H.P.

Blavatsky and Theosophy

There is No Religion Higher than Truth
We live in a questioning and critical age when the religious and scientific dogmas of the
past are increasingly being challenged. The idea, for example, of a personal,
anthropomorphic God, a sort of magnified image of ourselves, a God who created the
universe and ourselves from nothing, who listens to prayers, grants favours, forgives
sins, and eventually consigns us to heaven or hell such a God finds fewer and fewer
believers. At the same time, the idea of a soulless, mechanical universe governed by
nothing but chance is not very compelling either. Many people are seeking a deeper and
more meaningful vision of life.
This was also true of the Russian mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the mother of the
New Age, when she set out on her quest for knowledge in the middle of the 19th
century. Through her contacts with religious and mystical traditions in many parts of the
world, and the instructions she received from her own teachers in Tibet, she learned of
the existence of the ageless wisdom the fountain-source from which all the great
world religions and philosophies have sprung.

H.P. Blavatsky

The fundamental teaching of the ancient wisdom is the spiritual unity of all things.

Blavatsky writes: not only humanity composed as it is of thousands of races but

everything that lives is made of the same essence and substance, is animated by the
same spirit, and consequently, everything in nature is bound in solidarity. Rejecting the
idea of a God existing outside nature, theosophy speaks of an all-pervading divine
essence, an infinite ocean of consciousness, from which all things are born and to
which they ultimately return. The human kingdom is one of the phases of experience
that each god-spark must pass through during its long evolutionary journey through the
worlds of matter.
The idea that each human soul lives just one short life on earth, and then spends the
rest of eternity in heaven or hell is neither logical nor appealing. According to the
ageless wisdom, we incarnate on earth many many times, and in each life we reap the
consequences of the causes we have set in motion in previous lives, in accordance with
the law of karma. In this way we gradually learn from our mistakes and unfold more and
more of our spiritual potential. The twin doctrines of reincarnation and karma place the
responsibility for our lives firmly upon our own shoulders. Instead of being the victims of
chance and selfish genes on the one hand, or of fate and some fickle God on the other,
we have made ourselves what we are, and it is up to us to use our free will wisely, in
order to help others and change ourselves for the better. And just as the quality of our
thoughts and deeds largely determines the nature of our dreams during sleep, so they
will also determine the states of consciousness experienced by the inner self after
death.
H.P. Blavatsky devoted her life to spreading these and other ideas. She believed that
they would help to eradicate ignorance and superstition, uproot separateness and
selfishness the cause of so much suffering and misery and lay a sound basis for
universal brotherhood. In her work, she had to cross swords with both dogmatic
theology and materialistic science, and it was this that lay at the root of much of the
opposition she encountered. Her eventful life and the far-reaching influence she has
had on modern thought are described in detail in the biography The Extraordinary Life
and Influence of Helena Blavatsky; Founder of the Modern Theosophical Movement by
Sylvia Cranston and Carey Williams, and also in H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical
Movement by Charles J. Ryan.
The first of the three objectives of the Theosophical Society, founded by H.P. Blavatsky,
H.S. Olcott and W.Q. Judge in 1875, is to form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of
humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour. The basic moral
precepts that would make universal brotherhood a reality are very simple, but it is a
constant challenge to apply them consistently in our everyday lives: we should try to be
loving and forgiving, calm and patient, kind and altruistic; we should treat others as we
would like to be treated ourselves, and concentrate on correcting our own faults rather
than on criticizing others; and above all, we should live to benefit others. Blavatskys
work The Voice of the Silence is a beautiful expression of the ethics of brotherhood and
self-sacrifice, in the tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. In it she writes: Sow kindly acts
and thou shalt reap their fruition. Inaction in a deed of mercy becomes an action in a
deadly sin.
The second objective of the Theosophical Society is the study of the worlds religions,
philosophies and sciences. Blavatsky played a pioneering role in introducing the West
to the sacred traditions of the East. She also provided insights into the deeper meaning
of myth, allegory and symbolism. When stripped of their later dogmatic accretions, the

worlds religions are found to have more similarities than differences: they recognize
that our essential self is fundamentally identical with the Universal Self; they advocate
the golden rule of universal love; and they speak of enlightened teachers Krishna,
Buddha, Christ, etc. who have appeared on earth at different times and restated some
of the fundamental spiritual values.
The third objective of the Theosophical Society is the study of the hidden mysteries of
nature, including the psychic and spiritual powers latent in man. A growing number of
scientific investigators are admitting that many phenomena in the physical world cannot
be satisfactorily explained in terms of standard physical and chemical forces alone. The
growth of an organism from a seed or egg, the existence of instinct and
selfconsciousness, the purposeful nature of evolution, and a wide variety of paranormal
phenomena all point to the operation of nonphysical forces and influences. In her book,
Cranston outlines some of the latest insights and discoveries in various fields of
science, including research into out-of-the-body experiences, near-death experiences
and survival after death.
Materialistic scientists regard consciousness as a mere by-product of matter, and matter
in turn is regarded as concentrated energy. Theosophy, on the other hand, says that
consciousness is the ultimate reality, the highest form of energy, and physical matter is
just one of its many manifestations. Hence the physical world is interpenetrated by
innumerable other worlds, composed of grades of energy-substance invisible to our
physical senses. And just as the physical world is organized and coordinated by inner
worlds astral, mental and spiritual so our physical bodies are animated and
controlled by our own inner nature astral model-body, life-energy, thoughts and
desires, and our more intuitive and spiritual qualities. And whether it is our higher nature
or lower nature that holds sway is entirely up to us.
H.P. Blavatsky was not interested in establishing yet another sect with herself as high
priestess. She made no claims to infallibility, but called for free and fearless
investigation, believing that, as the motto of the Theosophical Society puts it: There is
no religion higher than truth. In her view, all ideas whatever their source should be
tested against our own knowledge, experience and intuition. She strove to reawaken
interest in the timeless, soul-strengthening ideas of the ancient wisdom, because she
felt that they could help us to develop a healthy and positive philosophy of life, one
which satisfies both the heart and the intellect, and which can help us to meet the trials
and temptations of daily life. Her major works Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, The
Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence have been continuously in print since
her death in 1891. And it is because her writings are so full of stimulating, thoughtprovoking and inspiring ideas, that they are likely to remain in demand for a very long
time to come.

by David Pratt. November 1997.

Key concepts of theosophy
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