishna, Buddha, and Christ” (p. 150). “we can have no conception of God higher than man; so our God is man and man is God” (p. 79). “The soul is the unity of all personalities, and because it is at rest., eternal, unchangeable; it is God, Atman [“the life principle, the universal Ego whence all individual selves arise”] (p. 60)’ “Fearlessness is not possible as long as we have even God over us; we must be God” (p. 104).SWAMI RAMAKRISHNANANDA: “Studying man’s nature, we can see that he cannot but be immortal and eternal... Hence the Rishis [Sages] of India have written that the soul is not transitory, that it does not disappear with the death of the body... It is Sachchidananda, eternal, all knowing” (The Message of Eternal Wisdom, 1938,.P. 63) “As no action is possible without a body and a mind, the soul must have had a similar body and mind previous to the present embodied condition” (p 102). “We must have to take up bodies after bodies until we shall be able to realize our all-perfect nature” (p. 103). “This eternal and infinite Soul goes by the name of God” (p. 106). “Man lives in the world, while the soul lives in man or in any other living organism, whether animal, celestial or infernal. Man has birth and death, but the soul takes countless births and dies as many times” (p. 152). “Our scriptures teach us that the greatest sin is to call a man a sinner” (p. 191). “So life cannot be transformed into death, nor death into life. Therefore if man is living, he cannot die” (P. 194).“Christ realized the Kingdom of Heaven inside himself. If that Kingdom is inside you, God is inside yourself... The process taught both by Moses and Christ, therefore, was also the same as that taught by Sankara and others. You must go inside yourself to realize God. The same thing was preached later by Mohammed” (p. 12). “Thus, after analysin the various religions of the world, we see that... they all lead to the same oal.... There are as many paths leading to God as there are individuals in the Universe. l very man has to select his own path” (p. 18). “Buddha realized Nirvana inside himself. Christ has taught: ‘The Kingdom of God is within you.’... Mohamet saw God in the seventh Heaven... and so he must have seen Him inside himself” (p 168).SRI RAMAKRISHNA: “A man’s rebirth is determined by what he has been thinking about just before death.” (Sayings of Sri Ramakrishna, 1943, p. 37) “An imperfect man, has to to born again and again until he becomes a Siddha” [one who has attained perfection] (p. 38). and how widespread are its penetrations. With the accepted Innate Immortality postulate as basic and often the soul as part of the All-Soul, and the constant reincarnation affirmations, the ground is well laid for the last great deception.CFF2 1211.4

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