Telepathy: Spiritual - Theosophy Dictionary on Telepathy

Telepathy [from Greek tele far off, at a distance + pathos feeling]

The transference of thought or feeling from mind to mind independently of ordinary modes of communication. This very interesting and common fact may be noted as not only existing between human beings, and humans and animals, but likewise between animals and insects -- the last being one of the commonest phenomena of natural history -- and in the plant kingdom. People have always known that they talk to each other through the air, or through air vibrations, and that these strike the ear and are conveyed to the brain. The notion of transference from one mind to another across a distance is a physical conception, and its applicability to minds is questionable. Mind can hardly be regarded as physical, and though our brains are physical and separated by distances, the mind is not synonymous with the brain, for if it were telepathy would be impossible because brain does not physically touch brain in the transference of thought, therefore it is not brains which send and receive except as instruments, but it is minds which touch or interpenetrate along the inner planes.

We live in a common mental atmosphere, taking in and giving out thoughts and feelings, which must often pass from mind to mind, though we may not be aware of the fact. The undoubted fact of our having separate minds does not mean that these minds are closed systems, and not mutually penetrable. The experiments which are made to prove thought transference defeat their object to a great extent, because the mind of the transmitter is not concentrated on the idea to be transmitted, so much as on the idea that he is trying to transfer it. The most conclusive proofs, and curiously enough the most common, are unpremeditated, and actually are daily occurrences.

A thought entertained by one person may pass inwardly through planes of consciousness until it reaches a point where minds are no longer separate, and from thence it may travel outwardly to the brain of another person. It may even be said that what we require is not so much an explanation of thought transference as an explanation of why thoughts are so seldom transferred -- why our minds are so separate; and the explanation is the concentration of each individual's normal daily consciousness upon affairs immediately concerning himself. This clothes the individual in a mental shell of interests, around which rush the radiatory influences emanating from the thinker. Universality of sympathy therefore is the key to successful telepathic communication.

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For articles related to Telepathy , see: Telepathy , Occultism, Occultism Dictionary, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul.

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Definition of  Telepathy is extracted from the home page of The Theosophical Society, International Headquarters, Pasadena, California. A Society founded in 1875 in an effort to promote the expressed awareness of the Oneness of Life.

"The Encyclopedic Theosophical Glossary is presented to the public as a work in progress. The manuscript, produced originally in the 1930s and '40s, is currently being revised and expanded by the Editorial Committee. Theosophical University Press is presenting this working version online because, even in its present unfinished form, we feel that the contents will be of value to students of theosophical literature, particularly of the works of H. P. Blavatsky. "

Please visit http://www.theosociety.org for more information.

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

BCW - H. P. Blavatsky: Collected Writings, BG - Bhagavad-Gita, BP - Bhagavata Purana, cf - confer, ChU - Chandogya Upanishad , Dial, Dialogues - The Dialogues of G. de Purucker, ed. A. L. Conger, Echoes - Echoes from the Orient, by William Q. Judge (comp. Dara Eklund), Telepathy ,  ET - The Esoteric Tradition, by G. de Purucker, FSO - Fountain-Source of Occultism, by G. de Purucker, Fund - Fundamentals of the Esoteric Philosophy, by G. de Purucker, IU - Isis Unveiled, by H. P. Blavatsky, MB - Mahabharata , MIE - Man in Evolution, by G. de Purucker, Telepathy , ML - The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, ed. A. Trevor Barker, OG - Occult Glossary, by G. de Purucker, Rev - Revelations, RV - Rig Veda , SD - The Secret Doctrine, by H. P. Blavatsky, SOPh - Studies in Occult Philosophy, by G. de Purucker, TBL - Transactions of the Blavatsky Lodge (Secret Doctrine Commentary), by H. P. Blavatsky, TG - Theosophical Glossary, by H. P. Blavatsky, Telepathy , Theos - The Theosophist (magazine), VP - Vishnu Purana , VS - The Voice of the Silence, by H. P. Blavatsky, WG - Working Glossary, by William Q. Judge, ZA - Zend-Avesta

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