THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2355, 13 April 1899, Page 30

THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY.

A lecture under the auspices of the above society was delivered in the board room of the Agricultural Hall on the 11th inst. by Mr A. W. Maurais, the subject being " The Eternal Man." The speaker essayed to show that : under the complicated and sometimes con- • fusing verbiage of Theosophical teachings I there was yet a simplicity in the basic ideas. j and proceeded to sum up the various men ■ mentioned in ti\e literature, such as tho I physical man, the astral man, and ao on/ as 1 not beiug men at all, but merely bodies, or 1 garments, -used by tho eternal man for mani- ! fetation and work on tho various planes of ■ matter which (the finer inter-penetrating the ! grosser) mado up the univorse according to | the teachings of Theo3ophy. Thia eternal i man was a portion of Deity separated from j tho Father for the time b^ging, and made to , pass through a long pilgrimage in matter — j hence ho was sometimes called ""the Eternal i Pilgrim" — eventually returning to God with all his vast experience, and becoming a aelfconscious co-worker with the jjogos in future 'universes. There was in naturo a law of ebb and flow, as evidenced in day and night. I waking and sleeping, growth and decay, from which even Universes were not exempt, ' and by virtue ' of this law tho eternal man swung backwards and forwords between earthly and spiritual conditions, tho coming back to earth being known as reinearna- . tion. If his life in this world had been ! even averagoly good and unselfish, he went j between incarnations to Devachan, or [ heaven, the Deyaebanic piano being, indeed, ' his proper homo : but he could not stay there | permanently until he had learned all the leseons this life had to teach. As he pro- . ceedod on hig journey, the pilgrim became ) wiser, and was abls to send his voice with a lesa uncertain sound to his earthly representative, the physical man ; — this was the voic.i of conscience, tho difference between , the consciences •of men showing, igenerally t speaking, the stage to whioh the eternal man i had attained on hia road tc divinity. In conclusion, the lecturer said tho study of , Theosophy would throw light on many perplexing problems, and its teachings were worth tho attention of all, whatever religion they might ndhore to. pince Thoosopby harmonised all phases of faith. Mr G. Kichardson occupied the ohair, and the discourse I was listened to with attention.

1 , ' — There is a certain variety of moth quite [ common around elms which fixes its wings ; co that they cicely resemble spots or lichens : on the bark of the tree, ana can only be ; detected by a trained eye. Another moth, » whoso principal colours are pink and yellow, - arranges itself on the blossom of a primrose, ' so, as to wholly escape notice. >