CHANNELLING AND ASCENSION

IN THE LIGHT OF THEOSOPHY

-----------------------------

written by
Geoffrey Farthing
As "The Science of Sciences" and "The last word of possible
human knowledge", Theosophy ought to have something to
say about both channelling and 'Ascension'.

In the 1840's a movement began in Rochester in the U.S.A. which spread all
over the United States and then to Europe. This was what we now call
spiritualism, and to satisfy the curious and sometimes the more serious
investigators, there was no lack of mediums to hold seances and produce
phenomena. Many of these mediums were fraudulent but a solid core of them
were not. A medium is a man or a woman with unusually developed faculties
or principles resulting in clairaudience, clairvoyance and a degree of
sensitivity to the happenings in the Astral Light (as defined by H.P.B., i.e. the
region just outside the physical). The popular form of seance was for the
medium either clairaudiently or clairvoyantly to contact 'spirits' on the other
side. These spirits were generally held to be the souls of people who had died
but their souls had remained active in the Kama Loca. Seances were often
attended by the bereaved who sought comfort from making contact with their
departed loved ones. Usually they were not disappointed. In some way or
another messages from the other side would come to them.
In 1872 H.P.B. said that she was ordered by her Master M. to go to the U.S. to
investigate these phenomena and this she did. While doing so she met Col.
Olcott at the house of the Eddy brothers in Chittenden, Vermont. A most
remarkable series of phenomena was taking place there. These included
materializations of whole persons who spoke to the audience, performed tricks
and even weighed themselves on a heavy platform balance. Some of them
weighed a few tens of pounds and were 'solid' enough to pick up and carry the
balance. Apart from these materializations the Eddy brothers gave many
messages from the deceased relatives of people who had travelled many miles
to attend these seances. The seances were held in a in a large room with the
medium in a cabinet on a platform. All this is written up fully in Col.
Olcott's People from the Other World.

While H.P.B. attended the Eddy brothers seances, not only did the usual Red
Indians appear but many remarkable people that H.P.B. had met in the past. It
seems that the Masters used the then popular spiritualist movement as a
counter to the gross materiality of the time and as a background to their giving
out over a number of later years the body of teachings which we now call
Theosophy. These teachings contained not only explanations of the normal
spiritualistic type phenomena but of every kind of psychic happening
including hypnotism, levitation, thought-transference etc. Spiritualistic
phenomena are of great variety and the explanations of them depend on a
knowledge of many factors. Probably the chief of these is the nature of the
entities that can 'come through' a medium, who may or may not be in a
trance. The factors determining the entities involved are the nature of the
deceased, of the Astral Light and it denizens, the Elementals and their
abilities, and the enormous range of the capabilities of the human mind, which
of course operates at its two levels, the personal and the Egoic.
In an article of this kind it is not possible to investigate the various types of
phenomena, but roughly there are 1) those stemming from the newly dead or
earthbound souls, 2) those associated with pictures in the Astral Light,
enlivened by Elementals, and 3) those stemming ultimately from the minds of
either the mediums or people present at the seance, Elementals having access
to thoughts. In the last case messages can evince a high quality of sentiment
and demonstrate considerable learning. It is exceedingly rare and unlikely,
but not impossible, for an Initiate or a Master to come through. They do not
use this method of communication except through another trained Initiate who
is aware of what he or she is doing.
It seems that the modern activity known as channelling is a version of
mediumistic perception, probably in classes 2) and 3) above. Concerning
seership of this nature (i.e. via sensitives or mediums) we should be mindful
of the statements made in our theosophical literature by both the Masters and
by H.P.B. For example, in the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, No. XL there
is the following:
"Unless regularly initiated and trained - concerning the spiritual insight
of things and the supposed revelations made unto man in all ages from
Socrates down to Swedenborg ... - no self tutored seer or clairvoyant ever
saw or heard quite correctly."
There are many other such warnings.
Channelling is spiritualism but instead of the common relatively trivial
personal messages that 'come through' we now have messages of a seemingly
loftier nature with 'personal' survival under very unusual circumstances i.e.
'Ascension', but with the noble object of serving humanity. The entities
transmitting the teachings assume the most grandiose names and places in
history. This is a reliable indication of the unreliability of their messages, in
2

spite of their high-flown nature and pretentious claims. Precisely what entity
or influence is affecting our modern channellers, it would be difficult to say
without much more information, but the question is really irrelevant because
the content of the messages bespeaks the quality of them. In channelling, the
messages - referred to as transmissions - come from entities calling
themselves Kuthumi, Mary, Kwan Yin, El Morya and Michael. They are
supposed to be members of the White Brotherhood. This is a fairly
miscellaneous collection with little in common between them, and the
historicity of the Christian nativity including Mary is very much in question.
In Occultism Mary, a synonym for Mare, the sea of matter, is the feminine
cosmic principle - not a person.
The question that immediately arises is: are Kuthumi and El Morya the same
two Masters who corresponded with Sinnett? If they are, why is what they are
purported to teach now not consistent with what they taught when they were
alive? Incidentally, it is said by the Ascensionists that these high beings are
'Ascended Masters' but according to the Masters' own accounts of what
happens to 'Masters' after death, they do not 'ascend'. Moreover, transmitted
or channelled messages are often garbled versions of 'theosophical' teachings,
but they are plausible and a number of clever people have been attracted to
them. They are based on very insecure foundations of fact.
Ascensions appear to mean that, before one dies in the ordinary way, one can,
by some process which involves some preparation by way of purification etc.,
so raise the vibration rate of the atoms in the body that it passes from the
physical realm to the next higher non-physical realm: in theosophical parlance
the Astral of H.P.B. One is left asking the question, why should it be
necessary for the physical body to ascend? Another part of the teaching of
Ascension is that those who are able or fit to ascend have made intimate
connection between their personal minds and their Higher Selves. This is
indeed a high evolutionary state and not normally achieved except by Initiates,
and they are very rare. The idea of 'ascension' seems to be taken from the
story of the ascension of Jesus put out by the Christian church. This,
however, was a relatively late idea put out after Jesus had been 'deified', and
there is no corroborated evidence of the happening.
Personal existence is relative to our three dimensional state of being, to our
physical body and its normal circumstances. In Ascension literature,
however, there are other 'dimensions', including the 5th, and a fifth state of the
earth. Dimension, however, relates inherently to something that is
measurable. Whether or not the term '5th dimension' is used figuratively we
do not know, but it is very clearly stated in our classical literature that all the
states of being apart from the physical are dimensionless. This includes
specifically the subjective space from which everything there is in the
physical universe is projected.

Then the 'ascension' channellers seem never to have heard of the seven Globes
of a Chain. They evince no knowledge whatever of their character and
relationship to the earth, nor their evolutionary status. They also seem to be
totally ignorant of the evolutionary processes associated with the development
of the kingdoms of Nature on earth, and of the lives composing them. This is
a very long slow process to which also man's development is subject. Where
he is on the evolutionary ladder depends on his (theosophical) Race, his
Round and his Globe. No amount of 'Grace' can affect these things.
All the phases of activity of the grand cosmic process are geared precisely
together, such that, for example, when a species modifies itself or even comes
into existence, it has precisely the right environment and place in the food
chain, to ensure its survival, at least until it is able to fulfil its destiny during
the lifetime of the individual or collectively the species. The 'ascensionists'
also seem to be ignorant of this universal evolutionary plan. At each stage not
only the physical but the psychic, the mental and the spiritual, evolutions are
involved at every stage. Man is at the centre of this process. All sub-human
evolution tends towards the human and all post-human evolution tends away
from the human. All post-humans beings, however, must at some time or
another have been human. The processes by which a man qualifies for superhumanity is laid down and dependent entirely upon himself. It is true that
there are tattvic 'tides' when opportunities for those who can respond to them
by way of specially favourable periods, do arise. They do not arise at the will
of any individual. They are all part of the workings of the grand Law. Each
individual has to expand his field of consciousness by himself; again 'Grace'
from outside can have no part in this.
The two Masters Moria (M) and Koot Houmi (KH), when they were alive,
gave us very detailed accounts of the after-death states and processes. They
said that, whereas by knowing the secrets of Nature, Initiates of their degree
could prolong their earthly existences almost indefinitely, there came a time
when they had to submit to Nature's laws and then the processes of afterdeath, which they describe in detail, are inescapable. 'Ascension' as it is
described could not possibly fit into this scheme of things. The Masters also
made it quite clear that consciousness exists only in a suitable upadhi, but
such a one may be quite distinct from the physical vehicle. The latter with its
physical brain is so unimportant in Hindu philosophy as not to be regarded as
a human principle at all. So why 'disintegrate' the physical body for us 'in
heaven'?
Channellers seem to think that it is possible to seek the assistance of Masters
and universal Grace in their ascension efforts. If this were possible it would
be entirely against universal Law. No Master and no amount of Grace can do
for a man what he has to do for himself; that is the inexorable Law. True, he
can take advantage of opportunities and favourable times, but he has to do the
taking and no Master, and this they themselves say quite clearly, would

interfere with a man's Karma. So much then for such phrases as 'powerful
acceleration of transmutation and integration'. That is mere verbiage.
There are other statements in 'ascension' literature which make no sense in
terms of Theosophy: for example, "countless millions of beings from many
other dimensions, some associated with earth, and others not, are drawn by
their love for us to assist in this time of expansion". How many questions
does such a statement raise? First, who are these beings? In Theosophy we
are told of the infinite number of hierarchies that make up the life of say a
solar system, and what their functions are. They operate in the planes of
being - in fact they constitute them - but what are these 'many other
dimensions'? If the 'beings' referred to are not associated with earth, how can
they, considering its ring-pass-not, ever get here? To understand what this
ring-pass-not means, we have to study the nature and capabilities of the Lipika
in The Secret Doctrine.
Then there is the question of the possibility of Love and Grace flowing freely,
etc. There is no such a thing as love or grace in the atmosphere, whether it be
spiritual or physical, but that some being must radiate it and respond to it. It is
only individuals who can love. Love in itself is an abstract, non-existent apart
from a lover. To profit by love we need natures attuned to it and every man
has an aspect of his nature capable of that. This can be by reason of the higher
levels of the kamic principle or of his buddhic nature, whichever is activated
and functioning. Those who can radiate love by reason of these quickened
faculties do so all the time. But just as clouds may pass over the face of the
sun, so there are times when the influence of this love or any other divine
quality may be obscured. These are the tattvic tides referred to earlier.
The 'ascensionists' use such words as 'Starseeds' and 'Light-Workers' and
'Ashtar Command' who may do the most unlikely things to and for us. How
nice it would be to virtually pass through the gates of death and into the
spiritual realms without dying! This seems to be the implication of
'Ascension', and how attractive is the idea that somehow, with their help, we
can achieve the 'Ascension' state of entering into a higher state of
consciousness, without having to go through the tedious processes normally
requiring many lifetimes of effort so to develop our vehicles of consciousness
that we can pass through the death processes without loss of consciousness.
We must ask seriously, can that be possible whatever channellers say? We
have to bear in mind the suspect nature of the channelled transmissions.
Somewhere the Masters gave us a sign which, they said, would be included in
any genuine message received from them. This became necessary because,
even during H.P.B.'s life, many spurious messages from Masters were
broadcast. Could we not reasonably ask that the channellers give us this sign
if they are really in touch with these Masters who must know it as they gave it
specifically to prevent spurious messages in their name?

Those members of the Theosophical Society who have taken the trouble to
read the grand original literature wherein the teachings of Theosophy were
first promulgated, have a background knowledge which is validated by reason
of the fact that it not only fits all the facts of their experience but also gives a
yardstick by which to measure the truth or otherwise of other teachings.
Theosophy is like the Kabala, of which it is said that if a statement or teaching
does not fit onto the "Tree of Life" it cannot be true. Should not others who
have not yet made the study of what was given us do that first before
accepting what is now described as exciting new ideas? Why not do some
honest work to discover the feasibility of those ideas before being hopelessly
entangled in them?
Amongst the massive literature given us at the start of the theosophical
movement at the end of the last century was that great tome of monumental
learning Isis Unveiled wherein 1,330 other prime sources are referred and in
the writing of which, according to Col. Olcott, six or more Masters of the
Wisdom then living had a hand. And we have The Secret Doctrine, in which
the two Masters K.H. and M. claimed a large part of the authorship, and in
which some 1,100 other works are quoted from. This is magnificent literature
by any standard. That is the quality of the literature that we in the
Theosophical Society are heir to if we would only take notice of it. Why
disregard it?
Without entering into the vast fields of knowledge opened up in these books,
the earnest (and honest?) enquirer could at least read what preliminary
literature there is available. There is H.P.B.'s The Key to Theosophy, a work
with so much content it can never be exhausted in a lifetime. I have written a
few introductory works - viz. the Blavatsky Trust booklets, Theosophy, what's
it all about?, Exploring the Great Beyond, dealing with spiritualism and
psychic phenomena, and When We Die.., describing the after-death states and
processes as given us by the Masters.
November 1993