The Theosophical Library

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Alexandria and Her Schools

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, November, 1936

The little island of Samothrace in the Aegean Sea, today barren and sterile, was once the home of great Adepts,… Read More »Alexandria and Her Schools

The Universal Brotherhood of Man

Article/ by E. Augustus Neresheimer, Universal Brotherhood Magazine, November, 1897

This ideal when first approached from an intellectual standpoint presents no great encouragement for the realization of its truth; its… Read More »The Universal Brotherhood of Man

Zoroastrian Ethics

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, April, 1926

If the spirit of Vedanta singing through the Gita endeavors to bring the world to Dharma-Duty, the theme which Zoroastrianism… Read More »Zoroastrian Ethics

Paracelsus: Physician

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, April, 1938

It is an interesting fact, and one which should be carefully noted by all students of occultism, that many of… Read More »Paracelsus: Physician

[Review: Letters That Have Helped Me, Vol. 2]

Review/ by Charles Johnston, Theosophical Quarterly, October, 1905

Letters That Have Helped Me, Vol. II., compiled by Jasper Niemand and Thomas Green. This is by far the most… Read More »[Review: Letters That Have Helped Me, Vol. 2]

First Century Christianity

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, August, 1936

Theosophy is the ancient Wisdom-Religion, as old as thinking man, and part of the work of the Theosophical Movement is… Read More »First Century Christianity

The First Object of the Theosophical Society

Article/ by Katherine Hillard, The Path, December, 1891

The three principal objects of the Theosophical Society as laid down in the books are: First, “To form a nucleus of a… Read More »The First Object of the Theosophical Society

[An Experience of the Astral World]

Story/ by Julia Keightley, The Path, February, 1887

Recently the tea-table was chatting about the Widow’s escape from the Romish fold. She was nearly converted by the urbane… Read More »[An Experience of the Astral World]

Principles, Rules, and Bye-Laws of the Theosophical Society [1880]

Article/ by Anon., The Theosophist, April, 1880

The Theosophical Society, or Universal Brotherhood Formed at New York, U. S. of America, October 30th, 1875. Principles, Rules, and… Read More »Principles, Rules, and Bye-Laws of the Theosophical Society [1880]

Paracelsus: Philosopher

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, March, 1938

The transition from the fifteenth to the sixteenth century accomplished one of the most remarkable changes ever recorded of human… Read More »Paracelsus: Philosopher

Hermes Trismegistus

Article/ by Isaac Myer, The Path, September, 1886

That a tablet, now called the Smaragdine, was found there is no doubt. Its discovery is attributed by tradition to… Read More »Hermes Trismegistus

Anton Mesmer

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, August, 1938

Mesmerism was from the philosophical standpoint the most pregnant of all discoveries, even though for the moment it propounded more… Read More »Anton Mesmer

W. Q. Judge as Organizer

Editorial/ by A. H. Spencer, Theosophy, May, 1896

Into the lives of most of us there will come at some time or other an epoch when the struggling… Read More »W. Q. Judge as Organizer

Sources of Early American Civilization

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, October, 1927

What is the origin of the American Indian? The civilizations of Persia, China and Egypt had their roots in the… Read More »Sources of Early American Civilization

Diogenes Laërtius’s Life of Pythagoras

Translation/ by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, Pythagorean Sourcebook & Library, 1919

I. Early Life Since we have now gone through the Ionian philosophy, which was derived from Thales, and the lives… Read More »Diogenes Laërtius’s Life of Pythagoras

Hey, just what is that there theosophy anyhow?

Article/ by Mark Casady, Theosophy Nexus, September, 2014 to January, 2016 [Serialized]

Sisters & brothers: Sometimes it is good to go back to the basics. To that effect, I wish to propose… Read More »Hey, just what is that there theosophy anyhow?

Zoroaster, The Father of Philosophy

Article/ by Alexander Wilder, Universal Brotherhood Magazine, September, 1898

Seven cities are named as claiming to have been the birthplace of Homer. His great poem is the classic above… Read More »Zoroaster, The Father of Philosophy

Zoroastrian Cosmo-Genesis

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, February, 1926

If the Orientalists, through their peculiar method of reading Zend, Pahalvi and Pazand, have disfigured the import of Zoroastrian texts,… Read More »Zoroastrian Cosmo-Genesis

Sufism, or Theosophy from the Standpoint of Mohammedanism [Islam]

Article/ by Carl H. A. Bjerregaard, The Path, May-October, 1886 [Serialized]

The spirit of Sufism is best expressed in the couplet of Katebi: “Last night a nightingale sung his song, perched… Read More »Sufism, or Theosophy from the Standpoint of Mohammedanism [Islam]

Notes on the Mādhyamika Philosophy

Article/ by D. T. Suzuki, Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India, 1898

The Mādhyamika School is known in China as the “Three Çāstra Sect” which was first introduced by Kumāra-jīva in A.D.… Read More »Notes on the Mādhyamika Philosophy

Historical Difficulty—Why?

Article/Q & A/ by Anon., The Theosophist, October, 1883 [For notes on authorship see Blavatsky CW vol. 5, pp. 129-138]

6. Is there not some confusion in the letter quoted on p. 62 of Esoteric Buddhism, where “the old Greeks… Read More »Historical Difficulty—Why?

Egyptian “Immortality”

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, September, 1927

Had nothing remained to us of the Book of the Dead but the Judgment Scene, it alone furnishes abundant evidence… Read More »Egyptian “Immortality”

Zoroastrian Metaphysics

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, January, 1926

The modern world has elevated the cult of the personal to an art; so much is this the prevailing ideal… Read More »Zoroastrian Metaphysics

The Gnostics

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, September, 1936

In the first century before the Christian era, a fresh impulse was given to the work of the Theosophical Movement… Read More »The Gnostics

Mr. Johnston and the Upanishads

Editorial/ by Anon., Theosophical Quarterly, January, 1932 [Author signed “Q.” (Quaesitor?)]

To students who might be described as the second and third generations of the Theosophical Society, the Upanishads mean Mr.… Read More »Mr. Johnston and the Upanishads

Lieh Tzu

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, February, 1927

What Mencius was to Confucius, that Lieh Tzu and Chwang Tzu were to Lao Tzu. Lieh Tzu endeavored to draw… Read More »Lieh Tzu

Sariraka Upanishad

Translation/ by K. Narayanaswami Aiyer, Thirty Minor Upanishads, 1914

[Śārīraka-Upanishad]1 Om. The body is a compound of pṛthivī (earth) and other mahābhūtas (primordial elements, as pas or water, agni… Read More »Sariraka Upanishad

Charles Johnston

Editorial/ by Clarence Carroll Clark, Theosophical Quarterly, January, 1932

I and mine do not convince by arguments, similes, rhymes, We convince by our presence.—Walt Whtiman Many times they mentioned… Read More »Charles Johnston

Visions by William Stainton Moses

Article/Review/ by Mark Casady, Theosophy Nexus, March-July, 2015 [Serialized]

I think the search is on for the lost Blavatsky/Moses letters – so allow me to introduce a thread on… Read More »Visions by William Stainton Moses

The Law of the Lord Sakya Muni

Article/ by Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera, The Theosophist, November, 1879

By the Rev. Mohottivatte Gunanande, Chief Priest of Dipaduttama Vihare, Colombo, Ceylon; Member of the General Council of the Theosophical… Read More »The Law of the Lord Sakya Muni

The Mādhyamika School in China

Article/ by D. T. Suzuki, Journal of the Buddhist Text Society of India, December, 1898

History. The introduction of the Mādhyamika philosophy into China, according to an opinion prevalent among Japanese and Chinese Buddhists, was… Read More »The Mādhyamika School in China

Man and Teacher

Editorial/ by Edward B. Rambo, Theosophy, May, 1896

Oh the mystery of the Divine Ego back of every manifestation in the physical! Which of us can write truly… Read More »Man and Teacher

Preamble of the Theosophical Society

Article/ by Anon., October, 1875 [as reprinted in The Theosophical Forum, September 1947]

The title of the Theosophical Society explains the objects and desires of its founders: they seek “to obtain knowledge of… Read More »Preamble of the Theosophical Society

Word Puzzles: Evolution

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, July, 1954

Use of the term evolution has gone through many interesting stages. Following the advent of Darwin, this word served as… Read More »Word Puzzles: Evolution

Yoga and Common Sense

Article/ by J. H. Connelly, The Path, January, 1890

Simple, straightforward, and beguilingly easy as seems the knowledge presented in the “Yoga Aphorisms” of Patanjali—in their American version at… Read More »Yoga and Common Sense

Anonymous Biography of Pythagoras, preserved by Photius

Translation/ by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, Pythagorean Sourcebook & Library, 1919

1. Plato was the pupil of Archytas, and thus the ninth in succession from Pythagoras; the tenth was Aristotle. Those… Read More »Anonymous Biography of Pythagoras, preserved by Photius

Porphyry’s Life of Plotinus, and Order of His Writings

Translation/ by Kenneth Sylvan Guthrie, 1918 [Originally published in Plotinus: Complete Works]

I. Plotinus, like Porphyry, Despised His Physical Nature, but a Picture of Him was Secured. Plotinus the philosopher, who lived… Read More »Porphyry’s Life of Plotinus, and Order of His Writings

Eastern Doctrines in the Middle Ages

Article/ by Anon., Lucifer Magazine, April, 1894 [Author listed as G.H.]

Ex Oriente Lux! Light comes front the East, not only in its material manifestation as the rising sun. but also… Read More »Eastern Doctrines in the Middle Ages

Confessio Fraternitatis

Translation/ by Thomas Vaughan, 1652

Whatsoever is published, and made known to everyone, concerning our Fraternity, by the foresaid Fama, let no man esteem lightly… Read More »Confessio Fraternitatis

Memorabilia of H.P.B.

Article/ by James Morgan Pryse, The Canadian Theosophist, March, 1935

When the editor of the Canadian Theosophist asked me, several years ago, to write my memoirs of H. P. B., I… Read More »Memorabilia of H.P.B.

Seeds and Seedlings: The Doctrine of Perfectibility

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, September, 1956

This doctrine of the perfectibility of man is easily comprehended by some men, but is extremely difficult for others—due to… Read More »Seeds and Seedlings: The Doctrine of Perfectibility

Seeds and Seedlings: Evolution and the Evolver

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, January, 1957

Evolution is the oldest teaching in the world, and misconceptions and misunderstandings of it are as old as man. To… Read More »Seeds and Seedlings: Evolution and the Evolver

The First Greek Philosophers

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, March, 1939

The millennium which extended from the time of Buddha and Pythagoras in the sixth century B.C., until the final suppression of… Read More »The First Greek Philosophers

Death of William Q. Judge

Editorial/ by Anon., Theosophy, April, 1896

The editor of this magazine, President of the Theosophical Societies in America, Europe and Australasia, our trusted teacher and friend,… Read More »Death of William Q. Judge

Atmabodha Upanishad

Translation/ by K. Narayanaswami Aiyer, Thirty Minor Upanishads, 1914

[Ātmabodha Upanishad]1 Om. Prostrations to Nārāyana wearing conch, discus, and mace,2 by whom the Yogi is released from the bondage… Read More »Atmabodha Upanishad

Zoroastrianism

Article/ by S. D. Bharucha, The Path, May, 1894

The managers of the Parliament of Religions of the World’s Fair requested Mr. Narroji of London, a Parsee who is… Read More »Zoroastrianism

Socrates

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, July, 1939

The Age of the Tyrants, which produced the “Seven Wise Men,” the early Ionian School and the Pythagorean School, ended… Read More »Socrates

Thomas Paine

Article/ by Anon., Theosophy Magazine, December, 1938

On January 29, 1737, a son was born to Joseph Paine, a humble staymaker living in Thetford, England. A great… Read More »Thomas Paine

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