Book: O Lanoo!
(A lanoo is a seeker of spiritual truths.)
by Harvey TORDOFF
“…we are spiritual beings in physical bodies; we go through many incarnations on our path to enlightenment. “
The Secret Doctrine by Madame Blavatsky was reviewed in The Book Reader, May/June 1988.
“This massive study of man, of nature, of spiritual evolution, of the essence of reality is an astonishing document.”
This quote is remarkable for the reaction of the reviewer; it takes a special kind of book to astonish 100 years after publication. The Secret Doctrine‘ was published simultaneously in London and New York in November 1888. Blavatsky, a self-educated woman, sub-titled it ‘The Synthesis of Science, Religion and Philosophy‘.
In the 21st century science, religion and philosophy have still not been integrated. In some ways the world is more polarised than ever, with major fault lines between countries, classes, genders, religions, and ideologies . Time, then, to see whether Blavatsky’s astonishing book can teach us anything.
With that in mind Harvey Tordoff* picked out the central theme of The Secret Doctrine, the story of the evolution of the universe, the earth, and mankind, and distilled its essence into 10,000 words of poetic prose in a book he called O Lanoo! (A lanoo is a seeker of spiritual truths.)
This book, drawing on ancient teachings, shows the interconnectedness of all things. And if we can accept that simple premise, then hatred, abuse, violence and war become meaningless. If we disrespect each other, if we pollute the planet, if we cause harm to others, we inflict these things on our extended selves. If humankind could put this simple lesson into practice, that would truly be astonishing!
*Harvey Tordoff, the author of O Lanoo!, first encountered The Secret Doctrine in his teens. It was one of many books he read that attempted to give answers to the meaning of life. Then life took over, a family and demanding career meant little time for philosophical reading or contemplation, but the basic elements of The Secret Doctrine remained with him: we are all connected; we are spiritual beings in physical bodies; we go through many incarnations on our path to enlightenment.
Harvey was an accountant, whose work (and vacations) took him all over the world. Brought up in a Christian environment he now encountered Buddhism and Hinduism first hand which extended his understanding of The Secret Doctrine drawing, as it does, on all the world’s major religions and belief systems.
Then came an opportunity to leave the rat race of international finance and he retreated, with his family, to a quite spot on the edge of a lake surrounded by trees and mountains. There, over a period of four years, he wrote O Lanoo! – a personal interpretation of the essence of The Secret Doctrine. The language is simple and poetic, mirroring the original stanzas quoted by Blavatsky. Some of it sounds bizarre to western sensibilities, but it presents a complete picture of the human experience.
After the book was published Harvey took his place in society again, working as a volunteer director of a wind farm co-operative and later as a volunteer in a charity dedicated to making the town where he now lives a better place. He puts into action what he believes. We are all connected, and we should use words and actions that unite rather than words and actions that divide.
HT Nov 27, 2018
O Lanoo!
In the beginning, which is also the end,
There was the long Night of Rest;
A Night devoid of all but Space,
The eternal Parent;
A Night which to you,
O Lanoo,
Would be eternity,
Or rather, seven eternities,
For as there are seven Great Ages of the Day,
So also are there seven Great Ages of the Night.
But Space is not a limitless void;
She contains all the latent Matter
And essence
Of Creation.
Time did not exist,
For what is Time
Without a state of consciousness?
The illusion of Time
Was waiting to be born
With your perception of changing Matter.
The Universe you now know,
O Lanoo,
Just one in a chain of evolving universes,
Was yet to be created
From the absolute perfection
Attained at the close
Of the last great cycle.
All was naught.
In all sentient Life
The desire to exist had ceased;
In every atom
The impulse to be had ceased;
And all that had been
And all that was
And all that was to be
Rested in the Absolute Oneness
Of eternal Space,
And it was from this state of rest,
O Lanoo,
That Creation began.
For if your God’s creation
Was accomplished in six ages
Would He then
Like some Mortal
Be in need of rest?
Nay, the day of rest
Preceded the flash of Light
In the Darkness.
That which was to become Life
Pulsated unconsciously
Within the essence of the Universal Force
Which, alone and dormant,
Omnipresent and abstract,
Stretched boundless,
Causeless,
Infinite.
Nay, there was neither silence
Nor sound;
Naught, save unconscious,
Ceaseless,
Eternal motion.
It was the eternal
Momentary pause
In the breathing of Brahma,
Following the inhalation
Which had ended the last great cycle,
And before the exhalation
Which was to be your expanding Universe.
The moment had not come:
The Ray of Light in the Darkness
Had not yet flashed into the essence of Matter;
Matter and energy had not yet produced
The heat and moisture of Life.
The Universe had yet to become
A Divine Thought;
The Universe, Son of God,
Had yet to be conceived.
Your God, O Lanoo,
Had not yet said:
“Let there be Light!”
# # #
For more information, please click here >
• Harvey Tordoff: Profile
We need to recognize the chain of events..
And, other pieces pieces by Harvey Tordoff on the Lightmillennium.Org:
• Issue#13 Year 2004 • World Trade Organization ~ Killing Farmers
• Global Hunger ~ The Bigger Picture
Issue#14 – Spring/Summer 2004: Don’t Poison My Life
Light Millennium #15 Issue, May 2005 [Poem] I Remember
Issue# 16 | Fall 2005 • Energy For All Global Citizens
Issue# 18 | Summer 2006 • Ecological Footprints
Issue# 23 | May 2010 • Modern Caveman
– Posted on December 4, 2018.
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