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This page is intended for member’s ideas and creative work, such as poems or wise and uplifting words, observations, concepts. Ideas for books, music, films will be included in the appropriate section. Please forward any relevant pieces to:  bournemouthsociety@ntlworld.com

BOOKS

Most books on theosophical and related areas are also available on loan from the extensive library at the Theosophical Society in Gloucester Place. Telephone Barry Thompson on 0207 5639816 or email: books@theosoc.org.uk

Also see LINKS page re: Library and Museum at the United Grand Lodge in England in Great Queen Street: www.ugle.org.uk

If you still have difficulty finding what you want we would recommend the following website for out of print and rare books: www.abebooks.com New books, music and film: www.amazon.com 

Watkins, Cecil Court, Charing Cross Road, London, just north of Leicester Square tube station, have an excellent collection of books (by post or personal call).

Theosophy

• The Secret Doctrine – H. P. Blavatsky
• The Key to Theosophy – H. P. Blavatsky
• Esoteric Christianity – Annie Besant
• Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy – G. De Purucker
• Basic Theosophy, The Living Wisdom – Geoffrey Hodson
• Deity, Cosmos and Man – Geoffrey Farthing
• The Theosophy of the Rosicrucians – Rudolf Steiner.

General

• Cosmic Religion- Albert Einstein
• The Secret Teaching of all Ages – Manly P. Hall
• The Power of Now – Eckhart Tolle
• Western Esotericism – Kocku von Stuckland
• The Inner Reality (Discover Yourself) – Paul Brunton
• Psychosynthesis – Roberto Assagioli
• The Gnostic Gospels – Elaine Pagels
• Science of Mind – Ernest Holmes
• In Search of the Miraculous – P. D. Ouspensky
• Eliphas Levi and the French Occult Revival  – Christopher McIntosh
• The Great Initiates – Edouard Schure
• Rosicrucian History and Mysteries – Christian Rebisse
• The Book of Understanding – Osho
• The Direct Path – Andrew Harvey
• In Search of Heaven on Earth – Rachel Storm
• The Mystical Theology and The Celestial Hierarchies – Dionysius the Aeropagite
• Beethoven and the Spiritual Path – David Tame
• Initiation, Human and Solar – Alice Bailey
• The Magus – Francis Barrett
• The Most Holy Trinosophia of the Comte de St Germain – Manly Palmer Hall
• Knowledge of the Heart/Gnostic Movements – Edited by R. A. Gilbert (Canonbury Papers)
• The Prophet – Kahlil Gibran
• The Second Messiah – Christopher Knight & Robert Lomas
• The Kybalion – Three Initiates
• Meditations on the Soul - Marsilio Ficino
• The Place of Enchantment – Alex Owen
• The Mysteries of Chartres Cathedral – Louis Charpentier
• The Cosmic Doctrine – Dion Fortune
• The Western Esoteric Traditions - Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke

These lists are intended to be a guide and introduction. There may be many other titles that you have found to be particularly helpful and inspirational. We would welcome your ideas and suggestions. Please note that some titles may be out of print or not available. Many out of print books are available through the internet from www.abebooks.com

 

MEDIATION AND CONTEMPLATION

Meditation, contemplation and various forms of spiritual exercise help us to move within ourselves for moments of inner thought and being. Studying and thinking is one of the ways in which we try and understand our world and ourselves. We also need the experience of being who we really are. This can occur formally through conscious and planned effort and exercise or through natural and creative pursuits and processes as we live our lives. This group will practice meditation and contemplation as an aid to enhancing and enriching our deeper experience of life itself. Members who attend this group will study and practice the techniques of meditation and the various methods that help us to become more balanced, centred and focussed as individuals.

The purpose of meditation and contemplation is to quieten and still the mind so that the life of the spirit existing at higher or deeper levels may become effective at the level of everyday consciousness. Usually our minds tend to be constantly in a state of restless activity, caught up in the many interests and occupations of daily life. If kept in balance this is a perfectly natural condition, although clear and creative thought may be difficult to access.

Too much mental activity or undue pressure and stress can be a barrier to the free play of energies that could be available. In the practice of meditation and contemplation an attempt is made to allow the mind to relax and become clearer and help us to enter the present moment and a deeper experience of being. When this is achieved the barrier preventing the flow of spiritual life and light is removed and the higher energies are given the opportunity to flow into our everyday life and world.

Meditating in a group of people can enhance the process and the results can be more powerful than could be achieved by working on your own. In fact, group meditation can help the practice of an individual working separately. The practice of people meditating together can help create the experience of unity and can contribute towards the spiritual progress and happiness of humanity.