Theos-Talk Archives (February 1998 Message tt00355)

Wad-ba2 (wad-f5)

Continued from Part 4 of 7

Miss Jeanne Sims of Los Angeles might know more of Mr. Wadia's life and
work.  She was helpful in providing copies of her work compiled from Mr.
Wadia's writings.  I would say, by and large, that the record left us, in
writing, is the most reliable of those of individual worth.  We have,
fortunately had some great personages who have supported and worked for
Theosophy in those remnants of the T S that ought to be vigorously pursuing
the work that HPB died to give to us.  In the ranks of the anonymous ULT
students who have patiently and perseveringly carried on the work of
preservation, of study, and of promulgation of the original teachings of
Theosophy very little is known or referred to.  Emphasis is given to those
teachings, not to the people who have made U.L.T. successful in its work,
so far.

If you have not seriously studied the work of the ULT, you ought to do
that.  It gives no eminence to anyone.  It responds to the need of those
who wish to study and to work for Theosophy.  Those who seek no recompense
or personal stature, and who are moved only by a sense of the debt they owe
to HPB, to WQJ, and, behind them, stand the Masters, and to their brother
men--humanity.  They are especially grateful to all the Great Ones who have
kept the grand ideals alive.  And, understanding Their love for Humanity as
a whole, are those who support and work for it.  They abandon ( while not
being ignorant of ) any "official" considerations such as those offered by
organizations like the various T.S.'s or their offshoots.

In that impersonal principle and its strict application lies ULT's inherent
strength.  Its Declaration, and the implication of self-discipline and of
cooperation with ones' fellows as embodied there, preclude any personal
aggrandizement.  It enshrines a self-cleansing nature which combs out those
who prove to be unfit to keep its vitality alive.  If this is applied
successfully by our descendants, then it will continue constructively for a
while.  But I can anticipate that eventually it may fail.  From 1909 up to
now (1995) is 86 years.  The greatest barrier to those who might desire to
"join" the ULT is the lack of recognition of a personal nature that they
will receive.  They will have all the responsibilities and none of the
advertising !  But consider the fact that we are all immortals - they will
have to pick up from where they left off in the next life -- we always do.

There is a real power in a strenuous life for Theosophy.  But this cannot
be confined by anyone. It has to be diffused, and the wider, the better.
So long as the ULT retains its independent-dependence it will serve as the
"Voice of Conscience" for Theosophists in the world.  The hot flame of
truth in action burns away all useless chaff from the "golden grain" of
duty.  Its main purpose is to see that the original teachings of Theosophy
are faithfully made available to inquirers.  When this task was first
entrusted to the other "societies," it was soon noticed that "Editorial
changes, emendations, deletions and alterations" crept in, so as to obscure
those originals, and make more difficult to find those instructions which
those who are innately esotericists seek.  This is a great danger.  It is,
in effect, the arrogation to ones' self a knowledge that pretends to
transcend that of HPB and the Masters.

Even the ULT has, and will undergo "shocks."  There are constant attempts
to cause minor and major disruptions.  Only the Declaration (and its
constant use and study) provides a "shield" for these to glance off of
relatively harmlessly.  Now consider with me the action that Mr. Wadia
chose to take, and make of his capacities a part of the supportive
understructure of this "shield," and add to the penetrating work of "true
Theosophy."

This does not mean that an independent T S -- as all Branches were deemed
to be, and as, for instance, the Edmonton Lodge in Canada is -- cannot use
and apply identical principles.  It was originally intended that the
individual T S es would be exactly like the free and independent but
confederated states that entered into the same Union as the USA did.  No
one state could rule another and the Federation was intended as
administrative expediency and coordination, not rule.  This has been the
source of abuse of all democratic states. where the central federation has
made of itself, and of some of its more powerfully conniving units
(persons) rulers.  Unfortunately Olcott in his zeal to administer problems
fairly, made it autocratic.

It is said that the Mission, the work of HPB was to "change the Manas and
the Buddhi of the Race." [W.Q.J.LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME, p. 72]  This
is a peculiar phrase, but one which is vibrant with the effort of the
spiritual will--how best to move millions of minds and psyches to a
consciousness of their own worth, to the sense of the independence that an
immortal, eternal Being has inherently?  That, destroys ignorance and
"blind servitude" to any personal authority.  We are now watching the
unfolding of this process all around us, and all over the world.

How can we best help?  Precept and example do this.  Keeping the purity of
Theosophy alive and active in the world is the most essential thing that
anyone can do.  Reviving old corpses, is an exercise in wasting good
energy.  In effect it is an attempt to reverse the past;  whereas a fresh
beginning usually, under Karma, attracts those minds and hearts that are
searching for Theosophy.  The old group, if they wanted Theosophy would not
have let the organization founder!  The failure to apply brotherhood is
that which has caused all the failures in the recent revival of the
Theosophical Movement. It is time now for self-healing, if possible.
Establishing new bodies for work takes time, but if the old cannot be
brought back to the original lines, then that is what has to be done.
Hence the establishment and support of the ULT activity, where such delays
ought to be precluded.

Mr. Wadia made a personal change to devoting his life-work and energy to
the ULT method - for those strong reasons.  Did he submerge himself in it?
Yes he did, and he always kept himself behind the ULT, pushing it, its
purposes (Theosophy, Brotherhood, Promulgation), and the wider work in the
world that the Theosophical Movement entails:  The P.E.N., The Indian
Institute of World Culture, and The Aryan Path magazine.

[You could well ask why he did so.  If you consider the various T S
organizations around the world, then, and today (1994) you will realize
that the ULT affords a totally free and responsible environment where
independent study, cooperation, and non-authoritarian interdependence
flourishes.  So long as the ULT remains true to its Declaration it will
offer a safe harbor to all who desire to truly work for humanity in
brotherhood without any selfish motives of their own.  The masthead of the
monthly Program of Activities published by the ULT says it in brief: To
Spread Broadcast the Teachings of Theosophy as Recorded in the Writings of
H.P.Blavatsky and William Q. Judge.]

In America, as another example of this kind of strenuous, impersonal, and
wholly devoted work for the betterment of humanity, you have had:  Manas
magazine, a weekly magazine, edited up to the time of his death, by Henry
Geiger - another ULT student for whom Theosophy represented the
beacon-light of the Supreme Goal.  He was its anonymous editor for over 40
years of devoted, disinterested but intensely practical service
[1948-1988].  This magazine complemented and supplemented the work of the
older already established magazine The Aryan (Noble) Path, which was
started by Mr. Wadia and edited from Bombay from 1929, till his death in
1958 for 30 years.]

For a moment, let me ask you to suppose that an Adept, or "HPB," returned,
(and Mr. Judge wrote that She would, as soon as it was possible--see WQJ
Articles II 214), and desired to work for Theosophy through the existing
Theosophical Societies, bodies or groups -- do you think They (around
1920), would struggle with all the "political" posturing, and all the
"contorted mind-sets" in the T.S. that currently exist, are partisan, and
have the least to do with real Theosophy ?  Or would he try to work through
some body which was non-political, non-structured, and which insisted on
perpetuating the work in original of both HPB and WQJ ?   And, at the same
time, held the personal nature of each individual student to the lowest
possible point of interference in actual work.  [ Read, for instance, Mr.
Judge's article: "On Funds and Property,  Path, Vol. 8, p. 354. ]  In other
words, would not the U.L.T. present a basis for the culling out of the T.S.
of those who remained sincere students and friends of H.P.B. and the Masters ?

In Theosophy, work is always available for those who want to work.  Many
hear the call, and in their hearts they respond, but when it comes to
doing, they find reasons why they should refrain or abstain.  It is this
inner barrier that each has to study, because our success or failure for
the present incarnation is to be found, there.  Do we work for it, or do we
hinder it by rejection, by distortion, or through tamasic indifference and
inaction ?  Each answers this to himself.  The personality that we are, is
placed by our karma directly into the Hall of the Two Truths.  This is to
be found in ancient Egyptian symbology of the after-death state of Amenti,
where the Soul is judged, by the "heart" of the defunct being placed in the
pan of the scales opposite the "feather" of Truth.  Here, we judge
ourselves:  the Lower Self is that personal self.  It is now judging itself
in the Light that streams from the Atman our Higher Permanent Self.

Mr. Judge in "Letters" uses the symbology of "the inside of a glove," as
representing that Lower Self.  Some meditation about that word and idea
produce interesting results.

The cycle that begins around 1975 has come, and is almost passed, as this
is written in 1996, the evidence of power and change for the better
surrounds us.  How could the political, Theosophical, and human changes in
Russia and Eastern Europe have come about - virtually bloodlessly - the
great revolution in physics towards a use of mysticism and philosophy in
describing inter-related disciplines such as chemistry, astronomy, physics
and mathematics?  Do we need new and sweeping religious brooms?  We have
Theosophy.  But, are we making the best use of it ?  It is the duty of the
"companions," Judge said, to rediscover and to employ it.  Both HPB and
Judge prophesied that she might return.  Are we sure she hasn't ?   She as
Ego Sum is just as immortal as we are in our inner essence, so why presume
She is dead, or has abandoned those who work in the movement that she and
The Masters commenced ?  We are all under Her eye, whether we know it or
not, or, like it or not!

You ask about Mr. Wadia and his function.  Do you not think that it was one
of sustaining and lending strength in the only area (1919-29) where
original Theosophy could be still broadcast?  The reprinting of the
original texts: Secret Doctrine, Isis Unveiled, Key, Voice, Theos.
Glossary, Modern Panarion, 5 Years of Theosophy, HPB and Judge's Magazine
Articles -- this was a responsibility assumed by the ULT as those pioneer
texts went out-of-print, and when the light of original effort seemed to
have waned and paled to a great low for the original T S.

ULT has thus served to keep that "beacon light"--the "Phare de l'Inconnu"--
alive and vibrant with some of the original energy.  Since then, others,
active in the T Ses have picked up their torches. lit them again at that
Source, and are carrying on as best they can.  It is always and for ever
the self-effort that counts.  In some cases it is noticed that an
appreciation of the functions of the U.L.T., and of each other's contiguous
work has paved the way to brotherliness and greater cooperation among all
those who employ the word Theosophy to designate their interests.

This work of reprinting the "original teachings" was started under Robert
Crosbie in Theosophy Magazine, which began its publication in November
1912.  It was dedicated to reprint the articles of HPB and Judge that were,
by then, out-of-print and unknown to the majority of those that formed the
new generation of Theosophists.  It is in this area that one can notice by
a regular perusal of magazines issued by the various Theosophical bodies,
that they have lost contact, as a whole, with the Original Teachings.  Such
a lack has allowed them to stray from a course originally set for them to
pursue.

Another of Theosophy magazine's functions was to clear away the confusion
and vagueness as to what had actually happened in Theosophical chronology,
and make the history of the Theosophical Society and its chief actors
(H.P.B., Judge, Olcott and Annie Besant) a matter of public, and accessible
record, to students and all other inquirers, and thus, strip away false
secrecy, innuendo, hearsay, calumny and other confusions, such as false
"authority," by quoting from original documents available to all inquirers.

When Mr. Wadia broadcast his resignation from the T S and gave there his
reasons, he combed a large number of sincere students and devotees of HPB
and WQJ out of the T.S. into centers where the ULT and its "straight HPB
Theosophy" would be used and studied by them.  It was determined by him,
and those others, who had responsibility for the guidance of the ULT work,
that an intensive study of what Theosophy actually was, would be the first
and most valuable tool to be used by all students.  The promulgation and
publishing work of the ULT was set to that objective, and continues to be.

The study of the "Three Fundamentals" (Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 13-19),
of the "Ancient Source of Theosophy" (Secret Doctrine, I, p. 272, #1) and
of the "Ten Propositions of Oriental Psychology" (Isis Unveiled, Vol. II,
pp. 587-8) was done at all study-class meetings as a preliminary.  The
intensive study of THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY by HPB, and of THE OCEAN OF
THEOSOPHY by WQJ was then pursued; and the special study of the BHAGAVAD
GITA was undertaken.

The republishing in photographic format of HPB's larger books (The Secret
Doctrine and Isis Unveiled) was then taken up.  The rest of the T.Ses have,
since then, been forced to tag along, eventually, when they found that what
they were then serving was not nourishing the deeper aspirations of their
membership;  and, further, they were accused of publishing distorted and
obscured versions of HPB's original teachings (when their offerings were
compared with the originals).  They then reprinted the originals themselves.

This has proved a real blessing to inquirers, as everyone now has easy
access to those important books and facts through their wider diffusion.

A further indication of Theosophy having "arrived" in the circles of
Academia is the fact that a number of "graduate students" are found to be
studying various aspects of theosophical history and the development of the
applications of theosophical principles through the literature available,
such as work with and for children.  In the departments of Religious
Studies in a number of Universities a Professorial Chair has been set up
for the study and preservation of Theosophical material, and this has been
done all around the world.

It is amazing how many minds and hands try to "improve" on HPB.  Or say,
casually, "Well, if HPB were here now, she would say--this, or--that," and
seek to modernize and up-date her, while unconsciously, perhaps, putting
themselves forward, either as critics or as equals to HPB and the Masters !
 Fortunately, science and good scientists know the value of the S.D., and
use it.  Those who are in the forefront of mathematics, physics, astronomy
and philosophy (not to mention the social sciences, and the sciences that
involve the mind, psychology and consciousness) are using it, and are
familiar with its teachings and ideas.

Unfortunately, there are still many who cannot distinguish Leadbeater
divagations from the Esoteric Philosophy of the Ages.  But that is another
story.  Do you have a copy of Margaret Thomas' Theosophy or Neo-Theosophy ?
 If you can get a copy you will soon see how much Leadbeater and Annie
Besant have departed from the sources of pure Theosophy. 	--- WK

FURTHER NOTE (from WK):

In regard to your question about instituting the  practice of providing a
"Summer retreat for students of Theosophy."

I can only think of the instance of Mr. Wadia, who owned, before he joined
the ULT, a property in Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Mountains of South India.

I think that the history of this place is adequately given in my
bio-chronological notes on Mr. Wadia.

The summer climate in Madras, of daily over 100 degrees and almost 100 per
cent humidity, and little or no air-conditioning available, makes this a
most punitive climate.  The Nilgiris are over 7,000 feet high and the
climate there is "an eternal Spring" --average 55/75 degrees.  This
explains why the property was bought by him.  Earlier, HPB and Olcott had
purchased near the "Snowdon" mountain a small cottage.  Olcott named it
"Gulmarg," and he said he would eventually retire to it, but, he never did.
 [ During World War I, when Mrs. A. Besant and Mr. Wadia were interned by
the Govt. of Madras for about 3 months, they were confined to the use of
this cottage.]

When the active season of the ULT in Bombay came to a close (usually after
May 8th) and the pre-monsoon heat and humidity was heavy there, Mr. Wadia
would go to Ooty and stay there for several months, and from time to time
he would invite other students to visit and stay for a while.  He used to
say that he could do twice as much writing in Ooty as in Bombay--articles,
letters, poured out under his hands.  All the correspondence of the Bombay
U.L.T. and the I.I.W.C ( other than routine ) was sent to him daily. This
he returned immediately, with instructions on handling, or with fully
written answers.  In other words, his self-assumed burdens did not lessen
when he went there.  All during his life a 12, 14 or even 16 hour days were
habitual work-time for him.

Continued in Part 6 of 7
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