Our Convictions
TO THE PATH:—Please resolve a doubt. Are members of the T.S. required to become flabby in character upon entering the… Read More »Our Convictions
Article
Articles from various theosophical authors.
“The Birth of Space”
“Know, the stars yonder, the stars everlasting, Are fugitive also . . . .”—EMERSON. Waves of credulity and of mental… Read More »“The Birth of Space”
Hypnotism
The views of medical men in regard to hypnotism or self-mesmerization have been greatly strengthened of late. This is evident… Read More »Hypnotism
The Origin of Evil
Christian theology states that evil came into the world through the sin of the first man’s eating of the tree… Read More »The Origin of Evil
The Recognition of Law
We have to assume either that this is a universe of law or a universe of chaos, chance, accident. In… Read More »The Recognition of Law
The Three Gods of Man
Who could live, who could breath, if the heart of Being were not Joy. It is a shallow age, this… Read More »The Three Gods of Man
Organized Life of the Theosophical Society
THE SOCIETY ABSOLUTELY UNSECTARIAN, WITHOUT A CREED, AND OPEN TO PERSONS OF ALL FAITHS. ACCEPTANCE OF DOCTRINES LARGELY TAUGHT IN… Read More »Organized Life of the Theosophical Society
Nagarjuna
Often viewed as the greatest or most important philosopher of the Buddhists, 1 Nāgārjuna plays a central role in the… Read More »Nagarjuna
Reincarnation in Judaism and the Bible
The lost chord of Christianity is the doctrine of Reincarnation. It was beyond doubt taught in the early days of… Read More »Reincarnation in Judaism and the Bible
Emerson’s Over-Soul: A Theosophical Perspective
The great spiritual literature of mankind is written with a certain poetic beauty. If you think of the Bhagavad-Gita, the… Read More »Emerson’s Over-Soul: A Theosophical Perspective
The Guatemalan Secret Doctrine
Among students of occultism, there have been persistent traditions of a branch or branches of the Great Lodge in the… Read More »The Guatemalan Secret Doctrine
The Yoga of Self-Discipline
From a manuscript entitled “Aryan Philosophy, etc.,” in the handwriting of William Q. Judge, and preserved in the archives of… Read More »The Yoga of Self-Discipline
Cities Under Cities
The theory that the remains of ancient cities exist under those of the present is not a new one. Dr.… Read More »Cities Under Cities
A League of Humanity
Now that the most frightful and destructive war known to the annals of history is over, the questions that arise… Read More »A League of Humanity
Three Kinds of Faith
Every human being has faith—faith in something, some ideal, some conception, some religion, some formula—but while the faiths of different… Read More »Three Kinds of Faith
Psychometry
The name Psychometry has been given to a faculty which, it is claimed, inheres in about seven out of every… Read More »Psychometry
The Memory of Past Births
Contents PREFACE CHAPTER I. How the Teaching Came. CHAPTER II. The Tradition of the East. CHAPTER III. Where Memory Dwells.… Read More »The Memory of Past Births
Plain Theosophical Traces
In the Key to Theosophy the author says that at the last quarter of each century there is always a… Read More »Plain Theosophical Traces
Indian Chronology
“It holds through all literature, that our best history is still poetry. It is so in Hebrew, in Sanskrit, and… Read More »Indian Chronology
A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words from a Wise Man
In an article, in the Tatwa Bodhini Patrika “The Essential Religion,” Babu Rajnarain Bose, the well known Brahmo, prefacing it… Read More »A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words from a Wise Man
Reflections
When I am annoyed by an ungovernable animal, I am reminded that the brutes would not oppose man if man… Read More »Reflections
The Dream of Ravan
I. A Mystery Many conjectures have been offered as to the source and authorship of this curious and wonderful book,… Read More »The Dream of Ravan
Hindu Symbolism
I. The student of Hindu metaphysical religious philosophy, will find most of its important formulations, veiled under a mystical symbolism;… Read More »Hindu Symbolism
Trance Mediums and “Historical” Visions
The reliability of the identification of returning spirits, may be inferred from this bit of fresh intelligence recently received through… Read More »Trance Mediums and “Historical” Visions
Spiritualism Old And New
I. I am a spirit myself, but in some respects different from those spoken of at modern sèances. I have… Read More »Spiritualism Old And New
Fear and Valor
A summer evening, high among the Alps; the in-gathering of purple twilight veils the world in mystery; the hills, with… Read More »Fear and Valor
Evolution
I. The word “evolution” is the best word from a theosophical standpoint to use in treating of the genesis of… Read More »Evolution
The Zero Principle
Laya is what Science may call the Zero-point or line, the realm of absolute negativeness, or the one real absolute… Read More »The Zero Principle
The Foundation of Religion
To most people the word “religion” signifies something separate from human existence, and presents the idea of preparation for some… Read More »The Foundation of Religion
The Occult Side of Nature
The word Nature used in its widest sense, as when we speak of Great Nature, or Mother Nature, means the… Read More »The Occult Side of Nature
Morality and Pantheism
Questions have been raised in several quarters as to the inefficiency of Pantheism (which term is intended to include Esoteric… Read More »Morality and Pantheism
Old Philosophers and Modern Critics
In one of the oldest philosophies and religious systems of prehistoric times, we read that at the end of a… Read More »Old Philosophers and Modern Critics
What the Masters have Said
In 1888, speaking of Col. Olcott, an article in this magazine quoted from letters from the Adepts sent to Mr.… Read More »What the Masters have Said
The Lessons of Karma
“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough-hew them how we will.” The idea most usually attached to the word… Read More »The Lessons of Karma
The Singing Silences
Theosophists may be interested in an experience which I have named as above; “Singing”—because of a peculiar resonance which I… Read More »The Singing Silences
Man, Visible and Invisible
“There are two kinds of beings in the world, the one divisible, and the other indivisible: the divisible is all… Read More »Man, Visible and Invisible
Before American Spiritualism
So many persons have come to suppose that Spiritualism took its rise through the rappings at Rochester under the mediumship… Read More »Before American Spiritualism
The Kingly Mystery
The “kingly mystery” is Life itself. We all have Life. We all are Life. Every being everywhere is Life—expresses Life.… Read More »The Kingly Mystery
The Genius of the New Era
There is first the intuition of the Soul; that haunting vision of might and joy that has been hovering over… Read More »The Genius of the New Era
Shankara, Teacher of India
A short time ago, an esteemed friend of mine who has devoted much study to Buddhism in writing of Indian… Read More »Shankara, Teacher of India
Stumbling Blocks in Words
A fellow student came to me the other day and asked, “What is the relation of ‘space’ to ‘sat’? Is… Read More »Stumbling Blocks in Words
On the Orphic Mysteries, etc.
Neither the Eleusinian nor any other of the established mysteries of Greece obtained any influence upon the literature of the… Read More »On the Orphic Mysteries, etc.
The Persian Student’s Doctrine
Before the flashing diamond in the mysterious mountain behind the Temple began to lose its brilliance, many foreigners had visited… Read More »The Persian Student’s Doctrine
Environment
To the Western mind the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation contain difficulties which while they seem imaginary to the Eastern… Read More »Environment
Pythagoras and His School
Pythagoras was revered in India as Pitar Guru, Father and Teacher, and as Yavanacharya, the Ionian philosopher. He was known… Read More »Pythagoras and His School
Self-Reliance
“Ne te quaesiveris extra.” “Man is his own star; and the soul that can Render an honest and a perfect… Read More »Self-Reliance
The Synthesis of Occult Science
[I.] The impassable gulf between mind and matter discovered by modern science is a logical result of the present methods… Read More »The Synthesis of Occult Science
Jesus, the Christ
I The period of history that began with the first century B.C. and ended with the year 414 A.D. was… Read More »Jesus, the Christ