Theos-Talk Archives (December 2006 Message tt00684)

Friends, 
 
Being the president-founder of the Theosophical Society,  and also being a Buddhist, Henry Olcott was aware that rites and ceremonies hinder more than help any truth seeker along the spiritual path. 
 
 
In the second part of his “Buddhist Catechism” ,  at question-and-answer number 184,  one reads:  
 
— “What did Buddha thought about Ceremonies?”
 
— “From the beginning, he condemned ceremonies and other external practices which only tend to increase our spiritual blindness and our attachment  to inert forms.” (1)  
 
In spite of his many mistakes, Olcott had common sense in more than one aspect, and as long as he lived ritualism could not infiltrate the  Adyar Theosophical Society.    
 
It had to wait  until after his death in 17  February 1907.  
 
 
Best regards,   Carlos. 
 
 
NOTE:
 
(1) “Catecismo Budista”, Henry S. Olcott, Edições IBRASA, São Paulo, SP, Brasil, 1983, 134 pp., see p. 68. 
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