The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1889-08-27
,sorERIC BUDDHISM.
p,sses of the Philosophy Tausht
Some ne +1e Philosophical Society.

Some ~ re Theosophical society.
r,or, the Nelo York Herald
or as il is termed by its later
,rarse, Esoteric BUDDHISM Is sprea Ga TX <
de'o'- , the better educated people Oh the
among - a rapidity unequaled by any
Worl1 .o4srn cult or religion except Nor
other NJ, and soiritualism. 1t has its parent
mon'- a,d its branch organizations IN
soe-S' D',.s,o England, the United States
mus ,I.awbere. Will its peculiar teneSs
slI back 10 a remote antiqulIy auu - ie
as eHpou4'ft he anclents, the alchemlsts OF
loslpn. i1a eras and the neutrality-suspicious. OF
the nliu i'-is,s7cs. it has received such
the Ion.,,s in more recent times, ana
an IIntoriy in the present century, as TO
paruc;uidallyo in fact, an entirely new dis
pensatIllou;; ,t;sr,, was the regulation of
A. DeIapd ritualistic Brahmanlsm, and
sscei ~ SIN a revolution against Roman
FToIes'' 4he Existing Esoteric Buddhism IS an
ISL lI. o against the prevallln& material
up1' -of his dav and generation. IL Is one
IN - ~. % most astonishing events IN history,
ol 1n w toward occultlsm aud mystic
.l,7 in fine face of the most practlcaI ana
II.,ocoanical age that history rec (rds.
Bearing the strictly theological poru0n Oh
tho esoterlc philosophy, IL may DC wen 10
bne ,Ioin statement here, derived from
I ma Siqbest modern authority, before going
tL0 nis summary of existing theosophic be-
on on ~ concarniue human history. As for
A el Inv the authority in question,
~ +Crc philosophy recouciles all religions,
g. 60 avery one Of its outward human gar
stIll9 and shows the root of each to be
iIentical with that of every other great re-
~ iiel ~ II nroves the necessity of an abso
~. IA divine principle in nature. 1t denies
NJ ~ M more than it does the sun. ESQ
orc nhilosophy has never rejected God In
,atnre nor Deity as the absolute and ao-
stract ems. 1t only refuses to accept any OF
10 Gods of the so-called monothelstic re-
i;gions-gods created by man IN his own
IMAGE and likeness, a basphemous and sorry
caricature OF the ever unknoWaole
Esoteric Buddhism asserts that demons
bod neonled this fair earth; that, again,
+bora we're monsters in semi-human form
Ixho were capable of contending on equal
tarrns With the saurians, the mammoth, the
nastodon. and all the gigantic forms of
animal and reptile life, known to us only
NV their fossil remains. Esoteric Buddhism
alleges that once in about $4,000 years the
noer axis Of the earth changes, bringing
abont a redistribution of land and water,
aud that at othe' periods the habitabe
globe is destroyed by fire earthquakes and
Volcanic eruptions) 1t holds that the myth
zeal Lemuria aud Atlantic were actual
continents, existing under conditions of
civilization far more elevated tnan any
thing that history records. 1t holds to the
biblical doctrine that while these catastrO-
phes occur periodically mans sins are the
,o,,ic 1la
that with each of such physical catas-
trophies mans arts and attainmenS are lost,
aud that there then begins new struggle
of sayagery for existence and a slow pro-
gress toward recivihZing, always accom-
panied by the downward tendency of sin,
in which the latter always ges the upper
hand to the encouragement Of a new de-
Strucuon.
But the most extraordinary statement as
to the foundation of the modern knowledge
of the hidden doctrines Is with regard to the
alleged existence Of written records thereof.
1t is asserted that in Thibet and elsewhere
in Asia, there are subterranean repositories
OF manuscripts containing "the sum total of
sacred and philosophical works, all
the works, in fact, that have
ever been written, in whatever
language or characters, since the art of
writing began, from the Geographic heiro-
glyphs down to the alphabet of Cadmus."
The history of theosopny states that after
the destruction of the Alexandrian library
every work of character that might have
led the profane, to the ultimate discovery
and comprehension of some of the myster-
les OF the secret science, was, owing to the
combined efforts of the members of the
brotherhoods, diligently searched for. 1t
IS added, moreover by those who know,
that, once found, save three copies left aud
stored safely away such works were al
destroyed. In India the last of the pre-
clous manuscripts were secured aud hidden
during the reign of the Emperor Akbar'
sixteenth century,.
IheoSophy asserts the age of men and his
human and Seml-human and
demi-god ancestry in this world
TO be many millions of years. 1t alleges that
ms remote ancestry had control of the hid
Den powers of nature, and that this control
Oelng st through misuse TO succeeding
generations. Is now held only by certain
favored ones, whose lives have been chaste
ana whose time has been passed in study
OF the occult.
Iheosophy declares that all religions are
dlhe IN their essence and foundation. but
denles the anthropomorphic God of chris
tlanity, accepting, however, much of the
scriptures as the eSoterlc wisdom of the
secret Doctrine 1t adopts the theory of
periodical catastrophes, changing the face
ol Tie world and destroying entire races of
men, IL declares the present race to be in
ltS decadency, through the fall into mater
llalsin, and lntlmates that tne next periodi-
cal Cataclysm or confagration is near at
uaId. 1t holds to the belief in the doctrine
VI HietenpsychoSis to the extent of assum-
iig frequent reincarnation to be a part of
the life of man.
IL believes in Karma, )" or abstract retrib-
t eVVe justice, and that for the operation of
tAls Ia" man is himself responsible. being.
n iil lact MS own Nemesis" Tneosophv be-
teves IN the necessity for good and evil: in
otoo WI SO lar as the details of this life are
INC nceineu, and in the appearances.
rom Time to lime, of ''Avatars," or re-
GCeemers-1f which Buddha was one and
Cnrlst another.
7s me Iheosophlcal Society was founded in
or l. 10 form the nuclues of universal broth
o ooLUou Oh man, without distinction of race
coior, sex or creed. - -'''
otbar ~ promote the study of Aryan and
o,ner eastern literatures, religions and
+io .. q. third object-pursued only bv a nor
iavastinootne members of the society-is to
the nSIoi.; qnex9lained laws OF nature and
IT." o5c4T ~ powers of man.
ona re 1neosJphical Society has head
York Al MADRAS, London aud New