The Key to Theosophy: Being a Clear Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics, Science and Philosophy for the Study of Which the Theosophical Society Has Been FoundedBlavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Religion
The Key to Theosophy: Being a Clear Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics, Science and Philosophy for the Study of Which the Theosophical Society Has Been Founded
Blavatsky, H. P. (Helena Petrovna)
Theosophy
THEO. I do not refer to technical knowledge of the esoteric doctrine,
though that is most important; I spoke rather of the great
need which our successors in the guidance of the Society will
have of unbiased and clear judgment. Every such attempt as the
Theosophical Society has hitherto ended in failure, because,
sooner or later, it has degenerated into a sect, set up
hard-and-fast dogmas of its own, and so lost by imperceptible
degrees that vitality which living truth alone can impart. You
must remember that all our members have been bred and born in some
creed or religion, that all are more or less of their generation
both physically and mentally, and consequently that their
judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously biased
by some or all of these influences. If, then, they cannot be
freed from such inherent bias, or at least taught to recognise it
instantly and so avoid being led away by it, the result can only
be that the Society will drift off on to some sandbank of thought
or another, and there remain a stranded carcass to moulder and die.
ENQ. But if this danger be averted?
THEO. Then the Society will live on into and through the twentieth
century. It will gradually leaven and permeate the great mass of
thinking and intelligent people with its large-minded and noble
ideas of Religion, Duty, and Philanthropy. Slowly but surely
it will burst asunder the iron fetters of creeds and dogmas,
of social and caste prejudices; it will break down racial and
national antipathies and barriers, and will open the way to the
practical realisation of the Brotherhood of all men. Through its
teaching, through the philosophy which it has rendered accessible
and intelligible to the modern mind, the West will learn to
understand and appreciate the East at its true value. Further, the
development of the psychic powers and faculties, the premonitory
symptoms of which are already visible in America, will proceed
healthily and normally. Mankind will be saved from the terrible
dangers, both mental and bodily, which are inevitable when that
unfolding takes place, as it threatens to do, in a hot-bed of
selfishness and all evil passions. Man’s mental and psychic
growth will proceed in harmony with his moral improvement, while
his material surroundings will reflect the peace and fraternal
goodwill which will reign in his mind, instead of the discord and
strife which is everywhere apparent around us to-day.
ENQ. A truly delightful picture! But tell me, do you really expect all
this to be accomplished in one short century?
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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