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The aspirant or candidate for the Archaic Wisdom is always told: There is a way by which to gain truth. There is a way by which man may gain wisdom. Yet any knock except the right knock is unheard. In a paradoxical sense one must practice before one may receive the full light of knowledge. The knock itself is, first, living the life. One must come with peace in his heart, and with a yearning for light so strong that no impediments or obstacles will daunt the courageous soul. One must come to the outer portal ready to brave the scorn of the world - the blind, foolish, ignorant, world, which laughs and scorns because it knows not better, much as children laugh when they hear a truth which they do not understand.
Those who think that people will instinctively behave themselves without the support of any belief or faith, usually forget that we are (in a moral sense) living on our capital. Because our ancestors had convictions and faiths, therefore they built up standards of order and self-control whose effect is not yet exhausted. The very security which allows us to indulge these radical views is founded on the influence of the ideas and customs which we would upset. But it will not always be so: the capital, if not renewed, will be exhausted; and it will then become manifest that behavior, in the individual or society, cannot rest securely on a basis of automatism, but that there must be inspiration, faith, knowledge, behind it.
When the authority of a moral sanction, a certainty of knowledge, is withdrawn, human beings are abandoned to the mercy of impulse. There being no higher authority than desire, desire becomes exalted into their god; and, since pride prompts us to justify our actions, we accordingly devise a philosophy of desire, and call it by some grandiose name, such as the right of self-realization. But there can be no coherence in a society which is swayed by individual caprice, instead of controlled by impersonal principles and ideals. Nothing has recently happened which can change the eternal truth that Duty, Honor, Love, are the cement of society and the wings whereon man can soar from the depths into which his unruly desires would drag him
Those who think that people will instinctively behave themselves without the support of any belief or faith, usually forget that we are (in a moral sense) living on our capital. Because our ancestors had convictions and faiths, therefore they built up standards of order and self-control whose effect is not yet exhausted. The very security which allows us to indulge these radical views is founded on the influence of the ideas and customs which we would upset. But it will not always be so: the capital, if not renewed, will be exhausted; and it will then become manifest that behavior, in the individual or society, cannot rest securely on a basis of automatism, but that there must be inspiration, faith, knowledge, behind it.
When the authority of a moral sanction, a certainty of knowledge, is withdrawn, human beings are abandoned to the mercy of impulse. There being no higher authority than desire, desire becomes exalted into their god; and, since pride prompts us to justify our actions, we accordingly devise a philosophy of desire, and call it by some grandiose name, such as the right of self-realization. But there can be no coherence in a society which is swayed by individual caprice, instead of controlled by impersonal principles and ideals. Nothing has recently happened which can change the eternal truth that Duty, Honor, Love, are the cement of society and the wings whereon man can soar from the depths into which his unruly desires would drag him
Theosophy is the essential truth underlying all religions and does not recognize any one religion as being supreme over the others or as the last word of truth. It is not hostile to Christianity, but finds itself obliged to combat many things which it considers alien to the genuine Christian gospel and which have gradually crept in since that gospel was originally proclaimed. Among these is the idea that Christianity is paramount among religions or that it is a final revelation of divine truth, superseding other faiths. This idea is contrary to the truth and is becoming more and more difficult to maintain.
The duty of the Theosophical Society is to keep alive in man his spiritual intuition. -- H. P. Blavatsky
This quotation from H. P. Blavatsky is chosen for a starting-point because it so aptly sums up her conception of the purpose of the Society she founded. The welfare of man is dependent on his recognition of the Divinity of his essential nature; and when he forgets this, he lapses into materialism. The Theosophical Society was founded for the express purpose of preventing materialism from proceeding to such lengths as to destroy civilization. Such movements have been initiated, with the same object, many other times in human history.
The "coming of Christ,” means the presence of CHRISTOS in a regenerated world, and not at all the actual coming in body of “Christ” Jesus; this Christ is to be sought neither in the wilderness nor “in the inner chambers,” nor in the sanctuary of any temple or church built by man; for Christ – the true esoteric SAVIOUR – is no man, but the DIVINE PRINCIPLE in every human being. He who strives to resurrect the Spirit crucified in him by his own terrestrial passions, and buried deep in the “sepulchre” of his sinful flesh; he who has the strength to roll back the stone of matter from the door of his own inner sanctuary, he has the risen Christ in him.”
This is a brief overview of the origin, practical application, and ultimate destiny of Theosophy from the writings of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831–1891). It has been assembled as an offering to those who, having perceived that living for others is the only life worth living, aspire to apprehend the Truth of truths by studying, assimilating, modelling, and applying the Golden Precepts in everyday life. Madame Blavatsky is the leading exponent of the modern Theosophical Movement, great noetic radiance of our epoch, acclaimed philosopher and mystic, indefatigable servant of humanity.
The general public rarely goes to the trouble of sifting difficult metaphysical questions to the bottom, but judges on appearance.
HP Blavatsky
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Outstanding quote!