THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 8474, 27 January 1891, Page 6

THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

INTERVIEW WITH DR. KEIGHTLEY. On Saturday evening a Herald representative had an interview with Dr. Keightley,of London, formerly secretary of the British section of the Theosophical Society, at the Star Hotel, where he wss!stayiug. He is travelling with his sister, Miss Keightley, for the benefit of her health. They arrived in the colony by the direct steamer Tainiu a few weeks ago. and left yesterday by the mail steamer Alameda for the United States en route for England. On arrival at Wellington Dr. Keightley visited the Southern lakes, and other parts of the Middle Island. After doing the Middle Island, he visited Nelson and'other parts of the North Island, coming to Auckland. He visited the Lake country a twelvemonth ago, so that this is Dr Keightley's second visit to the colony. Dr. Keightley, during his University course at Oxford, turned his attention to the study of the occult sciences and cognate subjects, and subsequently almost wholly gave up the practice of his profession, having private means, in order to the promulgation of the views which he now holds as a Theosophist. He is a man of studious appearance, and has not yet attained middle life. As already stated, he was secretary of the British section of the Theosophical Society, and resigned his position oil embarking on foreign travel, out when in London lie is attached to and resides at the headquarters of the society. In the course of a lengthy conversation, our representative elicited the following information concerning the history, aims, progress, and future prospects of the Society :— ORIGIN* OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. The society, said Dr. Keightley, owed its origin to the exertions of Madame Blavatsky, and Colonel Holcott, of the United States Army, who was attached to the War Office at Washington during the great Civil War. Colonel Holcott was investigating in America the subject of Spiritualism on behalf of ono of the New York papers, of which he was the special representative. At the house of the Eddys he met Madame Blavatsky, which resulted in an acquaintance and friendship which has subsisted to the present time. While he was investigating Spiritualism Madame Blavatsky asked him if he thought it worth while to make further investigations, and informed him of the existence of psychic forces which were under her control, as contrasted with forces which controlled the . mediums. Colonel Holcott agreed to study these under her direction. Round Madame Blavatsky at that time gathered a circle of friends and acquaintances, who were all desirous of investigating these forces, a considerable stir being made among the Freemasons by her deeds aud'speeches. Thus it was that, in November, 1575, among this circle was formed the nucleus of the Theosophical Society, of which Colonel Holcott was elected president for life, Madame Blavatsky corresponding secretary, and in close association Mr. W. R. Judge the present general secretary of the American section. OPERATIONS IN INDIA. In IS7S Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Holcott left the United States en route for India. They settled in Bombay, and established the first headquarters of the Society, and set up the Theosophist magazine. There they remained for several years, labouring among the natives, and endeavouring to arouse their interest in the philosophical depths of the old Aryan philosophies and religions. It was at this period that the attention of Europeans was attracted to the aims of the [society by the publication of " The Occult World" and "Esoteric Buddhism," by A. P. Sinnett, who was then editor of the "Allahabad Pioneer. In 1884, Madame Blavatsky and Colonel Holcott paid a visit to London, where Theosophy was exciting considerable interest in social circles. They returned again to India in the autumn of that year, but Madame Blavatsky's health entirely broke downs and she was ordered by the doctors to quit India. She then lived on the Continent of Europe for two years, being engaged in writing her last work, "Ihe Secret Doctrine." In ISS7, Madame Blavatsky Mas induced to come to London, where she has since resided. Colonel Holcott, however, has continued to labour in India, the headquarters being changed to Madras, with the exception of the time when he was appealed to by the Buddhists of Japan to assist them in certain of their religious difficulties. This he accomplished, with the result that a keen interest was aroused in theosophy in Japan, and many hundreds expressed sympathy with its philosophy and aims. THE PRESENT POSITION OF THE SOCIETY. The present position of the society is this : There are nearly 200 branches of the Society scattered all over the world, of which over 100 are in India and Ceylon, 50 in America, and 15 in England. There is also one branch in Hobart, and another in Wellington, in this colony. Sir Edwin Arnold, the author of "The Light of Asia," is a sympathiser with the movement, though not, as yet, a pronounced adherent. Mr. Crookes, the well-known scientist, and Mr. Edison, the electrician, are members of the society. ITS AIMS. The aims of the society are threefold : — First, to establish a nucleus in which universal brotherhood is an actual fact This does not mean Socialism, however, as the universal brotherhood is only universal in the spirit of man, and not in the state of man. The second aim is to investigate all the forms of Aryan religion and philosophy. The third is to study all the psychic powers latent in man. With these objects in view the society lias promulgated a philosophy of its own in which TWO MAIN TENETS PREDOMINATE—RE-INCAR-NATION AND CAUSE AND EFFECT. The first of these is the law of Re-incarna-tion. This is by no means to be mistaken, as is commonly done, for the Transmigration theory, inasmuch as the Theosophist holds the aphorism, " Once a man, always a man." That is to say, that any entity having once dwelt in human form will never inhabit that of an animal, but, according to his deserts, will occupy a higher or lower position in the scale of humanity, according to the old declaration, "As a man sows, so shall he reap." This latter part is comprised in the second tenet, which is known as the law of Karma— a Sanscrit term, which literally means action. In other word, the law of Karma is the law of cause and effect, operative not only in the physical, but the moral world. Thus an individual man is born over and over again, at periods varying from 1509 to 2000 years, though these are not absolute limits. The personal man dies the ordinary death, and his perishable body decays, but the im-' mortal essence within him is then subjected to states which are in some slight degree comparable to those of purgatory and Heaven, though the condition more nearly resembles sleep to waking consciousness. In one way it may be explained thus —that given a man who has strong spiritual aspirations which are impossible of realisation during his earthly life, the law of cause and effect, which is absolute in its action, according to Theosophy, requires a condition in which such aspirations shall have their effect. Thus, after death ensues a condition when man sinks into a kind of sleep in which these spiritual aspirations are as thoroughly realised as are the objects of _ dream consciousness in earthly life. This condition is known in the East as Devachan —a Sanscrit word expressive of the condition of the gods. It is a period of rest and enjoyment of labour, as necessary to the life of the entity, as sleep is to that of the body. This condition lasts as long as the strength of the aspirations prevail. From this the spiritual human being wakes gradually into material earthly life, and is again formed in the natural way, being attracted to a body of flesh in strict accordance with its Karma, or with the effects of which it was itself the cause in the preceding earthly life. A human being obeys the laws of its humanity and not of its animality. Life becomes a series of progressive states, in which the fittest survive the longest in the spiritual world and reach it the soonest. The law of evolution does not end with the advance of the animal into the human kingdom, but humanity merges in the divinity, from which it originally took its sources of life. Thus the whole aim of the Theosophical Society is to show that there. is a philosophical science underlying all religion, whatever the differences on the surface may be. By these means it seeks to demonstrate to the man who has the courage to penetrate into the recesses of being, that the material nature is not everything, but that the spiritual was the foundation and governs the material. THE OCCULT HIERARCHY. The investigation of this science, and its practical pursuit, is what is usually known as Occultism. Those who 'have investigated for themselves, whether they have come in contact with Madame Blavatsky or not, are very well aware that there exists in the world a school in which the philosophy of occultism is taught on certain conditions, of which two are

PORITY OF LIFE AND LOVE FOR HUMANITY. The conditions are so strict that, in the language of Scripture, "Many are called, but few are chosen. But, however few may be their number, their knowledge and power are practically limitless. So great are the forces at their disposal that the most inviolable secrecy is exercised as to the nature of these forces, a fact which can be easily understood, when the marvels performed by Vril in Lytton's " Coming Race" are among some of their minor effects. Literally these almost divine beings who are at the head of the Occult Hierarchy are the custodians and controllers of the natural forces of the globe. In accordance with this duty they endeavour periodically in the last quarter of each century to arouse the atten-

tion of humanity to its real position— although it is overclouded at the present moment, man has Divine potentialities within him, and that it is his duty to act in accordance with his divine poteutiality and nature, instead of being swayed by his animal surroundings, Madame Blavatsky. was trained in- this Occult School, and has been sent by its authorities to bear the message for this especial century. To the carrying out of this task she has devoted every energy of her life for the past fifteen years. FUTURE PROSPECTS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY. Whether her efforts will be crowned by success it is impossible to say. There can be no doubt, from the number of persons who have already joined the Theosophical Society, and the still larger number of those investigating the philosophy connected with it, previous to giving in their formal adhesion, that there is a very large section of humanity to whom its efforts are particularly grateful. To such the arid soil of agnosticism affords no nourishment, while the battleground of the disputed dogmas of the churches is absolutely repulsive. It is not to those who are settled and satisfied in their particular beliefs that Theosophy has any attraction. They have a certainty; but it is to those who have lost that certainty, and are unable to find any sure ground for belief in anything beyond the evidence of their senses that Theosophy says :—" Investigate for yourself the hidden forces of nature and your own being, and you shall receive all that you deserve." The future of the Theosophical Society depends upon its members. If these work for humanity, and endeavour to spread the knowledge which can save humanity from destroying itself by courses of life which are contrary to man's spiritual nature, they will then accomplish the first object of the society, which is the formation of the nucleus of universal brotherhood. In that formation is the source of strength. Once formed, the association of individual men and women will exist throughout the centuries. If it is not accomplished, the society will come to a natural death, and every true Theosophist will be glad t*> see the end of one of the many sectarian movements into which it would then have been degraded. There is no connection, said Dr. Keightley, between Theosophy and Spiritualism. The Theosophists admit the phenomena of Spiritualism, but'assign to it a different cause.