The Saint Paul globe., 1896-12-21
MEISTER IN AN ADDRESS
LAST NIGHT
TO ST. PAUL THE0S0PHISTS.
FRIEND OF BLAVATSKY AND OIL
COTT INSPIRES THE LOCAL
CIRCLE
WITH ORIGINAL ENTHUSIASM.
TheOsophy the Genius of Modern
Civilization, in the Countess
Sangufne Belief.

Countess Wachtmeister, the famous
expounder of theosophy, lectured be-
fore. the st. Paul Theosophical society
at it's rooms in the Endfcott last even
ing upon the subject, Man and
Woman the Masters of Their Own Des-
tinies." The Countess Wachtmeister is
teachers of the creed which has COM
paratively recently gained such a foot
hold in the civilized world, and an
unusually large audience assembled to
listen to her discourse While largely
technical the lecture was not intended
as a profound exposition of the funda-
mental tenets Of theosophy and was re-
plete with fascinating interest. The
subject carries with it the teaching Of
the belief, and the Countess Wacht-
meister elucidated the theme in COM
prehensive manner, simplified with apt
illustrations and examples.
The formation of the original theo-
sophical society by Nine. Blavatsky
and Col Olcott was related by the
speaker, who also briefly referred to
the rapid growth Of the movement,
until at the present time there are
branches organized throughout the
world As factor in the development
OF the theosophical idea the law of
evolution was dWelt upon, and it's
workings and results deduced in sub
sanitation of the belief Beginning
with the barbarous savage, Countess
Wachtmeister traced the progress of
the law, step by step, until, as she
claimed, it had produced the change
in man which constituted the high civ
ilization Of today. But the law of evo-
luton did not stop here, and, as the
highest type of man today was above
the savage of hundreds of years ago,
so would the man of the future be
above the present standard This law
In it's fullest application had produced
the adopts of India, and even among
these there were degrees, while the
highest standard was constantly being
raised by it's untrammeled workings.
Good adopts could become better
adopts, and as the law applied to these
it also was applicable to people in
general.
The portion Of the discourse dealing
with the theory of reincarnation was of
particular interest, and from the theo-
sophical standpoint, easily explained
many Of the phenomena of this life,
while delving deeply into both the past
and future. The law of reincarnation
was an endless chain of existences ex-
tending into infinity. Man had lived
in other states and would continue to
change his sphere through time. With
these changes went hand in hand the
law of cause and effect, and the condi-
tion Of the Individual in the various
stages of reincarnation would be gov
erned by his actions and thoughts of
other lives. Genius in. all of its empire
was but the production Of the law re-
ferred to in the past conditions of the
individual. God had not gifted one
man above another, but, on the con-
trary, eminence in any direction was
only the triumph of the reincarnation
idea working together with the law of
cause and effect, made manifest. Great
musicians. famed sculptors and paint
ers of the present had all prepared
themselves in' another life for the
bloom Of their glory which reached its
full in this existence Even beyond all
this the reincarnation process obtained
a higher development attendant
upon each stage, according as each was
lived in perfection or otherwise. The
rich man who had been naughty and
repellant in this world. refusing charity
with millions at his command, would
in a future state be relncarnated
amidst poverty and want, so that un-
der subsequent operations of the law
he might appreciate the distress of the
needy. In this way a. mutual SYM
pdJnH WOutu US CICdbSu w l1iCI ~OulO
change the hardest nature. AS ye
SOW that shall ye- also reap" declared
the speaker, in advising her listeners to
conform their present lives to the high
est ideals, that each succeeding rein
carnatton should be for the better.
The law Of Karna was dwelt upon
extensively in explanation of the man
ner in which the individual might pre-
pare himself for the reincarnations. All
evil and trouble was due to a lack or
harmony, and in the readjustment OF
harmony came the pain and suffering
which humanity suffers. Karma acted
on two planes. the physical and the
mental and moral. All were RESPONSE
bic for the evil which befell them and
must bear the conditions Of a working
off Karrna until evil was expelled. A
good act or thought reacted upon the
as likewise did bad
thoughts and actions. In short. what
the individual fitted himself for, that
position would he fill. In conclusion,
Countess Wachtmeister spoke of the
practical side OF theosophy and of It's
assistance in the every day life of man.
It taught him how to live with knowi-
edge. 1t showed whence he came and
why and whittier he goeth.