Ageless Wisdom

The Ageless Wisdom is a term used in spiritual literature to label a certain kind of esoteric tradition, also frequently called "The Wisdom of the Ages". It was coined by authors of different nationalities and of different times. It describes a form of teaching which was inspired by the Spiritual Hierarchy, as it is called in theosophic terminology. The purpose behind the adoption of a definite term serves the reader's ability to distinguish between those writings which were indeed inspired by the Hierarchy, and a vast number of differently inspired writings, e.g. those from spiritualistic sources.

Core ideas

One uniting idea is the conviction that Eastern and Western spiritual concepts and religions were derived from one essential Doctrine, i.e. the Wisdom of the Ages. They agree on a number of ideas, generally the existence of a Spiritual Hierarchy, of chakras, auras, and inhabited spiritual planes. Other shared propositions consist of the law of reincarnation, a pantheistic conception of God and the possibility for conscious evolutionary advancement for humanity. Such means frequently include meditation, correct inner knowledge and close communication to a Spiritual Master. The authors gathered under the Ageless Wisdom show a wide similarity in theory although they all are somewhat specialized in their individual fields. Through spiritual teaching, as opposed to most orthodox belief, the speed of human progress - spiritual, psychological, social, political, etc. - may be accelerated. From this conception arises the need to teach and to publish the writings they created.

Writers

Several prominent names of spiritual literature have been known to connect themselves to the Ageless Wisdom tradition, the following is an incomplete list.

Helena P. Blavatsky (1831-1891). Founder of the Theosophic Society and writer of erudite works on human evolution and the constitution of the Cosmos. Some of her works are "Isis Unveiled", "The Secret Doctrine" and "The Voice of the Silence".

Charles W. Leadbeater (1847-1934). Clairvoyant and member of the Theosophical Society, who wrote a number of books about the inner worlds and how he perceived them by an opened Third eye. His works on spiritual vision like Man, Visible and Invisible (1902), The Hidden Side of Things (1913) and The Chakras (1927) constitute classics of spiritual literature.

Annie Besant (1847-1933). Clairvoyant and president of the Theosophical Society, who worked in close connection with Leadbeater and presented works of similar direction. Her books include: Man: Whence, How and Whither (1913), Thought Forms (1901), The Ancient Wisdom (1898), Occult Chemistry (1919), The Doctrine of the Heart (1920) and Esoteric Christianity (1905).

Alice A. Bailey (1880-1949). Originally from England, she is the writer of numerous works on Esoteric Psychology, Astrology, Healing, and other topics. One major focus was the elucidation of "The Science of the Seven Rays". Her writings were telepathically dictated by Master Djwal Khul, often referred to as "The Tibetan". Founder of the Arcane School and the Lucis Trust. Her most prominent work is the five-volume "A Treatise On the Seven Rays". Other works include The Destiny of the Nations (1949), Telepathy and the Etheric Vehicle (1950) and A Treatise on White Magic (1934).

Paul Foster Case (1884-1954). American kabbalist and prolific writer on Tarot, Numerology, Alchemy and Kabbalah. Founder of the "Builders of the Adytum", B.o.t.A., a modern day mystery school which is active to this day. He wrote for esoteric journals and many of his works were contributed to the members of B.o.t.A. via correspondence courses. His books include The Tarot: A Key to the Wisdom of the Ages (1947), The True and Invisible Rosicrucian Order (1927), The Book of Tokens (1934) and the two volumes of Occult Fundamentals and Spiritual Unfoldment, collecting the correspondence courses. He updated the Tarot set of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, the updated version being the B.O.T.A. tarot deck, and is widely known as a figure of great importance in the field of Kabbalah and occultism.

Imre Vallyon (1940- present). A New Zealand based writer on spiritual subjects, originally from Hungary. His teachings envelop much of the content of the other writers of the Ageless Wisdom tradition. He has given out thousands of meditational techniques which, until shortly, were not openly available to Westerners. Furthermore he is the founder of the Foundation for Higher Learning, a modern mystery school with centres in many nations. His main works include Heavens & Hells of the Mind (2008), The Magical Mind (1990), The New Heaven & the New Earth (2014) and The Divine Plan (2005).