The San Francisco call., 1896-05-11
DR.. Allen Griffith Acquiesces in
the Equal Suffrage
Movement.
THE HUMAN SOUL HAS NO SEX.
Students of the Occult Philosophy
Make No Distinction Between
Male aud Female.

DIR. Allen Griffith, Pacific Coast lecturer
OF the Theosophicai Society in America.
| was asked yesterday whether in his opin-
| ion the teachings of theosophy were op-
! posed in any way to woman's suffrage
statements to that effect having already
| been made.
| DR.. Jerome A. Anderson, in an inter-
| view in THE CALL of Saturday, declared
| that the statements referred to were en-
! tirely erroneous; that the society had no
| dogma whatever concerning the question
of woman's voting, but that its entire
philosophy, resting upon absolute justice,
recognized the injustice of taxing and gov
erning any sane person deprived by law of
voting, and that as in the nature of things
all souls were entirely sexless, therefore
| theosophy regarded man aud woman as
absolute equals.
In the main DR.. Griffiths agrees with
| these conclusions, and holds that theos-
ophy cannot be in any way opposed to the
equal suffrage movement. In reply to the
| question put to him DIR. Griffith said:
There appears to be considerable misconcep-
| tion current as to theosophical teachings upon
sex and the relations, past and present, ex-
listing between man and woman. Now the
| The heosophicai Society has no creed, dogma or
belief upon any subject whatever, but is simp-
| ly body of students searching for more light
| upon all problems of life and human existence
| Theosophy is only another name for knowl-
edge of the operation Of law, of the finer forces
| OF nature, of the relation of the mind of man
to the mind of Deity, and of the relation of
man to man. Hence the theosophist is
| truth-seeker, and as truth is universal, he is
| concerned with all problems of human thought
| and action.
| The sex question is one of these problems,
| and lies very near the basis of being in the hu-
| man and all Kingdoms both above and below
man.
Everywhere throughout cosmos is perceived
| what are known as the 'Palrs of Opposites."
Attraction and repulsion, heat and cold, up
| and down, positive and negative. intellect and
| intuition, masculine and feminine, are some
of them, and from their action and interaction
| results the universe and its contents. Intel
| lect and intuition symbolic the male and fe-
| male characteristics. Intellect concerns itself
| with the external aspect of things. 1t gathers
data and statistics about things, but does not
| penetrate to the heart and know the soul re-
| siding in all forms. Intuition transcends the
1 trammels of matter, plunges out into unknown
realms and returns laden with knowledge not
| otherwise attainable. Intellect and intuition
| masculine and feminine, are but the dual as
poets OF the soul. The Soul, the Thinker, is
the permanent principle in man which, though
| incarnating many times in many different hui
man bodies, itself endures forever.
The Thinker is neither male nor female, but.
| potentially, both. This potentiality has to be
developed into active reality by actual expe-
| rience. This experience is afforded by the re-
peated earth lives of each thinker. In all
lower kingdoms OF nature up through which
lied by it almost infinite opportunities. When
IL reached the human stage of development
extended opportunities exist, among which is
1 n nf
SEX Hence, TO that emo and Others, the
thinker incarnates at different times on the
male and female lines. In no other way could
the thinker evolve. The relation of the sexes
now becomes more apparent. In each earth
life, on either the IN ale or female line, some
| wisdom Is evolved which, at its close, is added
| to the volume thus acquired in all past lives.
A given man or woman is thus an embodi-
ment of the wisdom acquired through and by
individual experience in all past earth-lives.
Most men are too positive and self-assertive |;
most women are too negative and dependent.
Neither are as yet well rounded and balanced,
| simply because both sides of the nature are
not equally developed. Future incarDations
viii equaliZe the extremes of character. AS q
result there win then no longer be men and
| women such as now exist with respective
| strongly marked characteristics, but will be
evolved grander race. Pictures of the
Buddhas and Christs portray faces which are
neither distinctively male nor female. In
them is depicted the strength, vigor and re-
pose of the masculine character, softened and
tempered by the sweet tenderness OF the true
feminine nature. These adopts were once
men like ourselves, and our race will later rise
TO their greater height.
| Man and woman are equal factors in the
| scheme of the souls evolution, and equal op-
portunities are, in the course of many earth
lives, afforded both. Hence, as this process of
development proceeds. sex relations change
and expand. But the process does not widen,
but lessons the difference now existing and
brings men and women into closer relations as
| q result of the better understanding of that
| law of universal brotherhood which binds all
| humanity in indissoluble bonds. A common
ality OF origin, OF process, of development and
OF possible goal. endows all creatures with the
| right to give and to receive assistance at all
| times from all sources. The differences ap-
parently existing between men and women
are more in seeming than in reality. External
appearances are not always true indications of
internal conditions. Awaken the sleeping
feminine qualities of the man into activity,
arouse the dormant masculine potentialities
| in the woman and the characters of both be-
come amazingly alike.
This is being done in the everyday life and
| intercourse OF the sexes, and will not only con-
tinue but immensely increase and expand
womans opportunities as it will mans, for it
is q law fixed by the eternal fitness of things
that, SIT is not good for man to be alone"
| Man S real progress and true happiness abso-
| lutely depends upon his exerting himself to
help woman attain those conditions. 1t Is a
current fallacy of the time that intellectual
man has ruled and led the race
Not so. II was ever the woman, either
within or without himself that urged the
| warrior to grander deeds of valor; it was ever
q woman's whisper that inspired the artist,
the poet and the statesman; 1t was ever the
SIRENS voice that lured the adventuresome
| voyager upon life's surging main to wrest
from the very heart of nature her arcane mys-
teries.