Theos-Talk Archives (November 2000 Message tt00138)

Nov 18th 2000

Dear Jim:

Here is the text of all 5 "Messages" They make very interesting
reading, in their entirety.

My quote was from the 3rd Message.

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>From the 3rd Message


"What of the coming year? And first a word of warning. As the
preparation for the new cycle proceeds, as the forerunners of the
new sub-race make their appearance on the American continent, the
latent psychic and occult powers in man are beginning to
germinate and grow. Hence the rapid growth of such movements as
Christian Science, Mind Cure, Metaphysical Healing, Spiritual
Healing, and so forth. All these movements represent nothing but
different phases of the exercise of these growing powers -- as
yet not understood and therefore but too often ignorantly
misused. Understand once for all that there is nothing
"spiritual" or "divine" in any of these manifestations. The cures
effected by them are due simply to the unconscious exercise of
occult power on the lower planes of nature -- usually of prana or
life-currents. The conflicting theories of all these schools are
based on misunderstood and misapplied metaphysics, often on
grotesquely absurd logical fallacies. But the one feature common
to most of them, a feature which presents the most danger in the
near future, is this. In nearly every case, the tenor of the
teachings of these schools is such as to lead people to regard
the healing process as being applied to the mind of the patient.
Here lies the danger, for any such process -- however cunningly
disguised in words and hidden by false noses -- is simply to
psychologize the patient. In other words, whenever the healer
interferes -- consciously or unconsciously -- with the free
mental action of the person he treats, it is -- Black Magic.
Already these so-called sciences of "Healing" are being used to
gain a livelihood. Soon some sharp person will find out that by
the same process the minds of others can be influenced in many
directions, and the selfish motive of personal gain and
money-getting having been once allowed to creep in, the one-time
"healer" may be insensibly led on to use his power to acquire
wealth or some other object of his desire.

This is one of the dangers of the new cycle, aggravated
enormously by the pressure of competition and the struggle for
existence. Happily new tendencies are also springing up, working
to change the basis of men's daily lives from selfishness to
altruism. The Nationalist Movement is an application of
Theosophy. (1) But remember, all of you, that if Nationalism is
an application of Theosophy, it is the latter which must ever
stand first in your sight. Theosophy is indeed the life, the
indwelling spirit which makes every true reform a vital reality,
for Theosophy is Universal Brotherhood, the very foundation as
well as the keystone of all movements toward the amelioration of
our condition.

What I said last year remains true today, that is, that the
Ethics of Theosophy are more important than any divulgement of
psychic laws and facts. The latter relate wholly to the material
and evanescent part of the septenary man, but the Ethics sink
into and take hold of the real man -- the reincarnating Ego. We
are outwardly creatures of but a day; within we are eternal.
Learn, then, well the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation, and
teach, practice, promulgate that system of life and thought which
alone can save the coming races. Do not work merely for the
Theosophical Society, but through it for Humanity."

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>From the 4th Message


"Your position as the forerunners of the sixth sub-race of the
fifth root-race has its own special perils as well as its special
advantages. Psychism, with all its allurements and all its
dangers, is necessarily developing among you, and you must beware
lest the Psychic outruns the Manasic and Spiritual development.
Psychic capacities held perfectly under control, checked and
directed by the Manasic principle, are valuable aids in
development. But these capacities running riot, controlling
instead of controlled, using instead of being used, lead the
Student into the most dangerous delusions and the certainty of
moral destruction. Watch therefore carefully this development,
inevitable in your race and evolution-period, so that it may
finally work for good and not for evil; and receive, in advance,
the sincere and potent blessings of Those whose goodwill will
never fail you, if you do not fail yourselves. "


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Dal

Full text is below of all the Messages

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HPB -- FIVE MESSAGES

1st message
THE FIRST MESSAGE
1888
TO WILLIAM Q. JUDGE ,
General Secretary of the American Section of the Theosophical
Society.
MY DEAREST BROTHER AND CO-FOUNDER
OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY:

In addressing to you this letter, which I request you to read to
the Convention summoned for April 22nd, I must first present my
hearty congratulations and most cordial good wishes to the
assembled Delegates and good Fellows of our society, and to
yourself -- the heart and soul of that Body in America. We were
several, to call it to life in 1875. Since then you have remained
alone to preserve that life through good and evil report. It is
to you chiefly, if not entirely, that the Theosophical Society
owes its existence in 1888. Let me then thank you for it, for the
first and perhaps the last, time publicly, and from the bottom of
my heart, which beats only for the cause you represent so well
and serve so faithfully. I ask you also to remember that, on this
important occasion, my voice is but the feeble echo of other more
sacred voices, and the transmitter of the approval of Those whose
presence is alive in more than one true Theosophical heart, and
lives, as I know, pre-eminently in yours. May the assembled
Society feel the warm greeting as earnestly as it is given, and
may every Fellow present, who realizes that he has deserved it,
profit by the Blessings sent.

Theosophy has lately taken a new start in America which marks the
commencement of a new Cycle in the affairs of the Society in the
West. And the policy you are now following is admirably adapted
to give scope for the widest expansion of the movement, and to
establish on a firm basis an organization which, while promoting
feelings of fraternal sympathy, social unity, and solidarity,
will leave ample room for individual freedom and exertion in the
common cause - that of helping mankind.

The multiplication of local centres should be a foremost
consideration in your minds, and each man should strive to be a
centre of work in himself. When his inner development has reached
a certain point, he will naturally draw those with whom he is in
contact under the same influence; a nucleus will be formed, round
which other people will gather, forming a centre from which
information and spiritual influence radiate, and towards which
higher influences are directed.

But let no man set up a popery instead of Theosophy, as this
would be suicidal and has ever ended most fatally. We are all
fellow-students, more or less advanced; but no one belonging to
the Theosophical Society ought to count himself as more than, at
best, a pupil-teacher - one who has no right to dogmatize.

Since the Society was founded, a distinct change has come over
the spirit of the age. Those who gave us commission to found the
Society foresaw this, now rapidly growing, wave of transcendental
influence following that other wave of mere phenomenalism. Even
the journals of Spiritualism are gradually eliminating the
phenomena and wonders, to replace them with philosophy. The
Theosophical Society led the van of this movement; but, although
Theosophical ideas have entered into every development or form
which awakening spirituality has assumed, yet Theosophy pure and
simple has still a severe battle to fight for recognition. The
days of old are gone to return no more, and many are the
Theosophists who, taught by bitter experience, have pledged
themselves to make of the Society a "miracle club" no longer. The
faint-hearted have asked in all ages for signs and wonders, and
when these failed to be granted, they refused to believe. Such
are not those who will ever comprehend Theosophy pure and simple.
But there are others among us who realize intuitionally that the
recognition of pure Theosophy - the philosophy of the rational
explanation of things and not the tenets - is of the most vital
importance in the Society, inasmuch as it alone can furnish the
beacon-light needed to guide humanity on its true path.

This should never be forgotten, nor should the following fact be
overlooked. On the day when Theosophy will have accomplished its
most holy and most important mission - namely to unite firmly a
body of men of all nations in brotherly love and bent on a pure
altruistic work, not on a labor with selfish motives - on that
day only will Theosophy become higher than any nominal
brotherhood of man. This will be a wonder and a miracle truly,
for the realization of which Humanity is vainly waiting for the
last eighteen centuries, and which every association has hitherto
failed to accomplish.

Orthodoxy in Theosophy is a thing neither possible nor desirable.
It is diversity of opinion, within certain limits that keeps the
Theosophical Society a living and a healthy body, its many other
ugly features notwithstanding. Were it not, also, for the
existence of a large amount of uncertainty in the minds of
students of Theosophy, such healthy divergencies would be
impossible, and the Society would degenerate into a sect, in
which a narrow and stereotyped creed would take the place of the
living and breathing spirit of Truth and an ever growing
Knowledge.

According as people are prepared to receive it, so will new
Theosophical teachings be given. But no more will be given than
the world, on its present level of spirituality, can profit by.
It depends on the spread of Theosophy - the assimilation of what
has been already given - how much more will be revealed and how
soon.

It must be remembered that the Society was not founded as a
nursery for forcing a supply of Occultists - as a factory for the
manufactory of Adepts. It was intended to stem the current of
materialism, and also that of spiritualistic phenomenalism and
the worship of the Dead. It had to guide the spiritual awakening
that has now begun, and not to pander to psychic cravings which
are but another form of materialism. For by "materialism" is
meant not only an anti-philosophical negation of pure spirit,
and, even more, materialism in conduct and action - brutality,
hypocrisy, and, above all, selfishness, - but also the fruits of
a disbelief in all but material things, a disbelief which has
increased enormously during the last century, and which has led
many, after a denial of all existence other than that in matter,
into a blind belief in the materialization of Spirit.

The tendency of modern civilization is a reaction towards
animalism, towards a development of those qualities which conduce
to the success in life of man as an animal in the struggle for
animal existence. Theosophy seeks to develop the human nature in
man in addition to the animal, and at the sacrifice of the
superfluous animality which modern life and materialistic
teachings have developed to a degree which is abnormal for the
human being at this stage of his progress.

Men cannot all be Occultists, but they can all be Theosophists.
Many who have never heard of the Society are Theosophists without
knowing it themselves; for the essence of Theosophy is the
perfect harmonizing of the divine with the human in man, the
adjustment of his god-like qualities and aspirations, and their
sway over the terrestrial or animal passions in him. Kindness,
absence of every ill feeling or selfishness, charity, good-will
to all beings, and perfect justice to others as to one's self,
are its chief features. He who teaches Theosophy preaches the
gospel of good-will; and the converse of this is true also, - he
who preaches the gospel of good-will, teaches Theosophy.

This aspect of Theosophy has never failed to receive due and full
recognition in the pages of the "PATH," a journal of which the
American Section has good reason to be proud. It is a teacher and
a power; and the fact that such a periodical should be produced
and supported in the United States speaks in eloquent praise both
of its Editor and its readers.

America is also to be congratulated on the increase in the number
of the Branches or Lodges which is now taking place. It is a sign
that in things spiritual as well as things temporal the great
American Republic is well fitted for independence and
self-organization. The Founders of the Society wish every
Section, as soon as it becomes strong enough to govern itself, to
be as independent as is compatible with its allegiance to the
Society as a whole and to the Great Ideal Brotherhood, the lowest
formal grade of which is represented by the Theosophical Society.

Here in England Theosophy is waking into new life. The slanders
and absurd inventions of the society for Psychical Research have
almost paralyzed it, though only for a very short time, and the
example of America has stirred the English Theosophists into
renewed activity. "LUCIFER" sounded the reveille, and the first
fruit has been the founding of the "Theosophical Publication
Society." This Society is of great importance. It has undertaken
the very necessary work of breaking down the barrier of prejudice
and ignorance which has formed so great an impediment to the
spread of Theosophy. It will act as a recruiting agency for the
Society by the wide distribution of elementary literature on the
subject, among those who are in any way prepared to give ear to
it. The correspondence already received shows that it is creating
an interest in the subject, and proves that in every large town
in England there exist quite enough isolated Theosophists to form
groups or Lodges under charter from the Society. But, at present,
these students do not even know of each other's existence, and
many of them have never heard of the Theosophical Society until
now. I am thoroughly satisfied of the great utility of this new
Society, composed as it is to a large extent of members of the
Theosophical Society, and being under the control of prominent
Theosophists, such as you, my dear Brother W. Q. Judge, Mabel
Collins, and the Countess Wachtmeister.

I am confident that, when the real nature of Theosophy is
understood, the prejudice against it, now so unfortunately
prevalent, will die out. Theosophists are of necessity the
friends of all movements in the world, whether intellectual or
simply practical, for the amelioration of the condition of
mankind. We are the friends of all those who fight against
drunkenness, against cruelty to animals, against injustice to
women, against corruption in society or in government, although
we do not meddle in politics. We are the friends of those who
exercise practical charity, who seek to lift a little of the
tremendous weight of misery that is crushing down the poor. But,
in our quality of Theosophists, we cannot engage in any one of
these great works in particular. As individuals we may do so, but
as Theosophists we have a larger, more important, and much more
difficult work to do. People say that Theosophists should show
what is in them, that "the tree is known by its fruit." Let them
build dwellings for the poor, it is said, let them open
"soup-kitchens" etc., etc., and the world will believe that there
is something in Theosophy. These good people forget that
Theosophists, as such, are poor, and that the Founders themselves
are poorer than any, and that one of them, at any rate, the
humble writer of these lines, has no property of her own, and has
to work hard for her daily bread whenever she finds time from her
Theosophical duties. The function of Theosophists is to open
men's hearts and understandings to charity, justice, and
generosity, attributes which belong specifically to the human
kingdom and are natural to man when he has developed the
qualities of a human being. Theosophy teaches the animal-man to
be a human-man; and when people have learned to think and feel as
truly human beings should feel and think, they will act humanely,
and works of charity, justice, and generosity will be done
spontaneously by all.

Now with regard to the Secret Doctrine, the publication of which
some of you urged so kindly upon me, and in such cordial terms, a
while ago. I am very grateful for the hearty support promised and
for the manner in which it was expressed. The MSS. of the first
three volumes is now ready for the press; and its publication is
only delayed by the difficulty which is experienced in finding
the necessary funds. Though I have not written it with an eye to
money, yet, having left Adyar, I must live and pay my way in the
world so long as I remain in it. Moreover, the Theosophical
Society urgently needs money for many purposes, and I feel that I
should not be justified in dealing with the Secret Doctrine as I
dealt with Isis Unveiled. From my former work I have received
personally in all only a few hundred dollars, although nine
editions have been issued. Under these circumstances I am
endeavouring to find means of securing the publication of the
Secret Doctrine on better terms this time, and here I am offered
next to nothing. So, my dearest Brothers and Co-workers in the
trans-Atlantic lands, you must forgive me the delay, and not
blame me for it but the unfortunate conditions I am surrounded
with.

I should like to revisit America, and shall perhaps do so one
day, should my health permit. I have received pressing
invitations to take up my abode in your great country which I
love so much for its noble freedom. Colonel Olcott, too, urges
upon me very strongly to return to India, where he is fighting
almost single-handed the great and hard fight in the cause of
Truth; but I feel that, for the present, my duty lies in England
and with the Western Theosophists, where for the moment the
hardest fight against prejudice and ignorance has to be fought.
But whether I be in England or in India a large part of my heart
and much of my hope for Theosophy lie with you in the United
States, where the Theosophical Society was founded, and of which
country I myself am proud of being a citizen. But you must
remember that, although there must be local Branches of the
Theosophical Society, there can be no local Theosophists; and
just as you all belong to the Society, so do I belong to you all.

I shall leave my dear Friend and Colleague, Colonel Olcott, to
tell you all about the condition of affairs in India, where
everything looks favorable, as I am informed, for I have no doubt
that he also will have sent his good wishes and congratulations
to your Convention.

Meanwhile, my far-away and dear Brother, accept the warmest and
sincerest wishes for the welfare of your Societies and of
yourself personally, and, while conveying to all your colleagues
the expression of my fraternal regards, assure them that, at the
moment when you will be reading to them the present lines, I
shall - if alive - be in Spirit, Soul, and Thought amidst you
all.

Yours ever, in the truth of the GREAT CAUSE we are all working
for,

H. P. BLAVATSKY. London, April 3d, 1888.



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2nd	Message



Letter II -- 1889

Third Annual Convention -- April 28-29
American Section of the Theosophical Society
Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois
Letter from H. P. Blavatsky, dated April 7, read by William Q.
Judge, morning session, April 28; reproduced from the printed
Report of Proceedings, pp. 14-20

17 LANSDOWNE ROAD, HOLLAND PARK, LONDON, W.

April 7, 1889

Friends and Brother Theosophists:

You are now once again assembled in Convention, and to you again
I send my heartiest greetings and wishes that the present
Convention may prove a still greater success than the last.

It is now the fourteenth year since the Theosophical Society was
founded by us in New York, and with steady persistence and
indomitable strength the Society has continued to grow amid
adverse circumstances, amid good report and evil report. And now
we have entered on the last year of our second septenary period,
and it is fitting and right that we should all review the
position which we have assumed.

In India, under Col. Olcott's care, Branches continue to be
formed, and wherever the President lectures or pays a visit, a
new center of interest is sure to be created. His visits in the
spirit which animates him are like a shower of rain to thirsty,
sun-parched soil; flowers and herbs spring up in profusion, and
the seed of healthy vegetation is sown. Now he is on a visit to
Japan, whither he was invited by a strong and influential
deputation to lecture on Theosophy and Buddhism, among a people
who are mad and crazy to acquire Western civilization; who
believe that it can only be obtained by the suicidal adoption of
Christianity as a national religion. Aye! to neglect their own
natural national religion in favor of a parasitic growth -- and
for Western civilization with its blessings such as they are!

Truly young Japan is like the conceited Greek before Troy:

"We boast ourselves to be much better men than our fathers."

I have heard with regret that though Col. Olcott meditated a
visit and a lecturing tour in America after his visit to Japan,
his visit has unavoidably been prevented.

Here in England we have been hard at work; we have met some
difficulties and surmounted them, but others, like the
Hydra-heads of the labors of Hercules, seem to spring up at every
step that is made. But a firm will and a steadfast devotion to
our great Cause of Theosophy must and shall break down every
obstacle until the stream of Truth shall burst its confines and
sweep every difficulty away in its rolling flood. May Karma
hasten the day.

But you in America. Your Karma as a nation has brought Theosophy
home to you. The life of the Soul, the psychic side of nature, is
open to many of you. The life of altruism is not so much a high
ideal as a matter of practice. Naturally, then, Theosophy finds a
home in many hearts and minds, and strikes a resounding harmony
as soon as it reaches the ears of those who are ready to listen.
There, then, is part of your work: to lift high the torch of the
liberty of the Soul of Truth that all may see it and benefit by
its light.

Therefore it is that the Ethics of Theosophy are even more
necessary to mankind than the scientific aspects of the psychic
facts of nature and man.

With such favorable conditions as are present in America for
Theosophy it is only natural that its Society should increase
rapidly and that Branch after Branch should arise. But while the
organization for the spread of Theosophy waxes large, we must
remember the necessity for consolidation. The Society must grow
proportionately and not too rapidly, for fear lest, like some
children, it should overgrow its strength and there should come a
period of difficulty and danger when natural growth is arrested
to prevent the sacrifice of the organism. This is a very real
fact in the growth of human beings, and we must carefully watch
lest the "Greater Child" -- the Theosophical Society -- should
suffer for the same cause. Once before was growth checked in
connection with the psychic phenomena, and there may yet come a
time when the moral and ethical foundations of the Society may be
wrecked in a similar way. What can be done to prevent such a
thing is for each Fellow of the Society to make Theosophy a vital
factor in their lives -- to make it real, to weld its principles
firmly into their lives -- in short, to make it their own and
treat the Theosophical Society as if it were themselves.
Following closely on this is the necessity for Solidarity among
the Fellows of the Society; the acquisition of such a feeling of
identity with each and all of our Brothers that an attack upon
one is an attack upon all. Then consolidated and welded in such a
spirit of Brotherhood and Love we shall, unlike Archimedes, need
neither fulcrum nor lever, but we shall move the world.

We need all our strength to meet the difficulties and dangers
which surround us. We have external enemies to fight in the shape
of materialism, prejudice, and obstinacy; the enemies in the
shape of custom and religious forms; enemies too numerous to
mention, but nearly as thick as the sand-clouds which are raised
by the blasting Sirocco of the desert. Do we not need our
strength against these foes? Yet, again, there are more insidious
foes, who "take our name in vain," and who make Theosophy a
byword in the mouths of men and the Theosophical Society a mark
at which to throw mud. They slander Theosophists and Theosophy,
and convert the moral Ethics into a cloak to conceal their own
selfish objects. And as if this were not sufficient, there are
the worst foes of all -- those of a man's own household --
Theosophists who are unfaithful both to the Society and to
themselves. Thus indeed we are in the midst of foes. Before and
around us is the "Valley of Death," and we have to charge upon
our enemies -- right upon his guns -- if we would win the day.
Cavalry -- men and horses -- can be trained to ride almost as one
man in an attack upon the terrestrial plane; shall not we fight
and win the battle of the Soul, struggling in the spirit of the
Higher Self to win our divine heritage?

Let us, for a moment, glance backwards at the ground we have
passed over. We have had, as said before, to hold our own against
the Spiritists, in the name of Truth and Spiritual Science. Not
against the students of the true psychic knowledge, nor against
the enlightened Spiritualists; but against the lower order of
phenomenalists -- the blind worshipers of illusionary phantoms of
the Dead. These we have fought for the sake of Truth, and also
for that of the world which they were misleading. I repeat it
again: no "fight" was ever waged against the real students of the
psychic sciences. Professor Coues did much last year to make
plain our real position, in his address to the Western Society
for Psychic Research. He put in plain language the real
importance of psychic studies, and he did excellent work in also
laying stress upon the difficulties, the dangers, and, above all,
the responsibilities of their pursuit. Not only is there a
similarity, as he showed, between such pursuits and the
manufacture of dangerous explosives -- especially in unskilled
hands -- but the experiments, as the Professor truly said, are
conducted on, with, and by a human soul. Unless prepared
carefully by a long and special course of study, the
experimentalist risks not only the medium's soul but his own. The
experiments made in Hypnotism and Mesmerism at the present time
are experiments of unconscious, when not of conscious, Black
Magic. The road is wide and broad which leads to such
destruction; and it is but too easy to find; and only too many go
ignorantly along it to their own destruction. But the practical
cure for it lies in one thing. That is the course of study which
I mentioned before. It sounds very simple, but is eminently
difficult; for that cure is "ALTRUISM." And this is the keynote
of Theosophy and the cure for all ills; this it is which the real
Founders of the Theosophical Society promote as its first
object -- UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD.

Thus even if only in name a body of Altruists, the Theosophical
Society has to fight all who under its cover seek to obtain
magical powers to use for their own selfish ends and to the hurt
of others. Many are those who joined our Society for no other
purpose than curiosity. Psychological phenomena were what they
sought, and they were unwilling to yield one iota of their own
pleasures and habits to obtain them. These very quickly went away
empty-handed. The Theosophical Society has never been and never
will be a school of promiscuous Theurgic rites. But there are
dozens of small occult Societies which talk very glibly of Magic,
Occultism, Rosicrucians, Adepts, etc. These profess much, even to
giving the key to the Universe, but end by leading men to a blank
wall instead of the "Door of the Mysteries." These are some of
our most insidious foes. Under cover of the philosophy of the
Wisdom-Religion they manage to get up a mystical jargon which for
the time is effective and enables them, by the aid of a very
small amount of clairvoyance, to fleece the mystically inclined
but ignorant aspirants to the occult, and lead them like sheep in
almost any direction. Witness the now notorious H. B. of L., and
the now famous G. N. K. R.(1) But woe to those who try to convert
a noble philosophy into a den for disgusting immorality,
greediness for selfish power, and money-making under the cloak of
Theosophy. Karma reaches them when least expected. But is it
possible for our Society to stand by and remain respected, unless
its members are prepared, at least in future, to stand like one
man, and deal with such slanders upon themselves as Theosophists,
and such vile caricatures of their highest ideals, as these two
pretenders have made them?

But in order that we may be able to effect this working on behalf
of our common cause, we have to sink all private differences.
Many are the energetic members of the Theosophical Society who
wish to work and work hard. But the price of their assistance is
that all the work must be done in their way and not in any one
else's way. And if this is not carried out they sink back into
apathy or leave the Society entirely, loudly declaring that they
are the only true Theosophists. Or, if they remain, they endeavor
to exalt their own method of working at the expense of all other
earnest workers. This is fact, but it is not Theosophy. There can
be no other end to it than that the growth of the Society will
soon be split up into various sects, as many as there arc
leaders, and as hopelessly fatuous as the 350 odd Christian sects
which exist in England alone at the present time. Is this
prospect one to look forward to for the Theosophical Society? Is
this "Separateness" consonant with the united Altruism of
Universal Brotherhood? Is this the teaching of our Noble MASTERS?
Brothers and Sisters in America, it is in your hands to decide
whether it shall be realized or not. You work and work hard. But
to work properly in our Great Cause it is necessary to forget all
personal differences of opinion as to how the work is to be
carried on. Let each of us work in his own way and not endeavor
to force our ideas of work upon our neighbors. Remember how the
Initiate Paul warned his correspondents against the attitude of
sectarianism they took up in the early Christian Church: -- "I am
of Paul, I of Apollos," and let us profit by the warning.
Theosophy is essentially unsectarian, and work for it forms the
entrance to the Inner life. But none can enter there save the man
himself in the highest and truest spirit of Brotherhood, and any
other attempt at entrance will either be futile or he will lie
blasted at the threshold.

But Karma will reconcile all our differences of opinion. A strict
account of our actual work will be taken, and the "wages" earned
will be recorded to our credit. But as strict an account will be
taken of the work which any one, by indulging in personal
grievances, may have hindered his neighbors from doing. Think you
it is a light thing to hinder the force of the Theosophical
Society, as represented in the person of any of its leaders, from
doing its appointed work? So surely as there is a Karmic power
behind the Society will that power exact the account for its
hindrance, and he is a rash and ignorant man who opposes his puny
self to it in the execution of its appointed task.

Thus, then, "UNION IS STRENGTH"; and for every reason private
differences must be sunk in united work for our Great Cause.

Now what has been our work during the past year? Here we have
organized the British Section of the Theosophical Society with
the help and under the orders of the President-Founder, Col.
Olcott. And instead of one Lodge have been formed smaller local
Branches, which, therefore, have greater powers of work and
facilities of meeting. What has been done in India you will
probably have already heard. And you have heard or know what has
been accomplished and what increase in strength your own Section
has made.

As regards our means of spreading knowledge, we have in the West
"Lucifer," the "Path" and the T.P.S. pamphlets. All these have
brought us into contact with numerous persons of whose existence
we should not otherwise have become aware. Thus they are all of
them necessary to the Cause, as is also the attempting to
influence the public mind by the aid of the general Press. I
regret to say that several co-workers on "Lucifer" have now left
it and the Society for precisely such personal differences as
those alluded to above, and have now become antagonistic, not
only to me personally, but to the system of thought which the
Theosophical Society inculcates.

On account of a personal feeling against Col. Olcott, the
"Lotus" -- the French Journal -- has also seceded from Theosophy;
but we have just founded "La Revue Theosophique" to replace it in
Paris. It is edited by myself and managed or directed by Countess
d'Adhemar, an American lady, loved and respected by all who know
her, and a friend of our Brother, Dr. Buck.

As many of you are aware, we have formed the "Esoteric Section."
Its members are pledged, among other things, to work for
Theosophy under my direction. By it, for one thing, we have
endeavored to secure some solidarity in our common work: to form
a strong body of resistance against attempts to injure us on the
part of the outside world, against prejudice against the
Theosophical Society and against me personally. By its means much
may be done to nullify the damage to the work of the Society in
the past and to vastly further its work in the future. Its name,
however, I would willingly change. The Boston scandals have
entirely discredited the name "Esoteric"; but this is a matter
for after consideration.

Thus, as I have already said, our chief enemies are public
prejudice and crass obstinacy from a materialistic world; the
strong "personality" of some of our own members; the
falsification of our aims and name by money-loving charlatans;
and, above all, the desertion of previously devoted friends who
have now become our bitterest enemies.

Truly were those words wise which are attributed to Jesus in the
Gospels. We sow our seed and some falls by the wayside on
heedless ears; some on stony ground, where it springs up in a fit
of emotional enthusiasm, and presently, having no root, it dies
and "withers away." In other cases the "thorns" and passions of a
material world choke back the growth of a goodly fruitage, and it
dies when opposed to the "cares of life and the deceitfulness of
riches." For, alas, it is only in a few that the Seed of
Theosophy finds good ground and brings forth a hundredfold.

But our union is, and ever will be, our strength, if we preserve
our ideal of Universal Brotherhood. It is the old "In hoc signo,
vinces" ["With this sign thou shalt conquer"] which should be our
watchword, for it is under its sacred flag that we shall conquer.

And now a last and parting word. My words may and will pass and
be forgotten, but certain sentences from letters written by the
Masters will never pass, because they are the embodiment of the
highest practical Theosophy. I must translate them for you: --

" * * * Let not the fruit of good Karma be your motive; for your
Karma, good or bad, being one and the common property of all
mankind, nothing good or bad can happen to you that is not shared
by many others. Hence your motive, being selfish, can only
generate a double effect, good and bad, and will either nullify
your good action, or turn it to another man's profit." * * "There
is no happiness for one who is ever thinking of Self and
forgetting all other Selves."
"The Universe groans under the weight of such action (Karma), and
none other than self-sacrificial Karma relieves it. * How many of
you have helped humanity to carry its smallest burden, that you
should all regard yourselves as Theosophists. Oh, men of the
West, who would play at being the Saviors of mankind before they
even spare the life of a mosquito whose sting threatens them!,
would you be partakers of Divine Wisdom or true Theosophists?
Then do as the gods when incarnated do. Feel yourselves the
vehicles of the whole humanity, mankind as part of yourselves,
and act accordingly. * * * * * "

These are golden words; may you assimilate them! This is the hope
of one who signs herself most sincerely the devoted sister and
servant of every true follower of the Masters of Theosophy.

Yours fraternally,

H. P. BLAVATSKY

====================================================


3rd Letter


Letter III -- 1890
Fourth Annual Convention -- April 27-28
American Section of the Theosophical Society
Palmer House, Chicago, Illinois
Message delivered on behalf of H. P. Blavatsky by Bertram
Keightley, afternoon session,
April 27; reproduced from the Report of Proceedings, pp. 27-30

The following cablegram was received by William Q. Judge just
after adjournment:



LONDON, APRIL 26, 1890

JUDGE, GENERAL SECRETARY

GREETINGS TO CONVENTION. TOO SICK TO WRITE PERSONALLY.
H. P. BLAVATSKY

---------------------

MESSAGE COMMUNICATED ON BEHALF OF MADAME H. P. BLAVATSKY
BY BERTRAM KEIGHTLEY


I am directed by H. P. Blavatsky to read to you, as well as I can
remember it, what she wished me to say to the Convention for her,
as she has been too sick to write you her customary salutatory
letter.


Brother Theosophists and Co-workers:


The new cycle which has opened for Theosophy is already beginning
to bear fruit. The progress made by the movement during the last
year is more marked than ever before, but, while encouraging us,
it is also a reminder that the time of harvest is rapidly drawing
nigh, soon to be followed by the winter with storms and tempests.
Thus, though congratulating all of you, my earnest and active
co-workers for our noble cause, and especially my dear colleague,
Mr. W. Q. Judge, I must urge you to increase rather than relax
your efforts.

Looking back over the past year, see how much has been
accomplished by the power of union and unselfish devotion to
work. During 1888-89 only six new Branches were formed in
America; while in the past year fifteen additional Branches have
been organized, while the numbers of the Society have increased
even more rapidly in proportion. But even more important is the
marked change of spirit among the members with regard to the
Society and its work, of which signs are not wanting. The past
twelve months have witnessed more activity in true Theosophical
work, the endeavor to help others, than any preceding year in the
history of the Society in the West. There are signs, visible
though only gradually coming into sight, that its members are at
last awakening from their apathy and setting to work in earnest
to practice the first principle of true Theosophy -- UNIVERSAL
BROTHERHOOD. Gradually they are becoming alive to the duty of
helping others, as they have been helped, by bringing a knowledge
of the life-giving truths of Theosophy within the reach of all.
The Tract Mailing Scheme is receiving increased support, more
workers are volunteering assistance, and funds are forthcoming
for carrying on the work with increased efficiency and ardor. The
Pacific Coast Branches have set the example of undertaking this
task as Branch work in a systematic and organized manner, and the
elevation, the earnestness of the workers there deserve much
praise. All gratitude is also due to the many faithful and
earnest members in America who responded so nobly and generously
to my appeal for aid to continue the publication of Lucifer. My
heartiest thanks are theirs personally, one and all, and the
fruit of their efforts will be seen in the future career of the
magazine.

In England the past year has witnessed a rapid growth and a great
extension of the Society and its work. Our cause has gained two
noble and devoted adherents, whose names have been prominent for
long years past in connection with every effort to bring real aid
to suffering humanity -- Annie Besant and Herbert Burrows. In
them our movement in the West has gained able exponents both with
pen and voice. They fill to some extent the long and sorely-felt
need of speakers who could place Theosophy in its true light
before large audiences, and I, especially, am deeply indebted to
Annie Besant for her invaluable assistance and cooperation in the
conduct of Lucifer.

New Branches have been formed here in the past twelve months,
large numbers of members have joined our ranks, while the growth
of general interest in Theosophy is evidenced by the changed tone
of the Press and the frequent letters and articles on the subject
of Theosophy. So great is the increase of interest in London that
we find ourselves obliged to build a large meeting hall, at the
new Headquarters to which we shall remove in August for the
weekly meetings of the Blavatsky Lodge, as our old home is quite
too small to accommodate the number of enquirers who attend the
meetings.

Colonel Olcott's prolonged stay in England has been of great
assistance to our work. His lectures throughout England and
Ireland have been the cause of the formation of several new
Branches, and his example and influence have done much good on
all sides. To myself his presence has been a great pleasure and
satisfaction, and the added strength when the "Two Founders" were
once more side by side has made itself felt in every department
of our work. It was with great regret that I saw him leave for
India without paying his promised visit to America; but the
Society in the East has most need of his presence, and the death
of Mr. Powell rendered his direct return imperative. Though not
personally acquainted with Mr. Powell, I cannot forbear paying a
heartfelt tribute of gratitude to his memory for the splendid
work he did for the Society, and for the nobility of his complete
self-sacrifice to the service of Humanity. Colonel Olcott was
accompanied on his return to India by two of our staff of workers
here, Mr. Bowles Daly and Mr. E. D. Fawcett, whose presence at
Adyar will, I trust, be of great value to my beloved colleague,
our President-Founder.

A large part of these results is due to the added strength, and,
above all, the increased spirit of solidarity, which the
organization of the Esoteric Section has infused into the T.S. To
the members of that Section I say: See and realize what great
results can be achieved by those who are really in earnest and
unite unselfishly to work for humanity. Let this year's outcome
show you in unmistakable signs the weighty responsibility that
rests upon you, not only towards the Society, but towards the
whole of Humanity. Therefore do not for one moment relax in your
efforts; press closer, shoulder to shoulder, every day; stand
together as one man, come what may, fine weather or storm, and
the victory of the cause to which you have pledged yourselves is
certain. Striving thus in unison with your Higher Self, your
efforts must and will be fruitful of good to the Society, to
yourselves, to Humanity. Coming years will show a steady, healthy
growth, a strong, united organization, a durable, reliable, and
efficient instrument ready to the Masters' hands. Once united in
real solidarity, in the true spirit of Universal Brotherhood, no
power can overthrow you, no obstacle bar your progress, no
barrier check the advance of Theosophy in the coming century.

But enough of the past. Let the encouragement we draw from a
survey of the results accomplished in the year that has fled
serve to spur us on to greater efforts and more strenuous
exertions. Let it make all feel that there is a power behind the
Society which will give us the strength we need, which will
enable us to move the world, if we will but UNITE and WORK as one
mind, one heart. The Masters require only that each shall do his
best, and, above all, that each shall strive in reality to feel
himself one with his fellow-workers. It is not a dull agreement
on intellectual questions, or an impossible unanimity as to all
details of work, that is needed; but a true, hearty, earnest
devotion to our cause which will lead each to help his brother to
the utmost of his power to work for that cause, whether or not we
agree as to the exact method of carrying on that work. The only
man who is absolutely wrong in his method is the one who does
nothing; each can and should cooperate with all and all with each
in a large-hearted spirit of comradeship to forward the work of
bringing Theosophy home to every man and woman in the country.
Let us look forward, not backward.

What of the coming year? And first a word of warning. As the
preparation for the new cycle proceeds, as the forerunners of the
new sub-race make their appearance on the American continent, the
latent psychic and occult powers in man are beginning to
germinate and grow. Hence the rapid growth of such movements as
Christian Science, Mind Cure, Metaphysical Healing, Spiritual
Healing, and so forth. All these movements represent nothing but
different phases of the exercise of these growing powers -- as
yet not understood and therefore but too often ignorantly
misused. Understand once for all that there is nothing
"spiritual" or "divine" in any of these manifestations. The cures
effected by them are due simply to the unconscious exercise of
occult power on the lower planes of nature -- usually of prana or
life-currents. The conflicting theories of all these schools are
based on misunderstood and misapplied metaphysics, often on
grotesquely absurd logical fallacies. But the one feature common
to most of them, a feature which presents the most danger in the
near future, is this. In nearly every case, the tenor of the
teachings of these schools is such as to lead people to regard
the healing process as being applied to the mind of the patient.
Here lies the danger, for any such process -- however cunningly
disguised in words and hidden by false noses -- is simply to
psychologize the patient. In other words, whenever the healer
interferes -- consciously or unconsciously -- with the free
mental action of the person he treats, it is -- Black Magic.
Already these so-called sciences of "Healing" are being used to
gain a livelihood. Soon some sharp person will find out that by
the same process the minds of others can be influenced in many
directions, and the selfish motive of personal gain and
money-getting having been once allowed to creep in, the one-time
"healer" may be insensibly led on to use his power to acquire
wealth or some other object of his desire.

This is one of the dangers of the new cycle, aggravated
enormously by the pressure of competition and the struggle for
existence. Happily new tendencies are also springing up, working
to change the basis of men's daily lives from selfishness to
altruism. The Nationalist Movement is an application of
Theosophy. (1) But remember, all of you, that if Nationalism is
an application of Theosophy, it is the latter which must ever
stand first in your sight. Theosophy is indeed the life, the
indwelling spirit which makes every true reform a vital reality,
for Theosophy is Universal Brotherhood, the very foundation as
well as the keystone of all movements toward the amelioration of
our condition.

What I said last year remains true today, that is, that the
Ethics of Theosophy are more important than any divulgement of
psychic laws and facts. The latter relate wholly to the material
and evanescent part of the septenary man, but the Ethics sink
into and take hold of the real man -- the reincarnating Ego. We
are outwardly creatures of but a day; within we are eternal.
Learn, then, well the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation, and
teach, practice, promulgate that system of life and thought which
alone can save the coming races. Do not work merely for the
Theosophical Society, but through it for Humanity.

May Theosophy grow more and more a living power in the lives of
each one of our members, and may the coming year be yet more full
of good work and healthy progress than the one just closing, is
the wish of your humble co-worker and fellow member.



4th Letter



Letter IV -- 1891

Fifth Annual Convention -- April 26-27
American Section of the Theosophical Society
Steinert Hall, Boston, Massachusetts

Letter from H. P. Blavatsky read by Annie Besant, afternoon
session, April 26: reproduced verbatim from the original
typescript in the Archives of the Theosophical Society, Pasadena


TO THE BOSTON CONVENTION, T.S., 1891

For the third time since my return to Europe in 1885, I am able
to send to my brethren in Theosophy and fellow citizens of the
United States a delegate from England to attend the annual
Theosophical Convention and speak by word of mouth my greeting
and warm congratulations. Suffering in body as I am continually,
the only consolation that remains to me is to hear of the
progress of the Holy Cause to which my health and strength have
been given; but to which, now that these are going, I can offer
only my passionate devotion and never-weakening good wishes for
its success and welfare. The news therefore that comes from
America, mail after mail, telling of new Branches and of
well-considered and patiently worked-out plans for the
advancement of Theosophy cheers and gladdens me with its
evidences of growth, more than words can tell.
Fellow-Theosophists, I am proud of your noble work in the New
World; Sisters and Brothers of America, I thank and I bless you
for your unremitting labors for the common cause, so dear to us
all.

Let me remind you all once more that such work is now more than
ever needed. The period which we have now reached in the cycle
that will close between 1897-8 is, and will continue to be, one
of great conflict and continued strain. If the T.S. can hold
through it, good; if not, while Theosophy will remain unscathed,
the Society will perish -- perchance most ingloriously -- and the
World will suffer. I fervently hope that I may not see such a
disaster in my present body. The critical nature of the stage on
which we have entered is as well known to the forces that fight
against us as to those that fight on our side. No opportunity
will be lost of sowing dissension, of taking advantage of
mistaken and false moves, of instilling doubt, of augmenting
difficulties, of breathing suspicions, so that by any and every
means the unity of the Society may be broken and the ranks of our
Fellows thinned and thrown into disarray. Never has it been more
necessary for the Members of the T.S. to lay to heart the old
parable of the bundle of sticks, than it is at the present time:
divided, they will inevitably be broken, one by one; united,
there is no force on Earth able to destroy our Brotherhood. Now I
have marked with pain, a tendency among you, as among the
Theosophists in Europe and India, to quarrel over trifles, and to
allow your very devotion to the cause of Theosophy to lead you
into disunion. Believe me, that apart from such natural tendency,
owing to the inherent imperfections of Human Nature, advantage is
often taken by our ever-watchful enemies of your noblest
qualities to betray and to mislead you. Skeptics will laugh at
this statement, and even some of you may put small faith in the
actual existence of the terrible forces of these mental, hence
subjective and invisible, yet withal living and potent,
influences around all of us. But there they are, and I know of
more than one among you who have felt them, and have actually,
been forced to acknowledge these extraneous mental pressures. On
those of you who are unselfishly and sincerely devoted to the
Cause, they will produce little, if any, impression. On some
others, those who place their personal pride higher than their
duty to the T.S., higher even than their Pledge to their divine
SELF, the effect is generally disastrous. Self-watchfulness is
never more necessary than when a personal wish to lead, and
wounded vanity, dress themselves in the peacock's feathers of
devotion and altruistic work; but at the present crisis of the
Society a lack of self-control and watchfulness may become fatal
in every case. But these diabolical attempts of our powerful
enemies -- the irreconcilable foes of the truths now being given
out and practically asserted -- may be frustrated. If every
Fellow in the Society were content to be an impersonal force for
good, careless of praise or blame so long as he subserved the
purposes of the Brotherhood, the progress made would astonish the
World and place the Ark of the T.S. out of danger. Take for your
motto in conduct during the coming year, "Peace with All who love
Truth in sincerity," and the Convention of 1892 will bear
eloquent witness to the strength that is born of unity.

Your position as the forerunners of the sixth sub-race of the
fifth root-race has its own special perils as well as its special
advantages. Psychism, with all its allurements and all its
dangers, is necessarily developing among you, and you must beware
lest the Psychic outruns the Manasic and Spiritual development.
Psychic capacities held perfectly under control, checked and
directed by the Manasic principle, are valuable aids in
development. But these capacities running riot, controlling
instead of controlled, using instead of being used, lead the
Student into the most dangerous delusions and the certainty of
moral destruction. Watch therefore carefully this development,
inevitable in your race and evolution-period, so that it may
finally work for good and not for evil; and receive, in advance,
the sincere and potent blessings of Those whose goodwill will
never fail you, if you do not fail yourselves.

Here in England I am glad to be able to report to you that steady
and rapid progress is being made. Annie Besant will give you
details of our work, and will tell you of the growing strength
and influence of our Society; the reports which she bears from
the European and British Sections speak for themselves in their
record of activities. The English character, difficult to reach,
but solid and tenacious when once aroused, adds to our Society a
valuable factor, and there are being laid in England strong and
firm foundations for the T.S. of the twentieth Century. Here, as
with you, attempts are being successfully made to bring to bear
the influence of Hindu on English thought, and many of our Hindu
brethren are now writing for Lucifer short and clear papers on
Indian philosophies. As it is one of the tasks of the T.S. to
draw together the East and the West, so that each may supply the
qualities lacking in the other, and develop more fraternal
feelings among Nations so various, this literary intercourse,
will, I hope, prove of the utmost service in Aryanizing Western
thought.

The mention of Lucifer reminds me that the now assured position
of that magazine is very largely due to the help rendered at a
critical moment by the American Fellows. As my one absolutely
unfettered medium of communication with Theosophists all over the
World, its continuance was of grave importance to the whole
Society. In its pages, month by month, I give such public
teaching as is possible on Theosophical doctrines, and so carry
on the most important of our Theosophical work. The magazine now
just covers its expenses, and if Lodges and individual Fellows
would help in increasing its circulation, it would become more
widely useful than it is at the present time. Therefore, while
thanking from the bottom of my heart all those who so generously
helped to place the magazine on a solid foundation, I should be
glad to see a larger increase in the number of regular
subscribers, for I regard these as my pupils, among whom I shall
find some who will show the capacity for receiving further
instruction.

And now I have said all; I am not sufficiently strong to write
you a more lengthy message, and there is the less need for me to
do so, as my friend and trusted messenger, Annie Besant, she who
is my right arm here, will be able to explain to you my wishes
more fully and better than I can write them. After all, every
wish and thought I can utter are summed up in this one sentence,
the never dormant wish of my heart, "Be Theosophists, Work for
Theosophy!" Theosophy first, and Theosophy last; for its
practical realization alone can save the Western World from that
selfish and unbrotherly feeling that now divides race from race,
one nation from the other, and from that hatred of class and
[from] social strifes (1), that are the curse and disgrace of
so-called Christian peoples. Theosophy alone can save it from
sinking entirely into that mere luxurious materialism in which it
will decay and putrefy as older civilizations have done. In your
hands, Brothers, is placed in trust the welfare of the coming
century: and great as is the trust, so great is also the
responsibility. My own span of life may not be long, and if any
of you have learned aught from my teachings, or have gained by my
help a glimpse of the True Light, I ask you in return, to
strengthen the cause by the triumph of which, that True Light,
made still brighter and more glorious through your individual and
collective efforts, will lighten the World, and thus to let me
see, before I part with this worn-out body, the stability of the
Society secured.

May the blessings of the past and present great Teachers rest
upon you. From myself accept collectively, the assurance of my
true, never-wavering fraternal feelings, and the sincere
heartfelt thanks for the work done by all the workers,

>From their Servant to the last,

H. P. BLAVATSKY

FOOTNOTE:
(1)[*The word "strifes" was changed to "considerations" in the
printed "Report of Proceedings."



============================================


5th Message


Letter V -- 1891


Fifth Annual Convention -- April 26-27
American Section of the Theosophical Society
Steinert Hall, Boston, Massachusetts


Letter from H. P. Blavatsky, dated April 15, 1891, read by Annie
Besant, afternoon session, April 26; reproduced verbatim from the
original in the handwriting of G. R. S. Mead, except for the
closing salutation and signature, held in the Archives of the
Theosophical Society, Pasadena




THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY: EUROPEAN SECTION
19, Avenue Road,
Regent's Park,
London, N.W. 15:4:1891




TO THE Vth CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECTION
OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY

Brother Theosophists: --

I have purposely omitted any mention of my oldest friend and
fellow-worker, W. Q. Judge, in my general address to you, because
I think that his unflagging and self-sacrificing efforts for the
building up of Theosophy in America deserve special mention.

Had it not been for W. Q. Judge, Theosophy would not be where it
is today in the United States. It is he who has mainly built up
the movement among you, and he who has proved in a thousand ways
his entire loyalty to the best interests of Theosophy and the
Society.

Mutual admiration should play no part in a Theosophical
Convention, but honor should be given where honor is due, and I
gladly take this opportunity of stating in public, by the mouth
of my friend and colleague, Annie Besant, my deep appreciation of
the work of your General Secretary, and of publicly tendering him
my most sincere thanks and deeply-felt gratitude, in the name of
Theosophy, for the noble work he is doing and has done.

Yours fraternally

H. P. Blavatsky

=================================

I do hope this will help

Dal


D. T. B.

======================================

From: Jim Rodak [mailto:rodakjl@pcola.gulf.net]
Sent: Thursday, November 16, 2000 10:32 PM
To: Theosophy Study List
Subject: Occult Sciences & Laws of Nature


> > Jim Rodak comments:
> >
Dal, will you elucidate and expound on the comments of your last
> paragraph, above, in particular the term "high occult
knowledge." Many thanks for
> your references,
although I was unable to find HPB's "Messages to
American Theosophists." Perhaps you (or someone listening in)
have a URL for them.
.
> Fraternally, Jim