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The Key

Theosophy

Being

A CLEAR EXPOSITION, IN THE FORM OF QUESTION AND ANSWER, OF THE ETHICS, SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY FOR THE STUDY OF WHICH THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HAS BEEN FOUNDED

BLAVATSKY

Photographic Reproduction of the Original Edition, as First Issued at

London, England: 1889

THE THEOSOPHY COMPANY LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA,

1962

S. A.

THE

KEY TO THEOSOPHY, BEING

CLEAR EXPOSITION, IX THE FORM OF QUESTION AND ANSWER, OF THE

ETHICS, SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY FOR THE STUDY OF WHICH THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY HAS BEEN FOrXPED.

BLAVATSKY.

XonSon

THE THEOSOPHICAL PUBLISHING COMPAXV, LIMITED, 7,

Duke Street, Adelfhi,

Hew

JUDGE,

\V C.

lJorf5 21,

PARK ROW.

"Entend according In Act of Coitfryess in the yeav 1889, by 11. 1' Blavatsky, in the OJjice of the f.ibmnan of Conr;ms nt lVash,)i/;loii, D.C'

gtbtcattir ha

"lb.

IP.

all Ijn-

%^i^ may in

B."

f upils,

ITeant anb C^arb-

ihm

turn.

CONTEISTTS. SECTION

Theosophy. and the Theosophical SoCIBTi'

The Meaning of the Name The Pohcy of the Theosophical Society The Wisdom-EeMgion Esoteric in all Ages Theosophy is not Buddhism

SECTION Exoteric and Esoteric Theosophy

What

II.

Modern Theosophical Society is not... Members of the " T.S." The Difference between Theosophy and Occultism The Difference between Theosophy and Spiritualism Why is Theosophy accepted ? the

SECTION T.S.

Theosophists and

The Working System of the

20 25 27

III.

The Objects of the Society The Common Origin of Man Our other Objects ...

the Sacredness of the Pledge

41 47

CONSENTS.

SECTION

IV.

The Kblations op the Theosophioai; Society to Thbosophy

Self-Improvement

The Abstract and the Concrete

...

SECTION V The FaND.iJiENTAL Teachings of Theosophy On God and Prayer Is

Necessary to Pray

61 66

Prayer Kills Self-Eeliauce

the Source of the

Human

Soul

The Buddhist Teachings on the above

SECTION

VI.

Theosophical Teachings as to Natupb and The Unity of All in All

Man 83

Evolution and Illusion

the Septenary Constitution of our Planet

The Septenary Nature of Man ... The Distinction between Soul and The Greek Teachings

90 Spirit

93 97

SECTION

VII.

On the Various Post-moetem States The Physical and the Spiritual Man ;

Our Eternal Eeward and Punishment

the Various " Principles " in

and on Nirvana

Man

SECTION On Eb-incabnation or Eb-bibth What is Memory according to

101 ;

109 117

VIII.

Theosophical Teaching

123

CONTENTS.

SECTION YIILâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;continued. PAGE

Why On On

do we not Bemember our Past Lives

the

On the

Eeward and Punishment

Kam.4.-Loka and the Fate of the

Why A

...

Individuality and Personality

Devachan

Lower

...

, . .

of the

SECTION On

Ego

IX.

" Principles "

143

few Words about the Skandhas

171

SECTION On the Nature

157 163

Things

for Definite

of oub Thinking Pbinciple

The Mystery of the Ego The Complex Nature of Manas The Doctrine is Taught in St. John's Gospel

SECTION On the Mysteries op Ee-incaenation

177

183 186

XI.

Periodical Ee-births

What

197

Karma ? Who are Those who Know ? The

201 215

Diiierence between Faith and Knowledge; Seasoned Faith

Has God

the Eight to Forgive

146 154

On Post-mortem and Post-natal Consciousness What is really meant by Annihilation Words

134 137

Theosophists do not beheve in the Eeturn of Pure " Spirits

Definite

127

or,

BHnd and 218

223

CONTENTS.

SECTION

XII.

PHEF ACE The

Key is

purpose of this book

exactly expressed in

its title,

The

to Theosopht," and needs but few words of explanation.

not a complete or exhaustive text-book of Theosophy, but only

a key to unlock the door that leads to the deeper study.

Wisdom EeUgion, and

the broad outlines of the

mental principles

raised

the

;

explains

It traces its

funda-

meeting, at the same time, the various objections

Western

average

and

enquirer,

endeavouring

present unfamiliar concepts in a form as simple and in language as clear

possible.

intelligible

to expect

of the thought not

fusion.

a riddle;

for

man must reader's off if

;

but

the mentally lazy in

succeed

hoped that the obscurity

own

still

left

due to depth not to con-

obtuse,

Theosophy must remain

the world mental as in the

progress by his

making Theosophy

on the part of the reader, would

effoi-t

of the language,

efforts.

The

world

spiritual

each

writer cannot do the

thinking for him, nor would the latter be any the better

such vicarious thought were possible.

exposition as the present in

should

without mental

much

be too

That

has long been

the Theosophical Society and

its

felt

The need

among

work, and

for

such an

those interested is

hoped that

PEEFACE.

Xll

supply information,

will

many whose

attention

free

been

has

possible

technicalities, to

from

awakened, but

who, as

are

yet,

merely puzzled and not convinced.

Some is

what

true from

mortem mena.

life,

and

wrath upon

many what

true,

for

Spiritualistic

teachings as to the post-

devoted

head;

believe

drawn much

the Spiritualists,

what

pleasant

too

than

rather

and becoming very angry with anyone who destroys

For the past year Theosophy has been the

poisoned

arrow

a half truth felt

the whole truth than those

Spiritualism,

more antagonism

who had no

though

Very hearty thanks are due from the author

who have

Spiritualistic phaeno-

explanations of a similar kind have

preferring to

every

possessors of

showing the true nature of

an agreeable delusion. target

false

the writer's

others, is

been taken in disentanghng some part of what

care has

the to

many

the

possessors

boast

of.

Theosophists

sent suggestions and questions, or have otherwise contributed

help during the writing of this book. useful for their aid,

and that

will

The work

will be

the more

be their best reward.

H. P. B.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. I.

THEOSOPHY AND THE THEOSOPHICAL

SOCIETY.

THE MEANING OF THE NAME. Enquibee.

Theosophy and

fangled religion.

Theosophist. It

What

Ekq.

not.

its

doctrines are often referred to as a new-

a religion?

Theosophy

Divine Knowledge or Science.

the real meaning of the term?

Theo. " Divine Wisdom,"

eeoirc^m

(Theosophia) or

Wisdom

gods, as eeoycia (theogonia), genealogy of the gods. Qebs

means a god

not "

God

Therefore,

" in it

of the

The word

in Greek, one of the divine beings, certainly

the sense attached in our day to the term.

not "

Wisdom

of God," as translated

by some,

but Divine Wisdom such as that possessed by the gods.

term

Enq.

What

Theo.

many thousand is

the origin of the

comes

name ?

us from the Alexandrian philosophers, called

lovers of truth, Philaletheians, from dx^Sfia

(aletheia)

The

years old.

" truth."

^ix (phil)

" loving,"

and

The name Theosophy dates from

—

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

the

and began with Ammonius who started the Eclectic Theo-

century of our era,

third

Saccas and his

disciples,*

sophical system.

What was

Enq.

the object of this system ?

all to inculcate certain great moral truths upon its and all those who were " lovers of the truth." Hence

Theo. First of disciples,

by the Theosophical Society " There is no higher than truth."f The chief aim of the Founders

the motto adopted religion

As explained by

Also called Analogeticists.

Alex. Wilder, F.T.S.,

Prof.

in his

" Eclectic Philosophy," they were called so because of their practice of inter-

preting

all

sacred legends and narratives, myths and mysteries, by a rule or

principle of analogy and correspondence

so that events which were related as

having occurred in the external world were regarded as expressing operations and experiences of the human soul. They were also denominated Neo-Platonists. Though Theosophy, or the Eclectic Theosophical system, is generally attributed to the tliird century, yet, earlier, as

Diogenes Laertius

in the early days of the Ptolemaic dynasty.

name

Coptic,

Theosophy t Eclectic

to be credited, its origin

he attributed the system to an Egyptian

and

signifies

priest,

The same author

one consecrated to

Amun,

Pot-Amun, who

much lived

tells

us that the

God

the

Wisdom.

the equivalent of Brahm-Vidya, divine knowledge.

Theosophy was divided under three heads

(1)

Belief in

incomprehensible and supreme Deity, or infinite essence, which nature, and of all that

is,

visible

and

invisible.

(2)

Belief in

one absolute, the root of

all

man's eternal

immortal nature, because, being a radiation

of the Universal Soul, it is of an Theurgy, or " Hhiiae work," ot producing a worli " gods," and ergem, " to work." The term is very old, but,

identical essence with

of gods ; from

theoi,

it.

(3)

belongs to the vocabulary of the mysteries, was not in popular use. It was a mystic belief—practically proven by initiated adepts and priests—that, by making as

oneself as pure

purity of nature

as the incorporeal beings

—man

could

move

i.e.,

by returning to one's pristine him Divine mysteries,

the gods to impart to

and even cause them to become occasionally visible, either subjectively or objectively. It was the transcendental aspect of what is now called Spiritualism bnt

havmg been abused and misconceived by

the populace,

had come

to be

— ;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

the Eclectic Tlieosophical School was

one of the three

objects of

modem

its

namely, to reconcile

common system

reUgions, sects and nations under a

of ethics, based on eternal verities.

"What have you to show that this

Enq.

the Theosophical Society,

successor,

all

not an impossible dream

A taravestied

regarded by some as necromancy, and was generally forbidden. practice of the theurgy of lamblichns lingers Kabalists.

magic and

" neci-omaney "

superhuman puritj' and holiness of life

The immediate

Porphyry

—

^rejected

lamblichns,

name

"god-taught"

called TheodiAaliios,

of his

theurgy at

Eeal

being very dangerous.

into mediranship or black magic.

who was

magic of

in the ceremonial

Modem Theosophy avoids and rejects both these kinds

some modem

requires an almost

still

first,

Ammonius

as Plotinus

and

liis

but were finally reconciled to

who wrote a work to tliat effect own master, a famous Egyptian

them-gy

othei'wise it degenerates

;

disciples of

—such

divijtc

Saccas, follower

through

entitled "

priest

De Mysteriis," under the called Abammon. Ammoniiis

Saccas was the son of Christian parents, and, having been repelled by dogmatic spiritualistic Christianity J.

Boehme and

revealed to

him

from his childhood, became a Neo-Platonist, and

otlier great seers

dreams and

and mystics,

visions.

Hence

said to have

liis

name

had

di\"ine

wisdom

of TlicodiilaJifos.

resolved to reconcile every system of rehgion, and by demonstrating their identical origin to establisli one universal creed based

and pm-e,

his learning so profound

and

His

etliics.

va^t, that several

life

was so blameless

Church Fathers were

Clemens Alexandrinus speaks very highly of him. Plotinus, the " St. John " of Ammonius, was also a man universally respected and his secret disciples.

esteemed, and of the most profound learning and integrity.

\\Tien thirty-nine

Roman Emperor Gordian and his army to the sages of Bactria and India. He had a School of

years of age he accompanied the East, to be instructed by the

Philosophy in Borne.

Porphyry, his disciple, whose real

name was Malek

the writings of his master.

Porphjiy was himself

a great author, and gave an allegorical interpretation to

some parts of Homer's was ecstacy, a

Hellenized Jew), oolleoted

writings.

The system

all

of meditation the Plulaletheians resorted to

system akin to Indian Yoga practice.

'\Miat is

known

of the Eclectic School is

due to Origen, Longinus, and Plotinus, the'immediate disciples (Vidf Eclectic PhU-s., by A. Wilder.)

Ammonius.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

and that

all

the world's religions are based on the one and the

same truth ?

and

Theo. Their comparative study religion "

was one in antiquity

religious philosophy

;

analysis.

The "Wisdom-

and the sameness of primitive

proven to us by the identical doctrines

MYSTERIES, an

taught to the Initiates during the

once universally diffused.

institution

" All the old worships indicate the

The key

existence of a shigle Theosophy anterior to them. that

open one must open

right key."

all

;

otherwise

cannot be the

(Eclect. Philo.)

THE POLICY OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. Enq,

In the days religions,

alone.

Theo.

How

By doing

Platonists

could he reconcile

that

philosophies*

there

were several

ancient

great

them ?

which we again try

;

so do our Theosophists.

The Neo-

do now.

were a large body, and belonged

Jew Aristobulus *

Ammonius

and numerous were the sects in Egypt and Palestine

to various religious

In those days, the

affirmed that the ethics of Aristotle represented

was under Philadelphua that Judaism established itself in Alexandria, and forthwith the Hellenic teachers became the dangerous rivals of the College of Eabbia of Babylon. As the author of " Eclectic Philosophy " very pertinently remarks " The Buddhistic, Vedantic, and Magian systems were expounded alono- with :

the philosophies of Greece at that period.

men supposed

was not wonderful that thoughtful

harmonious system from these various teachings. Athenagoras, and Clement were thoroughly instructed

to extract one senus,

that the strife of words ought to cease, and considered

philosophy, and comprehended

its

it .

possible .

Pan-

Platonic

essential unity with the Oriental systems."

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. the esoteric teacliings of

tlie

Law

Moses

Philo JucIeeus

;

endeavoured to reconcile the Pentateuch with the Pythagorean

and Platonic philosophy of Carmel were

and Josephns proved that the Essenes

;

simply the

Egyptian Therapeuttc

and followers of the

copyists

(the healers).

in our day.

it is

can show the hne of descent of every Christian religion,

even the smallest,

of every,

twigs or shoots

The

sect.

grown on

;

and branches spring from the same trunkâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; the endeavoured to Idolaters,

remembering

0]ily that

common mother.* What

WISDOM-

this

they were

all in

possession ot the same

truth under various vestments, and were

Enq.

but shoots

was the aim of Ammonius, who induce Gentiles and Christians, Jews and strifes, contentions and lay aside their

To prove

EELIGrlOISr.

minor

latter are the

the larger branches

This

the children of a

all

the aim oi Theosophy likewise.

are your authorities for saying this of the ancient Theoso-

phists of Alexandria? *

Says

Mosheim

Ammonius

Greece, but also

all

" Conceiving that not only the philosophers of

those of the different barbarian nations, were perfectly in

unison with each other

-with

regard to every essential point, he

business so to expound the thousand tenets of

they had

all

originated from one and the

same end." knows what he

the

If is

the writer on

for

made

his

show one and

these various sects as to

source,

and tended

he says, speaking

all to

Edinhurgh Encyclo^xBdia

in the

modem

talking about, then he describes the

and their work,

their beliefs,

same

Ammonius

all

Theosophists,

TJieodidaMos

of the

adopted the doctrines which were received in Egj'pt (the esoteric were those of India) concerning the Universe and the Deity, considered as constituting one gi-eat

and established a concerning the etei-nity of the world moral discipline which allowed the people in general to live according

whole

system

to the laws of their country exalt their

;

and the dictates

of nature,

but required the

mind by contemplation." B

^^â&#x20AC;˘ise

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo.

almost

countless

number

Moslieim, one of them, says that "

Ammonius taught

well-known

writers.

that the rehgion of the multitude

went hand-in-

hand with philosophy, and witla her had shared the fate of being by degrees corrupted and obscured with mere human conceits, superstitions, and

that

lies;

by purging ciples its

;

ought, therefore, to be brought back to

and expounding

of this dross

and the whole Christ had

primitive integrity the

wisdom

their

way

and

purity

its original

upon philosophical

prin-

view was to reinstate and restore to of

the ancients

bounds the universally-prevailing dominion to correct,

;

reduce within

of superstition

and

;

in part to exterminate the various errors that

in part

had found

into the different popular religions."

what the modern Tlieosophists say. Only while the great Philaletheian was supported and helped This,

again,

in the policy

precisely

he pursued by two Church Fathers, Clement and

Athenagoras, by

Academy and doctrine for

all

the learned Eabbis of the Synagogue, the

the Groves, and while he taught a conmion

all,

we, his followers on the same

line,

receive no

recognition, but, on the contrary, are abused and persecuted. Peoj^le 1,500 years

ago are thus shown to have been more

tolerant than they are in this enlightened century.

Enq.

Was

he encouraged and supported by the Chui-ch because, not-

withstanding his heresies,

Ammonius

taught Christianity and was

a Christian ?

TnEo. Not at

Church "

all.

He was born

Christianity.

a Christian, but never accepted

said of

him by

the

same writer

He had

pillars of

but to propound his instructions according to the ancient Hermes, which Plato and Pythagoras knew before, and from

them constituted their philosophy. Finding the same in the prolotrue of the Gospel according to St. John, he very properly supposed that the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. purpose of Jesus was to restore the great doctrine

The

tive integrity.

wisdom

in its primi-

narratives of the Bible and the stories of the gods he

considered to be allegories illustrative of the truth, or else fables to be yLoTeoYex, a.ssa.ys the Edinburgh Enoyclopcsdia,

rejected."

ledged that Jesus Christ was

but alleged that

demons

(gods),

was not

and that

an excellent

man and

the

"he acknow-

friend of God,'

his design entirely to abolish the worship of

his only intention

was

to purify the ancient

religion."

THE WISDOM-BELIGION ESOTERIC IN ALL Enq.

Since

Ammonius never committed anything

AGES.

to writing,

how can

one feel sure that such were his teachings ?

Theo. Neither

Buddha,

did

Pythagoras,

Socrates, or even Jesus, leave behind

most of these are have

all

survived.

Confucius,

them any

historical personages,

The

disciples of

and

Orpheus,

writings.

Ammonius (among whom

Origen and Herennius) wrote treatises and explained his Certainly the latter are as historical, if

Apostolic writings.

and

not more

Moreover, his pupils

so,

— Origen,

ethics.

than the Plotinus,

—have voluminous records of the Philaletheian System— so

Longinus (counsellor of the famous

all left

Yet

their teachings

Queen Zenobia)

far,

at all events, as their public profession of faith

was known,

for

the school was divided into exoteric and esoteric teachings.

Enq. How have the latter tenets reached our day, since you hold that what is properly called the WISDOM-EELIGION was esoteric ?

Theo. The

WISDOM-RELIGION was

word of

possible

preserved.

ever one, and being the last

human knowledge,

was, therefore, carefully

preceded by long ages the Alexandrian Theo-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

reached the modern, and will survive every other

sophists,

and philosophy.

religion

Enq.

Where and by whom was

Theo.

Among

Initiates of

after truth

—

so preserved ?

every country

their disciples

;

and

;

among profound

seekers

world

in those parts of the

where such topics have always been most valued and pursued in India, Central Asia, and Persia. Enq.

Can you

me some

give

proofs of

its

esotericism

Theo. The best proof you can have of the fact

that every ancient

religious, or rather philosophical, cult consisted of

or secret teaching, and an

Furthermore,

an esoteric

exoteric (outward public) worship.

a well-known fact that the

MYSTERIES

of the ancients comprised with every nation the " greater

and "Lesser"

(secret)

(pubhc)

MYSTERIES—

e.(/.,

From

celebrated solemnities called the Eleusinia, in Greece. the

Hierophants of

Samothrace,

Brahmins of the India of Rabbis,

series

ever imparted through

which contains

hidden sold

—

i.e.,

Not one of the ancient nations

priests its real philosophical secrets

its

"greater" and

its

"lesser" vehicle,

Mahayana, the esoteric, and the Hinayana, the Nor can you blame them for such secrecy surely you would not think of feeding your flock of sheep as the

exoteric, Schools.

for

its

the

but allotted to the latter only the husks.

masses,

Northern Buddhism has

known

Hebrew

The Jewish Rabbis called their secular the Mercavah (the exterior body), " the

their highest secret knowledo-e.

the

to the later

secret.

vehicle," or, the covering

down

initiated

preserved, for fear of profanation, their real bond

all

fide beliefs

religious

old,

Egypt, and the

the

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOHPY.

on learned dissertations on botany instead of on grass

? Pytha" goras called his Gnosis the knowledge of things that are," or V yâ&#x20AC;&#x17E;u>^Ls

tQ>v

and

and preserved that knowledge

ivTuiv,

disciples only

for those

feel satisfied

;

who

pledged

for his

could digest such mental food

and he pledged them to

and secrecy.

silence

Occult alphabets and secret ciphers are the development of the old Egyptain hieratic writings, the secret of which was, in the days of old, in the possession only of the

matists, or initiated

bound

Ammonius

Saccas, as

by oath not

to divulge

doctrines except to

his higher

who had already been who were also

those

preliminary knowledge, and

instructed in

bound by

priests.

his pupils

Egyptian

his biographers tell us,

a pledge.

early Christianity,

ings of Christ

Finally,

among

do we not

the Gnostics,

Did he not speak

find the

and even

mysteries of the

without, "

all

To you," he says, " kingdom of heaven

it is

;

his reasons only to

given to

of Judea and Carmel

know

ihe

but unto them that are

these things are done in parables

The Essenes

same even

in the teach-

to the multitudes in parables

which had a two-fold meaning, and explain his disciples

Hierogram-

made

(Mark

iv. 11).

similar distinctions,

and the

dividing their adherents into neophytes,

brethren,

perfect, or those initiated" (Eclec. Phil.).

Examples might be

brought from every country to this effect. Enq. Can you attain the " Secret Wisdom " simply by study clopaedias define Theosophy pretty

does,

i.e.,

"supposed intercourse

much loith

God and

and consequent attainment of supicrhuman means and chemical p)rocesses." Is this so? Theo. I think not.

Nor

Ency-

as Webster's Dictionary

superior spirits,

Jmoiuledge by physical

there any lexicographer capable

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

explaining, whether

to himself

how superhuman

or others,

knowledge can be attained by physical or chemical processes.

Had Webster

said

"by

metaphysical and alchemical processes,"

would be approximately correct as it is, it is Ancient Theosopliists claimed, and so do the modern,

the definition

absurd.

i.e.,

sensed by

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but that the divine essence could be

communi-

that the infinite cannot be knoAvn

the

finite'

the finite Self

cated to the higher Spiritual Self in a state of ecstasy. condition can hardly be attained, like hypnotism,

This

" physical

and chemical means."

What

Enq.

yom- explanation of

it ?

Theo. Eeal ecstasy was defined by Plotinus as " the liberation of

mind from

the

its

finite

consciousness, becoming

identified with the infinite."

This

one and

the highest condition,

says Prof. Wilder, but not one of permanent duration, and it is

reached only by the very very few.

with that state which is

practised

the

known in Yogis, who is

is,

indeed, identical

The latter

India as Samadhi. facilitate it

physically

the

and drink, and mentally by an purify and elevate the mind. Medita-

greatest abstinence in food

incessant endeavour to

is silent and unutterecl prayer, or, as Plato expressed it, " the ardent turning of the soul toward the divine not to ask

tion

;

common meaning of prayer), but for good itselfâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; for the universal Supreme Good " of which we are a part on earth, and out of the essence of which we have any particular good

all

emerged.

(as in the

Therefore, adds Plato,

presence of the divine ones, tliy

" remain silent in the

till they remove the clouds from eyes and enable thee to see by the light which issues from

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. themselves, not

what appears

good

what

to thee, but

intrinsically good."*

Enq.

Theosophy, then, scheme ?

not,

by some, a newly devised

held

Theo. Only ignorant people can thus refer to world, in

its

teachings and ethics,

the broadest and most catholic system

How

Enq.

comes

it,

been a sealed book advanced ?

among

also

all.

Theosophy has remained so unknown Western Hemisphere ? Why should it have

then, that

to the nations of the

TiiEO.

the

It is as old as

it.

not in name, as

most cultured and

races confessedly the

beUeve there were nations

as cultured hi days of old " and certainly more spiritually advanced " than we are. But

One

there are several reasons for this willing ignorance.

them was given by

Paul to the cultured Athenians

St.

for long centuries, of real spiritual insight,

owing This

of "

The

state

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the its

"The

soul

Beyond our every-day world Then the

on earth.

nobler part

soul

their

the camera in which and the mind becomes

alike fixed;

of limits

past and future comprised in the present."

last ecstasis

and

and events, future, past, and present, are

conscious of them.

loss,

interest,

Eclectic Philosophy," Prof. A. Wilder,

F.T.S., describes as " spiritual photograijhy" facts

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a

and

to their too great devotion to things of sense

what the scholarly author

and even

all .

one day or

Death

the

freed from the constraint of the body,

united to higher nature and becomes partaker in the

wisdom and foreknowledge

Eeal Theosophy is, for the Tyana was made to describe thus: "I a clear mirror. The sage need not wait

of the higher beings."

mystics, that state which ApoUonius of

can see the present and the

futiu-e as in

for the vapours of the earth .

which

The

and the corruption

iAeoi, or gods, see the future

about to take place."

well expressed in the assertion,

;

of the air to foresee events.

common men

the present

;

sages that

The Theosophy of the Sagos " he speaks " The Kingdom of God is within us."

of is

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

long slavery to the dead letter of the strongest reason for lias

it lies

ritualism.

in the fact that real

But

Theosophy

ever been kept secret. proofs that such aecrecy has existed

You have brought forward

Enq.

dogma and

but what was the real cause for

Thko. The causes for

human nature and

were

it ?

Firstly, the perversity of

always tending to the grati-

its selfishness,

fication oi personal desires to the detriment of

next of kin. secrets.

average

Such people could never

l)e

neighbours and

entrusted with divine

Secondly, their unreliability to keep the sacred and It is the latter that led

divine knowledge from desecration.

the perversion of the most sublime truths and symbols, and

to the gradual transformation of things spiritual into anthro-

pomorphic, concrete, and gross imagery

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

hi other words, to

the dwarlino- of the g-od-idea and to idolatry.

THEOSOPHY You

Enq.

all

TiiEO.

NOT BUDDHISM.

are often spoken of as " Esoteric Buddhists."

followers of

No more

Are you then

Gautama Buddha ?

than musicians are

of us are Buddhists

religion

all ;

followers of

Wagner.

yet there are far

Some

more Hindus

and Brahmins than Buddhists among

us, and more Cliristianand Americans than converted Buddhists. The mistake has arisen from a misunderstanding of the real

born Europeans

meaning of the

title

of Mr. Sinnett's excellent work, " Esoteric

word ought

Buddhism," which

last

instead of two,

as then

d's,

have been

spelt iviih one,

BudUsm would have meant what

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. was intended

for,

" intelligence,"

merely

wisdom

religious philosopliy.

Wisdomism

instetid

Tlieosopliy,

(Bodha,

bodhi,

of Buddhism, Gautama's

already

said,

the

WISDOM-EELIGION. Enq.

What is the difference between Buddhism, the religion fomided by the Prince of Ivapilavastii, and Budhism, the " Wisdomism " which you say is synonymous with Theosophy ?

Thko. Just the same diiference as there teachings of Christ, which

Kingdom

between the secret

are called " the mj^steries of the

of Heaven," and the later ritualism and dogmatic

theology of the Churches

and

Buddha means

Sects.

the

by Bodha, or understanding, Wisdom. This has passed root and branch into the esoteric teachings that ''

Enlightened

Gautama imparted Enq.

But some

to his

Orientalists

chosen Arhats only.

deny that Buddha ever taught any esoteric

doctrine at all?

Theo. They for the

may as well deny that Nature has any hidden secrets men of science. Further on I will prove it by Buddha's

conversation with his disciple Ananda.

were simply the Gupta ancient

Vidya

(secret

has passed into what

Mahay ana

deny advise

knowledge)

the

Brahmins, the key to which their modern successors

have, with few exceptions, completely

the

His esoteric teachings

now known

school of Northern

lost.

Buddhism.

Vidya

Those who

Orientalism.

to read the Eev. Mr. Edkins' Cldnese

especially the

this

as the iimer teachings of

are simply ignorant pretenders to

you

And

Buddhism

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

chapters on the Exoteric and Esoteric schools

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

and teachings ancient world

Enq.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and

then compare the testimony of the whole

upon the

But are not the by Buddha ?

subject.

ethics of

Theosophy

identical with those taught

Theo. Certainly, because these ethics are the soul of the Wisdom-

and were once the common property of the initiates But Buddha was the first to embody these

Eeligion,

of all nations.

lofty ethics in his public teachings,

and

make them

foundation and the very essence of his public system.

the It is

that Ues the immense difference between exoteric Buddhism and every other religion. For while in other religions ritualism and dogma hold the first and most important

herein

place, in

Buddhism

the most insisted upon.

amounting almost

the ethics which have always been

This accounts for the resemblance,

to identity,

between the ethics of Theosophy

and those of the religion of Buddha. Enq.

Are there any great points of difference

Theo. One

great

Buddhism

distinction

between Theosophy and

that the latter, represented

entirely denies

(a)

life,

viving individuality in man.

Buddhism. teachings

;

now

And

exoteric

by the Southern Church,

the existence of any Deity, and (b) any

conscious post-mortem

the Siamese sect,

even any self-conscious sur-

Such

at least

the teaching of

considered as the purest form of exoteric

it is so, if

refer only to

Buddha's public

the reason for such reticence on his part I will

give further on.

But the schools of the Northern Buddhist

Church, established in those countries to which his initiated

Arhats retired after the Master's death, teach

all

that

now

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. called Theosophical doctrines, because they

knowledge of the been sacrificed

initiates

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; thus

to the dead-letter

proving

form part of the

how

the truth has

by the too-zealous orthodoxy

But how much grander and more noble, more philosophical and scientific, even in its dead-letter, of Southern Buddhism.

this

teaching than that of any other Church or religion.

Theosophy

not Buddhism.

Yet

II.

EXOTERIC AND ESOTERIC THEOSOPHY.

WHAT THE MODERN THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY Enq.

Your

doctrines, then, are not

IS NOT.

Buddhism, nor are

a revival of

they entirely copied from the Neo-Platonic Theosophy

to these questions I cannot give

But

Theo. They are not.

you a

by quoting from a paper read on better "Theosophy" by Dr. J. D. Buck, F.T.S., before the last Theosophical Convention, at Chicago, America (April, 1889). than

answer

and understood the

living theosophist has better expressed

real

Theosophy than our honoured

essence

Dr.

friend

Buck :â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "

The Theosophical Society was organized

for

the purpose of promul-

gating the Theosophical doctrines, and for the promotion of the Theo-

sophic

life.

The present Theosophical Society

I have a volume entitled

' :

delphian Society,' published in following

Mystery

title

of Christ

the philosophy of

not the

first of its

kind.

Theosophical Transactions of the Phila-

London

1697

;

and another with the

Introduction to Theosophy, or the Science of ;

that

is,

of Deity,

the working powers of

all

the

Nature, and Creature, embracing life,

magical and spiritual,

and forming a practical guide to the sublimest purity, sanctity, and evangelical perfection

;

also to the attainment of divine vision,

and the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

holy angelic arts, potencies, and other prerogatives of the regenoration,'

published in London in

volume "

The following

185-5.

the dedication of this

To the students

and schools

of Universities, Colleges,

Christendom

Professors of Metaphysical, Mechanical, and Np.tural Science in

To men and women

Education generally,

Deists, Arians, Unitarians, Swedenborgians, creeds, rationalists,

and sceptics

Mohammedans, Jews, and

all its

;

forms

fundamental orthodox faith

and other defective and ungrounded

of every kind

To just-minded and enlightened

oriental Patriarch-religionists

but especially to the

gospel minister and missionary, whether to the barbaric or intellectual peoples, this introduction to

things,

Theosophy, or the science

most humbly and

" In the folio-wing year (1856) another of

of the

ground and mystery

of all

affectionately dedicated.'

600 pages, diamond type,

volume was issued, royal octavo,

Theosophical Miscellanies.'

Of the

last-named work 600 copies only were issued, for gratuitous distribution to Libraries

and

These

Universities.

earlier

movements,

were many, originated within the Church, with persons and all earnestness, and of unblemished character ;

were

which there

of great piety

orthodox form, using the Christian expressions, and,

writings

the

eminent Churchman

William

and

of these writings

Law, would

like the

only be

by the ordinary reader for their great earnestness and vyere one and all but attempts to derive and explain the deeper meanings and original import of the Christian Scriptures, and to These works were soon forillustrate and unfold the Thcosophic life. unknown. sought to reform the generally They are now gotten, and were never welcomed. That one genuine piety, and clergy and revive distinguished

piety.

These

word, " Heresy," was sufficient to bury them in the limbo Utopias.

At the time

attempt with the same friend of Luther.

of the

of all

such

Reformation John Reuchlin made a similar

result,

though he was the intimate and trusted

Orthodoxy never desired

to be

informed and enlight-

These el'ormers were informed, as was Paul by Fcstus, that too much learning had made them mad, and that it would be dangerous to go farther. Passing by the verbiage, which was partly a matter of habit and ened.

education

)

vfith.

these writers, and partly due to religious restraint through

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. secular power, and coming to the core of the matter, these writings were

Theosophical in the strictest sense, and pertain solely to man's knowledge of his

own nature and

the higher

life

of the soul.

The present

Theosophical movement has sometimes been declared to be an attempt

Christendom

convert

the word

Heresy

Individuals

has

to lost

which means simply that and relinquished its power.

Buddhism, its

terrors

every age have more or less clearly apprehended the

Theosophical doctrines and wrought them into the fabric of their

These doctrines belong exclusively

religion,

and are confined

lives.

They are the birthright of every human soul. Such a thing as orthodoxy must be wrought out by each individual according to his nature and his needs, and according to his varying experience. This may explain why those who have imagined Theosophy to be a new society or time.

have hunted

religion

Loyalty to Truth, and "

How

little this

in vain for its creed its ritual

and

its

To honour every

ritual.

principle of Universal Brotherhood

the masses of mankind, recognised,

may

pretations

regarding

how seldom

its

Its creed is

truth by use.' is

understood by

transcendent importance

be seen in the diversity of opinion and fictitious interthe

Theosophical

Society.

This

Society

was

organized on this one principle, the essential Brotherhood of Man, as herein briefly outlined and imperfectly set forth.

Buddhistic and anti-Christian, as though

when both Buddhism and founders, make brotherhood Theosophy has been

has been assailed as

could be both these together,

Christianity, as set forth

their inspired

the one essential of doctrine and of

life.

new under the sun, new name. While it

also regarded as something

at best as old mysticism

masquerading under a is true that many Societies founded upon, and united to support, the principles

names,

altruism, or essential

also true that

brotherhood, have borne various

many have

also been called Theosophic, and with principles and aims as the present society bearing that name. it is

With these societies, one and all, the essential doctrine has been the same, and all else has been incidental, though this does not obviate the fact that

many

persons are attracted to the incidentals

ignore the essentials."

who overlook

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. No

better or

explicit

answer

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by a

man who

our most esteemed and earnest Tlieosopliists to

one of

your questions.

Which system do you

li^NQ.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; could be given

prefer or follow, in that case, besides

Buddhistic ethics ?

Theo.

None, and

in particular

again,

What

Theo.

hold to no religion, as to no philosophy

cull

the

good we

that, like

find in each.

But here,

other ancient sj-stems,

all

divided into Exoteric and Esoteric Sections.

the difference?

The members of the Theosopliical Society

to profess if

must be stated

TheosopliT

Enq.

all.

at large are free

whatever religion or philosophy they

like,

or none

they so prefer, provided they are in sympathy with, and

ready to carry out one or more of the three objects of the

The Society

Association.

body

for

the

philanthropic and scientific

propagation of the idea of brotherhood on

The Fellows may be

practical instead of theoretical lines.

Christians

Mussulmen, Jews or Parsees, Buddhists or

Brahmins, Spiritualists or Materialists,

does not matter

member must be either a philanthropist, or a searcher into Aryan and other old literature, or every

student.

In short, he has to help,

;

but

scholar, a

a psychic

he can, in the carrj'ing

Otherout of at least one of the objects of the programme. wise he has no reason for becoming a " Fellow." Such are " the majority of the exoteric Society, composed of " attached

and "unattached" members.* *

These may, or

may not, become

An "attached member" means one who has jomed some particular branch of the T.S. An "unattached," one who belongs to the Society at large, has his diploma, from the Headquarters (Adyar, Madras), but

connected with no branch or lodge.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Tlieosophists de facto.

Members they

having joined the Society

;

are,

but the

virtue of their

cannot make a

latter

who has no sense for the things, or of him who understands Theosophy sectarian and the expression may be used Theosophist of one

own

in his

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

wajr.

egotistic

handsome does " could be paraphrased in case and be made to run: "Theosophist is, who Theosophy

Handsome

this

divine fitness of

is,

does."

THEOSOPHISTS AND MEMBERS OF THE Enq.

This applies to lay members, as those

who pursue

" T.S."

And what

I understand.

the esoteric study of Theosophy

;

are they the

real Tlieosophists ?

Theo. Not necessarily, until they have proven themselves to be siich.

They have entered the inner group and pledged them-

selves to carry out, as strictly as they can, the rules of the

occult body. rule of all

a 2:)ledged

This

a difficult undertaking, as the foremost

the entire renunciation of one's personality

member has

become a thorough

think of himself, and to forget his

own

altruist,

i.e.,

never to

vanity and pride in the

thought of the good of his fellow-creatures, besides that of his fellow-brothers in the esoteric circle.

esoteric instructions shall profit him, a

has to life

live,

the

of abstinence in

everything, of self-denial and strict moralitv, doing his dutv

all

men.

The few

these members.

and the inner

real Theosophists

iii

the T.S. are

among

This does not imply that outside of the T.S. circle,

there

are no

Theosophists

;

for

there

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and more than people know of

are,

among

are found

Then what

Enq.

the lay

members

more than

certainly far

;

of the T.S.

the good of joining the so-called Theosophical

Society in that case

Where

the incentive

Theo. None, except the advantage of getting esoteric instructions, the genuine doctrines of the " Wisdom-Eeligion," and

programme

real

carried

Union

mutual aid and sympathy. and

deriving

out,

simultaneous

well-regulated

much

the

from

help

strength and harmony,

produce wonders.

efforts

This has been the secret of aU associations and communities since

mankind

existed.

But why could not

Enq.

of pm-pose,

become an Theo.

He may

one,

say,

man

Occultist and even an Adept :

that he will

fail.

lost for ages in

the West,

what he

others,

no books

our day which give out the

exist in

;

and

in plain language.

as the

how can

key

to these has

man

reading and studying

learn ?

the

Therein

the greatest danger, one that leads to unconscious bhck

magic or the most helpless mediumship. Initiate for a master

alone.

He who

has not an

had better leave the dangerous

Look around you and

civilized society ridicule the

singleness

perseverance,

he works alone ?

alchemy or medieval Theosophy

correct meaning of lies

For one reason out of many

All are symbolical or in parables

been

energy and

but there are ten thousand chances against one

on Occultism or Theurgy secrets of

mind and

of well-balanced

of indomitable

observe.

studj'

While two-thirds of

mere notion that there

anything

Theosophy, Occultism, Spiritualism, or in the Kabala, the

other third

composed of the most heterogeneous and opposite

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Some

elements.

supernatural will

(!),

the

believe in

mystical,

but each believes in his

and even

own way.

the

Others

rush single-handed into the study of the Kabala, Psychism,

Mesmerism, Spiritualism, or some form or another of Mysticism. Eesult no two men think alike, no two are agreed upon any :

fundamental occult principles, though

many

who

are those

claim for themselves the ultima thule of knowledge, and would

make only

Not

outsiders believe that they are full-blown adepts. is

there no scientific and accurate knowledge of Occultism

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;not

even of true astrology, the only

branch of Occultism which,

in its exoteric teachings, has definite

accessible in the

West

laws and a definite system

Occultism means.

real

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; but no one has

Some

limit

any idea of what

ancient

wisdom

Kabala and the Jewish Zohar, which each interprets

way

the

in his

own

according to the dead-letter of the Eabbinical methods.

Boehme as the ultimate expressions of the highest wisdom while others again see in mesmerism the great secret of ancient magic. One and all of those who put their theory into practice are rapidly drifting, through ignorance, into black magic. Happy are those who Others regard Swedenborg or

;

escape from it, as they have neither test nor criterion by which they can distinguish between the true and the false.

Enq.

Are we to understand that the inner group of the T.S. claims to what it does from real initiates or masters of esoteric wisdom ?

learn

Theo. Not directly. required.

who have their

The personal presence

SuflJce

of such masters

not

they give instructions to some of those

studied under their guidance for years, and devoted

whole

lives

to their service.

Then, in turn, these can

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

who had no

give out the knowledge so imparted to others, to

such opportunity.

portion of the true sciences

better

than a mass of undigested and misunderstood learning.

ounce of gold

But how

Enq.

worth a ton of

one to

dust.

know whether

the ounce

real gold or only a

counterfeit ?

Theo.

tree

known by

its fruit,

a system

our opponents are able to prove

of Occultism throughout the ages has like

Ammonius

to us that

When

its results.

any

solitary student

become a

saintly adept

Saccas, or even a Plotinus, or a Theurgist like

lamblichus, or achieved feats such as are claimed to have been

done by all this

St.

Germain, without any master to guide him, and

without being a medium, a self-deluded psychic, or a

charlatan

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;then

shall

But

confess ourselves mistaken.

till

then, Theosophists prefer to follow the proven natural law of

the tradition of the Sacred Science.

There are mystics who

have made great discoveries in chemistry and physical sciences, almost bordering on alchemy and Occultism others who, by ;

the sole aid of their genius, have rediscovered portions,

not

the whole, of the lost alphabets of the "Mystery language," and are, therefore, able to still,

who, being

seers,

read correctly Hebrew

But

all

these are specialists.

a theoretical inventor, another a Hebrew,

KabaUst, a third a

;

others

have caught wonderful glimpses of the

hidden secrets of Nature. is

scrolls

Swedenborg of modern

and everything outside of

his

own particular

i.e.,

times,

One

a Sectarian

denying

all

science or rehgion.

Not one of them can boast of having produced

a universal or

even a national benefit thereby, not even to himself.

With

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

— of

which the Koyal none College of Physicians or Surgeons would call quacks have helped with their science Humanity, nor even a number the exception of a few healers

that class

—

Where are the Ohaldees of who wrought marvellous cures, " not by charms but by simples " ? Where is an Apollonius of Tyana, who healed the

men

of the same community.

old, those

and raised the dead under any climate and circumstances

sick

We know

some

none of the

specialists of the

latter

— except

Yogi, " to live in death,"

former class in Europe, but

in Asia,

is still

where the

Is the production of such healing adepts the

Theo.

Its

which are

;

likely to lead to the relief of

all

are those

human suffering under And we believe the

as well as physical.

former to be far more important than the ;

aim of Theosophy?

but the most important of

any or every form, moral to inculcate ethics

secret of the

preserved.

Enq.

aims are several

latter.

has to purify the soul,

Theosophy has

if it

would

relieve

the physical body, whose ailments, save cases of accidents, are all

hereditary.

not by studying Occultism for

selfish

ends, for the gratification of one's personal ambition, pride,

or vanity,

that one can ever reach the true goal:

helping suffering mankind.

Nor

that of

by studying one single branch of the esoteric philosophy that a man becomes an Occultist, but by studying, if not mastering, them all.

Enq.

Is help, then, to reach this

who study Theo. Not at

all.

called "

most important aim, given only to those

the esoteric sciences

tion if he only

Every lay member wants

is it

entitled to general instruc-

it but few are willing to become what working members," and most prefer to remain the ;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. drones of Theosophy. research

Let

encouraged in the

fringe the limit

be understood T.S.,

provided

private

that it

does not in-

which separates the exoteric from the

esoteric,

the blind from the conscious magic.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEOSOPHY AND OCCULTISM. Enq.

You

Theo.

By no

speak of Theosophy and Occultism

A man may be

means.

;

are they identical ?

a very good Theosophist

indeed, whether in or outside of the Society, without being in

any way an OccuUist.

But no one can be a true Occultist

without being a real Theosophi.st

;

otherwise he

simply a

black magician, whether conscious or unconscious.

What

Enq.

do you

mean ?

Theo. I have said already that a true Theosophist must put in practice the loftiest moral ideal, must strive to realize his unity

with the whole of humanity, and work ceaselessly for others.

Now,

an Occultist does not do

own

all this,

he must act

selfishly

personal benefit and if he has acquired more power than other ordinary men, he becomes forthwith a far more dangerous enemy to the world and those around him than the average mortal. This is clear. for his

;

practical

Then

Enq.

an Occultist simply a

than other people

Theo.

Far more

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

man who

possesses

more power

and not one only

a practical

name.

and reaUy learned

Occult sciences

Occultist,

are

not,

described in Encyclopaedias, " those imaginary sciences of the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Middle Ages which related

to the

supposed action or influence

of Occult qualities or supernatural powers, as alchemy, magic,

necromancy, and astrology," for they are

They teach the

very dangerous sciences. things

" latent

powers

advantages

become a

man,"

over

him

giving

thus

and

actual,

secret potency of

culti^-ating

more ignorant mortals.

common and

good instance

and

developing

Nature,

real,

the

hidden

tremendous

now

H}q:)notism,

a .subject of serious scientific inquirj',

Hypnotic power has been discovered

in point.

almost by accident, the

way

having been prepared by

and now an able hypnotizer can do almost anything with it, from forcing a man, unconsciously to himself,

mesmerism

;

to play the

proxy

making him commit a crime

fool, to

the hypnotizer, and for the benefit of the

for

not this a terrible power persons

And

please to

if left

in the

—often by Is

latter.

hands of unscrupulous

remember that

this

only one of

the minor branches of Occultism.

But

Enq.

are not

sidered by the

all these Occult sciences, magic, and sorcery, conmost cultured and learned people as rehcs of ancient

ignorance and superstition

Theo. Let ways.

me remind The

that this remark of yours cuts both

most cultured and learned

also Christianity

and

j'ou

and every other religion

superstition.

hypnotism,

And

among you regard

as a relic of ignorance

People begin to beheve now, at any

and

some

—

Theosophy and phenomena. preachers and bhnd fanatics, miracles?

this is

e^-en

the

most

rate,

cultured

—

But who among them, except will confess to a

behef in Biblical

where the pohit of difference comes

in.

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY-

There are very good and pure Theosophists who

may beheve

in the supernatural, divine miracles included, but

no Occultist

wiU do so. For an Occultist practises based on accurate knowledge of Nature's

scientific

Theosophy,

secret workings

but

;

a Theosophist, practising the powers called abnormal, minus

wiU simply tend toward a dangerous

the light of Occultism,

form of mediumship, because, although holding to Theosophy

and

its

highest conceivable code of ethics, he practises

the dark, on sincere but blind faith. Spiritualist,

who

Anyone, Theosophist or

attempts to cultivate one of the branches of

Hypnotism, Mesmerism, or even the without the secrets of producing physical phenomena, etc.

Occult

science

e.g.,

—

knowledge of the philosophic

rationale of those powers,

a rudderless boat launched on a stormy ocean.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THEOSOPHY AND SPIBITUALISM. Enq.

But do you not

TiiEO. If

believe in Spiritualism ?

" Spirituahsm "

Spiritualists give of

mean

you

the

explanation which

some abnormal phenomena, then decidedly

tve do not. They maintain that these manifestations are all produced by the " spirits " of departed mortals, generally their

relatives,

who

return to earth, they say, to communicate with

those they have loved or to

deny

this point blank.

cannot return to earth of which I

with

men

may speak

whom

they are attached.

assert that the spirits of the

— save later

in rare ;

nor

and exceptional

they

except by entirely subjective means.

We dead cases,

communicate That which

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

does appear objectively,

But

man.

we do Enq.

believe,

you

How

phenomena

medium

for

them, then

the Spiritualists

deus

the

all,

" materializations the

The causes of such manifestations

waj^s.

no means so simple Foremost

also

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;save cases of conscious fraud.

do you account

Theo. In many

only the phantom of the ex-physical say, " Spiritual " Spiritualism,

most decidedly.

reject the

Theo. Assuredly not

Enq.

and so to

in psychic,

" is

would

machind

usually the astral

or of some one present.

like to believe.

body

are

the

so-called

or " double " of

This astral body

also

the producer or operating force in the manifestations of slatewriting, "

Enq.

You

Davenport

say "usiially "

"-like manifestations,

then what

;

is it

and so on.

that produces the rest

Theo. That depends on the nature of the manifestations.

Some-

" shells "

of the

times

the

vanished " Spirit

astral

remains,

j)^^'sonalities

" is

the

that were

Kamalokic at

;

word of manifold and wide

I really

significance.

do not know what

Spiritualists

we understand them

to claim is that the physical

are

mean by

the term

;

but what

phenomena

produced by the reincarnating Ego, the Spiritual and

immortal " individuality." reject.

cannot

The

Conscious

materialize,

And

this

hypothesis

Individuality

nor can

retuni from

Devachanic sphere to the plane of Enq.

other times, Elementals.

the its

entirely

disembodied

own mental

terrestrial objectivity.

But many of the communications received from the " spirits " show not only intelligence, but a knowledge of facts not known to

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

the medium, and sometimes even not consciously present to the

mind

of the

investigator,

or any

who compose

those

the

audience.

Theo. This does not necessarily prove that the intelligence and

knowledge you speak of belong disembodied

emanate from

to spirits, or

Somnambulists

souls.

known

been

have

compose music and poetry and to solve mathematical problems while in their trance state, without having ever learnt music or mathematics.

Others, answered intelligently to questions

put to them, and even, in several cases, spoke languages, such

Hebrew and Latin, of which they were when awake all this in a state of profound

entirely ignorant

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

then, maintain that this

was caused by

Enq.

But how would you explain

Theo.

assert that the

identical in

Self" its

its

Will you,

sleep.

" spirits

divine spark in

man

being

one and

essence with the Universal Spirit, our " spiritual

practically omniscient, but that

cannot manifest

knowledge owing to the impediments of matter.

Now

the

more these impediments are removed, in other words, the more the physical body is paralyzed, as to its own independent activity and consciousness, as in deep sleep or deep trance, or, again, in illness, the this

plane.

This

fully

can the inner Self manifest on

our explanation of those truly wonderful

phenomena of a higher

order, in

and knowledge are exhibited. manifestations, such as physical

which undeniable

intelligence

As to the lower order of phenomena and the platitudes

and common talk of the general " the most important of the teachings

spirit,"

explain

we hold upon

even

the subject

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

would take up more space and time than can be allotted to it "We have no desire to interfere with the belief of at present. The the Spirituahsts any more than with any other belief. onus prohandi must

fall

on the believers

moment, while

the present

still

And

in " spirits."

convinced that the higher sort

of manifestations occur through the disembodied souls, their

and intelUgent among the

the most learned

and

leaders

phenomena they will come to

Spiritualists are the first to confess that not all the

are

produced by

Gradually

spirits.

recognise the whole truth

;

but meanwhile we have no right

nor desire to proselytize them to our views.

The

less so, as in

the cases of purely psychic and spiritual manifestations

believe in the intercommunication of the spirit of the living

man '

with that of disembodied personalities.*

say that in such cases

but the spirits there

not the spirits of the dead

who descend on

the living that ascend to the pui'e Spiritual Souls.

earth,

In truth

neither ascending nor descending, but a change of state or condition for

the mediiun. spiritual

Ego

The body is free

from

of the latter its

becoming paralyzed, or "entranced," the

trammels, and finds

the disembodied spirits.

sciousness with

itself

Hence,

on the same plane if

there

any

of con-

spiritual

two they can communicate, as often occm-s in dreams. between a mediumistic and a non-sensitive nature is this the

attraction between the

The

difference

liberated spirit of a

medium has

the opportunity and facility of influencing the

passive organs of its entranced physical body, to write at its will.

The Eao can make

make them

act, speak,

repeat, echo-like, and in the

language, the thoughts and ideas of the disembodied entity, as well as

But the

non-recejitive or non-sensitive

cannot be so influenced.

Ego does not hold

whom

loved and

organism

Hence, although there

one who

hardly a

human

and

human

its

own.

very positive being whose

free intercourse, during the sleep of his body, with those lost, yet,

of its physical envelope

on account

and brain, no

remembrance, lingers in the memory

of the positiveuess recollecti(Âťi, or

of the

and non-receptivity

a very dim, dream-like

person once awake.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq.

This means that you reject the philosophy of Spiritualism in toto ?

by "

pliilosopliy "

you mean their crude theories, we do. But they have no philosophy, in truth. Their best, their most

TriEo, If

and earnest defenders say so. Their fundamental and only unimpeachable truth, namely, that phenomena occur through mediums controlled by invisible forces and intellectual

intelligences

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;no

Huxley big

one, "

toe

except

blind

editor of Light, than

whom

let

materialist

the

With regard

school, will or can deny.

however,

their philosophy,

read to you what the able

the Spiritualists will find no wiser

nor more devoted champion, says of them and their philosophy. This

what " M. A. Oxen," one of the very few philosophical

Spiritualists, writes,

and blind bigotry It is

worth while to look steadily

at this point, for

it is of vital

have an experience and a knowledge beside which

ledge

wroth

and

with respect to their lack of organization

The ordinary

comparatively insignificant.

all

Spiritualist

anyone ventures to impugn his assured knowledge

his absolute certainty of the

stretched

forth feeble

boldly as one

who has

life

come.

Where

hands groping into the dark a chart and knows his way.

moment.

other know-

waxes

of the future

other future,

Where

men have he walks other

men

have stopped short at a pious aspiration or have been content with a hereditary faith,

it is

his boast that

he knows what they only beheve, and

that out of his rich stores he can supplement the fading faiths built only

upon hope. expectations.

demonstrate.

magnificent in his dealings with man's most cherished

You hope," he seems to say, "for that which You have accepted a traditional belief in what

experimentally prove according to the strictest scientific method. old beliefs are fading

tain as

much

;

can can

The

come out from them and be separate. They conOnly by building on a sure foimdation

falsehood as truth.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

32 of

demonstrated fact can your superstructure be "

When

stable.

round you

All

Avoid the crash and get you out.

old faiths are toppling.

one comes to deal with this magnificent person in a practical

way, what

the result

He is

Very curious and very disappointing.

sure of his ground that he takes no trouble to ascertain the interpretation

which others put upon his

The wisdom

facts.

of the ages

has concerned

with the explanation of what he rightly regards as proven

itself

does not turn a passing glance on

researches.

its

altogether with his brother Spiritualist.

;

but he

does not even agree

It is the story over again of the

old Scotch body who, together with her husband, formed a " kirk."

They had

exclusive keys to Heaven, or, rather, she had, for she

certain aboot Jamie."

So the

infinitely divided

was " na

and subdivided and

re-

subdivided sects of Spiritualists shake their heads, and are " na certain

aboot" one another.

and unvarying on of

weakness and

Again, the collective experience of mankind

this point that

failure.

men

department

that

may

and development.

work,

fitful

voice of

verdict

strength,

man

match

be brought against

a hundred of the un-

for

Organization in every

it.

Want

attests the truth.

and act on the conclusion

method, want

energy, undisciplined effortâ&#x20AC;&#x201D; these

humanity

is solid

and disunion a source

man's work means success, saving

profit

The

Shoulder to shoulder, drilled and disciplined, a

rabble becomes an army, each trained

union

time and labour,

of plan,

haphazard

mean bungling

failure.

Docs the Spirituahst accept the

Verily, no.

refuses to organize.

a law unto himself, and a thorn in the side of his neighbours."

Light, June 22, 1889.

Enq.

was

told that the Theosophical Society

was

originally founded to

crush Spiritualism and belief in the survival of the individuality in

man? Theo.

You

are misinformed.

Our But

beliefs are all

fuunded on that Hke so many others, you confuse personality with individuahty. Your Western psychologists do not seem to have established any clear distinction immortal individuality.

then,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Yet

between the two.

precisely that difference

which

gives the key-note to the understanding of Eastern philosophy,

and which

lies

of the divergence between the

root

the

And though

Theosophical and Spiritualistic teachings.

may

draw upon us still more the hostility of some Spiritualists, yet I must state here that it is Theosophy which is the true and unalloyed Spiritualism, while the modern scheme of that as

is,

now

practised

name

by the masses, simply transcendental

materialism. Please explain your idea more clearly.

Enq. Theo.

What

mean

potential matter, ice is

solidified

condition of

and

that though our teachings insist

upon the

and matter, and though we say that

identity of spirit

and matter simply crystalhzed yet

steam),

all is

since

spirit

original

the

spirit is {e.g.,

and eternal

not spirit but meto-spirit, so to speak, (visible

solid matter being simply its periodical manifestation,)

maintain that the term

spirit

can only be applied to the true

individuality.

Enq.

But what and

" the distinction between this " true individuality

the " I " or "

Ego

" of

which we are

Theo. Before I can answer you,

mean by

conscious?

we must argue upon what you

or " Ego."

all

distinguish between the simple

" I

fact of self-consciousness, the simple feeling that

and the complex thought that " I Brown."

Believing as

Ego, or re-incarnation, of the whole idea.

we do

Mr. Smith

see " Mr.

series of daily experiences

Smith

I,"

or " Mrs.

in a series of births for the

this distinction is the

You

same

fundamental pivot

reaUy means a long

strung together by the thread of

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

memory, and forming what Mr. Smith "

none of these " experiences

nor do they give " Mr. Smith for

are really the " I "

But

or the Ego,

the feeling that he

part of his

he forgets the greater

" himself."

calls

himself,

daily experiences, and

they produce the feeling of Egoity in him only while they last. We Theosophists, therefore, distinguish between this bundle of call the fake (because so finite and that element in man to which the and evanescent) personality, It is this "I am I" which we call feeling of " I am I " is due.

" experiences,"

which we

the true individuality

;

duahty plays, hke an Let us

actor,

many

parts

this

"Ego"

or indivi-

on the stage of

Hfe on earth of the same

new

every

call

and we say that

Ego a

life.*

7iight

" Ego,"

One night of a theatre. appears as " Macbeth," the next as " Shylock," the third as "Eomeo," the fourth as "Hamlet" or "King Lear," and so on, the

the stage

until he has

Ego " Puck"

actor,

run through the whole cycle of incarnations. The a sprite, an "Ariel," or a

begins his hfe-pilgrimage as ;

he plays the part of a super,

one of the chorus ing

roles,

retires

rises

a soldier, a servant,

then to " speaking parts," plays lead-

interspersed with insignificant parts,

from the stage

I understand.

Enq.

;

to earth after

You

But

surely the actor

Ego cannot

is at

preserved the sense of his individuality, to return

scene of his former actions

Theo.

finally

as " Prospero," the magician.

say, then, that this true

death.

till

hberty, if

return

he has

likes to the

say not, simply because such a return to earth would

be incompatible with any *

Vide infra, "

state of unalloyed bliss after death,

Individuality and Personality."

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. as I

prepared to prove.

unmerited misery during his with

whom

that he

say that

Hfe,

man

suffers

much

through the fault of others

associated, or because of his environment,

surely entitled to perfect rest and quiet,

before taking up again the burden of

not bhss,

However, we can

life.

discuss this in detail later.

WHY Enq.

THEOSOPHY ACCEPTED f

I imderstand to a certain extent

out I see that your teachings

;

more complicated and metaphysical than either Spiritualism Can you tell me, then, what has or current religious thought. caused this system of Theosophy which you support to arouse so much interest and so much animosity at the same time ?

are far

Theo. There are several reasons for causes that

may be mentioned

is,

the crassly materialistic theories teachers.

it,

I believe

;

among other

firstly, the great reaction from

now

prevalent

among

Secondly, general dissatisfaction with the

scientific artificial

theology of the various Christian Churches, and the number of daily increasing and conflicting sects.

growing perception of the obviously

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and

self

Thirdly, an ever-

fact that the creeds

mutually

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; contradictory

and that claims which are unverified cannot natural distrust of conventional religions

their complete

society

failure

and the masses.

to preserve

which are so

cannot be

true,

he real.

This

only strengthened

morals and to purify

Fourthly, a conviction on the part of

many, .and hnoivledge by a few, that there must be somewhere a philosophical and religious system which shall be scientific

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

and not merely speculative.

Finally, a belief, perhaps, that

such a system must be sought for in teachings far antedating

any modern But how

Enq.

faith.

come

did this system

to be put forward just

now ?

Theo. Just because the time was found to be ripe, which fact

shown by the determined reach the cealed. tions

Seeing

effort of so

many

whatever cost and wherever

truth, at

this,

its

earnest students to it

may be

con-

custodians permitted that some por-

at least of that truth should

Had

be proclaimed.

the

formation of the Theosophical Society been postponed a few years longer, one half of the

become by

this

civilized nations

would have

time rank materialists, and the other half

anthropomorphists and phenomenalists. Are we to regard Theosophy in any way as a revelation

Enq.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;not even

Theo. In no way whatever direct disclosure from

in the sense of a

some higher, supernatural,

superhuman beings ; but only

new and

or, at least,

an " unveiling

in the sense of

of old, very old, truths to minds hitherto ignorant of them,

ignorant even of the existence and preservation of any such archaic knowledge.* *

has become " fashionable," especially of

late, to deride

the notion that there

ever was, in the mysteries of great and civilized peoples, such aa the Egyptians,

Even the Eosicrucians Numerous books have been who had hardly heard the name a few years before,

Greeks, or Eomana, anything but priestly imposture.

were no better than half lunatics, half knaves. written on

them

sallied out as

;

and

tyros,

profound

critics

and Gnostics on the subject

philosophers, and mysticism in general. of

Egypt, India,

Yet a long

alchemy, the

series of the

fire-

Hierophants

Ghaldea, and Arabia are known, along with the greatest

philosophers and sages of Greece and the West, to have included under the designation of

wisdom and

divine science

all

knowledge, for they considered the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. You spoke

Enq.

of "Persecution."

Theosophy, why has acceptance TiTEO.

truth

met with such

as represented by and with no general

opposition,

For many and various reasons again, one of which

hatred

It prefers tlie

by men

felt

Selfishness

" innovations," as

for

essentially conservative,

an easy-going, unexacting

latter

they

the

them.

call

and hates being disturbed. lie

to the greatest truth,

requires the sacrifice of one's smallest comfort.

The power of mental

inertia

great in anything that does not

promise immediate benefit

and

Our

reward.

eminently unspiritual and matter of

fact.

age

pre-

Moreover, there

the unfamiliar character of Theosophic teachings

;

the highly

abstruse nature of the doctrines, some of which contradict flatly

many

human

of the

vagaries cherished by sectarians,

which have eaten into the very core of popular add

to this the personal efforts

of those

who would become

and the very limited appeals, is

doomed

will to

class to

suffer,

helped out of the mire of

exacted

which an entirely unselfish code

such slow, up-hill work.

who

life

the disciples of the inner circle,

be easy to perceive the reason

philosophy of those

beliefs.

and great purity of

life

and have

why Theosophy

It is essentially the lost all

hope of being

by any other means.

Moreover,

the history of any system of belief or morals, newly introduced into a foreign soil,

shows that

its

beginnings were impeded by

base and origin of every art and science as essentially divine. the mysteries as most sacred, and Clemens Alexandrinus, initiated into the Eleusinian mysteries, has declared

therein contained in

fools,

himself

"that the doctrines taus;ht

of all human knowledge." we wonder, or^both ?

them the end

Clemens two knaves or two

Plato regarded

who had been Were

Plato and

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

every obstacle that obscurantism and selfishness could suggest. "

The crown of the innovator

a crown of thorns " indeed

some danger. and philosophy of the T.S.

All this refers rather to the ethics

Enq.

Can you

give

of old, worm-eaten buildings can be accom-

No pulling down plished without

a general idea of the Society

itself, its

objects and

statutes ?

Theo. This was never made

Ask, and you shall receive

secret.

accurate answers.

But I heard that you were bound by pledges ? Theo. Only in the Arcmie or " Esoteric " Section. Enq. And also, that some members after leaving did not regard themAre they right ? selves bound by them. Enq.

Theo. This shows that their idea of honour

How

can they be right

sophical organ at that a soldier

and

New York,

an imperfect one.

well said in the Path, our theo-

treating of such a case

tried for infringement of oath

dismissed from the service.

'• :

and

Suppose

discipline,

In his rage at the justice

he has called down, and of whose penalties he was distinctly forewarned, the soldier turns formation, Chief,

— a spy and

and claims that

his oath of loyalty to

traitor

—

the

as a

enemy with

false

in-

revenge upon his former

punishment has released him from a cause." Is he justified, think you ?

his

Don't you think he deserves being called a dishonourable man, a

Enq.

coward

I believe so

Theo. So

much

;

but some think otherwise.

the worse for them.

subject later,

you

please.

But we

will talk

this

III.

THE WORKING SYSTEM OF THE

T.S.*

THE OBJECTS OF THE SOCIETY. What

Enq.

are the objects of the " Theosophical Society " ?

Theo. They are three, and have been so from the beginuiug.

To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, colour, or creed. (2.) To promote the study of Aryan and other Scriptures, of the (I.)

World's religion and sciences, and to vindicate the importance of old Asiatic literature, namely, of the Brahmanical, Buddhist,

and Zoroastrian philosophies. Nature under

mysteries of

(3.)

psychic and spiritual powers latent in are,

investigate the hidden

every aspect possible, and the

man

especially.

These

broadly stated, the three chief objects of the Theosophical

Society.

ExQ.

Can you

Theo.

We may

give

me some more

divide each

explanatory clauses as *

Vide (at the end) the

official rules

detailed information

of the

may

upon these

three objects into as

many

be found necessary.

of the T.S.,

abbreviation for " Theosophical Society."

Appendix A. Nota

bene, " T.S." is

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Then

Enq.

let

us begin with the

first.

What means would you

resort

among

races

order to promote such a feeling of brotherhood

to, in

known

that are beliefs,

most

to be of the

and modes of thought

diversified religions, customs,

Allow me to add that which you seem unwilling to express. Of course we know that with the exception of two remnants

Theo.

of races

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the

Parsees and the Jews

not merely against This

all

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; every nation

found most prominently among the so-called

divided,

other nations, but even against

itself.

civilized

Hence your wonder, and the reason why object appears to you a Utopia. Is it not so ?

Christian nations.

our Enq.

first

Well, yes

;

but what have you to say against

Xothing against the fact but much about the necessity of removing the causes which make Universal Brotherhood a

Theo.

;

Utopia at present.

What

Enq. Theo.

are, in

First

This

your view, these causes

and foremost, the natural

selfishness,

instead

selfishness of

human

eradicated,

lieing

nature. daily

strengthened and stimulated into a ferocious and irresistible

feehng by the present religious education, which tends not only to encourage, but positively to justify

People's ideas

it.

about right and wrong have been entirely perverted by the

hteral acceptance of the Jewish Bible.

of the

altruistic

teachings

of Jesus

theoretical subject for pulpit oratory

become merely a

has ;

the unselfishness

while the precepts of

practical selfishness taught in the Mosaic Bible, against

Christ so vainly preached, have

uinermost

life

of the

Western

become ingrained

nations.

which

into the

eye for an eye

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and a tooth for a tooth

Now,

your law.

state

has come to be the

openly and

many

perversity of this doctrine and of so

first

maxim

the

that

fearlessly,

others Theosophy

alone can eradicate.

THE COMMON ORIGIN OF MAN.

How

Enq.

Theo. Simply by demonstrating on logical, philosophical, metaphysical,

and even

spiritually

scientific

grounds that

and physically the same

mental teaching of Theosophy.

origin,

(b)

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

(a)

As mankind

of one and the same essence, and that essence uucreate, and eternal, whether

call

God

nothing, therefore, can affect one nation or one affecting

and

certain will,

all

other nations and as

sooner or

all

other men.

men have

All

which

is is

the fundaessentially

one

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

infinite,

or Nature

man

without

This

obvious as that a stone thrown into a pond later, set in

motion every single drop of water

therein.

Enq.

But

this is

not the teaching of Christ, but rather a pantheistic

notion.

Theo. That

where your mistake

although not Judaic, nations prefer to ignore

Enq.

This for

Ues.

It is

it.

a wholesale and unjust accusation.

such a statement

Where are your

proofs

Theo. They are ready at hand. " Love each other

purely Christian,

and therefore, perhaps, your Biblical

and

Christ

alleged to have said

Love your enemies";

for "if ye love

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

which love jou, what reward (or merit) have ye ? Do not even the publicans* the same ? And if you salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others ? Do not even publicans so ? " These are Christ's words. But Genesis

them

(only)

25, says "

ix.

he be unto

Cursed be Canaan, a servant of servants Christian

but

law of Moses to Christ's law of

love.

And,

brethren."

his

Biblical people prefer the

shall

therefore,

They base upon the Old Testament, which panders and tyranny over races which they call inferior. What crimes have been comto all their

passions, their laws of conquest, annexation,

mitted on the strength of this infernal letter)

(if

taken

dead

its

passage in Genesis, history alone gives us an idea, how-

ever inadequate.f Publicans

— regarded

as so many thieves and pickpockets in these name and profession oJ a publican was the most

the Jews the the world.

to enter the Temple, and

They were not allowed

days.

Among

odious thing in

Matthew

(xviii. 17)

Yet they were only Eoman tax-gatherers occupying the same position as the British of&cials in India and speaks of a heathen and a publican as identical.

other conquered countries. t "

At the

Ages slavery, under the power

close of the Middle

mainly disappeared from Europe

moral

forces,

had

but two momentous events occurred which

;

overbore the moral power working in European society and let loose a

swarm

mankind had scarcely ever known. One of these events populated and barbarous coast where human beings

curses upon the earth such as

was the

first

voyaging to a

new

were a familiar

article of traffic

where mines

wealth were open, provided labour could be imported For four hundred years men and women and children were

work them.

torn from

all

whom

to foreign traders living

;

and the other the discovery

world,

of glittering

—during

;

they

knew and

loved,

the horrible 'middle

impartial historian, two hundred and millions were

and were sold on the coast

they v/ere chained below decks

— the

passage,' and, according to fifty

of Africa

dead often with the Bancroft, an

thousand out of three and a quarter

thrown into the sea on that

fatal passage, while the

remainder

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq.

have heard you say that the identity of our physical origin

proved by science, that of our spiritual origin by the Wisdom-

we do

Yet

Eeligion.

not

Darwinists

find

exhibiting

great

fraternal affection.

Theo. Just

so.

This

what shows the deficiency of the material-

istic

systems, and proves that

The

identity of our physical origin

higher and deeper feelings. or

spirit,

But the

its

makes no appeal

Matter, deprived of

divine essence, cannot speak to the

identity of the soul

would lead us

and

spirit,

its

our

soul and

human

heart.

of real, immortal man,

once proven and deep-rooted in our

as Tlieosophy teaches us,

hearts,

Theosopliists are in the right.

far

on the road of real charity and

brother^ goodwill. Enq.

But how does Theosophy explain the common

Theo.

invisible,

which

and everything is,

else

man ?

all

nature, objective and sub-

the

teaching that the root of

jective,

origin of

universe,

visible

and

was, and ever will be one absolute essence, from

and

all starts,

Aryan philosophy,

which everything returns.

into

fully represented only

This

by the Vedantins,

were consigned to nameless misery in the mines, or under the lash in the cane The guilt of this great crime rests on the Christian Church. rice fields.

and '

In the name

the most Holy Trinity

Catholic) concluded

more than ten

thousand human beings

;

the

Spanish Government (Roman

treaties authorising the sale of five

hundred

1502 Sir John Hawkins sailed on his diabolical

eiTand of buying slaves in Africa and selling them in the "West Indies in a ship

which bore the sacred name

rewarded him

for his

human

traffic

by allowing him

colour,

bound

'with a

Jesus

success in this

cord,

or,

;

while Elizabeth, the Protestant Queen,

first

wear as

Englishmen

adventure

his crest

a demi-Moor in his proper

in other words, a

manacled negro

Conquest! of the Cross (quoted from the Ar/nostic Journal).

in that in-

slave.' "

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

With

and the Buddhist system. duty of

this object in view, it is the

Theosophists to promote in every practical way,

all

in all countries, the spread of non-sectarian education.

and

its

members

Theo. In order to awaken brotherly feehng among nations

we have

What do

Enq.

the written statutes of your Society advise

to do besides this ?

the physical plane, I

mean ?

to assist in the international exchange of useful arts and pro-

ducts,

advice, information,

and

individuals

statutes, " that

Society or the

For instance,

no '

associations

(provided,

Looking

by Edward Bellamy, Backwards,"

The

first

exists

").

organization

represents

the

great step towards

The

the full realization of universal brotherhood. falls

by the

in his magnificent

admirably

Theosophical idea of what should be the

still

add the

for its or their corporate services

to take a practical illustration.

things he depicts

worthy

all

however,

benefit or percentage shall be taken

Fellows

of Society, depicted

work

and co-operation with

state

short of perfection, because selfishness

and operates

in the hearts of

men.

But

the

main, selfishness and individualism have been overcome by the feeling of sohdarity

life

and

;

and the scheme

there described reduces the causes tendino- to create

foster selfishness to a

Then

Enq.

and mutual brotherhood

as a Theosophist

minimum.

you

will take part in

effort to

reahze

such an ideal ?

Theo.

Certainly

;

and we have proved

action.

Have

not you heard of the Nationahst clubs and party which have

sprung up in America since the pubhcation of Bellamy's book ? They are now coming prominently to the front, and will do sc

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. move and more

lime izoeo on.

party were started iu the of the

first,

phists

Well,

instance

lirst

tliese

clubs and this

One

Theosopliists.

the JN^atioualist Club of Boston, Mass., has Theoso-

and Secretary, and the majority

for President

executive belong to the T.S.

In the constitution of

its

all their

and of the party they are forming', the influence of Theosophy and of the Society is plain, for they all take as their clubs,

basis, their

first

Humanity

and fundamental

as taught

IVinciples they state

Humanity

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; "The

progress on lines

In their declaration of

principle of the Brotherhood of

human

-vvhich distinguish

What

can

But

men

with the idea that,

Brotherhood

principle, the

Theoso[)liy.

one of the etern;d trnths that govern the world's

nature."

not enough.

AVhat

also

the root of

nature from brute

than

Theosophical

needed

one, then

there must nlso be

one truth which irnds expression in

the various religions

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; except

Enq.

all

do not find

expressed even in the Kabala.

common

This refers to the right there.

But how does

physical plane

Theo.

in the Jewish, as j'ou

impress

mankind

this

First,

origin of religions,

must be

also true fertile

differences.

may

because that which

no nrore

and you

apply to practical brotherhood on the

true on the metaphysical plane

Secondly, because there

on the physical. source of

When

one

his

Error or the Devil.

hatred

partj- or

sole possessor of absolute

he should think

truth,

and

strife

than religious

another thinks himself the

becomes

onlj'

natural that

neighbour absolutely in the clutches of

But once get a man

to see that

none of

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

them has the whole

but that they are mutually com-

truth,

plementary, that the complete truth can be found only in the

combined views of

them has been will

Enq.

after that

all,

out

sifted

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; then

which

each of

true brotherhood in rehgion

The same applies

be established.

false

in the physical world.

Please explain further.

TnEO. Take an instance.

many

of the plant.

Enq.

As humanity,

shoots and leaves.

which grows from the

and

plant consists of a root, a stem, and

Hurt the stem and So

leaf will suffer.

Yes, but

as a whole,

spiritual root, so

the stem

the stem the unity

obvious that every shoot

with mankind.

it is

you injure a

it is

leaf or

a shoot, you do not injure the

whole plant.

Theo.

And

therefore

you think that by injuring one man you do But how do yoic know ? Are you aware ?

not injure humanity that

even

however

teaches

science

materialistic

slight, to

that

any

injury,

a plant will affect the whole course of

its

future growth and development

Therefore, j'ou are mistaken,

and the analogy

If,

however, you overlook the

perfect.

may

fact that a cut in the finger suffer,

often

and react on the whole nervous

more remind you

that there

operating on plants

and

may

make

the whole

sj'stem, I

must

body all

the

well be other spiritual laws,

animals as well as on mankind,

although, as you do not recognise their action on plants and animals,

Enq.

What

Thbo.

you may deny laws do you

call

the full

their existence.

mean

them Karmic laws

;

but you will not understand

meaning of the term unless you study Occultism.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

HoTrever,

argument did not

rest

on the assumption of

these laws, but really on the analogy of the plant.

the idea, carry

Expand

out to a universal application, and you will

soon find that in true philosophy every physical action has

moral and everlasting

harm

effect.

you may think that

;

pain and

his

suffering cannot

spread by any means to his neighbours, least of

other nations.

affirm that

every

say, that unless

man

will, in is

all to

good time.

wrong not only ourselves but

Therefore,

man we

the whole of humanity in the

long run, no brotherly feelings such as preached by great Eeformers, pre-eminently

men

brought to understand and

accept as an axiomatic truth that by wronging one

possible

its

Hurt a man by doing him bodily

by Buddha and

all

the

Jesus,

are

earth.

OVR OTHER OBJECTS. Enq.

Will you

now

explain the methods by which you propose to carry

out the second object

Theo. To collect for the library at our head quarters of Adyar, Madras, (and by the Fellows of their Branches for their local libraries,) all

can.

the

To put

good works upon the world's into written

religions that

form correct information upon

the various ancient philosophies, traditions, and legends, and

disseminate the same in such practicable ways as the translation

and publication of original works of value, and extracts

from and commentaries upon the same, or the oral instructions of persons learned in their respective departments.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

And what

Enq.

spiritual or psychic

TiiEO. This has

man

about the third object, to develop in

powers

his latent

be achieved also by means of publications, in

those places where no lectures and personal teachings are possible. intuitions.

Our duty is to keep alive To oppose and counteract

and proof of

gation

its

irrational nature

or as

religious sectarianism

thing supernatural. knowledije

all

his

spiritual

after

due

investi-

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;bigotry

and cant above

form, religious, scientific, or social, as

man

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

belief in

What we have

the laws of nature,

in every

all,

miracles

and

whether or any-

to seek to obtain to diffuse

it.

encourage the study of those laws least understood by modern people, the so-called Occult Sciences, based on the true knowledge

beliefs

and

nature, instead

of,

present, on

based on blind faith and authority.

traditions,

however

fanciful at

times,

superstitious

Popular folk-lore

when

sifted

may

lead to the discovery of long-lost, but important, secrets of nature.

The

therefore, aims at pursuing this line of

Society,

inquiry, in the

hope of widening the

field

of scientific and

philosophical observation.

ON THE SACREDNESS OF THE PLEDGE. Enq.

Have you any

ethical

system that you carry out in the Society

Theo. The ethics are there, ready and clear enough for whomsoever

would follow them.

They

are the essence and

world's ethics, gathered from the teachings of

cream of the all

the world's

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. you

Therefore,

reformers.

great

will

Bhacfavat-

tlie

Gautama Buddha and Jesus

Gita, the precepts of

represented

find

therein Confucius and Zoroaster, Laotze and

of Nazareth,

of Hillel and his school, as of Pythagoras, Socrates, Plato, and their schools.

Enq.

members

the

of your Society carry out these precepts ?

have heard of great dissensions and quarrels among them.

Theo. Very naturally, since although the reform

may be

shape)

men and women

called new, the

said, the earnest

assist

and

their

own

;

not to blame or

have, strictly speaking,

anyone

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; especially

no right Esoteric

the

wherein "he who enters

member,

ideals.

Our duty

to live

encourage

individual fellows in self-improvement, intellectual,

moral, and spiritual

present

;

and well-disposed persons, who try their best

to the Society's

and

its

be reformed

same human, sinning natures as of old. As already working members are few but many are the

are the

sincere

(in

sacred pledges

liis

his

fail.

refuse admission to

Section

one newly born."

condemn those who

word

the

But

Society, if

any

honour and

immortal Self notwithstanding, chooses to continue, after that "

new

old

birth," with the

life,

and

of course, he

withdraw have

;

new man,

to indulge in is

or,

more than

Can some

TiiEO.

They

can.

the vices or defects of his still

likely to

to be expelled.

such emergencies.

them be mentioned

To begin

the Society, then, of

be asked to resign and

in case of his refusal,

the strictest rules for

Enq.

them

with, no Fellow in the Society, whether

exoteric or esoteric, has a right to force his personal opinions

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

" It

upon another Fellow. Parent Society to hostility

to,

more than

for,

by word or act, any any one section,* reHgious

another.

have the essential features of

his

own

capacity as an

All have an equal right

their religious belief laid before

the tribunal of an impartial world. Society, in his

of the

officer

express in public,

preference

or philosophical,

not lawful for a7iy

officer,

And no

officer

of the

has the right to preach

sectarian views and beliefs to

members assembled,

except when the meeting consists of his co-religionists.

After due

warning, violation of this rule shall be punished by suspension This

or expulsion."

large.

one of the offences in the Society

the following rules have been laid

back

"No

as 1880.

Fellow shall put to his

knowledge communicated section

him by any member

use any

of the

first

Now, however, before any such

knowledge can be imparted, the applicant has

by a solemn oath not

use

reveal anything said except

But

selfish

(now a higher 'degree'); violation of the rule being

punished by expulsion."

Enq.

now called the Esoteric, down and adopted, so far

regards the inner section,

man

reveal anything he

for selfish purposes,

nor to

by permission.

expelled, or resigning,

may have

to bind himself

from the section

free to

learned, or to break any clause of the

pledge he has taken ?

Theo.

Certainly not.

him from â&#x20AC;˘

" branch," or lodge, as they are

His expulsion or resignation only relieves

the obligation of obedience to the teacher, and from

composed

now somewhat

solely of co-religionists, or a

bombastically called.

branch in partibue,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. that of taking an active part in the

work

of the Society, but

surely not from the sacred pledge of secrecy.

But

Enq.

Theo.

this reasonable

and just

To any man

Most assuredly.

woman

with the slightest

honourable feeling a pledge of secrecy taken even on one's

word of honour, much more within

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

binding

one's

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the God

Higher

Self

And though he may leave the no man or woman of honour will

death.

till

Section and the Society,

think of attacking or injuring a body to which he or she has

been so pledged.

But

Enq.

not this going rather far

Perhaps

Theo.

so,

But

time and morality. use

a pledge at

if it

How

all ?

secret knowledge, all

according to the low standard of the present

does not bind as far as

this,

to be at liberty to free himself

the obligations he had taken, whenever he pleases

would ever

security, confidence, or trust

what

can anyone expect to be taught

exist

from

What

among men,

pledges such as this were to have no really binding force at all ?

Believe me, the law of retribution (Karma) would very

soon overtake one

who

broke

his pledge,

soon as the contempt of every honourable

this physical plane.

just cited

this

and perhaps

man

would, even

" well expressed in the N.Y. " Path

subject, "

pledge once taken,

binding in both the moral and the occult worlds.

for ever

we break

once and are punished, that does not justify us in breaking

again,

of the

and

Law

so long as

(of

Karma)

do, so long will the

react

upon

mighty lever

us." (The Path, July, 1889.)

IV.

THE EELATIONS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY TO THEOSOPHY.

ON SELF-IMPROVEMENT. Enq.

moral elevation, then, the principal thing insisted upon in your

Society ?

Theo. Undoulitedl}-

He who

"would he a true Theosophist must

brincf himself to live as one.

Ekq.

If so, then, as I

remarked

before, the behaviour of

some members

strangely belies this fundamental rule. it does. But this cannot be helped among us, any more than amongst those wlio call themselves Christians and

Theo. Indeed

hke

act

the tlie

fiends.

human

that of

This

fault of

Even

nature.

our statutes and

rules,

but

some exoteric public branches,

members pledge themselves on their " Higher Self" to live life prescribed by Theosophj'. They have to bring their

Divine Self to guide their every thought and action, every day

and

every

moment

" to deal justly and

Enq.

What

do you

of their lives.

walk liuml3h\"

mean by

this ?

true Theosophist ought

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. Simply

this

Let

selves.

the one self has to forget

answer you in the words of a true Phila-

who has beautifully expressed it in the "What every man needs first is to fmd himself,

Theosophist

and then take an honest inventory of

bad or bankrupt

the many-

itself for

an F.T.S.,

letheian,

and,

set

about

may be,

his subjective possessions,

it is

not beyond redemption

But how many do

in earnest."

All are

wilUng to work for their own development and progress

To quote

few for those of others. "

Men have been

must break

for themselves

many, all

;

for

deceived and deluded long enough

away

their idols, put

—nay, there

he who works for

their shams,

and go

they

;

work

word too much or too himself had better not work at one

him work himself

rather let

very

;

the same writer again

little

for others, for

all.

For every

flower of love and charity he plants in his neighbour's garden,

weed

a loathsome

garden of the gods

—Humanity—

all Bibles, all religions, this is

men have

first

'misinterpreted

Let every

once man's immortal

shall

man

spirit

own, and so

this

blossom as a rose.

his

plainly set

and

forth—but designing finally

emasculated,

not require a

new

be a revelation unto himself.

Let

materiahsed, besotted them. revelation.

from

will disappear

does

take possession of the temple of his

body, drive out the money-changers and every unclean thing, and his

own

humanity

divine

atone with himself he Enq.

This

Theo.

is.

practise

will

redeem him,

know

the

for

when he

thus

builder of the> Temple.'

pure Altruism, I confess.

And it

oiirs

only one Fellow of the T.S. out of ten would

would be a body of

elect indeed.

But there

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

among

are those

the outsiders

the essential difference between

and

Society, the idea visit

always refuse to see

will

Theosophy and the Theosophical

Such would

imperfect embodiment.

every sin and shortcoming of the vehicle, the

on the pure

work up

which sheds thereon

spirit

just to either to

its

who

to,

for the propagation of,

tremendous odds against Society only because

which other systems eminently

would

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;have

divine light.

it.

Some

presumes

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Church

failed

most

Theosophical

the

attempt to do that in

and

ideal wdth

its

vilify

State

most egregiously

;

Christianity

pre-

others because they

preserve the existing state of things

fain

Is this

stones at an association that tries

They throw and

its

human body,

Pharisees

and Sadducees in the seat of Moses, and publicans and sinners revelling in high places, as under the Eoman Empire during its Fair-minded people,

decadence. that the

man who

does

all

any

rate,

he can, does as

ought

much

remember

he who has

achieved the most, in this world of relative possibilities. is

a simple

axiom supported

truism, an

This

for believers in the

Gospels by the parable of the talents given by their Master the servant

who doubled

his two talents

as that other fellow- servant

man Enq.

it is

Yet

who had

was rewarded

received

Theo.

it is

the

much

rather difficult to draw the Une of demarcation between

we have only

the

form our judgment by.

Then why make an exception

charity,

To every

given " according to his several ability."

the abstract and the concrete in this case, as latter to

five.

ought to begin

"Sermon on

the

Home.

for the T.S.

Justice,

hke

Will you revile and scoff at

Mount" because your

social, political

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and even out

its

religious laws have, so far, not only failed to carry-

precepts in their

spirit,

but even

in their

dead

letter

Abolish the oath in Courts, Parliament, Army' and everywhere,

and

Quakers

the

do,

you

ivill

call

Abolish the Courts themselves, for

Christians.

yourselves

you would

Commandments of Christ, j^ou have to give away your coat to him who deprives you of your cloak, and turn your left cheek to the bully who smites you on the right. follow the

" Eesist not

do good

one of the so,

evil,

love your enemies, bless them that curse you,

them that hate you,"

judged

shall

your turn

Insist

should you judge,

you would not be that between Theosophy and the no difference, and forthwith you

lay the system of Christianity and

same charges, only

Why vwre

break

Commandments and shall teach men least in the Kingdom of Heaven," say Thou fool shall be in danger of

Theosophical Society there

Enq.

shall

be called the

And why

fire."

whosoever

least of these

shall

and " whosoever

heU

for "

in a

its

very essence open to the

serious form.

serious ?

Theo. Because, while the leaders of the Theosophical movement, recognising fully their shortcomings, try

amend

their

and while

ways and uproot the

their rules

all

they can do to

evil existing in

the Society

and bye-laws are framed in the

;

spirit of

Theosophy, the Legislators and the Churches of nations and countries which call themselves Christian do the reverse.

Our

members, even the worst among them, are no worse than the average Christian. experience so

much

Moreover,

the Western Theosophists

difficulty in leading the true

Theosophical

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

56 life, it is

tliey are all the children of their generation.

because

Every one of them was a Christian, bred and brought up in the sophistry of his Church, his social customs, and even his

paradoxical laws.

sophist, or rather, a it

was

member

before he

this

became a Theo-

of the Society of that name, as

cannot be too often repeated that between the abstract ideal

and

its

vehicle there

most important

difference.

THE ABSTRACT AND THE CONCRETE. Enq.

Please elucidate this difference a

Theo. The Society

a great

little

body of men and women, composed

the most heterogeneous elements.

meaning,

more.

Theosophy, in

good

;

and

in its concrete sens 3

the same as allotted to

more.

abstract

Divine Wisdom, or the aggregate of the knowledge

and wisdom that underlie the Universe eternal

its

Some members

to speak, to objectivize

desire only to

know

of,

man by

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the it is

homogeneity of

sum

the

total of

nature, on this earth, and no

earnestly endeavour to realize and, so

Theosophy

in their lives

not to practise

;

while others

and others

still

may

have joined the Society merely out of curiosity, or a passing interest,

or perhaps,

again,

because some of their friends

How, then, can the system be judged by the standard of those who would assume the name without any right to it ? Is poetry or its muse to be measured only by those would-be poets who afflict our ears ? The Society can

belong to

it.

be regarded as the embodiment of Theosophy only in abstract motives it can never presume to call itself ;

its its

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. concrete vehicle soloBg as are all represented in

its

human imperfections and weaknesses

body

;

otherwise the Society would

be only repeating the great error and the outflowing sacrileges of the so-called Churches of Christ.

If Eastern

may

the

Theosophy

permitted,

universal truth, love, and wisdom, reflecting the earth, while the Theosophical Society

bubble on that

and to

invisible,

its

reflection.

and

its

orbit to

its

human

Theosophy.

divine parent.

sun, and

Theosophy

Society

comparisons

shoreless its

ocean of

radiance on

only a visible

divine nature, visible

nature trying to ascend

finally, is the fixed eternal

Society the evanescent comet trying to settle in an

become

a planet, ever revolving within the attraction

was formed to assist in showing to men that such a thing as Theosophy exists, and to help them to ascend towards it by studying and assimilating its eternal of the sun of truth.

verities.

Enq.

I thought

Theo.

Xo more we

you

you had no tenets

said

have.

to support or teach.

truths uttered historic get.

or less

The Society has no wisdom of

of truth,

But

;

all

own the

and prophets of

at least, as

many

can

merely the channel through which more

found in the accumulated utterances of

humanity's great teachers,

Enq.

seers, initiates,

and even pre-historic ages it is

its

simply the storehouse of

It is

by the gxeat

Therefore,

own

or doctrines of your

poured out into the world.

such truth um-eachable outside of the society

every Church claim the same

Theo. Not at aU.

Does not

The undeniable existence of great initiates true "Sons of God" shows that such wisdom was often

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

reached by isolated individuals, never, however, without the

guidance of a master at

But most of the followers of in their turn, have dwarfed

first.

when they became masters

such,

the Catholicism of these teachings into the narrow groove of their

own

The commandments of a chosen

sectarian dogmas.

master alone were then adopted and followed, to the exclusion of

others

all

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

followed at

made

divine truth,

Enq.

But Theosophy, you

Theo. Most assuredly

and of absolute

creed. earth, onl}'-

religion

to focus a vast

claimed to represent

which

note well, as in the case of the

all,

Each

Sermon on the Mount.

say,

not a rehgion

truth, a

resort once

like the white

panorama of human fancy

and replace that

not, since

it is

thus a bit of the

it is

truth.

the essence of

and cursing them

metaphor.

Theosophy, on Ignoring

its

all

the

as false, every special coloured ray

claims not only priority, but to be that white ray

anathematizes even

religion

ray of the spectrum, and every religion

one of the seven prismatic colours.

others,

all

drop of which only underlies every

own

tints

from light

itself,

and

to dark, as heresies.

Yet, as the sun of truth rises higher and higher on the horizon of man's perception, and each coloured ray gradually fades

out until last

it is

re-absorbed in

finally

be cursed no longer with

its

turn,

find itself bathing in the pure colourless truth.

Enq.

And

Your claim

this will is,

finally

will at

but will

sunhght of eternal

be Theosophia.

then, that

Theosophy, and that

humanity

artificial polarizations,

all

the great religions are derived from

by assimilating

saved from the curse of

its

that the world will be

great illusions and errors ?

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. Precisely the

And we add

so.

humble seed which,

that our Theosophical Society

watered and

produce the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which grafted on the Tree of Life Eternal.

left to live, will finally

For

it is

only by studying

the various great religions and philosophies of humanity,

comparing them dispassionately and with an unl^iassed mind, that

men can hope

finding out

we may either

Enq.

especiallj''

study, or

For no sooner do we arrive by being taught by someone who knows

meaning, than we

find,

almost in every case, that

expresses some great truth in Nature.

We have heard of a Golden Age that was, and what you describe would be a Golden Age to be reahsed at some future day. When shall it be?

Theo. Not before humanity, as a whole,

maxim

in the Persian " Javidan

two kinds

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one manifest and

incessantly

new

self-

need of

feels the

Khirad evident

" ;

says

the other

demonstrations and proofs."

now

it.

Truth

demanding only

when

this latter kind of truth becomes as universally obvious as

it is

dim, and therefore liable to be distorted by sophistry and

casuistry

;

only

once more one, that Enq.

their various points of agreement that

achieve this result.

at their inner it

to arrive at the truth.

and noting

But

when

all

surely those few

the two kinds will have

become

people will be brought to see ahke.

who have

felt

the need of such truths must

have made up their minds to believe in something definite ?

You

no doctrines of its own, every member may believe as he chooses and accept what he pleases. This looks as if the Theosophical Society was bent upon tell

that,

the

Society

having

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

reviving the confusion of languages and beliefs of the

Babel of TiiEo.

old.

Have you no

beliefs in

Tower

common ?

What is meant by the Society having no tenets or doctrines its own is, that no special doctrines or beliefs are obligatory

its

members The

;

as a whole.

but, of course, this applies only to the Society, as

a philosophy, or

religious system of their

Enq.

May we

Theo.

be told what

make no

still

you so

to the latter

prefer

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

own.

it is

secret of

in the TheosopJiist

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

body

told, is divided into

Those who belong

outer and an inner body. have, of course,

you were

it.

was outUned a few years ago

and "Esoteric Buddhism," and may be found

more elaborated

in the " Secret Doctrine."

It is

based on

the oldest philosophy of the world, called the Wisdom-Eeligion

or the Archaic Doctrine.

and have them explained.

you

like,

you may ask questions

THE FUNDAilENTAL TEACHINGS OF THEOSOPHY.

ON GOD AND PBAYEB. Do you

Enq.

believe in

God ?

Theo. That depends wliat you mean by the term.

Enq.

mean

Creator

God

the

of the Christians, the Father of Jesus,

the Biblical

God

Theo. In such a God we do not believe.

reject the idea of a

an extra-cosmic and anthropomorphic God,

personal, or is

but the gigantic shadow of man, and not of

either.

and the

of Moses, in short.

The God of theology, we say

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and

man

at his best,

prove

bundle of contradictions and a logical impossibility. fore,

Enq.

will

State your reasons,

here are a few.

and absolute, I believe he

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

There-

have nothing to do with him. if

you please.

Theo. They are many, and cannot

Enq.

who

is is.

This

he not

God

all

receive

called

attention.

But

his devotees infinite

—

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo. Then,

if infinite

how can he have

i.e.,

limitless

— and

especially

absolute,

a form, and be a creator of anything

implies limitation, and a beginning as Avell as an end

order to create, a Being must think and plan.

ABSOLUTE

be supposed to think

whatever to that which This the fore,

philosophical,

i.e.,

infinite

Unity

called

Ain-Soph.*

Creator has to become active

and

;

How

can the

and conditioned

idea,

Even

absurdity.

logical

Hebrew Kabala rejects such an makes of the one and the Absolute

;

and, in

have any relation

limited, finite,

and

Form

and

there-

Deific Principle an

In order to create, the as

this

impossible for

ABSOLUTENESS, the infinite principle had to be shown becoming the cause of evolution (not creation) in an indirect way i.e., through the emanation from itself (another absurdity, due

this

time to the translators of the

Kabala) f

the

Sephiroth.

How

Enq.

about those Kabahsts, who, while being such,

in Jehovah, or the

still

behave

Tetragrammaton?

Theo. They are at liberty to believe in what they please, as their belief or disbelief can

Jesuits

Ain-Soph,

tell

;r^iD

hardly affect a self-evident

^''^=t4

nm^xeipo;,

the

Nature, the non-existent which IS, but t

How

It is

The

endless,

or boundless,

;

and with

not a Being.

can the non-active eternal piinciplo emanate or emit

the Vedantins does nothing of the kind

Kabala.

fact.

us that two and two are not always four to a

The Parabrahm

nor does the Ain-Soph of the Chaldean

an eternal and periodical law which causes an active and creative

force (the logos) to

emanate from the ever-concealed and incomprehensible one

principle at the beginning of every

maha-manvantara, or new cycle

of life.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. certamty,

2X2 ExQ.

since

Shall

Then you

-will

God

accept their sophistry for aU that

make ?

we know to be

of. and not unless the epithet of apphed to those who disbeUere in an

anthropomorphic God. within which

all

shall

beheve in a Tniversal Divine

ALL, from which

the root of

Principle,

on the

are Atheists ?

Theo. Xot that 'Atheist"

depends

be absorbed

at the

all

proceeds, and

end of the great

cycle of Being. E^â&#x20AC;˘Q.

This

you are Pantheists, and if you are not Deists, then you have to

the old, old claim of Pantheism.

you cannot be Deists answer to the name of Atheists. ;

The teiin " Pantheism " is again one of the many abused terms, whose real and primitive meaning has been distorted by bhnd prejudice and a one-sided view of it. K you accept the Christian etymology of this compound word, and form it of ^oj., "all," and eeos, "god," and then imagine' and

Theo. Xot necessarily

so.

teach that this means that every stone and every tree in

Xature right,

God or the ONE God, then, of course, you will be and make of Pantheists fetish-worshippers, in addition is

to their le<ntrmate name. ful if you etymologise the

we Enq.

But vou will haxdlv be as successword Pantheism esoterically, and as

do.

What

Theo. Let

is,

then, your definition of

it ?

ask you a question in

understand by Pan, or Nature

turn.

What do you

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Nature

Enq.

I suppose, the

is,

the aggregate

sum

total of things existing

around us

;

effects in the world of matter, the

and

of causes

creation or universe.

Theo. Hence

tlie

and

;

effects

sum and order

personified

the total of

all

finite

known and

agencies

causes as

forces,

utterly disconnected from an intelligent Creator or Creators,

and perhaps " conceived of as in

Enq.

your cyclopedias

Yes, I believe

Theo. Well,

as a single

and separate force

so.

neither take into consideration this objective and

material nature, which

we mean by

-kRv

call

an evanescent

Nature, in the sense of

illusion,

from the Latin Natura (becoming, from

nasci, to

When we

speak of the Deity and

coeval, with Nature,

the

eternal

meant, and not your aggregate of unrealities.

leave

to the

make and

nor do

accepted derivation

its

uncreate

flitting

be born).

identical,

nature

shadows and

hymn-makers

hence is

finite

to call the visible

sky or heaven, God's Throne, and our earth of mud His footstool.

Our

DEITY

neither in a paradise, nor in a particular tree,

building, or nrountain visible

it is

as of the invisible

everywhere, in every atom of the

Cosmos,

in,

over, and around every

atom and divisible molecule for IT is the mysterious power of evolution and involution, the omnipresent, omnipotent, and even omniscient creative potentiality. invisible

Enq.

;

Stop Omniscience is the prerogative of something that thinks, and you deny to your Absoluteness the power of thought. !

Theo.

We deny it

to the

ABSOLUTE,

limited and conditioned.

since thought

something

But you evidently forget that

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. philosophy absolute unconsciousness sciousness, as otherwise

Then your Absolute

Enq.

Theo. No, it does not Thought

;

thinks

exist, for the

Eead

poem by Solomon Ben Jehudah

Kether-Malchut, and you will understand the root of

all

numbers, but not

Absolute

same reason,

absolute existence, and Be-ness, not a Being. Kabalistic

con-

absolute

also

absolute.

for the simple reason that

Nor does

itself.

would not be

it is

the superb

Gabirol, in the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; " Thou

art one,

an element of numeration

;

Thou of Thy unity the wisest of men are not. Thou art one, and Thy unity

for unity admits not of multiplication, change, or form. art one,

and

lost, l)ecause is

in the secret

they

know

never diminished, never extended, and cannot be changed.

Thou

art one,

and no thought of mine can

or define Thee.

Thou AiiT, but not

fix for

Thee a hmit,

as one existent, for the

understanding and vision of mortals cannot attain to existence, nor determine for

why,"

etc., etc.

In short, our Deity

the eternal, incessantly

evolving, not creating, builder of the universe itself

unfolding out a

its

sphere, without

o'wti

being made.

not

essence,

circumference,

that universe

;

its

symbolism,

which has but one ever-acting attribute embracing existing or thinkable attributes

giving the impulse

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;ITSELF.

manifested, eternal,

It is

and

all

Enq.

in its manifesting periods

I once heard one

of your

other

the one law,

immutable

laws, within that never-manifesting, because absolute

which

Thy

Thee the where, the how and the

LAW,

The ever-Becoming.

members remarking

that Universal

Deity, being everywhere, was in vessels of dishonour, as in those of

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

honour, and, therefore, was present in every atom of Is this not

cigar ash

rank blasphemy ?

Theo. I do not think

Were we

blasphemy.

simple logic can hardly be regarded as

so, as

exclude the Omnipresent Principle

from one single mathematical point of the universe, or from a particle of matter still

regard

occupying any conceivable space, could we

as infinite

NECESSABY TO PBAY?

IS IT

Enq.

Theo.

Enq.

You

Theo.

Why

you believe in prayer, and do you ever pray

not.

act,

instead of talking.

do not offer prayers even to the Absolute Principle

should

Being

well-occupied people,

we can

hardly afford to lose time in addressing verbal prayers to a

pure abstraction. only in

any

its

finite

existence

parts to each other, but

Do you

non-existent as regards

on prayer or prayers.

not believe at

externally, if

unknown God

all

in the efficacy of prayer ?

taught in

many words and

by prayer you mean the outward as the addressee,

Jews and popularised Is there

capable of relations

The visible universe depends for its and phenomena on its mutually acting forms and

Theo. Not in prayer

Enq.

relations.

their laws, not

Enq.

The Unknowable

repeated

petition to an

which was inaugurated by the

1)y the Pharisees.

any other kind of prayer ?

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. Most decidedly; we

To whom,

Enq.

Is that different

Theo. Entirely

his

rather

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;in

so ?

esoteric

its

meaning

in theology ?

therefore finite

God

;

man

which

and try to Matthew), not to an extra-cosmic and and that " Father " is in man himself.

vi. v. 6,

Then you make

Occultist or a Theosophist addresses his

Father

understand, ch.

Enq.

when you do "

from the one given to

so.

prayer to

petition.

then, do you pray

Theo. To " our Father in heaven

and

will-peayee,

call it

an internal conunand than a

secret (read,

God ?

Theo. Please say "

God " and not a God. In our sense, the inner man is the only God we can have cognizance of. And how can this be otherwise ? Grant us our postulate that God is a universally diffused, infinite principle, and how can man alone escape from being soaked through by, and

in,

the

Deity

call

are cognizant witliin us, in our heart and spiritual con-

our " Father in heaven

sciousness,

that deific essence of which

and which has nothing

morphic conception we may form of fancy

do with the anthropo-

in our physical brain

Know ye

not that ye are the temple of God, and that the spirit of (the absolute) God dwelleth in you ? " * Yet,

One

its

often finds in Theosophical writings conflicting statements about the Christos principle in

(Atman).

man.

Some

If Christian

them be made

call it

the sixth principle (Buddhi), others the seventh

Theosophists wish to

philosophically correct

religion symbols.

make use

by following the

say that Christos

such expressions,

let

Wisdom-

not only one of the three higher

principles, but all the three regarded as a Trinity.

Holy Ghost, the Father, and the Son,

analogj' of the old

This Trinity represents the

answers to

abstract

spirit,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

no man antliropomorphise that essence

let

Theosophist,

he would hold to divine, not

"God in secret" listens manor the infinite essence

that this

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

finite

remarked, that a prayer

The

truth, say

distinct from, either

for all are one.

Nor, as just

finite

It is a mystery rather and conditioned thoughts

;

spirit

unconditioned, are translated into spiritual wills and

the will

human

unable to be assimilated by the absolute

desires,

which

Let no

us.

a petition.

an occult process by which

and

to,

such process being called " spiritual transmutation."

;

intensity of our ardent aspirations changes prayer into

the " philosopher's stone," or that which transmiTtes lead into

The onty homogeneous

pure gold.

becomes

the

active

creative

essence, our " will-prayer force,

producing

effects

according to our desire.

Enq.

Do you mean to say

that prayer

an occult process bringing about

physical results ?

Theo. I do. those

Will-Power becomes a living power. Occultists

But woe unto

and Theosophists, who, instead of crushing

out the desires of the lower personal ego or physical man, and saying, addressing

Atma - Buddhic

their

light,

Higher Spiritual Ego immersed in

Thy

will

send up waves of will-power for For- this

the

same

Bliagavatgita Spirit,

selfish

etc.,

or unholy purposes

black magic, abomination, and spiritual sorcery.

differentiated spirit, ally

be done, not mine,"

and embodied

principle find

under

spirit. its

Krishna and Christ are philosophic-

triple

aspect of manifestation.

In the

Krishna calling himself indifferently Atman, the abstract

Kshetragna, the Higher or reincarnating Ego, and the Universal Self,

names which, when transferred from the Universe to man, answer Buddhi and Manas, The AiiKgita is full of the same doctrine,

all

Atma,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Unfortunately,

this

all

the

are sending two armies to

murder each

when

prayers to the same

God

the latter

Both indulge

other.

before action in a bit of such sorcery,

our

occupation of

favourite

Christian statesmen and generals, especially

offering respectively

of Hosts, each entreating his help

to cut its enemies' throats.

Enq.

David prayed to the Lord of Hosts to help him smite the Phihstines and slay the Syrians and the Moabites, and " the Lord Li that we only follow

preserved David whithersoever he went."

what we

find in the Bible,

Theo. Of course you do.

But

since

you delight

selves Christians, not Israelites or Jews,

a.s

calling j'our-

we know, why

far as

do you not rather follow that which Christ says distinctly

commands you

not to follow "

them

the Mosaic law, but bids you do as he those

who would

by the sword. have made a trite

lip

which you never

we Enq.

you, and warns

by the sword, that they, too, will perish you one prayer of which you prayer and a boast, and which none but the

you

say, in

your dead-sense

forgive our debtors,"

Again, he told you to love your enemies

do.

them that hate you.

prophet of Nazareth to slay,

of old times," or

tells

kill

" Forgive us our debts, as

and do good

It is surely

who taught you

pray

not the "

your

and give you victory over your enemies

reject

Christ has given

Occultist understands.

meaning

And

what you

Father

This

meek

why

call " prayers."

But how do you explain the peoples have prayed

"â&#x20AC;˘

to,

universal fact that

all

and worshipped a God or Gods

adored and propitiated devils and harmful

spirits,

nations and

Some have

but this only

proves the universality of the belief in the efficacy of prayer.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

" ;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo.

explained by that other fact that praj'er has several

other meanings besides that given

by the

Christians.

but meant, in days of

means not only a pleading or petition, old, far more an invocation and incantation. rhythmically

the

chanted prayer

precisely such a meaning, as the

Hindus, has

the

Brahmins hold themselves

devas or " Gods."

common

higher than the

The mantra,

prayer

may

be an appeal or an incantation for malediction, and a curse the case of two

(as

mutual destruction) as much as themselves, asking

them "

working

instead

for

it,

given

from

stood,

the result

evil,

doubly pernicious

develops in him a

selfish,

" daily

their

is,

(a)

them

as the

bread to lead

(the memorialists

now

that prayer, as It kills in

for

and pray only

and begging God not

into temptation " but to deliver

only)

And

for blessing.

great majority of people are intensely for

simultaneously

armies praying

man

under-

self-reliance

more ferocious selfishness and egotism than he is already endowed with by nature. I repeat, that we believe in " communion " and simultaneous action in unison with our "Father in secret"; and in rare moments of ecstatic bliss, in the mingling of our higher O (i) It

still

soul its

origin

and finite it

with

after

the universal essence, attracted as

and

centre, a state,

death. Nirvana.

beings

as idolatry.

i.e.,

useless prayer

;

during

life

towards

Samadhi,

refuse to pray to created

gods, saints, angels,

explained before

called

etc.,

because we regard

cannot pray to the absolute for reasons

therefore,

try to replace fruitless and

by meritorious and good-producing

actions.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq.

Christians would call

Theo. Entirely

pride and blasphemy.

It is they,

so.

Are they wrong

on the contrary, who show Satanic

pride in their belief that the Absolute or the Infinite, even there

was such a thing

the

will stoop

they

it is

virtually blaspheme, in teaching that an Omniscient

and Omnipotent God needs uttered prayers has to do

—

And

to listen to every foolish or egotistical prayer.

who

of any relation

possibility

between the unconditioned and the conditioned

again,

This

— understood

esoterically

—

know what he

corroborated

one says " seek

nought from by both Buddha and Jesus. The pray not hut rather act ; for darkness will the helpless Gods Ask nought from silence, for it can neither not brighten.

—

speak

nor

And

hear."

the

" Whatsoever ye shall ask in

will I do."

with the

—Jesus—recommends

our argument.

full

But

(that of Christos) that

course, this quotation,

sense, goes against cally,

other

my name

if if

taken in

its it

literal

esoteri-

knowledge of the meaning of the term,

" Christos," which to us represents Atma-Buddhi-Manas, the "

SELF,"

and pray

to,

comes

of which our

to this

the only

God we must

or rather act in unison with,

body

recognise

that spirit of

the temple, and in which

God

dwelleth.

PEAYEB KILLS SELF-BELIANCE. ExQ.

But

TiiEO. It

did not Christ himself pray and

recommend prayer?

so recorded, but those " prayers

are precisely of that

kind of communion just mentioned with one's " Father in

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Otherwise, and

secret."

deity, there

identify Jesus with the universal

would be something too absurdly

inevitable conclusion that he, the " very to himself,

Enq.

and separated the

will of that

illogical in the

God himself prayed God from his own "'

One argument more; an argument, moreover, much used by some Christians. They say, " I feel that I am not able to conquer any passions and weaknesses in my own strength. But when I pray to Jesus Christ I

His power I

Theo.

that he gives

feel

strength and that in

able to conquer." If " Christ Jesus "

wonder.

God, and one independent

1dm who prays, of course everything is, and But, then, where's the to " a mighty God."

and separate from 7nust

possiljle

merit, or justice either, of such a conquest

Why should

the

pseudo-conqueror be rewarded for something done which has cost

him only prayers

Would

you, even a simple mortal

full day's wage if you did most of work for him, he sitting under an apple tree, and praying to you to do so, all the while ? This idea of passing one's whole life in moral idleness, and having one's hardest work and duty done by another whether God or man is most revolting

man, pay your labourer a his

—

to us, as

Enq.

it is

Perhaps

—

most degrading

so, yet it is

human

the idea of trusting in a personal Saviour to

help and strengthen in the battle of idea of

modern

tively,

such behef

Christianity. is

dignity.

And

efticacious

;

\\hich

life,

there

i.e.,

the fundamental

no doubt

who

that those

that, subjec-

believe do feel

themselves helped and strengthened.

Theo. of

Nor

there

" Christian

any and

doubt,

" Mental

that

Scientists "

some

— the

patients o-reat

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. ''

Deniers "*

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;are

also

sometimes cured

;

nor that hypnotism,

and suggestion, psj'chology, and even mediumship, such

results, as often, if

and

sideration,

string

You

not oftener. thread

the

And how

produce

your

argument,

about ten times the number of

successes

alone.

failures

Surely you will not presume to say that failure

unknown even with fanatical Christians

Where

success ?

his passions

to his

Self,

How

Karma.

full

spirit,

long shall

its

tree

effects

or the

God

in him,

we have to repeat over known by its fruit, the You speak of subduing

and becoming good through and with the help of

or Christ.

Buddhism

ask,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

where do you from

sin

find

virtuous,

and crime, in Christendom

in Christian countries or in heathen lands

Statistics are there to give the

claims.

which are followed by

cases

the divine

guiltless people, abstaining

among

does a Theosophist look to for power to subdue

nature of the cause by

God

faith,

and over again that the passions,

blind

and selfishness?

Theo. To his Higher

and

sufficiency

But how can you explain those

ExQ.

According

Ceylon and India,

committed by Christians,

Mussulmen, Hindoos, Eurasians, Buddhists, millions of population taken at

answer and corroborate our

to the last census in

in the comparative table of crimes

will

take into con-

random from

etc., etc.,

on two

each, and covering

The new sect of healers, who, by disavo-wing the existence of anything but spirit, which spirit can neither suffer nor be ill, claim to cure all and every disease, provided the patient has faith that what he denies can have no existence. A

new form

of self-hypnotism.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

the misdemeanours of several years, the proportion of crimes

committed by the Christian stands

committed

those

the

LucirEii for April, 1888, p.

Buddhism.)

Buddliist

147, Art.

against

population.

(Vide

Christian lecturers on

no historian of any note, or

Orientalist,

traveller in

Buddhist lands, from Bishop Bigandet and Abbe

Hue,

William Hunter and every fair-minded

to Sir

fail to

Yet the former (not the true Buddhist Siamese events) do not believe in either

God

They do not pray, "Pray!" they would exclaim what?"

of this earth.

Then they

ExQ. Tniio.

men

virtue-keeping

says

Eespect

your own

gods

sect,

at all

or a future reward, outside

neither priests nor laymen. in wonder,

"to

whom,

are truly Atheists.

Most undeniably, but they are

and

oiScial, will

give the palm of virtue to Buddhists before Christians.

the ;

other

also the

the

whole

religions of other

most virtue-loving world.

Buddhism

men and remain

but Church Christianity, denouncing nations

devils,

all

true

the

would doom every non-

Christian to eternal perdition.

Enq.

Does not the Buddhist priesthood do the same

TiiEO. Never. in the

They hold too much

Dhammapada

man, whether he be great

despise

holding a candle

so,

learned other

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; blind

to the wise precept

for they

know

that,

not, consider

men, he

found

" If any

himself so

hke a blind man

himself, he illumines others."

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

ON TEE SOURCE OF THE HUMAN SOUL. How,

Enq.

Spirit

Tuij).

you account

then, do

Whence

and Soul ?

From

the Universal Soul.

Whence

personal God.

From

and has

its

endowed with

being

Certainly

bestowed by a

not

the moist element in the jelly-fish?

Ocean which surrounds

the

breathes

man

for

these

which

it,

and whither

being,

lives

and

returns Avhen

dissolved.

ExQ.

So you reject the teaching that Soul man, by God ?

TiiKo.

obhged

are

Genesis

(v.

Nephesh

is,

(the

The

to.

vital,

" Soul " spoken of in

therein

animal

not at

all

God

with which

man

mind

the thinking Soul or

;

cli.

into

ii.

"living Soul" or

stated, the

soul)

"nature" and immutable law) endows Is

given, or breathed

(we say

like every animal. least

all

the Immortal Spirit.

Well,

E:.Q.

human

let

us put

otherwise

God who endows man with

is it

rational Soul and immortal Spirit?

way you put the question, we must object we believe in no personal God, how can we

TiiEO. Again, in the to

it.

Since

believe that he for

the all

the

sake

endows man with anything

argument, a

risk of creating a

that

can

be said

God

new Soul is

that

atIio

takes

But granting,

upon himself

for ever)- new-boi'n baby,

such

God can hardly be

regarded as himself endowed with any wisdom or prevision. Certain other difficulties and the impossibility of reconciling this

with the claims made for the mercy, justice, equity and

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

many deadly

omniscience of that God, are so this theological

What

ExQ.

daily

AVhat

difficulties ?

by a Cingalese Buddhist

presence

unprepared

for

was advanced.

had

challenged

the

why

the

'â&#x20AC;˘

the

a famous

no way ignorant during which

was near Colombo, and the Missionary priest

God

Cliristian

Megattivati to give his reasons

should

not

accepted by

the

Well, the Missiouarj- came out of that for ever

heathen."

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one

priest,

discussion

public

memorable discussion second Enq.

wliicli

and hourly broken.

preacher, to a Clnistiau missionary or

thinking of an unanswerable argument offered once

mean?

do you

TiiEO. I

dogma

reefs

best, as usual.

should be glad to learn in what way.

Theo. Simply

this

only

men

for

The

God had

denied

opponent,

his

given commandments to Moses

keep, but to be broken

niissionar)^

said

Buddhist priest premised by asking the

the

jjadri whether his

by God himself Well,

the supposition indignantly.

you

tell

that

God makes no

exceptions to this rule, and that no Soul can be born with-

out his

who a

will.

Now God

and yet you say

things,

creates

among

same breath that

every baby born, and he

Are we then

Soul.

adulterj^

forbids

in the

who endows

laws

and

;

God

forbids

God

with

work

and punishes the breaking of

that, nevertheless, he creates daily

for just such children?

understand that the millions of

children born in crime and adultery are your God's

That your

other is

According

and hourly

to the simplest logic,

an accomplice in the crime

;

since,

his

souls

your

but for his help

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and interference, no such children of

Where

lust could

whom

was getting too

done by that "

yet you exonerate from any guilt himself

The missionary looked

Enq.

be born.

the justice of punishing not only the guilty parents

but even the innocent babe for that which very God,

at his

watch and suddenly found

late for further discussion.

You forget that all such inexplicable cases are mysteries, and we are forbidden by our religion to pry into the mysteries of

that

God.

Theo. No,

we do

not forget, but simply reject such impossibilities.

Nor do we want you to the questions you ask.

believe as

do.

only answer

have, however, another

name

for

your " mysteries."

THE BUDDHIST TEACHINGS ON THE ABOVE. What

Enq.

does

Buddhism teach with regard

to the Soul?

Theo. It depends whether you mean exoteric, popular Buddhism, or

its

The former explains

esoteric teachings.

Buddhist Catechism in

this

wise

used by the ignorant to express a subject to change, then

part of

him must change.

man

" Soul

false idea.

itself in

considers a

the

word

If everything

included, and every material

That which

subject to change

not permanent, so there can be no immortal survival of a

to the

But when new personaUty in each

This seems plain and definite.

changeful thing."

we come

question that the

succeeding re-birth

the aggregate of " Skandhas," or the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

aggregation of Shandhas

nothing has remained of the sense

it is

new

new being hkewise,

last,

being, in another

we read

it is

not.

that

identical as regards

which

" In one

During

the Skandhas are continually changing, while the of forty

this new-

and ask whether

attributes, of the old personality,

this life

man

A. B.

personality with the youth

A. B. of eighteen, yet by the continual waste and reparation of his

body and change of mind and character, he Nevertheless, the

different being.

man

in his old age justly

reaps the reward or suffering consequent upon his thoughts

and actions

at every previous stage of his

life.

So the new

being of the re-birth, being the same individuality as before (but not the

same personality) with but a changed form, or ,

new aggregation of

his

This

actions

Is not

Theo. It or

is,

and

thoughts

the

existence."

abstruse metaphysics, and plainly does not express

disbelief in

Enq.

of Skandhas, justly reaps the consequences

Soul by any means.

something

like this

spoken of in Esoteric Buddhism?

for this teaching belongs both to Esoteric

Secret

Budhism

Wisdom, and to the exoteric Buddhism, or Gautama Buddha.

the

religious philosophy of

But we

Enq.

are distinctly told that

most of the Buddhists do not

believe in the Soul's immortality ?

Theo.

No more do

we,

life-Soulâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;iVepAesA.

you mean by Soul the personal Ego, or

But every learned Buddhist believes in Those who do not, err in their

the individual or divine Ego.

judgment. Christians

They

are as mistaken on this point, as those

who mistake

the theological interpolations of the

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. later editors of the Gospels

about damnation and

verbatim utterances of Jesus.

Neither

hell-fire, for

Buddha nor

" Christ

ever Avrote anything themselves, but both spoke in allegories

and used " dark sayings," for

a long time yet to

such

metaphysical

as all true Initiates did,

Both Scriptures

come.

questions

very

and

will

all

treat

and

cautiously,

both,

Buddhist and Christian records,sin by that excess of exotericism the dead letter meaning far overshooting the

Enq.

you mean

mark

both

Buddha

to suggest that neither the teachings of

nor those of Christ have been heretofore rightly understood

Theo.

What

mean

just as

you

altruists

sins

and

philanthropists

in view.

practical

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;preaching most unmistakably Socialism of the

and highest type,

self-sacrifice

of the whole world

fall

to the bitter end.

upon me that

misery and suffering!" cries Buddha;

whom I

one cry

may

I .

noblest

" Let the

relieve man's

" I would not let

could save " exclaims the Prince-beggar, clad in "

the refuse rags of the burial-grounds. that labour and are

heavy laden and I

Come unto me

will give

the appeal to the poor and the disinherited of Sorrows,"

Both Gospels, the Buddhist

say.

and the Christian, were preached with the same object

Both reformers were ardent

cases.

who hath

you

made by

not where to lay his head.

all

rest," is

the "

Man

The teach-

ings of both are boundless love for humanity, charity, forgive-

ness of injury, forgetfulness of

masses

;

self,

and pity

for the deluded

both show the same contempt for riches, and

difference

between

reveahng to

all

meum and

tuum.

make no

Their desire was, without

the sacred mysteries of initiation, to give the

ignorant and the misled, whose burden in

life

was too heavy

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

them, hope enough and an inkhng into the truth sufficient

for

But the object of

support them in their heaviest hours.

to excess of zeal of their

both Eeformers was frustrated, owing

of the Masters having been mis-

The words

later foUowers.

understood and misinterpreted, behold the consequences

Enq.

But if all

surely

Buddha must have repudiated the own Priests say so

immortahty,

soul's

the Orientalists and his

Theo. The Arhats began by following the policy of their Master

and the majority of the subsequent just as in Christianity esoteric truths

;

and

became almost

so,

were not

priests

little

lost.

little,

initiated,

the

proof in point

great

is,

that,

out of the two existing sects in Ceylon, the Siamese believes

death to be the

absolute

annihilation

of individuality

personahty, and the other explains Nirvana, as

and

theosophists

do.

Enq.

But why, in that case, do Buddhism and the two opposite poles of such behef ?

Christianity represent

Theo. Because the conditions under which they were preached

were not the same.

In India the Brahmins, jealous of their

superior knowledge, and excluding from their

own, had driven millions of

Buddha had

fetishism.

exuberance of

give

after.

every caste save

into idolatry

the

unhealthy fancy and

from ignorance, such

resulting

before

men

death-blow

fanatical

Better a philosophical atheism

Who cry upon their gods and are not heard, " Or are not heeded—

—

superstition

has rarely been

ignorant worship for those "

and almost

known

than such

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and who of

first

and die

live

muddy

all this

in mental despair.

the

for

And

same good reason Mysteries

the

that

disciples

He had

to arrest

torrent of superstition, to uproot errors

before he gave out the truth. all,

he could not give out

Jesus,

Heaven

who reminds

his

not

the

are

for

unintelligent masses, but for the elect alone, and therefore

" spake he to them in parables led

Buddha

When

He even

conceal too much.

monk Vacchagotta whether man.

" (Matt. xiii. 1 1)

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

so his caution

refused to say to the

there was, or

was not an Ego

pressed to answer, " the Exalted one maintained

silence."*

This refers to Gautama, but in what way does

Enq.

Gospels *

Buddha

touch the

gives to

Ananda, his initiated

disciple,

who

enquires for

the reason

and unequivocal answer in the dialogue translated by Oldenburg from the Samyuttaka Nikaya: "If I, Ananda, when the wandering monk Is there the Ego ? had answered The Ego is,' then Vacchagotta asked me

this silence, a plain

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

that, Ananda, would have confirmed the doctrine of the Samanas and Brahmanas, who believed in permanence. If I, Ananda, when the wandering monk

Vacchagotta asked me,

Is there not the

Ego ?

had answered,

The Ego

then that, Ananda, would have confirmed the doctrine of those who believed If I, Ananda, when the wandering monk Vacchagotta asked in annihilation. me, Is there the Ego ? had answered, The Ego is,' would that have served

not,'

by producing in him the knowledge all existences (dhamma) are non-ego? But if I, Ananda, had answered, 'The Ego is not,' then that, Ananda, would only have caused the wandering monk Vacchagotta to be thrown My Ego, did it not exist before ? But now from one bewilderment to another end, Ananda,

shows, better than

anything, that Gautama Buddha withheld such difficult metaphysical doctrines from the masses in order not to perplex them more. What he meant was the difference between the personal temporary Ego and the Higher Self, which sheds its light on the it

exists

no longer

This

imperishable Ego, the spiritual " I " of man.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo. Eead history and think over

it.

the time the events

narrated in the Gospels are alleged to have happened, there

was a

similar intellectual fermentation taking

whole

civilized

place in the

world, only with opposite results in the East

and the West.

Tlie

While the

old gods were dying out.

Sadducees

civilized classes drifted in the train of the unbelieving

into materialistic negations

and mere dead-letter Mosaic form

in Palestine,

and into moral dissolution in Eome, the lowest

and poorer

classes

ran after sorcery and strange gods, or

became hypocrites and Pharisees. Once more the time for a The cruel, anthropomorphic and spiritual reform had arrived. jealous

and tooth

for eye

animal

of the Jews, with his sanguinary laws of " an eye

God

sacrifice,

replaced

for tooth," of the shedding of blood

had

to be relegated to a secondary place

the merciful " Father in Secret."

to be shown, not as an extra-Cosmic

Saviour of the

and

man

flesh,

God, but

enshrined in his

the poor as in the rich.

soul, in

The

No more

latter

which

and

had

a divine

own

heart

here than in

India, could the secrets of initiation be divulged, lest

that

and

by giving

holy to the dogs, and casting pearls before swine,

both the Revealer and the things revealed should be trodden

under

foot.

whether the

Thus, the reticence of both Buddha and Jesus latter

Uved out the historic period

allotted to

him

and who equally abstained from revealing plainly the Mysteries of Life and Death led in the one case to the blank not,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

negations of Southern Buddhism, and in the other, to the three clashing forms of the Christian

Protestant England alone.

Church and the 300

sects in

VI.

THEOSOPHICAL TEACHINGS AS TO NATURE AND MAN.

THE UNITY OF ALL IN Having

Enq.

views,

told

me what

can you inform

ALL.

God, the Soul and

me what

Man

are not, in

your

they are, according to your

teachings ?

Theo.

In their origin and in eternity

and able

all

tlie

three, like the universe

therein, are one with the absolute Unity, the

deific

believe in

essence I

creation,

unknow-

spoke about some time back.

but in the periodical and consecutive

appearances of the universe from the subjective on to the objective plane of being, at regular intervals of time, covering

periods of immense duration.

Enq.

Can you

elaborate the subject?

Theo. Take as a

first

comparison and a help towards

correct conception, the solar year, and as

more a second, the two a

halves of that year, producing each a day and a night of six

months' duration at the North Pole. instead of a Solar year of 365 days,

Now

imagine,

ETEENITY.

you can,

Let the sun

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

represent the universe, and the polar days and nights of 6 months

days andnights lasting each 182

each

trillions

of years, instead of 182 days each.

morning on our

objective

horizon out of

and quadrillions

the sun arises every us)

its (to

subjective

and antipodal space, so does the Universe emerge periodically on the plane of

objectivity, issuing

the antipodes of the former.

And

from that of subjectivity

This

the sun disappears from our horizon, so does the

Universe disappear at regular periods,

night"

the " Cycle of Life."

The Hindoos

sets in.

when

the " Universal

such alternations the "Days

call

and Nights of Brahma," or the time of Manvantara and that of Pralaya (dissolution). The Westerns may call them Universal

Days and Nights All

they prefer.

in All; every

atom

During the

latter (the nights)

resolved into one Homogeneity.

EVOLUTION AND ILLUSION. But who

Enq. Theo.

is it

that creates each time the Universe ?

one creates

emanation

Science would call the process evolution;

it.

the pre-Christian

philosophers and the Orientalists called

we, Occultists and Theosophists, see in

the only

universal and eternal reality casting a periodical reflection of itself

on the

infinite Spatial depths.

This reflection, which you

regard as the objective material universe,

temporary eternal

Enq.

illusion

and nothing

else.

is real.

At that

rate,

you and

I are also illusions.

consider as a

That alone which

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. As

TiiEO.

flitting

another

—we

Aurora

Would you

horealis, the

as real as

Northern

cause that produces

All this does not explain to

miiverse originates itself

;

how

illusion.

me how

illusion

the conscious

may we

paraphrase verse

ness (which

comprehendeth

and immutable

laAV.

finite

called

the the

the

Verily

consciousness.

chapter of

St.

John, and

darkness) shineth in dark-

material light)

;

and the darkness

This absolute light

not."

it is

proceeds to manifest

to he,

v, in the 1st

illusionary

it is

is.

our

say " and (Absolute) light (which

this

;

which

eternal,

but a passing

from the unconsciousness that

TiiEO. It is unconsciousness only to

though

Certainly not

it ?

permanent and

it, if

flashes of the

lights, a " reality,"

to-morrow

person,

sudden

call the

can be while you look

only reality, while the other

Enq.

to-day one

personalities,

are.

also absolute

—we

Wliether by radiation or emanation

need not quarrel over terms

—the universe passes out of

geneous subjectivity on to the

first

its

homo-

plane of manifestation, of

which planes there are seven, we are taught.

With each plane

becomes more dense and material until it reaches this, our plane, on which the only world approximately known and understood in its physical composition by Science, is the plane-

tary or Solar system

Enq.

What

TiiEO. I

do you

mean

that,

—one

mean by

sui generis,

sui generis

though the fundamental law and the universal

working of laws of Nature are uniform, (like

are told.

still

our Solar system

every other such system in the millions of others in

Cosmos) and even our Earth, has

its

own programme

of mani-

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

programmes of

from the respective

differing

festations

all

"We speak of the inhabitants of other planets and

others.

imagine that

be as we

they are men,

The fancy

are.

fails to

man

plus wings. ;

because,

diversity in

thinking entities, they must

of poets and painters and sculptors

represent even the angels as a beautiful copy of

never

delusion

i.e.,

if oji

its flora,

this is

an error and a

this little earth alone

one finds such a

say that

all

—from the sea-weed

fauna and mankind

the cedar of Lebanon, from the jelly-fish to the elephant, from the

Bushman and negro

to the Apollo Belvedere

—

alter the

conditions cosmic and planetary, and there must be as a result quite a different flora, fauna and mankind.

and beings even on

will fashion quite a diff'erent set of things this

our plane, including in

different then

how and human

systems, and

worlds

Enq.

But what

TiiEO.

What

must be

foolish

all

The same laws

How much

our planets.

external nature in to

other Solar

judge of other stars and

beings by our own, as physical science does!

are your data for this assertion ?

—the

science in general will never accept as proof

cumulative testimony of an endless series of Seers testified to this fact.

who have

Their spiritual visions, real explorations

by, and through, physical and spiritual senses untrammelled by

blind flesh,

were systematically checked and compared one

with the other, and their nature

sifted.

All that

was not

cor-

roborated by unanimous and collective experience was rejected, while that only was recorded as established truth which, in various ages, under different climes, and throughout an untold series of incessant observations,

was found

to agree

and receive

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

The methods used by our

constantly further corroboration.

scholars and students of the psycho-spiritual sciences do not differ

from those of students of the natural and physical

you may

Only our

see.

fields

sciences,

of research are on two different

and our instruments are made by no human hands,

planes,

which reason perchance they are only the more

for

The

retorts, accumulators,

naturalist

may

and microscopes of the chemist and

get out of order

nomer's horological instruments instruments

beyond

are

reliable.

the

;

the telescope and the astro-

may get spoiled influence

;

our recording

weather or the

elements.

And

Enq.

therefore you have implicit faith in

Theo. Faith

word not

we say knowledge

be found in theosophical dictionaries

based, on observation

difference,

this

them?

and

experience.

There

however, that while the observation and

experience of physical science lead the Scientists to about as

many

working

hypotheses as there are minds to evolve

them, our knowledge consents to add to

its

lore only those

which have become undeniable, and wliich are fuUy

facts

and absolutely demonstrated.

have no two

beliefs or

hypotheses on the same subject.

Ekq.

on such data that you came to accept the strange theories

find in Esoteric

Theo. Just

minor

so.

These theories

details,

students

;

Buddhism ?

may

and even faulty

be slightly incorrect in their in

their

by lay and come

exposition

they are facts in nature, nevertheless,

nearer the truth than any scientific hypothesis.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

ON THE SEPTENABY CONSTITUTION OF OUB PLANET. Enq.

you describe our earth

I understand that

chain of earths

Thbo.

the

But the other

do.

forming part of a

same plane of

six

" earths

or globes, are not on

objectivity as our

earth

;

therefore

cannot see them.

Enq.

on account of the great distance

Is that

Theo. Not at stars at

all,

for

see with our

naked eye planets and even

immeasurably greater distances

but

;

owing

those six globes being outside

our physical means of per-

ception, or plane of being.

not only that their material

It is

density, weight, or fabric are entirely different

our earth and the other

on an entirely

I say " layer," please

but they are

felt

by our physical

speak

fall

(to us)

a layer

;

And when

senses.

beds laid one over the other, for

to another absurd misconception.

" layer "

nature cannot

;

do not allow your fancy to suggest

like strata or

would only lead

mean by

planets

different layer of space, so

not to be perceived or

you layers

known

from those of

this

What

that plane of infinite space which by its under our ordinary waking perceptions,

whether mental or physical

;

but which exists in nature outside

of our normal mentality or consciousness, outside of our three

dimensional space, and outside of our division of time. of the seven fundamental planes (or layers) in space

Each

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;of course

as a whole, as the pure space of Locke's defiiiition, not as our

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. finite

space

—has

space and time,

modern ways

What

what you

in the

of thought.

mean by a different set of human plane that you could

do you

thing on our of

own objectivity and subjectivity, its own own consciousness and set of senses. But

its

be liardly comprehensible to one trained

all tliis will

Enq.

just to

say,

senses

give a clearer idea of

mean by this variety of senses, spaces, and except, perhaps, that which TiiEO. None ;

Is there any-

bring as an illustration

what you may

respective perceptions ?

for

Science would be

rather a handy peg on which to hang a counter-argument.

We We

have a

hear, see, taste and function in general

talk,

feel,

different plane

;

evidenced

one

instant.

on a

the change of state of our consciousness being the

embracing years, in

have we not

different set of senses in dream-life,

that

fact

series

and events

acts

think, pass ideally through our

mind

Well, that extreme rapidity of our mental

operations in dreams, and the perfect naturalness, for the time being, of

all

the other functions,

another plane.

show us

Our philosophy

that

are on quite

teaches us that, as there are

seven fundamental forces in nature, and seven planes of being, so there are seven states of consciousness in

which man can

remember and have his being. To enumerate these here is impossible, and for this one has to turn to the study of Eastern metaphysics. But in these two states the waking live, think,

—

and

the dreaming

philosopher

down

— every to

proof that such states

Enq.

You do

ordinary mortal, from

a learned

a poor untutored savage, has a

good

differ.

not accept, then, the well-known explanations of biology

and physiology

to account for the

dream

state ?

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo.

not.

preferring

psychologists,

Beheving

reject

even

tlie

in seven planes of

hypotheses of your

the

Wisdom.

teachings of Eastern

Kosmic

and

being

states

Consciousness, with regard to the Universe or the Macrocosm,

stop at the fourth plane, finding

any degree of certainty beyond. Microcosm, or man,

impossible to go with

But with respect

Ave speculate freely

the

his seven states

and

principles.

How

Enq.

Theo.

do you explain these

find, first of all,

two

distinct beings in

man

the spiritual

;

and the physical, the man who thinks, and the man who

much of these thoughts as he is able to we divide him into two distinct natures

records as

Therefore

oi four

composed of three "

spiritual being,

or the aspects

;

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

assimilate

the upper

principles "

and the lower or the physical quaternary, composed in all seven.

THE SEPTENARY NATURE OF MAN. what we

Enq.

Theo.

It is not.

Initiate,

call Spirit

That

and Soul, and the

man

of flesh?

the old Platonic division.

Plato was an

and therefore could not go into forbidden

but he who

seven in Plato's various combinations of Soul and

regarded

man

details

;

acquainted with the archaic doctrine finds the

as constituted of

two parts

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; one

Spirit.

eternal,

formed

of the same essence as the Absoluteness, the other mortal and corruptible,

" created

deriving

Gods.

its

Man

constituent

parts

from the minor

composed, he shows, of (1)

mortal

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. body,

(2)

immortal principle, and

kind of Soul."

" separate mortal

which we respectively

that

(3)

call

the

physical man, the Spiritual Soul or Spirit, and the animal Soul

Nous and

(the

This

psuche).

another Initiate,

who

the division adopted

maintains that there

by Paul,

a psychical body

sown in the corruptible (astral soul or body), and a body that is raised in incorruptible substance. Even James (iii. 15) corroborates the same by saying that the wisdom" (of our lower soul) descendeth not from the above, which

spiritual

'â&#x20AC;˘

but

text)

;

(" psychical,"

terrestrial

while the other

" demoniacal,"

heavenly wisdom.

Now

vide

Greek

so plain

that Plato and even Pythagoras, while speaking but of three

" principles," give

them seven separate

various combinations, that will

become quite

plain.

functions,

their

contrast our teachings this

Let us take a cursory view of these

seven aspects by drawing two tables.

THEOSOPHICAL DIVISION.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

(e)

Manas

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

principle in

its

ExPL.iNATORY.

Exoteric Meaning.

Sanscrit Teems.

dual

(<)

func-

tions.

Mind, Intelligence which is the liiglier human mind, A\hose

The future state and the Karmic destiny of man depend on whether Manas gra\itates more downward

((')

or radiation links the Monad, for the lifetime, to the light,

Kama rupa, the seat of the animal passions, or upwards to Bnddlii, the In the Spiritual Ego. latter case, the higher consciousness of the individual of aspirations Spiritual viinrl (Manas), assimilating to

mortal man.

Buddhi, are absorbed by it and form the Ego, which Devachanic into goes

bliss.*

Buddhi.

(/) (g)

Atma.

Now what

The

(/) (g)

Spiritual Soul.

Spirit.

does Plato teach

as constituted

(/) ig)

of two parts

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;one

The vehicle of pure universal spirit. One with the Absolute, aa its radiation.

speaks of the interior

man

immutable and always the

same, formed of the same substance as Deity, and the other

These " two parts

mortal and corruptible.

upper Triad, and the explains that

Jlr. Sinnett's

the

when

the

principles in Esoteric

the Soul, psuche, "

Buddhism "

Esoteric

Human, and

lower Quaternary

Spiritual

Buddhism

are found in our Table).

herself to the

Nous

{vide

and/, are respectively called the Animal,

Souls,

are

allies

which answers

numbered,

this

is,

as well.

Though

the

strictly speaking, useless.

The dual Monad alone {A tma-Buddhi) is susceptible of being thought of as the two highest numbers (the Gth and 7th). As to all others, since that " principle " only which is predominant m man has to be considered as the first and foremost, no numeration

possible as a general rule.

In some

Intelligence (Manas or the 5th) which dominates the rest

;

men

it ie

the higher

in others the

Animal

Soul (Kama-rupa) that reigns supreme, exhibiting the most bestial instincts,

etc.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. (^divine spirit or ""

fehcitously self to ^ve

;

Anoia,

(folly,

have JIanas

attaching "

Soul

otherwise

Anoia (our

Kama it

Ego

the personal

tion, as

far as

itself to

the Noits (Atma-Buddhi)

imperishable Ego, and then ivas,

its

Do you

rupa, or the "

personality

Theo.

French

and

runs towards entire annihila-

concerned

is it

;

when

allying

merges into the immortal,

spiritual consciousness of the

SPIRIT.

you are accused of doing by Spiritists,

the

some

every

— the

indi-

annihilation

But

do not.

as this question of the duality

viduality oi the Divine Ego,

animal

when Animal :

Ijecomes immortal.

teach, as

really

Spiiitualists

Here, then,

two aspects

THE DISTINCTION BETTi^EEN SOUL AND ExQ.

she attaches her-

or the irrational animal Soul).

Esoteric Buddhism,")

personal that

when

(or the Soul in general) in its

itself •'

does everything aright and

substance*), she

but the case

—involves

and the

pet'sonality oi the

human

that of the possibihty of the real immortal

Ego appearing in Seance rooms as a " materiahsed spirit," which we deny as already explained, our opponents have stai-ted the

•

Panl

calls

nonsensical charge.

Plato's

course, BuddJii

Xou^ "Spirit"; but and not Atma

as this

spirit

"substance," then, of

meant, as the latter cannot philosophically be

"substance" under any cii'cumstance. We include Atma among the hmnaii " principles " in order not to create additional confusion. In reality it is

called

hum:m

" but

the universal absolute principle of

Spiiit, is the caiTier,

which Buddlii, the Soul-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

You have

Enq.

nihilation

just spoken of psuche running towards its entire an-

if it

you mean by

Theo. The

What

attaches itself to Anoia.

did Plato, and do

this ?

personal consciousness, as an

entire annihilation of the

The general and almost

exceptional and rare case, I think. invariable rule

the merging of the personal into the indi-

vidual or immortal consciousness of the Ego, a transformation or a divine transfiguration, and the entire annihilation only of

Would you

the lower quaternary.

man

expect the

flesh,

the temporary personality, his shadow, the " astral," his animal instincts

Ego

and even physical

to survive with the " spiritual

life,

and become sempiternal

Naturally

this

all

to exist, either at, or soon after corporeal death. It

ceases

becomes

time entirely disintegrated and disappears from view, being annihilated as a whole.

Then you

Enq.

also reject resurrection in the flesh

Theo. Most decidedly we do

Why should we, who

believe in the

archaic esoteric philosophy of the Ancients, accept the unphilosophical speculations of the later Christian theology, borrowed

from the Egyptian and Greek exoteric Systems of the Gnostics

The Egyptians revered

Enq.

your

Hindus

are

worshipped, and do

Nature-Spirits, and deified even onions

idolaters, still

worship,

day

this

the

Sun

;

the

Theo.

may be

catechism

;

revered the

How

so in it is

can you compare

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; witness

not so for unbiassed minds. as

Plato

your modern Christian and even

"One-Only-One,"

Zoroastrians

and the best Greek

philosophers were either dreamers or materialists

and Democritus.

Nout ; and

Scientific

The Egyptians it

from

this

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. word

that

calls

Anaxagoras got

xow

it,

his denomination Nous, or as he "the Mind or Spirit Self-potent," the

am-oKparris,

leading motor, or primum-rnohile of

apxi-ni; /ticTjSeus, tile

all.

"With

him the Noiis was God, and the logos was man, his emanation. The Nous is the spirit (whether in Kosmos or in man), and the whether Universe or

logos,

body, the emanation of

astral

the former, the physical

body being merely the animal. Our phenomena ; our Nous alone is able noumena. It is the logos alone, or the

external powers perceive to recognise their

noitmenon, that survives, because

nature and essence, and the logos in that

which reincarnates and

immortal in

man

its

very

the Eternal Ego,

But how can the

lasts for ever.

evanescent or external shadow, the temporary clothing of that divine Emanation

which returns

proceeded, be that which

Enq.

Still

whence

the source

raised in incorruptibility

you can hardly escape the charge of having invented a new of man's spiritual and psychic constituents for no

division

;

philosopher speaks of them, though you believe that Plato does.

Theo.

And

who

I support the view.

also

followed the same idea.*

as a self-moving Unit '

"Plato and Pythagoras," rational (noetic)

which

rational

an eternal dies."

Besides Plato, there

deity,

saj-s

eternal

described the Soul

(monad) composed of three elements, the Plutarch, " distribute the soul into two parts, the

and irrational (agnoia) is

;

for

that that part of the soul of

;

though

be not God, yet

but that part of the soul which

wonder why Mr. Huxley, the author

of the

materialist

man

the product of

a cognate word.

word, should have connected his great

intellect with " the soul divested of reason "

modem

it is

divested of reason (agnoia)

The modern term Agnostic comes from Agnosis,

hwrmlity of the

Pythagoras,

which

dies ?

the exaggerated

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Nous

(Spirit),

the phren (mind), and the thumos

(life,

breath or

the Nephesh of the Kabahsts) which three correspond to our " Atma-Buddhi," (higher Spirit-Soul), to

Kama-rupa

(the Ego),

we Atma

general,

Soul, in

the vehicle of fact that

(the Agathon, or Plato's

Supreme

Deity).

Pythagoras and others state that phren and

rase the lower Manasic reflection (instinct)

(animal living passions)

And

are meant.

Plato accepted the clue and followed

as Socrates

and

its

collective sense),

Mind), Phren (physical mind), and Thumos

(Spirit or

(Kama-rupa or passions) we add the

this

and Kama-rupa

to these five, namely,

it, if

Aijathon (Deity or Atma), Psuche (Soul in

the

Spiritual Soul, Buddhi, as

call Spirit, or

thumos are shared by us with the brutes, proves that in

Nous

and

reflection

That which the Ancient Greek philosophers termed

Manas.

The

Manas

conjunction with the lower

eidolon of the Mysteries,

shadowy /orm or the human double, and the physical

body,

will be easy to demonstrate that the ideas of both Pythagoras

and Plato were identical with ours. to the

Septenary

division.

(Ego) had to pass through those

it left

its

behind, and those

only difference

that, ever

its

Even exit,

the Egyptians held

they taught, the Soul

seven chambers, or principles, it

took along with

Tlie

itself

bearing in mind the penalty

revealing Mystery-doctrines, which was death, they gave out the teaching in a broad outline, while

explain

world as

in its

much

details.

one important detail

elaborate

But though we do give out

lawful, even in our doctrine is

withheld, which those

who

and

to the

more than study the

esoteric philosophy and are pledged to silence, are alone entitled to

know.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

THE GBEEE TEACHINGS.

Enq.

have magnificent Greek and Latin, Sanskrit and Hebrew

How

scholars.

would

that

afford us a clue to

find nothing in

their

translations

what you say ?

Theo. Because your translators, their great learning notwithstand-

have made of the philosophers, the Greeks

ing,

misty instead of mystic writers.

Take

and read what he says of " the principles

which he describes was accepted

literally

metaphysical superstition and ignorance. illustration in point

only.

Let

give you an ;

Now this

standing

(i/oDs)

of the

the animal soul) passion

;

no i.e.

corruptible as

far

better and diviner than the

composition of the soul

makes reason

this

part of the body,

For the understanding (nous)

exceeds the soul, as the soul

intellect^

but they err in

who make the soul to be a who make of the Triad part

mortal quaternary.

body.

That and attributed to

is compound and compounded of two parts

than those

those

man.

For they imagine that the understanding (brain

a part of the soul (the upper Triad)

less

" of

Man," says Plutarch, "

they are mistaken who think him

especially,

an instance Plutarch,

{i'vxv)

writh the under-

and with the body

of which the one

(or

thumos,

the beginning or

principle of pleasure and pain, and the other of virtue

and

vice.

Of these three parts conjoined and compacted together, the earth has given the body, the moon the soul, and the sun the understanding to the generation of man." This last sentence

purely allegorical, and

will

be conipre-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

bended only by those who are versed in the esoteric science of correspondences and know which planet is related to every principle. Plutarch divides the latter into three groups, and

makes of the body a compound of physical frame, astral shadow, and breath, or the triple lower part, which " from earth was taken and to earth returns"; of the middle principle and the instinctual soul, the second part, derived /rom Sund through

ever influenced by the

moon*

and

and only of the higher part or

;

the Spiritual Soul, with the Atmic and Manasic elements in

make

does he for

a direct emanation of the Sun,

Agathon the Supreme Deity.

says further as follows "

Now of

the deaths

other one of (out

of)

two.

This

stands here

proven by what he

die,

the one

The former

makes man two is

and the

of three

in the region and jurisdiction of

Demeter, whence the name given to the Mysteries, given to death,

who

reXuv,

resembled that

The Athenians also heretofore called the Demeter. As for the other death, it is in the moon or

reXeurai'.

deceased sacred to

region of Persephone."

Here you have our during

life

threefold

;

Kamaloka

a quintile just after death, in

Ego,

This separation, calls the

which shows man a septenary

doctrine,

and

Spirit-Soul, first in

" the

and a

Meadows

of Hades," as Plutarch

Kama-loka, then in Devachan, was part and parcel

of the performances during

the sacred Mysteries,

candidates for initiation enacted the whole

and the resurrection *

;

consciousness in Devachan.

a glorified spirit,

The Kabalists who know the relation the Moon, and the influence of the as much as some astrologers will.

Jehovah, the

latter

drama

when

the

of death,

by which name we life

and children-giver, to

on generation,

will again see the point

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. mean says

This

Consciousness.

what Plutarch means when he

" And as with the one, the terrestrial, so with the other Hermes doth dwell. This suddenly and with violence plucks

from the body

;

celestial

the soul

but Proserpina mildly and in a long time disjoins the

understanding from the

soul.'''

For

this

reason she

called Monogencs,

man

only begotten, or rather begetting one alone; for tlw better part of

becomes alone

lolien it is

separated by her.

Now

both the one and the

other happens thus according to nature.

It is ordained by Fate (Fatum Karma) that every soul, whether with or without understanding (mind), when gone out of the body, shotdd wander for a time, though not all

for the

same, in the region lying between the earth and moon {Kamaloka) .\

For those that have been unjust and dissolute due to their offences are purified,

suffer

then the punishment

but the good and virtuous are there detained

;

and have, by expiation, pm'ged out

them

all

till

they might have contracted from the contagion of the body, as foul health, living in the mildest part of the air, called the

Hades, where they must remain time.

And

then, as

for

they

the infections if

from

Meadows

a certain prefixed and appointed

they were returning from a wandering pilgrimage

or long exile into their country, they have a taste of joy, such as they

who

principally receive trouble, admiration,

Tliis is

are initiated into Sacred Mysteries, mixed with and each one's proper and peculiar hope."

Nirvanic bUss, and no Theosopliist could describe in

plainer though esoteric language the mental joys of Devachan,

where every man has

his paradise

around him, erected by

Proserpina, or Persephone, stands here for post rej^ilate the separation of the

mortem Karma, which

higher

ones,

said to

which remains for a time in Kama-loka, which goes into the state of Devachan, or bHss. the higher, spiritual " principle " takes place from the lower

compound

t Until the separation of

lower from the higher "principles": the Soul, as

Nephesli, the breath of animal hfe,

hom the

his

But you must beware of the general error

consciousness.

which remain

in the

JSgo,

Kama-loka

until disintegrated.

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

100

into

which too many even of our Theosophists

man

imagine that because

and a

or, as well

already said, save the body, the hfe,

There

consciousness.

the cycle of

not

or three entities

writer, of skins to be

and the

principles," as

astral eidolon, all

are simply aspects and states of

but one real man, enduring through

and immortal

life

five,

The "

peeled off like the skins of an onion.

of which disperse at death,

called septenary, then quintuple

compound of seven, expressed by a Theosophical he

triad,

fall.

in essence,

not in form,

or embodied Consciousness.

this is Manas, the Mind-man The objection made by the materialists, who deny the possibility of mind and consciousness acting without matter is We do not deny the soundness of their worthless in our case. argument; but we simply ask our opponents," Are you acquainted

and

to as

of matter, you

states

loith all the

three

who knew

And how do you know whether

hitherto but of

that

which we

refer

ABSOLUTE CONSCIOUSNESS or Deity for ever invisible and

unknowable, be not that which, though

human

finite

conception,

matter-Spirit in lowest,

and

its

still

manvantaric

aspects of this Spirit-matter, which creates

its

own

eludes for ever our

universal

absolute infinitude ? "

its

It is

Spirit-matter

then one of the

manifestations fractionedis

the conscious Ego that

paradise, a fool's paradise,

may

be,

still

state of bliss.

ExQ.

But what

Devachan

Theo. The "land of gods bUss.

" literally

;

a condition, a state of mental

Philosophically a mental condition analogous to, but far vivid and real than,

state after

the most vivid dream.

death of most mortals.

the

VII.

ON THE VARIOUS POST MORTEM STATES.

THE PHYSICAL AND THE SPIRITUAL MAN. Enq.

glad to hear you believe in the immortality of the Soul.

Theo. Not of " the Soul," but of the divine Spirit

;

or rather in

the immortality of the re-iucarnating Ego.

Enq.

What

TiiEO.

and

the difference

very great one in our philosophy, but difficult

to analyse

them

begin with

this is too abstruse

a question to touch lightly upon. separately,

and then

of Jesus), or

no individual property of any man, but

derable, invisible is,

and

indivisible, that

;

that which enters into

whole body being only through Buddhi,

its

which does not

as the Buddhists say of Nirvana.

the mortal

We maj'

Spirit.

Divine essence which has no body, no form, which

yet

have

shall

in conjunction.

say that the Spirit (the " Father in secret

Atman,

the

impon-

e.vist

and

only overshadows

him and pervades

omnipresent rays, or

the

light, radiated

vehicle and direct emanation.

This

the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

102

meaning of the assertions of almost

secret

when

philosophers, soul

all

the ancient

they said that " the rational part of man's

never entered wholly into the man, but only over-

shadowed him more or

less

through the irrational spiritual

Soul or Buddhi.f

Enq.

I laboured under the impression that the

was

You have

Theo.

"Animal Soul"

alone

irrational, not the Divine.

learn the

difference

between that which

negatively, or passively " irrational," because undifferentiated,

and that which

Man

lation of chemical

by what we Enq.

irrational because too active

and

positive.

a correlation of spiritual powers, as well as a corre-

and physical

forces,

brought into function

call " principles."

have read a good deal upon the subject, and

seems to

that the notions of the older philosophers differed a great deal from

those of the mediaeval Kabalists, though they do agree in some particulars.

The most substantial difference between them and us is this. While we believe with the Neo-Platonists and the Eastern

Theo.

teachings that the spirit (Atnia) never descends hypostatically into the hving

man, but only showers more or

on the inner man In

its

generic sense, the

and

(the psychic

word

" rational "

spiritual

less its

radiance

compound

of the

meaning something emanating from the

Eternal Wisdom. I

Irrational in the aenae that as a pure emanation of the Universal

no individual reason

of its

own on

borrowa her light from the Sun and her ceiving

Per

se,

its light of

Wisdom from Atma,

as something homogeneous,

mind

can have

this plane of matter, but like the

it is

life

Moon, who from the Earth, so Buddhi, re-

gets its rational qualities from

devoid of attributes,

Manas.

THE KEY JO THEOSOPHY.

Spirit,

detaching

maintain

Kabalists

the

astral principles), Spirit,

tliat

the

human

from the ocean of light and Universal

itself

man's Soul, where

enters

103

remains throughout

life

All Christian Kabalists

still

imprisoned in the astral capsule.

maintain the same, as they are unable to break quite loose

from their anthropomorphic and Biblical doctrines. Enq.

And what do you

TiiEO.

say that

of Spirit (or

say ?

Atma)

only allow the presence of the radiation in the astral

that spiritual radiancy

Soul have to conquer

their immortality

the unity with which,

and

into

and

capsule,

concerned.

so far only as

say that

man and

by ascending towards

successful, they will be finally linked

which they are

finally, so to

The

speak, absorbed.

individualization of man after death depends on the spirit, not on his soul

Although the word " personality,"

and body.

sense in which

applied Uterally to

usually understood,

our immortal essence,

in the

an absurdity

the latter

is,

still

our individual Ego, a distinct entity, immortal and eternal, per se. It is only in the case of black magicians or of criminals as

beyond redemption, criminals who have been such during a series

lives

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;that

the

shining thread,

spirit to the personal soul from the

child, is violently

moment

which

links

lojig

the

of the birth of the

snapped, and the disembodied entity becomes

divorced from the personal soul, the latter being annihilated

without leaving the smallest impression of

itself

on the former.

If that union between the lower, or personal Manas, and the individual reincarnating Ego, has not been effected during life,

then the former

left

share the fate of the lower

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

104

animals, to gradually dissolve into ether, and have

its

person-

But even then the Ego remains a distinct ality annihilated. It (the spiritual Ego) only loses one Devachanic state being.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

after that special,

and

in that case indeed useless, life

that idealized Personality, for a short time

and

freedom

its

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; as

reincarnated, after enjoying

as a planetary spirit almost im-

mediately.

Enq.

It is stated in Isis Unveiled that

" the gods of the

men on

never be

such planetary Spirits or Angels,

Pagans or the Archangels of the Christians,"

will

our planet.

Kot " such," but some classes of higher Planetary Spirits. They will never be men on this planet,

Theo. Quite

right.

because they are liberated Spirits from a previous, world, and

Yet

one.

such

earlier

men on

cannot re-become

this

these will live again in the next and far higher

all

Mahamanvantara, pralaya," (a

they

after

little

" great

this

Age,"

and " Brahma

period of 16 figures or so)

over.

For

you must have heard, of course, that Eastern philosophy

mankind human bodies ? The

teaches us that in is

this

the

former

potentially, the latter

difference

Yes

Enq.

;

consists of such " Spirits " imprisoned

difference

are

between animals and men

ensouled

actually*

the

" principles

Do you understand now

the

but this specialisation has been in

all

ages the stumbling-

block of metaphysicians.

TuEO. is

It was.

The whole esotericism of the Buddhistic philosophy

based on

this *

mysterious teaching, understood by so few

Vide " Secret Doctrine," Vol.

II.,

stanzas.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. persons, and so totally misrepresented bj^

105

many

of the most

learned modern scholars.

confound the

immortal

his

throughout

effect

life

all

his

Even metaphysicians are too inclined with the cause. An Ego who has won spirit will remain the same inner self on earth

rebirths

but

;

not

does

this

imply necessarily that he must either remain the Mr. Smith or Mr. Brown he was on earth, or loss his individuality. fore, the astral soul

and the

terrestrial

body

There-

man may,

in the

dark hereafter, be absorbed into the cosmical ocean of sub-

Ego Ego

limated elements, and cease to feel his last personal did

not deserve to

and

soar higher),

remain the same unchanged experience of his emanation

instant of separation from the

though

entity,

may

the divine this

as a distinct being

from

all

still

terrestrial

be totally obliterated at the

unworthy

vehicle.

If the " Spirit," or the divine portion of the soul,

Enq.

(if it

pre-existent

eternity, as Origan, Synesius,

and other

semi-Christians and semi-Platonic philosophers taught, and

if it is

more than the metaphysically-objective soul, And what matters it in such how can it be otherwise than eternal a case, whether man leads a pure life or an animal, if, do what he may, he can never lose his individuality? the same, and nothing

Theo. This doctrine, as you have stated in

its

latter

it, is

just as

consequences as that of vicarious atonement.

dogma,

company with

the false idea that

immortal, been demonstrated to the world in

humanity would have been bettered by Let

Locris,

repeat to you again.

its

pernicious

Had we

are

the all

true light,

propagation.

Pythagoras, Plato, Timaeus of

and the old Alexandrian School, derived the Souloira.z.n

(or his high(3r " principles "

and

attributes)

from the Universal

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

io6

World

Soul, the latter being,

jEtlier (Pater-Zeus).

according to their teachings,

Therefore, neither of these " principles"

can be unalloyed essence of the Pythagorean Monas, or our Atma-Buddhi, because the Anima Mundi is but the effect, the

Both

subjective emanation or rather radiation of the former.

the

human

Spiritual Ego,

the individuality), the re-incarnating

(or

Spirit

and Buddhi, the Spiritual

soul, are pre-existent.

But, while the former exists as a distinct entity, an individualithe

zation,

soul

pre-existing breath, an

exists

Both were

portion of an intelligent whole.

from the Eternal Ocean of light

;

the

there

it,

They made

fire.

originally

formed

but as the Fire-Philosophers,

the medieval Theosophists, expressed

well as invisible spirit in

unscient

a visible as

a difference between

anima hruta and the anima divina. Empedocles firmly and in all men and animals to possess two souls

believed

Aristotle

;

find that he calls one the reasoning soul,

the other, the animal soul,

<(,vxri.

voOs,

and

According to these philoso-

phers, the reasoning soul comes from within the universal soul,

and the other from Enq.

without.

Would you call the Soul, matter ? call the Ego

i.e.,

the

human

thinking Soul, or what

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

you

Theo. Not matter, but substance assuredly

;

nor would the word

" matter," if prefixed with the adjective, primordial, be a to avoid.

That matter,

say, is co-eternal with Spirit,

not our visible, tangible, and divisible matter, but sublimation.

Pure

or the absolute

out of

this

all.

Spirit is

its

but one remove from the

Unless you admit that

word

and

extreme

?io-Spirit,

man was

evolved

primordial Spirit-matter, and represents a regular

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

107

progressive scale of " principles " from mrfa-Spirit

how can we

the grossest matter,

man

and

as immortal,

and a mortal man Enq.

come

ever

same time

at the

down

mner

to regard the

as a spiritual Entity

Then why should you not

Theo. Because that which

believe in

infinite

God

an Entity

as such

and unconditioned can have no

form, and cannot be a being, not in any Eastern philosophy

worthy of the name, but

so only in

When

any

rate.

ultimate essence, not in

its

at the last point of its cycle,

primordial nature

and

;

" entity

becomes

its

immortal,

individual form.

absorbed into

when

spirit,

loses its

its

name

of Entity. Its

the

immortality as a form

Mahamanvantara

with the Universal to the personal Soul

;

after

Spirit,

limited only to

which

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;by which we mean

of the

last

incarnation

distinct recollection, only after

which time

it is

one and identical

and no longer a separate

ness that preserves in the Spiritual

sonal " I

life-cycle or

its

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Entity.

Ego

the idea of the per-

this

lasts,

a separate

throughout the Devachanic period

added

to the series of other

incarnations of the Ego, like the

remembrance

of one of a series of days, at the end of a year.

our

memory

Will you bind

the infinitude you claim for your

God

cemented by Atma

Buddhi-Manas)

iheZohar

(vol.

immortal.

personality) per se

indissolubly

iii,,

to finite conditions

The Soul of man

{i.e.,

when

[i.e.,

of the

neither immortal, eternal nor divine.

p. 616), " the soul,

;

innumerable

That alone which

the spark of conscious-

Says

sent to this earth,

puts on an earthly garment, to preserve herself here, so she

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

io8

receives above a shining garment, in order to be able to look witlaout injury into tlie mirror,

Lord of

whose hght proceeds from the

Moreover, the Zohar teaches that the soul

Lio-ht."

cannot reach the abode of bhss, unless she has received the

"holy

ivMch she emanated latter

reunion of the soul with the substance from

kiss," or the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

a feminine principle, the spirit

imprisoned in body,

such

All souls are dual, and, while the

spirit.

as to

man

have caused

the soul which

masculine.

While

a trinity, unless his pollution

his divorce

prefers

from the

her divine husband

"Woe to

spirit.

the

(spirit)

earthly wedlock with her terrestrial body," records a text of the

Book will

Hermetic work.

of the Keys, a

How

can that which,

your

own

to be

immortal

not breathed by

God

man, yet

its

essence, but not in

Immortality

personaUty itself, can

it ?

told you, survives only first,

consciousness.

And

its

individual con-

last

throughout Devachan, after which

in the individual,

it is

and then in the universal

Better enquire of your theologians

Bible, if

;

longer than the

such consciousness, as I already

that they have so sorely jumbled

the

of substance only,

but one's unbroken consciousness

and the personal consciousness can hardly

reabsorbed,

on fail

imperishable in

sciousness.

Eead

into

confession of an identical substance with the divine,

Theo. Every atom and speck of matter, not is

indeed, for nothing

memory.

able tablets of the Ego's

Enq.

Woe

remain of that personality to be recorded on the imperish-

up the Jewish

how

it is

Scriptures.

you would have a good proof

that the

writers of the Pentateuch, and Genesis especially, never regarded

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. nephesh, that whicli

God

breathes into

Here

the immortal soul.

log

Adam

(Gen. ch.

some instances

are

ii.),

— " And

God

created .... every nepAesA (life) that moveth" (Gen. i. 21), meaning animals; and (Gen. ii. 7) it is said: "And man became a nephesh " (living soul), vehich shows that the word nephesh was indifferently applied to immortal man and to

mortal beast. (lives)

And

wiU I require

and

it,

nephesh

at "

surely your blood of your at the

;

the hand

(escape for thy

hand of every beast

man" life, it

(Gen. is

ix.

nepheshim

will I require

"Escape

5),

translated), (Gen. xix. 17).

"Let us not kill him," reads the English version (Gen. xxxvii. " Let us not

nephesh,"

kill his

the

Hebrew "

for nephesh," says Leviticus (xvii. 8.)

man

following shall

man

make

reads it

that

which

good

original text has kill

(Lev. xxiv. 17)

And he

....

;

another proof

that

that killeth any

that killeth a beast (nephesh)

And

How

soul, as

—never believed

the

man why the

could

explains also

this

very probably the Mosaic

uninitiated at any rate

that smiteth

Beast for beast," whereas

" nephesh for nephesh."

immortal

21).

^'Nephesh

text.

and from verse 18 and

Sadducees denied the immortalitj- of the

shall surely be put to death," literally "

the nephesh of a

for

also affords

Jews

— the

in the soul's survival

all.

ON ETERNAL REWARD AND PUNISHMENT AND ON NIRVANA. ;

Enq.

It is

hardly necessary, 1 suppose, to ask you whether you believe

dogmas of Paradise and Hell, or in future rewards and punishments as taught by the Orthodox churches ? in the Christian

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

;

;;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

TnEO. As described in your catechisms,

would we accept

least of all

we caU

firmly in what

Law

And punish

faults with

But do not

flay

A whipping a

rule for

than mortal

man

Have you any

the

;

because

pam

him who deserves alone he has done."

Have we

less

entitled

the embodiment of these attributes

other reasons for rejecting this

the bearer, or

Ego

our rage contain,

a proportion' d

whom you make

it lies

dogma?

in the fact of re-incarnation.

reject the idea of a

every newly -born babe. is

Thko. Our chief reason for already stated,

may

for the fault that

wisdom, love and mercy,

Enq.

and unphiloso-

aU men, and a just one.

God, of

that

in the

Law, or Karma.

this

" Let rules be fixed that

and

of Retribution,

reward or eternal punishment.

eternal

in.

say with Horace

believe

But we believe

positively refuse to accept the cruel

phical belief

This

them absolutely

reject

and wisdom guiding

absolute justice

Hence we

the

their eternity.

Vehicle, of

new

soul created for

believe that every

human

being

an Ego coeval with every other

Egos are of the same essence and belong to emanation from one universal infinite Ego.

all

primeval

Plato calls the latter the logos (or the second manifested God)

and we, the manifested divine principle, which universal

and

mind or

-personal

soul, not the

God

the

one with the

anthropomorphic, extra-cosmic

which so many Theists

believe.

Pray do

not confuse.

Enq.

But where

difficulty,

once

you accept

manifested

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. new mortal

principle, in believing that the soul of every

by that Principle, as

the Souls before

all

Theo. Because that which

and think,

at its o-vvn

iii

created

have been so created

impersonal can hardly create, plan

sweet will and pleasure.

Being a uni-

Law, immutable in its periodical manifestations, those of radiatiucr and uianifestatinK its own essence at the betrinning

versal

of every

new

cycle of

life, it

not supposed to create men,

only to repent a few years later of having created them.

we have

to believe in a divine pi'iuciple

one which

as absolute

harmony,

logic,

must be

all, it

and

absolute love, wisdom, and impartiality; and a

justice, as

it is

God who would

create every soul for the space of one brief less

of the fact whether

span of life, regardhas to animate the body of a

wealthy, happy man, or that of a poor suffering wretch, hapless

from birth to death though he has done nothing to deserve cruel fate

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;would

{Vide infra, the

"On

Jewish

philosophers,

believers

the

Mosaic

me some

Enq.

Can you

Theo.

Most decidedly I :

do.

instances as a proof of this?

can.

The

air

Philo is

full

says

Judseus

earth, descending to be

bodies,

retum

(in

of them (of souls)

which are nearest the TraXivipoiioMi. aoon,

Bible

have never entertained such an idea

and, moreover, they believed in re-incarnation, as

Somniis," p. 455)

Why, even

the Punishment of the Ego.")

(esoterically, of course),

give

his

be rather a senseless fiend than a God.

other bodies,

tied to

;

those

mortal

being desirous to

In the Zohar, the soul is made to plead her I am happy in freedom before God " Lord of the Universe live in

them."

this

world, and do not wish to go into another world, where I

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

112

shall

all

kinds of pollu-

fatal necessity,

the everlasting

be a handmaid, and be exposed to

The doctrine

tions."*

immutable

law,

asserted

answer of the Deity:

the

" Against thy will thou becomest an embryo, will

thou

art born."

make

without darkness to

and against thy

Light would be incomprehensible

by contrast

manifest

;

good

would be no longer good without evil to show the priceless and so personal virtue could claim no nature of the boon ;

merit, unless

Nothing Deity.

had passed through the furnace of temptation. and unchangeable, save the concealed

eternal

Nothing that

finite

—whether

because

beginning, or must have an end

—

must

and a soul which

either progress or recede

a reunion with tality,

its spirit,

;

must purify itself through bliss

Zohar, " The Palace of Love," nont^ religion, "

Moksha "

Eternal Light

;

among

;

immor-

cyclic transmigrations

and eternal

rest,

h^'^n

the Gnostics, "

thirsts after

which alone confers upon

toward the only land of

had a

can remain stationary.

onward

called in the

in the Hindu The Pleroma of ;

and by the Buddhists, " Nirvana."

And

all

these states are temporary, not eternal.

Yet there

Enq. Theo.

no re-incarnation spoken of in

a soul which pleads

to be allowed to

all this.

remain where she

is,

must be pre- existent, and not have been created for the occasion.

In the Zohar

souls), those

(vol.

iii.,

p. 61),

however, there

still

Speaking of the re-incarnating Egos (the rational

better proof.

whose •

last personality

has to fade out

" Zohar," Vol. II., p. 96.

t " Mishna," " Aboth," Vol. IV., p. 29.

entirely, it is

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. said

113

" All souls which have alienated themselves in heaven

from the Holy One

—blessed

be His

Name

—have

thrown

themselves into an abyss at their very existence, and have

when they are to descend once more on The Holy One " means here, esotericaUy, the Atman,

anticipated the time

earth."

or Atma-Buddhi.

Enq.

Moreover,

it is

very strange to find Nirvana spoken of as some-

thing synonymous with the

Kingdom

Heaven, or the Paradise,

since according to every Orientahst of note Nirvana

synonym

annihilation

Theo. Taken

with regard to the personahty and differen-

literally,

These ideas on re-incarnation

tiated matter, not otherwise.

and the

trinity

Christian Fathers.

the

man were It is the

New Testament and

held

by many

the

early

jumble made by the translators of

ancient philosophical treatises between

many misunderstandmany reasons why Buddha, Initiates are now accused of

soul and spirit, that has occasioned the ings.

also

one of the

and so many other

Plotinus,

having longed for the total extinction of their souls

— " absorp-

tion unto the Deity," or " reunion with the universal soul,"

meaning, according to modern ideas, annihilation. sonal soul must, of course, be disintegrated into

before

immortal Epistles,

able to link

spirit.

who

laid

its

The

per-

its particles,

purer essence for ever with the

But the translators of both the Acts and the the foundation of the

Kingdom of Heaven,

and the modern commentators on the Buddhist Sutra of

the

Foundation of the Kingdom of Righteousness, have muddled the sense of the great apostle of Christianity as

of the

great

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

114

The former have smothered the word reader imagines it to have any relation with

reformer of India. ^uxiicoi,

soul;

so that 110

and with

this

confusion of soul and spirit together, Bible

readers get only a perverted sense of anything on the subject.

the other hand, the interpreters of

Buddha have

failed to

understand the meaning and object of the Buddhist four degrees of Dhyana. Ask the Pythagoreans, " Can that spirit, which gives life

and motion and partakes of the nature of " Can even that sensitive nonentity ? "

which exercises memory, one of the rational

become nothing

? "

observe

the

be reduced

light,

spirit

brutes

faculties, die

and

In Buddhistic

Occultists.

philosophy annihilation means only a dispersion of matter, in

whatever form or semblance of form that has form

For

temporary, and

is,

may

be, for everything

therefore, really an illusion.

in eternity the longest periods of time are as a

eye.

So with form.

have seen

it, it is

and passed for ever

Before

gone

for ever.

we have

time to reaUze that

an instantaneous

When

wink of the

flash of lightning,

the Spiritual entity breaks loose

from every particle of matter, substance, or form, and

re-becomes a Spiritual breath

then only does

enter

upon

the eternal and unchangeable Nirvana, lasting as long as the cycle of

life

has lasted

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; an

Breath, existing in Spirit,

form, a semblance, a shape,

eternity, truly.

And

nothing because it

then that

all; as a

completely annihilated

;

The absolute Spirit it still is, for it has become Be-ness itself. very word used, " absorbed in the universal essence," when spoken of the " Soul never

mean

" as

Spirit,

annihilation, as that

means " union

with."

would mean eternal

can

separation.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq.

Do you

115

not lay yourself open to the accusation of preaching

by the language you yourself use? You have just spoken of the Soul of man returning to its primordial elements. annihilation

Theo. But you forget that I have given you the differences between

word "

the various meanings of the

Soul," and

way

speak of an animal, a human, and a

which the term "

Spirit " has

Ego, Manas, he

term

Spirit,

tion, to

when

spiritual. Soul,

that which we call Buddhi, adding to

" spiritual," however

;

but that which

calls Spirit,

when standing

Atma

alone.

loose

and

Plato, for instance, calls " rational

distinguish between them.

Soul

shown the

been hitherto translated.

Nous,

etc.,

call

the adjective of

the reincarnating

whereas we apply the

alone and without any qualifica-

Pythagoras repeats our archaic doctrine

stating that the

Ego (Nous)

eternal with Deity

;

that

the soul only passed through various stages to arrive at divine excellence

;

while thumos returned to the earth, and even the

Again, Plato defines phren, the lower Manas, was eliminated. Soul (Buddhi) as " the motion that is able to move itself." "Soul," he adds (Laws X.), "is the most ancient of

all things,

and the commencement of motion," thus calling Atma-Buddhi " Soul," and Manas " Spirit," which we do not. " Soul

was generated prior

to body,

and body

and secondary,

posterior

as being according to nature, ruled over by the ruling soul."

which administers

all

The

soul

things that are moved in every way, administers like-

wise the heavens." " Soul then leads everything in heaven, and on earth, and in the sea,

its

care

of,

movements

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the

to consult, to

names

which

are, to will, to consider, to take

form opinions true and

joy, sorrow, confidence, fear, hate, love, together

false, to

with

be in a state of

all

such primary

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

ii6

movements

as are allied to these.

Being a goddess

ever takes as an ally Notos, a god, and disciplines

happily

;

when with Annoia

but

—not

rums

—

all

herself, she

things correctly and

works out everything

the contrary."

this

language, as in the Buddhist texts, the negative Annihilation

as essential existence.

The

exegesis.

positive state

When

festation as such.

enters Nirvana,

" nothing

" ;

similar

no mani-

the spirit, in Buddhistic parlance,

objective minds this

but retains sub-

becoming absolute

to subjective. No-thing, nothing to be displayed

Thus,

to sense.

treated

comes under a

essential being, but

loses objective existence,

jective being.

their

Nirvana means the

certitude of in-

dividual immortality in Spirit, not in Soul, which, though " the

most ancient of

Gods

—a

finite

all

things,"

still

— along

with

all

emanation, m. forms and individuality,

the other if

not in

substance.

Enq.

I do not quite seize the idea yet,

you explain

Theo.

this to

No doubt

brought up Church.

it is

me by some

very

in the

difficult to

understand, especially to one

tell

you one thing

;

and

this

you have studied thoroughly well the separate

functions assigned to

all

the

state of all these after death,

philosophy.

to have

regular orthodox ideas of the Christian

Moreover, I must

that unless

and would be thankful

illustrations.

human "principles" and

you

will

the

hardly realize our Eastern

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

117

ON THE VABIOVS "PBINCIPLES" IN MAN. Enq.

have heard a good deal about

man"

you

call

Gabalis expresses

Theo. Of course,

it,

but could never

the

most

difficult,

of the real Ego.

by various Eastern

schools,

Don't they divide

may

yet state as

opinion that they have an obvious reason for

only that

compound

spiritual aggregate

various mental aspects that

body being reckon in

though at

but though I would not presume to dispute the

;

point with a learned Yedantin, I

merely an

It is

number-

the same identical substratum of teaching.

Do you mean the Vedantins, as an instance your seven " principles " into five only?

Theo. They do

and distinguish betvreen the various

so as there exists a notable difference in the

the bottom there

it is

or tail on't " as

and, as you say, " puzzling

us the " principles

ing of those principles

Enq.

make "head

it.

to understand correctly aspects, called

this constitution of the " inner

in their view

Nor

illusion.

this

manner.

called 3fan at

private

With them

it.

which consists of all,

the physical

something beneath contempt, and the Vedanta the only philosophy to

Lao-Tze, in his Tao-te-King, mentions

only five principles, because he, like the Vedantins, omits to include two

namely, the

principles,

spirit

(Atma) and the

physical body, the latter of which, moreover, he calls " the

cadaver."

Then

there

teaching recognises

the Taraka

only three

Raja Yoga School.

" principles

fact

;

Its

but

then, in reality, their Sthulopadi, or the physical body, in

its

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

ii8

waking conscious

SuJcshmopadhi, the same body

state, their

and their Karanopadhi or " causal body," or that which passes from one incarnation to another, are all dual in their aspects, and thus make six. Add Svapna, or the dreaming

state,

Atma, the impersonal divine principle or the immortal element in Man, undistinguished from the Universal They are Spirit, and you have the same seven again. * to

this

welcome Then

Enq.

to hold to their division

to ours.

body, soul and spirit ?

Theo. Just the same.

vehicle of the " vital

Prand ;

higher

we hold

seems almost the same as the division made by the

mystic Christians

;

could easily

Double"

Kamarwpa,

;

make

the

body

the

of the latter the vehicle of Life

or (animal) soul, the vehicle of the

and the lower mind, and make of

crowning the whole with the one immortal

this six principles,

In Occultism

spirit.

every qualificative change in the state of our consciousness gives

man

new

aspect,

and

living and acting Ego, to distinguish the

when he

It is just that

Theo.

which

it is

state

special

name,

from the man

so difficult to understand.

very easy, on the contrary, once that you

plane of consciousness, in spiritual condition.

age that the more '

and becomes part of the

in that particular

have seized the main idea,

and

prevails

places himself in another state.

Enq.

seems to

man

if it

must be (and is) given a

i.e.,

that

strict

man

acts

this or

another

accordance with his mental

But such

the materialism of the

explain the less people seem capable of

See " Secret Doctrine " for a clearer explanation.

Vol.

I.,

p. 157.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. understanding what

man

119

Divide the terrestrial being called

say.

you hke, and unless you make him a pure animal you cannot do less. Take his objective body; the thinking principle in him which is only a httie into three chief aspects,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

higher than the instinctual element in the animal

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or the vital

conscious soul; and that which places liim so immeasurably

beyond and higher than the animal "

Well,

spirit."

his reasoning soul or

i.e.,

take these three groups or represen-

and subdivide them, according what do we get ?

tative entities,

teaching,

First of fore,

all,

Spirit (in the sense of the Absolute,

All),

indivisible

Atma.

the

occult

and there-

can neither be

this

located nor hmited in philosophy, being simply that which

and which cannot be absent from even the

in Eternity,

tiniest

geometrical or mathematical point of the universe of matter or substance, principle at

ought not to be

Eather, and at best,

all.

point in space which the

occupy

for

imaginary as

called,

himself,

it is

and

life.

in reality

its

Xow is

fit

of Ulusion caUed

take ourselves into account, in our

no one

To make

else does.

intellect,

solve the

when

first

ABC

own

life,

vehicle

that point

man as

maya Egos, we are a and we have to

illusion,

but then for ourselves, as for other personal reahty during that

"human"

in ]\Ietaphysics, that

human Monad and

the period of every

man

in truth, a

fancy at any rate,

more conceivable

to the

human

attempting the study of Occultism, and to

of the mystery of man. Occultism caUs this

seventh principle the synthesis of the sixth,

vehicle the Spiritual Soul, Buddhi.

Xow the

and gives

for

latter conceals a

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

I20

never given to any one, with the exception of irrevocably pledged chelas, or those, at any rate, who can mystery, wMcli

be safely trusted. could

only be told

would be

course, there but, as this

;

less confusion,

directly concerned with

the power of projecting one's double consciously and at will,

and

as this gift, like the " ring of Gyges,"

fatal to

man

particular,

of the

to the possessor of that faculty in

But

carefully guarded.

the " principles." vehicle

and

at large

would prove very us proceed with

let

This divine soul, or Buddhi, then,

Spirit.

the

In conjunction, these two are one,

impersonal and without any attributes (on this plane, of course),

and make two

Human

spiritual "principles."

Manas

Soul,

intelligence of

man

or mens, every one will agree that the

dual to say the least

and spiritual-minded man

from Enq.

the obtuse, dull,

and material,

e.g.,

minded man can hardly become low-minded tellectual

pass on to the

;

man

separated by an abyss

in its growth, so

to say, or paralysed

predominance of the other

what we

the thinking, conscious

;

Kama,

and the

aspect, in

call the

the higher and the lower

(Buddhi)

principles " or

has these two principles in him, one more active

than the other, and in rare cases, one of these

then, are

the very in-

not animal-minded man.

But why should not man be represented by two " two aspects, rather ?

Theo. Every

the high-

entirely stunted

by the strength and

whatever direction. These,

two principles or aspects of Manas, ;

the former, the higher Manas, or

Ego gravitating toward the

spiritual Soul

latter, or its instinctual principle, attracted

the seat of animal

desires

and passions in man.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Thus,

we have four

" principles " justified

the " Double," which

(1)

or Plastic Soul

(2)

the

accept these principles, nor can he

this

And

day

life

this is

Protean, or

call

principle

Of course no physiologist or

the physical body.

them.

the last three being

;

we have agreed

the vehicle of

;

121

and

;

(3)

biologist will

make head

tail

why, perhaps, none of them understand to

either the functions of the spleen, the physical vehicle

of the Protean Double, or those of a certain organ on the right side of

man, the

does he

know anything

as a

seat of the above-mentioned desires, nor yet

of the pineal gland, which he describes

horny gland with a

sand in

little

which gland

it,

truth the very seat of the highest and divinest consciousness in

man,

And

this

his

omniscient, spiritual and

shows to you

still

all-embracing

we can

But what

Enq.

is it

we have neither new in the world

plainly that

invented these seven principles, nor are they of philosophy, as

mind.

easily prove.

that reincarnates, in your belief?

Theo. The Spiritual thinking Ego, the permanent principle in man, or that which

the seat of Manas.

Atma-Buddhi, regarded vidual, or divine

Buddhi,

(or divine

man).

its

vehicle,

For

Monad, which

it is

;

for

which links

Consciousness, that connects

men

6tli

the indi-

the Universal

only in conjunc-

it to the individuality

the Buddhi-Manas which

the Causal body, (the United 5th and

habits on earth.

not Atma, or even

Atman Higher-Self of man

man, but Manas

All, and becomes the tion with

as the dual

It is

Principles)

called

and which

with every personality

it in-

Therefore, Soul being a generic term, there are

three aspects of Soul

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

terrestrial, or

animal

;

the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

122

Human

Soul; and the Spiritual Soul; these, strictly speaking,

are one Soul in

only

its

Now

three aspects.

its

nothing remains after death divine essence if

left

becomes consciously

But

the assimilation of the higher Manas.

You

Enq.

will

fight the

Theo.

to say a few

do well, as

most

words

first

aspect,

unsoiled survives, while the third

in addition to being immortal

we have

of the

of the second {jious or Manas)

;

first

all

divine,

make

it clear,

about Ee-incarnation.

against this doctrine that your enemies

it is

ferociously.

You mean

the Spiritualists

know

and many are the

;

absurd objections laboriously spun by them over the pages of Light.

So obtuse and malicious are some of them, that

they will stop at nothing. tradiction,

One

them found recently a

which he gravely discusses

a letter

conthat

journal, in two statements picked out of Mr. Sinnett's lectures.

discovers that grave contradiction in these two sentences

" Premature returns to earth-life in the cases

when they occur

may be due

and " there

accident in the

Karmic comphcation

" .

;

supreme act of divine justice guiding evolution."

So profound a thinker would surely see a contradiction of the

law of gravitation falling stone

man

stretched out his

hand to stop a

from crushing the head of a child

VIII.

ON EE-INCARNATION OE

WHAT Enq.

EE-BIRTH.

MEMORY AGCOEDING TO TEEOSOPSICAL TEACHING?

The most

difficult

thing for you to do, will be to explain and give

reasonable grounds for such a belief

Theosophist has ever

yet succeeded in bringing forward a single valid proof to shake First of

scepticism.

tion, the fact that

all,

you have against

no single

that he has lived, least of

Theo. Your argument, I

memory

loss

You

think

all

man

this theory of re-incarna-

has yet been found to remember

who he

was, during his previous

same old objection

see, tends to the

life.

;

the

each of us of our previous incarnation.

invalidates our doctrine

answer

that

does not, and that at any rate such an objection cannot be final.

Enq.

I would like to hear your arguments.

Yet when you take into con-

Theo. They are short and few. sideration

(a)

the

utter

inability

the

best

modern

psychologists to explain to the world the nature of mind (b)

their

states,

complete ignorance of

you have

admit that

its

potentialities,

this objection

;

and

and higher

based on an a

T^E ^^^ ^O THEOSOPHY.

124

priori conclusion

drawn from primd

evidence more than anything in

Enq.

your conception, pray

facie*

and circumstantial

Now what

else.

memory

That which is generally accepted the faculty in our mind of remembering and of retaining the knowledge of previous thoughts, deeds and events. :

Theo. Please add to

that there

a great difference between the

three accepted forms of memory.

Besides

memory

in general

you have Remembrance, Recollection and Reminiscence, have Have you ever thought over the difference ? you not ?

Memory, remember, Enq.

Yet,

all

a generic name.

these are only synonyms.

Theo. Indeed, they

Memory is

are not

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;not

philosophy, at

in animals, of reproducing past impressions of ideas principally suggested

action on our external sensory organs.

functioning of our physical brain are the attributes and

But reminiscence is

defined

;

by an

association

objective things or

depending entirely on the more or

lection

events.

all

simply an innate power in thinking beings, and even

less

Memory

by some a faculty

healthy and normal

and remembrance and

recol-

handmaidens of that memory.

an entirely different thing.

by the modern psychologist

mediate between remembrance and

" Eeminiscence

as something inter-

recollection, or "

a conscious

process of recalling past occurrences, but without that full and varied reference to particular things which characterises recollection."

says

Locke, speaking of recollection and remembrance,

When an idea

like object

again recurs without the operation of the

on the external sensory,

it is

remembrance ;

if it

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

125

sought after by the mind, and with pain and endeavour found

and brought again into view,

it is

recollection."

But even Locke

leaves reminiscence without any clear definition, because

no faculty or attribute of our physical memory, but an tional perception apart

a perception which,

intui-

from and outside our physical brain

covering as

does (being called

;

into

by the ever-present knowledge of our spiritual Ego) all those visions in man which are regarded as abnormal from action

—

the pictures suggested

even madness

by genius to the ravings of fever and by science as having no existence

— are classed

Occultism and Theosophy, however,

outside of our fancy.

regard reminiscence in an entirely different light.

memory

For

us, while

physical and evanescent and depends on the physio-

logical conditions of the brain

— a fundamental proposition with

aU teachers of mnemonics, who have the researches of modern scientific

the

psychologists to back

memory of the

And

soul.

call

reminiscence

memory which

gives

being, whether he under-

or not, of his having lived before and having to live

again.

this

human

the assurance to almost every

stands

—we

them

it is

Indeed, as "

Our The

Wordsworth has

birth is but a sleep

and a

forgetting,

soul that rises with us, our

life's star.

Hath elsewhere had its setting, And cometh from afar." Enq.

it is

your

own

this kind of

confession

convince very few, I

Theo.

I did

memory

—that you am

not " confess

—poetry and

abnormal

fancies,

base your doctrine, then you will

afraid. it

was a fancy.

simply said that

physiologists and scientists in general regard such reminiscences

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

126

and fancy, to which learned conclusion they We do not deny that such visions of the past

as hallucinations

are welcome.

and glimpses abnormal, as

back into the corridors of time, are not contrasted with our normal daily hfe experience far

But we do maintain with Professor memory of any action done

and physical memory.

Knight, that " the absence of

in a previous state

cannot be a conclusive argument against

our having lived through

must agree with what Philosophy it

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;" that

it."

And every fair-minded opponent

said in Butler's Lectures on Platonic

the feeling of extravagance with which

(pre-existence) affects us has

its

or semi-materialistic prejudices." that

memory,

secret source in materialistic

Besides which

Olynipiodorus called

and the most unreliable thing

asserted that the only faculty in

man

nostication, or looking into futurity,

remember another

;

that

one

memory

simply phantasy,

it, is

us.*

we maintain

Ammonius

directly opposed is

Saccas

to prog-

memory. Furthermore,

one thing and mind or thought

a recording machine, a register which very

easily gets out of order

;

the other (thoughts)

are eternal and

Would you refuse to believe in the existence men only because your physical eyes have them ? Would not the collective testimony of

imperishable.

of certain things or

not seen *

The phantasy," says Olympiodorus (in Platonis Phsed.), " is an impediment to our intellectual conceptions and hence, when we are agitated by the inspiring ;

influence oi the Divinity,

the phantasy intervenes, the enthusiastic energy

enthusiasm and the ecstasy are contrary to each other. Should it be asked whether the soul is able to energise without the phantasy, we reply, ceases

for

that its perception of universals proves that therefore, independent of the

tasy attends in

its

phantasy

energies, just as a

able.

It has perceptions,

same time, however, the phanstorm pursues him who sails on the sea." ;

at the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. past generations

who have

seen

that Julius Csesar once lived

him be a

Why

127

sufficient

guarantee

should not the same

testimony of the psychic senses of the masses be taken into consideration

But

Enq.

don't you think that these are too fine distinctions to be

accepted by the majority of mortals

And

Theo. Say rather by the majority of materialists.

we say, behold even memory is too weak :

How

in the short

them

span of ordinary existence,

to register all the events of a lifetime.

frequently do even most important events

lie

dormant

our memory until awakened by some association of ideas, or aroused to function and activity by some other especially the

case with

people of advanced age,

always found suffering from feebleness of recollection. therefore,

we remember

that

which

memory

lives that

us,

the

not the fact

has failed to record our precedent

ought to surprise

who are When,

we know about

physical and the spiritual principles in man, that our

This

link.

life

but the contrary, were

and it

happen.

WHY DO WE NOT REMEMBER OUR PAST Enq.

You have given me a bird's eye view of the how do they account for our complete loss having Uved before

Theo. Yery physical,

easily.

LIVES?

seven principles of

;

now

any recollection of

Since

" principles "

those

and none of which

which we

caU

denied by science, though

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

128 calls

them by other names,*

disintegrated after death

are

with their constituent elements, memory along with its brain, this vanished memory of a vanished personality, can neither

remember nor record anything

in the

subsequent reincarna-

Eeincarnation means that this Ego will be

tion of the Ego.

furnished with a new body, a new brain, and a new memory.

would be

Therefore

remember

that which

absurd to expect

examine under a microscope a

murderer, and seek on

shirt

we have

destroyed,

Enq.

Aye

how can you

committed

all,

;

and

get at them

which are

man

not the clean

worn during

these are burnt and

get at the certainty that the crime

or that the "

idle

never worn by a

question, but the clothes

the perpetration of the crime

memory

would be

for the stains of blood

be found only on the clothes he wore. shirt that

this

has never recorded as

was ever

in the clean shirt " ever lived

before ?

Theo. Not by physical processes, most assuredly

on the testimony of that which

exists

such a thing as circumstantial evidence, laws accept

it,

nor by relying

;

no longer. since

But there our

more, perhaps, even than they should.

convinced of the fact of re-incarnation and past

lives,

wise

get

one must

put oneself in rapport with one's real permanent Ego, not one's evanescent memory. â&#x20AC;˘

Namely, the body, every

man

life,

separate from the

Prana,

passional and animal instincts, and the astral eidolon oÂŁ

(whether perceived in thought or our mind's eye, or objectively and

Kama

physical body),

which principles we

rupa, and Linga sa/rira (vide supra).

call

Sthula sarira,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. But how can people

Enq.

have ever seen,

Theo. If people,

which they do not know, nor

believe in that

far less

129

put themselves in rapport vrith

and the most

learned,

will

it ?

believe

the

Gravity, Ether, Force, and what not of Science, abstractions " and working hypotheses," which they have neither seen,

touched,

nor tasted

heard,

smelt,

—why

should not other

people believe, on the same principle, in one's permanent Ego, a far more logical and important " working hypothesis

any other

What

Enq.

explain

than

nature so as to

its

Can you

this mysterious eternal principle ?

is, finally,

make

comprehensible to

all ?

Theo. The Ego which re-incarnates, the individual and immortal not personal

Monad, earth,

that

and

—

Atma-Buddhic

the vehicle, in short, of the

;

which

rewarded to

that, finally,

Devachan and punished on

which the

reflection only of the

Skandhas, or attributes, of every incarnation attaches

What

Enq.

do you

mean by Skandhas

Theo. Just what I said

" Buddhist '\

There are

Here

five

which

SAareti/tas or attributes in the

tendencies of

mind

;

bears

them only

Buddhist teachings

Vedana, sensation

;

Bupa

Sanna, abstract ideas

;

the

(form or

Smnkhara,

Vinnana, mental powers. Of these we are formed

are conscious of existence

S. Olcott's

upon

directly "

memory,

another paragraph from H.

Catechism "f

body), material qualities

among which

of which perish like a flower, leaving behind

all

feeble perfume.

•

" attributes,"

itself.*

by them and through them communicate with the world ;

about us." t

By H.

President and Founder of the Theosophical Society. The accuracy of

S. Olcott,

the teaching

and

Galle,

sanctioned by the Rev. H. Sumangala, High Priest of the Sripada

and Principal

of the

as being in agreement with the

Widyodaya Parivena

Canon

of the

(College) at Colombo, Southern Buddhist Church.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

130

It deals with the

subject.

man remembers physically

question as follows

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;" The aged

the incidents of his youth, despite his being

Why,

and mentally changed.

recollection of past lives brought over

birth into the present birth

then,

Because memory

not the

by us from our is

last

included

within the Skandhas, and the Skandhas having changed with the

new

existence, a

memory, the record of that particular Yet the record or

existence, develops.

past lives must survive, for

Buddha, the Him.

full

reflection of all the

when Prince Siddhartha became

sequence of His previous births were seen by

and any one who

attains to the state of

thus retrospectively trace the line of his lives." to

you that while the undying

such as love, goodness, charity,

Jhana can

This proves

qualities of the personality etc.

immortal Ego, photographing on

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; attach

it,

themselves to the

so to speak, a

image of the divine aspect of the man who was,

permanent

his material

Skandhas (those which generate the most marked Karmic are as evanescent as a flash of lightning, and cannot

effects)

impress the to

new brain

do so impairs

of the

new

personality

;

yet their failing

no way the identity of the re-incarnating

Ego.

Enq.

Do you mean to infer that that which survives is only the Soulmemory, as you call it, that Soul or Ego being one and the same, while nothing of the personaHty remains

Theo. Not quite

was an for

leaves

;

something of each personality, unless the

absolute materialist with not spiritual

its

ray

eternal impress

latter

even a chink in his nature

pass through, must survive, as it on the incarnating permanent Self

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. or Spiritual Ego.*

The

sciousness.)

(See

post mortem and post natal Con-

with

personality

changing with every new

131

birth.

ever

as said before,

only

its

is,

Skandlias

by the actor (the true Ego) for one night. why we preserve no memory on the physical plane of

the part played

This

our past

knows them Enq.

though the real " Ego

lives,

has lived them over and

aU.

Then how does

happen that the real or Spiritual man does not impress his new personal "I " with this knowledge?

Theo.

How

that the servant-girls in a poor farm-house could

is it

speak Hebrew and play the violin in their trance or somnambulic state,

and knew neither when

in their

normal condition

Be-

cause, as every genuine psychologist of the old, not j'our modern, school,

wiU teU you, the

personal

Ego

Ego can act only when the The Spiritual " I " in man is

Spiritual

paralysed.

omniscient and has every knowledge innate in personal self

the creature of

of the physical memory.

its

;

while the

environment and the slave

Could the former manifest

itself

uninterruptedly, and without impediment, there would be no

longer

Enq.

Still

Theo.

And

men on

earth, but

we should

there ought to be exceptions, and

there

are.

be gods.

all

some ought

But who believes

remember.

their

report

Such sensitives are generally regarded as hallucinated hysteriacs,

as crack-brained enthusiasts, or

materialism. *

Or the

humbugs,

Let them read, however, works on

Spiritual, in contradistinction to the personal

confuse this Spiritual

Ego with

Self.

modern

The student must not is Atma, the God

the " highek self " which

within us, and inseparable from the Universal Spirit.

bj''

this subject,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

132

pre-eminently " Eeincarnation, a Study of Forgotten Truth" by D. Walker, F.T.S., and see in

tlie

mass of proofs which

One the able author brings to bear on this vexed question. " What is Soul ? speaks to people of soul, and some ask "

? "

Of course it is useless But even to them I to argue with those who are materialists. " Can you remember what you would put the question were or did when a baby ? Have you preserved the smallest

Have you ever proved

existence

its

recollection of your at all

during the

existence

life,

first

thoughts, or deeds, or that you lived

eighteen months or two years of your

Then why not deny

babe, on the same principle

? "

that

you have ever

When

to all this

reincarnating Ego, or individuality, retains

the

lived as a

we add

that

during the

Devachanic period merely the essence of the experience of

its

past earth-life or personality, the whole physical experience

involving into a state of

iJi

potentia,

translated into spiritual formulse

;

that the term between two rebirths to fifteen centuries, during

ness

totally

or being, so to speak,

when we remember is

further

said to extend from ten

which time the physical conscious-

and absolutely

inactive,

having no organs to act

through, and therefore no existence, the reason for the absence of

Enq.

all

remembrance

You

jiist

in the purely physical

said that the SpieituaI/

Ego was

memory

apparent.

omniscient.

then, is that vaunted omniscience during his Devachanic

Where,

life,

you

call it ?

Theo. During that time all,

the Spiritual

Ego

(the

latent

and

potential, because, first of

compound

of Buddhi-Manas)

not

the Higher Self, which being one with the Universal Soul or

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. ^Find

alone omniscient

;

133

and, secondly, because

the idealized continuation of the terrestrial

life

Devachan

just left behind,

a period of retributive adjustment, and a reward for unmerited wi-ongs and sufferings undergone in that special

life.

It is

omniscient only potentially in Devachan, and de facto exclusively in Nirvana,

Mind-Soul.

Yet

hours on earth

when it

the

Ego

merged

in the

Universal

rebecomes quasi omniscient dui-ing those

abnormal conditions and physio-

'vvhen certain

changes in the body make the Ego free from the

logical

trammels

Thus

matter.

the examples cited above

somnambulists, a poor servant speaking Hebrew, and another playing the violin, give you an illustration of the case in point. This does not offered us girl

mean

that the explanations of these two facts

by medical science have no truth

them, for one

had, years before, heard her master, a clergyman, read

Hebrew works a violin

at their farm.

perfectly

as they did

omniscient.

artist

But neither could have done

so as

its

nature with the Universal

Here the higher principle acted on the

Skandhas and moved them

;

the

other, the personaUty

l)eing paralysed, the individuality manifested itself.

not confuse the two.

playing

had they not been ensouled by that

which, owing to the sameness of

Mind,

had heard an

aloud, and the other

Pray do

^^^ ^^^

134

THEOSOPHY.

^<^

ON INDIVIDUALITY AND PEBSONALITY.* But what

Enq.

the difference between the two?

Indeed

in the dark.

still

I confess that I

just that difference, then, that

you cannot impress too much on our minds. *

Even

in his Buddhist Catechism, Col. Oloott, forced to

by the

Esoteric

logic of

philosophy, found himself obliged to correct the mistakes of previous Orientalists

who made no such

distinction,

and gives the reader

his reasons for

Thus he

it.

says " The successive appearances upon the earth, or 'descents into generation,' of :

the tanhaically coherent parts (Skandhas) of a certain being, are a succession of

In each birth the personality

personalities.

next succeeding birth. reflects ?) itself

now

particular

But though

which they are stnmg,

line,

from that an

in the personality of a sage, again as

throughout the string of births. of life along

differs

Karma, the deus ex machina, masks

never any other.

of a previous or

(or shall

artisan,

say

and so on

personalities ever shift, the one line

runs unbroken

like beads,

It is therefore individual,

;

ever that

an individual

vital

undulation, which began in Nirvana, or the subjective side of nature, as the light or heat imdulation through Eether

began at

its

dynamic source

the objective side of nature under the impulse of of

Tanha

(the unsatisfied desire for existence)

Mr. Ehys-Davids

changes back to Nirvana.

Karma and ;

character'

qualities calls

careering through

and leads through many

calls that

sonality to personality along the individual chain

;

the creative direction

cj'clic

which passes from

character,' or

not a mere metaphysical abstraction, but the

sum

doing.'

of one's

per-

Since

mental

and moral propensities, would it not help to dispel what Mr. Rhys-Davids

the desperate expedient of a mystery

{Buddhism,

the life-undulation as individuality, and each of

101)

its series of

we regarded

natal manifestations

The perfect individual, Buddhistically speaking, is a Buddha is but the rare flower of humanity, without the

as a separate personality ?

Buddha,

I should say

;

for

least supernatural admixture.

and a hundred thousand

And

cycles,'

as countless generations

four osanTcheyyas

Fausbbll and Rhys-Davids' buddhist birth

man into a Buddha, and the iron will become one runs ihroughout aU the successive births, what shall we call that which thus wOls and perseveres ? Character ? One's individuality an individuality but partly manifested in any one birth, but built up of fragments from

STORIES, p. 13) are required to develop a to

;

all

the births

(Bud. Cat., Appendix A. 137.)

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. I try to

them

feel a

but

;

alas, it is

135

harder with some than

make

reverence for childish impossibihties, only because

they are orthodox, and because orthodoxy

understand the idea well, you have to

study the dual sets

of " principles "

imperishable

make up

the spiritual, or those which belong to the

Ego

;

and the material, or those principles which

the ever-changing bodies or the series of personalities

of that Ego. that

first

respectable.

Let us

fix

permanent names

and say

to these,

Atma, the " Higher but

Self," is neither

sunHght shines on

diffused " divine jorincij^le,"

one and absolute

your

and

Spirit nor mine,

It is the universally

all.

iÂĽeta-Spirit, as

inseparable from the

sunbeam

its

in-

separable from sunlight. II.

Biiddhi (the spiritual soul)

is only its vehicle. Neither each separately, nor the two collectively, are of any

more use to the body of man, than sunlight and its beams are for a mass of granite buried in the earth, unless the divine in,

some

Duad

consciousness.

assimilated hy,

Neither

Atma

and

reflected

nor Buddhi are

ever reached by Karma, because the former highest aspect of Karma,

one aspect, and the other

its is

This consciousness or mind III.

Mahat

Mahat,

unconscious on

" Universal

i.e.,

mind, in man.

Spirit," becaiise

it is,

the

this

plane.

is,

Manas,* the derivation or product the

working agent of itself in

in a reflected

form

Mind " is the som-ce of Manas. The latter is Manas is also called Kahetrajna, embodied

according to

â&#x20AC;˘'

oxir

philosophy, the Manasa-putraa, or " Sons

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

136

Ahamkara, "the

is,

two,

the

This

radiant).

man.

when

therefore, called

It is this

conception of

I,"

inseparably united to the

Spiritual

Ego,

and

first

(the

Taijasi

the real Individuality, or the divine

Ego which

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;having

originally incarnated

in the senseless

human form animated

scious (since

had no consciousness)

or Ego-ship.

of,

the presence

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;made of that human-like

monad

in itself of the dual

form a real man.

by, but uncon-

It is that

Ego, that " Causal Body,"

which overshadows every personality Karma forces it to incarnate into and this Ego which is held responsible ;

for all the sins

committed through, and

body or personality

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

in,

every

new

the evanescent masks which hide

the true Individual through the long series of rebirths.

But

Enq.

this just ?

Why

the result of deeds which

Theo.

should this

Ego

receive

punishment

has forgotten ?

has not forgotten them

;

knows and remembers

its

mis-

deeds as well as you remember what you have done yesterday. Is it

because the

called "

body

memory of

that bundle of physical

does not recollect what

personality that was) did, that

has forgotten them?

boots on the feet of a boy,

which

Ego new

know nothing of

in the third

Bace mankind

in our

Bound.

It is

Manas,

the real incarnating and permanent Spiritual Ego, the

INDIVIDUALITY, and our various and numberless personalities only

masks,

real

unjust that the

Mind," who created, or rather produced, the thinking man,

"manu," by incarnating therefore,

ilogged for stealing apples,

should be punished for that which they of the Universal

compounds

predecessor (the

you imagine that the

well say

who

its

external

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq.

137

But are there no modes of coromunication between the Spiritual and human consciousness or memory ?

Theo. Of course there are

by your

;

but they have nevei- been recognised

modern

scientific

To what do you

psychologists.

attribute intuition, the " voice of the conscience," premonitions,

vague undefined reminiscences, munications least,

had the

Would

shows how intuitional he

some of

reviv;\ls

prehensive,

his

Coleridge,

who Hear

comments.

to the probability that "all thoughts

in themselves imperishable."

(sudden

not to such com-

spiritual perceptions of

fine

what he says with respect ai-e

etc., etc.,

that the ma,iority of educated men, at

' If the intelligent faculty

memory) should be rendered more com-

would require only a

diffei-ent

and appropriate

organization, the body ceJcstiaJ instead of the body terrestrial, to

bring before every ichck j>ast celestial is

human

e-vistcnce

soul the colhxtive experience of

{e.riiieiices,

rather)."

And

this

its

body

our Manasic Ego.

ON THE EDWARD AND PUNISHMENT OF THE EGO. ExQ.

I have heard yon say that the Ego, whatever the

person he incarnated in

may have been on

Earth,

life

of the

never visited

with post-mortim punishment.

Theo. Xever, save hi very exceptional and

wiU

not speak here, as the natm-e of the "

wav approaches any tion.

rai'e

oi' }

cases of

which we

punishment

" in

our theological conceptions of damna-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

138

But

Enq.

punished in this

if it is

previous one, then

it is

the misdeeds committed in a

life for

Ego

this

that ought to be rewarded also,

whether here, or when disincarnated.

Theo.

And

it is.

of this earth,

knows

this

and

that of unalloyed bliss.

crimes

and

sins committed on

a plane of

objec-

in a world of matter, cannot receive punishment in a

world of pure

subjectivity.

as localities

die,

of any punishment outside

because the only state the Spiritual Self

mean ?

do you

Theo. Simply tivity

we do not admit

of, hereafter, is

What

Enq.

;

no objective

believe in no hell or paradise

and worms that never

hell-fires

nor in any Jerusalems with streets paved with sapphires

What we helieve in is post-mortem state or mental condition, such as we are in during a vivid dream. We and diamonds.

believe

and dire

now '

It is

an immutable law of absolute Love,

And

Mercy.

believing in

it,

results of the original

man

incarnated Egos * no

this transgression that the cruel built.

are thinliing

and

It is explained in Vol.

has been

Egoa

we say

and rational

Justice,

and

" Whatever the sin

Karmic transgression of the (or the outer material

illogical II.

entities

dogma

of the Fallen

of the Secret Doctrine.

(Manasa-putras)

whether under hxunan or other forms, in the precedent

and

Angels

All our

who had

lived,

life-cycle (Manvantara),

and whose Karma it was to incarnate in the man of this one. It was taught in the Mysteries that, having delayed to comply with this law (or having " refused to create " as Hinduism says of the Kumaraa and Christian legend of i.e., having failed to incarnate in due time, the bodies predestined for them got defiled (Vide Stanzas VIII. and IX. in the " Slokas of

the Archangel Michael),

Dzyan," Vol. II. Secret Doctrine, pp. 19 and 20), hence the original sin of the senseless forms and the punishment of the Egos. That which is meant by the rebellious angels being hurled Spirits or

down

Egos being imprisoned

into

HeU

simply ejsplained by these pure

in bodies of unclean matter, flesh.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

139

periodical form of the Spiritual Entity) can be held, with any

degree of justice, responsible for the consequences of his birth.

does not ask to be born, nor can he choose the parents

that will give

him

has

no control

In every respect he

life.

environment, the

and

;

a victim to his

which

circumstances over

child

were

each of his transgressions

impartially investigated, there Avould be found nine out

when he was

every ten cases

than the sinner. to cross,

greatest D find out

Life

and a heavy burden often too philosophers

had the key

tried

And then

frets his

idiot, full of

Life

It is a tale

fury,

in its separate parts, yet of the greatest

individual

life

is,

its full

At any

rate,

importance

almost ever}^

And

development, a sorrow.

to believe that poor, helpless

like a piece of rotten

is,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; a poor player,

sound and

in its collectivity or series of lives.

and

who

hour upon the stage,

Signifying nothing

Nothing

fathom

except those

vain to

heard no more.

Told by an

all failed

but a walking shadow

That struts and

The

difficult to bear.

namely, the Eastern sages.

it,

Shakespeare describes "

have

raison (Tkre, and have

its

stormy sea

at best a heartless play, a

the one sinned against, rather

man,

after being tossed

timber on the angry billows of

he proves too weak to

resist

are

about

life, is, if

them, to be punished

b}'

sempiternity of damnation, or even a temporar}' punishment

Never

Whether a great or an average

sinner,

a ?

good or bad,

guilty or innocent, once delivered of the burden of physical to

life,

the tired and worn-out

Maim

thinking

Ego

has

won

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

140

The same the right to a period of absolute rest and bliss. unerringly wise and just rather than merciful Law, which upon the incarnated Ego the Karmic punishment for every siu committed during the preceding life on Earth, pro-

inflicts

vided for the rest,

i.e.,

now disembodied

Entity a long lease of mental

the entire oblivion of every sad event, aye, to the

smallest painful thought, that took place in

soul-memory but the reminiscence

personality, leaving in the

was bhss, or led

of that which

its last life as

Plotinus,

to happiness.

who

said that our body was the true river of Lethe, for " souls

plunged into

forget

our terrestrial body

meant more than he

all,"

Lethe, so

our

said.

For, as

celestial

body in

Devachan, and much more.

Then am

Enq.

I to understand that the murderer, the transgressor of

law divine and human in every shape,

Theo.

Who

allowed to go unpunished

Our philosophy has a doctrine

ever said that?

as stern as that of the most more philosophical and consistent with absolute justice. No

deed, not even a sinful latter far

rigid Calvinist, only

punishment far

thought, will go

unpunished

the

as a thought

more severely even than the former,

;

potential in creating evil results than even a deed.*

believe

Karma, which

unerring

asserts

itself

law

Eetribution,

called

concatenation of

a natural

causes and their unavoidable results.

Enq.

And bow,

or where, does

Theo. Every labourer *

" Verily, I say

act ?

worthy of

his hire, saith

unto you, that whosever looketh at a

committed adultery with her already

in his heart."

woman

Wisdom

in the

to lust after her,

(Matt,

v., 28.)

hath

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Gospel

every action, good or bad,

;

Wisdom

the

find the "

a prolific parent, saith

Put the two together, and you

of the Ages.

why."

141

will

After allowing the Soul, escaped from the

pangs of personal

hfe, a

Karma, with

hundredfold com-

sufficient, aye, a

army of Skandhas, wails at the threshold of Devachan, whence the Ego re-emerges to assume a new incarnation. It is at this moment that the future destiny of the now-rested Ego trembles in the scales of just pensation,

Ketribution, as

Karmic

active

law.

now

its

falls

once again under the sway of

It is in this rebirth

a rebirth selected and prepared

but in the equity and wisdom of

which

its

decrees infallible

that the sins of the previous hfe of the

Only

Ego

will

to this earth, the plane

all

LAW,

are punished.

Ego

and region of

cast,

those other Egos

but

where

his sins,

As he

have to atone for every bad thought and deed.

has sown, so will he reap.

him

it,

no imaginary Hell, with theatrical flames and

into

ridiculous tailed and horned devils, that the verily

ready for

this mysterious, inexorable,

Eeincarnation wiU gather around

who have

suffered,

whether directly

or indirectly, at the hands, or even through the unconscious

They wiU be thrown new man, conceahng the old, the

instrumentality, of the past persmiality.

by Nemesis

in the

way

and

....

eternal Ego,

ExQ.

But where ties " are not

of the

the equity you speak

of,

since these

new "

Theo. Has the coat torn to shreds from the back of the stole

it,

personali-

aware of having sinned or been sinned against

by another man who was robbed of

his property, to

man who

and recognises

be regarded as fairly dealt with

.'^

The new

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

142

" personality specific

" is

no better than a fresh

characteristics,

and

colour, form

with

suit of clothes

qualities

but the

;

man who wears it is the same culprit as of old. individuality who suffers through his " personality."

It is the

real

this,

and

can account for the

this alone, that

your modern philosophers

ing to us a good reason,

why

good men are born only

why

many

great

palaces

many

life

have succeeded

it is

only

man.

show-

apparently innocent and

to suffer during a

whole

life-time

are born poor unto starvation in the slums of

abandoned by

cities,

are born in

will

And

terrible, still

apparent, injustice in the distribution of lots in

When

its

the

fate

and men

;

while these

whj',

others open their eyes to light in

gutter,

while a noble birth and fortune seem often given to

;

the worst of

men and

only

rarelj' to

the worthy

;

while there

are beggars whose inner selves are j^eers to the highest and

men

noblest of

when

;

this,

explained by either your

but not

only,

the

till

then,

and much more,

philosophers or theologians, then

have dimly perceived

believed

it,

Why

truth

Are not

all

birth keep

Eemember

down my mounting

now

riff-raff of their

Alter the the truth.

his

when

words

spirit?

beggars on the earth,

their original did spring

from Kings,

And many monarchs now, whose The

Shelley

creatures subject unto time?

There's legions

That

of truths.

Shakespeare must have thought of

should

reject

The highest and grandest of this

writing on the worthlessness of Birth. "

satisfactorilj^

you wiU have the right

theory of reincarnation.

poets

word

age

" fathers " into "

fathers were "

Egos

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and

you

will

have

IX.

ON THE KAMA-LOKA AND DEVAOHAN.

ON THE FATE OF THE LOWER " PBINCIPLES." Enq.

You spoke

Theo.

When

for ever astral

of Kama-loka,

the

man

what

dies, his

is it ?

lower three principles leave him

i.e., body, life, and the vehicle of the latter, the body or the double of the living man. And then, his ;

four principles

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

central or middle principle, the animal

Kama-rupa, with what it has assimilated from the lower Manas, and the higher triad find themselves in Kamaloka. The latter is an astral locality, the limbus of scholastic soul or

theolog}', the locality

Hades of the

ancients, and, strictly speaking, a

only in a relative sense.

has neither a definite area

nor boundary, but exists within subjective space

;

beyond our sensuous perceptions.

and

there that the astral eidolons of

all

Still

animals included, await their second death.

their astral particles to the last.

when

the

exists,

i.e.,

is is

the beings that have lived,

comes with the disintegration and the begins

For the animals

entire fading out of

For the human

Atma-Buddhi-Manasic

triad

eidolon

said

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

14+

" separate

" itself

from

the ex-personality,

And what happens

Enq.

Theo. Then

its

lower principles, or the reflection of

falling into the

Devachanic

state.

after this ?

Kama-rupic phantom, remaining bereft of its informing thinking principle, the higher Manas, and the lower the

aspect of the latter, the animal intelligence, no longer receiving light

from the higher mind, and no longer having a physical

work through,

brain to

In what way

Enq.

Theo. Well, of

collapses.

faUs into the state of the frog

when

brain are taken out by the vivisector.

its

certain portions It

can think no

Henceforth

more, even on the lowest animal plane.

longer even the lower Manas, since this " lower

it is

" is

nothing

without the " higher."

And

Enq.

is it

this

nonentity which

rooms with Mediums Theo.

this nonentity.

reasoning astral

and

find materializing in

Seance

cogitating

fluidic, as

shown

true nonentity, however, only as to

powers,

still

in certain cases

however

Entity,

when, having been

magnetically and unconsciously drawn toward a medium,

revived for a time and lives in him by proxy, so to speak. This " spook," or the Kama-rupa, jelly-fish,

A URA),

with the

which has an ethereal gelatinous appearance so long in its l)ut

own

element, or water (the medium's specific

which, no sooner

dissolves in the

thrown out of

hand or on the sand, especially

In the medium's Aura, reasons

may be compared

lives

than

it,

in sunlight.

a kind of vicarious

life

and

and speaks either through the medium's brain or

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. But

those of other persons present.

145

would lead us too far,

this

and upon other people's grounds, whereon I have no

Enq.

desire to

Let us keep to the subject of reincarnation.

trespass.

What of

How

the latter ?

long does the incarnating

Ego remain

in the Devachanic state ?

Thbo. This,

are taught, depends on the degree of spirituahty

and the merit or demerit of the time

Enq.

from ten to

The average

last incarnation.

fifteen centuries, as I

already told you.

Ego manifest and communicate with wiU have it ? What is there to prevent a mother from communicating with the children she left on earth, a husband with his wife, and so on ? It is a most consohng behef, I must confess nor do I wonder that those who believe in it are so But why could not

this

mortals as SpirituaUsts

;

averse to give

up.

Theo. Nor are they forced

to,

unless they

to fiction, however " consoling."

may be

to Spiritualists

and teach Enq.

yet,

;

is half as selfish

Uncongenial our doctrines

nothing of what

and cruel

What

I do not understand you.

happen to prefer truth

believe in

what they preach.

selfish?

Theo. Their doctrine of the return of Spirits, the real " personalities " as

call it

they say

" paradise

felicity," if it is tells

;

" if

and I wiU teU you why. like, a " place of bliss

you

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

anything

such a place

Devachan

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and of supreme

(or say stat^, logic

us that no sorrow or even a shade of pain can be experi" God shall wipe away all the tears from the

enced therein.

eyes" of those promises.

And

return and see their homes,

in paradise, if

all

we read

in the

book of many

the " Spirits of the dead " are enabled to that

what kind of

going on on earth, and especially in bliss

can be in store for them

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

146

WHY THEOSOPBISTS DO NOT BELIEVE PURE do you mean

What

Enq.

bhss

Why

IN THE

BETUBN OF

"SPIRITS."

should this interfere with their

Theo. Simply this

and here

;

leaving behind her

adores

—

" Spirit

little

helpless

Ego

— that

mother

dies,

children —-orphans whom

perhaps a beloved husband

an instance.

individuality

also.

which

she

say that her

now

all

impreg-

nated, for the entire Devachanic period, with the noblest feelings held

for those

who

its late

personality,

suffer,

and so on

separated from the

" vale

i.e.,

love for her children, pity

—we say that

tears,"

that

consists in that blessed ignorance of all the Spiritualists say,

them, and mortals

on the contrary, that

all

left ;

the

flesh

do."

all

those

the

aware of

more that

bliss

she loved

has

consciousness of the

to her that she lives

whom

of the

no such thing as death

the post-mortem spiritual

that

children and

say that

bliss

behind.

complete conviction that

its

the earth, and that there

mother wiU represent

will

it left

as vividly

it is

entirely

future

its

woes

more so than before, for " Spirits see

Devachanee consists in never

now

it is

;

surrounded by her

that

no gap, no

link,

be missing to make her disembodied state the most perfect

blank.

According

liberated even

The

deny

this

to their doctrine, unfortunate

man

and absolute happiness.

Spiritualists

by death from the sorrows of

drop from the life-cup of pain and suffering

this life.

point is

not

Not a

will miss his lips

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and nolens it

volens, since

he sees everything now, Thus, the loving wife,

to the bitter dregs.

lifetime

147

who

was ready to save her husband sorrow

her heart's blood,

and

his despair,

Worse than

now doomed

shall

he drink

during her

at the price of

to see, in utter helplessness,

to register every hot tear he sheds for her loss.

that, she

may

see the tears dry too soon,

and

another beloved face shine on him, the father of her children

woman replacing her in his affections doomed to hear her orphans giving the holy name of " mother " to one find another

;

indifferent to them, if

not

and to see those According to

ill-treated.

wafting to immortal

way

into

new path

columns of the

American

life "

little

this

children neglected,

doctrine

the "gentle

becomes without any transition the

of mental suffering

And

yet,

"Banner of Light," the veteran journal

Spiritualists, are filled

the " dear departed ones,"

the

of the

with messages from the dead,

who aU

write to say

how very

Is such a state of knowledge consistent with happy they are bliss? Then "bliss " stands in such a case for the greatest curse, and orthodox damnation must be a relief in comparison to it !

But how does your theory avoid

Enq.

this ?

How

can you reconcile

the theory of Soul's omniscience with its blindness to that is

which

taking place on earth ?

Theo. Because such

the law of love the

and mercy.

Ego,

omniscient

During

every

Devachanic

period

per

clothes

so to say, with the reflection of the " per-

se,

sonality

that

itself,

was.

have just told you that the ideal

efflorescence of all the abstract, therefore

undying and eternal

qualities or attributes, such as love and mercy, the love of the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

148

good, the true and the beautiful, that ever spoke in the heart of the Hving " personaht)'," clung after death to the Ego, and therefore followed

Devachan.

For the time being, then,

Ego becomes the ideal reflection of the human being it was when last on earth, and that is not omniscient. Were it that, it would never be in the state we call Devachan at all. the

What

Enq.

are your reasons for

Theo. If you want an answer on the then I will say that

strict lines

of our philosophy,

because everything

it is

illusion

(Maya)

outside of eternal truth, which has neither form, colour, nor

He who

limitation.

maya

has placed himself beyond the veil of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and such are the highest Adepts and As

no Devachan. plete.

an absolute oblivion of

It is

Initiates

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;can have

to the ordinary mortal, his bliss in all

that gave

it is

com-

pain or

sorrow in the past incarnation, and even oblivion of the fact that such things as pain or sorrow exist at lives its intermediate cycle

by everything ship

had aspired

of everyone

fulfilment of all

its

The Devachanee

all.

between two incarnations surrounded to in vain,

and

loved on earth.

soul-yearnings.

And

in the It

companion-

has reached the

thus

it lives

through-

out long centuries an existence of unalloyed happiness, which the reward for

its

sufferings in earth-life.

In short,

a sea of uninterrupted felicity spanned only

bathes in

by events of

still

greater felicity in degree.

But

Enq.

this

more than simple

hallucinations

Theo.

From your

sophy.

delusion,

it is

an existence of insane

standpoint

Besides which,

it is

may

from that of philonot our whole terrestial life filled be, not so

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. with such delusions living

for years

149

Have you never met men and women a fool's paradise ? And because you

should happen to learn that the husband of a wife, adores and believes herself as beloved by him,

whom

she

untrue to her,

would you go and break her heart and beautiful dream by rudely awakening her to the reality ? I think not. I say it again, such oblivion

and

—

— are

you

call it so

only a merciful law of nature and strict justice.

At any

hallucination

rate,

a far more fascinating prospect than the orthodox golden

it is

harp with a pair of wings. ascends frequently

lives

The assurance that and

saluting the apostles,

martyrs

may seem

Nevertheless,

know, while the personages mentioned

all

" heavenly Jerusalem I would,

streets

of a

since mothers love their children with an immortal

racter,

love,

runs familiarly through the

and admiring the army of more pious character to some. a hallucination of a far more delusive cha-

prophets, "

" the soul that

heavenly Jerusalem, visiting the patriarchs and

streets of the

But

still,

paved

are

still

rather accept the "

the

in the

of a rather doubtful nature.

new

Jerusalem," with

its

show windows of a jeweUer's shop,

than find consolation in the heartless doctrine of the Spiritualists.

The idea alone that the

intellectual conscious souls of

one's father, mother, daughter or brother find their bliss in a

Summer

land

lous as the

—only a

"New

httle

Jerusalem" in

natural, but just as ridicuits

description

—would

ones."

make one lose every To beheve that a pure

doomed

to witness the sins, mistakes, treachery, and, above

enough

respect for one's spirit

can

feel

" departed

happy while L

all,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

I50

severed by death and loves best, without being able to help them, would be

whom

the sufferings of those from

whom

it is

a maddening thought.

There

Enq.

seen

something in your argument.

I confess to having never

in this light.

Just so, and one must be selfish to the core and utterly

Theo.

devoid of the sense of retributive justice, to have ever imagined

such a thing.

material form, and

were as

And

alive.

are with those

far, far

it is

some may imagine, but

nearer to them now, than

in reality.

human

Spiritual holy love

lost

when they

For pure divine love

heart, but has

immortal, and

its

roots in

Karma

brings

who

loved each other with such a

spiritual affection to incarnate

once more in the same family

sooner or later

all

though you may reacts

those

Again we say that love beyond the grave,

group.

on the

call

as real to

it,

living.

imaginary children

illusion

has a magic and divine potency which

mother's Ego

with love for the

filled

sees near itself, living a life of happiness,

when on

earth

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;that love

will

always be

felt

manifest in their dreams, and

the children in flesh.

It will

often in various events

m providential protections and escapes,

a strong shield, and

for love

As with

this

relationships material.

Enq.

have

not only in the fancy of the Devachanee,

not merely the blossom of a eternity.

whom we

not limited by space or time.

Devachanic "mother," so with the rest of human

and attachments, save

Analogy

will suggest to

purely

the

you the

selfish

rest.

In no case, then, do you admit the possibihty of the communication of the living with the disembodied spirit

';*

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. Yes, there

The

a case, and even two exceptions to the rule.

exception

first

151

during the few days that follow imme-

and before the Ego passes into Whether any living mortal, save a few

diately the death of a person

the Devachanic state.

exceptional cases

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

(when the intensity of the desire in the dying person to return for some purpose forced the higher consciousness

remain awake, and therefore

individuality, the

much

benefit

plane

and

falls

" Spirit

that communicated)

from the return of the

The what we

spirit

was

really the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;has

derived

into the objective

dazed after death

another question.

spirit

very soon into

call " pre-devachanic

The second exception

sciousness."

uncon-

found in the Nirmana-

hayas.

What

Enq. Theo.

about them

It is the

And what

name given

does the

to those

as those

illusion of

who

are

fit

for

you

who, though they have won

the right to Nirvana and cyclic rest latter

name mean

(not "

Devachan,"

as the

our consciousness, a happy dream, and

for

Nirvana must have

desire or possibility of the world's illusions)

lost entirely

every

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;have out of pity

mankind and those they left on earth renounced the Such an adept, or Saint, or whatever you may Nirvanic state. call him, believing it a selfish act to rest in bliss while mankind

for

groans under the burden of misery produced by ignorance,

renounces Nirvana, and determines to remain invisible in

on left

They have no material body,

this earth. it

behind

;

but otherwise

principles even in astral

life

do communicate with a few ordinary mediums.

as they

they remain with

our sphere.

And

all

spirit

have their

such can and

elect ones, only surely not

with

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

152

Enq.

have put you the question about Nirmanahayas because I read in some German and other works that it was the name given to the terrestrial appearances or bodies assumed by Buddhas in the I

Northern Buddhistic teachings.

Theo. So they are, only the Orientalists have confused

body by understanding it to be instead of purely astral and subjective.

objective

trial

Enq.

And what good can

this terres-

and physical

they do on earth?

Theo. Not much, as regards individuals, as they have no right interfere with

Karma, and can only advise and

for the general good.

inspire mortals

Yet they do more beneficent actions than

you imagine. Enq. To this Science would never subscribe, not even modern psychology. Eor them, no portion of intelligence can survive the physical brain. What would you answer them ? Theo. I would not even go to the trouble of answering, but would simply say, in the words given to " M.A. Oxon," "

gence

perpetuated after the body

not a question of the brain only.

propound the

we know Enq.

But

Theo. Quite

from

dead. .

It is

human

Intelli-

Though

reasonable to

sjDirit

from what

" {Spirit Identity, p. 69).

M.A. Oxon so,

may still

indestructibility of the

a Spiritualist?

and the only

true Spiritualist I

know

of,

though we

him on many a minor question. Apart no Spiritualist comes nearer to the occult truths

disagree with

this,

Like any one of us he speaks incessantly " of the surface dangers that beset the ill-equipped, feather-headed than he does.

muddler with the

occult,

who

crosses

the threshold without

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. counting the cost." * tion

Our only disagreement

"Spirit Identity."

Otherwise,

153

rests in the ques-

for one,

coincide

almost entirely with him, and accept the three propositions

be embodied in

his address of July,

who

Spiritualist, rather,

Enq.

What

Thec. "

eminent

It is this

disagrees with us, not

we with him.

are these propositions ?

That there

the physical "

1884.

life

coincident with, and independent of

of the body."

That, as a necessary corollary, this

the

life

of the

body

(we say

life

extends beyond

extends throughout

Devachan). " 3. That there

communication between the denizens of

that state of existence and tliose of the world in which

we now

live."

All depend, you see, on the minor and secondary aspects of these fundamental propositions.

views

sonality.

Everything depends on the

take of Spirit and Soul, or Individuality and PerSpiritualists confuse the

two "

into one "

;

separate

them, and say that, with the exceptions above enumerated, no Spirit will

But

let

revisit

the earth, though

return

once more to

the animal

Soul may.

our direct subject, the

Skandhas.

Enq.

I begin to understand better now.

It is the Spirit, so to say, of

those Skandhas which are the most ennobhng, which, attaching themselves to the incarnating of its

angehc experiences.

Ego, survive, and are added to the stock And it is the attributes connected with

the material Skandhas, with selfish and personal motives, "

Some

things that I do

know

of Spiritualism

and some that

which,

do not,"

7-HE

154

KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

disappearing from the field of action between two incarnations, reappear at the subsequent incarnation as Karmic results to be

atoned for

;

and therefore the

Devachan.

Spirit will not leave

so?

Theo. Very nearly

so.

you add

to this that the

law of retribution,

or Karma, rewarding the highest and most spiritual in Devachan, never fails to reward them again on earth by giving them

a further development, and furnishing the Ego with a body fitted for

it,

then you will be quite correct.

FEW WORDS ABOUT THE

What becomes of the other,

Enq.

after the death of the body ?

SKANDHAS.

the lower Skandhas of the personality,

Are they quite destroyed

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

They are and yet they are not a fresh metaphysical and They are destroyed as the working occult mystery for you. stock in hand of the personality they remain as Karmic effects,

Theo.

;

as germs,

hanging in the atmosphere of the

ready to come to themselves to the

terrestrial plane,

many avenging fiends, to attach new personality of the Ego when it reincarlife,

as so

nates.

This really passes

Enq.

comprehension, and

very

difficult

understand.

Not once that you have assimilated all the details. For then you wiU see that for logic, consistency, profound philosophy, divine mercy and equity, this doctrine ofEeincarnation has not

Theo.

its

equal on earth.

It is a belief in a

perpetual progress for

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

155

each incarnating Ego, or divine soul, in an evolution from the

outward into the inward, from the material

to the Spiritual,

arriving at the end of each stage at absolute unity with the

divine Principle.

From

strength to strength, from the beauty

and perfection of one plane fection of another,

to the greater beauty

and per-

with accessions of new glory, of fresh

knowledge and power

in each cycle, such

every Ego, which thus becomes

its

own

the destiny of

Saviour in each world

and incarnation. But

Enq.

Theo.

Christianity teaches the same.

preaches progression.

It also

Yes, only with the addition of something

else.

It tells

of the impossibility of attaining Salvation without the aid of a

miraculous Saviour, and therefore dooms to perdition

who

will not accept the

dogma.

This

all

those

just the difference

The former enEgo into the Loiver

between Christian theology and Theosophy. forces belief in the Descent of the Spiritual

Self; the latter inculcates the necessity of endeavouring to

elevate oneself to the Christos, or

Enq.

Buddhi

state.

teaching the annihilation of consciousness in case of failure,

however, don't you think that

amounts to the annihilation

of Self,

in the opinion of the non-metaphysical ?

Theo.

From

the standpoint of those

who

believe in the resurrection

body literally, and insist that every bone, every artery and atom of flesh will be raised bodily on the Judgment Day If you still insist that it is the perishable of course it does. of the

form and

finite qualities that

shall hardly

make up immortal man, then we

understand each other.

stand that, by

And

you do not underEgo to one life

limiting the existence of every

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

156

you make of Deity an ever-drunken Indra of the Puranic dead letter, a cruel Moloch, a god who makes an inextricable mess on Earth, and yet claims thanks for it, then on

eartli,

we drop

the sooner

Enq.

But of,

us return, nowthatthe subject of the Skandhas

let

to the question

This

the conversation the better.

of the

consciousness

more knowledge

Devachan than we do

Do we

Earth

after

during

ideal

things,

Devachan

life,

provided

such

;

that

is,

loved and strove

concerned with abstract and

music,

possess

life?

Theo. In one sense, we can acquire more knowledge

can develop further any faculty which

disposed

which survives death.

the point which interests most people.

poetry,

painting,

since

etc.,

merely an idealized and subjective continuation

of earth-life.

But

Enq.

not possess

Devachan the knowledge

all

Spirit

free

Theo. Because, as I told you, the Ego

memory

its last

I have said,

incarnation.

and string

from matter,

all

that the Devachanic state

is,

so to say,

Thus,

But the

scientific

its

;

wedded

to the

you

will reahze

not one of omniscience, but a

from the

It is the rest of the soul

nothing remains

should

you think over what

the facts together,

transcendental continuation of the personal

Enq.

why

toils

life

just terminated.

life.

man human body simply disintegrates into and that what we call soul is merely a

materiahsts assert that after the death of

that the

component elements

;

temporary self-consciousness produced as a bye-product of organic action, which will evaporate hke steam. Is not theirs a strange state of

mind

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Tqeo. Not strange at

all,

that I see.

157

If they say that self-conscious-

ness ceases with the body, then in their case they simply utter

an unconscious prophecy, for once they are firmly convinced of what they assert, no conscious after-life For there are exceptions to every rule.

possible for them.

ON POST-MORTEM AND POST-NATAL CONSCIOUSNESS.' Enq.

But

human

self-consciousness survives death as a rule,

should there be exceptions

why

Theo. In the fundamental principles of the spiritual world no exception

and Enq.

possible.

rules for those

who

But there are

rules for those

who

see,

prefer to remain blind.

Quite so, I understand. This is but an aberration of the blind man, who denies the existence of the sun because he does not see it. But after death his spiritual eyes will certainly compel him to see. Is this what you mean ?

Theo.

be compelled, nor wiU he see anything. Having

will not

persistently denied during life the continuance of existence after death,

he wiU be unable to see

capacity having been stunted in

life,

it,

because his spiritual cannot develop after

wiU remain blind. By insisting that he must you evidently mean one thing and I another. You

death, and he see â&#x20AC;˘

it,

of this chapter and of the preceding were published in Lucifer in the shape of a " Dialogue on the Mysteries of After Life," in the January number,

few portions

1889.

The

article

from the pen

was unsigned,

if it

of the author of the present

were written by the volume

editor,

but

came

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

158

speak of the

spirit

from the

spirit,

or the flame from the flame

— Atma, in short— and you confuse with the human soul me try You do not understand me — Manas. ^of

make

The whole

it clear.

your question

gist of

let

;

know

whether, in the case of a downright materialist, the complete

and self-perception

loss of self-consciousness

possible

Isn't

I answer, It

death

after

Because,

possible.

believing firmly in our Esoteric Doctrine, which refers to the

post-mortem period, or the interval between two

lives or births,

whether that interval

as merely a transitory state, I say,

between two acts of the iUusionary drama of

one year

life lasts

or a million, that post-mortem state may, without any breach

of the fundamental law, prove to be just the same state as that of a

Enq.

But after

man who

since

you have

in a

dead

faint.

just said that the

death state admit of no exceptions,

Theo. Nor do I say that spiritual

all

this

sufficient to

why

the materialist

survival after death. seat

to things

But the

which are

becomes very

the

may

fail

Since Manas, in

terrestrial

mind,

to gain a clear per-

its

can,

lower aspect, therefore, is

give

based on the

cannot give spiritual vision.

said in the Eastern school, that

have a self-conscious

only that perception of the Universe which

evidence of that mind;

clear.

understand what we mean

by Buddhi and the duality of Manas

the

To one who has read and understood Mundakya

Upanishad and Vedanta-Sara

ception

this

does admit of an exception.

law of continuity applies only

truly real.

will say

fundamental laws of the

how can

It is

between Buddhi and Manas

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. (the Ego), or Iswara difference than

waters, as the

dead from

and Pragna* there

between a forest and

Mundakya

But, as I understand

how its

can that which

consciousness

understand

Theo.

You

till

still

of trees

a forest.

And

trees.

similar to

it, i.e.,

the day of

cannot, because you will

immortal,

Manas-taijasi, entirely lose

new

its

iu this simile the

Buddha

incarnation

whole with

its

I cannot

mix up an abstract represen-

Eemember

casual changes of form.

can be said of Buddhi-Manas that

if it

it is

unconditionally

immortal, the same cannot be said of the lower Manas,

Neither of these,

exist apart

from Buddhi, the

divine soul, because the

first

[Manas)

is,

in its lower aspect, a

and the

qualificative attribute of the terrestrial personality,

second [Taijasi)

identical with the

same Manas only with the its

Iswara

turn, is

the

Buddhi

because

reflected

consciousness ;

and Pragna

means the radiant

human

Manas-taijasi

may ;

the

Host

their individual

Dhyan Chohans

it.

by the radiance

be described as radiant mind

and Buddhi-Manas

and self-consciousness.

the

i.e.,

the

Secret

(vide

wisdom.

in consequence of its union with

soul, illuminated

light of the spirit intellect

spirit with-

the collective consciousness of the manifested deity, BrahmS,

Dootkine) t Taijasi

light of

first,

Buddhi would remain only an impersonal

collective

still

merely an attribute.

which is Manas nor Taijasi, can

less of Taijasi,

neither

its

it.

tation of the

that

a lake and

uprooted, are yet incapable of

Buddhi represents

it,

and Manas-taijasit the

forest,

no more

in reality

its trees,

One or hundreds

teaches.

loss of vitality, or

preventing the forest from being

ExQ.

159

Buddhi;

i.e.,

of the divine soul. ;

the

human

reason

Manas,

Therefore, lit

the revelation of the divine jilua

by the

human

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

i6o

out this element which conditions and

makes of

borrows from the human

in this illusive Universe, as

it,

which

soul,

were

something separate from the universal soul for the whole period of the cycle of incarnation.

Say rather that Buddhi-Manas

can neither die nor lose

compound

its

Eternity, nor the recollection of

which the two

i.e.,

its

self-consciousness in

previous incarnations in

the spiritual and the

been closely linked together.

But

the divine soul, but even refuses to recognise

human

would be

soul, for it

because your divine soul

Taijasi, is

;

whereas

this

bloom, like

simply a transitory phenomenon.

Do I understand you noumenon with

Theo. I do say

qualifi-

like saying that

immortal, therefore the bloom on

your cheek must also be immortal

the

existence.

its

hardly apply this axiom to the attributes and

cations of the

Enq.

soul

whose human soul not only receives nothing from

materialist,

You can

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; had

human

not so in the case of a

it is

so,

to say that

we must

not mix in our minds

the phenomenon, the cause with

and repeat

that, limited to

Manas

its effect ?

or the

soul alone, the radiance of Taijasi itself becomes a tion of time

;

human

mere ques-

because both immortality and consciousness

after

death become, for the terrestrial personaUty of man, simply conditioned attributes, as they depend entirely on conditions

and behefs created by the human soul its

body.

Karma

acts incessantly

only the fruit of that which

Enq.

But

my Ego

we have

itself

during the

reap in our

ourselves

can, after the destruction of

sown

life

after-life

in this.

body, become

plunged in a state of entire unconsciousness, then where can be the punishment for the sins of my past life ?

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

i6i

Theo. Our philosophy teaches that Karmic punishment reaches the

Ego only

its

next incarnation.

After death

receives only

the reward for the unmerited sufferings endured during

The whole punishment

incarnation.*

the materiaUst,

consists,

therefore,

its

the absence of any

reward, and the utter loss of the consciousness of one's

and

Karma

rest.

much

who

preceding inflicting

heals the

life,

the objective personality

as the fruit of all the thoughts

motives of the spiritual " I "

mother,

bliss

the child of the terrestrial Ego, the fruit

of the actions of the tree which visible to all, as

past

even for

after death,

but

;

wounds

Karma

inflicted

before she will begin to

upon him new

ones.

may

and even

also the tender

by her during the torture this Ego by be said that there

not a mental or physical suffering in the hfe of a mortal which is

not the direct fruit and consequence of some sin in a pre-

ceding existence

;

on the other hand, since he does not preserve

the slightest recollection of self

suffers for

the

human

life,

guilt of his

own,

and

feels

him-

this alone is sufficient to entitle

soul to the fullest consolation, rest,

post-mortem existence.

Death comes

ever as a deliverer and friend. *

in his actual

not deserving of such punishment, and therefore thinks he

For the

and

bliss in his

our spiritual selves materialist,

who, not-

Some Theosophists have taken

exception to this phrase, but the words are those of Master, and the meaning attached to the word " unmerited " is that given above.

In the T.P.S. pamphlet No. 0, a phrase, criticised subsequently in Lucifer, was used which was intended to convey the same idea. In form, however, it was awkward and open to the criticism directed against it but the essential idea was that men often suffer from the effects of the actions done by others, effects which thus do not strictly belong to their own Karma and for these ;

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

sufferings they of course deserve compensation.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

withstanding his materialism, was not a bad man, the interval

between the two

be like the unbroken and placid

lives will

sleep of a child, either entirely dreamless, or filled with pictures

of which he will have no definite perception

average mortal realistic bliss

Enq.

Then Karmic

and

be a dream

will

as vivid as

;

while for the

life,

and

full of

visions.

man must always go on suffering bUndlij the which the Ego has incurred ?

the personal penalties

Theo. Not quite

so.

even when death

the solemn

moment

of death every man,

sudden, sees the whole of his past

marshalled before him, in

its

minutest

life

For one short

details.

instant the personal

becomes one with the individual and

all-

knowing Ego.

this

show to him work during

the

But

instant

enough

whole chain of causes which have been life.

sees

and now understands himself

flattery or self-deception.

a spectator looking feels

to at

down

reads his

life,

into the arena he

is,

his

unadorned

remaining as quitting

;

and knows the justice of aU the suffering that has over-

taken him.

Enq.

Does

this

happen

to everyone ?

Theo. Without any exception. are taught, not only the

life

Very good and holy men

see,

they are leaving, but even several

preceding lives in which were produced the causes that made

them what they were the law of

Enq.

Karma

in the life just closing.

in all

its

They recognise

majesty and justice.

Is there anything corresponding to this before re-birth ?

Theo. There

is.

the

man

the

moment

of death has

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

163

retrospective insight into the Hfe he has led, so, at the

moment

reborn on to earth, the Ego, awaking from the state of

Devachan, has a prospective vision of the hfe which awaits him,

and reahzes and that

all

the causes that have led to

sees futurity,

because

Ego regains

the

it is

his

it.

realizes

between Devachan and

manasic consciousness,

full

them

re-birth

and

rebecomes for a short time the god he was, before, in com-

Karmic law, he

pliance with

incarnated in the sees all

its

" pearls "

WHAT Enq.

I have heard their lives

first

man

descended into matter and

first

flesh.

The " golden thread

and misses not one of them.

BE ALLY MEANT BY ANNIHILATION.

some Theosophists speak of a golden thread on which What do they mean by this ?

were strung.

Theo. In the Hindu Sacred books

that

which

undergoes periodical incarnation

the Sutratma, which

means

literally the "

nating

Ego

Thread Soul."

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Manas

said

that

synonym of the reincarwhich absorbs

conjoined with Buddhi

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the Manasic recollections of aU our preceding lives. called, because, like series of

human

the pearls on a thread, so

lives strung together

some Upanishad these recurrent

It is so

the long

on that one thread.

re-births are likened to the life

of a mortal which oscillates periodicaUy between

sleep

and

waking.

Enq.

must say, does not seem very clear, and I will tell you Eor the man who awakes, another day commences, but that man is the same in soul and body as he was the day before This, I

why.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

whereas

at every incarnation a full

change takes place not only of

the external envelope, sex, and personality, but even of the mental

and psychic

The

capacities.

The man who

correct.

arises

simile does not

seem

quite

from sleep remembers quite clearly

what he has done yesterday, the day before, and even months and years ago. But none of us has the slightest recollection of a preceding life or of any fact or event concerning it. ... I may forget in the morning what I have dreamt dm'ing the night, still I know that I have slept and have the certainty that I lived during sleep but what recollection can I have of my past incarnation until the moment of death ? How do you reconcile this ? ;

Theo. Some people do recollect their past incarnations during

but these are Buddhas and call

This

Initiates.

life

;

what the Yogis

Samma-Sambuddha, or the knowledge of the whole

series

of one's past incarnations.

But we ordinary mortals who have not reached Samma-Sam-

Enq.

buddha,

Theo.

how

are

studying

characteristics

to understand this simile ?

and immutable law kinds of sleep and

But

Enq.

to understand

and trying

and the three kinds of for

still

man

more correctly the

sleep.

Sleep

as for beast, but there are

different

dreams and

a general different

visions.

us to another subject. Let us return to the who, while not denying dreams, which he could hardly

this takes

materialist

do, yet denies immortality in general

and the survival of his own

individuality.

Theo.

And

the materialist, without

has no inner perception

knowing

and

it, is

right.

One who

faith in, the immortality of his

man the soul can never become Buddhi-taijasi, but remain simply Manas, and for Manas alone there is no

soul, in that will

of,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

In order to live in the world to come

immortality possible. a conscious

one has to believe

life,

during the terrestrial existence. the Secret Science

165

all

first

all

these two aphorisms of

the philosophy about the post-mortem

consciousness and the immortality of the soul

Ego

receives always according to

lution of the body, there

for

a period of fuU

dreams, or an

state of chaotic

sleep.

The

built.

After the disso-

deserts.

sleep undistinguishable

and these are the three kinds of find

its

commences

awakened consciousness, or a utterly dreamless

in that life

from annihilation, our physiologists

the cause of dreams and visions in an unconscious pre-

paration for them during the waking hours,

why

same be admitted

death

post-mortem dreams

for the

After death, before the

sleep.

spiritual

the soul, begins a performance according to a learnt

cannot the

I repeat

eyes

programme

and very often unconsciously composed by ourselves

the practical carrying out of correct beliefs

or of illusions

which have been created by ourselves. The Methodist will be Methodist, the Mussulman a Mussulman, at least for some time

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

a perfect fool's

paradise

of each man's creation and

These are the post-mortem

making.

Naturally, our

immortality of the fact

fruits of the tree of life.

belief or unbelief in the

fact

of conscious

unable to influence the unconditioned reality

itself,

once that

exists

;

but the belief or unbelief

in that immortality as the property of independent or separate entities,

cannot

fail to

give colour to that fact in its application

to each of these entities.

Enq.

I think I do.

The

Now

do you begin

to understand

it ?

materialist, disbelieving in everything that

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

i66

cannot be proven to him by his five senses, or by scientific reasoning, based exclusively on the data furnished by these senses in spite of their inadequacy, and rejecting every spiritual manifestation, accepts as the only conscious existence.

so will

They

be unto them.

will lose their personal

wiU plunge into a dreamless sleep Theo. Almost

Eemember

so.

until a

The

latter

real

Monad

whereas the incarnating Ego dresses

tions,

entirely different

and in which

all

from those of

except

its

so ?

from the very

Can

its

itself

new

previous incarna-

spiritual prototype

doomed

no trace behind.

to a change so radical as to leave

How so?

inhabited by the eternal, changeless and immortal

it is

;

the terrestial and the

must be considered

fact that

garments

Enq.

new

Ego, and

awakening.

the practically universal teaching of

the two kinds of conscious existence spiritual.

life

Therefore according to their behefs

conscious terrestrial " I " perish not only for

a time, like the consciousness of the materialist, but so entirely as to leave

no trace behind ?

Theo. According to the teaching,

must so perish and

fulness, all except the principle which,

having united

in its itself

with the Monad, has thereby become a purely spiritual and indestructible essence, one with

Buddhi has ever

reflected

But whose personal "

in the Eternity.

case of an out-and-out materialist, in

how can

itself,

in the I "

the latter carry away

into the Eternity one particle of that terrestrial personality

Your

spiritual " I "

immortal

;

but from your present

self it

can carry away into Eternity that only which has become worthy of immortality, namely, the aroma alone of the flower that has been mown by death.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. ExQ.

"Well,

and the flower, the

Theo. The flower,

blossomed aud SiUratma,

all

167

terrestrial " I " ?

and future flowers which have

past

have to blossom oa the mother bough,

will

children of one root or Buddhi

all

tlie

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

will return to

Your present "I," as you yourself know, is not the body now sitting before me, nor yet is it what I would call

dust.

ilanas-Sutratma, but Sutratma-Buddhi.

But

ExQ.

this does not explain to

death immortal, infinite and

phantom

me,

why you

at aU,

and the

real,

The

doubt.

spiritual

pendulum between

Ego

life terrestrial

are limited in their duration, and stages in Eternity between sleep

has

its

beginning and

spiritual pilgrim

post-mortem

life,

terrestrial

man moves

eternal.

and

the very

life.

in eternity like

the hours of birth and death.

hours, marking the periods of

reality,

simple

or illusion; since even that post-mortem hie has limits,

however much wider they may be than those of

Theo.

call life after

terrestrial life a

But

these

life sj^iritual,

number of such

and awakening, Ulusion and end, on the other hand, the

its

Therefore are the hours of his

when, disembodied, he stands face to face with

truth and not the mirages of his transitory earthly existences,

during the period of that pilgrimage which of

re-births"

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

intervals, their limitation notwithstanding,

Ego, while ever perfecting

itself,

tion,

when

result

call

that Ego, having reached

of hindering

Such

do not prevent the

its

to its last transforma-

goal,

becomes a divine

These intervals and stages help towards instead

"the cycle

from following undeviatingly,

though gradually and slowly, the path

being.

only reality in our conception.

;

this final

and without such limited

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

intervals the divine

Ego could never reach

you once already a

I have given

ultimate goal.

its

familiar illustration

an actor, and

paring the Ego, or the individuality, to

numerous and various incarnations to the parts

you

call these parts or their

plays.

its

Will

costumes the individuahty of the

Like that actor, the Ego

actor himself?

by com-

forced to play

during the cycle of necessity, up to the very threshold of

Paranirvana,

But

many

parts such as

as the bee collects its

may

be unpleasant to

honey from every

it.

flower, leaving

the rest as food for the earthly worms, so does our spiritual individuality,

from every

whether we

call

Sutratma or Ego.

terrestrial personality, into

Collecting

which Karma forces

to incarnate, the nectar alone of the spiritual qualities and

self-consciousness,

emerges from

much it

unites

all

these

one whole

into

chrysalis as the glorified

its

and

Dhyan Ohohan.

the worse for those terrestrial personahties from whicli

could collect nothing.

Such

personalities cannot assuredly

outlive consciously their terrestrial existence.

Enq.

Thus, then, mortality

seems

still

that,

for

conditional.

the terrestrial personality, imIs,

then, immortality itself not

unconditional ?

Theo. Not at for

all

But immortality cannot touch the non-existent that which exists as Sat, or emanates from Sat, all.

immortality and Eternity are absolute.

Matter

pole of spirit, and yet the two are one. this, i.e.. Spirit,

endless as triple unity

the opposite

The essence of

Force and Matter, or the three in one, beginningless

during

its

;

but the form acquired by

incarnations,

its

externality,

all

this

certainly

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

169

only the illusion of our personal conceptions.

call

Nirvana and the Universal

relegating the terrestrial

cluded, and even

realm of

personality in-

terrestrial

its

life,

Therefore do

alone a reality, while

Devachanic existence, to the phantom

illusion.

But why

Enq.

its

life

such a case

the reality, and waking the

call sleep

illusion ?

Theo.

It is

simply a comparison made to

facilitate the

grasping of

the subject, and from the standpoint of terrestrial conceptions it is

a very correct one.

And

Enq.

justice

how

still

I cannot understand, if the

and the merited retribution

in the case of materialists,

charitable

life

come

based on

for all our terrestrial suffering,

many

whom are

men, there should remain of

really honest

and

their personality nothing

but the refuse of a faded flower.

Theo.

one ever said such a thing.

materialist,

however

unbelieving, can die for ever in the fulness of his spiritual individuality.

What was

said

that consciousness can dis-

appear either fully or partially in the case of a materialist, so that no conscious remains of his personality survive.

Enq.

But

surely this

Theo. Certainly not.

annihilation ?

One can

sleep a

dead sleep and miss several

stations during a long railway journey, without the slightest

recollection or consciousness,

and awake

at another station

and continue the journey past innumerable other halting-places till

the

end of the journey or the goal

kinds of sleep were mentioned to you chaotic,

and the one which

reached.

Three

the dreamless,

the

so real, that to the sleeping

man

THE KEY JO THEOSOPHY.

170 his

dreams become

why a man

can't

full realities.

you believe

If j-ou believe in the latter

in the former

;

according to

has believed in and expected, such

He who

have.

expected no

life to

come

the

will

tlie

after life

life

will

have an absolute

blank, amounting to annihilation, in the interval between the

two

we spoke

of,

just the carr}dng out of the

programme created by

But there are various kinds of

selves.

This

re-births.

programme

the materialists them-

materialists, as

wicked Egoist, one who never shed a tear

selfish,

you

for

say.

anyone

but himself, thus adding entire indifference to the whole world to his unbelief, must, at the threshold of death, drop his person-

This personality having no tendrils of sympathy

ality for ever.

for the world

ma,

around and hence nothing

follows that with

between the two such a

materialist,

the last

broken.

hook on

to Sutrat-

breath every connection

There being no Devaclian

the Sutratma

But those

immediately.

for

wiU re-incarnate almost

materialists

but their disbelief will oversleep but one

who

erred in nothing

station.

And the

time

wiU come when that ex-materialist will perceive himself in the Eternity and perhaps repent that he lost even one day, one station,

Enq.

Still,

new

from the would

life,

life eternal.

not be more correct to say that death

or a return once

birth into

into eternity ?

You may if you like. Only remember that births differ, and that there are births of " stiU-born " beings, which are

Theo.

failures of nature.

about material inapplicable

life,

Moreover, with your Western fixed ideas the words " living " and " being " are quite

the pure

subjective

state

of post-mortem

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. existence.

It is just because, save in a

are not read

few philosophers who

by the many, and who themselves are too confused

to present a distinct picture of it,

ideas of

171

life

and death have

it is

just because your

finally

became

Western

so narrow, that

on the one hand they have led other, to the stiU

which the

to crass materialism, and on the more material conception of the other life,

have formulated in their Summer-land.

spiritualists

There the souls of men

eat, drink,

quite as sensual as that of

Nor

phical.

Christians

live in

Mohammed, but even

a paradise

less

philoso-

are the average conceptions ot the uneducated

any

What between and material

marry, and

being

better,

possible stiU

material.

truncated angels, brass trumpets, golden harps,

hell-fires, the Christian

heaven seems

like a fairy

scene at a Christmas pantomine. It is

because of these narrow conceptions that you find such

difficulty in understanding.

embodied

soul, while possessing

certain dreams,

because the

life

of the dis-

aU the vividness of reality,

as in

devoid of every grossly objective form of

terrestrial life, that the it

It is just

with visions during

Eastern philosophers have compared

sleep.

DEFINITE W0BV8 FOB DEFINITE THINGS. Enq.

Don't you think

because there are no definite and fixed

terms to indicate each "Principle" in man, that such a confusion of ideas arises in our minds with respect to the respective functions of these " Principles " ?

Theo. I have thought of

myself.

The whole trouble has

arisen

—

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

172

from

this

we have

started our expositions of,

and discussion

names instead

about, the " Principles," using their Sanslcrit

coining immediately, for the use of Theosophists, their equiva-

lents in English.

You

Enq.

must try and remedy

do well, as

will

may

this

now.

avoid further confusion

no two

;

theosophical writers, it seems to me, have hitherto agreed to the same " Principle " by the same name.

Theo. The confusion

more apparent than

real,

have

however.

surprise

at,

and

but,

heard some of our Theosophists express

several essays speaking of these " principles

criticize

call

;

when examined, there was no worse mistake in them than that of using the word " Soul " to cover the three principles without distinctions.

the

specifying

The

first,

positively

clearest of our Theosophical writers, Mr. A. P. Sinnett, has

the

some

comprehensive and admirably-written passages on the " Higher Self."

His real idea has also been misconceived by some,

owing

to his using the

word " Soul "

here are a few passages which will show to you

comprehensive ..." The

human

is all

human

soul,

how

that he writes on the subject

clear

and

once launched on the streams of evolution as a

individuality,! passes through alternate periods of physical and

relatively spiritual existence.

Yet

in a general sense.

It passes

from the one plane, or stratum,

condition of nature to the other under the guidance of

affinities

;

modifying

living in incarnations the life its

its

Karmic

which its Karma has pre-ordained

;

progress within the limitations of circumstances, and,

developing fresh

Karma by

its

use or abuse of opportunities,—it returns

Vide Transactions of the " London Lodge of the Theos. Soc," No.

The

" re-incarnating Ego,"

with the Hindus,

or "

Human

Soul," as he called

it,

7, Oct.,

1885.

the Causal

Body

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

173

to spiritual existence (Devachan) after each physical

Kamaloca

intervening region of

gradual absorption into life's

its

—

life,

—through the

and refreshment and

for rest

much cosmic

essence, as so

for the

progress, of the

experience gained " on earth " or during physical existence.

view of the matter

moreover, have

will,

suggested

inferences to anyone thinking over the subject transfer of consciousness from the this progression

Kamaloka

for

;

to the

would necessarily be gradual *

;

many

This

collateral

instance, that the

Devachanic stage

that in truth, no hard-

and-fast line separates the varieties of spiritual conditions, that even the spiritual

and physical planes, as psychic

show,

faculties in living people

are not so hopelessly walled off from one another as materialistic theories

would suggest and appeal

that

;

all

states of nature are all

to different perceptive faculties

;

around ua simultaneously,

and so

that during physical existence people

who

in connection with

superphysioal

the planes of

although most people the

phenomena

may

on.

It is clear

possess psychic faculties remain

consciousness

not be endowed with such faculties,

of sleep, even,

and

especially

and

;

all,

those of somnambulism

or mesmerism, show, are capable of entering into conditions of conscious-

ness that the five physical senses have nothing to do with. souls within us

matter.

— are

We clearly

from which,

not as

retain

were altogether

some surviving

adrift in

We —the

the ocean of

interest or rights in the shore

we have floated off. The process of incarnation, described when we speak of an alternate existence

for a time,

therefore, is not fully

on the physical and

spiritual planes,

and thus picture the soul as a com-

plete entity slipping entirely from the one state of existence to the other.

The more

correct definitions of the process

would probably represent

incarnation as taking place on this physical plane of nature by reason of an efflux

emanating from the soul

be the proper habitat

The length

of the Soul,

of this " transfer "

The Spiritual realm would all the while which would never entirely quit it and ;

depends, however, on the degree of spirituality in

the ex-personality of the disembodied Ego. spiritual this transfer,

though gradual,

with the materialistically inclined,

For those whose

very rapid.

lives

were very

The time becomes longer

THE KEY TO THEO SOPHY.

174 tJiat

non-materializable portion of the Said which abides permanently on

the spiritital plane

may fitly,

This "Higher Self" materializable," as

perhaps, be spoken of as the is

Atma, and of course

Mr. Sinnett

never be " objective

really

Brahma,

tlie

Even more,

says.

"noncan

under any circumstances, even to the

highest sphitual perception. is

Hi&hbr Self."

For ^.toanorthe " Higher Self"

Absolute, and indistinguishable from

it.

In hours of Samadhi, the higher spiritual consciousness of the Initiate is entirely

and

absorbed in the one essence, which is Atman,

therefore, being one with the whole, there can

objective for

Now some

it.

the habit

into

of using

of our

be nothing

Theosophists have got

the words "Self"

and

"Ego"

synonjTnous, of associating the term " Self " with only man's

higher individual or even personal "Self" or Ego, whereas

term ought never to be applied except

to the One universal Hence the confusion. Speaking of Manas, the " causal body," we may call it— when connecting it with the Buddhic For radiance the " Higher Ego," never the " Higher Self."

this

Self.

—

even Buddhi, the " Spiritual Soul," vehicle only of Self.

" Individual

self

not the Self, but the " All the other Selves " such as the

and " personal

—

—ought

self

never to be

spoken or written of without their qualifying and characteristic adjectives.

Thus terra

in this

most excellent essay on the " Higher

applied to the sixth principle or

Buddhi

Self," this

(of course in

conjunction with Manas, as without such union there would

be no thinking principle or element in the spiritual soul)

;

and

has in consequence given rise to just such misunderstandings. The statement that " a child does not acquire its sixth principle

THE KEY TO THEO SOPHY.

—or become a morally Karma— seven years

175

res2)onsible being capable of generating

until

by the Higher

Self.

old," proves

Therefore,

the

human

with psychic faculties

may

finer senses

who Hmit

those,

meant therein

author

being and saturated the personality

of the finer organizations only

through their

able

quite

"Higher Self" has passed in some

justified in explaining that after the

into the

what

—with

its

—

consciousness " people

indeed perceive this Higher Self

from time to time."

But so are

the term " Higher Self" to the Universal

Divine Principle, "justified" in misunderstanding him.

when we

read, without being prepared for this

metaphysical physical plane spiritual

terms,* that .

Ego on

For,

shifting

while "fully manifesting on the

the Higher Self still remains a conscious the corresponding plane of Nature " we are .

—

apt to see in the "Higher Self" of this sentence, " Atma," and in the spiritual Ego, " Manas," or rather

Buddhi-Manas, and

forthwith to criticise the whole thing as incorrect.

To avoid henceforth such misapprehensions,

I propose to

translate hterally from the Occult Eastern terms their equivalents in

The

Enghsh, and

Atma, the inseparable ray of the Universal and One Self. It is the God above, more

Higher

Self

offer these for future use.

than within,

us.

Happy

the

man who

ceeds in saturating his inner Ego with

suc-

" Shifting of Metaphysical terms " applies here only to the shifting of their translated equivalents from the Eastern expressions

;

for to this

day there never

existed any such terms in English, every Theosophist having to coin his

terms to render his thought. nomenclature,

It is nigh time, then, to settle

own

on some definite

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

176

the Spiritual soul or Buddhi, in close union with

Manas, the mind-principle, without which it is no Ego at all, but only the Atmic Vehicle. Manas, the " Eifth

Principle,

independently of Buddhi. ciple

The Inner, or Higher "Ego"-

into one

only the Spiritual

with Buddhi,

called,

The Mind-PrinEgo when merged

—no

materialist being

supposed to have in him such an Ego, how-

ever great his intellectual capacities. the

permanent Individuality or the "Ee-

incarnating Ego." the physical Self,

The

Lower, etc.

Personal

Ego

i.e.,

man in conjunction with his lower

animal

instincts, passions, desires,

It is called the " false personality,"

consists of the lower

" is

Kama-rupa,

and

operating

Physical body and

The remaining " Principle speaking, the radiating

or Energy

Sele, —

factor

Enq.

the

" double." is,

strictly

—

Atma

Its lower or rather (in

the its

Prana or

the objective Universe

called a " principle " only because

it is

an indispensable

and the deus ex machind of the living man.

This division being so

answer

physical, because manifesting, aspect.

Life permeates the whole being of

and

through

phantom or

" Prand," or " Life,"

force

Universal Life and the One effects)

its

and

Manas combined with

better, I believe.

weU as Theosophists would agree to it, make matters much more comprehensible.

Theo. If outsiders as

would certainly

much simplified in its combinations will The other is much too metaphysical. it

ON THE NATUEE OP OUE THINKING

PEINOIPLE.

TEE MYSTEBY OF TEE EGO. Enq.

I perceive in the quotation you brought forward a

little

while

ago from the Btiddhist Catechism a discrepancy that I would like to hear explained.

included

It is there

—

memory And yet, it is asserted

stated that the Skandhas

— change with every new incarnation.

that the reflection of the past lives, which, we are told, are entirely made up of Skandhas, " must survive." At the present moment I

not quite

survives,

and

mind

like to

have

clear in I

would

as to it

what

precisely that

What

explained.

is it ?

only that "reflection," or those Skandhas, or always that same

Ego, the Manas ? Theo. I have just explained that the re-incarnating Principle, or that

which we life

cycle

ethereal

call the divine :

man,

indestructible throughout the

and even as an

indestructible as a thinking Entity,

form.

The

" reflection "

only the

spiritualised

remembrance, during the Devachanic period, of the ex-personality,

Mr. A. or Mrs. B.

during that period.

—with which the

Since the latter

the earth-life, so to say, the very

broken

series,

of the few

Ego

identifies itself

but the continuation of

acme and

happy moments

pitch, in an un-

in that

now

past

— 1

THE KEY TO THEO SOPHY.

the

existence,

Ego has

to identify

consciousness of that Hfe,

itself

with the personal

anj'thing shall remain of

This means that the Ego, notwithstanding

Enq.

it.

divine nature,

its

passes every such period between two incarnations in a state of

mental obscuration, or temporary insanity.

Theo.

You may regard

you

One ReaUty, nothing

whole Universe included

—we do not

as a very natural sequence or

What

life.

is life ?

Believing that, outside the

like.

better than a passing illusion

view

as insanity, but

development of the

later,

whom we

when

try to follow and revive

and sobered down, we are the yet there was a day

our

own personaUty with

fifty

inner

first

to laugh at our fancies.

when we had

so thoroughly identified

that of the ideal in our

mind

—

if it

that he

man

changes in the

The

the same being that he was at twenty ?

the

same

pletely transformed

How

a few years

was that of a living being that the former was merged and lost in the latter. Can it be said of a man

especially entirely

;

the freshness of our youthful feelings has faded out

And

Enq.

In our youth

are often enthusiastically devoted to an ideal, to some hero

or heroine

terrestrial

bundle of the most varied experiences,

of daily changing ideas, emotions, and opinions.

— the

;

the outward living personality

and changed.

human mental

Would you

com-

also call these

states insanity ?

would you name them, and especially how would you

explain the permanence of one and the evanescence of the other ?

Theo.

have our own doctrine ready, and to us

difficulty.

mind, and

The clue Ues also, in

in the

offers

double consciousness of our

the dual nature of the mental " principle."

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. There

179

a spiritual consciousness, the Manasic mind illumined

by the Hght of Buddhi, abstractions

Manasic

and

;

light),

the

sentient

subjectively perceives

consciousness

(the

lower

inseparable from our physical brain and senses.

This latter consciousness

and physical

that which

held in subjection by the brain

senses, and, being in its turn

on them, must of course fade out and

equally dependent

with the

finally die

disappearance of the brain and physical senses.

It is

only

the former kind of consciousness, whose root hes in eternity,

which survives and

lives

regarded as immortal.

ever,

for

Everything

and may, therefore, be else

belongs to passing

illusions.

Enq.

What

Theo. It

very well described in the just-mentioned essay on " The

Higher "

do you really understand by illusion in this case

Self."

Says

The theory we

its

author

are considering (the interchange of ideas

between the Higher Ego and the lower self) harmonizes very weU with the treatment of this world in which we live as a

phenomenal world of illusion, the spiritual plans of nature being on the other hand the noumenal world or plane of That region of nature in which, so to speak, the permanent soul is rooted is more real than that in which its

reahty.

transitory blossoms appf-ar for a brief space to wither

and

fall to pieces, while the plant recovers energy for sending forth a fresh flower. Supposing flowers only were perceptible to

ordinary senses, and their roots existed in a state of Nature intangible and invisible to us, philosophers in such a world

who

divined that there were such things as roots in another

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

i8o

plane of existence would be apt to say of the flowers, These they are of no relative importance, are not the real plants ;

phenomena of the moment." what I mean. The world in which blossom the transitory and evanescent flowers of personal lives is not the real permanent world but that one in which we find the root of consciousness, that root which is beyond illusion and merely

illusive

This

;

dwells in the eternity.

Enq.

What

do you

Theo. I mean

mean by this

incarnates, whether

the root dweUing in eternity?

root the thinking entity, the

Ego which

an " Angel," "

Spirit," or a

we regard it

Of that which

Force.

falls

under our sensuous perceptions

only what grows directly from, or root above, can partake of

its

attached to this invisible

immortal

Hence every

life.

noble thought, idea and aspiration of the personahty

proceeding from and fed by

this root,

to the physical consciousness,

sentient but lower " principle,"

a quality of the

(Kama-rupa or animal

illuminated by the lower manasic reflection), or the

Soul

—

must disappear.

the body

our

—

instinct,

human

activity, while

the higher consciousness,

registering but feebly and inaccurately

automatically

—because

such experiences, and often faiUng to be even

slightly impressed

Enq.

That which displays

asleep or paralysed,

memory

informs,

must become permanent.

by them.

But how is it that Manas, although you call it Nous, a " God," is so weak during its incarnations, as to be actually conquered and fettered

its

body ?

Theo. I might retort with the same question and ask

How

is it

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

whom you

that he,

One

God,

living

have the best of while he

regard as

weak

Jiim as

much

earth

" Tliis

;

a Mystery

mysteries of God."

as of all his creatures,

or during the

You

? "

and the whether

time he was

are sure to reply again

and we are forbidden to pry into the

Not being forbidden

your question

religious philosophy, I answer

God

of Gods

as to allow evil (or the Devil) to

remains in Heaven,

incarnated on this

God

the

i8i

do so by our that,

unless

descends as an Avatar, no divine principle can be other-

wise than cramped and paralysed by turbulent, animal matter.

have the upper hand over homo-

Heterogeneitj'- will always

geneity, to

its

plane of illusions, and the nearer an essence

this

Homogeneity, the more

root-principle. Primordial

difficult it is for

the latter to assert

and divine powers

lie

dormant

itself

in every

earth.

Spiritual

human Being

;

the wider the sweep of his spiritual vision the mightier

be the God within him.

and

But

an average

since, as

limited in our thought

few

men can

rule, deity is

Enq.

you

And

wiU God,

always bound and

earlier conceptions, those ideas that

are inculcated in us from childhood, therefore, for

feel that

and

it is

so difficult

to understand our philosophy.

Ego

is it this

TnEO. Not at

all

;

of ours

4 God "

which

our

God ?

not the universal deity, but only a

Our God within us, " Higher Self," origin, as were in its Atma. Our incarnating Ego was a God all the primeval emanations of the One Unknown Principle. spark from the one ocean of Divine Fire. or " our Father in Secret

But since

its

fall

" is

what we

call the

into Matter," having to incarnate throughout

;

THE KEY TO TEEOSOPHY.

i82

cycle, in succession,

the

a free and that

happy

which he has

repeating what (Vol. II. 593)

From

first

to last,

lost.

said of

no longer

way

to regain

can answer you more fully by

the Innee

Man

Unveiled

in Isis

:â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the remotest antiquity tnanhind as a whole have always been

convinced of

tlie

existence of a 'personal spiriUuil entity within the personal

This inner entity was more or less divine, according to

physical man. its

from

god, but a poor pilgrim on his

proximity to the crown.

The

closer the miion the

destiny, the less dangerous the external conditions.

more serene man's

This belief

neither

bigotry nor superstition, only an ever-present, instinctive feeling of the

proximity of another spiritual and invisible world, which, though subjective to the senses of the outward

man,

Furthermore, they believed that there are external and

inner ego.

perfectly objective to the inter-

nal conditions which affect the determination of our will upon our actions.

They

rejected fatalism, for fatalism implies a blind course of

But they believed

blinder power. to death every

man

some

still

Karma, which from birth

weaving thread by thread around himself, as a

cobweb

in destiny or

and this destiny is guided by that presence termed by some the guardian angel, or our more intimate astral inner man, who is but too often the evil genius of the man of flesh or the spider does his

;

Both these lead on Man, but one of them must prevail and from the very beginning of the invisible affray the stern and impla-

personality.

cable law of compensation and retribution steps in

and takes

following faithfully the fluctuating of the conflict.

When

woven, and

man

its

course,

the last strand

seemingly enwrapped in the net-work of his own

doing, then he finds himself completely under the empire of this self-made destiny.

then either fixes him

like the inert shell against

vable rock, or like a feather carries him

away

the immo-

whirlwind raised by

own actions." Such is the destiny of the Man the true Ego, not the Automaton, the shell that goes by that name. It is for him to become the conqueror over matter. his

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

183

THE COMPLEX NATURE OF MANAS. But you wanted to tell me something of the essential nature of Manas, and of the relation in which the Skandhas of physical man

Enq.

stand to

Theo. It

this nature,

mysterious, Protean, beyond any grasp,

and almost shadowy in that

most

Manas

correlations with the other principles,

its

difficult to

realise,

a " principle," and yet

duality or Ego.

and it is

still

so to explain.

an " Entity

a " God," and yet he

and

doomed

endless cycle of incarnations, for each of which he responsible,

and

for each of

seems as contradictory as

which he has

puzzling

are hundreds of people, even in Europe,

;

to suffer.

indivi-

to an

made

All this

nevertheless, there

who

realise all this

comprehend the Ego not only in its integrity but in its many aspects. Finally, if I would make myself comprehensible, I must begin by the beginning and give you perfectly, for they

the genealogy of this

Enq.

Ego

in a few lines.

Say on.

Theo.

Try

call it

to imagine a " Spirit,"

a celestial Being, whether

by one name or another, divine in

its

essential nature,

yet not pure enough to be one with the All, and having, in

order to achieve that goal.

personally,

i.e.,

this, to so

purify

its

can do so only by spiritually

nature as to finally gain passing individually and

and physically, through every ex-

perience and feeling that exists in the manifold or differentiated Universe.

It has, therefore, after

having gained such

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

experience in the lower kingdoms, and having ascended higher

and

still

higher with every rung on the ladder of being, to pass

through every experience on the human planes. essence

thought, and

it is

Manasa real

human Ego,

flesh

and bones.

In its

its

very

plurality

"the Sons of the (Universal) mind." "This

putra,

individualised "

is,

therefore, caUed in

Thought

what we Theosophists

call the

the thinking Entity imprisoned in a case of

This

surely a Spiritual Entity, not Hatter,

and such Entities are the incarnating Egos that inform the bundle of animal matter called mankind, and whose names are

Manasa

or " Minds."

their essence

But once imprisoned, or

becomes dual

that

to say,

incarnate,

the rays of the

eternal divine Mind, considered as individual entities, assume

a two-fold attribute wliich

human

(a) their essential inherent charac-

heaven - aspiring mind (higher Manas), and

teristic,

[b) the

quality of thinking, or animal cogitation, rationalised

OAving to the superiority of the

or lower Manas.

One

human

brain, the /(Tama-tending

gravitates toward Buddhi, the other,

tending downward, to the seat of passions and animal desires.

The

latter

have no room in Devachan, nor can they associate

with the divine triad which ascends as one into mental

Yet

it is

the Ego, the Manasic Entity, which

for all the sins of the

bliss.

held responsible

lower attributes, just as a parent

answerable for the transgressions of his child, so long as the latter

remains irresponsible.

Enq.

Is this " child " the " personality " ?

Theo.

is.

When,

dies with the

therefore,

body

it is

stated that the " personality

does not state

all.

The body, which was

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

185

only the objective symbol of Mr. A. or Mrs. B., fades

with

all

material Skandhas, which are the visible expres-

its

But

sions thereof.

bundle

spiritual

undying

affections,

that which constituted during Ufe the

all

identified

now

noblest

unselfish nature of

with the spiritual portion of that

role just

aspirations,

Mr. A. or Mrs. B.

Devachanic period to the Ego, which

passed away out of sight.

with the

the

experiences,

and

clings for the time of the is

terrestrial Entity,

The Actor

strikes for

played by him that he dreams of

him

to return to the stage of

imbued

the whole Devachanic night, which vision continues

hour

away

life

during the

till

to enact

another part.

But how

Enq.

is it

that this doctrine, which you say

as old as think-

ing men, has found no room, say, in Christian theology

Theo.

You

out

are mistaken,

recognition,

all

Theology

has

calls

the

Ego

;

only theology has disfigured has

many God

the Angel that

other

doctrines.

gives us at the

moment of our birth, to take care of our Soul. Instead of holding that " Angel " responsible for the transgressions of the poor helpless " Soul," it is the latter which, according to theological logic,

mind

It is

punished for

being

doomed

burn

consumed,* while

in a material hell

the " Angel

after folding his white pinions *

Being of " an a

modem

the sins of both flesh and

his

intellectual

without ever

escapes

scot

free,

and wetting them with a few

aabesto8-]ike nature," according to the eloquent

English Tertullian.

God and

by some most amazing

alleged creation, which,

jugglery,

all

the Soul, the immaterial breath of

and

fiery expression of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

i86 tears.

sengers of mercy

who

Good

when we

sin, rejoice

becomes evident that

were asked to define once

any shadow of logic

THE DOCTRINE To

Enq.

in the

us they

when we

all

for all

would be

functions, they

its

tells

mes-

fulfil

for Salvation's heirs, for

Grieve it

Bishop Mant

are sent.

Yet

Spirits," the "

Aye, these are our " ministering

still

repent

" ;

the Bishops the world over

what they mean by Soul and do so as to show us

as unable to

orthodox

belief!

TAUGHT IN ST JOHN'S GOSPEL.

this the adherents to this belief

might answer, that

even the

orthodox dogma does promise the impenitent sinner and materialist a bad time of

in a rather too realistic Inferno,

gives them,

do they teach annihilation, or

loss of personality,

which

Nor

the other hand, a chance for repentance to the last minute. all

the

same.

Theo. If the Church teaches nothing of the kind, on the other hand, Jesus does

who

;

and that

Does Christ teach anything

Enq.

Theo.

at least,

of the sort ?

tell

you

so.

Christ, or the fourth

teaches re-incarnation as

personahty,

John.

also the

you but forget the dead

esoteric Spirit. St,

something to those,

and every well-informed Occultist

does;

Kabalist will rate,

place Christ higher than Christianity.

What

Eemember

and even

Gospel at any

annihilation of the

letter

and hold

to the

verses 1 and 2 in chapter xv. of

does the parable speak about

not of the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. man ?

upper triad in

Ego or Buddhi

my Father

Husbandman— the

the

(Christos) the Vine, while the animal

Soul, the personality,

and

Atma

the " branch."

the Husbandman.

beareth not fruit he taketh away

bear fruit of ye,

If a

branch, and

Now we fires

except

man it

Symbol

the

for

Vine stands

infinite,

new

Spiritual

and

vital

the true vine, in

that

the branch cannot ;

no more can

—

am the Vine ye are the in me lie is cast forth as a and burned."

fire

DisbeHeving in the

hell-

as underlying the threat to the

Husbandman " means Atma,

impersonal

Principle,* while

for the Spiritual Soul, Christos,

represents a

But what

in this way.

say that the "

Every branch

... As

withered and cast into the

explain

abide in the vine

abide not

which theology discovers

branches,

Enq.

itself

except ye abide in me.

branches.

187

the

and each "branch"

incarnation.

proofs have you to support such an arbitrary inter-

pretation ?

Theo. Universal symbology that

not arbitrary.

"planted the Vineyard," Kabala,

a warrant for

Hermas i.e.,

correctness and that he

he created mankind.

In the

shown that the Aged of

it is

its

of "

God "

says

the Aged, or the "

Face," plants a vineyard, the latter typifying mankind vine,

meaning

Life.

fore,

shown

washing

The his

Spirit of "

garments in

from the creation of the world.f •

During the Mysteries,

called "Father."

the

it.

The

;

and a

" is, there-

wine from above,

And King

the Hierophant, the " Father,"

Every symbol has Seven Keys to t ZoJiar XL., 10.

King Messiah

Long

Messiah

who

disoloser of the

the

planted the Vine.

Pleroma was always

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Ego

purified by washing his garments

A-Dam,

" blood."

—

(nephesh

The

Noah

of the

same

Nazarene Codex. vines

As we

Buddhas

allegory,

—which

the blood

—the

the

allegorical

a consequence of the adopfind

reproduced

Seven vines are procreated

spring from lukabar

When

Parcha) Eaba waters them.*

among

Zivo,

the

—which

our Seven Eaces with their seven

are

Adam,

And Adam-Kadmon

also plants a vineyard

hot-bed of future humanity. tion

his personalities in

Life of the flesh

soul), Leviticus xvii.

Only-Begotten.

{i.e.,

above, or Buddhi.

wine from

re-birth), in the

seven

Saviours or

and Ferho

the blessed will

(or

ascend

the creatures of Light, they shall see lavar-Xivo, Lord

of Lite,

and the First VrtfB.f

These kabalistic metaphors

are thus naturally repeated in the Gospel according

to St.

John

(XV., 1).

—even according

Let us not forget that in the human system

which ignore our septenary

to those philosophies

the

Ego

Soul and

or thinking

man

" Manas

Spirit.

" (esoteric

and Queen

says an occult work. crucifies himself in

division

called the Logos, or the

is is

Son of

the adopted Son of King

Atma and Buddhi), " the man-god " of Plato, who

equivalents for

Space (or the duration of the

the redemption of Mattek.

This

does

life

cycle) for

by incarnating

over and over again, thus leading mankind onward to perfec-

and making thereby room for lower forms to develop into higher. Not for one life does he cease progressing tion,

• 1

Codex Nasarceus, Vol. HI., pp. Ibid, Vol. II., p. 281.

60, 01.

THE KEY TO THEO SOPHY. himself and helping

189

physical nature to progress

all

even the

;

occasional, very rare event of his losing one of his personalities, in the case of the latter

being entirely devoid of even a spark

of spirituahty, helps toward his individual progress.

Enq.

But its

surely,

Ego

the

personahties,

held responsible for the transgressions of

has to answer also for the

loss, or rather

the

complete annihilation, of one of such.

Theo. Not at

But

if,

all,

unless

efforts

its

has done nothing to avert this dire notwithstanding,

its

conscience,

was unable

then the

obtuseness of the latter proceeding from the

to penetrate

perfect nature of the material

fate.

voice, that of our

through the wall of matter, im-

classed with other failures of

The Ego is sufficiently punished by the loss of Devachan, and especially by having to incarnate almost nature.

immediately.

Enq.

This doctrine of the possibility of losing one's soul

do you

call

Christians

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;militates

and Spirituahsts, though

certain extent, in

against

what he

calls

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;or personahty,

theories

ideal

Swedenborg adopts

They

Spiritual death.

of both it

to a

will never

it.

way

Theo. This can in no

alter a fact in nature, if

prevent such a thing occasionally taking place.

and everything

Spiritual, is built

As said before manifest

moral,

mental,

fact,

The universe

physical, psychic, or

on a perfect law of equUibrium and harmony.

{;vide

itself

it,

be a

Isis Unveiled), the centripetal force could not

without the centrifugal

revolutions of the spheres, and

all

the harmonious

forms and their progress

are the products of this dual force in nature.

Now

the Spirit

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

go (or

Buddhi)

the centrifugal and the soul (Manas) the centri-

petal spiritual energy to

and to produce one

;

be in perfect union and harmony.

motion of the earthly soul tending toward the

centripetal

centre which attracts

arrest

;

a heavier weight of matter than

Devachanic

state,

progress by clogging

it can bear, or than

its

with

is fit for

and the harmony of the whole

will

the

ideal reflection,

sustained by the two-fold force, that Buddhi and Manas in every re-birth or The least deviation from harmony damages it

can only be continued

by the

its

Personal Ufe, or perhaps rather

destroyed.

result they have

Break or damage the

close union of

personal Ufe.

and when

destroyed beyond redemption the two forces

it is

separate at the

moment

of death.

personal form (called indifferently

During a brief interval the

Kama rupa and Mayavi rupa),

the spiritual efflorescence of which, attaching itself to the Ego, follows its

Devachan and gives to the permanent individuality

into

personal colouring {pro

remain

Kamaloka and

after the

tern.,

so to speak),

carried off to

to be gradually annihilated.

For

it is

death of the utterly depraved, the unspiritual and the

wicked beyond redemption, that arrives the

moment.

during

life

the

ultimate

critical

and supreme

and desperate

effort

of the Inner Self [Manas), to unite something of the personality

with is

itself

and the high ghmmering ray of the divine Buddhi,

thwarted

;

if this

ray

allowed to be more and more shut

out from the ever-thickening Spiritual

Ego

crust

of physical brain, the

or Manas, once freed from the body, remains

severed entirely from the ethereal relic of the personality the latter, or is

drawn

into

Kama

rupa, following

and remains

its

;

and

earthly attractions,

Hades, which we

call the

Kama-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. These are " the withered branches

loha.

Jesus as being cut off from the Vine. is

191

never instantaneous, and

for its

may

mentioned by

Annihilation, however,

require centuries sometimes

But there the personality remains

accomplishment.

along with the remnants of other more fortunate personal Egos,

and becomes with them a Isis,

these two classes of " Spirits,"

the leading " Stars "

Elementaries, which are

not they

who

" dear departed ones

incarnate

;

sure of

and, therefore, so few of these

know anything

on the great

And you may be

spiritual stage of " materialisations." it, it is

As said in the shells and the

and an Elementary.

shell

of re-incarnation, mis-

leading thereby the Spiritualists.

But does not the author

Enq.

of "Isis Unveiled"

having preached against re-incarnation

Theo.

those

who have misunderstood what was

the time that

work was

by any

said there of re-incarnation

Spiritualists, either

whose theory

the Eastern teaching

said, yes.

was not believed Enghsh or American, and what

written, re-incarnation

Spiritists,

stand accused of

was directed against the French and absurd as

as unphilosophical

logical

and

self-evident in its truth.

The Ee-incarnationists of the AUan Kardec School beheve in an arbitrary and immediate re-incarnation. With them, the dead father can incarnate in his own unborn daughter, and so on.

They have neither Devachan, Karma, nor any philosophy that would warrant or prove the necessity of consecutive re-births. But how can the author of " Isis " argue against Karmic reincarnation, at long intervals varying between 1,000 and 1,500

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

192

when

years,

Hindus

the fundamental belief of both Buddhists and

Then you

Enq.

it is

reject the theories

of both the

and the

Spiritists

Spirituahsts, in their entirety?

Theo. Not in their entirety, but only with regard to their respective

fundamental

them

beliefs.

Both

rely

and both disagree

;

on what

much with Truth

Theosophists disagree with both.

we hear

their " Spirits " tell

each other as we is

one

;

and when

the French spooks preaching re-incarnation, and the

English spooks denying and denouncing the doctrine,

we say know

that either the French or the English "Spirits " do not

We beUeve with

what they are talking about. and the

Spiritists in the existence

Beings endowed with more or

the Spiritualists

of " Spirits," or invisible

But, while in

less intelligence.

our teachings their kinds and genera are legion, our opponents

admit of no other than human disembodied " to our knowledge, are mostly

You seem

Enq.

of,

and

spirits

direct

spirits of the

Have they any Theo.

dead"

Why

fact ?

of saying how dangerous

As you have given me

for disbelieving in the materialization

communication in

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; or the "

as to one

Kamalokic Shells.

very bitter against Spirits.

your views and your reasons

Spirits," which,

are

semices, with the

disembodied

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;would you mind enlightening some Theosophists never

tired

intercourse with spirits, and mediumship ?

particular reason for this ?

must suppose

so.

know /

have.

Owing

familiarity for over half a century with these invisible, yet but

too tangible and undeniable " influences," from the conscious

Elementals, semi-conscious

shells,

down

to the utterly senseless

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and nondescript spooks of

kinds, I claim a certain right to

views.

Can you

Bnq.

all

193

give

an instance

instances to

show why these

practices should he regarded as dangerous ?

Theo. This would require more time than I caa give you.

Every

over the

cause must be judged

the effects

history of Spiritualism for the last

reappearance in self

whether

this

fifty

century in America

has done

understand me.

produces.

its

votaries

years, ever since its

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;and judge

for your-

more good or harm. Pray

do not speak against

real Spiritualism, but

modern movement which goes under that name, and the so-called philosophy invented to explain its pheagainst the

nomena. Don't you beheve in their phenomena

Enq.

Theo.

It is

(save

at all ?

because I believe in them with too good reason, and

some

cases of deliberate fraud)

know them

to be as true

you and I live, that aU my being revolts against them. Once more I speak only of physical, not mental or even psychic phenomena. Like attracts Uke. There are several highas that

minded, pure, good

who have

men and women, known

passed years of their lives

personally,

under the direct guidance

and even protection of high " Spirits," whether disembodied or But these Intelhgences are not of the type of the planetary.

John Kings and the Ernests who figure in seance rooms. These Intelhgences guide and control mortals only in rare and exceptional cases to which they are attracted and magnetically

drawn by the Karmic past to sit " for

development

It is

not enough

order to attract them.

That only

of the individual.

" in

KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

7-fl"£

194

opens the door to a swarm of " spooks," good, bad and different, to

which the medium becomes a slave

against such promiscuous

goblins that I raise

The

life.

in-

It is

mediumship and intercourse with

voice, not against spiritual mysticism.

ennobling and holy

latter is

for

;

the former

of just the same

nature as the phenomena of two centuries ago, for which so

many

witches and wizards have been

made

to suffer.

Eead

Glanvil and other authors on the subject of witchcraft, and

you

will find

recorded there the parallels of most,

phenomena

the physical

Do you mean

Enq.

not

all, of

of nineteenth century " Spiritualism."

to suggest that

all

witchcraft and nothing

more? Theo.

What

mean

this dealing

practice.

whether conscious or unconscious,

that,

with the dead

For ages before Moses such raising of the dead was

regarded by

all

inasmuch

the intelligent nations as sinful and cruel, disturbs the rest of the souls and interferes

with their evolutionary development into higher collective

all

necromancy, and a most dangerous

wisdom of

states.

The

past centuries has ever been loud in

all

denouncing such practices.

Finally, I say,

what

have never

ceased repeating oraUy and in print for fifteen years While some of the so-called " spirits " do not know what they are talking :

—Uke poll-parrots—what

about, repeating merely the

they find in

mediums' and other people's brains, others are most

dangerous, and can only lead one to evil. These are two selfevident facts. Go into spirituaUstic circles of the Allan

Kardec school, and you find " spirits " asserting re-incarnation and speaking Uke Eoman Catholics born. Turn to the " dear

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

195

" in

England and America, and you will hear them denying re-incarnation through thick and thin, denouncing departed ones

who

those best,

teach

it,

body and mind.

who

Your

and holding to Protestant views.

your most powerful mediums, have

all

suffered in health

Think of the sad end of Charles Foster,

died in an asylum, a raving lunatic

of Slade, an epileptic

;

—

the best medium now in England subject to the Look back over the life of D. D. Home, a man whose mind was steeped in gall and bitterness, who never had a good word to say of anyone whom he suspected of possessing psychic powers, and who slandered every other medium to the of

EgHnton

same.

This Calvin of Spirituahsm suffered for years from

bitter end.

a terrible spinal disease, brought on by his intercourse with the "spirits," and died a perfect wreck.

Think again of the

sad fate of poor Washington Irving Bishop.

New

knew him

York, when he was fourteen, and he was undeniably a

medium.

to the great

gaudium of

all

fools, and But de mortuis

scientific

pocket. one.

poor man stole a march on his " them unconscious muscular action,"

It is true that the

" spirits," and baptised

and

He had

the corporations of highly learned

the

nil nisi

replenishment of his

honum ;

his

—the mediumship — and who

strenuously concealed his epileptic

and strongest symptom of genuine

own

end was a sad fits

first

knows whether he was dead or in a trance when the postmortem examination was performed ? His relatives insist that he was

alive, if

are to believe Eeuter's telegrams.

Finally,

behold the veteran mediums, the founders and prime movers of

modern

spiritualism

—the Fox

sisters.

After more than forty

years of intercourse with the " Angels," the latter have led

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

ig6

them

become incurable

own

public lectures, their

What

fraud.

kind of

sots,

who

life-long

spirits

now denouncing,

must they be who prompted

your inference a correct one

Enq.

But

Theo.

What would you

infer if the best pupils of a particular

school of singing broke

down from

overstrained sore throats

That the method followed was a bad one. inference

mediums

the tree of Spiritualism lesson.

fall

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Let those who are by

So I think the

equally fair with regard to Spiritualism

see their best

only say

as a

you ?

them, I ask is

are

work and philosophy

a prey to such a

fate.

when we

can

interested in the question judge its

fruits,

and ponder over the

We Theosophists have always regarded the Spiritualists

as brothers having the

same mystic tendency

they have always regarded

as ourselves, but

enemies.

We, being

possession of an older philosophy, have tried to help and

warn them

but they have repaid us by reviling and traducing

;

us and our motives in every possible way. best English Spiritualists say just as treat of their behef seriously. this

truth

" Spiritualists

Nevertheless, the do, wherever they

Hear " M.A. Oxon.

are too

much

inclined

confessing to dwell

exclusively on the intervention of external spirits in this world

of ours,

Why

and

vilify

ignore the powers of the incarnate Spirit."*

and abuse

Henceforward, Spiritualism.

us, then, for saying precisely the

we wiU have nothing more

And now '

let

us return to Ee-incarnation.

Second Sight, "Introduction,"

same

with

XI.

ON THE MYSTERIES OF RE-INCARNATION.

PEBIODICAL BE-BIBTHS. Enq.

You mean,

then, that

we have

all

lived

on earth before, in many

past incarnations, and shall go on so living

The

TiiEO. I do.

life-cycle, or rather the

cycle of conscious

life,

begins with the separation of the mortal animal-man into sexes,

and

men,

in the seventh

will

end with the close of the

generation of

last

round and seventh race of mankind.

we are only in the fourth round and more easily imagined than expressed.

Considering duration

Enq.

And we keep on

incarnating in

Theo. Most assuredly so incarnation

such

life is

may be

;

new personalities

fifth race, its

all

the time

because this life-cycle or period of

composed of days of

human

life.

As each

activity separated

by nights

best compared to

of sleep or of inaction, so, in the incarnation-cycle, an active life is

Enq.

And

followed by a Devachanic it

rest.

this succession of births that is generally defined as

re-incarnation ?

Theo. Just

so.

It is

only through these births that the perpetual

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

progress of the countless millions of Egos toward final per-

and

fection

final rest (as

long as was the period of activity)

can be achieved.

And what

Enq.

is it

that regulates the duration, or special quahties of

these incarnations ?

Theo. Karma, the universal law of retributive justice.

Enq.

an intelligent law

Theo. For the Materialist,

who

calls the

law of periodicity which and

regulates the marshalling of the several bodies,

other laws in nature, blind forces and mechanical

all

the

lav/s,

doubt Karma would be a law of chance and no more.

no adjective or

us,

qualification could describe that

For

which

impersonal and no entity, but a universal operative law.

you question me about the causative inteUigence in it, I must answer you I do not know. But if you ask me to define its effects and tell you what these are in our belief, I may say that the experience of thousands of ages has shown us that they are absolute and unerring equity, tvisdom, and

For Karma

in its

effects

intelligence.

an unfailing redresser of human

injustice,

and of

wrongs

a retributive law which rewards and punishes with

;

all

equal impartiality.

the failures of nature

is,

a stern adjuster of

;

in the strictest sense, "

of persons," though, on the other hand, propitiated,

common Enq.

nor turned aside by prayer.

no respecter

can neither be This

Hindus and Buddhists, who both believe

this Christian

dogmas contradict both, and

a belief

Karma.

I doubt

whether

any Christian will accept the teaching.

Theo.

;

and Inman gave the reason for

many

years ago.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. As he puts if

it,

199

while " the Christians will accept any nonsense,

promulgated by the Church as a matter of

the Buddhists hold

that

nothing which

faith

adequate and just punishment for each

sins,

evil

They do

sound reason can be a true doctrine of Buddha." not believe in any pardon for their

contradicted by

except after an

deed or thought in

a future incarnation, and a proportionate compensation to the parties injured.

Enq.

Where

so stated ?

is it

Theo. In most of their sacred works. (p.

57)

you may

find

In the " Wheel of the

Law"

the following Theosophical tenet

" Buddhists believe that every act,

word or thought has

its

consequence, which will appear sooner or later in the present or in the future state.

Evil

acts

will

produce

evil

sequences, good acts will produce good consequences perity in this world, or birth in heaven (Devachan)

conpros-

in the future state."

ExQ.

Christians believe the

Theo. Oh, no sins.

;

same

thing, don't they?

they believe in the pardon and the remission of

They

are promised that

of Christ (an innocent victim

!),

they only believe in the blood

in the

blood offered by

the expiation of the sins of the whole of mankind, for every mortal sin.

And we

all

Him

for

will atone

believe neither in vicarious

atonement, nor in the possibility of the remission of the smallest sin

" Infinite,"

by any god, not even by a if

personal Ahsolute" or

such a thing could have any existence.

believe in,

the

unknown Universal

strict

Deity,

What

Our idea of represented by Karma, is that

and impartial

justice.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

200 it is

Power which cannot

fail,

and can, therefore, have neither

wrath nor mercy, only absolute Equity, which leaves every

work out its inevitable effects. The saying of Jesus With what measure you mete it shall be measured to you again " (Matth. vii., 2), neither by expression nor imphcation points to any hope of future mercy or. salvation by proxy. This is why, recognising as we do in our philosophy the justice of this statement, we cannot recommend too cause, great or small, to

strongly mercy, charity, and forgiveness of mutual offences. Resist not

evil,

and were

first

law.

and render good for evil, are Buddhist precepts, preached in view of the implacability of Karmic

For man to take the law into

still

;

own hands

Human Law may use man who, believing

a sacrilegious presumption. not punitive measures

his

but a

anyhow

restrictive

Karma,

revenges himself and refuses to forgive every injury,

thereby rendering good for himself.

As Karma

him, by seeking to

evil, is

a criminal and only hurts

sure to punish the

inflict

man who wronged

an additional punishment on

his

enemy, he, who instead of leaving that punishment to the great

Law

adds to

his

own

the future reward of his for himself

The

the quality of

mite, only begets thereby a cause for

own enemy and

unfailing Eegulator affects in each incarnation

its

successor

;

and the sum of the merit or

demerit in preceding ones determines

Enq.

Are we then to

a future punishment

infer a

man's past from

it.

his present ?

Theo. Only so far as to believe that his present life is what it justly should be, to atone for the sins of the past life. Of course seers and great adepts excepted we cannot as

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. know what

average mortals paucity of data,

those

the

life

;

neither can we, for like

draw final conclusions merely from what we see in of some man, as to what his past life may have been.

WHAT But what

Enq.

Theo. As I have

KARMA!

Karma ? said,

consider

the Ultimate

Universe, the source, origin and fount of exist

throughout Nature.

adjusts effect to cause,

from greatest to

movement

all

least,

Law

other laws which

on the physical, mental and

spiritual

due

its

from a cosmic disturbance

unknown law which

of the

the unerring law which

effect

to the

do'vvTi

of your hand, and as like produces like.

that unseen and

Karma

As no cause remains without

planes of being.

and

From our

were.

impossible for us even to determine what

it is

an old man's youth must have been reasons,

sins

201

Karma

adjusts wisely, intelligently

back

equitably each effect to its cause, tracing the latter

its

producer.

Though

itself

unknowable,

its

action

per-

ceivable.

Enq. of

Then it is the " Absolute," the " Unknowable much value as an explanation of the problems

" again,

and

not

life ?

we do not know what Karma is per se, and in its essence, we do know how it works, and we can define and describe its mode of action with accuracy. We only do not know its ultimate Cause, just as modern

TiiEO.

the contrary.

For, though

philosophy universally admits that the ultimate Cause of anything

" unknowable."

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

202

And what

Enq.

more it

has Theosophy to say in regard to the solution of the

humanity

practical needs of

What

the explanation which

and

dire necessity pre-

the so-called " lower classes."

among

valent

to the awful suffering

offers in reference

Theo. To be pointed, according

our teaching

all

these great

social evils, the distinction of classes in Society,

and of the

sexes in the affairs of

and of labour

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

life,

the unequal distribution of capital

are due to what

all

tersely but truly

denominate Kaema. Enq.

But, surely,

these evils which

all

somewhat indiscriminately

seem

to fall

upon the masses

are not actual merited and individual

Karma ? Theo. No, they cannot be so

show

that

strictly defined in their effects as to

each individual environment, and the particular

conditions of life in which each person finds himself, are nothing

more than the retributive Karma which in a previous

every atom

body track

life.

the individual generated

lose sight of the fact

belongs, and here

Karmic

that

which those individuals

Karma

we come upon

the wider

Do you not perceive that the Karma becomes that of the nation to belong, and further, that the sum total

law.

aggregate of individual

of National

must not

subject to the general law governing the whole

which

of the

that of the

World

The

evils that

you

speak of are not peculiar to the individual or even to the Nation, they are more or less universal

broad

line of

Human

finds its legitimate

Enq.

and equable

and

it is

upon

this

issue.

then, understand that the law of

an individual law

;

interdependence that the law of Karma

Karma

not necessarily

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. That

what I mean.

just

203

impossible that

could readjust the balance of power in the world's progress, unless is

held as a truth

had a broad and general

among Theosophists

Karma life

and

line of action.

that the interdependence

Humanity is the cause of what is called Distributive Karma, and it is this law which affords the solution to the great of

question of collective suffering and law, moreover, that no failings,

without

of which he

can

sin,

nor

lifting,

man be

an integral

can it

an occult

rise superior to his individual

body In the same way, no one

ever so

part.

;

the whole

little,

suffer the effects of sin, alone.

such thing as " Separateness "

It is

its relief.

In reality, there

and the nearest approach

that selfish state, which the laws of

life

permit,

in the intent

or motive.

Enq.

And are there no means by which the distributive or national Karma might be concentred or collected, so to speak, and brought and legitimate fulfilment without

to its natural

all this

protracted

suffering ?

Theo. As a general age to which

rule,

or retarded in

and within certain

belong, the law of

its

fulfilment.

limits

which define the

Karma cannot be hastened this I am certain, the

But of

point of possibility in either of these directions has never yet

been touched.

Listen to the following recital of one phase of

national suffering, and then ask yourself whether, admitting the working power of individual, relative, and distributive Karma, these evils are not capable of extensive modification

and general

relief.

What

about to read to you

from

the pen of a National Saviour, one who, having overcome Self,

and being

free

to choose, has elected to serve

Humanity,

— r^-S;

204

KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

bearing at least as mucli as a woman's shoulders can possibly

bear of National Karma.

This

what she says

"Yes, Nature always does speak, don't you think? only sometimes so much noise that we drown her voice. That is why it is so

we make

restful to go out of the

town and

nestle awhile in the Mother's arms.

Hampstead Heath when we watched but oh upon what suffering and misery that sun had the sun go down set A lady brought me yesterday a big hamper of wild flowers. I thought some of my East-end family had a better right to it than I, and so I took it down to a very poor school in Whitechapel this morning. Thence I went You should have seen the pallid little faces brighten It was to pay for some dinners at a little cookshop for some children. I

thinking of the evening on !

;

in a

back

from

fish,

street,

narrow,

full of jostling

meat, and other comestibles,

Whitechapel, festers instead of purifying. essence of

lumps

all '

the smells.

food

people; stench indescribable, all

reeking in a sun that, in

The cookshop was the

quint-

Indescribable meat-pies at Id., loathsome

and swarms

of flies, a

very altar of Beelzebub

All

about, babies on the prowl for scraps, one, with the face of an angel,

gathering up cherrystones as a light and nutritious form of

diet.

came

westward with every nerve shuddering and jarred, wondering whether anything can be done with some parts of London save swallowing them an earthquake and starting their inhabitants afresh, after a plunge some purifying Lethe, out of which not a memory might emerge And then I thought of Hampstead Heath, and—pondered. If by any sacrifice one could win the power to save these people, the cost would not be worth counting but, you see, they must be changed and how can that be wrought ? In the condition they now are, they would not and yet, in profit by any environment in which they might be placed

into

—

;

must continue to putrefy. It breaks my heart, this endless, hopeless misery, and the brutish degradation that is every at once its outgrowth and its root. It is like the banyan tree branch roots itself and sends out new shoots. What a difference between these feelings and the peaceful scene at Hampstead and yet we. their present surroundings they

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. who

are the brothers and sisters of these poor creatures, have only a

Hampstead Heaths

right to use {Signed, iy

That

Enq.

205

ivxme. too respected

to gain strength to save Whitechapels."

and

too

well

hwiun

to be

a sad but beautiful letter, and I think

given it

to scoffers.)

presents with

painful conspicuity the terrible workings of

what you have

" Relative and Distributive Karma."

alas

immediate hope of any

relief short of

But

called

there seems no

an earthquake, or some such

general ingulfment

Theo. is

What

right have

humanity

to think so while one-half of

in a position to effect an immediate relief of the privations

which are suffered by

their fellows

When

every individual

has contributed to the general good what he can of money, of labour, and of ennobling will the balance of National

we have no more

life

right nor

thought, then,

Karma be

any reasons

struck,

and only then,

and

until then

for saying that

there

on the earth than Nature can support. It is reserved Eace and Nation, to

for the heroic souls, the Saviours of our

find

out the cause of this unequal pressure of retributive

Karma, and by a supreme effort to re-adjust the balance of and save the people from a moral ingulfment a thousand times more disastrous and more permanently evil than

2)ower,

the like physical catastrophe, in which you seem to see the

only possible outlet for this accumulated misery.

Enq.

Well, then,

tell

generally

how you

describe this law of

Karma? Theo.

describe

Karma

as that

Law

of re-adjustment which

ever tends to restore disturbed equilibrium in the physical,

and broken harmony in the moral world. does not act in this or that particular

say that

way always

;

Karma

but that

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

2o6 it

as to restore

alwaj'S does act so

Harmony and

preserve the

balance of equilibrium, in virtue of which the Universe

Enq.

Give

illustration.

Theo. Later on I will give you a

a pond.

owing

last,

stone

Think now of

full illustration.

and creates disturbing

into the water

falls

These waves

waves.

exists.

backwards and forwards

oscillate

to the operation of

what

till

physicists call the law of

the dissipation of energy, they are brought to rest, and the

water returns to

action,

all

its

condition of calm tranquillitj'.

every plane,

produces

Similarly

disturbance

the

balanced harmony of the Universe, and the vibrations so pro-

duced is

will continue to roll

hmited,

till

equilibrium

backwards and is

restored.

forwaitls,

But

if its

area

since each such

disturbance starts from some particular point,

it is

clear that

equilibrium and harmony can only be restored by the recon-

verging

to that

motion from

same point of

And

it.

here

all

the forces which were set in

you have proof

sequences of a man's deeds, thoughts, himself with

force with

the sanae

etc.

must

that the con-

upon

react

all

which they were

set in

motion.

But

Enq. to

I see nothing of a like the

moral character about

this law.

It looks

simple physical law that action and re-action are

equal and opposite.

Theo. I

got so

not surprised to hear you say that.

much

wrong, good and laid

down

God.

either

Europeans have

into the ingrained habit of considering right and evil,

as matters of

by men,

or imposed

Theosophists,

however,

an arbitrary code of law

upon them by say

that

a Personal

Good " and

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. " Harmony," and " Evil

207

and " Dis-harmony," are synonymous.

Further we maintain that

all

pain and. suffering are results of

want of Harmony, and that the one

terrible

and only cause of

Harmony is selfishness in some form or another. Hence Karma gives back to every man the actual consequences of his own actions, without any regard to their the

disturbance of

moral character

but since he receives his due for

;

obvious that he will be made to atone for

he has caused, just as he of

all

produce.

fruits

will reap in

all

all, it is

sufferings

which

joy and gladness the

harmony he had helped

the happiness and

can do no better than quote for your benefit certain

passages from books and articles written by our Theosophists those

Enq.

who have

a correct idea of Karma.

wish you would, as your literature seems to be very sparing on

this subject ?

Theo. Because

the

most

difficult of all

our tenets.

Some

short time ago there appeared the following objection from a Christian pen

" Granting that the teaching in regard to Theosophy that

man must

evil that is

what

be his

own

saviour,

must overcome

self

correct,

aad

and conquer the

in his dual nature, to obtain the emancipation of his soul,'

man

to do after he has been

certain extent from evil or wickedness

awakened and converted

How

he to get emancipation,

or pardon, or the blotting out of the evil or wickedness he has already "

done

this Mr. J. H. Conelly replies very pertinently that no one can hope to " make the theosophical engine run on the

theological track."

"The

As he has

possibility of shirking individual responsibility is not

among

the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

2o8

concepts of Theosophy. or

this faith there is

no such thing as pardoning,

blotting out of evil or wickedness already done,' otherwise than

the adequate punishment therefor of the wrong-doer and the restoration

harmony in the universe that had been disturbed by his wrongful The evil has been his own, and while others must suffer its consequences, atonement can be made by nobody but himself. " The condition contemplated .... in which a man shall have been awakened and converted to a certain extent from evil or wickedness,' is

of the act.

that in which a

man

shall

deserving of

punishment.

responsibility

have realized that his deeds are

evil

In that realization a

personal

and

inevitable,

just in proportion to the

awakening or 'converting' must be the sense

While

it is

him

strong upon

the time

sense of

of that

when he

and

extent of his

awful responsibility.

urged to accept the

doctrine of vicarious atonement.

It is

told that he

must

an amiable weakness

regret the evil

also repent, but not'ning

human

we have done when our

either suffered from

attention

ourselves or enjoyed

analysis of the feeling would

its

nature that

easier than that.

are quite prone to

is called,

fruits.

show us that that

and we have

Possibly, close

wliioli

regret

means

rather the necessity that seemed to require the evil as a

attainment of our

ends than the

selfish

evil itself."

" Attractive as this prospect of casting our of the cross

may

does not

burden

of sins

at the foot

commend itself to apprehend why the sinner by

be to the ordinary mind,

the Theosophio student.

does not

attaining knowledge of his evil can thereby merit any pardon for or the blotting out of his past wickedness living entitle

relation exist

out.

;

him

;

why

repentance and future right

to a suspension in his favour of the universal law of

between cause and effect.

The

results of his evil deeds continue to

the suffering caused to others by his wickedness

The Theosophical student takes the

innocent into his problem.

not blotted

result of wickedness

upon the

considers not only the guilty person,

but his victims. " Evil

an infraction

of the

and the penalty thereof must

laws

fall

harmony governing the

upon the

violator of that

universe,

law himself.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Christ uttered the warning,

and

thee,'

man

Paul

St.

said,

Sin no more, lest a worse thing

Work

209

own

out your

come upon

Whatsoever a

salvation.

That, by the way,

soweth, that shaU he also reap.'

fine

metaphoric rendering of the sentence of the Puranas far antedating him that

every

"This

man

Theosophy. '

own acts.' Karma which

reaps the consequences of his

the principle of the law of

Sinnett, in his

the law of ethical causation.'

Blavatsky translates

its

taught by

Esoteric Buddhism,' rendered

meaning,

The law

better.

Karma as Mdme.

of retribution,' as

It is the

power which

Just though mysterious, leads us on unerring

Through ways unmarked ÂŁrom " But

more.

punishes demerit.

deed, and

guilt to

punishment.

It rewards merit as unerringly and amply as It is the

outcome

men mould

of every act, of thought,

word and

themselves, their lives and happenings.

of a newly created soul for every baby born. It believes in a hmited number of monads, evolving and growing more and more perfect through their assimilation of many successive personaUties. Those personalties are the product of Karma

Eastern philosophy rejects the idea

and

by Karma and re-incarnation that the human monad

returns to

its

source

in time

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; absolute deity."

E. D. Walker, in his " Ee-incarnation," offers the following

explanation

" Briefly, the doctrine of

There

actions.

Karma

that

we have made

ourselves

what

are by former actions, and are building our future eternity by present

salvation

about.

no destiny but what we ourselves determine. There is condemnation except what we ourselves bring

Because

offers

necessitates a sterling manliness,

no it is

shelter less

for

actions and weak natures than

culpable

welcome

the easy religious tenets of vicarious atonement, intercession, forgiveness and death-bed conversions. ... In the domain of eternal justice the

and the punishment are inseparably connected as the same event, no real distinction between the action and its is outcome. ... It is Karma, or our old acts, that draws us back into offence

because there

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

2IO earthly this

The

life.

Karma

abode changes acco.-ding to its Karma, and in one condition, because it, is long as action is governed by material and

spirit's

forbids

any long continuance So

always changing.

must the

Eelfish motives, just so long

effect of that action

be manifested

man

can elude the

Only the perfectly

in physical re-births. gr-avitation of material

Few have

life.

selfless

attained this, but

the goal of

it is

mankind."

And

then the writer quotes from the Secret Doctrine

" Those

who

Karma have

believe in

birth to death, every

man

its

them must

prevail

;

who

but too often the

evil

and from the very beginning

and implacable law

genius of the

the invisible

compensation steps in and takes

When

course, faithfully following the fluctuations.

woven, and man

by the

Both these lead on the outward man, but

embodied entity called man. affray the stern

this destiny is guided either

and

the invisible prototype outside of us, or by our more

intimate astral or inner man,

one

which, from

in destiny,

weaving, thread by thread, around himself,

as a spider does his cobweb,

heavenly voice

to believe

seemingly enwrapped in the network

the last strand

own

of his

doing,

then he finds himself completely under the empire of this self-made destiny.

Occultist or a philosopher will not speak of the goodness

or cruelty of Providence will

;

but, identifying

teach that, nevertheless,

in this as in future lives

to his seventh re-birth

and that

;

— so

with Karma-Nemesis, he

guards the good and watches over them

long, in

punishes the evil-doer

thrown into perturbation even the smallest atom

harmony has not been

Karma — an world

Karma

eternal and

matter as

immutable decree is

the world

that rewards or punishes, but

ourselves according to whether nature, abiding

them.

we work

absolute harmony

the

ways

and harmony, instead

Karma be of

in the

not,

therefore.

we who reward

or punish

spirit.

It is

with, through and along with

by the laws on which that harmony depends, or

Nor would

in union

—

his having

in the infinite world of

For the only decree

re-adjusted.

finally

— aye, even

short, as the effect of

inscrutable were

disunion and

strife.

men

—break to

work

For our ignorance

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. ways

those

—which

one

portion

Providence, dark and intricate of

bUnd

to guide

fatalism

them

of our

mankind

the ways of

calls

while another sees in them the action

and a third simple chance, with neither gods nor

;

—would

surely disappear

these to their correct cause.

mystery

;

211

own making and

we would but

devils

attribute

all

stand bewildered before the

the riddles of

life

that

will not

and then accuse the great Sphinx of devouring us. But verily there is not an accident of our lives, not a misshapen day, or a misfortune, that could not be traced back to our own doings in this or in another solve,

The law

life

Karma

inextricably interwoven with that

It is only this doctrine that

of reincarnation

us the mysterious problem of good and terrible

and apparent

injustice of

life.

quiet our revolted sense of justice.

can explain to

and reconcile man

evil,

to the

Nothing but such certainty can

when one unacquainted with

For,

the noble doctrine looks around him and observes the inequalities of

and fortune, of intellect and capacities when one sees honour paid and profligates, on whom fortune has heaped her favours by mere privilege of birth, and their nearest neighbour, with all his intellect and noble virtues far more deserving in every way perishing for want

birth

;

to fools

—

and

for lack of

sympathy

—when

—

one sees

all

this

and has

to turn

helpless to relieve the undeserved suffering, one's ears ringing

aching with the cries of pain around him

Karma

alone prevents

him from cursing This

supposed Creator conscious,

it is

coequal with eternity, is

eternity itself it

;

blessed knowledge of

and men as well as their whether conscious or un-

life

law,

predestines nothing and no

eternity truly, for

—that

away,

and heart

one.

exists

and as such,

cannot be said to

act, for

from and

since no act can be

it is

action

itself.

not the wave which drowns the man, but the personal action of the

wretch who goes deliberately and places himself under the unpersonal action of the laws that govern the ocean's motion. nothing, nor does

design.

It is

man who

Karma

creates

plants and creates causes,

and Karmic law adjusts the effects, which adjustment is not an act but universal harmony, tending ever to resume its original position, like a bough, which, bent down too forcibly, rebounds with corresponding

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

212 vigour.

happen

If it

to dislocate the

natural position, shall that our

own

say

arm

that tried to

Karma has

has brought us to grief?

folly

bend

out of

its

arm

the bough which broke our

never sought to

destroy intellectual and individual hberty, like the god invented by the It has not involved its decrees in darkness purposely to

Monotheists.

perplex man,

nor shall

mysteries.

meditation

many men

the windings of which so the labyrinth of

life, is

who

working

there can

only

Cause, believers in

one

less

it is

an aspect, in

good

Absolute,

of his fellow-men. of

one

Karma cannot be regarded Karma is one with

its effects in

and

study

perish owing to their ignorance of

for the

as fatalists, for

still

scrutinize its

on those dark ways, in

light

an absolute and eternal law in the world

through

unveils

and throws

paths,

its intricate

him who dares

punish

the contrary,

Karma

manifestation

Eternal,

;

and

ever-present

as atheists or materialists,

the Unknowable, of which

the phenomenal world."

Another able Theosophic writer says [Purpose of Theosophy,

by Mrs.

P. Siimett)

" Every individual is making Karma either good or bad in each action and thought of his daily round, and is at the same time working out in this life the Karma brought about by the acts and desires of the last. When we see people afflicted by congenital ailments it may be safely

assumed that these ailments are the inevitable

by themselves in a previous birth. afflictions

are hereditary,

may

results of causes started

be argued that, as these

they can have nothing to do with a past

must be remembered that the Ego, the real man, the individuality, has no spiritual origin in the parentage by which it is re-embodied, but it is drawn by the affinities which its previous mode of incarnation

life

;

but

attracted round

comes

for

re-birth, to

into the current that carries

the

those tendencies

understood,

home

best

it,

mode

that not only our actions but

and life,

assist those for

when

the time

the development of

This doctrine of Karma,

well calculated to guide

truth to a higher and batter

fitted for

when properly who realize its

must not be forgotten

our thoughts also are most assuredly

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

213

followed by a crowd of circumstances that will influence for good or for

our

evil

many

own

future,

and,

what

our fellow-creatures.

still

If sins of

more important, the future

omission and commission could

in any case be only self-regarding, the fact on the sinner's Karma would be a matter of minor consequence. The effect that every thought and act through life carries with it for good or evil a corresponding influence on other members of the human family renders a strict sense of

and unselfishness so necessary to future happiness or evil thought sent out from the mind, are past recall no amount of repentance can wipe out their

justice, morality,

progress.

crune once committed, an

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

results in the future.

repeating errors

;

Eepentance,

will deter a

sincere,

cannot save him or others from the

already produced, which will most unerringly overtake

man from

effects of those

him

either in this

or in the next re-birth."

life

Mr. "

The

H. Conelly proceeds

believers in a religion based

upon such doctrine are

willing

should be compared with one in which man's destiny for eternity

determined by the accidents of a

which he lie

;

single, brief earthly existence,

cheered by the promise that

which

his brightest hope,

when he wakes up

of his wickedness, is the doctrine of vicarious

even that

during

as the tree falls so shall to a

knowledge

atonement, and in which

handicapped, according to the Presbyterian Confession

of Faith.

the decree of God, for the manifestation of his glory, some

and angels are predestinated unto

everlasting

life

men

and others foreordained

to everlasting death.

"These angels and men thus predestinated and foreordained are and unchangeably designed and their number is so certain and definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished As God hath appointed the elect unto glory Neither are any other redeemed by Christ effectually called, justified, adopted, sanctified, and saved, but the elect only. P particularly

;

—

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

214

" The rest of mankind

own

counsel of his

as he pleaseth, for

God was

pleased, according to the unsearchable

whereby he extendeth or withholdeth mercy the glory of his sovereign power over his creatures, to will,

pass by and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for their sin to the praise of his glorious justice."

This

what the able defender

better than

wind up the subject

As he

a magnificent poem.

says

Nor can we do any he does, by a quotation from says.

—

" The exquisite beauty of Edwin Arnold's exposition of Karma in The Light of Asia tempts to its reproduction here, but it is too long for quotation in full. Here is a portion of it '

Karma — all "Which

The

that total oi a soul the things

it did,

the thoughts

had,

wove with woof of viewless time Crossed on the warp invisible of acts. '

self

•

Before beginning and without an end,

As space eternal and as surety sure. Power divine which moves to good, Only its laws endure.

Is fixed a

It will

Who

not be contemned of anyone

thwarts

loses,

;

and who serves

The hidden good it pays with peace and The hidden ill with pains. It seeth

everywhere and marketh

right

—

recompenseth

gains

bliss,

all

one wrong

The equal retribution must be made. Though Dharma tarry long. It

knows not wrath nor pardon Its

measures mete,

utter-true.

;

its faultless

Times are as naught, to-morrow Or after many days.

balance weighs

will judge

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY Such

the law which moves to righteousness,

Which none The heart

end

you

the

;

of it

and consummation sweet.

I advise

upon Karma,

at last can tui'n aside or stay

of it is love, the

Is peace

And now

215

Obey."

compare our Theosophic views

law of Eetribution,

and

say

whether

they are not both more philosophical and just than this cruel

and

dogma which makes

idiotic

"God"

a senseless fiend

;

the tenet, namely, that the " elect only" will be saved, and the rest

Enq.

doomed

to eternal perdition

Yes, I see what you mean generally but I wish you could some concrete example of the action of Karma ? ;

Theo. That I cannot do.

can only

give

feel sure, as I said before,

that our present lives and circumstances are the direct results

own deeds and thoughts in lives that are past. But who are not Seers or Initiates, cannot know anything about

of our

we,

the details of the working of the law of Karma.

Enq.

Can anyone, even an Adept

process of re-adjustment in detail

Theo. Certainly

" Those

who know

Seer,

follow out this

Karmic

can do so by the exercise of

powers which are latent even in aU men.

WHO ABE THOSE WHO ENOW? Enq.

Does

this hold equally of ourselves as of others ?

Theo. Equally. save those

acme of

just said, the

who have reached

spiritual vision

same limited vision

exists for

all,

in the present incarnation the

and clairvoyance.

can only per-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

2i6

ceive that,

things with us ought to have been different, they

would have been different that we are what we have made ourselves, and have only what we have earned for ourselves. ;

Enq.

Theo. I believe

it is

combative feeling in man.

more hkely

child, as

us.

It is disbelief in

precisely the reverse.

law of retribution that

just

would only embitter

afraid such a conception

much

the

awaken every

as a

man, resents

a punishment, or even a reproof he believes to be unmerited, far it

more than he does a severer punishment, merited.

Belief

Karma

reconcilement to one's lot in this

towards

incentive

Both of

effort

these, indeed,

life,

the

feels

highest reason

that for

and the very strongest

to better the succeeding re-birth.

would be destroyed

we supposed

that

our lot was the result of anything but strict Laiv, or that

was

destiny

You have

Enq.

any other hands than our own.

just asserted that this system of Ee-incarnation under

Karmic law commended But,

sense.

if so, is it

sympathy and

human

pity,

reason, justice, and the moral

not at some sacrifice of the gentler qualities

and thus a hardening of the

finer instincts

nature ?

Theo. Only apparently, not less

itself to

really.

No man

can receive more or

than his deserts without a corresponding injustice or

partiality to others

;

and a law which could be averted through

compassion would bring about more misery than

irritation

we do effects

and curses than thanks.

not administer the law, ;

we do

Eemember

saved,

also, that

create causes for

its

administers itself; and again, that the most copious

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

217

provision for the manifestation of just compassion and is

Enq.

shown

mercy

in the state of Devachan.

You speak

of Adepts as being

general ignorance.

Ee-incamation and

an exception to the rule of our know more than we do of

they really

after states ?

Theo. They do, indeed.

By the

training of faculties

all

possess,

but which they alone have developed to perfection, they have entered in spirit these various planes and states

For long

discussing.

ages, one generation of

another has studied the mysteries of being, of re-birth,

and

have taught

all

in their turn

we have been Adepts

life,

after

death, and

some of the

facts

so learned.

Enq.

And

the production of Adepts the aim of Theosophy

Theo. Theosophy divinity

upon the devoted

several

Secret

well,

Sciences

necessary for

Adeptship

begun

this

tions ago,

present

incarnations

one

after the

life

but

;

losing farther.

from

At an advanced point

who have

achievement.

its

no man has ever reached Adeptship

many

For, in the

incarnations

are

formation of a conscious purpose

Many may be the our Society who have

training.

in the very midst of

uphiU work toward illumination several incarna-

and who

life,

emanation

reached by those

and the beginning of the needful

men and women

return path thereto.

its

path,

remember

humanity

considers

yet,

owing

to the personal illusions of the

are either ignorant of the fact, or on the road to

every chance in this

They

and the Higher

feel

Life,

existence

of progressing

irresistible attraction

any

toward occultism

and yet are too personal and

self-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

2i8

opinionated, too

in love with the deceptive allurements

much

mundane Ufe and the world's ephemeral pleasures, to give them up and so lose their chance in their present birth. of

;

But, for ordinary men, for the practical duties of daily Hfe,

such a

inappropriate

far-off result is

an aim and

(|uite

ineffective as a motive.

What,

Enq.

then,

may

be their object or distinct purpose in joining

the Theosophical Society?

Theo.

Many

are interested in our doctrines and feel instinctively

that they

than those of any dogmatic religion.

are truer

Others have formed a fixed resolve to attain the highest ideal of man's duty.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FAITH AND KNOWLEDGE BLIND AND REASONED FAITH. Enq.

You

say

Theosophy.

that

they accept and believe in the doctrines

But, as they do not belong to those Adepts you have

just mentioned, then they

faith.

OB,

;

what

does

must accept your teachings on

this

differ

from

that

blind

conventional

religions ?

Theo. As one.

it differs

on almost

Wliat you

reality,

all

and with regard

religions,

the other points, so

call " faith,"

and that which the

it differs

this

blind faith, in

dogmas of the Christian

becomes with us " knowledge," the

logical sequence

we know, about facts in nature. Your Doctrines are based upon interpretation, therefore, upon the second-hand of things

testimony of Seers

;

ours upon the invariable and unvarying

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. testimony

The

Seers.

ordinary

for instance, holds that

man

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;body,

soul,

component parts integrity, and all,

219

Christian

theology,

a creature of God, of three

and

spirit

either in the gross

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

all

essential to his

form of physical earthly

existence or in the etherealized form of post-resurrection experience, needed to so constitute

him

for ever,

each man having

thus a permanent existence separate from other men, and from Tlieosophy, on the other hand, holds that man,

the Divine.

being an emanation from the Unknown, yet ever present and infinite

Divine Essence, his body and everything else

manent, hence an illusion

;

Spirit alone in

enduring substance, and even that losing

moment

the

duality at

its

him being its

imper-

the one

separated indivi-

complete re-union with the

Universal Spirit.

Enq.

lose

even our individuality, then

becomes simply anni-

hilation.

Theo. I say

does not, since I speak of separate, not of universal

individuality.

the whole

;

Is physical

old

man

The

latter

the dewdrop

becomes

as a part transformed into

not evaporated, but becomes the sea.

man annihilated, when from a foetus he becomes an What kind of Satanic pride must be ours if we

place our infinitesimaUy small consciousness and individuaUty

higher than the universal and infinite consciousness

Enq.

It follows, then, that there

Theo.

You

de facto, no man, but

all is Spirit ?

are mistaken. It thus follows that the union of Spirit with

matter Spirit

is,

but temporary;

or,

put

clearly,

since

and matter are one, being the two opposite poles of the

universal manifested substance

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; that

Spirit loses its right to

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

220

the

name

so long as the smallest particle

manifesting substance

differentiation.

Thus

Enq.

matter

may

otherwise

and say

assert that the

transit through

;

and

But

so.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;we

this,

as I see very well

just as well

tell

Spirit,

no better than an

given out on knowledge not faith

illusion.

what you are driving

you that we hold

the

that

assert

the permanent and one principle,

transient, and, therefore,

Very well

Theo. Just

makes a

appearance of

Enq.

its

blind faith.

principle, the Spirit, simply

Theo. I would put

matter

believe otherwise

and atoin of

any form, the result of

clings to

on knowledge, not on faith, that you

permanent

still

at, I

such as j^ou

faith,

advocate, to be a mental disease, and real faith,

i.e.,

the jnstis

of the Greeks, as " belief based on hioidedge," whether supplied

by the evidence of

What

Enq.

do you mean?

Theo. I mean, to

phj^sical or spiritual senses.

the differeirce l:)etween the two that you want

if it is

know, then

can

tell

you that between faith on

faith on one's spiritual intuition, there

Enq.

What

Theo. One

authority

and

a very great difference.

is it ?

human

behef and

credulity and superstition, the other

human

Professor Alexander Wilder says in " Introduction to the Eleusinian Mysteries," " It is ignorhis intuition.

ance which leads to profanation.

this

world

credulity

set

is .

Men

ridicule

what they do

....

The undercurrent of

towards one goal;

and inside of human

not properly understand

a power almost infinite, a holy faith capable

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. of apprehending the supremest truths of

who

limit that " credulity " to

alone, will never

Those

dogmas

fathom that power nor even perceive

It is stuck

natures.

existence."

authoritative

all

human

221

external plane and

fast to the

to bring forth into play the essence that rules

Enq.

;

in their

unable

for to

this

they have to claim their right of private judgment, and

this

they never dare to do.

And

is it

that " intuition " which forces you to reject

personal Father, Euler and Governor of the Universe

Theo. Precisely.

believe in an ever

God

as a

unknowable Principle,

because blind aberration alone can make one maintain that the Universe, thinking man, and

all

the world of matter, could have

the marvels contained even in

grown without some

intelligent

powers to bring about the extraordiirarily wise arrangement of all its parts.

Nature

may

err,

and often does,

the external manifestations of

causes and results.

its

its details

materials, never in

Ancient pagans held on

more philosophical views than modern Agnostics, Materialists or Christians

;

its

and

inner

this question far

philosophers, whether

and no pagan writer has

ever yet advanced the proposition that cruelty and mercy are

not

finite feelings,

infinite

god.

and can therefore be made the

Their gods, therefore, were aU

attributes of finite.

The

Siamese author of the Wheel of the Law, expresses the same idea about your personal god as we do he says (p. 25) ;

A Buddhist might believe in the existence of a god, sublime above human qualities and attributesâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;a perfect god, above love, and hatred,

" all

and and

jealousy, calmly resting in a quietude that nothing could disturb, of

such a god he would speak no disparagement, not from a desire

to please

him or

fear to offend him, but

from natural veneration

;

but he

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

222

cannot understand a god with the attributes and qualities of men, a god

who

loves and hates, and shows anger a Deity who, whether described by Christian Missionaries or by Mahometans or Brahmins,* or

;

Jews,

Enq.

falls

below his standard

Faith for

faith, is

human

in his

even an ordinary good man."

who

not the faith of the Christian

helplessness and humility, that there

believes,

a merciful

Father in Heaven who will protect him from temptation, help him in life, and forgive him his transgressions, better than the cold

and proud, almost Theosophists

fatalistic faith of the

Theo. Persist in calling our belief " faith

Buddhists, Vedantins, and

? "

you

But once

will.

are again on this ever-recurring questioii, I ask in

turn

faith for faith,

not the one based on

reason better than the one which authority or

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;hero-worship

based simply on

Our

strict logic

" faith " has

all

and

human

the logical

force of the arithmetical truism that 2 and 2 will produce

Your

faith is like the logic of

TourgenyefF said that for

some emotional women,

tlienti

and

a tallow candle into the bargain.

were generally

Yours

logic,

tion,

but which,

analysed, leads

man

and

a faith, moreover,

which clashes not only with every conceivable view of and

whom

to his

justice

moral perdi-

checks the progress of mankind, and positively making of

might, right

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;transforms every second

man

into a Cain to his

brother Abel.

Enq.

What

do you allude to

Sectarian Brahniins are here meant.

Deity

accept and beheve

in.

The Parabrahm

the Vedantins

the

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

223

HAS GOD THE EIGHT TO FORGIVE! To the Doctrine of Atonement I allude to that dangei-ous dogma in -wliich you believe, and which teaches us that no matter how enormous our crimes against the laws of God and of man, we

TiiEO.

;

have but to believe

the

self-sacrifice

twenty years that I preach against

your attention 1875. This " God's

to a

what

mercy

to conceive of a

paragraph from

of Jesus for the

wash out every

salvation of mankind, and his blood will it,

and

may now draw

Isis Unveiled, written in

Christianity teaches,

and what we combat

boundless and unfathomable.

human

sin so

stain.

It is

impossible

damnable that the price paid

advance for the redemption of the sinner would not wipe out

blanched

Paradise

;

These are Clergy

Though

repent.

minute of the his

And

a thousandfold worse.

late

;

last

the

hour of the

furthermore,

offender

last

day of

lips utter the confession

the dying the

thief did

assumptions

it,

his mortal

of faith, he all

Church,

Enq.

life,

before

may go

and

the

what does

lead

the

light of

of ah.

Now

Does it not make the Christian happier than the Buddhist Brahmin ?

Theo.

these

;

others as vile.

assumptions banged at the heads of your country-

men by England's favourite preachers, right in the XlXth century,' " this most paradoxical age to

never too

it is

wait until the last

and so may the

not the educated man, at any rate, since the majority of

have long since virtually

lost

all

belief in this cruel

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

224

But

dogma.

leads those

who

still

believe in

know Vol.

of.

" If

Let

quote to you from

pp. 542 and

II.

step outside the

how

easily

Isis

once more [vide

543)— little circle of

creed and consider the universe

as a whole balanced by the exquisite adjustment of parts, logic,

than any other I

the threshold of every conceivable crime,

how

all

sound

the faintest glimmering sense of Justice, revolts against this

Vicarious Atonement

the criminal sinned only against himself, and

wronged no one but himself

;

by sincere repentance he could cause the

obhteration of past events, not only from the

memory

from that imperishable record, which no deity

—not

even the Supremes

this

dogma might not be

of the

Supreme

—can cause to disappear, then But

incomprehensible. kill,

to maintain that one

man, but

may wrong

also

his fellow-man,

disturb the equilibrium of society and the natural order of things,

and then forgiven

blood

—through

cowardice, hope, or compulsion,

by believing that the

spilt

— this

spilling of

preposterous

even though the crime

itself

matters not

—be

one blood washes out the other

Can the

results of a crime

should be pardoned

The

be obhterated a cause

effects of

are never limited to the boundaries of the cause, nor can the results of

crime be confined to the offender and his victim. evil action

The

has

its effects,

simile is trite, but

Every good

it is

the best ever conceived, so

let

us use

eddying circles are greater and swifter as the disturbing object or smaller, but the smallest pebble, nay, the tiniest speck, ripples.

And

this disturbance is not alone visible

Below, unseen, in every direction above the water

physicists

ever

;

tell

us,

The

greater

makes

its

surface.

— outward and downward—drop pushes

agitated,

and

this

force.

More, the

disturbance passes, as the

from stratum to stratum out into space forever and

an impulse has been given to matter, and that

never be recalled

it.

and on the

drop until the sides and bottom are touched by the air

as well as

as palpably as the stone flung into calm water.

never

lost,

can

" So with crime, and so with neous, the effects are eternal.

its opposite.

When,

after

The

action

the stone

may is

be instanta-

once flung into

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. we can

the pond,

recall

225

to the hand, roll back the ripples, obliterate

the force expended, restore the etheric waves to their previous state of non-being, and wipe out every trace of the act of throwing the missile, so that Time's record shall not

may patiently and

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;cease

call

Karmic

to believe in

upon the whole world

doctrines is

show that

ever happened, then, then

hear Christians argue for the efficacy of this Atonement,"

Lav?.

decide,

now

stands,

two

which of our

the most appreciative of deific justice, and which

more reasonable, even on simple human evidence and

logic.

Yet millions believe in the Christian dogma and are happy.

Enq. TiiEO.

Pure sentimentalism overpowering

their

thinking faculties,

which no true philanthropist or Altruist will ever accept. not even a dream of selfishness, but a nightmare of the

Look where

intellect.

leads to, and

tell

pagan country where crimes are more

the

name

It is

human of that

committed or

easily

more numerous than in Christian lands. Look at the long and ghastly annual records of crimes committed in European and behold Protestant and Biblical America. countries There, conversions effected in prisons are more numerous than ;

those

made by

public revivals and preaching.

ledger-balance of Christian justice

(!)

murderers, urged on by the demons of fanaticism, or victims, in call

mere brutal

most

Jesus.

how

the

Ked-handed

revenge, cupidity,

who kiU

them time

their

to repent or

These, perhaps, died sinful, and, of course

consistently with theological logic

greater or lesser offences.

human

lust,

thirst for blood,

cases, without giving

See

stands

justice, is imprisoned,

prayed with and

at,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;met

the reward of their

But the murderer, overtaken by wept over by

sentimentalists,

pronounces the charmed words of conver-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

226

redeemed child of Jesus the murder, he would not have been prayed with,

and goes

sion,

Except

for

to the scaffold a

redeemed, pardoned.

he gained eternal happiness

for thus

victim,

and

suffer in this sits

beside ?

no recompense

Enq.

them?

for

"holy thief" of Calvary, and

the

this

the

Must they is

ever

for

question the clergy keep a prudent silence.

And now you know why

fundamental belief and hope

and

And how about

world and the next, while he who wronged them

(Isis Unveiled. )

earth,

did well to murder,

or her family, relatives, dependants, social

his,

relations; has justice

blessed

man

Clearly this

Karma

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Theosophists

justice for

reject this

all,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;whose

Heaven

dogma.

The ultimate destiny of man, then, is not a Heaven presided over by God, but the gradual transformation of matter into its primordial element, Spirit?

Theo.

It is to that final goal to

Enq.

which

all

tends in nature.

not some of you regard this association or "

matter " as

evil,

and re-birth as a sorrow

fall

of spirit into

Theo. Some do, and therefore strive to shorten their period of probation on earth. it

It is

not an unmixed

evil,

however, since

ensures the experience upon which

we mount

mean

which

and wisdom.

that experience

knowledge

teaches that the

needs of our spiritual nature can never be met by other than spiritual happiness.

As long

subjected to pain, suffering and

occurring during finally acquire

life.

all

are in the body,

the disappointing incidents

Therefore, and

palliate this,

knowledge which alone can afford us

and hope of a better

future.

are

relief

XII.

WHAT

PEACTICAL THEOSOPHY ?

DVTY.

Why,

Enq.

then, the need for re-births, since

all

alike fail to secure a

permanent peace ?

Theo. Because the

through in pain

life

and

can learn.

final

goal cannot be reached in any

way but

experiences, and because the bulk of these consist suffering.

It is

only through the latter that

Joys and jjleasures teach us nothing

;

evanescent, and can only bring in the long run satiety. over, our constant failure to find in

life

wliich

any permanent

More-

satisfaction

would meet the wants of our higher nature,

shows us plainly that those vrants can be met only on

own Enq.

they are

plane, to wit

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the

their

spiritual.

Is the natural result of this a desire to quit life

by one means

or another ?

Theo. If you mean by such desire "suicide," then I say, most decidedly not.

but

Such a

result

can never be a " natural

one,

ever due to a morbid brain disease, or to most decided

and strong

materialistic views.

It is the

worst of crimes and

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

228

dire in

But

its results.

you mean simply

desire,

aspira-

tion to reacli spiritual existence, not a wish to quit the earth,

then I would call

Otherwise

a very natural desire indeed.

an abandonment of our present

voluntary death would be

post and of the duties incumbent on us, as well as an attempt

Karmic

to shirk

Enq.

new Karma. actions on the material plane are unsatisfying, why should which are such actions, be imperative?

But

duties,

TiiEO. First of

all,

because our philosophy teaches us that the

object of doing our duties to is

not for what

ment,

may

;

men and

to ourselves the last,

the fulfilment of right for the sake of right,

may

What

Happiness, or rather content-

bring us.

indeed foUow the performance of duty, but

and must not be the motive

all

not the attainment of personal happiness, but of the happi-

ness of others

Enq.

and thus involve the creation

responsibilities,

for

not

it.

do you understand precisely by "duty "in Theosophy?

cannot

be the Christian duties preached by Jesus and his

Apostles, since you recognise neither ?

Theo.

You

are once

more mistaken.

What you caU

" Christian

were inculcated by every great moral and religious Keformer ages before the Christian era. All that was great, duties "

generous, heroic, was, in days of old, not only talked about

and preached from pulpits

as in our

sometimes by whole nations. reform acts.

full

;

time, but acted upon

of the most noble and most heroically unselfish

"Be ye

another

own

The history of the Buddhist

all

of one mind, having compassion one of

love as brethren, be

pitiful,

be courteous

;

not ren-

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. dering evil for

evil,

blessing"

practically carried

-^vas

or railing for railing

Buddha, several centuries before

229

but contrariwise,

;

out by

tlie

followers

The Ethics

Peter.

of Chris-

no doubt biit as undeniably they are not new, and have originated as " Pagan " duties.

tianity are gi'and,

;

And how would you

ExQ. as

define these duties, or " duty,-" in general,

you understand the term

Theo. Duty

that

which

due to Humanity, to our fellow-men,

we owe to aU we are ourselves.

neighbours, family, and especially that which

who

those

This

are poorer and

a debt

which,

Theosophy

ExQ.

Tkeo.

Xo doubt

tice,

rightly understood

but then, were

Theosophy would have

Unfortunately their

;

unpaid during

it is

duty towards

Uttle

all,

and

and carried out.

do amidst

Christians.

Those who practise

own

sake, are few

;

and

that duty, remaining content secret consciousness.

the public voice

Of praise that honours virtue and rewards

which

leaves us

not a lip-religion in prac-

for duty's

who perform satisfaction of then- own

but such hp-ethics.

fewer stLU are those

with the

hfe,

in our next iircar-

the quintessence of duty.

when

Christianity it is

if left

helpless than

and moral bankrupts

spiritually insolvent

nation.

it,"

ever uppermost in the minds of the " world re-

Modern ethics are beautiful to read about and hear discussed but what are words unless converted into actions ? Finally: if you ask me how we understand Theosophical duty practically and in view of Karma, I may answer

nowned

" philanthropists.

;

you that our duty

to drink without a

murmur

to the last

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

230

drop, whatever contents us, to

shed on if

others,

and

cup of

life

may have

in store for

may

only for the fragrance they

but with the thorns,

to be ourselves content

that fragrance cannot be enjoyed without depriving some

one Enq.

tlie

pluck the roses of

else of

All this

it.

What

do you do more than Christians

we members

of the Theosophical Society do

very vague.

do? Theo.

not what

It is

—though

some of us try our best

Theosophy leads say

action,

good than modern

how much

farther

Christianitj' does.

enforced action, instead of mere intention and

A man may be

talk.

—but

what he

likes, the

most worldly,

and hard-hearted of men, even a deep-dyed

rascal,

and

selfish it

will

not prevent him from calling himself a Christian, or others

from so regarding him. this

name, unless he

of Carlyle's truism thought,

though

models his daily truth

But no Theosophist has the

The end of man

' :

were the noblest

upon

life

an action and not a

The

vices

;

and cant

and

profession of a

acted upon, the more forcibly

always remind one of the Dead Sea all

sets

and the more beautiful

sounds, the more loudly virtue or duty

al)out instead of being

loathsome of

— and unless he

this truth.

not yet the enactment of

and grand

right to

thoroughly imbued with the correctness

fruit.

Cant

talked it will

the most

the most prominent feature

—England.

of the greatest Protestant country of this century

Enq.

What

do you consider as due to humanity

at large?

Theo. Full recognition of equal rights and privileges for

all, and without distinction of race, colour, social position, or birth.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Enq. Theo.

When When

would you consider such due not given there

that other a

man

or a nation

vi^hen there is

;

any

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;be

failure to

mercy

justice, kindness, consideration or

The whole present system of rights, and the most

ourselves.

on the oblivion of such

politics is built

national

assertion

"Like master,

the shghtest invasion of another's right

show him the same which we desire for fierce

231

The French say

selfishness.

man"; they ought

to add,

" Like national

policy, like citizen."

Do you

Enq.

take any part in politics ?

Theo. As a Society,

carefully avoid them, for the reasons given

To seek to achieve political reforms before we have effected reform in human nature, is like putting new wine into old bottles.

below. a

Make men their real,

feel

and recognise

true duty to

all

what

in their innermost hearts

men, and every old abuse of power,

every iniquitous law in the national policy, based on human, social or political selfishness, will disappear of is

the gardener

plants

of tearing

who

seeks to

weed

his flower-bed of poisonous

cutting them off from the surface of the

them

out

the

roots.

reform can be ever achieved with the same

head of

affairs as

The Theosophical

Theo. Certainly not. that

its

soil,

lasting selfish

instead

political

men

at the

of old.

TBE BELATIONS OF THE Enq.

Foolish

itself.

Society It

T.S.

TO POLITICAL EEFOBMS.

not, then, a political organization ?

international in the highest sense in

members comprise men and women

all races,

creeds,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

232

and forms of thought, who work together for one object, the improvement of humanity; but as a society it takes absolutely no part in any national or party

Why is

Enq.

politics.

this?

Moreover,

Theo. Just for the reasons I have mentioned.

political

action must necessarily vary with the circumstances of the time and with the idiosyncracies of individuals. While from

the very nature of their position as Theosophists the

members

of the T.S. are agreed on the principles of Theosophy, or they

would not belong

to the societj'^ at

all, it

does not thereby

follow that they agree on every other subject.

As a

they can only act together in matters which are

common

—that

all

is,

perfectly free political

Theosophy

itself

;

as individuals,

follow out his

each

society

to left

or her particular line of

thought and action, so long as

this

does not conflict

with Theosophical principles or hurt the Theosophical Society.

But

Enq.

surely the T.S. does not stand altogether aloof from the

social questions

which are now so

fast

coming

to the front ?

Theo. The very principles of the T.S. are a proof that

— If

does not

—

or, rather, that most of its members do not so stand aloof. humanity can only be developed mentally and spiritually by

the enforcement,

first

physiological laws, this

shall

development

it is

all,

the

of the soundest and most scientific bounden duty of all who strive for

their

be generally carried out.

utmost to see that those laws

Theosophists are only too

sadly aware that, in Occidental countries especially, the social condition of large masses of the people renders it impossible for either their bodies or their spirits to

be properly trained,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. SO that the development of both

training and development

Theosophy, the T.S. with

all

true

own

has his

thereby arrested.

this

one of the express objects of

in thorough

sympathy and harmony

efforts in this direction.

But what do you mean by

Enq.

233

" true efforts " ?

Each

social reformer

panacea, and each beheves his to be the one and

only thing which can improve and save humanity ?

Theo. Perfectly true, and

this is the

work

panaceas there

no really guiding

accomplished.

time and energy are thus wasted

;

little

In most of these

principle, a,nd there

no one principle which connects them

certainly

for

Valuable

all.

men, instead of co-

operating, strive one against the other, often, for the

why

real reason

satisfactory social

it is

be feared,

sake of fame and reward rather than for the great

cause which they profess to have at heart, and which should

be supreme

How,

Enq.

in their lives.

then, should

social co-operation

Theosophical principles be applied so that

may

be promoted and true

efforts for social

amelioration be carried on ?

Theo. Let

briefly

remind you what these principles are

universal Unity and Causation

Karma

;

Ee-incarnation.

;

Human

Sohdarity

;

the

Law

These are the four links of the

golden chain which should bind humanity into one family,

one universal Brotherhood. Enq.

How?

Theo. In the present state of society, especially in so-called civiUzed countries, we are continually brought face to face with the fact that large

numbers of people are

suffering

from misery.

THEOSOPHY.

T^^^ ^-^^ ^0

234

poverty and disease.

Their physical condition

wretched,

and their mental and spiritual faculties are often almost

dormant.

end of the

the other hand,

persons at the opposite

social scale are leading lives of careless indifference,

and

luxury,

material

many

forms of existence

mere chance.

the conditions which surround those

and the neglect of

social

Neither of these

indulgence.

selfish

Both are the

who

effects

are subject to them,

duty on the one side

most

closely

connected with the stunted and arrested development on the other.

In sociology, as in

all

branches of true science, the

But

law of universal causation holds good. implies,

necessarily

its

logical

action of one reacts on the Uves of scientific idea, all

women

it is

and by

and

which

only by

true

lies at

all

and

all for

all,

and

that

insists.

human If the

this is the

men becoming

true

brothers and

practising in their daily lives true

that

the

real

human

the root of the elevation of the race, It

true brotherhood and

for all

all

sisterhood,

ever be attained.

can this

then

sisters,

brotherhood solidarity,

outcome,

on which Theosophy so strongly

solidarity

this causation

each,

this

action

sisterhood, in

which

and

interaction,

which each

shall live

one of the fundamental

Theosophical principles that every Theosophist should be bound, not only to teach, but to carry out in his or her individual

Enq.

All this

apply

very well as a general principle, but

in a concrete

life.

how would you

way ?

moment at what you would call the concrete facts of human society. Contrast the hves not onh' of the masses of the people, but of many of those who are called the

Theo. Look for a

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. middle and upper

235

with what they might be under

classes,

healthier and nobler conditions,

where

and

justice, kindness,

love were paramount, instead of the selfishness, indifference,

and brutality which iiow too often seem All

good and

human tioned

evil

character, and this character

to reign supreme.

humanity have

things in

their

roots

and has been, condi-

is,

and

the endless chain of cause

effect.

But

this

conditioning apphes to the future as well as to the present and the past.

Selfishness, indifference,

the normal state of the race of humanity

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; and that

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

and brutality can never be

to believe so

would be

no Theosophist can do.

to despair

Progress can

be attained, and only attained, by the development of the

Now,

nobler qualities. altering the

true

evolution

and

;

with regard to man.

Every Theosophist,

his

we can

surroundings of the organism

improve the organism

alter

the strictest sense this

utmost to help on, by

teaches us that

therefore,

and true

bound

the means in his power,

all

every wise and well-considered social

which has

for its

object the amelioration of the condition of the poor.

Such

efforts

should be

made with a view

effort

to their ultimate social

emancipation, or the development of the sense of duty in those

who now Enq.

Agreed.

so often neglect

But who

in nearly every relation of

to decide

whether

social

efforts are

life.

wise or

unwise ?

Theo.

one person and no society can lay down a hard-and-fast

rule in this respect.

individual judgment. given.

Much must

necessarily be left to the

One general

test

may, however, be

Will the proposed action tend to promote that true

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

236

brotherhood which

the aim of Theosophy to bring about

it is

real Theosophist will

a test

once he

;

have much of

satisfied

duty

his

And

direction of forming public opinion.

only by

applying such

difficulty in

this,

this

will lie in the

can be attained

inculcating those higher and nobler conceptions of

public nnd private duties which

lie

at the root of all spiritual

In every conceivable case he

and material improvement.

himself must be a centre of spiritual action, and from him and his

own

forces

daily individual

must radiate those higher

which alone can regenerate

But why should he do

Enq.

life

his fellow-men.

Are not he and

this ?

conditioned by their Karma, and must not itself

Theo. I

out on certain lines

It is this

have

race,

all,

Karma

you teach,

necessarily

work

Karma which

very law of

spiritual

gives strength to

all

that

The individual cannot separate himself from the The law of Karma

said.

nor the race from the individual.

applies equally to

all,

although

all

are not equally developed.

In helping on the development of others, the Theosophist believes that he

but that he

not only helping them to

is also,

fulfil their

in the strictest sense, fulfilling his

Karma,

own.

the development of humanity, of which both he and they

are integral parts, that he has always in view, and he

knows

that any failure on his part to respond to the highest within

him

retards not

march. or

only himself but

his actions,

more easy

for

all,

he can make

humanity

to attain the

their

either

progressive

difficult

next higher plane of

being.

Enq.

How

does

mentioned,

this

viz.,

bear

the

Ee-incarnation

fourth

the principles

you

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

Theo. The connection

most intimate.

237

our present

lives

depend upon the development of certain principles which are a growth from the germs holds good as regards the universal causation

and

future,

rally

and

by a previous existence, the law future. Once grasp the idea that

left

not merely present, but past, present

and every action on our present plane true place, and

easily into its

falls

seen in

natu-

its

true

and to others. Every mean and selfish backward and not forward, while every and every unselfish deed are stepping-

relation to ourselves

action

sends

noble

thought

stones to the higher and this life

were all, then

and mean

;

glorious planes of being.

many respects

would indeed be poor

but regarded as a preparation for the next sphere

of existence,

we may

may be

used as the golden gate through which

pass, not selfishly

fellows, to the palaces

and alone, but

which

lie

company with our

beyond.

ON SELF-SACBIFICE. Is equal justice to all and love to every creature the highest

Enq.

standard of Theosophy ?

Theo.

Enq.

What

;

there

can

an even far higher one.

be ?

Theo. The giving to others more than to oneself

self-sacrifice.

Such was the standard and abounding measure which marked and Masters of so pre-eminently the greatest Teachers

Humanity

e.g.,

Gautama Buddha

Nazareth as in the Gospels.

in History,

and Jesus of

This trait alone was enough to

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

238

secure to them the perpetual reverence and gratitude of the

generations of

men

that self-sacrifice

come

that

and such a self-abandonment,

One

in vain, but harmful.

Theosophy

may

often prove not only

of the fundamental rules of

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;viewed as a unit of collective

justice to oneself

is,

humanity, not as a personal than to others

we can

say, however,

niade without justice, or blindly,

regardless of subsequent results,

made

after them.

has to be performed with discrimination

;

self-justice,

unless, indeed,

by the

not more but not

less

sacrifice of the one self

many.

benefit the

Could you make your idea clearer by giving an instance?

Enq.

many

Theo. There are

instances to illustrate

sacrifice for practical

good

in history.

Self-

many, or several people,

to save

far higher than self-abnegation for a such as that of " saving the heathen from

Tlieosophy holds as sectarian

idea,

damnation"

In our opinion, Father Damien, the

for instance.

young man of

thirty

who

offered his

whole

life

in sacrifice for

the benefit and alleviation of the sufferings of the lepers at

Molokai, and them,

who went

to finally

died in vain.

to live for eighteen years alone with

catch the loathsome disease and die, has not

has given relief and relative happiness to

thousands of miserable wretches. consolation, mental into the black

ness of M^iich

He was in

and physical.

has brought to them

He threw

a streak of light

and dreary night of an existence, the hopelessis

unparalleled in the records of

true Theosophist,

our annals.

and

his

memory

human

suffering.

will live for ever

In our sight this poor Belgian priest stands

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

immeasurably higher than

for instance

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

all

thdse sincere but

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

239

who have sacrificed their South Sea Islands or China. What good have They went in one case to those who are not yet

vain-glorious fools, the Missionaries in the

lives

they done ripe for

any truth

;

and in the other to a nation whose systems

of religious philosophy are as grand as any,

who have them would and

only the

men

live up to the standard of Confucius

And

their other sages.

they died victims of irresponsible

cannibals and savages, and of popular fanaticism and hatred.

Whereas, by going to the slums of Whitechapel or some other such locality of those that stagnate right under the blazing sun of our

civilization, full of Christian

savages and mental

leprosy, they might have done real good, and preserved their lives for

a better and worthier cause.

But the

Enq.

Christians do not think so?

Theo. Of course not, because they act on an erroneous

They think

belief.

body of an irresponsible savage they save his soul from damnation. One church forgets her martjTS, the other beatifies and raises statues to such men as Labro, who sacrificed his body for forty years only to benefit the vermin which it bred. Had we the means to do so,

that

we would

by baptising

raise

the

a statue to Father Damien, the true,

practical saint, and perpetuate his

memory

for ever as a living

exemplar of Theosophical heroism and of Buddha- and Christ-

Uke mercy and

self-sacrifice.

Enq.

Then you regard

Theo.

self-sacrifice as

a duty?

by showing that altruism is an integral But we have to discriminate. A part of self-development.

man

;

and explain

has no right to starve himself

death that another

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

240

man may have

food, unless the Hfe of that

useful to the

duty

to sacrifice his

they are unable to work for themselves. that which

himself

keeps

selfishly

nor does

But how

Enq.

are

does

his if

no one but

and useless

self-

justify fanaticism.

to reach such

an elevated status

By the enlightened application By the use of our higher reason,

of our precepts to practice. spiritual intuition

and by following the dictates of what we

small voice " of our conscience, which

which speaks louder

in us

If such are our duties to

and moral

call " the still

that of our Ego, and

than the earthquakes and the

thunders of Jehovah, wherein " the Lord

Enq.

Theosophy teaches

teach rash

Theo.

sense,

benefit

from others.

not

others

duty to give

It is his

own and can

wholly his

self-abnegation, but sacrifice,

obviously-

many than is his own life. But own comfort, and to work for

all

man

humanity

not."

at large,

what do you under-

stand by our duties to our immediate surroundings ?

Theo. Just the same, phis those that arise from special obligations with regard to family

Then

Enq.

it is

into the

ties.

not true, as

it is

said, that

no sooner does a

severed from his wife, children, and family duties

Theo.

man

enter

Theosophical Society than he begins to be gra,dually

a groundless calumny, like so

of the Theosopliical duties especially

by those

whom

many

to do one's

others.

duty by

all

The

first

men, and

one's specific responsibilities are

due, because one has either voluntarily undertaken them, such as marriage ties, or

them

;

mean

those

because one's destiny has

we owe

allied

to parents or next of kin.

one to

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. And what may be

Enq.

the duty of a Theosophist to himself ?

Theo. To control and conquer, through

the Higher, the lower self.

purify himself inwardly and morally

nought, save the tribunal of his a thing by halves; let

him do

at aU.

by thinking

own

he thinks

i.e., if

to fear

;

conscience.

Never

wrong, never touch

duty of a Theosophist to lighten his burden

of the wise aphorism of Epictetus,

not diverted from your duty by any

may make upon

no one, and

the right thing to do,

openly and boldly, and

It is the

241

who

says

idle reflection the silly

world

you, for their censures are not in your power,

and consequently should not be any part of your concern." Enq.

But suppose a member of your Society should plead inability to by other people, on the ground that " charity begins at home "; urging that he is too busy, or too poor, to benefit mankind or even any of its units what are your rules in such a case ?

practise altruism

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

Theo.

No man

has a right to say that he can do nothing for others, "

By doing the proper duty in the man may make the world his debtor," says an

on any pretext whatever. proper place, a

English writer.

wayfarer

cup of cold water given

dinners given away, out of season, to

pay

for them.

No man who

Theosophist

;

Society

the same.

force any

man

become a

men who can

afford to

him

will ever

has not got

but he

become a all

in time to a thirsty

a nobler duty and more worth, than a dozen of

may remain

member

of our

have no rules by which we could practical Theosophist,

he does

not desire to be one.

Enq.

Then why does he

Theo. That

best

enter the Society at

known

all ?

him who does

so.

For, here again,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

242

we have no

right to pre-judge a person, not even

of a whole

community should be against him, and

you why.

In our day, vox populi (so far as regards the voice

of the educated, at any rate)

no longer vox

dei,

the voice

may

tell

but ever

that of prejudice, of selfish motives, and often simply that

Our duty is to sow seeds broadcast for the future, and see they are good not to stop to enquire why we should do so, and how and wherefore we are obliged to lose our time, since those who will reap the harvest in days to come of unpopularity.

;

will

never be ourselves.

ON CHABITY. Enq.

How

Theo.

What

do you Theosophists regard the Christian duty of charity charity do you

mean

Charity of mind, or practical

charity in the physical plane ?

Enq.

mean

practical charity, as your idea of Universal brotherhood

would include, of course, charity of mind.

Theo. Then you have in your mind the practical carrying out of

commandments given by Jesus Mount ? the

Enq.

in the

Sermon on

the

Precisely so.

Theo. Then

why

call

them

" Christian "

Because, although your

Saviour preached and practised them, the Christians of to-day think of lives.

to carry

last

thing the

them out

in their

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. And

Enq.

many

yet

who

are those

243

pass their lives in dispensing

charity ?

Theo. Yes, out of the surplus of out to

that Christian,

would give

their great fortunes.

among

steal his coat, his cloak also

who smote him on Enq.

and starving

to the shivering

the

;

But point

thief,

who would him

or offer his right cheek to

and never think of resenting

left,

who

the most philanthropic,

it ?

Ah, but you must remember that these precepts have not to be literally. Times and circumstances have changed since Moreover, He spoke in Parables. Christ's day.

taken

Theo.

Then why

don't your Churches teach that the doctrine of

damnation and heU-fire

Why

to be understood as a parable too

allowing these " parables insist

on the

literal

" to

be understood as you take them,

meaning of the

fires

tortures of an " Asbestos-like " soul

then the other

If HeU-fire

is.

believe in

of Hell and the physical If

a " parable,"

a literal truth, then Christ's

in the

And

more than one Theosophist

— — do carry out these noble, because

universal, precepts literally

women would do such a walk in

so, life

;

and many more good men and

were they not more than certain that

would very probably land them

—so Christian are your laws

lunatic asylum

But

one

Sermon on the Mount have to be obeyed I tell you that many who do not the Divinity of Christ like Count Leo Tolstoi and

commandments

to the very letter.

Enq.

do some of your most popular preachers, while virtually

surely every one

knows

that

in a

millions and millions

are

spent annually on private and public charities ?

Theo. Oh, yes

;

half of

which

sticks to the

hands

passes

through

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

244

before getting to the needy

-while a

;

good portion or remainder

who

gets into the hands of professional beggars, those

too lazy to work, thus doing no good whatever to those are really in misery

the

first

and

do,

then?

Theo. Act individually and not collectively

Buddhist the

by some

raise the rents in Whitechapel

cent. ?

What would you

Enq.

Haven't you heard that

suffering.

result of the great outflow of charity towards the East-

end of London was to

20 per

are

who

precepts

" Never

hungry by the hand

shadow

thyself

and

put

the

object of

food

third

mouth

" Never

;

person)

bounty";

thy

the

into

another

thy neighbour {a

follow the Northern

;

let

the

come between "Never give

Sun time to dry a tear before thou hast wiped it." Again " Never give money to the needy, or food to the priest, who begs at thy door, through thy servants, lest thy money to the

should diminish gratitude, and thy food turn to

Enq.

But how can

this

gall."

be applied practically?

Theo. The Theosophical ideas of charity mean personal exertion for others

the

;

personal mercy and kindness

welfare

thought

of those

who

and assistance

suffer

in their

;

personal interest in

personal sympathy, foretroubles

Theosophists do not believe in giving it)

;

money

needs.

(N.B., if

we had

We believe

through other people's hands or organizations.

in giving

the money a thousandfold greater power and by our personal contact and sjonpathy with those

effectiveness

who need it. We believe in relieving the starvation of the soul, as much if not more than the emptiness of the stomach for gratitude ;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. does more good to the

man who feels

it,

245

than to him for whom

Wliere's the gratitude which your " millions of pounds

is felt.

should have called forth, or the good feelings provoked by

them rich

shown

Is it

in the hatred of the East-End poor for the

growth of the party of anarchy and disorder

in the

by those thousands of unfortunate wen-king

giids,

the " sweating " system, driven daily to eke out a living

going on the streets

Do your

thank you for the workhouses

;

helpless old

victims to

men and women

or your poor for the poison-

ously unhealthy dwellings in which they are allowed to breed

new

generations of diseased, scrofulous and rickety children,

only to put

who own

money

houses

into the pockets of the insatiable Shylocks

Therefore

those "millions," contributed people,

poor

falls like

whom

Karma, and

it is

that every sovereign of

by good and would-be

all

charitable

a burning curse instead of a blessing on the

should relieve. terrible

will

We be

call this generating national

its

results

on the day of

reckoning.

THEOSOPHY FOB THE MASSES. Enq.

think that Theosophy would, by stepping in, help to remove these evils, under the practical and adverse conditions of

And you

our modern

Theo. to

Enq.

life ?

Had we more money, and had work

not most of the Theosophists

for their daily bread, I firmly

How ? Do you expect

beheve we could.

that your doctrines could ever take bold

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

246

when they

of the uneducated masses,

are so abstruse and difficult

that well-educated people can hardly understand

Theo.

You

forget one thing,

which

that

them ?

your much-boasted

modern education is precisely that which makes you to understand Theosophy. Your mind is tellectual

intuition

subtleties

it difficult

for

so full of

in-

and preconceptions that your natural

and perception of the truth cannot

require metaphysics or education to

make

act.

does not

a man understand the

broad truths of Karma and Reincarnation. Look

at the millions

of poor and uneducated Buddhists and Hindoos, to whom

and re-incarnation are

Karma

simply because their

solid realities,

minds have never been cramped and distorted by being forced

They have never had the innate human sense of justice perverted in them by being told to believe that their sins would be forgiven because another man into

an unnatural groove.

had been put

to death for their sakes.

And the Buddhists, murmur against

note well, live up to their beliefs without a

Karma, or what they regard

a just punislunent

the Christian populace neither lives

accepts

Enq.

its lot

contentedly.

to its

moral

;

Hence murmuring and

faction,

and the intensity of the struggle

Western

lands.

whereas

ideal,

nor

dissatis-

for existence

But this contentedness, which you praise so much, would do away with allmotive for exertion and bring progi'css to a stand-still.

Theo.

And

we, Tlieosophists, say that your vaunted progress and

civilization are

ing

over

miasma.

no better than a host of

a marsh which exhales a This, because

will-o'-the-wisps, flicker-

poisonous

and deadly

see selfishness, crime, immorality,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. and

the evils imaginable, pouncing

all

upon unfortunate man-

kind from this Pandora's box which you

call

progress, and increasing pari passu with the

growth of your

At such a

material civilization.

inactivity of Buddhist countries,

consequence of ages of Enq.

247

an age of

price, better the inertia

and

which have arisen only

as a

political slavery.

Then is all this metaphysics and mysticism with which you occupy yourself so much, of no importance ?

Theo. To the masses,

who need only practical guidance and much consequence but for the

support, they are not of

;

educated, the natural leaders of the masses, those whose modes of thought and action will sooner or later be adopted by those masses, they are of the greatest importance.

means of the philosophy that an

intelligent

only

and educated man

can avoid the intellectual suicide of believing on blind faith

and

it is

only by assimilating the

coherence of the Eastern, realize

their

Bulwer Lytton, "

and truth accomplishes

Emerson most ing

movement

enthusiasm."

yet

acquires

Theo.

And

victories

in the annals of the

And what

its

new

and

the genius of sincerity,

without

truly remarks that " every great and

and so all-embracing

And

enthusiasm,

breeds

world

more calculated

it "

;

while

command-

the triumph of

produce such a

than a philosophy so grand, so consistent, so

feeling

Enq.

not esoteric, doctrines, that he can

Conviction

truth.

" Enthusiasm," says

;

continuity and logical

strict

logical,

as our Eastern Doctrines ?

enemies are very numerous, and every day Theosophy opponents.

this is precisely that

which proves

its

intrinsic excel-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

248

People hate only

lence and value.

tlie

things they fear, and

no one goes out of his way to overthrow that which neither threatens nor rises beyond mediocrity. Enq.

Do you

Theo.

Why not ?

hope to impart

this

enthusiasm, one day, to the masses

since history tells us that the masses adopted

Buddhism with enthusiasm, while, as said before, the practical effect upon them of this philosophy of ethics is still shown by the smallness of the percentage of crime amongst Buddhist

populations as compared with every other religion. point

is,

uproot that most

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

immorahty

belief that

fertile is

The chief

source of aU crime and

possible for

them

to escape

own actions. Once teach them that Karma and Re-incarnation, and besides the true dignity of human nature, they

the consequences of their greatest of

all

laws,

feeling in themselves

wiU turn from

evil

and eschew

they would a physical

danger.

BOW MEMBERS CAN HELP THE How

Enq.

SOCIETY.

do you expect the Fellows of your Society to help in the

work? Theo.

First

by studying and comprehending

doctrines, so that they

people.

may

the

theosophical

teach others, especially the young

Secondly, by taking every opportunity of talking to

others and explaining to

them what Theosophy

is,

and what

by removing misconceptions and spreading an Thirdly, by assisting in circulating our literature, by buying books when they have the means, by it

not

;

interest in

the subject.

THE KEY TO THEO.SOPHY.

249

lending and giving them and by inducing their friends to do

by defending the Society from the unjust upon it, by every legitimate device in their

Fourthly,

so.

aspersions cast

power. their

But

Enq.

much

and most important of

Fifth,

own

all,

by the example of

lives.

all this

literature, to

the spread of which you attach so

importance, does not seem to

helping mankind.

This

much

practical use in

not practical charity.

Theo. "We think otherwise.

hold that a good book which

gives people food for thought, which strengthens and clears their minds,

dimly

felt

and enables them

to grasp truths

but could not formulate

does a real, substantial good.

which they liave

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;we hold that

what you

such a book call practical

deeds of charity, to benefit the bodies of our fellow-men,

do what

little

we can

;

but, as I have already told you,

pay a

staff

of workers.

most

money

of us are poor, whilst the Society itself has not even the to

who toil for it, give our money as well. The few who

All of us

labour gratis, and in most cases

have the means of doing what are usually called charitable actions,

the

Buddhist precepts

and do

their

themselves, not

by proxy or by subscribing publicly

ritable funds.

What

work

to cha-

the Theosophist has to do above

all is

to forget his personality.

WHAT A THEOSOPHIST OUGHT NOT TO Enq.

Have you any your Society?

DO.

prohibitory laws or clauses for Theosophists in

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

250

Theo. Many, but, alas

of such things

Fellows

the

minds

woman would This

such that, unless we allow

so to speak, obsolete,

no man or

dare to risk joining the Theosophical Society.

why

precisely

difference

century

remain,

the practical application

Unfortunately, the state of men's

themselves.

clauses

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but

are compelled to leave to the discretion of

in the present

these

They express

none of them are enforced.

the ideal of our organization,

feel

forced to lay such a stress on the

between true Theosophy and

well-intentioned, but

still

unworthy

its

hard-struggling and

vehicle, the Theosophical

Society.

May

Enq.

I be told

what

are these perilous reefs in the open sea of

Theosophy ? Theo. Well sincere

may you

call

them

shattered into splinters on things seems instance, here

the is

easiest

his

And

the

Theosophical canoe

yet to avoid certain

world to do.

For

negatives, screening positive

Theosophist should be

slanders spread

whether they be Enq.

thing

a series of such

Theosophical duties

more than one otherwise

reefs, as

and well-meaning F.T.S. has had

silent

when he hears

evil reports

about the Society, or innocent persons,

his colleagues or outsiders.

But suppose what one hears without one knowing it ?

the truth,

may be

true

Theo. Then you must demand good proofs of the assertion, and hear both sides impartially before you permit the accusation to

go uncontradicted.

You have no

right to believe in evil,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. until

251

you get undeniable proof of the correctness of the

statement.

And what

Enq.

should you do then

Theo. Pity and forbearance, charity and long-suffering, ought to be always there to prompt us to excuse our sinning brethren, and

upon those who err. A what is due to the short-

to pass the gentlest sentence possible

Theosophist ought never to forget

comings and Ought he

Enq.

infirmities of

human

to forgive entirely in such cases ?

Theo. In every case, especially he

But

Enq.

nature.

who

sinned against.

by so doing, he risks to injure, or allow others What ought he to do then ?

injm-ed ?

Theo. His duty suggests to

;

that

him

;

consists in doing

which

his

conscience and higher nature

but only after mature deliberation.

no injury

to be

any

living being

commands us

also never to allow injury to

many, or even

to one innocent person,

;

Justice

but justice

be done to the

by allowing the

guilty

one to go unchecked.

What

Enq. Tnzo.

are the other negative clauses ?

Theosophist ought to be contented with

frivolous others.

life,

his help if for the

Enq.

doing no real good to himself and

should work for the benefit of the few

unable to

toil for

idle or

still less

who need

Humanity, and thus work

advancement of the Theosophical cause.

This demands an exceptional nature, and would come rather hard upon some persons.

Theo, Then they had better remain outside the T.

instead of

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

252

under

sailing

than

can

lie

Theo.

asked to give more

afford, whetlier in devotion, time,

What comes

Enq.

No one

false colours.

work or money.

No working member

should set too great value on his per-

sonal progress or proficiency in Theosophic studies

be prepared rather

power.

and

much

altruistic

the

his

This

Theo.

but

Each member ought

duty to take what share he can in the common

work, and help Enq.

as lies in his

Theosophical movement on the

shoulders of the few devoted workers. it

but must

should not leave the whole of the heavy burden

responsibility

to feel

work

;

just.

by every means

What comes

in his

power.

Theosophist should place his personal vanity, or

above those of latter,

his Society as a body.

other

people's

reputations

feelings,

He who

sacrifices the

altar

the

of his

personal vanity, worldly benefit, or pride, ought not to be

allowed to remain a member.

One cancerous limb

diseases

the whole body.

Enq.

the duty of every

Theosophy Theo.

member

to teach

others

and preach

It is indeed.

fellow has a right to remain idle, on the

For he may always teach. who know still less than himself. And also it is not until a man begins to try to teach others, that he discovers his own ignorance and tries to remove excuse that he knows too

little to

be sure that he wiU find others

it.

Enq.

But

What

this is a

minor

clause.

do you consider, then, to be the chief of these negative

Theosophical duties?

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

253

Theo. To be ever prepared to recognize and confess one's

To rather

sin

Httle appreciation of one's neighbour's efforts.

bite

Always

or slander another person.

Never

to back-

to say openly

you have against him.

direct to his face anything

make

faults.

through exaggerated praise than through too

and

Never

may hear against those who happen to

yourself the echo of anything you

another, nor harbour revenge against injure you.

But

Enq.

it is

often dangerous to

Don't you think so

people the truth to their faces.

tell

know

members who was and became its greatest enemy,

of one of your

bitterly offended, left the Society,

only because he was told some unpleasant truths to his face, and

was blamed Theo. Of such

for

them.

bitter

No member, whether

we have had many.

nent or insignificant, has ever

enemy.

Enq.

How

do you account

Theo.

It is

simply

for

most exaggerated backslider can

first,

praises,

make

short-sightedness,

Having been,

this.

devoted to the Society at

most

cases,

subsequent behaviour and past

and

its

own

shoulders on to those of

leaders

especially.

Such

man

with a

who broke

his looking-glass

on the ground that

reflected his countenance crookedly.

But what makes

the

pose as an innocent and deceived victim,

the Society in general,

Enq.

the only possible excuse such a

for his

persons remind one of the old fable about the distorted face,

intensely

and having lavished upon

thus casting the blame from his

promi-

us without becoming our

left

these people turn against the Society?

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

254

Theo.

Wounded

vanity in some form or other, almost in every case.

Generally, because their dicta and advice are not taken as final

and authoritative

;

because they are of those who would

else,

rather reign in Hell than serve in Heaven.

Because, in short,

they cannot bear to stand second to anybody in So, for instance, one

member

—

a true " Sir Oracle

and ahnost defamed every member in the T.

much

as to Theosophists,

untheosophical, blaming self

doing

his

reason

Founders

all

criticized,

outsiders as

under the pretext that they were

them precisely

for

Frauds

especially)

all

what he was him-

way

Another one,

be placed

at the

Section of the Society, finding that the

their bitterest

all

(the

after intriguing

head of a large

members would not

have him, turned against the Founders of the

became

—

profound conviction that we were

every possible

S. to

anj'^thing.

Finally, he left the Society, giving as

the time.

S.,

and

enemy, denouncing one of them when-

ever he could, simply because the latter could not, and would wot, force

him upon the Members.

an outrageous wounded vanity.

Still

virtually did, practise black-magic logical influence

—

i.e.,

another wanted

to,

and

undue personal psycho-

on certain Fellows, while pretending devotion

and every Theosophical the

This was simply a case of

virtue.

When

this

was put a stop

Member broke with Theosophy, and now

to,

slanders and Hes

against the same hapless leaders in the most virulent manner,

endeavouring to break up reputation of those

whom

the

society

to deceive.

Enq.

What would you

by blackening the was unable

that worthy " Fellow "

do with such characters

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Theo. Leave them to their Karma. that

Enq.

no reason

for others to

255

Because one person does

evil

so.

But, to return to slander, where is the line of demarcation between backbiting and just criticism to be drawn ? Is it not one's duty to warn one's h-iends and neighbours against those whom one

knows

to be dangerous associates ?

Theo. If by allowing them to go on unchecked other persons may be thereby injured, it is certainly our duty to obviate the

danger by warning them privately. accusation against abroad.

If true,

another person

and the

fault hurts

then leave him to his Karma.

But true or

should ever be spread

no one but the

If false,

sinner,

then you will have

avoided adding to the injustice in the world. silent

false,

Therefore, keep

about such things with every one not directly concerned.

But

say,

with Annesly, " Consult duty, not events."

cases

when one

your discretion and silence are likely to hurt or endanger others, then I add Speak the truth at all costs, and :

than allow

Enq.

Methinks,

forced to exclaim, " Perish discretion, rather

to interfere with duty."

you carry out these maxims, you are

a nice crop of troubles

Theo.

And

There are

do.

likely to reap

have to admit that we are now open to

the same taunt as the early Christians were.

Theosophists love one another

" See,

may now be

how

these

said of us with-

out a shadow of injustice.

Enq.

Admitting yourself that there backbiting,

slandering,

and

at least as

quarrelling

much,

in the T.

not more, as in the

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

256

Christian Churches,

Brotherhood

Theo.

alone Scientific Societies

let

this ? I

may

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;What

kind of

ask.

very poor specimen, indeed, as at present, and,

carefully sifted and reorganized, no better than all Eemember, however, that human nature is the same Theosophical Society as out of it. Its members are no

until

others.

the

saints

they are at best sinners trying to do better, and liable to fall back owing to personal weakness. Add to this that our " Brother-

hood"

no "recognised" or established body, and stands, so

Besides which,

speak, outside of the pale of jurisdiction.

a chaotic condition, and as unjustly unpopular as

What its

wonder, then, that those members who

it is

to in

no other body.

fail

to carry out

ideal should turn, after leaviaig the Society, for sympathetic

protection to our enemies, and pour ness into their too willing ears

their gall

all

Knowing

and

bitter-

that they will find

support, sympathy, and ready credence for every accusation,

however absurd, that

may

please

them

to launch against the

Theosophical Society, they hasten to do

wrath on the

innocent

The sense of kindness drives them

have wronged.

ingratitude,

justification before the

former

society

and vent

which

their

reflected too

People never forgive those

faithfully their faces.

them with

looking-glass,

so,

whom

they

received, and repaid into a

madness of

world and their own consciences.

self-

The

but too ready to believe in anything said against a hates.

The

latter

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;but

I will say

no more, fearing

have already said too much.

Enq.

Your

Theo.

position does not not.

seem

But don't

you

a very enviable one.

think

that

there

must

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

257

something very noble, very exalted, very true, behind the Society and

philosophy,

its

when

the leaders and the founders

movement stUl continue to vrork for it with all their ? They sacrifice to it all comfort, all worldly prosperity, and success, even to their good name and reputation aye, of the

strength

even to their honour ceaseless

obloquy,

constant

ingratitude,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

receive in

relentless

return incessant and

persecution,

untiring

and misunderstanding of

slander,

their

best

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

blows, and buffets from all sides when by simply dropping their work they would find themselves immediately efforts,

released from every responsibiUty, shielded from every further attack.

Enq.

I confess, such a perseverance seems to I

wondered why you did

TiiEO. Believe

me for no self-gratification

a few individuals to carry on our original

very astounding, and

all this.

programme when

;

only in the hope of training

work

for

humanity by

They have already found a few such noble and devoted to replace them. The coming generations, thanks to few, will find the path to peace a

way

little

widened, and thus

produced good been in vain. Society

results,

its

the Founders are dead and gone.

and

little less

all

their

this

souls

these

thorny, and the

wiU have

suffering

self-sacrifice will

not have

present, the main, fundamental object of the

sow germs

in the hearts of

men, which may

time sprout, and under more propitious circumstances lead to

a healthy reform, conducive of more happiness than they have hitherto enjoyed.

the masses

XIII.

ON THE MISCONCEPTIONS ABOUT THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

THEOSOPHY AND ASCETICISM. Enq.

have heard people say that your rules require

be vegetarians, celibates, and rigid ascetics

anything of the sort

yet.

Can you

tell

;

all

members

but you have not told

the truth once for

all

about this?

Theo. The truth

that our rules require nothing of the kind.

The Theosophical Society does not even expect,

members that they should be ascetics in any that they should if you call that asceticism and benefit other people and be unselfish in their own

of any of

its

way, except try

far less require

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

lives.

But

Enq.

still

many

of your

members

are

strict

vegetarians, and

openly avow their intention of remaining unmarried.

This, too,

most often the case with those who take a prominent part connection with the work of your Society.

Theo. That

only natural, because most of our really earnest

workers are members of the Inner Section of the Society, which I told

you about

before.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. Oh

Enq. Theo.

then you do require ascetic practices in that Inner Section

No we do ;

that I

259

not require or enjoin tliem even there

;

but I see

had better give you an explanation of our views on the

subject of asceticism in general, and then

you

understand

will

about vegetarianism and so on.

Enq.

Please proceed.

Theo. As I have already told you, most people earnest

Society, wish to

who become

really

students of Theosophy, and active workers in our

do more than study theoretically the truths

They wish to know the truth by their

teach.

own

direct

personal experience, and to study Occultism with the object of

acquiring the wisdom and power, which they

need in order to help others,

effectually

instead of blindly and at haphazard.

they

feel that

and judiciousty,

Therefore, sooner or later,

they join the Inner Section.

But you

Enq.

said

that "ascetic practices" are not obligatory even

in that Inner Section ?

Theo.

No more

they are

learn there

;

but the

first

thing which the

members

a true conception of the relation of the body, or

physical sheath, to the inner, the true man.

mutual interaction

between

these

two

The aspects

relation

and

human

nature are explained and demonstrated to them, so that they

soon become imbued with the supreme importance of the inner man over the outer case or body. They are taught that blind unintelligent asceticism

that of St.

Labro which

mere

folly

;

that such conduct as

spoke of before, or that of the Indian

Fakirs and jungle ascetics,

who

cut,

burn and macerate

bodies in the most cruel and horrible manner,

simply

their self-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

26o

torture

for

selfish

ends,

to develop

i.e.,

but

will-power,

perfectly useless for the purpose of assisting true spiritual, or Tlieosopliic, development.

Ekq.

I see, you regard only moral asceticism as necessary.

means

It is as a

an end, that end being the perfect equilibrium of the inner

nature of man, and the attainment of complete mastery over the

body with Theo. Just

all its

passions and desires ?

But these means must be used

so.

wisely, not blindly and foolishly

;

an athlete who

train-

ing and preparing for a great contest, not like the miser starves himself into

that he

illness

may

and

intelligently

who

gratify his passion

for gold.

Enq.

now your

I understand

apply

How

in practice.

general idea

;

but

let

us see

how you

about vegetarianism, for instance?

Theo. One of the great German scientists has shown that every kind of animal certain to,

marked

which

that,

tissue,

however you may cook

characteristics of the animal

it,

which

And

characteristics can be recognised.

every one knows by the taste what meat he

go a step

farther,

assimilated

some of the

and prove that when the

by man

as food,

retains

belonged

apart from

eating.

flesh of animals is

imparts to him, physiologically,

characteristics of the animal

over, occult science teaches

still

and proves

came from.

More-

this to its students

ocular demonstration, showing also that this " coarsening " or " animalizing

" efiect

on man

larger animals, less for birds,

greatest from the flesh of the

still less

for fish

and other

cold-

blooded animals, and least of aU when he eats only vegetables.

Enq.

Then he had

better not eat at

all ?

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY, Theo. If he could live without eating, of course the matter stands, he

must eat

to live,

261

would.

But

and so we advise really

earnest students to eat such food as will least clog and weight their brains

and bodies, and

will

have the smallest

hampering and retarding the development of their inner faculties

Enq.

and powers.

Then you do not adopt

all

the arguments which vegetarians in

general are in the habit of using

Some

Theo. Certainly not.

of their arguments are very weak, and

often based on assumptions which are quite false.

other hand, instance,

many

For

of the things they say are quite true.

thoroughly into

becoming so marked a feature

very largely due to the eating of meat, and

But

especially of tinned meats. this

would take too long

question of vegetarianism on

please pass on to something

Enq.

But, on the

believe that much disease, and especially the great

predisposition to disease which in our time,

effect in

their intuition,

One question more.

its

merits

;

else.

What

are

your members of the Inner

Section to do with regard to their food

when they

are

ill

Theo. Follow the best practical advice they can get, of course. Don't you grasp yet that we never impose any hard-and-fast obligations in this respect?

Eemember once

for

aU that

in all

such questions we take a rational, and never a fanatical, view of things. If from iUness or long habit a man cannot go without meat, why, by crime

means

let

him

eat

little

;

it.

for after all is

and done, the purely bodily actions and functions are of less importance than what a man thinks and feeh, what

said far

;

all

will only retard his progress a

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

262

desires lie encourages in his mind,

grow

there.

Then with regard

Enq.

and allows to take root and

to the use

wine and

I suppose

spirits,

you do not advise people to drink them ?

Thko. They are worse for his moral and spiritual growth than meat, for alcohol in all its

on man's psychic condition.

deleterious influence spirit

drinking

forms has a direct, marked, and very

only

less destructive

Wine and

to the development of

the inner powers, than the habitual use of hashish, opium,

and similar drugs.

THEOSOPHY AND

Now

Enq.

another question

MAIililAGE.

must a man marry

;

or remain

celibate ?

Theo.

one

depends on the kind of

who

man you mean.

If j'ou refer to

intends to live in the world, one who, even though a

good, earnest Theosophist, and an ardent worker for our cause, still

has

ties

and wishes which bind him to the world, who,

short, does not feel that call life,

know

and that he

he has done for ever with what men

desires one thing

and one thing only

the truth, and to be able to help others

a one I

saj'^

there

no reason

why he

likes to take the risks of that lottery

more blanks than

prizes.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;then

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

for such

should not marry,

where there are so many

Surely you cannot believe us so

absurd and fanatical as to preach against marriage altogether

the contrary, save in a few exceptional cases of practical

Occultism, marriage

the only

remedy against immorality.

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. But why cannot one

Enq.

living a married

Theo.

you

clear

sii-,

acquire this knowledge and power

cannot go into physiological quegtions with I think, a sufficient

answer, which will explain to you the moral reasons for

Can a man

it.

when

life ?

but I can give you an obvious and,

;

263

serve two masters

Then

give it

equally impossible for him to divide his attention between the

and a

of Occultism

pursuit

assuredly

fail

you, practical Occultism

man

study for a

his end.

But

Section.

this

;

tries

to,

and, let

will

me remind

too serious and dangerous a

far

to take up, unless he

and ready to

earnest,

wife.

in doing either properly

in the

most deadly

sacrifice all, himself first of all, to gain

does not apply to the members of our Inner

only referring to those

who

are determined to

tread that path of discipleship which leads to the highest goal.

Most,

not

all

of those

who

join our Inner Section, are only

beginners, preparing themselves in this

upon

life

to enter in reality

that path in lives to come.

THEOSOPHY AND EDUCATION. Enq.

One

of your strongest

arguments

existing forms of religion in

the materialistic philosophy which

you seem

amount

to consider as

the inadequacy of

now

misery and wretchedness which

been, and

the

some extent popular, but which

an abomination of desolation,

especially in our great cities.

much has

for

the West, as also to

But

surely

the large

undeniably exists,

you must recognise how

being done to remedy this state of things by

the spread of education and the diffusion of intelligence.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

264

Theo. The future generations will hardly thank you

such

for

a " diffusion of intelligence," nor will your present education do

much good Ah

Enq.

Theo.

poor starving masses.

but you must give us time.

began

to the

It is only a

few years since we

to educate the people.

And

what, pray, has your Christian religion been doing ever

since the fifteenth century, once

you acknowledge

education of the masses has not been attempted tiU

very work,

that the

now

a Christ-following church and people, ought to perform

Enq.

Well, you

Theo. Just

let

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;the

ever there could be one, which a Christian,

may

be right

;

but

us consider this

broad standpoint, and

now question of education from a

wiU prove

harm not good, with many

i.e.,

you that you

are doing

of your boasted improvements.

Tlie schools for the poorer children,

though

far less useful than

they ought to be, are good in contrast with the vile surroundings to

which they are doomed by your modern

infusion of a

times

little

practical

in life the

Society.

The

Theosophy would help a hundred

poor suffering masses than

all

this

infusion of (useless) intelligence.

Enq.

But, really

Theo. Let

finish, please.

You have opened

a subject on which

Theosophists feel deeply, and I must have

quite agree that there

say.

a great advantage to a small child

bred in the slums, having the gutter for playground, and living

amid continued coarseness of gesture and word, placed daily in a bright, clean school-room

and often gay with flowers.

There

it is

hung with

in being pictures,

taught to be clean, gentle,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. orderly

there

;

awaken

and

learns to sing

intelligence

its

to play

learns to use

;

its

spoken to with a smile instead of a frown or coaxed instead of cursed.

arouses

their

they might be

and ought

But while

the homes.

So be

Theo.

What

;

gently rebuked

them susceptible to The schools are not all but, compared with the

;

and they slowly are re-acting on

;

this

many

true of

the Board

your system deserves the worst one can say of

schools,

Enq.

has toys that

renders

influences.

homes, they are paradises

;

fingers deftly

All this humanises the children,

and

brains,

and moral

intellectual

265

it.

go on. the real object of

modern education

cultivate and develop the mind in the right direction

;

to teach

the disinherited and hapless people to carry with fortitude the

burden of will

;

feeling of

it.

mutual interdependence and brotherhood

And

education. it,

;

and form the character

to train

them by Karma) to strengthen their them the love of one's neighbour and the

life (allotted

to inculcate hi

yet, these

No one

for practical life

;

and thus

Not a

bit

are undeniably the objects of aU true

denies

all

;

your educationalists admit

and talk very big indeed on the subject.

practical result of their action

Bat what

the

Every young man and boy,

nay, every one of the younger generation of schoolmasters will

answer

tions," a

The object of modern education

to pass

examina-

system not to develop right emulation, but to generate

and breed jealousy, envy, hatred almost, in young people for one another, and thus train them for a life of ferocious selfish-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

266

ness and struggle for honours and emoluments instead of kindly feeling.

Enq.

Theo.

must admit you

And what

are right there.

are these examinations

hood and youth

by which the

They

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; the terror of modern boy-

are simply a

method of

classification

of your school teaching are tabulated.

results

In other words, they form the practical application of the

modern

Now

science

method

" science "

that

intellect

mechanical interaction of the brain-stuff logical

that

mechanical

modern education

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;a

qua

to the genus homo,

teaches

therefore

;

should

it is

only

be almost entirely

machine

sort of automatic

intellection.

a result of the

the fabrication

for

by the ton. Very little experience of examinations is enough to show that the education they produce is simply a training of the physical memory, and, sooner or later, all your of intellect

schools will sink to this level.

any

of the thinking and reasoning power,

while everything has to be judged

very greatest importance

moral bearing.

system

ing,

till

life,

first

last,

man

your modern :

fittest."

The All

has these driven into him by as well as

by direct teachmind the idea

impossible to eradicate from his

that " self," the lower, personal, animal be-all, of hfe.

of the

scientific revelations

example and experience, it is

and the " survival of the

every

results as tested

forming character, especially

based on the so-called

through his early practical

Now, from

struggle for existence "

by the

sound cultivation simply impossible

Again, school training

competitive examinations.

its

real,

it is

self, is

the end-aU, and

Here you get the great source of

all

the after-

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

267

misery, crime, and heartless selfishness, which you admit as

much

as I do.

Selfishness, as said over

and over agahi,

curse of humanity, and the prolific parent of

crimes in this

beds of such

Enq.

That and

is all

life

and

;

the evils and

all

your schools which are the hot-

it is

selfishness.

very fine as generalities, but I should hke a few facts,

to learn also

Theo. Very well,

how

this

I will try

can be remedied.

and

There are three great

satisfy you.

divisions of scholastic establishments, board, middle-class

up the

public schools, running

commercial to the

its

side,

scale

idealistic classical,

and combinations.

modern

The

practical

heavy respectability even

many

permutations

commercial

begets

Board pupil

see the scientific

orthodox and

effete

The objects

the reason very far to seek.

the

classical reflects

as far as the School

Here we plainly

and material commercial supplanting the Neither

and

from the most grossly

with

and the ancient and orthodox

teacher's establishments.

classical.

the

of this branch of education are, then, pounds, shillings, and

pence, the

summum bonum

energies generated all

tlie

XlXth

century.

by the brain molecules of

its

Thus, the

adherents are

concentrated on one point, and are, therefore, to some

extent, an organized

of the

army of educated and

minority of men,

trained

speculative intellects

against

the hosts of the

ignorant, simple-minded masses doomed to be vampirised, lived

and

Such

sat

upon

training

by is

their

not

intellectually

only

The

stronger

untheosophical,

outcome of

brethren. is

simply

branch of

UNCHRISTIAN.

Eesult

education

an overflooding of the market with money-

direct

this

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

268

making machines, with

heartless

selfish

men

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; animals â&#x20AC;&#x201D;who

have been most carefully trained to prey on their fellows and take advantage of the ignorance of their weaker brethren

Enq.

Well, but you cannot assert that of our great public schools,

any rate

Theo. Not

exactly,

animating

But though the form is different, the the same untheosophical and unchristian, true.

it is

spirit is

whether Eton and Harrow turn out

scientists

or divines and

Eton and Harrow

" commercial " ?

theologians.

Enq.

mean

Surely you don't

Of course the

Theo. No.

respectable, It

does

still

and

Classical system

in the present

day

above

all

things

productive of some good.

remain the favourite at our great public schools,

where not only an obtainable.

to call

intellectual,

but also a social education

therefore, of prime importance that the dull

is,

boys of aristocratic and wealthy parents should go to such schools to meet the rest of the

money classes.

young

life

But unfortunately there

even for entrance

;

for the

moneyed

of the " blood

and

a huge competition

classes are increasing,

and

poor but clever boys seek to enter the public schools by the rich scholarships, both at the schools themselves and from

them Enq.

to the Universities.

According to this view, the wealthier " dullards " have to work

even harder than their poorer fellows

Theo. It

is so.

But, strange to say, the faithful of the cult of the

" Survival of the

fittest "

whole exertion

do not practice their creed

make

;

for their

the naturally unfit supplant the

fit.

Thus, by bribes of large sums of money, they allure the best

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY,

269

from their natural pupils to meclianicalise

teachers

their

naturally unfit progeny into professions which they uselessly

overcrowd.

And you

Enq.

Theo. All

attribute

all this

what

owing to the perniciousness of a system which

this is

turns out goods to order, irrespective of the natural proclivities

and

from the nursery

workmen

little

candidate for

comes almost straight

of learning,

to the treadmill of a preparatory school for

Here he

sous of gentlemen. the

The poor

talents of the youth.

this progressive paradise

immediately seized upon by

of the materio-intehectual factory, and

crammed

with Latin, French and Greek Accidence, Dates and Tables, so that

he have any natural genius

him by

the rollers of

it is

rapidly squeezed out

what Carlyle has so

well-called "

dead

vocables."

But

Enq.

much

surely he of that

taught something besides " dead vocables," and

which

may

lead

him

direct

TheosopJuj,

not

entirely into the Theosophical Society ?

Theo. Not much.

knowledge of

For of his

own

history, he will

attain only sufficient

particular nation to

fit

him with

a steel

armour of prejudice against aU other peoples, and be steeped and blood-

in the foul cess-pools of chronicled national hate thirstiness

What

Enq.

;

you would not

this is a

Why "

call that

Theosophy

smattering of selected, so-called, Biblical

from the study of which

simply a "

surely,

are your further objections ?

Theo. Added to facts,

and

memory

lesson, the "

all intellect is

Why

eliminated.

It is

of the teacher being a

of circumstances and not of reason.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

1-jc,

Ekq.

Yes

but I have heard you congratulate yourself at the ever-

;

increasing that

number

of the Agnostics

heartily do learn to think

Theo. Yes

and Atheists in our day, so

appears that even people trained in the system you abuse so

but

;

it is

and reason

for themselves.

rather owing to a healthy reaction from that

system than due to

it.

prefer immeasurably

our

Society Agnostics, and even rank Atheists, to bigots of what-

ever religion. truth

whereas the

;

mind

Agnostic's

owl.

The best

honest

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; of our Fellows were, and

(disbelievers

leave

its

i.e.,

and

girls,

mark behind

sun does an

are, Agnostics

and Atheists

But there are

and generally early training the

shape

free-

will

cramped and

A proper and sane system of education should

distorted mind.

produce the most vigorous and logical

ever opened to the

the most truth-loving, philanthropic, and

a personal God).

thinking boys

latter blinds the bigot like the

liberal

mind,

and accurate thought, and not

can you ever expect good

strictly trained in

in blind faith.

results, while

How

you pervert the

reasoning faculty of your children by blddhig them believe in the miracles of the Bible

on Sunday, while for the six other

days of the week you teach them that such things are cally impossible

Enq.

scientifi-

What would you

have, then?

Theo. If we had money, we would found schools which would turn out something else than reading and writing candidates for Children should above

starvation.

love for

thing

all

be taught

self-reliance,

men, altruism, mutual charity, and more than any-

else, to

think and reason for themselves.

We would reduce

— THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. work of

the purelj' meclianical

minimum, and devote the time

271

memory

the

an absolute

development and training

to the

of the iimer senses, faculties and latent capacities.

endeavour

to deal

would

with each child as a unit, and to educate

so as to produce the most harnionious and equal unfoldment of

its

powers, in order that

their full natural

men and women,

free

judiced in

all

believe that

special aptitudes should find

its

development.

free intellectually, free morally, unpre-

and above

respects,

much

should aim at creathig

not

all

And

things, unselfish.

of this could be obtained

proper and truly theosophical education.

WHY, THEN, IS THERE SO Enq.

Theosophy

If exist

such a terrible

MUCH PREJUDICE AGAINST THE

even half of what you say, ill-feeling against it ?

problem than anything

This

why is

T.S.?

should there

even more of a

else.

how many poM'erful we have aroused ever since the formation of our As I just said, if the Theosophical movement were Society. one of those numerous modern crazes, as harmless at the end

Theo. It

;

but you must bear in mind

adversaries

as they are evanescent, is

now by

and

left

those

severely

Intrinsically,

age

;

who

still

would be simply laughed

do not understand

alone.

Theosophy

But

its

—

real purport

nothing of the kind.

the most serious

movement of

and one, moreover, which threatens the very

life

this

of most

of the time-honoured humbugs, prejudices, and social evils of the day

—those

evils

which fatten and make happy the upper

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

272

ten and their imitators and sycophants, the wealthy dozens of

the middle classes, while they positively crush and starve out

Think of

of existence the milhons of the poor.

understand

easily

will

by those

persecution

perspicacious, do

therefore dread

Enq.

such

who,

others

true nature

the

see

reason

the

this,

and you

relentless

and

observant

Theosophy

and

it.

Do you mean to tell me that it is because a few have understood what Theosophy leads to, that they try to crush the movement ? But if Theosophy leads only to good, sm-ely you cannot be prepared to utter such a terrible accusation of perfidious heartlessness and treachery even against those few

so prepared,

on the contrary.

enemies

we have had

to battle with during the first nine or

Theo. I

ten years

" dangerous

the

Society's

but only those

;

the last three or four years.

do not

call

the

powerful

existence

either

who have And these

neither speak, write

arisen agahist us in

nor preach against Theosophy, but work in silence and behind the backs of the

Yet

marionnettes.

foolish

puppets who to

if invisible

Society, they are well

known

the protectors of our Society. certain reasons

Enq.

And

are they

unnamed known

most of the members of our and

But they must remain

for

many

of you, or to yourself alone ?

may

but I know of them, and worst.

" Founders

to the true

at present.

Theo. I never said / knew them.

their

act as their visible

may

not

know them

this is sufficient and / defy them to do They may achieve great mischief and throw

confusion into our ranks, especially

;

among

the faint-hearted,

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

273

and those who can judge only by appearances. crush the Society, do what they may.

who

within the

more than

Can you name

only to

those

unworthy of the name, and whose place

are

rather outside than

opponents Enq.

however,

enemies

Theosophists is

will not

Apart from these truly

— " dangerous,"

dangerous

They

—the

number

of our

considerable.

these, at least,

Theo. Of course I can.

T.S.

you will not speak of the others ?

contend against (1) the American, English, and French

have

hatred of the Spiritualists,

(2) the constant opposition of the clergy of all denominations (3) especially the

missionaries in India

;

hatred and persecution of the

relentless

(4) this led to the

famous and infamous

attack on our Theosophical Society by the Society for Psychical

Eesearch, an attack which was stirred up by a regular conspiracy organized

by the

missionaries in India.

mtust count the defection of various prominent

reasons I have already explained,

whom

we for

have con-

utmost to increase the prejudice against

tributed their

Enq.

all

Lastly,

(?) members,

us.

Cannot you give me more details about these, so that I may know what to answer when asked a brief history of the Society,

—

in short

Theo. The

and

;

why

reason

the world believes

From

its

this ?

Most outsiders knew absolutely

simple.

nothing of the Society

all

itself,

its

motives, objects or beliefs.

very beginning the world has seen in Theosophy

nothing but certain marvellous phenomena, in which thirds of the non-spiritualists do not

Society

came

to be regarded as a

possession of " miraculous

powers.

believe.

two-

Very soon the

body pretending

to the

The world never realised

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

274

that the Society taught absokite disbelief in

the possibility of such

miracle or even

that in the Society there were only a

;

few people who possessed such psychic powers and but few who cared for them. Nor did it understand that the phenomena were never produced publicly, but only privately for friends,

and merely given as an accessory, to prove by

direct

demonstration that such things could be produced without

dark rooms,

spirits,

mediums, or any of the usual para-

Unfortunately,

phernalia.

this

misconception was

strengthened and exaggerated by the

which

much

excited

" Occult World." into prominence,

attention

If this it

first

Europe

greatly

book on the subject

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;Mr.

Sinnett's

work did much to bring the Society still more obloquy, derision and

attracted

misrepresentation upon the hapless heroes and heroine thereof

this the

author was more than warned in the Occult World,

but did not pay attention to the prophecy

though Enq.

For what, and since when, do the

Theo. From the fact

â&#x20AC;&#x201D; for

such

was,

half-veiled.

first

day of the

became known

disembodied personaUties,

the

body, the T.S. did not believe in

spirits of the

so-called " spirits " as, for the

you?

No sooner

Society's existence.

that, as a

communications with the

Spiritualists hate

most

shells,

dead, but regarded the

part, astral reflections of

etc.,

than the Spiritualists

conceived a violent hatred to us and especially to the Founders. This hatred found expression in every kind of slander, uncharitable personal remarks, and absurd misrepresentations of the

Theosophical teachings in organs.

For

years

all

we were

the

American

persecuted,

Spiritualistic

denounced and

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

This began in 1875 and continues to the present

abused.

In 1879, the headquarters of the T.S. were transferred

day.

New York Madras. When

from

out in arms

French

Bombay,

tlie

was founded

T.S.,

Enq.

275

first

India,

and then permanently to

branch of our Society, the British

London, the English

against us, as the Americans

Spiritualists

had done

;

came

and the

Spiritists followed suit.

But why should the clergy be hostile to you, when, after all, the main tendency of the Theosophical doctrines is opposed to Materialism, the great enemy of all forms of religion in our day ?

Theo. The Clergy opposed us on the general principle that "

who

not with

against me."

agree with any one Sect or Creed,

Since Theosophy does not it

considered the

enemy

it all, more or less, The missionaries in India hated and tried to crush us because they saw the flower of the educated Indian youth

all

ahke, because

teaches that they are

mistaken.

and the Bralimins, who are almost inaccessible to them, joining And yet, apart from this the Society in large numbers. general class hatred, the T.

counts in

its

ranks

many

clergy-

men, and even one or two bishops. Enq.

And what

led the S.P.E. to take the field against

you?

You were

both pursuing the same line of study, in some respects, and several of the Psychic Researchers belonged to your society.

Theo. First of the S.P.E.

all ;

we were very good

friends with the leaders of

but when the attack on the phenomena appeared

the Christian College Magazine, supported

the pretended

revelations of a menial, the S.P.E. found that they had com-

promised themselves by pubUshing in their "Proceedings" too

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

276

many

phenomena which had occurred

of the

Their ambition

with the T.S.

and

strictly scientific

body

;

to pose

so that they

had

in connection

an authoritative

to choose

retaining that position

by throwing overboard the

even trying to destroy

it,

the opinion of the

the " credulous

way

for

us overboard.

so hard pressed

motive for the

the grand

were they to

two Founders, and

There was no to

But

any apparently reasonable

of devotion and ceaseless labour led for the

throw

dire necessity for them.

find

monde, with

no two choices, and they chose

was a matter of

life

profit or other

it,

and

and seeing themselves merged,

Sadducees

Theosophists and Spiritualists.

them out

between T.S.

the

complete absence of any pecuniary

advantage to them, that our enemies

were

obliged to resort to the thrice-absurd, eminent^ ridiculous, and

now famous

" Eussian spy theory," to explain this devotion.

But the old saying, " The blood of the martyrs of the Church," proved once more correct.

shock of

this attack, the T.S.

doubled and tripled

but the bad impression produced

its

first

numbers,

remains.

still

the seed

After the

French

author was right in saying, " Calomniez, calomniez toujours encore,

en restera toujours quelque chose."

Therefore

it is,

that

unjust prejudices are current, and that everything connected

with the

T.S.,

and especially with

its

Founders,

so falsely

distorted, because based on malicious hearsay alone.

Enq.

Yet in the 14 years during which the Society has existed, you must have had ample time and opportunity to show yourselves and your work in their true light ?

Theo. How, or when, have we been given such an opportunity

THE KEY JO THEOSOPHY. Our most prominent members

liad

i77

an aversion to anything

that looked like publicly justifying themselves.

has ever been

must

down

live it

Their policy

and "

What

matter what the newspapers say, or people think

was too poor

Society

to send out public lecturers,

fore the expositions of our views

a few Theosophical works

which

people

often

through

hearsay.

boycotted

;

one

our

seems

Our

even

met with

that

journals

were,

works ignored quite

feel

The

and there-

and doctrines were confined

misunderstood,

literary

does

success, but

only

knew

and

still

and to

;

of are,

this

day

whether the

certain

Theosophists are a kind of Serpent- and-Devil worshippers, or simply " Esoteric Buddhists It

was

useless for us to

after year, every

about us stiU

—whatever

go on denying, day

first.

Unfortunately,

to start a story

human is

—no matter how absurd,

be, if only

for

it is

nature

false

so consti-

or incredible

Basilio's " Oalumnia," the

as a historical

rumour springs up,

as a soft gentle breeze hardly stirring the grass

feet,

connected with some unpopular character

be successful and forthwith accepted

Don

immediately forgotten

first,

your

than another, a

But one has only to utter a calumny, or

and never repeated.

fact.

of,

more absurd and malicious one, was born out of the

ashes of the

—

may mean.

day and year

kind of inconceivable cock-and-buU stories

tuted that any good said of a person

may

that

after

no sooner was one disposed

for,

;

and arising no one knows whence

shortest space of time,

;

under

then, in the

transformed into a strong wind,

begins to blow a gale and forthwith becomes a roaring storm ,

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

278

what an octopus is among fishes it sucks into one's mind, fastens upon our memory, which feeds upon it, leaving indelible marks even after the calumny has

calumny amoug news,

been bodily destroyed.

key that

calumnious

open any and every brain.

will

welcome and the lowest,

;

hospitality in every

only a

the only master-

lie is

It is sure to receive

human mind,

the highest as

prejudiced, and no matter from

little

however base a quarter and motive

has started.

Don't you think your assertion altogether too sweeping?

Enq.

Bnghshman has never been and our nation

The

over-ready to believe in anything said,

known

proverbially

for its love of fair play.

has no legs to stand upon for long, and

lie

Theo. The Englishman

any other nation feature.

;

for lies,

ready to believe

it is

human

they have

evil as

man

nature, and not a national

no legs

stand upon,

according to the proverb, they have exceedingly rapid wings

and they can and do

fly farther

;

and wider than any other kind

Kemember lies and calumny we can always get gratis, and without paying any subscription. We can make the experiment if you like. Will you, who are so interested in Theosoof news, in England as elsewhere.

are the only kind of literature

phical matters, and have heard so

me as

questions on as

you can think of ?

many I will

but the truth, subject to the En'Q.

much about

us, will

you put

of tliese rumours and " hearsays

answer you the truth, and nothing strictest verification.

we change the subject, let us have the whole truth on this Now, some writers have called your teachings " immoral and pernicious " others, on the ground that many so-called " authorities " Before

one.

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY. aud Orientalists in its

many

find in the Indian religions nothing but sex- worship

forms, accuse you of teaching nothing better than

Phallic worship.

They say

modern Theosophy is so and particularly Indian, thought, it

that since

closely allied with Eastern,

cannot be free from this as to accuse

279

taint.

Occasionally, even, they go so far

Em-opean Theosophists

nected with this

How

cult.

of reviving the practices con-

about this

Theo. I have heard and read about

this before

;

and I answer that

no more utterly baseless and lying calumny has ever been " Silly people can see but

vented and circulated.

vile accusations

dreams,"

makes

one's blood boil to hear

made without

the slightest foundation,

says a Russian proverb.

such

silly

in-

and on the strength of mere

inferences.

Ask

the hundreds of

men and women who have been members

honourable English

of the Theosophical Society for years whether an

immoral

precept or a pernicious doctrine was ever taught to them.

Open

the Secret Doctrine, and you will find page after page

denouncing the Jews and other nations precisely on account of this devotion to Phallic

rites,

due

to the

dead

letter inter-

pretation of nature symbolism, and the grossly materiaUstic

conceptions of her ceaseless

duahsm

all

the exoteric creeds.

Such

and mahcious misrepresentation of our teachings and

beliefs is really disgraceful.

But you cannot deny

Enq.

religions of the

that the Phallic element does exist in the

East ?

Nor do I deny it only I maintain that tliis proves no more than does its presence in Christianity, the religion of the West. Eead Hargrave Jenning's Rosicrucians, if you would

Theo.

;

THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

28o

assure yourself of

it.

tlie

perhaps, more crude, because

more naive and

rather say,

gross and

En(j.

to nature, or, I

is,

would

But

it is

suggest to the Oriental mind

coarse ideas as

to the Western, with,

one or two exceptions, such as the shameful sect

perhaps,

known

more true

sincere than in the West.

not more licentious, nor does the same

East, the Phallic symbolism

as the

"Maharajah," or Vallabhachdrya

writer in the Agnostic journal

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;one of your

sect.

accusers

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;has just

hinted that the followers of this disgraceful sect are Theosophists, and " claim true Theosophic insight." TiiEO.

He wrote

nor

there at present,

Society.

that

Sects.

a falsehood, and that's

There never was,

all.

one single Vallabhacharya in our

to their having, or claiming

another

fib,

Theosophic

insight,

based on crass ignorance about the Indian

Their " Maharajah

only claims a right to the money,

wives and daughters of his foolish followers and no more. This sect

But you the

Secret

despised by aU the other Hindus. will find the

detailed explanations.

sophy

whole subject dealt with

Doctrine, to which I

To conclude,

dead against Phallic

esoteric section

must again

so even

at length in

refer

you

for

the very soul of Theo-

worship

;

and

its

occult

than the exoteric teachings.

There never was a more lying statement made than the above.

And now

ask

me some