The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1897-04-13
THEOSOPHY IN TOPEKA.
Annie Besant'S Lecture at Lii
brary Hall Last Night.
The Hall Half Filled With In
tereSted Listeners.
a Remarkable Woman With a Won
derful Mind and of Great
Eloquence.

Mrs. Annie Besant, the head of the
Theosophica1 society of the world, was
listened to last evening at Library hall
by an audience that about half filed
the auditorium. 1t was an intellectual
| looking audience, well-dressed and cuI-
| tured and included many of the best
known people in town. Mrs. Besant-
/ pronounced Bezzant with the accent on
/ the first sylla ble-was introduced by the
! Countess Wachtmeister, who made a
few remarks in faultIess English with
a rich broadness of the voweIs, explain
! ing the objects of Mrs. Besant's travels.
/ Mrs. Besant was dressed in a peculiar
but not unpleasing costume, the most
/ conspicuous part of which appeared to
/ be a white silk toga or apron, which
/ covered almost the entire front of her
! dress. Her hair which is almost snow
! white was cOmbed away from her face
and rolled upward in a sort of corona
/ framing an agreeable and winning
/ cOuntenance, remarkably strong in eX-
preston.
/ She looks to be about so years of age
that is, as though she had lived that
length of time during her present time
on earth, for it must be understood that
this is not Mrs. BesantS first time on
earth. She has favored this planet with
a visit many times, and her friends say
that the last time she was here she was
not a she" at ALL but, quite the oppCs-
tie, was no one else but a certain Eng
lishman named Lord Byron, who wrote
some poetry, and like Leander, SWAN
the HellespOnt.
Mrs. Besant's lecture was singuIarIy
eloquent and impressive, although her
audience clearly failed to follow her
through all the mazes of her metaphy-
steal arguments. She has a voice that
is as powerful as Mrs. Leases. but is
much better mOdulated and more mus
zeal
1--WE do not advise our students 20
| forsake their church or their forms of
religion" she said, Eve give them in
our teachings, the scientific reason for
their faith Inc religions OF the present
have lost much of their spirituality
they are forms, empty and void. We
have a religion that appeals equally
well to the emotions and still satisfies
the scientific inquiries and sustains the
thoughtful mind. Do you know" she
continued in the sOftest, sweetest of
tones, more people have thought them
selves out of the church than in.
For Illustration of the reasons for
right living we give, let me say: The
churches say for US to return good for
evil; that is a precept; if one should ask
They would answer Because it is right
We would show to them The reason why
the precept should be Obeyed. Here it
is: If you think a hateful thought, if
you indulge a feeling of hate, you set
in motion in the mental plane a vibra-
ton of feeling just as is shown in the
tinues, and if you keep up that sort of
thinking and feeling, that force will be-
come so great that, when it reaches the
physical plane, it will cause harm, and
both of you will suffer. On the other
hand, if you think good, the vibration
is for peace and happiness, and when
it reaches the physical plane the whole
world is benefited. There is the Scien-
tific reason why right living should be
the aim of all. Our religion satisfies
the scientific inquiry, treasures the in
vestigator, and sustains those who de-
sire the whole truth
I'VE do not pay as much attention to
the evils of society as to other evils. One
reason is that societies for that purpose
are filing that field. We care to direct
our work toward the evils that lie be-
meath the surface and remedy the evils
by removing the cause We hope to
break down the materialiSm, and re-
stablish the religion on a basis that
will meet and satisfy the demands of
logic, and not appeal alone to the emo
tions. There is divine wisdom that
rules all things, which is basis of all
religions The churches have power
just in proportion as they cling to that
wisdom and in that same proportion
will they satisfy the thoughtful
The knowledge of the soul and the
soul power ought not to be a matter of
doubt when it lies within the power of
each individual to know the truth so
easily It can be known, it can be
shown and enjoyed satisfactorily by
those who follow our teachings.
1.-THE reason we love our Mahatmas
so is because they are perfect men;
those who have completed the course
of evolution and could go on to an ad-
Vanced state of enjoyment elect to stay
on the earth for time and by their in
fluence quicken and elevate and help
mankind and delay their future happi-
ness until others may go with them to
the upper plane. There will be work
for them in the future by exercising
their influence on the inhabitants of
new worlds
''TheOs0phy is a course of develop
ment, culture and growth from a lower
to- a higher order of living. The occult
teachings require the most careful
training of the mind. One must learn
to think and thus gain control of the
mind as that one thought can be held
in the mind, one idea developed, follow
ed for a space of time and the mind be-
comes the instrument for profit and
culture instead of the master. When
one gains so complete control of the
mind that the one thought can be held
and others shut out for the time, then
it will be shortly possible to shut out
all thoughts and let the mind become
receptive and thus gradually grow in
thought culture until one reaches that
the spiritual planes, and when that is
done one can cross over and inveSti-
gate the mysteries of the ages at first
hand We do not believe in the return
of spirits: we can leave the body for
time and visit the spirit land-the upper
planes-where we may see and know
the mysteries of the past at first hands
and then return to earth"
After the lecture Mrs. Besant held a
short reception in one of the parlOrs ad-
joining the hall Many of the audience
were introduced to her. She is as cap
tfvatfng in her manners off the stage as
she is imposing and impressive upon it,
ApOTTT MRS RESANT