To Members of the Theosophical Society

Our President has just issued, for purposes of general information and for circulation on a very wide scale, an excellent little pamphlet called: The Theosophical Society: Information for Enquirers, which as the title indicates is intended primarily for outside enquirers who are attracted by Theosophy and the Theosophical Society and would learn more as to their scope, objects, literature and work in the world.

The present pamphlet entitled: To Members of the Theosophical Society, has been compiled less for the enquirer than for those who have already joined the Society and, particularly, for the newer members.

Many valuable teachings, much useful advice on the elementary conditions and duties implied in what is meant by the Theosophic life, have appeared here and there in the different publications at different times; and it is the gathering together of these scattered teachings, of these wise counsels, that has been felt to be a general want that the compilers have now tried to supply.

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This pamphlet, since revised and enlarged, was first prepared for the Italian Section, where it was wisely decided that every member should have a copy and that every new member should be presented with a copy, together with his diploma and the Rules and Regulations, on his admission into the Society. The object of this was that he should be sure to get, from the very first, information and instruction from our best writers and teachers as to how he should shape his life and activities as a member of the Theosophical Society.

Without necessarily saying that this plan can be followed elsewhere, the compilers feel sure that with the co-operation of General Secretaries, Lodge Presidents, Lecturers and workers generally in English-speaking countries, this pamphlet will enjoy a very large circulation and will be found to fill a very useful place in following up their work and in obtaining throughout the country that change of attitude to the whole of life that marks those members who are ripe for Theosophy and who are anxious to help.

To learn to become a Theosophist, in fact as well as in name, and to find out what his particular sphere of usefulness and service can eventually be, is the first duty of the newly-joined member who is in earnest. This alone will take up much of his time in the early years; for one

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must learn before he can teach, one must follow before he can lead.

In course of time he learns to recognise that the good ship of the Society is steered from above, not from below; by the few who know; not by the many who don’t know. It is for this reason that it is so essential for those who earnestly wish take part in and co-operate with the work of the Society that they should try to get the right attitude in Theosophy, should endeavour to hear the tone set by Those who guide, to catch the spirit animating its leaders and teachers, to intuitively reach out and grasp the noble ideals which on all sides are put before us in so many ways, both in practice and in precept. For does not Alcyone’s book say: “However wise you may be already, on this Path you have much to learn; so much that here also there must be discrimination, and you must think carefully what is worth learning.” For study alone will not make the really valuable member. It is he who, forgetting himself, is ever ready to learn, is ever anxious to help, is prepared to ‘fit in’ and to co-operate, giving allegiance and trust readily to those he feels his superiors and to his fellow-members, realising that you “can help your brother through that which you have in common with him, and that is the Divine Life”. “Study then,” says the

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book, “but study first that which will most help you to help others”.

For this purpose has the present pamphlet been compiled, and thanks are due to all who have taken part in its preparation. It is designed to form the first of a series by different workers in the Society, on various subjects interesting to their fellow-members in the work. Even if we cannot all be fountain-heads of teaching, we can all co-operate in hundreds of ways in promoting the right spirit in Theosophy, in spreading ever further and further the Theosophic Truths. For as The Voice of the Silence says: “If sun thou canst not be, then be the humble planet... Point out the way — however dimly... to those who tread their path in darkness... Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and seek out him who knows still less than thou.”

— W. H. Kirby

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Theosophy And the Theosophical Society.

The Objects of The Theosophical Society are:

First. — To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.

Second. — To encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science.

Third. — To investigate the unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.

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No person’s religious opinions are asked upon his joining, nor is interference with them permitted, but everyone is required to show to the religion of his fellow-members the same respect as he claims for his own.

The Society has no dogmas, and therefore no heretics. It does not shut any man out because he does not believe the Theosophical teachings. A man may deny every one of them, save that of human Brotherhood, and claim his place and his right within its ranks.

Theosophists realise that just because the intellect can only do its best work in its own atmosphere of freedom, truth can best be seen when no conditions are laid down as to the right of investigation, as to the methods of research. To them Truth is so supreme a thing, that they do not desire to bind any man with conditions as to how, or where, or why he shall seek it.

The future of the Society depends on the fact that it should include a vast variety of opinions on all questions on which differences of opinion exist; it is not desirable that there should be within it only one school of thought, and it is the duty of every member to guard this liberty for himself and for others. The Theosophical Society is the servant of the Divine Wisdom, and its motto is: “There is no Religion higher than

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Truth.” It seeks in every error for the heart of truth whereby it lives, and whereby it attaches to itself human minds.

Every religion, every philosophy; every science, every activity, draws what it has of truth and beauty from the Divine Wisdom, but cannot claim it as exclusively its own, or as against others. Theosophy does not belong to the Theosophical Society; the Theosophical Society belongs to Theosophy.

The Theosophical Society is composed of students belonging to any religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of the above objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and to draw together men of good will, whatsoever their religious opinions, and by their desire to study religious truths and to share the results of their studies with others. Their bond of union is not the profession of a common belief, but a common search and aspiration for Truth. They hold that Truth should be sought by study, by reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high ideals, and they regard Truth as prize to be striven for, not as a dogma to be imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the result of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and should rest on knowledge, not on assertion. They extend tolerance to all, even to the intolerant

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not as a privilege they bestow but as a duty they perform, and they seek to remove ignorance, not to punish it. They see every religion as a partial expression of the Divine Wisdom, and prefer its study to its condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. Peace is their watch-word, as Truth is their aim.

Theosophy is the body of truths which forms the basis of all religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It puts death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an endless life, opening the gateway of fuller and more radiant existence. It restores to the world the Science of the Spirit, teaching man to know the Spirit as himself, and the mind and body as his servants. It illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions by unveiling their hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the bar of intelligence, as they are ever justified in the eyes of intuition.

Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and Theosophists endeavour to live them. Every one willing to study, to be tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a member, and it rests with the member to become a true Theosophist.

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The essence of Theosophy is the fact that man, being himself divine, can know the Divinity whose life he shares. As an inevitable corollary to this supreme truth comes the fact of the Brotherhood of Man. The divine life is the Spirit in everything that exists, from the atom to the archangel; the grain of dust could not be were God absent from it; the lofty seraph is but a spark from the eternal Fire which is God. Sharers in the one Life, all form one Brotherhood. The immanence of God, the solidarity of Man, such are the basic truths of Theosophy.

“Seek out the way. Seek it not by any one road. To each temperament there is one road which seems the most desirable. But the way is not found by devotion alone, by religious contemplation alone, by ardent progress, by self-sacrificing labour, by studious observation of life. None alone can take the disciple more than one step onwards. All steps are necessary to make up the ladder.”

(Light on the Path.)

“Search for the paths. But, O Lanoo, be of clean heart before thou startest on thy journey. Before thou takest thy first step, learn to discern the real from the false, the ever-fleeting from the ever-lasting. Learn above all to separate head-learning from Soul-wisdom, the “eye” from the “heart” doctrine.

(Voice of the Silence.)

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Why Become Members?

Our Society has no dogmas. Not that it does not stand for any truths, as some people imagine. Its name marks out the truth for which it stands: it is the Theosophical Society; and that shows its function and its place in the world — a Society that asserts the possibility of the knowledge of God; that is its proclamation, as we have seen, and all the other truths that grow out of it are amongst our teachings. The Society exists to spread the knowledge of those truths, and to popularise those teachings amongst mankind. “But,” you may say, “if it be the fact that you throw out broadcast all your teachings, that you write them in books that every man can buy, what is, then, the good of being a member of Theosophical Society? We should not have any more as members than we have as non-members.” That is not quite true, but it may stand as true for the moment. Why should you come in? For no reason at all, unless to you it is the greatest privilege to come in, and you desire to be among those who are the pioneers of the thought of the coming days. No reason at all; it is a privilege. We do not beg you to come in; we only say “Come if you like to come, and share the glorious privilege that we possess; but if you would rather not,

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stay outside, and we will give you everything which, we believe, will be serviceable and useful to you.” The feeling that brings people into our Society is the feeling that makes the soldier spring forward to be amongst the pioneers when the army is going forth. There are some people so built that they like to go in front and face difficulties, so that other people may have an easier time and walk along a path that has already been hewn out for them by hands stronger than their own. That is the only reason why you should come in: no other. Do not come to “get;” you will be disappointed if you do. You can get it outside. Come in to give, to work, to be enrolled amongst the servants of humanity who are working for the dawn of day of a nobler knowledge, for the coming of the recognition of a spiritual brotherhood amongst men. Come in if you have the spirit of the pioneer within you, the spirit of the volunteer; if to you it is a delight to cut the way through the jungle that others may follow, to tread the path with bruised feet in order that others may have a smooth road to lead them to the heights of knowledge. That is the only advantage of coming in: to know in your own heart that you realise what is coming and are helping to make it come more quickly for the benefit of your fellow-men; that you are working for humanity;

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that you are the co-workers with God, in making the knowledge of Him spread abroad on every side; that you are amongst those to whom future centuries will look back, thanking you that you saw the light when all men thought it was dark, and that you recognised the coming dawn when others believed the earth was sunk in midnight.

(London Lectures, 1907.) — Annie Besant

Plenty of people wish well to any good cause, but very few care to exert themselves to help it, and still fewer will risk anything in its support! ‘Some one ought to do it, but why should I?’ is the ever re-echoed phrase of weak-kneed amiability. ‘Some one ought to do it, so why not I?’ is the cry of some earnest servant of man, eagerly springing forward to face some perilous duty. Between those two sentences lie whole centuries of moral evolution.

(Autobiography.) — Annie Besant

Sow kindly acts and thou shall reap their fruit. Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a deadly sin.

(Voice of the Silence.)

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Address for the Admission of Members to the T.S.

It has always been the custom in India, as it was for many years in other countries, to admit members to the Theosophical Society or Brotherhood with a brief address of instruction and welcome. The following address by the President is printed here at the request of some western members, who were impressed by the value of the simple ceremony.

My Brothers: It is an old and, I think a useful custom among us, that when new Brethren are admitted to our ranks, a few members of the Society should gather together to bear witness to their admission, and to give them welcome.

You already know the Objects of the Society, so I need not dilate upon them, but I may remind you of one thing. We do not claim to create the Universal Brotherhood. Brotherhood is a fact in nature, for it rests on the One Life wherein all are partakers. We cannot make it; we cannot mar it. But we can recognise it, and by such recognition we help to spread its recognition by others. Our. Society acts as a nucleus in

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which the forces which work for the realisation of Brotherhood are organised, and through which they flow into the outer world. From the Theosophical society this recognition spreads, and men are drawn together and realise the tie which unites them.

It is my duty to remind you that, in coming into the Society, you take upon yourselves certain duties and responsibilities, and also see opening before you a great possibility. Your first duty is towards your own religion. People are most readily influenced by members of their own faith, for, as a rule, men are born into the religion that suits them best, and in which they can best express themselves, and in helping to vivify that, to illumine its obscurities, and to explain its teachings by the light gained among us, you will do your highest duty as a Theosophist. For the less educated of any religion their own faith is sufficient to console and to inspire; but by sharing with the more educated that which you learn from us, you will help to spiritualise and liberalise it. Your recognition of Brotherhood implies that you will never be aggressive towards other faiths, but that you will live the Brotherhood you profess; you will treat all religions with the respect you claim for your own; you will be willing to learn all that another faith has to teach you, and willing to teach aught

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that is special to your own faith; and in this way you will be peace-makers wherever you go, as the Society at large is a peace-maker.

Your next duty is to your Lodge, if you belong to one. Try to make it a living part of your life; think always of what you can bring to it. If you have studied along any special line, bring your knowledge and share it with your Lodge, so that all may benefit by the special studies of each. A doctor, for instance, can bring his knowledge of pathological conditions to bear on borderland experiences, to distinguish between the astral and the pathological. Attend Lodge Meetings, then, not for what you can gain but for what you can give. Remember that through a group of earnest people, members of the T.S., the Masters can send Their influence over the neigh-bourhood. For a Lodge is a vehicle for Their life, which from it spreads over the neighbourhood. Moreover, it sends out masses of thought-forms which float in the mental atmosphere around it, and are caught up by receptive brains. In my work all over the world I find that wherever a Lodge is meeting regularly, there minds are prepared to receive the teachings I bring.

Lastly, there is a possibility which opens before you. The Theosophical Society is not only the Society which you see in the world. It also opens a door

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to the narrow ancient way, the Way at the end of which stand the great Teachers, the Guardians of Humanity. It consists of three Sections: the first is the Masters themselves; the second is composed of graded esoteric students, the highest grade being of disciples who know the Masters face to face; the third is the outer Society. After a couple of years, if you have proved yourselves to be earnest, hardworking and self-sacrificing, you can join the outermost circle of the second Section, if you desire to do so. But I must warn you that no one will — or should — invite you to do so; the wish must arise from within; it must be an inner compulsion that leads you to join us. Inside that circle, the way is open before you; some of us have trodden it, and know that it leads to the great Teachers; but you must, do the climbing up yourselves.

In giving you welcome, my Brothers, I trust that the Society may be to you what it has been to me and to others, the guide to a higher life. And may you prove to be such valuable members that the Society may be glad that today (through the mouth of its President) it welcomed you as Brothers.

— Annie Besant

(Adyar Bulletin: March 1910.)

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A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for all, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defence of those who are unjustly attacked, a constant eye to the ideal of human progression and perfection which the sacred science depicts — these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the Learner must climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.

— H.P. Blavatsky

You must guard, too, against certain small desires which are common in daily life. Never wish to shine, or to appear clever; have no desire to speak. It is well to speak little; better still to say nothing, unless you are quite sure that what you are going to say is true, kind and helpful. Before speaking think carefully whether what you are going to say has those three qualities; if it has not, do not, say it.

It is well to get used even now to thinking carefully before speaking; for when you reach Initiation you must watch every word, lest you should tell what must not be told. Much common talk is unnecessary and foolish; when it is gossip, it is wicked. So be accustomed to listen rather than to talk; do not offer opinions unless directly asked for them. One statement of the Qualifications gives them thus: to know, to dare, to will, and to be silent; and the last of the four is the hardest of them all.

(At the Feet of the Master.) — Alcyone

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A Note on Brotherhood

The brotherhood of man is a fact in nature; those who deny it are blind to it because they shut their eyes to actualities which they do not wish to acknowledge. We need waste little time over them; nature itself will refute their heresy. More subtly dangerous are those who misunderstand it, and their name is legion.

Remember not only what brotherhood means, but also what it does not mean. It emphatically does not mean equality, for twins and triplets are comparatively rare; it implies a difference in age, and consequently all sorts of differences, in strength, in cleverness, in capacity.

Brotherhood implies community of interest, but not community of interests. If the family be rich all its members profit thereby; if the family be poor, all its members suffer accordingly. So there is a community of interest. But the individual interests of the brothers are for many years absolutely different. What interests has the boy of fourteen in common with his brother of six? Each lives his own life among friends of his own age, and has far more in common with them than with his brother. What cares the elder brother, fighting his way in the world, for the prizes and anxieties of school-life which fill the horizon of the boys?

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It is not to be expected, then, that because they are brothers men shall feel alike or be interested in the same things. It would not be desirable even if it were possible, for their duties differ according to their ages, and evolution is best served when every man strives earnestly to “do his duty in that state of life to which it shall please God to call him”. This does not imply that a man must remain in the station in which his karma has placed him at birth; if he can honestly and harmlessly make such further karma as will raise him out of it he is at perfect liberty to do so. But he should do the duties of his stage. The child grows steadily; but while he is young, his duties are those appropriate to his age, not those of some older brother. Each age has its duties — the younger to learn and to serve, the older to direct and to protect; but all alike to be loving and helpful, all alike to try to realise the idea of the great family of humanity. Each will best help his brothers, not by interfering with them, but by trying earnestly to do his own duty as a member of this family.

(Theosophist: June 1909.) — C. W. Leadbeater

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The Theosophic Life

There are certain ways looking at life that seem to grow naturally out of our Theosophical studies; I would fain inspire my readers with fresh energy and determination amid the trials of the moment to carry out in everyday life the doctrines we so continually study. For if Theosophy be not a science of life, if the Theosophist, by the Divine Wisdom that he studies, does not become wise for the helping of all around him, then his life is really worse than the ordinary life. For where the inspiration is greater, then not to rise is to fall lower than the ordinary man. There is a great truth in that parable where it is said that the man who did not use his talent, was worthy of heaviest punishment, and he who knew and did not act should be beaten with many stripes, whereas those who did not know and did not act should only be beaten with few. Now the Theosophist cannot pretend that he does not know. On every side knowledge pours in on him. With these advantages of knowing, our doing ought to be better, than the doing of the majority around us, and unless we can justify Theosophy in life, the less we profess ourselves to be Theosophists the better.

Now what are the main points in life on which brighter light shines out from the

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First Object — to be a nucleus of Brotherhood — our chief work ought to lie in helping, so far as we can, everything that makes for Brotherhood, and thus realising that it must not be a mere empty profession. I will not pause there, but will take the two great doctrines of Reincarnation and Karma.

Now what differences ought to appear in a life in which the doctrine of reincarnation is definitely held? First of all, looking at life with that wider horizon should give us a patient strength and an absence of hurry which are not, very characteristic of modern life. With the loss of the doctrine of the pre-existence of the soul, from Christianity, and the consequent endlessness of heaven and hell, the whole fate of an everlasting condition was made to depend on this single life. Inevitably, with that change of thought, hurry became one of the marks of life. Just as in a boat where there is danger of wreck there is a panic and struggle, so with all those who believe in that nightmare of an everlasting hell and the dream of an everlasting heaven, this element of hurry enters into life — so much to do, such vast issues, and so brief a time. Life becomes a struggle, in which failure is to be met with everlasting pain. With the loss of belief in reincarnation, to be ‘saved’ also lost its ancient meaning — that the cycle of rebirths

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was over, and that the man had become “a pillar in the temple of my God to go forth no more.” The old Christian idea was to be saved from hell, but from the ever-recurring cycle of rebirth, the perpetual ‘resurrections’ in the flesh of which Tertullian spoke. “To him that overcometh” was the promise and, according to the text the victor became a pillar in the great temple of humanity, no more to go out, but to support that temple as a mighty upholding strength. That splendid idea of salvation has turned into the petty individual salvation of a single unit of the human race. But when it is realised that we have many chances, that every failure brings success little nearer, and that the last failure is the threshold of success, then a great strength grows into the life. There is plenty of time, endless opportunities, and the fall of to-day is the rising of to-morrow. And slowly, as that thought of reincarnation becomes part of principle to be lived, we find our life take on the calmness, the serenity, which come from the consciousness of an immortal life. We are living one day out of many days, and what we cannot do to-day to-morrow we shall inevitably achieve. Mighty is the power of it, when once it is fully recognised, and when we feel that there is nothing beyond our strength, for we have time during which our strength may

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gradually evolve. But not only that; all the people around us take on a new aspect when we realise the fact of reincarnation. With our friends we have a closer tie, for everyone we know as a friend comes out of our past, Spirit hailing Spirit across the blinding veil of the material body; and we realise the immortality of love as we realise the immortality of life. And when instead of friends we meet an enemy, how different the aspect when we know the truth of reincarnation! What is the enemy? Some one we have wronged in the past, some one to whom we owe a debt, and he comes forward to claim it. The payment sets us free. He is a liberator, not an enemy; he gives us the opportunity of paying off a debt, without the payment of which liberation may never be ours. When we see him in that light, what becomes of anger or resentment? What becomes of any feeling, save gratitude to the one who takes from us the payment of an ancient debt and leaves us free to go along our road? None can injure us save ourselves; the enemy who seems to strike is only our own hand striking our own face, our own action come up in a new incarnation. If we are angry, we are angry with ourselves, resent ourselves, are revengeful against ourselves. There is no enmity when once reincarnation is thoroughly understood. Looking at it thus; a great

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bitterness will go out of our life. For the thing that hurts is not the injury, but the resentment, the sense of wrong, the feeling of being unfairly treated. Those are the stings which give pain to any action, and when it is only the payment of a debt, none of those is present; there is only the bringing into equilibrium of an ancient wrong. All the stings vanish, and the mere activity remains, which is the restoration of equilibrium.

And when thus we have looked at friends and enemies, what of the circumstances of life? Reincarnation makes us realise that the circumstances around us are exactly those that are best for our growth and evolution. It is a profound blunder to imagine that in any other circumstances we could do better than we are doing now. People say: “If only my circumstances were different I could lead such a much more useful life.” Error! You are doing the most where you are; anywhere else you would do worse, not better. You are surrounded by exactly the things you want for the next step on the upward path, and the moment you are ready to take any other line in life that moment that line of life will open before you. Is there a clog in the family? That is exactly the clog wanted to teach you patience. Is there business that interferes with you? That is the thing you want to bring out qualities in which

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you are deficient. In every single case, so wise is the Good Law, the circumstances round you are the very best that the wisdom of an archangel could plan for your growth and unfolding. The peace that that knowledge brings to life it is impossible to describe. All fretting vanishes, all worrying ceases to be, anxiety for something different no longer gnaws at the heart. A complete, absolute, perfect content comes down upon the soul, and in that content the lesson of the trying environment has been learned, and it will gradually modify itself.

And even that is not all the benefit which grows out of a real understanding of reincarnation. It gives infinite tolerance, infinite patience, with all around us. The great trouble of the truly good man or woman is that people will not be good in the way that he or she wants them to be good. “If only my neighbour would do what I think he ought to do, how much better his life would be.” Good people worry themselves almost to death, not in improving their own lives, but in reforming the lives of their neighbours. That is all wasted work. The Self in each knows his own path much better than the Self in anybody else can judge it for him, and establishes his road in life according to the unfoldment that he desires and needs. He takes his best path. “But,” you say, “he is

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going a wrong path.” Wrong for you perhaps, but right for him. The lessons that that Self wills in his present body to learn, who can judge? Do we know every incident of his past experiences, his past trials, failures, victories, so that we can say what now he wants for the next step in his unfolding life? That experience that seems to you so terrible may be the very experience he needs; the failure that you think so bad may be the very failure that will make success in evitable. We cannot judge our own lives, blinded by the body; how then shall we judge the life of another? There is no lesson more vital than not to try to control and shape others according to our own ideas. Has it never struck us that in this world — which is God’s — there are infinite varieties of forms, infinite differences of experience? Why? Because only in that infinite diversity can the infinite powers of the Self be made manifest. What is a fault to us, blinded and ignorant, is just what is wanted when it is looked at from the other side. We need to choose our path according to our knowledge and our conscience, and leave others to choose theirs. “But,” you may say, “do you mean we should never advise, never counsel?” No. That is the fair help you may give; but you should not try to coerce, should not say: “you must now do this.” The Self is in every man, and as the great

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saying I have so often quoted from Egypt says: “He makes his own path according to the Word.” “The Word” means that which is sounded out by the nature when perfect, made up of endless vibrations making a note, and the whole of the notes making the chord of that particular life. That is “The Word.” According to “The Word” of that individualised Self he makes his path. Sometimes in a chord of music a discord is necessary for the perfection of the harmony. It sounds very bad, standing alone, but as part of the harmony of a great chord, that note that was so discordant enriches and renders perfect the chord. Half the secret of the wonderful chords of Beethoven lies in the power with which he uses discords. Without them how different his music would be, how much less rich, less melodious and less splendid. And there are such apparent discords in human life. Clashing out alone they startle and even horrify us, but in the final Word those discords also find their resolution, and the whole chord of life is perfect. Reincarnation teaches us that we see such a mere fragment of a life that we cannot judge it. If I almost covered up a picture on the wall, how could a spectator judge of the beauty, or lack of beauty, of the whole? Similarly, how shall we judge of the beauty of the picture, in which what seems to us a defect

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may be the shadow that lends depth and beauty to the whole life, that is so much more complex than we imagine? If all the lives were made according to our stupid ideas, what sort of a universe should we see around us? But the universe is God’s thought, and He is manifesting in it at every point, and when we see what seems to us a sin, it is wise to ask ourselves: “What is meant by this manifestation of the Self?” not to condemn it. Then we learn. We need not copy it. For us it may be evil. But we should never judge our neighbour. That is the law laid down in every great scripture. The attitude of the Theosophist should always be that of a learner in life: “What has this man, or that circumstance, to teach me? What have I to learn from this problem?” In this way we should look at life, and doing so, we would be so interested in it that we should have no time to judge or blame, and our life would begin to be the life of wisdom.

Much more might be said along these lines; but let me turn now to one of the most misunderstood of Theosophical teachings, the doctrine of karma. Few things, perhaps, are so dangerous as a little knowledge of the law of karma. And unhappily many of us have stopped at the point of a little knowledge. We need to remember how karma is made up, and judge it by what

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we know, and not by what we fancy. People often talk of karma as though it were a kind of great lump which is flung down on a man’s head at birth, against which he can do nothing. Sometimes this occurs, but in the vast majority of cases the karma that you are making every day is modifying all the results of the karma of the past. It is a continuing creation, and not something lying in wait for us; it is not a sword hanging over us that may drop on us at any moment by every thought, every desire, every action. One way of appreciating this practically is to remember the karmic laws; thought makes character; desire, opportunity; activity, environment. Look back over any one day and you will find your thoughts very mixed, some useful, some mischievous; and if you had to strike the balance, the resultant of the intermingling of all those thoughts in the karmic stream might be very difficult to determine. So with desires: part of the day you are desiring nobly, part of it badly; sometimes wisely, some times stupidly. The resultant of your day’s desires also it is not easy to see, but it will certainly be very mixed. So with your actions; some hasty words, some kind, some gentle, some harsh; very mixed once more. The study of one day will prove to you that you are creating a very mixed karma, and that it is hard to say whether

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the outcome is for good or for evil. Apply that to your past lives, and you will get rid of the notion of an enormous stream that is sweeping you away. That stream is made up of thousands and thousands of different currents, and they play themselves off one against the other. With very many of the decisions that you take and the actions that follow on the decisions, the scales of karma are balanced. A real understanding of karma is a stimulus to exertion. At any moment you may change the issues of destinies and may weigh down one scale or another of your fate. Karma is always in the making. Whatever the condition, make the best of it for the moment, and if the scale against you be too heavy, never mind, you have done your best, and that will have gone into the other scale and made them more equal for the whole of your future. Exertion is always wise. No matter if it seems hopeless, you have diminished the weight against you. Every effort has its full result, and the wiser you are the better you can think and desire and act. If you think of karma thus, it will never paralyse you, but always inspire you. “But,” you say, “there are some things, after all, in which my fate is too strong for me.” You can sometimes trick destiny, when you cannot meet it face to face. When sailing against contrary winds, the sailor cannot change the

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wind, but he can change the set of the sails. The direction of the ship depends on the relation of the sails to the wind, and, by careful tacking, you can very nearly sail, against a contrary wind, and by little extra labour reach your port. That is a parable about karma. If you cannot change your fate, change yourself, and meet it at a different angle, and you will go gliding away successfully where failure seemed inevitable. “Skill in action is yoga,” and that is one way in which the wise man rules his stars instead of being ruled by them. The things that are really inevitable, and in which you cannot change your attitude — endure. They are very few. When there is some destiny so mighty that you can only bow down before it and yield, even then learn from it, and out of that destiny you will gather a flower of wisdom that perhaps a happier fate might not have enabled you to pluck. And so in every way we find that we can meet and conquer, and even from defeat may pluck the flower of victory.

In that way we learn the Theosophic life, and it becomes reality more and more with every week we live. The Theosophic Life must be a life of service. Unless we are serving, we have no right to live. We live by the constant sacrifice of other lives on every side, and we must pay it back; otherwise to use an

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ancient phrase, we are but thieves and do not repay the gift. Service is the great illuminator. The more we serve the wiser we become, for we learn wisdom not by studying but by living. There is a sense in which the saying is perfectly true: “He who doeth the will shall know of the Doctrine.” To live the life of service clears the mental atmosphere of the distorting fogs of prejudice, passion, temperament. Service alone makes the eye single, so that the whole body is full of light, and only those who serve are those who truly live. That Theosophic ideal is one which must permeate the being of every one of us; for on the amount that we give in service to others can we claim the service of Those who are higher than ourselves. They who serve humanity serve in proportion to the services given. They are bound to send out life into pipes that will carry it everywhere and distribute it, and They seek in order that They may serve humanity, those whose lives are one long service to the race. I do not mean by service only those great acts of service done by the martyr or the hero. Whenever you serve one man or woman in love, you serve the race. In India every truly religious man offers five sacrifices every day. One of those sacrifices is the “sacrifice to men;” as we might say the sacrifice to humanity. The application of that

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is that before the householder eats his own food he must feed some one who has need of food. Only when he has fed another may he take his own. We serve the race in serving our nearest neighbour, and we may glorify every pettiest act of service by seeing behind the recipient the great ideal: “In serving you I serve the race, and you are the race’s hand.”

Life becomes great when we look at it from this wider outlook, when we see things as they are, instead of being blinded by the outer appearance. Let our lives be great and not petty. The great life is the happy life, and the one whose ideals are great is himself great; for matter shapes itself to the will of the informing Spirit, and life petty from the outer standpoint may be made great by the splendour of the ideal that ensouls it. If we cannot do great things, let us do small things perfectly; for perfection lies in the perfections of every detail and not in the size of the act. There is nothing great, nothing small, from the standpoint of the Self. The act of the King whose will shapes a nation is no more great from the standpoint of the Self than the act of the mother who nurses a crying child. Each is necessary, is part of the Divine activity. Because necessary, it is great in its own place, and the whole, not any one part, is the life, of the Self. It is

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like a mighty mosaic, and any fragment which is not in its own place makes a blot on the perfection of the whole. Our lives are perfect as they fill the appointed gap in the great mosaic, and if we leave our work undone while we yearn after some other; two places may be left empty, and the whole ill-done.

These are some of the lessons which underlie the life which is really Theosophical. In this way Theosophy becomes a help, a mighty power, and if thus we can live, our lives will preach Theosophy better than the tongue of any speaker, however skilful or eloquent. For there are but few speakers, while there are many who live, and their lives may preach more eloquently than any skill of tongue. This is the message I here would give, this the inspiration I would desire to breathe into the life of every reader — the inspiration by which however imperfectly, I lead my own. For I find that as these thoughts grow stronger and more compelling as they become to me lived realities and not only beautiful theories, all life becomes splendid, no matter what the outer circumstances may be.

(Theosophist: March 1909.) — Annie Besant

A Great One once said: “There is a criticism which seizes as eagerly upon a pearl as the western criticism does upon a flaw, and this is the only kind which we wish our disciples to cultivate.”

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A Lodge Of The Theosophical Society

Nothing is commoner in these days than for a number of men and women, who are interested in a common object, to unite together to form a Society for the furtherance of that object. There are Societies for action; such as the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, to which members subscribe in order to support agents who keep watch against cruelty, and to prosecute offenders. There are Societies for study; such as the Asiatic, the Geographical, the Chemical; Societies to which members belong in order that they may hear papers and get Transactions bearing on the subject which the Society is constituted to further. Such Societies have their regular meetings, their discussions, their lectures, and subserve very useful purposes.

Looked at from one standpoint; the Theosophical Society seems to be even as one of these latter. It is a Society composed of students with Branch Societies, or Lodges, all over the world, in which its members gather to study religion in its broadest sense, to examine and compare the various religions of the past and present, to investigate the obscurer problems of human and general life in all its departments, to learn from the experiences of the more advanced, and to exchange opinions with each other.

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Thus considered it is one Society among many, remarkable only for the profound and perennial interest of the problems with which it concerns itself, and it is subject to all the conditions which affect other Societies — increase and diminution of members, growth and decay of their enthusiasm, attractiveness or non-attractiveness of its exponents, interest or dullness of its meetings.

A good many of the members of its Lodges seem to look on it in this way. If a meeting is likely to be interesting, they go to it; if it is likely to be dull, they stay away. If a favourite speaker is to address the Lodge, the hall is crowded; if an unknown, or dull, speaker is the orator of the evening, the hall is full of empty benches. And so the activity of a Lodge, waxes and wanes; one strong person can make a successful Lodge, but let something occur to translate that person to other scenes, and lo! the Lodge becomes dormant, or dies.

Now some of us think that the Theosophical Society as a whole, and its Lodges as Branches thereof, are something far other and greater than any learned Society. We recognise it, indeed, as having that as part of its character, as standing before the world in that category; but to us it is also something more, which marks it out as a thing unique, apart. For we believe, and have good reasons for our belief

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— nay, some of us can say we know — that this Society was not formed by the ordinary impulse that draws men together who are interested in common study, but that it was designed, conceived and started by some of the superhuman Men who are the Spiritual Guardians of the human race, and who employed one of their own disciples, H. P. Blavatsky, to bring about its formation. We regard its launching as the work of these Great Ones, and we believe that They watch over and protect it. We see Their hands in the struggles that from time to time disturb it, and shake out of it those who are unfit to take further part in its development. We see Their protection justified by the fact that it emerges from every struggle stronger, cleaner, wiser, than it was before it passed through it. We see Their aid in the increasing stream of knowledge which pours through it to the world, and Their work in the changed attitude of the public mind toward religious problems. We see Their wisdom in the choice of the two colleagues who stand as the outer Founders — H. P. Blavatsky, the heart of the movement, the profound occultist, the marvellous teacher, the heroic victim; and H. S. Olcott, the head of the movement, the skilful organiser, the farsighted leader, the devoted, self-sacrificing worker. To us the Society stands as a vehicle for spiritual

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life; poured out from the inner places of being into the Society as into a reservoir, whence that life, that living water, is conducted over all the world, by the channels that we call Lodges, or Branches, for the quenching of the thirst of men.

Such, to us, is the high function of the Theosophical Society, this its object and its raison d’être. The other parts of its activities — its studies, its publications, its researches, its discussions — are to us secondary and subordinate, however admirable and useful. The things which justify its existence to the world are to us the mere fringes of its garment, all of which might be torn off and its life remain uninjured. Let us see how we arrive at this conclusion.

We see that spiritual forces in the past have ever been vehicled by organisations, bodies which served as material organs whereby their functioning might be carried on in the world. As we see that the value of every religion is measured, not by its external activities, but by the fulness and richness of the spiritual life transmitted by it to the world. But now, instead of another separate religion, a unifying energy is needed, that may draw religions together, explain their differences, demonstrate their unity, and prepare the world for the coming of the great civilisation in which Buddhi: and

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not Manas, Wisdom and not Knowledge, shall rule. As ever, life demands a form, energy a medium, spirit a vehicle. We see that form, that medium, that vehicle, in the Theosophical Society.

In the first object of the Society it is called “a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood,” and the word nucleus is the point within a cell wherein all the life-energies are collected, and wherefrom all growth and all organisation proceed. Activity in the nucleus preceded all action in the cell. The more science has investigated, the more important has been found the part played by the nucleus; the area immediately surrounding it is the most active part of the cell.

The Theosophical Society is a nucleus in which the spiritual energies poured out by the great Brotherhood find a centre, and from it they spread forth, organising and directing spiritual growth throughout the whole world. It is small in proportion to its cell, but it is the focus, the centre of the energies. Wherever it is, there also are growth and organisation, religions show new life, thought manifests expanding power. It works in India, and Hinduism revives; it works in Ceylon, and Buddhism becomes active; it works in the Pārsī communities, and Zoroastrianism begins to shake off its modern materialism and to show a dawning spirituality; it works in

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Christendom, and a new spirit of tolerance and liberality is seen. Alone amid the religions of the world, Islām has profited little by its inspiring message, for as yet it has scarcely listened to it, and gives scant attention to its messengers. Truly by its effects has it proved itself to be a nucleus, and herein lies its value. Through it the Indian Rishis affect Hinduism; through it the Bodhisattva inspires Buddhism; through it Zarathushtra breathes into Pārsīism; through it Jesus awakens Christendom; through it Muhammad is striving to arouse Islām. The life-energies stream forth through it from each Prophet to the faith of His own founding, over which He ever watches with special love, as a mother over the cradle of her babe.

Now, those who thus see the Theosophical Society and its high function in the world, can not measure their devotion to it and their service by the changing trifles which affect its environment, or by the transitory persons who take part in its outer work. To them each Lodge is a miniature Theosophical Society, of the same nature and essence as the world-wide Society. It also is a nucleus in its own town, its own area of influence, as is the whole Society to the world. All the splendour of being a centre from which the spiritual energies stream forth belongs to each Lodge, however obscure, however

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small, however humble. All the dignity of this high office, all the majesty of this royal priesthood, clothes each Lodge in garments shining like the sun. We do ill to belittle our functions, to doubt our lofty calling. The good karma of the past — some loving service and self-sacrificing effort, some pure thoughts and tender deeds — have brought us into this living nucleus, and the power of the White Brotherhood pours through us, as a body, to the helping and uplifting of the world. Wherever a Lodge meets, a star is shining ‘mid the darkness of the world, and its magnetic influences stream through the atmosphere, carrying blessing wherever they go.

This belongs to us, be it remembered, as a body, hence our value; we are an organic whole. When a Lodge meets together, it presents an organised centre, ready to be filled with out-streaming life. It is true that if the thoughts expressed in the meeting are strong and wise, such a meeting sends out into the district round it hosts of strong and useful thought-forms, enriching and purifying the mental atmosphere. That is done by the members; it is their own work. Far more important, if I may be permitted to say so, is the life-energy of the Masters, poured out through that organised centre on the district in which it meets. For

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this beneficent work, no keen thought or mental expression on the part of the members is needed; these neither help nor hinder the loftier Worker. He seeks but a material nucleus; His is the life, not ours. And that life can be poured out as freely through a dull meeting of the Lodge as through a bright one; nay sometimes better; because the willing bearing of the dullness and the gentle patience of the loyal members are energies of like nature with those of the Master’s own, and he may gather them up and add them unto his, a tiny rill of spiritual life flowing into His mighty river.

Thus seen, the meeting of a Lodge takes on a new aspect and a new dignity. The question no longer arises, “Ought I to go to a dull meeting?” but the eager query comes, “Can I secure the privilege of being present to be part of the channel through which the life-energies of the Brotherhood will be pouring out on the world?” If this were the feeling of the members, we should never hear of Branches becoming dormant or dying; while a Lodge can hold together, it can serve as nucleus of life. What matters the interest of meetings intellectually, while it remains intact, as the organ of this high spiritual function?

From time to time I read of a Lodge that has resigned its charter, of a member who has

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resigned his membership. This seems to me a thing impossible, incredible, a very madness. To have such a privilege and to resign it! To share in such a function, and to cast it aside! Truly, men know not the prize of their high calling, the mark of their hard-won dignity. They have worked hard in the past, and this work has entitled them to be counted amid the fortunate band which is the main channel of the higher life at this period of the world’s history. What folly then is it to throw away the reward of their past toil when it is in their hand. As well, nay better, might the starving man throw away bread, the beggar throw away gold. Ignorance, as ever, is man’s deluder, blinding him to his own true good, which lies in the service to Humanity and devotion to its greatest Sons. May no member who reads this article ever be so blinded by ignorance as to throw away the priceless privilege he has won, and so lose his share of the glorious function of being a life-bringer to the world.

(The Theosophical Review: January, 1902.) — Annie Besant

“There,” said the chela, “is an opportunity lost. I will make it good to-morrow!”

“My son,” said the Master, “an opportunity lost is lost for ever — dropped into the void of separateness.”

(The Theosophic Messenger: December, 1908.)

Go to Contents.

How Members Can Help The Society

Q. — How do you expect the Fellows of your Society to help in this work?

A. — First, by studying and comprehending the theosophical doctrines so that they may teach others, especially the young people. Secondly, by taking every opportunity of talking to others and explaining to them what Theosophy is, and what it is not; by removing misconceptions and spreading an interest in the subject. Thirdly, by assisting in circulating our literature, by buying books when they have the means, by lending and giving them and by inducing their friends to do so. Fourthly, by defending the Society from the unjust aspersions cast upon it, by every legitimate device in their power. Fifth and most important of all, by the example of their own lives.

Q. — But all this literature to the spread of which you attach so much importance, does not seem to me of much practical use in helping mankind. This is not practical charity.

A. — We think otherwise. We hold that a good book which gives food for thought, which strengthens and clears their minds, and enables them to grasp truths which they have dimly felt but could not formulate — we hold that such a book does real substantial good. As to what you call the practical deeds of charity, to benefit the

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bodies of our fellow-men, we do what little we can; but as I have already told you, most of us are poor, whilst the Society itself has not even the money to pay a staff of workers. All of us who toil for it, give our labour gratis and in most cases money as well. The few who have the means of doing what are usually called charitable actions, follow the Buddhist precepts and do their work themselves, not by proxy or by subscribing publicly to charitable funds. What the Theosophist has to do above all is to forget his personality.

(The Key to Theosophy.) — H. P. Blavatsky

Learn now that there is no cure for desire, no cure for the love of reward, no cure for the misery of longing, save in the fixing of the sight and hearing upon that which is invisible and soundless. Begin even now to practise it, and so a thousand serpents will be kept from your path. Live in the eternal.

(Karma, — written down by M.C.)

The aspirant should welcome everything in his daily life that chips a bit off the personality, and should be grateful to all the ‘unpleasant persons’ who tread on his toes and jar his sensibilities and ruffe bis self love. They are his best friends, his most useful helpers, and should never be regarded with anything but gratitude for the services they render in bruising our most dangerous enemy.

(The Doctrine of the Heart.) — Annie Besant

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Theosophical Meetings

A meeting may produce most important results, not only for those who take part in it, but, for their unconscious neighbours. But in order that it may do this, the members must understand the hidden side of their meeting, and must work with a view to produce the highest possible effects. Many members utterly overlook this most important part of their work, and have in consequence quite an unworthy idea of what the work of a Lodge is.

I have sometimes heard a member frankly confess that the Lodge-meetings are often rather dull, and so he does not always attend them. A member who makes such a remark has not grasped the most rudimentary facts about the work of a Lodge; he thinks that it exists for the purpose of amusing him, and if its meetings are not interesting to him he thinks that he is better off at home. The excuse for such an attitude, if there is an excuse, is that through many lives and probably through the earlier part of this life, such a man has been looking at everything entirely from the outside and from the lowest point of view, and he is only now gradually accustoming himself to the true and higher point of view — the common-sense attitude which takes account of all the factors, the higher as well as the lower and less important.

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The person who attends a meeting for the sake of what he can get or to be entertained there is thinking of himself only and not of his Lodge or of the Society. We should join the Society not for anything we can get from it, but because, having satisfied ourselves of the truth of what it proclaims, we are anxious to spread that truth to others as far as possible. If we are merely selfish in regard to this matter we can buy the Theosophical books and study them without belonging to the Society at all. We join it for the sake of spreading the teaching, and for the sake of understanding it better by discussing it with those who have spent years in trying to live it. We who belong to it do get a good deal from it, in the way of instruction and of help in understanding difficult points, of brotherly feeling and of kindly thought.

I know that I have received very much of all these things during my twenty-seven years of membership, but I am quite sure that if I had joined the Society with the idea of getting something out of it, I should not have gained half of what I have. In my experience of the Society I have seen over and over again that the person who comes in with the idea “What shall I get?” gains little, because so far as the playing of higher forces goes he is a cul-de-sac, that is to

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say, he is what plumbers call ‘a dead-end,’ out of which nothing is running. What can there be in the end of a pipe but a little stagnant water? But if the pipe be open and the water flows freely then a vast amount will pass through. In the same way, if members come to a meeting, thinking all the time about themselves, and how they like what is said or done, they will assuredly gain but little good from it compared to what they would gain if their attitude were more rational. No doubt such people will have spasms of unselfishness but that is insufficient. The whole life of a member ought to be that of trying to fill his place in the world and to do his duty to the utmost of his power. Therefore being a member of the Society and of a Lodge, he has his duty to do from that point of view also. If a member says that Lodge-meetings are dull, one always feels inclined to begin by asking him: “What are you doing to allow them to be dull? You were there also and it is your business to see that things are kept going as far as may be.” If each individual member feels upon him the duty of trying to make each meeting a success it will be much more likely to succeed than if he goes there simply to be amused or even merely to be instructed.

Let us consider then the hidden side of the meeting of a Theosophical Lodge.

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For the purpose of our illustration I will take the ordinary weekly meeting, at which the Lodge is prosecuting its definite line of study. I am, of course, referring to the meetings of the members of the Lodge only, for the occult effect which I wish to describe is entirely impossible in connection with any meetings to which non-members are admitted. Naturally the work of every Lodge has its public side. There are lectures given to the public, and opportunities offered for their questions; all this is good and necessary. But every Lodge which is worthy of the name is also doing something very far higher than any work on the physical world, and this higher work can only be done by virtue of its own private meetings. Furthermore it can be done only if these private meetings are properly conducted and entirely harmonious. If the members are thinking of themselves in any way — if they have personal vanity, such as might show itself in the desire to shine or to take a prominent part in the proceedings; if they have other personal feeling, so that they would be capable of taking offence or of being affected by envy or jealousy, no useful occult effect can possibly be produced. But if they have forgotten themselves in the earnest endeavour to comprehend the subject appointed for study, a very considerable and beneficial result, of which they usually have

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no conception, may very readily be produced. Let me explain the reason of this.

We will assume a series of meetings at which a certain book is being used for study. Every member knows beforehand what paragraph or page will be taken at the approaching meeting, and it is expected that he shall not come to that meeting without previous preparation. He must not be in the attitude of the young nestling, simply waiting with open mouth and expecting that someone else will feed him; on the contrary, every member should have an intelligent comprehension of the subject which is to be considered, and should be prepared to contribute his share of information with regard to it. A very good plan is for each member of the circle to make himself responsible for the examination of certain of our Theosophical books — one taking the first volume of The Secret Doctrine let us say, another the second, another the third, another The Ancient Wisdom, another Esoteric Buddhism, and so on. Some of the members could easily take two or three of the smaller books, and on the other hand, if the Lodge were large enough, a volume of The Secret Doctrine might very well be divided among several members, each taking up 100 or 150 pages. The exact subject to be considered at the next meeting would be announced at the previous one, and each member

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would make himself responsible for looking carefully through the book or books committed to his charge for any reference to it, so that when he comes to the meeting he is already possessed of any information about it which is contained in that particular book, and is prepared to contribute this when called upon. In this way every member has his work to do, and each is very greatly helped to a full and clear comprehension of the matter under consideration when all present are thus earnestly fixing their thought upon it. In order to grasp this fully let us think for a moment of the exact effect of a thought.

Every thought which is sufficiently definite to be worthy of the name produces two separate results. First, it is itself a vibration of the mental body, and it may take place at various levels in that body. Like every other vibration it tends to reproduce itself in surrounding matter. Just as a harp string when set in vibration communicates that vibration to the air about it, thus making an audible sound, so the thought-vibration established in matter of a certain density within the man's mental body communicates itself to matter of the same density in the mental world which surrounds him. Secondly, each thought draws round itself the living matter of the mental world and builds itself a vehicle,

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which we call a thought-form. If the thought be simply an exercise of the intellect, such as might be involved in the working out of a mathematical or geometrical problem, that thought-form remains on mental levels; but if the thought be in the least tinged with desire or emotion, or if it be in any way connected with the personal self, the thought-form at once draws round itself a vesture of astral matter as well, and manifests itself in the astral world. An intense effort at the realisation of the abstract — an attempt to comprehend what is meant by the fourth dimension or by the tabularity of the table — means an activity upon the higher mental levels; while if the thought is mingled with unselfish affection, with high aspiration or devotion, it is even possible that a vibration of the intuitional world may enter into it and multiply its power a hundredfold. We must consider these two results separately and see what follows from each of them.

The vibration may be thought of as spreading in the mental world through matter capable of responding to it — that is to say, through matter of the same degree of density as that in which it was originally generated. Radiating in this way it naturally comes into contact with the mental bodies of many other men, and its tendency is to reproduce itself in these bodies. The

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distance to which if can radiate effectively depends partly upon the nature of the vibration and partly upon the opposition with which it meets. Vibrations entangled with the lower types of astral matter may be deflected or overwhelmed by a multitude of other vibrations at the same level, just as in the midst of the roar of a great city a soft sound will be entirely drowned. The ordinary self-centred thought of the average man begins on the lowest of the mental levels, and instantly plunges down to correspondingly low levels of the astral. Its power in both the worlds is, therefore, very limited, because, however violent it may be, there is such an immense and turbulent sea of similar thought surging all round, that the vibrations are inevitably very soon lost and overpowered in that confusion. A vibration generated at a higher level, however, has a much clearer field for its action, because at present the number of thoughts producing such vibration is very small — indeed Theosophical thought is almost a class by itself from this point of view. There are truly religious people whose thought is quite as elevated as ours, but never so precise and definite; there are large numbers of people whose thoughts on matters of business and money-making are as precise as could be desired, but they are not elevated or altruistic. Even scientific thought is scarcely ever

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in the same class as that of the true Theosophist, so that our students have practically a field to themselves in the mental world.

The result of this is that when a man thinks on Theosophical subjects he is sending out all round him a vibration which is very powerful because it is practically unopposed, like a sound in the midst of a vast silence, or a light shining forth on the darkest night. It sets in motion a level of mental matter which is as yet very rarely used, and the radiations which are caused by it impinge upon the mental body of the average man at a point where it is quite dormant. This gives to this thought its peculiar value, not only to the thinker but to others around him; for its tendency is to awaken and to bring into use an entirely new part of the thinking apparatus. It must be understood that such a vibration does not necessarily convey Theosophical thought to those who are ignorant of it; but in awakening this higher portion of the mental body, it tends to elevate and liberalise the man’s thought as a whole, along whatever lines it may be in the habit of moving, and in this way produces an incalculable benefit.

If the thought of a single man produces these results, it will be readily understood that the thought of twenty or thirty people directed to the same subject will achieve an effect enormously

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greater. The power of the united thought of a number of men is very far more than the sum of their separate thoughts; it would be much more nearly represented by their product. So it will be seen that, even from this point of view alone, it is an exceedingly good thing for any city or community that a Theosophical Lodge should be constantly meeting in its midst, since its proceedings, if they are conducted in a proper spirit, cannot but have a distinctly elevating and ennobling effect upon the thought of the surrounding population. Naturally there will be many people whose minds cannot yet be awakened at all upon those higher levels; but even for them the constant beating of the waves of this more advanced thought will at least bring nearer the time of their awakening.

Nor must we forget the result produced by the formation of definite thought-forms. These also will be radiated from the centre of activity, but they can only affect such minds as are already to some extent responsive to ideas of this nature. In these days, however, there are many such minds, and our members can attest the fact that after they have been discussing such a question as Reincarnation it not infrequently happens that they are themselves asked for information upon that subject by persons whom they had not previously supposed to be interested

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in it. It should be observed that the thought-form is capable of conveying the exact nature of the thought to those who are somewhat prepared to receive it, whereas, the thought-vibration, though it reaches a far wider circle, is much less definite in its action.

Here you see that we have already a momentous effect upon the mental level produced quite unintentionally by our members in the ordinary course of their study — something far greater in reality than their intentional efforts in the way of propaganda are ever likely to produce. But this is not all, for by far the most important part is yet to come. Every Lodge of this Society is a centre of interest to the Great Masters of Wisdom, and when it works well and loyally Their thoughts and those of Their pupils are frequently turned towards it. In this way a force much greater than our own may often shine out from our gatherings, and an influence of inestimable value may be focussed where, so far as we know, it would not otherwise specially rest. This may indeed seem the ultimate limit which our work can attain, yet there is something even greater. All students of the occult are aware that the Life and Light of the Deity flood the whole of His system — that in every world is outpoured from Him that especial manifestation of His strength which is appropriate to it.

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Naturally the higher the world the less veiled is His glory, because as we ascend we are drawing nearer to its Source. Normally the force outpoured in each world is strictly limited to it; but it can descend into and illuminate a lower level if a special channel be prepared for it. Such a channel is always provided whenever any thought or feeling has an entirely unselfish aspect. The selfish emotion moves in a closed curve, and so brings its own response on its own level; the utterly unselfish emotion is an outrush of energy which does not return, but in its upward movement provides a channel for a downpouring of divine Power from the level next above, which is the reality lying vat the back of the old idea of the answer to prayer.

To a clairvoyant this channel is quite definitely visible as a great vortex, a kind of gigantic cylinder or funnel. Yet though this is the nearest we can come to explaining in the physical world, it does not really give at all an adequate idea of its appearance, for as the force flows down through the channel it somehow makes itself one with the vortex and issues from it coloured by it and bearing with it distinctive characteristics which show through what channel it has come. But it must be remembered that such a channel can be made only if all the thought is earnest and harmonious. I do not mean that there must

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be no discussion at the meetings; but that all such discussion must invariably be of the most friendly character, and conducted with the fullest brotherly feeling. We must never suppose that a man who differs from us is necessarily weak in thought or in comprehension. There are al ways at least two sides to every question, so that the man who differs from us may simply be seeing another side. If that is so, we may gather something from him and he something from us, and in that way we may do each other good; but if we become angry over a discussion we should certainly do each other harm and the harmony of the vibrations would be lost. One such thought as that so often spoils a beautiful effect. I have seen that happen many times — a number of people working along quite happily and building up a beautiful channel, and then suddenly some one of them will say something unkind or personal and then in a moment the thing breaks up and the opportunity to help is lost.

To each member I should say: “Whenever any one is speaking or reading a paragraph or trying to do anything helpful, try for the time to help him and do not be everlastingly thinking how much better you could do it yourself. Do not criticise, but give him the aid of your thought. You may afterwards inquire as to any

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points that are not clear, but do not at the time send a hostile or critical thought against him, because if you do you will very likely interfere with the sequence of his thought and spoil his lecture. Make a mental note about any point about which you wish to ask, but for the time try to see what good there is in what he says, as in that way you will strengthen him.”

A clairvoyant sees the current of thought rolling out from the lecturer and other currents of comprehension and appreciation rising from the audience and joining with it, but critical thought, meets it with an opposing rate of vibration, breaks up the stream and throws it all into confusion. One who sees this influence in action will find it so forcibly impressed upon him that he is little likely to forget it and act contrary to it. The helpful thoughts tend to the lecturer’s presentation clearer and to impress it upon those to whom it is not familiar. For this reason members should be present even at public lectures upon the most elementary subjects delivered by their fellows, in order that they who understand thoroughly may help the lecturer by making clear thought-forms connected with the subject which will impress themselves upon the minds of the public who are trying to understand.

The man who is occupied in the earnest study of higher things is for the time lifted entirely

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out of himself, and generates a very powerful thought-form in, the mental world, which is immediately employed as a channel by the force hovering in the world next above. When a body of men join together in a thought of this nature, the channel which they make is out of all proportion larger in its capacity than the sum of their separate channels; and such a body of men is therefore an inestimable blessing to the community amidst which it works, for through them (even in their most ordinary meetings for study when they are considering such subjects as rounds, and races, and planetary chains), there may come an outpouring into the lower mental world of that force which is normally peculiar to the higher mental; while if they turn their attention to the higher side of the Theosophical teaching and study such questions of ethics and of soul-development as we find in At the Feet of the Master, Light on the Path and The Voice of the Silence and our other devotional books, they may make a channel of more elevated thought through which the force of the intuitional world itself may descend into the mental, and thus radiate out and influence for good many a soul who would not be in the least open to it if the force had remained on its original level.

This is the real and greatest function of a Lodge of the Theosophical Society — to furnish a

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channel for the distribution of the divine life; and thus we have another illustration to show us how far greater is the unseen than the seen. To the dim physical eyes all that is visible is a small band of humble students meeting weekly in the earnest endeavour to learn and to qualify themselves to be of use to their fellowmen. But to those who can see more of the world, from this tiny root there springs a glorious flower, for no less than four mighty streams of influence are radiating from that seemingly insignificant centre — the stream of thought-vibration, the cluster of thought-forms, the. magnetism of the Masters of Wisdom and the mighty torrent of the Divine Energy.

Here also is an instance of the eminent practical importance of a knowledge of the unseen side of the life. For lack of such knowledge many a member has been lax the performance of his duty, careless as to his attendance at Lodge-meetings, and has thus lost the inestimable privilege of, being part of a channel for the divine Life. Such a man has not yet grasped the elementary fact that he joined not to receive but to give, not to be interested and amused, but to take his share in a mighty work for the good of mankind.

(The Hidden Side of Things.) — C. W. Leadbeater

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Some Words On Daily Life

It is the divine philosophy alone, the spiritual and psychic blending of man with nature, which, by revealing the fundamental truths that lie hidden under the objects of sense and perception, can promote a spirit of unity and harmony in spite of the great diversities of conflicting creeds. Theosophy, therefore, expects and demands from the fellows of the Society a great mutual toleration and charity for each other’s shortcomings, ungrudging mutual help in the search for truths in every department of nature — moral and physical. And this ethical standard must be unflinchingly applied to daily life.

Theosophy should not represent merely a collection of moral verities, a bundle of metaphysical ethics, epitomised in theoretical dissertations. Theosophy must be made practical; and it has, therefore, to be disencumbered of useless digressions, in the sense of desultory orations and fine talk. Let every Theosophist only do his duty, that which he can and ought to do, and very soon the sum of human misery, within and around the areas of every branch of your Society, will be found visibly diminished. Forget self in working for others — and the task will become an easy and light one for you.

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Do not set your pride in the appreciation and acknowledgment of that work by others. Why should any member of the Theosophical Society, striving to become a Theosophist, put any value upon his neighbour’s good or bad opinion of himself and his work, so long as he himself knows it to be useful and beneficent to other people? Human praise and enthusiasm are short-lived at best; the laugh of the scoffer and the condemnation of the indifferent looker-on are sure to follow, and generally to outweigh the admiring praise of the friendly. Do not despise the opinion of the world, nor provoke it uselessly to unjust criticism. Remain rather as indifferent to the abuse as to the praise of those who can never know you as you really are, and who ought, therefore, to find you unmoved by either, ever placing the approval or condemnation of your own Inner Self higher than that of the multitude.

Those of you who would know yourselves in the spirit of truth, learn to live alone even amidst the great crowds which may sometimes surround you. Seek communion and intercourse only with the God within your Soul; heed only the praise or blame of that deity which can never be separated from your true Self, as it is verily that God itself, called the Higher Consciousness. Put without delay your good

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intentions into practice, never leaving a single one to remain only an intention, expecting meanwhile, neither reward nor even acknowledgment for the good you may have done. Reward and acknowledgment are in yourself and inseparable from you, as it is your Inner Self alone which can appreciate them at their true degree and value. For each one of you contains within the precincts of his inner tabernacle the Supreme Court — prosecutor, defence, jury and judge, whose sentence is the only one without appeal, since none can know you better than you do yourself, when once you have learnt to judge that Self by the never-wavering light of the inner divinity — your higher consciousness.

(T. S. Order of Service.)

Grow as the flower grows; unconsciously, but eagerly anxious open its soul to the air. So must you press forward to open your soul to the Eternal. But it must be the Eternal that draws forth your strength and beauty, not the desire for growth. For in the one case you develop in the luxuriance of purity; in the other you harden by the forcible passion for personal stature.

(Light on the Path.)

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What Is Theosophical Society?

It would appear that some of its members have not yet quite comprehended the position of this Theosophical Society to which they belong. It is not a Society which is formed merely for the promotion of learning in some special branch, like the Royal Asiatic or the Royal Geographical Societies; still less is it a Church, which exists only to spread some particular form of doctrine. It has a place in modern life which is all its own, for its origin is unlike that of any other body at present existing. To understand this origin we must glance for a moment at the hidden side of the history of the world.

All students of occultism are aware that the evolution of the world is not being left to run its course haphazard, but that its direction and administration are in the hands of a great Hierarchy of Adepts, sometimes called the White Brotherhood. To that Brotherhood belong Those whom we name the Masters, because They are willing under certain conditions to accept as pupils those who prove themselves worthy of the honour. But not all Adepts are Masters; not all will take such pupils; many of Them, though equal in occult rank, have the whole of Their time occupied in quite other ways, though always for the helping of evolution.

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For the better surveillance and management of the field of action, they have mapped out the world into districts, much as the church divides its territory into parishes (though these are parishes of continental size), and an Adept presides over each of these districts just as a priest does over his parish. But sometimes the Church makes a special effort, not connected specially with any one of its parishes, but intended for the good of all; it sends forth what is called a ‘home mission,’ with the object of stirring up faith and arousing enthusiasm all over a country, the benefits obtained being in no way a matter of personal gain to the missioners, but going to increase the efficiency of the ordinary parishes.

In a certain way the Theosophical society corresponds to such a mission, the ordinary religious divisions of the world being the parishes; for this Society comes forth among them all, not seeking to take away from any one of them those people who are following it, but striving to make them understand it and live it better than they ever did before, and in many cases giving back to them on a higher and more intelligent level the faith in it which they had previously all but lost. Yes, and other men too, who had nominally no religion — who though at heart of the religious type, have yet been unable to accept the crudities of orthodox teaching —

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have found in Theosophy a presentation of the truth to which because of its inherent reasonableness and wide tolerance they are able heartily to subscribe. We have among our members Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis, Jews, Muhammadans and Christians, and no one of them all has ever heard or read from any of the officials of our Society a word against the religion to which he belongs; indeed, in many cases the work of the Society has produced a distinct revival of religious interest in places where it has been established.

Why this should be so is readily comprehensible when we remember that it is from this same Brotherhood that all the religions of the world have their origin. In this true though hidden Government of the world there is a Department of Religious Instruction, and the head of that Department has founded all the different religions, either personally or through some pupil, suiting the teaching given in each case to the people for whom it was destined, and to the period in the world’s history which had then been reached. They are simply different presentations of the same teaching, as may at once be seen by comparing them. The external forms vary considerably; but the broad essentials are all the same. By all the same virtues are commended; by all the same vices are condemned; so that the daily life of

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a good Buddhist or a good Hindu is practically identical with that of a good Christian or a good Muhammadan. They do the same things, but they call them by different names; one spends much time in prayer, and the other in meditation, but really their exercises are the same, and they all agree that the good man must be just, kindly, generous and true.

It is said that some hundreds of years ago the leading officials of the Brotherhood decided that once in every hundred years, in what to us is the last quarter of each century, a special effort should be made to help the world in some way. Some of these attempts can be readily discerned — such, for example, as the movement initiated by Christian Rosenkreutz in the fourteenth century, simultaneously with the great reforms in Northern Buddhism introduced by Tsong-kha-pa; the remarkable renaissance of classical learning and the introduction of printing into Europe in the fifteenth; the work of Akbar in India in the sixteenth, at the same time with the publication of many works in England and elsewhere by Lord Bacon, and the splendid development of the Elizabethan age; the founding of the Royal Society, and the scientific work of Robert Boyle and others after the Restoration in the seventeenth; the activities in the eighteenth (the secret history of which on higher planes

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is known to but few) which escaped from control and degenerated into the French Revolution; and now in the nineteenth the foundation the Theosophical Society.

This Society is one of the great world-movements, destined to produce effects far greater than any that we have yet seen. The history of its work so far is but a prologue to that which is to come, and its importance is out of all proportion to what it has hitherto appeared to be. It has this difference from all movements that have preceded it, that it is the first definite step towards the founding of a new root-race. Many of our students are aware that the Master M., the great Adept to whom both of our founders owe special allegiance, has been selected to be the Manu of that race, and that his inseparable friend the Master K. H. is to be in charge of its religious teaching.

It is evident that in the work which these two Great Ones will have to do They will need an army of devoted subordinates, who must above all things be loyal, obedient and painstaking. They may possess other qualities also, but these at least they must have. There will be scope for the keenest intelligence, the greatest ingenuity and ability in every direction; but all these will be useless without the capacity of instant obedience and utter trust in the Master. Self-conceit is an absolute bar to

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progress in this direction. The man who can never obey an order because he always thinks he knows better than the authorities, the man who cannot sink his personality entirely in the work which is given him to do, and co-operate harmoniously with his fellow-workers — such a man has no place in the army of Manu. Those who join it will have to incarnate over and over again in a rapid succession in the new race, trying each time to bring their various bodies nearer and nearer to the model set before them by the Manu — a very laborious and trying piece of work, but one that is absolutely necessary for the establishment of the new type of humanity which is required for the race. The opportunity of volunteering for this work is now open to us.

Besides its primary object of spreading occult truth throughout the world, the Theosophical Society has also this secondary object — that it may act as kind of net to draw together out of all the world the people who are sufficiently interested in occultism to be willing to work for it. Out of that number a certain proportion will be found who desire press on further, to learn all that the Society has to teach, and to make real progress. Probably not all of those will succeed, but some certainly will, as some have done in the past; and from those

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who obtain a footing the Adepts Themselves may select those whom They consider worthy of the great privilege of working under them in the future. Such selection cannot of course be guaranteed to any one who passes even into the innermost groups of the Society, since the choice is absolutely in the hands of the Masters; we can say only that such selections have been made in the past, and that we know that many more volunteers are required.

Many have joined the Society without knowing anything of the inner motives which it offers, or the close relation with the great Masters of Wisdom into which it may bring its members. Many have come into it almost carelessly, with but little thought or comprehension of the importance of the step which they have taken; and there have been those who have left it equally carelessly, just because they have not fully understood.

Even those have gained something, though far less than they might have gained if they had greater intelligence. The Countess Wachtmeister tells how once when some casual visitors called to see Madame Blavatsky and offered to join the Society, she immediately sent for the necessary forms and admitted them. After they had gone, the Countess seems to have said half remonstratingly that not much could be expected

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from them, for even she could see that they were joining only from motives of curiosity or courtesy.

“That is true,” said Madame Blavatsky, “but even this formal act has given them a small karmic link with the Society, and even that will mean something for them in the future.”

Some have committed the incredible folly of leaving it because they disapproved of the policy of its President, not reflecting first of all, that that policy is the President’s business and not theirs; secondly, that as the President knows enormously more in every direction than they do, there is probably for that policy some exceedingly good reason of which they are entirely unaware; and thirdly, that Presidents and policies are after all temporary, and do not in any way affect the great fundamental fact that the Society belongs to the Masters and represents Them, and that to abandon it is to desert Their standard. Since They stand behind it and intend to use it as an instrument, we may be sure that They will permit no serious error. It is surely not the part of a good soldier to desert from the ranks because he disapproves of the plans of the General, and to go off and fight single-handed. Nor is such fighting likely to be specially efficient or useful to the cause which he professes to champion.

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Some have deserted simply from a fear that if they remained in the Society they might be identified with some idea of which they disapprove. This is not only selfishness but self-conceit; what does it matter what is thought or said of any of us, so long as the Master’s work is done and the Master’s plan carried out. It is true that that work will be done in any case, and that the place of those who refuse to do it will quickly be supplied. So it may be asked, what do defections matter? They do not matter to the work, but they matter very much to the deserter, who has thrown away an opportunity which may not recur for many incarnations. Such action shows a lack of all sense of proportion, an utter ignorance of what the Society really is and of the inner side of its work. This work which our Masters are doing, this work of the evolution of humanity, is the most fascinating thing in the whole world. Sometimes it has happened to those of us who have been able to develop the faculties of the higher planes, to be allowed a glimpse of that mighty scheme — to witness the lifting of a tiny corner of the veil. I know of nothing more stirring, more absorbingly interesting. The splendour, the colossal magnitude of the plans take away one’s breath, yet even more impressive is the calm dignity, the utter certainty of it all. Not

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individuals only, but nations, are the pieces in this game; but neither nation nor individual is compelled to play any given part. The opportunity to play that part is given to it or to him; if he or it will not take it, there is invariably an understudy ready to step and fill the gap. At this present time a magnificent opportunity is being offered to the great Anglo-Saxon race — to the whole Teutonic sub-race, if it will only sink its petty rivalries and jealousies and take it. I hope with all my heart that it will do so; I believe that it will; but this I know, that if unfortunately it should fail, there is another nation already chosen to assume the sceptre which in that case would fall from its hands. Such failure would cause a slight delay, while the new nation was being pushed rapidly forward to the necessary level, but at the end of a few centuries exactly the same result would have been achieved. That is the one thing that is utterly certain — that the intended end will be achieved; through whose agency this will be done matters very much to the agent, but nothing at all to the total progress of the world.

Let us throw ourselves into that work, not out of it, trying ever to do more and more of it, and to do it better and better. For if we do well now in comparatively small matters we

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shall presently be entrusted with greater responsibilities in connection with that new root-race, and of us will be true what was said of old: “Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord.”

(The Adyar Bulletin: May, 1909.) — C. W. Leadbeater

Try to see what is worth doing: and remember that you must not judge by the size of the thing. A small thing which is directly useful in the Master’s work is far better worth doing than a large thing which the world would call good. You must distinguish not only the useful from the useless, but the more useful from the less useful. To feed the poor is a good and useful and noble work; yet to feed their souls is nobler and more useful than to feed their bodies. Any rich man can feed the body, but only those who know can feed the soul. If you know it is your duty to help others to know.

(At the Feet of the Master.) — Alcyone

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Not Our Work

A Theosophical lecturer, in his peregrinations, has excellent opportunity of seeing how members react to Theosophical ideals. There are certain things he observes which for the sake of amiability he decides to ignore; but there are other things that, like murder, ‘will out’. One such matter is the activities some members engage in as a way of helping the movement.

At the outset let me not be misunderstood. Every activity of whatsoever kind in the world, that promotes the welfare of a single human being, is a channel for the expression of the life of the Logos. There is not a single man, woman or child who in a burst of idealism does some noble act but is known by the invisible guardians of the race; there is not a society or organisation bringing about some reform in the world but is being watched and helped by the Masters of Wisdom.

The Logos in His infinite wisdom, and the Masters of Wisdom following His plan, have devised a thousand ways to bring humanity nearer to its God. The religions, the arts, the sciences, the philanthropic and political movements are all so many dice with which the game is being played to ensure victory. Surely there is no more fascinating view of the world than this in the light of Theosophy.

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Though Theosophy, the Wisdom of God, is out of space and time, the Theosophical Society is not. It is an organisation planned for a special purpose in this and in the centuries to come. What is that special purpose?

Emphatically the purpose is not to add one more organisation to the many religious, scientific and philanthropic bodies already existing. These latter organisations exist to attract into them men and women, so that to the small capacity of idealism within them they might be roused to co-operate with the Logos. But the Theosophical Society exists to gather within it those who are capable of an additional dimension in their idealism, who can, therefore, cooperate with the Logos in a new way. From this it follows that, as members of the Society, we are not specially called upon to do any part of the work of the Logos which is already being done by others, although they are not Theosophists.

The world must be reformed in thousand ways; cruelty to animals must be denounced, war must be proclaimed as a barbarous relic of bygone days; laws of health and sanitation must be taught to all; literature, art, the drama, must be transformed into better channels for the divine outpouring; continents must be opened up; the sea, the air, the ether must be conquered; and two blades of grass must be made

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to grow where only one grows to-day. But are these things the special work of the members of the Theosophical Society, as such, to-day?

I think not, for, to my seeming, we have a nobler work for our heritage. It is to bring humanity nearer to God in a new way, in a way that hitherto has been done in the inner world alone, by the Masters of Wisdom. Ever behind the outer veil of evolution these, our Brothers, have stood as Mediators, at-one-ing humanity with God in ways not possible through any outer activity. But the time has come when the Brothers can fashion in the outer world also a vehicle for Themselves, through which to make that Atonement fuller, and so bring down a new blessing to humanity. Primus inter pares, ‘firstborn’ among many brother organisations, the Society stands, and will stand, but only so long as it is a fit channel for the work to be done. Every earnest soul can be a channel for two kinds of force, a lesser and a greater. He is a channel for the lesser in so far as he is an idealist, a thinker, a reformer, one burning to go out and fight for the welfare of humanity; he is a channel for the greater when he dedicates himself to the special work to be done by an Atonement, by such an organisation as the Society.

How, then, can we so fashion our corporate and individual activities as to be utilisable in

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the new way? Each Theosophist, worthy of the name, is a missionary, each is a John the Baptist; he has his special work, which is to proclaim the Kingdom of Heaven in the new Theosophic Way. And while so doing, in an inner mystic way, if he understands, he may take part in that Great Atonement of the Masters of Wisdom.

In this early part of the twentieth century, in this world of many millions, our immediate work is to proclaim karma and reincarnation, the relation of the visible world to the invisible, the existence of the hierarchy that rules the world. We must, too, tell the world of the Christ’s return, of what he will expect of men in a changed mental attitude as a pre-requisite for the fuller message He will give than He gave in Palestine.

Hence I hold it is not our work, our dharma, to engage in outside activities which other people can do as well, and often far better, than we. Shall we, as Theosophists, organise a League for the Discovery of the South Pole? Why not? It must be done sometime; the Logos surely has planned it. But are we the agents to carry out that work? Surely a little common sense shows that it is not ours to do that part of His work. For are there not antarctic enthusiasts; have they not a Shackleton to lead them? They will organise; will make

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sacrifices, and they will have the blessing of the Masters for having accomplished that part of the Divine Plan. All honour to the antarctic enthusiasts for what they shall do; but not less to the Theosophists if their common sense shall make them refrain from antarctic enthusiasm.

Is it the duty of members of the Theosophical Society to start homes for stray cats and dogs, creches for babies, to organise civic reform leagues and anticonsumption bureaux, to lead a crusade against this or that evil in the world? It certainly would be — if there were no other idealists but members of the Society! But there are plenty of them in the outer world, with capable leaders of their own, too.

A few weeks ago in Punch there appeared a picture that is thoroughly descriptive of activities of some members one comes across here and there. The traffic of a busy London thoroughfare is held up; a cordon of police bar the way to the buses and foot-passengers, disorganising the busy routine of life: Two enthusiasts with big buttons with a bird as their emblem have stopped the traffic: For why? In the foreground is a solitary sparrow busy pecking at the filth in the street, enjoying his dinner. The two enthusiasts belong to ‘The Society for Securing Undisturbed Meals for the Wee Birdies of London’. I am sure the sparrows would

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thank the society, but would the Logos, too? Would He not smile?

For myself I have laid down the general principle that it is not my duty to devote my energies to kinds of work already being excellently done by non-Theosophists. Unless I have discovered some revolutionary method by which their work can be made a better channel for the Masters, unless I feel a ‘call’ to drop the immediate Theosophic work and ‘save the situation’ in that other department of activity, not only is it foolish for me to go into that work — it is more; it is turning traitor to the Light I have so far seen. It would not be merely a fault; it would be worse, a blunder.

The Order of Service, organised by Mrs. Besant, has not been well understood. It has its part in the work of the members, especially in India. India is a land where people have said: “The gods exist; they will do whatever is necessary for the welfare of the people.” The result is that little or nothing has been done to reform abuses. The West has gone to the other extreme, ignoring God and His ministers, or only believing in His supervision in a cursory way from over the banisters of heaven; nevertheless there is the spirit of reform and work. The Order of Service in India will be of the greatest use in uniting what is best in the eastern knowledge

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and western action, and Indian members will be taught that they must express their love of Theosophy in action for the community. But people in India need no propaganda on reincarnation or karma!

In the West we have action, action. But it is action going to waste for want of understanding of karma and reincarnation. Surely the first duty for us in America is not to plunge in to reform existing evils, but rather to proclaim the Divine Wisdom which contains the principles of all sound reform. I know, and none better, that the work is strenuous; that sometimes no headway seems to be made; that sometimes all we have done seems undone. Is that the time to turn aside to other work? Is it not just then that our love of the Wisdom must be shown in ignoring the obvious, believing the incredible, praying for the miraculous, in working and working, and dropping dead working, but not turning aside or giving up?

There is never any shame, when we give up, in acknowledging that the work is too arduous for us, that our inspiration or strength is not equal to the task. The danger to us comes in not recognising the fact that it is we that are weak, instead of serenely thinking, while we are playing with new schemes, that we are still strenuous workers for the Theosophical Society. The

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Theosophical work for each is that which next needs most to be done for the Society. Inability to see this gives rise to a form of unconscious hypocrisy that is full of snares.

If the spirit moves members to organise leagues under the wing of the Society, why not organise to do work done by no other body? Let them take up something new and needed. Why organise to do what is already being done by others, and add one more league to the many non-Theosophical leagues in existence? If a member sympathises with the activities of certain organisations, why not join them instead of starting a new one along the same lines and calling it Theosophical? Surely it is the spirit of co-operation to go where there is already a centre and strengthen it rather than waste precious force in starting new ones, and adding one more difficulty to unified work.

I make bold to say that the real Theosophical worker finds he has not enough hours in the day for the special and direct work of the Society which he wants to do. Much less has he energy to spare to go experimenting with all sorts of petty schemes. The Order of Service may be to some an inspiration; it is meant to be that. But to many it is nothing more than a doll with which they play. When I see a member dropping the immediate, insistent work

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of the Society, and playing with the new-found doll, I sigh a sigh and say to myself: “Here is another already tired, wanting to go more slowly.”

What, then, is our immediate, insistent work? It is propaganda, in writing, lecturing, group meetings, study classes; preparing one’s self for propaganda by study and meditation. To instruct mothers in slums to feed their babies with pasteurised or non-pasteurised milk will hardly come into the scheme of work of the real Theosophical worker. Is that, too, not work for humanity, you ask. Yes. So is burying the dead. But did not One say, “Let the dead bury the dead. Follow Me”? There are thousands to bury the dead, piously and gladly; but how few to follow Him! Which shall we choose — the straight path that goes direct to Him, or the road that winds and winds? We shall all come to Him and to God, in the end. But shall it be now, or later?

(The Theosophic Messenger: January 1910.) — C. Jinarājadāsa

Work as those work who are ambitious. Respect life as those who desire it. Be happy as those are who live for happiness.

(Light the Path.)

Go to Contents.

The Spread Of Theosophy

No one who watches the trend of thought-currents which bear on their bosom the civilised world of to-day but must be aware that they are carrying it swiftly towards Mysticism in Religion, Idealism in Philosophy; Superphysicalism in Science. The Theosophist often points to late discoveries which substantiate Theosophical theories; to books which turn their backs on materialism; to sermons or speeches which show how far ‘Theosophical ideas’ have penetrated into churches. But these isolated facts, however numerous, are far more important for what they indicate than for what they prove; they may prove various isolated Theosophical teachings, but they indicate that the world of thought is being borne along a current that rose in the East and flows into the furthest waters of the West.

When the Theosophical Society was born, it opened its eyes on a world in which materialism reigned triumphant and in which the vanguard of science supported the position of agnosticism. In thirty years the attitude of science is wholly changed, and its vanguard looks as eagerly for manifestations of an ever-present life, moulder of forms, as its leaders thirty years ago, looked for the evidence that matter engenders consciousness. Christianity in the West is turning swiftly

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towards mysticism, as its saviour from the assaults of Comparative Mythology and the Higher Criticism, and is seeking to re-base itself on the rock of the spiritual consciousness, the only Peter against whom the gates of hell may never hope to prevail. Facts of superphysical planes, the honest recognition of which nearly drove Sir William Crookes out of the respectable ranks of the Royal Society, are now being eagerly welcomed and profoundly studied. “Occultism is in the air,” and finds its way into the most frivolous as well as into the most serious literature. The Cinderella of the seventies is the Princess of the twentieth century, and her oppressors are warmly protesting that they never sent her to sit among the ashes. The immense change in so brief a time seems to be incredible, and yet it gazes at us from the pulpit and the stage, from the scientific transaction and the sixpenny novel.

How has this change come about? What magician’s wand has made the desert blossom with the rose? The Theosophical Society. But how small in numbers is the Theosophical Society; its members how unknown and how insignificant; can such mighty workings really have their source in Nazareth so despised? Yes and No. Yes, if the question means, has the Theosophical Society been the outer agent, the sacrament of the Wisdom. No, if the question means has the

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Theosophical Society wrought the mighty change. It is the wand in the hand of the magician, but it is not the magician; and the force lies in the magician and not in his wand. The mighty stream of spiritual life which is flowing from the Himālayās is the force which is bearing the world on its bosom; the Theosophical Society is only a small boat, borne on that stream, the rowers in which are consciously rowing with the stream on which others are drifting.

This view which at first sight may seem to diminish the importance of the Society, really immensely increases it and gives the assurance of the success of its work. For if the Theosophical Society stood alone sole witness to a conception of truth, opposed to the current of the world’s thought, it would be as a forlorn hope amid hordes of the enemy, dying gloriously, but in vain. But if it be the self-conscious embodiment of a truth towards which the world is being impelled by the hands that guide the destinies of humanity, then it may be derided at the moment, but presently those who deride will find themselves left behind, while the world goes on. It is the swallow that is the promise of the coming flock that are heralds of the summer, not the lonely wanderer left behind who is doomed to find his grave in the oncoming winter.

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There is a vast Theosophical Movement going on in the world and every department of thought is affected by it, and it is this movement that finds a partial embodiment in the Society and spreads beyond it, far and wide, in every direction. We see it in the idealistic school of painters, whereof the late G. F. Watts was a splendid example; we see it in the widening influence of mysticism, exemplified by such writers as Inge; we see it in the numerous efforts to simplify and at the same time beautify life, evidenced by the various guilds upspringing through the country; hundreds of separate rills are carrying the waters of life, and all religions are being irrigated with it; the ‘New Thought’ is everywhere spreading and the new thought is Theosophy. Mental Science, Spiritualism, Psychical Research, are all movements inspired by the Theosophical Idea. What matters it, save to themselves, whether they are friendly or hostile to the Theosophical Society? We are all parts of the Theosophical Movement, and the Society should joyously recognise this, even though the others be blind to it.

It is this which gave its impress to the late International Congress in London, which saw in painting, in arts and crafts, in music, drama, vehicles for Theosophical thought; which welcomed to its platform representatives of kindred movements;

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which claimed for itself only the privilege of serving all. All the precedence the Society can claim is that it knows whence it comes and whither it goes; and its wisdom lies in the frankest, fullest, most ungrudging recognition of the fact that many besides itself are labouring towards the same end, and that greater than the Theosophical Society is the Theosophical Movement.

(Theosophist: October, 1905.) — Annie Besant

When I have come to your place, I have talked on general broad lines of philosophy, keeping as much as possible in the background the characteristic Theosophical ideas…

But times are changing, and with them very largely my work. To be frank, I have no more time to speak on mere generalities, and as a worker carrying out certain parts of plans of the Masters I and others, working definitely in the Theosophical Society, are expected to bring certain results in the world of thought within a given time. Now these results, so far as my work is concerned, can be brought about by my strictly I confining myself to talk Theosophy. I mean by this not mere vague philosophic truths, but more such precise Theosophic truths, as lead aspirants into the life of discipleship.

(The Theosophic Messenger: June 1910.) — C. Jinarājadāsa

Go to Contents.

Theosophy And World-Leaders

A thoughtful Theosophist cannot but wonder sometimes how it is that Theosophy, though unquestionably representing the most advanced theory of existence and the most complete statement of the highest wisdom at present available, yet does not seem to appeal at all to many of the most eminent leaders of the world’s thought and progress, whether it be along the lines of science, art, literature, philosophy or religion. These men of the keenest intellect, these others of the noblest spirituality, surely they ought to be the very first to welcome the splendid effulgence of Theosophy, the clarity and common sense of its system, the light which it throws upon all the problems of life and death, the beauty of the ideals which it puts before us. But the fact remains that they do not welcome it, but on the contrary many of them treat it with indifference, or even contempt. Their attitude is a remarkable phenomenon; how can we explain it?

Again, as to ourselves, putting aside such an altogether abnormal person as our President, we know quite well that we who are Theosophists are in intellect far behind the great leaders of scientific and philosophical thought, just as in spirituality and devotion we are far behind some

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of the great saints of whom we hear in the various religions.

Yet we have the inestimable privilege of finding ourselves in the Theosophical Society, we can understand, believe and assimilate its teachings, while these others apparently cannot. We are clearly no better than they; along certain lines we are obviously less developed; why should this great and glorious reward come to us and not to them?

It is a great and glorious reward; let us make no mistake as to that. The strongest adjectives in the language, the most poetical description that we can conceive, would fail adequately to convey what Theosophy is to those who can grasp it; what it does for those who put it into practice. Since it does all this for us who are commonplace folk, why does it leave these much higher and grander people cold and unmoved?

They are higher and grander; there is another point about which no mistake must be made. The intellect of the great scientific man is a very wonderful and wholly desirable thing, the culmination of ages of development. The spirituality, the utter unworldliness and the deep devotion of the saint are beautiful and precious beyond all words, and such saintship comes only as the crown of many lives of earnest efforts

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along that special line. These are indeed gifts which none can despise or gainsay; “more to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb”.

Yet their possessors have not the inestimable pearl of Theosophy, and we have it — we who stand on the plain, and look up to them on the mountain heights. Clearly these great men have much that we have not — much at least that in us is as yet merely rudimentary; what have we that they have not, that we are worthy of so great an honour?

This is what we have — the knowledge of the direction in which to put forth our forces. We have it because from the Theosophical teaching we understand something of the scheme of things, something of the plan upon which the world is built, something of the object and method of evolution — and that not only in a broad and general sense, but also in sufficient detail to make it practically applicable to the life of the individual.

But why is all this so much clearer to us, the small people, than to these greater ones? By our own doctrine we know how “utter-true the faultless balance weighs,” how none can have even the smallest benefit to which he is not entitled; what have we done to merit this greatest

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of all rewards — we who are very much like thousands of other people, full of ordinary human faults, neither better nor worse than the great majority of our fellow-men?

Whatever it is that we have done, it must evidently have been in some other life than this. Many of us can bear testimony that when we first met with Theosophy (this time) something within us leaped up at once in glad response to its appeal, in eager recognition of kinship to its thought. Yet we all know that there are many other better people than we in whom it evokes no response whatever — who cannot understand the depth of our enthusiasm.

We usually (and quite correctly) explain this by saying that we have met with these glorious truths before; that we have known of and studied these things in a former life, and that our unappreciative friends have not. But that does not solve the problem; it only moves it a stage further back. Why, in that former life, did we study these things, while, our more gifted friends did not?

The answer is that the world is still at an early stage of its evolution, and that man has not yet had time to unfold all qualities. He must take them in some sort of order; he must begin somewhere; and men differ because they have chosen different points from which to begin.

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We have our qualities and our powers (such as they are), and our attraction to these subjects because it is in that direction that we have been putting out our every effort in the far-away past. No one possesses any quality that he has not worked to unfold within himself. So if our greater friends are ‘gifted’ in certain ways, it is because they have earned their gift by hard work in previous lives. Just as by study in another life we have acquired our ‘gift’ — the power to understand and appreciate something of Theosophic truth — so have they acquired their shining powers of intellect or devotion by practising these qualities long ago.

We have taken different lines then, we have spent our time in developing different qualities. Now we each have what we have earned, but naturally each finds himself without those other qualities at which he has not been specially working. We are all imperfect, but not all imperfect in the same direction. Manifestly we must aim in the future at an all-round development, so that each must acquire the qualities which others now possess, but he as yet does not.

Another very interesting point, which has been somewhere well put by our President, is that the great leaders of thought at the present day

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are fulfilling a certain function in the world’s evolution which they could not so well fill if they knew all that we know. This is the fifth sub-race of the fifth root-race, and the fullest possible unfoldment of the lower mind is the task at the moment set before humanity. These leaders who intensify it, glory in it, almost worship it, are doing the work which they are appointed to do for the majority of mankind. It is precisely because they believe in intellect so thoroughly, because they think that there is nothing beyond it, that they can so intensify it and carry it to so high a place. It is because they know just so much, and no more, that they are convenient pawns to be used in this particular part of the cosmic game. For, as Omar Khayyam says:

We are but pieces in the game He plays
Upon this chequer-board of nights and days!
Hither and thither moves, and checks, and slays,
And one by one back in the closet lays.

These great men are the appointed leaders of a certain stage, and they are doing their work nobly; we cannot expect them to turn aside from that now to listen to us and our message. There will come a time in the future when they will listen, and then the magnificent intellectual development which they are now acquiring will

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carry them far and rapidly along the road of occult progress.

These three things it is clear that man must have before he can hope to reach perfection; intellect, spirituality, and discrimination — which last quality may in this case be defined as the knowledge of how to use the other two wisely. If any one of these be absent, the working of the others cannot but be to some extent defective. We constantly see that this is so. The scientific man evolves intellect to a very high level, but if the spiritual side of his nature is entirely undeveloped he may use his intellect for personal ends instead of for the good of all; or he may be unscrupulous in the pursuit of knowledge, as is the vivisector. The saint reaches a high level of devotion and spirituality, yet for lack of intellect he may often make himself ridiculous by superstition, he may be narrow-minded and even a persecutor. And both the saint and the scientist may waste their energies in quite wrong directions for want of clear knowledge of the great plan of the Logos — the very thing that Theosophy gives.

What a man is now is the consequence of what he has done and thought in the past. If he has devoted his energy to the development of intellect — well and good, he has the intellect for which he has worked; but, since in addition to that he needs spirituality and discrimination, he

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must now devote himself to working for the acquisition of those faculties.

If he has so far spent his time chiefly in devotion, he has gained great power in that direction, but he must now proceed to unfold those other qualities of intellect and discrimination to which he has not yet turned his attention. If in previous lives he has studied the great scheme of things, he comes back this time with power to comprehend and the intuition to accept the truth, and that is indeed well for him; but he still needs to unfold from within himself the qualities to which the other men have been devoting themselves.

Unfortunately man at these early stages of evolution is so constituted that he is apt to boast of what he himself possesses, and to try to exalt his own qualities by minimising those of others instead of imitating what is best in them. So it happens that the saint and the man of science rarely appreciate one another, and not infrequently there is a good deal of mutual contempt and misunderstanding. It is for us to be careful that we do not allow ourselves to fall into the same snare. Let us remember that we set before ourselves as a goal the attainment of Adeptship, and that the Adept is the perfect man in whom all these different good qualities exist in the highest degree.

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Before we reach Adeptship we have to develop as much spirituality as the greatest of the saints, and far more — as much intellect as the most brilliant man of science, and far more. So our attitude towards those who already possess these most desirable attributes should be not carping criticism, but the most generous appreciation and admiration of all that is good, while our own quality — that of knowledge of the direction in which evolution is moving — will prevent us from imitating the mistakes in addition to the excellencies of those who, while far advanced along other lines, are as yet scarcely even on the threshold of ours.

All these qualities are necessary, and we have much hard work before us to develop those in which we are at present lacking. Yet I think we may congratulate ourselves upon the choice which we made in other lives, when we devoted ourselves to the study of the great scheme as a whole, to the endeavour to understand the plan of the Logos, and in our humble way to co-operate with Him.

For that has brought us (or should have brought us) contentment with our lot, the power to make the best of everything, and to see the best in everything. Most men are eager to see the worst in everybody, to pounce upon flaws in everything, to find something at which to carp and cavil.

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We who are Theosophists should cultivate a spirit exactly the reverse of this; we should see the hidden deity in everyone and everything, and our eagerness should ever be to discover in all of them not what is evil, but what is good. If these others despise us; if the scientific man ridicules us as superstitious and refuses to listen to our explanations; if the devotional person regards us with horror as unorthodox, and insists on clinging to a less noble presentation of his deity than that which we offer him; let us on our side take heed that we do not make a corresponding mistake. They have their weak points, no doubt, and one of them is this prejudice which renders them unable to appreciate the truth; let us be courteous enough gracefully to ignore such failings, and focus our attention upon the splendid qualities in which they really excel — those qualities in which we must use our most strenuous endeavour to imitate them.

For since we see that the Logos wills to use in His service our intellect and our devotion, we have the strongest conceivable motive to develop them as rapidly as we can, and we shall be saved much trouble, much mortification and waste of energy by the knowledge which we already have of the direction in which He wills that these forces should be employed. All that we have is from Him, and therefore all that we have we

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hold oh His I behalf and at His disposal, to be used ever and only in His service.

(The Inner Life: vol. II.) — C. W. Leadbeater

False learning is rejected by the wise, and scattered to the winds by the Good Law. Its wheel revolves for all, the humble and the proud. The doctrine of the eye is for the crowd; the doctrine of the heart for the elect. The first repeat in pride: “Behold, I know;” the last, they who in humbleness have garnered, low confess: “Thus have I heard.”

(Voice of the Silence.)

Study the hearts of men, that you may know what is that world in which you live and of which you will to be a part. Regard the constantly changing and moving life which surrounds you, for it is formed by the hearts of men; and as you learn to understand their constitution and meaning, you will by degrees be able to read the larger word of life.

(Light on the Path.)

Be humble, if thou would’st attain to wisdom; be humbler still when wisdom thou hast mastered.

(Voice of the Silence.)

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Freedom Of Thought

There are no heretics in the Theosophical Society. You only have heretics where there are dogmas, and we have no dogmas in the Theosophical Society; and unless that is remembered, our Theosophical ship will always be in danger of running on to a rock or sticking on a sand bank. H. P. B. warned us of that long ago. Now, when she warned us of that, it was not that she did not hold strong opinions herself, nor that she did not express them extremely vigorously at times. She was by no means a colourless personality but she knew, as every Occultist knows, that while you may hold strong opinions for yourself and express them strongly, no Occultist will try to impose those opinions upon another, or make the measure of his own belief the measure of the acceptance of the other. There is nothing which we are bound to accept in the Theosophical Society except its three Objects — and sometimes people forget that. We came in on those, and no one has the right to limit the liberty which vas offered to us on our admission to the Society. No one has a right to add other objects without the consent of the whole body of the Theosophical Society.

The moment people see a truth, they accept it: until they do see it, they are hypocrites if

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they pretend to accept it. That has been the great fault of the Churches in all ages and in all the religions of the past. They wanted to argue about the Truth. They quarrelled and fought about the Truth. They penalised the non-acceptance of the Truth, and forced it down unwilling throats. Truth is a Light, and the moment the Light shines, those with eyes can see it, and those who see it not must wait the time until their eyes are opened and they see.

No Master demands belief from a disciple. I have heard One say (it has been said to myself when I heard something said that I did not understand): “Oh! never mind; you will understand it presently.” And that is the right attitude. If you are sure you are right, be glad of the truth you know, and so hold your truth and live it that others near you may gradually be opened also to see and receive. I have been told: “Oh! then you do not care whether people think rightly or wrongly.” Yes I do; but I want the right thought to come in the right way, by inner recognition and not by outer compulsion. To me right thought is of the utmost importance — “as a man thinks so he is” — and there is nothing sadder than to see a man who should recognise a truth have his eyes bandaged against it by some secondary fact; some

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hardness or unwillingness of heart. But, because I hold Truth so precious, because I hold Truth so vital, therefore I would only hold it up so that all who can may see its beauty and recognise it as they recognise the sun in heaven. The sun does not quarrel; the sun does not assert itself: it only shines, and it shines the whole time; and if one does not see it, it is either that the eyes are blind or that some clouds for the moment have come between the eye and the sun. So is it with Truth. Truth is ever shining, ever uplifting, but sometimes our eyes are not opened to it, sometimes clouds of prejudice, of self-conceit may act to shut out the Light for a time. Never mind, the Truth will go on shining more and more; the clouds will tend to vanish more; the eyes will begin to open.

(From the President’s Address at the Convention of the T.S. in England. Theosophist: September 1911.) — Annie Besant

Kill out all sense of separateness. Yet stand alone and isolated, because nothing that is embodied, nothing that is conscious of separation, nothing that, is out of the Eternal, can aid you.

(Light on the Path)

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What Is Theosophy?

When people are presented with Theosophy for the first time, they are at first apt to think that it is some new kind of religion dealing in a different way with the same old questions. It requires generally a great deal of study in Theosophy before one realises that it is not so much a religion, an exposition of a life beyond the grave, as a consideration of all life. Religions usually tell us of a future life, and most forms of thought that we find existing to-day deal, in a certain measure, with the destinies of mankind in a life to come, but hardly touch the problems of life as they confront us every day.

When once we understand Theosophy, we not only have answers to certain questions that humanity has been asking for ages, but we find a new consideration of life which is the necessary corollary from a few simple premises. They are: that Man is an immortal soul, that his life in the evolutionary process is to unfold divine attributes dormant in him, that this unfoldment is the result of experiences he gains, and that it is to give him the experiences he needs that Nature exists in all her complexity and beauty.

(The Theosophic Messenger: May 1911.) — C. Jinarājadāsa

Theosophy is the apotheosis of common sense.

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The Seal Of The Society

The symbolism of the Society’s Seal is not very recondite, but it carries within it some great and fundamental truths. “Old as the hills” it is, in its constituents, if not in their juxtaposition.

The double triangle which contains the Tau, or Egyptian Cross, is the symbol of the universe, the macrocosm, the manifestation of Deity in Time and Space, the One showing Himself in the Duality of Spirit and Matter; the triangles are interlaced to show the inseparable unity; they are two, to signify Spirit and Matter, Father-Mother: the upward-pointing is that of Fire, or Spirit; the downward-drooping of Water, or Matter. Each triangle, again, with its three lines and three angles, symbolises the triple nature of that which it represents. The triplicity of the fiery triangle tells of Existence, Cognition, Bliss; of Activity, Knowledge, Will; of creation, preservation, liberation. The sides are equal because “in this trinity none is afore or after other, none is greater or less than other;” because all are equally immanent in nature, equally present everywhere. The triplicity of the watery triangle signifies the three essential characteristics of matter: resistance, mobility, rhythm (or vibration). The twelve equal enclosing lines of the figure taken as a whole signify

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the ‘twelve great gods’ of Chaldæa and of other ancient faiths, the twelve Signs of the Zodiac, the twelve months of the solar year. The subject would bear much further working out.

The Crux Ansata, or Tau, enclosed within double triangle, is the symbol of Spirit which has descended into matter and has been crucified therein, but which has risen from death and rests triumphant on the arms of the conquered slayer; hence it is the ‘Cross of Life’ the symbol of Resurrection, and with this are touched the lips of the mummy, when the Soul returns to the body in the Egyptian imagery.

The Svastika, or armed cross, or fiery cross, is the symbol of the whirling energy which creates a universe, “digging holes in space” or, less poetically and no more truly, forming the vortices which are atoms for the building of worlds.

The Serpent swallowing his own tail is the ancient symbol of Eternity, the circle without beginning or ending, within which all universes grow and decay, appear and disappear.

Such is the symbolism of the Seal of the Theosophical Society, given in brief — an ingeniously combined presentation of basic truths.

(Theosophist: January 1911.) — Annie Besant

Arise! Awake! seek out the Great Ones, and get understanding!

(Kathopanishat.)

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A Course Of Study In Theosophy

It is desirable that one who wishes to study Theosophy thoroughly should acquaint himself in the course of time with the whole of Theosophical literature. This is no light task; and the order in which the books are taken is of importance if a man wishes to get out of them the best that he can. But at the same time it must be remembered that no order can be prescribed which will be equally suitable for every one; there are those who can usefully absorb information only along devotional lines, and there are those who must have a scientific and non-emotional presentation of the truth. The best thing that I can do, therefore, is to prescribe such a plan of reading as I have found to be on the whole most generally useful, leaving room for considerable variation to suit individual idiosyncrasies.

It seems to me of great importance to have a clear outline of the whole scheme thoroughly in the mind before endeavouring to fill in the details. No one can know how strong is the evidence for any one part of the Theosophical teaching until he knows the whole of that teaching, and sees how each separate portion is confirmed and strengthened by the rest, and is indeed a necessary part of the scheme as a whole. My advice, therefore, is that the beginner

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should read first the elementary literature, not troubling himself unduly with details, but seeking rather to take in and assimilate the broad ideas contained in it, so as to see all that they imply and to realise them as facts in nature, thereby putting himself into what may be called the Theosophical attitude, and learning to look at every thing from the Theosophical point of view.

To this end the student may take An Outline of Theosophy, The Riddle of Life, Hints to Young Students of Occultism, and various lectures by Mrs. Besant and myself which have been issued as propaganda pamphlets. When he feels himself fairly certain of these I should recommend next Mrs. Besant’s Popular Lectures on Theosophy, and then her Ancient Wisdom, which will give him a clear idea of the system as a whole. Another book which might be useful to him at this stage is Some Glimpses of Occultism. He can then proceed to follow details along whichever line most commends itself to him.

If he is interested chiefly in the ethical side the best books are: At the Feet of the Master, Light on the Path, The Voice of the Silence, The Path of Discipleship, In the Outer Court, The Laws of the Higher Life, The Three Paths, Dharma, and The Bhagavad-Gita.

One who wishes to study the life after death will find what he wants in: The Other Side of

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Death, The Astral Plane, Death and After, The Devachanic Plane.

If he is approaching the matter from the scientific side, the following books will suit him: Esoteric Buddhism, Nature’s Mysteries, Scientific Corroborations of Theosophy, Occult Chemistry and The Physics of the Secret Doctrine.

If he cares for the study of comparative religion he should read: The Universal Textbook of Religion and Morals, Four Great Religions, The Great Law, The Bhagavad-Gita, Hints on the Study of the Bhagavad-Gita, The Upanishats, The Wisdom of the Upanishats, An Advanced Textbook of Hindu Religion and Ethics, The Light of Asia, A Buddhist Catechism, Buddhist Popular Lectures and The Religious Problem in India.

If he thinks chiefly of the Christian presentation of these truths, the best book are: Esoteric Christianity, The Christian Creed, Fragments of a Faith Forgotten, The Perfect Way.

If one wishes to investigate the origin and early history of Christianity, in addition to the books on the subject already mentioned, Mr. Mead’s works will specially appeal to him: Did Jesus Live 100 B. C.? The Gospels and the Gospel, Orpheus and Plotinus.

The student who is interested in applying Theosophy to the world of modern thought, and to political and social questions, may profitably

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turn to: The Changing World, Some Problems of Life, Theosophy and Human Life, Occult Essays and Theosophy and the New Psychology.

If, as is the case with most enquirers, his main interest centres round the wider knowledge and the grasp of life resulting from a study of Occultism, he should read, in addition to many of the books mentioned above: A Study in Consciousness, An Introduction to Yoga, Clairvoyance, Dreams, Invisible Helpers, Man Visible and Invisible, Thought-Forms, The Evolution of Life and Form, Thought-Power — its Control and Culture, The Other Side of Death and the two volumes of The Inner Life.

It will be desirable that he should comprehend the subjects dealt with in the manuals on Reincarnation, Karma, and Man and his Bodies.

Indeed, these should be taken at an early stage of his reading. The earnest student, who intends to live Theosophy, as well as merely to study it intellectually, should also have knowledge of the inner purpose of the Theosophical Society. He will gain this from Mrs. Besant’s London Lectures of 1907 and The Changing World, from The Inner Life (2 vols.), as well as from the study of Colonel Olcott’s Old Diary Leaves, and Mr. Sinnett’s Occult World and Incidents in the Life of Madame Blavatsky.

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I myself think that the greatest book of all, Madame Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine, should be left until all these others have been thoroughly assimilated, for the man who comes to it thus thoroughly prepared will gain from it far more than is otherwise possible. I know that many students prefer to take it at an earlier stage, but it seems to me more an encyclopædia or book of reference.

Four books which are now in preparation should be added to this list as soon as they appear: A Textbook of Theosophy, which endeavours to state the Theosophical teaching in the simplest possible form, and without technical terms; The Hidden Side of Things, which shows how a knowledge of Occultism changes our view with regard to all sorts of small practical matters in everyday life; Man; Whence, How, Whither? which gives a detailed account of the past evolution of man, and shows something of the future which lies before him; First Principles of Theosophy, which is to approach the whole subject from the scientific standpoint, and to present it from an entirely new point of view.

The course I have indicated above means some years of hard reading for the ordinary man, but one who has achieved it and tries to put into practice what he has learnt will certainly be in a position to afford much help to his fellow-men.

(The Inner Life: vol. II.) — C. W. Leadbeater

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However wise you may be already, on this Path you have much to learn; so much that here also there must be discrimination, and you must think carefully what is worth learning. All knowledge is useful, and one day you will have all knowledge; but while you have only part, take care that it is the most useful part. God is Wisdom as well as Love; and the more wisdom you have the more you can manifest of Him. Study then, but study first that which will most help you to help others. Work patiently at your studies, not that men may think you wise, not, even that you may have the happiness of being wise, but because only the wise man can be truly helpful. However much you wish to help, if you are ignorant you may do more harm than good.

(At the Feet of the Master.) — Alcyone

If sun thou canst not be, then be the humble planet. Aye, if thou art debarred from flaming like the noon-day sun upon the snow-capped mount of purity eternal, then choose, O neophyte, a humbler course. Point out the way — however dimly and lost among the host — … to those who tread their path in darkness… Give light and comfort to the toiling pilgrim, and seek out him who knows still less than thou. —

(Voice of the Silence.) — H. P. Blavatsky

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General Organisation of The Theosophical Society

Headquarters: Adyar, Madras S., India

President: Annie Besant.

Vice-President: Alfred Percy Sinnett.

Recording Secretary: J. R. Aria.

Treasurer: A. Schwarz.

The Theosophical Society was formed by H. P. Blavatsky and H. S. Olcott, at New York, November 17, 1875, and incorporated at Madras, April 3, 1905. It is an absolutely unsectarian body of seekers after Truth, striving to serve humanity on spiritual lines, and therefore endeavouring to check materialism and revive religious tendency.

Enquiries may be addressed to the Recording Secretary, Theosophical Society, Adyar, Madras S., India, or to any one of the following General Secretaries or Presidential Agents.

The Theosophical Society consists of a number of National Societies or ‘Sections’, in different countries of the world, each with its own General Secretary and its own organisation. While practically independent as regards internal affairs, each is subject to the General Rules of the Society.

The General Headquarters, at Adyar, Madras S., India, comprise the Presidential and Secretarial offices, publishing department, printing press, quarters for residents and students, and the Adyar Library. The latter contains 12,000 oriental manuscripts and about 8,000 books in its Eastern Section, and in what is called the Western Section there are about 12,000 books and pamphlets on eastern and western religions, philosophies and science. The Headquarters’ Estate has a frontage upon the Adyar River and the Bay of Bengal, and covers 263 acres.

Each National Society consists of not less than seven Lodges, and of members unattached to any Lodge. A list of Lodges of the Theosophical Society the world over, with the names and addresses of their Secretaries, is published in the Report of the Annual General Meeting or Convention of the Society which is held at Adyar and

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Benares alternately in the month of December. There is a Federation of European National Societies, meeting once in two years.

Any seven Fellows may apply to the General Secretary of the National Society within whose territory they reside, to be chartered as a Lodge, or, when living in a country where no National Society exists, they may apply to the President through the Recording Secretary.

Each Lodge and National Society has the power of making its own Rules, provided they do not conflict with the General Rules of the Theosophical Society, and the rules become valid unless their confirmation be refused by the President.

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Admission To The T.S.

Every application for membership in the Society must be made on an authorised form, and must, whenever possible, be endorsed by two Fellows and signed by the applicant; but no persons under the age of twenty-one years are admitted without the consent of their guardians. Blank application forms may be obtained from the Secretary of any Lodge, from the General Secretary of a National Society, or from the Recording Secretary at Adyar. Where a National Society exists, application should always be made to its General Secretary or to the Secretary of one of its Lodges. In countries where there is a Presidential Agent, application should be made to him, or to the Secretary of a Lodge under his jurisdiction.

Entrance fees and annual subscriptions are fixed by each National Society for itself.

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Books Recommended For Study

General

Annie Besant — The Riddle of Life
C. W. Leadbeater — An Outline of Theosophy
Annie Besant — Popular Lectures on Theosophy
C. W. Leadbeater — A Textbook of Theosophy
Annie Besant — The Ancient Wisdom
C. W. Leadbeater — The Life after Death
C. W. Leadbeater — The Astral Plane
C. W. Leadbeater — The Devachanic Plane
Annie Besant — Man and his Bodies
Annie Besant — Reincarnation
Annie Besant — Karma
Annie Besant — A Study in Karma
A. P. Sinnett — Esoteric Buddhism
H. P. Blavatsky — Isis Unveiled (2 vols.)
H. P. Blavatsky — The Key to Theosophy
H. P. Blavatsky — The Secret Doctrine (3 vols.) and Index
H. P. Blavatsky — Index to Secret Doctrine Vol. 3

Religions

Annie Besant — The Universal Textbook of Religion and Morals: Part I. Religion
Annie Besant — The Universal Textbook of Religion and Morals: Part II. Ethics
W. Williamson — The Great Law
Annie Besant — An Elementary Textbook of Hindu Religion and Ethics
Annie Besant — An Advanced Textbook of Hindu Religion and Ethics
Annie Besant — Four Great Religions
Annie Besant — The Religious Problem in India
Annie Besant — The Wisdom of the Upanishats
Annie Besant — Hints on the Study of the Bhagavad-Gita
Annie Besant — An Introduction to Yoga
H. S. Olcott — Buddhist Catechism
Annie Besant — Buddhist Popular Lectures
Edwin Arnold — The Light of Asia
Annie Besant — Esoteric Christianity
C. W. Leadbeater — The Christian Creed
G. R. S. Mead — Fragments of a Faith Forgotten

Ethics

Annie Besant — Spiritual Life for the Man of the World
Annie Besant — The Laws of the Higher Life
Annie Besant — In the Outer Court
Annie Besant — The Path of Discipleship
Annie Besant — The Three Paths
Annie Besant — Dharma
Annie Besant — The Path to Initiation
J. Krishnamurti (Alcyone) — At the Feet of the Master
H. P. Blavatsky — The Voice of the Silence
H. P. Blavatsky — Light on the Path
H. P. Blavatsky — The Bhagavad-Gita
H. P. Blavatsky — The Upanishats

Various

Annie Besant — Theosophy and the New Psychology
C. W. Leadbeater — Dreams
C. W. Leadbeater — Clairvoyance
C. W. Leadbeater — Man Visible and Invisible
Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater — Thought-Forms
Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater — Occult Chemistry
C. W. Leadbeater — Invisible Helpers
C. W. Leadbeater — The Other Side of Death
C. W. Leadbeater — Some Glimpses of Occultism
C. W. Leadbeater — The Inner Life Vol. I.
C. W. Leadbeater — The Inner Life Vol. II.
C. W. Leadbeater — The Hidden Side of Things
Annie Besant — Thought-Power
Annie Besant — A Study in Consciousness
Mabel Collins — The Idyll of the White Lotus
Annie Besant — Some Problems of Life
Annie Besant — Theosophy and Human Life
Annie Besant — London Lectures of 1907
Annie Besant — The Changing World
Annie Besant — The Immediate Future
Annie Besant — The Ideals of Theosophy
A. P. Sinnett — The Occult World
H. S. Olcott — Old Diary Leaves. Four volumes
J. Krishnamurti (Alcyone) and C. W. Leadbeater — Adyar: The Home of the Theosophical Society (Illustrated)

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To Members of the Theosophical Society

c. 1917

being a selection of Instructive articles and Teachings

by H. P. B., Annie Besant, C. W. Leadbeater and others

Contents

Foreword

Theosophy And the Theosophical Society.

The Objects of The Theosophical Society are:

Why Become Members?

Address for the Admission of Members to the T.S.

A Note on Brotherhood

The Theosophic Life

A Lodge Of The Theosophical Society

How Members Can Help The Society

Theosophical Meetings

Some Words On Daily Life

What Is Theosophical Society?

Not Our Work

The Spread Of Theosophy

Theosophy And World-Leaders

Freedom Of Thought

What Is Theosophy?

The Seal Of The Society

A Course Of Study In Theosophy

General Organisation of The Theosophical Society

Admission To The T.S.

Books Recommended For Study

General

Religions

Ethics

Various

Related

Realising the Mystery of Mantra

The Path or Way, the Masters of The Wisdom, and Initiation

Opinion and Belief Within The Theosophical Society

Theosophical Manual No. 1

Tags

Introduction to Theosophy