Theosophy is both a science and a religion, the science of Truth and the religion of Justice. And The Secret Doctrine infuses a raison d’être and intelligibility into a universe whose drift has been utterly unperceived by western thought.

The seeds of the True Brotherhood of Man, not of brother-religionists or sectarians only, have been finally sown on the sacred soil of India. No Theosophist has ever spoken against the teachings of Christ, no more than he did against those of Krishna, Buddha, or Shankaracharya. If Europeans cry against Brahmanical tyranny, caste, infant and widow marriage, and call every religious dogmatic rule idiotic, pernicious, and devilish, why should we not denounce the abuses and defects of Christian theology and sacerdotalism? The Christian missionaries degrade the pure ethics of Christ by their Jesuitical and deceptive attitude towards the natives by proselytising and enticing them to an inferior kind of worship.

The only God whom we should serve is Humanity, and our only cult should be the love of our fellow man. Doing evil towards him, we wound God and make him suffer. This is our religion and only dogma. There now follows the response of Madame Blavatsky to an article by Charles Limousin, Editor of the Journal Acacia. A. The scientific aristocracy is full of vanity and struts on stilts of its own fabrication. B. A ray feeble light from the Sun of Truth worths much more than the artificial lights offered by physiologists and pathologists, and those elevated to the ranks of psychologists. C. The supernatural does not exist in Nature when one knows how to awaken the latent principle that animates matter. D. Divine wisdom rests on esoteric philosophy and facts of nature. E. A solitary ascetic is a living symbol of the most cowardly egotism. F. Universal Esotericism presents a periodic cosmic and human genesis which is logical and based on natural sciences, as well as on a pure transcendental philosophy. G. Budhist Esotericism has nothing to do with the Buddhist religion (note the difference in spelling). H. Theosophy is the forbear of modern science, though greatly transcending it in logic; and its metaphysics are vaster, far more beautiful and powerful than any emanating from a dogmatic cult. I. Happiness cannot exist where Truth is absent and egotism reigns supreme. It is merely a house of cards tumbling down at the first whiff. J-K. As long there is no room in the human heart for love of one’s fellow man for his own sake, and not for personal gratification, poor and rich man alike will always be unhappy. Modern science opposes to a natural force another natural force more powerful on the physical plane. Esoteric science opposes to a physical force, a spiritual or psychic force. L. Theosophists see in the priest of any religion a useless if not a pernicious being. M. The first law of the Sacred Science is never to use one’s knowledge for one’s own interest, but to work with and for others for their health and happiness. N. If a fusion of opposing and competing interests does not come about, individuals and nations will end devouring each other. O. Theosophy has nothing to do with Brahmanism, except to combat its abuses, remove the opium of superstition, and expose ecclesiastical cruelty. P. True Theosophists strive to be useful to their fellows, more especially to the disinherited ones of the world. Q. As long as the Brotherhood of Man remains an empty phrase in the air, progress will accomplish no other function than that of executioner of the poor and the downtrodden. R. As long as moral progress slumbers in inactivity, paralyzed by the ferocious egotism of everybody, the rich as well as the poor, happiness will remain a pie in the sky. S. The Secret Doctrine shows that at the beginning of the periodic evolution of our globe and its beings, the processes of generation offered varieties not even suspected in the modern laboratories. T. The infinite cannot associate with the finite; the unconditioned ignores the conditioned and the limited. Neither Brahmanas nor Bonzes, in their most acute exoteric delirium, have ever accepted the finiteness of Kosmos. U. Material progress, the so-called modern civilisation, has served only to provide the rich with enjoyments unknown in the centuries of barbarism. V. The West has not always refused the hand extended to it by the Eastern Adepts. X. Exoteric Brahmanism will soon be replaced by Esoteric Vedism, and Brotherly Love will bring about a fusion of the two Aryan Races. Z. But the mass has always bitten the hand that offered it help.

On the causal agency of Number Seven in Kosmos and Man, and its presiding role in the Theosophical Society.