The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-08-18
TENETS OF THE0S0PHY.
Tha World Talking of the Cult
With Plentiful Lack OF In 4
formation.
Nine. Blavateky Was the Last Of
q Long Line of Mes
ssngers.
Tlieesophy, tho Ancient "WisdoM-Re-
ligion"-Thc Source of All True Re
lisions-Thcosophical Society.

lirion"-The Source of All True RE-
lisions-Theosophical Society.
All the world Of late has been talking
about theosophy-mostly with a plentiful
lack OF observation-disclosures of the dealt
of the woman who presented it once NOR
in the western world, Helena Petrovna Bla
vatsky, writes Anna Besant, Many pre-
dicted its disappearance with the death o
it's expounder. but Nine. Blavatsky wa
only the latest of a long line of messengers
whe at considerable intervals of time, hsv,
put forth the same teachings, the same
ideas tcuching the universe. man and man,
destiny. Theosophy was not born with
her physical body, nor has it died with it;
on the contrary, it has received a new i'm
pulse from her departure, if only in the
fresh proef that it does not depend on The
physical presence of any one personality,
however great. And truly her personality
was a very great one, how great will be
measured better a century hence than it is
to-day.
Theosophy ia the ancient wisdom relig-
ion," as handed down for thousands of
years by generation after generation of
initiates. who from time to time have given
out portions of its doctrines, as the evolu-
lions of the human race rendered mankind
at large ready for tho teaching. These ini-
tiates are merely men more highly evolved
than their ~fellowmen, who have become
capable Of apprehending the deeper truths
Of nature, by developing the intellectual
and spiritual parts of their being, and SO
coming into contact with portions Of the
universe unknown to the race at large. For
it must tie remembered that while our
knowledge Of the universe is bounded by
our capacity to receive impressions from it,
the universe itself is not SO bounded. Every
fresh sense, every new point Of contact,
that can be developed in man opens up new
to knowledge of the infinite stores
of nature. The initiates-oalled sometimes
adopts, mahatmas, mnsters-ars men who
have opened up many such new avenues,
and who pass on the knowledge thus ac-
quired to their more backward brethren, as
these are able to understand it.
This wisdom-religion-to give it its older
name. for Philosophy" is a modern title,
dating only from the third century, A. D.
is the foundation of all ~exoteric religions,
the source of all true sciences and philoso-
phisa. The chief doctrines of the great
religions of the world are allegories, too
often distorted, clustered round a nucleus
of e~xotsric. truth. The science of the nine
teenth century draws some of its most
cherished theories from the initiates of
Greece, and the chief "discovsries'' Of the
middle ages were made by men who had
tho discovery of hydrogen by Paracelsus.
Every student can see how the most ad-
vanced PHILOSOPHERS of Germany are pene-
tratsd with the spirit Of the eastern schools.
And so, in the course OF ages the time has
come when ,Theosophy can stand out to
claim = hearing for its doctrines from the
intellectual world, to challenge the theory
Of msterialism to lay the scientific foun-
dation of religion, and to give that sure
basis for ethics of which modern society is
SO much in need.
Theosephy teaches that the universe is
life embodied, and regards ''spirit' and
matter as the two poles Of this Manifest
ing energy, which evolves into seven planes
or stages of existence, each characterized
by its own attributes. Man is an image in
miniature of the universe, and is therefore
sevenfold in his constitution, being related
ponding plane in the universe. Hence, as
he evolves the higher parts of himself he
comes into contact with the higher planes
of the universe, and can study, investigate,
and know the physical plane through his
five physical senses. The department. of
thacsophy that deals with the evolution is
called occultisnl; it is the study of the
mind of the universe by theory and by
practice. Few have the self-sacrifce, the
endurance, the courage, the purity, for
such investigation, and emphatically it is
true of students of occultism that 'few are
chosen"
Accepting the correspondence between
the universe and man, it follows that man
must also he spirit-embodied, i. e., that he
is a spirit using a body, not O body possess
sed of a spirit. This spirit can become self
conscious on all planes of existence only by
experience, and this experience can only be
won by treading each plane in all its phases,
until the perfect man, living on all planes
In full self-consciousne ss, is ultimately
evolved. The task is d long and weary one,
needing myriads of years for complete &C.
complishment, SO that the spirit and intel
heence, which are the prominent part of
man, must return to earth-life over and
over again, inhabiting body after body, and
building up brick by brick the splendid
temple Of a divine humanity. Theosophy.
then, teaches the doctrine of reinearnation,
and further of reincarnation under law. This
law, named Karma tthe Sanscrit word for 40
tlon), ID the enumeration of oausRtion in all
worlds. mental and moral as we'll
as spiritual, and Reincarnation ia
under its sway. As the man lows
in one life, he reaps in succeed
ing lives. end ne can never escape the con-
sequences of his own actions. ACTION in
the Theosophical vocabulary. it would be
said, includes all mental as we'll as bodily
activities, the mental being, indeed, by far
the most potent in their effects. In a fash
ion, any description of which would far
eutrun the limits of my space, man in each
life casts the mould for his future capac-
tiles, power Of sslf-expression climbing
slowly up with many slips and falls, alas!
that long ladder of life eternal, whose high-
est rungs are yelled in light too dazzling to
be pierced by mortal eye. Reincarnation
and Karma are the foundation of Theo-
sophical ethics, affording the categorical
imperative for which every ethical system
Graves.
Such is the bold outline of a fragment
hewn from the rock of theosophy, a frap-
ment only of a mighty whole. Those who
would grasp the teachings of the wisdom
religion must study for themselves and not
hope to catch more than a glimpse of it in a
newspaper article. But the glimpse NAV
attract one here and there too long to see
the unveiled truth.
| ought to add to this sketch that no be-
lief in any of the teachings sketched ia nee
essary for admission to the Theosophical
society. That society only imposes on it's
member one obligation, the acceptance of
the universal brotherhood of mankind. Its
objects are:
l.. 10 form the nucleus of a universal
brotherhood of humanity, without distinc-