IV. The Apocalypse and Theosophical Cosmology I

Within the theosophical movement itself, an apparent contradiction arises with regard to this teaching of the development of our earth. When the great teachers of the theosophical movement, whom we call the masters, first shared some of the secret knowledge with European students, so-called lay chelas, it was actually this European lay student, our revered friend Sinnett, who wrote the first effective book, Esoteric Buddhism, based on the master's teachings. There was a great deal that was unclear to this lay disciple. This was to be expected, for all European thinking differs quite significantly from the way an actual occultist, an actual esoteric, thinks. A person who is equipped with European cultural concepts - and you must not forget that the modern human being grows up entirely in the prejudices of the present day - easily misunderstands what the esotericist is saying because he translates it into his concepts, which are derived from materialism. Thus there was a certain initial disparity when the exalted master gave the first teachings to Sinnett through the mediation of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky about the development of our earth.