Theosophy

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"Esotericism, pure and simple, speaks of no personal God; therefore are we considered as Atheists. But, in reality, Occult Philosophy, as a whole, is based absolutely on the ubiquitous presence of God, the Absolute Deity; and if IT Itself is not speculated upon, as being too sacred and yet incomprehensible as a Unit to the finite intellect, yet the entire Philosophy is based upon Its Divine Powers as being the Source of all that breathes and lives and has existence.

In every ancient Religion the ONE was demonstrated by the many. In Egypt and India, in Chaldæ and Phœnicia, and finally in Greece, the ideas about Deity were expressed by multiples of three, five and seven; and also by eight, nine and twelve great Gods, which symbolized the powers and properties of the One and Only Deity. This was related to that infinite subdivision by irregular and odd numbers to which the metaphysics of these nations subjected their ONE DIVINITY.

Thus constituted, the cycle of the Gods has all the qualities and attributes of the ONE SUPREME AND UNKNOWABLE; for in this collection of divine Personalities, or rather of Symbols personified, dwells the ONE GOD, the GOD ONE, that God which, in India, is said to have no Second."

Blavatsky in Esoteric Instructions pp. 99-100

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We learn through our faults. Sorrow, pain, and suffering, are
our best teachers; and let me say here: Do not seek to be ‘good’;
seek to be impersonal, and you will be good automatically, unconsciously.

The man who seeks to be ‘good’ is exercising one kind
of spiritual selfishness; for, in the first place, he seeks something
for himself. It is better to be good than to be bad; but the royal
road, the highway to the mountain-tops, is impersonality; for the
truly and spiritually impersonal man never does an evil deed. If
he did so he would be very personal. The impersonal man never
does a selfish deed. If he did so he would be very personal, very
selfish. If the impersonal man were to turn a deaf ear to a cry for
help: turn a deaf ear to the pleadings of compassion and pity: he
would be very personal. His impersonality would be but a garment,
a mask, a mockery.

But he whose vision is clear, whose heart is at peace, whose
mind is tranquil, seeks neither for good nor for evil; for his whole
heart is set on the supernal light within, the supreme spiritual
guide.

G. de Purucker

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As a general rule, and save in certain cases
due to karman, as for instance in certain cases of those who die in
childhood or in early youth, the Reincarnating Ego is born into a
different race when it returns to earth, into a different time, into
different surroundings, and other environments.

G. de Purucker

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When I was a boy of twelve I came upon a Buddhist quotation which fascinated imagination, mind, and heart. I think it was one of the things which in this life awoke me more than any other thing that I can recollect; at any rate it was one of the first. It is pure Theosophy and genuine Buddhist doctrine. It is this: the Lord Buddha is speaking, and I am paraphrasing somewhat his words in order to make them clearer:

"O disciples, never let discouragement enter into your souls. See you suffering in the world, see you unhappiness and pain and ignorance, misery and distress which wring the heart? Disciples, all things are destined to pass into Buddhahood: the stones, the plants, the beasts, all the component atoms of these, each and every one, aye, and sun and moon and stars and planets — all in future ages will become Buddha. Each one will become a Buddha."

What a marvelous picture! How it quiets the heart and stills the mind; for if one atom, one man, become a Buddha, everything will, for this universe is one, broken into multitudes during Manvantara or manifestation; rooted in that One, living from it, and by it. In it we live and we move and have all our being. Therefore some day, somewhere in the incalculable aeons of what we call the future, all now of the multitudes, suns and stars, planets, comets, gods, men, animals, plants, stones, atoms, elements, worlds, everything, each as individual, is destined for Buddhahood.

When I read that -- I have given you the expanded gist of what I heard -- for nearly three months I went around in a daze of spiritual delight and inner reawakening. To this day I could not tell you whether I ate or drank or slept. I know I must have done so, but I have no recollection of anything except light; and the raising of the eyes inner and outer, upward and inward. Just that thought broke open the doors closed when I drank of the waters of Lethe, of forgetfulness, when last I died. The doors opened and the light came in, began to come in.

G. de Purucker, from his Wind of the Spirit

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How grand indeed shines the light of truth upon the face of the man whose heart is enlightened by the sense of his oneness with all; and what pathos there is when the sense of separateness drives him away from his oneness with other men.

Purucker, from his Wind of the Spirit

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For this era especially...

http://www.universaltheosophy.com/ar...able-brothers/

[Skull]

There is one thing I learned when I was a boy, and I learned it well, and it has been one of my best friends
ever since. It is that I can learn from everything, and that if I allow a single day to pass without increasing my
store of wisdom, without enlarging and enriching my inner life, by however small an increment, that day is a
lost day in my life. Too many of us are asleep; we sleep and dream. We dream dreams, and all too often these
dreams are evil dreams, for they are the upsurgings of the lower, personal, easily self-satisfied ego of ours.
But others of us dream visions of incomparable beauty — and I mean not merely physical beauty, but beauty
of any kind: spiritual beauty, intellectual beauty, ay, even beauty of wondrous nature around us. And every
such new envisioning of a marvel awakens us by just so much. Oh, how we sleep, and are forgetful of what
we are and of the richness around us which is ours for the taking, ours if we will take it! For there is naught
that stands in the way of taking except oneself. There are none so blind as they who refuse to see; none so
deaf as they who refuse to hear; and, on the other hand, none so wise as they who meet every new experience
in life's wondrous adventure with the feeling: there is an angel behind this for me. I must discover him; learn
what that angelic messenger is trying to tell me. Every experience is such.

Wind of the Spirit

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Thousands of men and women who belong to no church, sect, or society, who are neither Theosophists nor Spiritualists, are yet virtually members of that Silent Brotherhood the units of which often do not know each other, belonging as they do to nations far and wide apart, yet each of whom carries on his brow the mark of the mysterious Karmic seal—the seal that makes of him or her a member of the Brotherhood of the Elect of Thought. Having failed to satisfy their aspirations in their respective orthodox faiths they have severed themselves from their Churches in soul when not in body, and are devoting the rest of their lives to the worship of loftier and purer ideals than any intellectual speculation can give them. How few, in comparison to their numbers, and how rarely one meets with such, and yet their name is legion, if they only chose to reveal themselves. Under the influence of that same passionate search for “life in spirit” and “life in truth,” which compels every earnest Theosophist onward through years of moral obloquy and public ostracism; moved by the same dissatisfaction with the principles of pure conventionality of modern society, and scorn for the still triumphant, fashionable thought, which, appropriating to itself unblushingly the honoured epithets of “scientific” and “foremost,” of “pioneer” and “liberal,” uses these prerogatives but to domineer over the fainthearted and selfish—these earnest men and women prefer to tread alone and unaided the narrow and thorny path that lies before him who will neither recognize authorities nor bow before cant.

Collected Writings XII:125-6 - "The Cycle Moveth" article.

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If we all lived in the consciousness and
the conviction of our own great possibilities,
we should realize that we are souls, and that
we too have divine privileges far beyond anything
that we know of or even think of. Yet
we throw these aside, because they are not
acceptable to our limited, personal selves.
They do not fit in with our preconceived ideas.

So we forget that we are a part of the
divine Scheme of Life, that the meaning of
life is sacred and holy; and we allow ourselves
to drift back into the vortex of misunderstanding,
misconception, doubt, unhappiness, and despair.

That soul steps out on the path of self-directed evolution
- evolution directed by his own higher
nature; and he moves along that road with
a conviction that the ultimate relative
perfection of man is assured.

A soul that starts on the path that I
have spoken of, finds the companionship of
his own essential divinity.

As he moves forward, he will begin to
find the reality of things which he had formerly
ignored. Sacred blessings will come
to him without money and without price.
He will find the beginning of great joy, the
beginning of a new life, the beginning of
sublime efforts, and a quality of courage that
will enable him to proclaim from the housetops
and the mountain-tops, anywhere and
everywhere, that man is essentially divine:
and that is the voice and the music of the
soul, seeking expression in the hearts of men.

Katherine Tingley

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Mr Judge's answer points out that one encompassing definition of Theosophy for all times and persons is not possible, or desirable.

The fundamental question, “What is the criterion of Theosophy?” calls for an answer. Has Theosophy the power of growth, progress, and advancement in line with all new expositions of truth? In the minds of many the writings of H.P.B. are regarded as the infallible oracles of Theosophy. But in time criticism is sure to do its work. Consequently it is necessary soon to give out a definition of it much broader, simpler, and more unequivocal than any heretofore offered.

W.Q. Judge — This is in fact a request to formulate and promulgate a dogmatic statement of Theosophy as we understand it. That is, to go completely back on the genius of the Theosophical movement, which is for the destruction of dogmatism. The strength of Theosophy lies in the fact that it is not to be defined. It is the wisdom of the gods, or of nature. This means that evolution, slowly progressing, will bring out new truths and new aspects of old truths, thus absolutely preventing any dogmas or “unequivocal definitions.” Were we to make and declare a definition of Theosophy it would be only the words of those who participated in drawing it up, and not acceptable to all. And were it possible that all would accept, then would be sounded the doom of the movement. Hence the reply to the question, “What is the criterion of Theosophy?” is that it is found in each man’s perception of the Truth: therefore there is no single criterion.

If any persons regard H.P.B.’s writings as the infallible oracles of Theosophy, they go directly against her own words and the works themselves; they must be people who do not indulge in original thinking and cannot make much impression on the times.

As for the Theosophical Society, the moment it makes a hard and fast definition of Theosophy it will mark the first hour of its decay.

Inasmuch as Theosophy is the whole body of truth about man and nature, either known now or hereafter to be discovered, it has the “power of growth, progress and advancement,” since every new truth makes it clearer. But among the truths will not be reckoned at any time the definitions, dogmas, creeds or beliefs laid down by man.

From Echoes of the Orient vol. II:379-80