num_pages: 144
description: We often speak of Theosophy as not in itself a religion but the truth which lies behind all religions alike. That is so; yet from another point of view we may surely say that it is at once a philosophy a religion and a science. It is a philosophy because it puts plainly before us an explanation of the scheme of evolution of both the souls and the bodies contained in our solar system. It is a religion in so far as having shown us the course of ordinary evolution it also puts before us and advises a method of shortening that course so that by conscious effort we may progress more directly towards the goal. It is a science because it treats both these subjects as matters not of theological belief but of direct knowledge obtainable by study and investigation. It asserts that man has no need to trust to blind faith because he has within him latent powers which when aroused enable him to see and examine for himself and it proceeds to prove its case by showing how those powers may be awakened. It is itself a result of the awakening of such powers by men for the teachings which it puts before us are founded upon direct observations made in the past and rendered possible only by such development.
language: English
title: A Textbook of Theosophy
publisher: Book Jungle