THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Manawatu Standard, Volume LVII, Issue 54, 3 February 1937, Page 12

THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

ADDRESS BY MISS OCKENDEN. On Sunday, Miss N. E. Ockenden, of Auckland, delivered the first of a series of lectures, “Life and Death, in the Theosopnical Hall, 126 Church Street. The speaker divided life into its four natural periods of childhood, youth, manhood and old-age. She said: “Most of us are so occupied with duties, so harassed by the question of ways and means, and so tired when the day is over, that we allow the years to pass without enquiring of Lire what she has to give by. way of compensation for the ceaseless struggle imposed upon us, and we at last meet death without knowing what the great change entails or where the Reaper is placing his harvest. Annie Besant said ‘iheosophy makes lite intelligible and death negligible.’” .Referring to childhood the speaker said: “The child is not wholly a new creation: he has had many lives on earth berore ; neither is he a blank sheet of paper upon which his parents and teachers must, above all things, teach him to write ‘worldly success. He Has weak places in his character and has come to strengthen them, and he has work to do. We should provide the child with the best he can make use or • we snould see that he is emancipated’ from tear, and snould tram ins emotions and regard him as a trust. 11l ins previous lives he has develops tendencies and lie brings these now as seeds—seeds of virtue and of vice, and our most urgent business is to help the seeds ot virtue to germinate mst. in youin the sell is turning his own in struments of thought anu tiling, and we must help him to discover his mgnei nature ana to train Ms body. He does not yet know the fine ot nis service out we must help inni to untold all his latent genius; he does not Know ins ambition, but we must be acquainted with, and introduce to him the great idealists that will mspne hnn Adult lite is filled with prolnoms we must try to solve, with laadies and successes, with joy and sorrow. is the real value ot it all? io learn our lessons, develop character and do our best work, 'mere is a B*vin scheme of progress ror every human being and if we can perceive it we slioiud try to raise every f standard. Start to-morrow, in the oflK* or the workshop or the home, lessen some suffering, carry understanding to those who see only the outer erne ot every experience, and snow that failure is only success in the makingTin/lecturer spoke oi exueme ol 1a „ e and warned ner hearers that the) must approacn the aged by way of uw iriHs ar « rt” arßr»r is* Sffid aSd»th, kill i. £» * pport unity ol ionew bi?th% Httle more enlightened, a “The value 1 oT'philosophy is to put i tkiviin If only the world in nain'could understand the Divine plan lor the spiritual unfoldment ot every living soul, it could gather courage toi al The second lecture of the series “The Threefold Journey of the Soul, be delivered next Sunday.