The main cause of pain lies in our perpetually seeking the permanent in the impermanent, and the trouble that comes upon us is always just the one we feel to be the hardest that could possibly happen, the one thing we feel we cannot possibly bear. Evil is often the result of anxiety, in anticipation of recognition and personal reward. The mission of the Theosophical Society is to rekindle the torch of truth by the formation of a fraternal union of mankind, the only soil in which the good seed can grow. To those who are keen to acquire psychic powers for private advantage we have nothing to say. Beware of quick and easy ways of acquiring psychic “gifts.” If in each of our branches we were able to establish a homeopathic dispensary, with the addition of mesmeric healing, we might contribute towards putting the science of medicine in this country on a sounder basis, and be the means of incalculable benefit to the people at large.

The dark cycle of Kali Yuga has brought back a Babel of modern thought, compared with which the “confusion of tongues” itself appears a harmony. · Let us summon disciples and fill them with sacred fire. · Let us establish mysteries and teach the Doctrine. · Let us build a temple tower whose top may reach unto heaven. A scientist is wiser in his own conceit than seven theosophists that can render a reason. No new philosophy is set up in The Secret Doctrine, only the hidden meaning of some of the religious allegories of antiquity is given, light being thrown on these by the esoteric sciences, and the common source is pointed out, whence all the world-religions and philosophies have sprung. Truth must represent an unbroken continuity. It must have no gaps and contradictions, no broken or missing links. And which of our modern religions, sciences or philosophies, is free from such defects? One who affirms that the Universe and Man are objects of the senses only, and who fatally chains thought within the region of senseless matter (as do the Darwinian evolutionists) is, at best, a sophiaphobe when not a philosophaster — never a philosopher. The period when nascent Humanity, following the law of the natural and dual evolution, was descending along with spirit into matter has been closed. We are now helping matter to ascend toward spirit; and to do that, we have to help substance to disenthrall itself from the viscous grip of sense. The so-called barbaric peoples, who stood before the present division of nations, had a much higher civilization than has yet been found in geological strata. The period when nascent human speech was preceded by gesture signs, anteceded the Sanskrit only by two thousand years or so. However, relics of social and psychological culture can hardly be found in layers of soil.

Truth lingers even now among the masses. But it is only in the trans-Himalayan fastnesses that the Esoteric “Good Law,” or the “Heart’s Seal,” lives to the present day in all its pristine purity. Neither the Indian nor the Buddhist system can be understood without a key, nor can the study of comparative religion become a “science” until the symbols of every Religion yield their final secrets. The “Eye Doctrine” means dogma and dead-letter form, church ritualism intended for those who are content with exoteric formulæ. The “Heart Doctrine,” or the “Heart’s Seal” is the only real one. The essential difference between the “Eye” and the “Heart,” or the outward form and the hidden meaning, i.e., Cold Metaphysics versus Divine Wisdom, is clearly demonstrated in several volumes on Chinese Buddhism, written by sundry missionaries. It is useless to enumerate an endless string of the finest Oriental scholars who are credited with having exposed to view the ancient Hindu world, by revealing the sacred and secret books of Buddhism. But the world they revealed has never been veiled. Is it those who belong to the most anthropomorphic religion in the world, who have a right to take ancient Philosophers to task for an exaggerated religious awe and veneration? The pseudo-Buddhism of Joseph Edkins is unmasked. We fear the learned writer is on a false track as to Nirvana and Amita-Buddha. When the misuse of dogmatic Buddhist Scriptures had reached its climax, and the true spirit of the Buddha’s Philosophy was nearly lost, several reformers appeared from India, who established an oral teaching. Lord Buddha states that it is better to believe in a future life, in which happiness or misery can be felt: for, if the heart believes therein, it will abandon sin and act virtuously; and, even if there is no rebirth, a good life will bring a good name, and the reward of men. But those who believe in extinction at death will not fail to commit any sin that they may choose because of their disbelief in a bright and glorious future. Why has Truth to hide like a tortoise within its shell? Because no one can be entrusted with the knowledge of the Secret Science before his time.

In ancient times man stood in a far simpler position and more in harmony with nature, than he does at present in “civilized” life. Human thought, when written, is to a great extent ambiguous. The written symbol, without a constant living oral tradition to infuse into it energy, vitality, and give it concrete value, is absolutely dead. Mystery is not unrevealed knowledge; it is revealed only to those of sufficient intellect, purity, and discretion, who are devoted to the spirit of truth wholeheartedly and with undivided love. In ancient times the written word was only the symbol, the oral instruction transmitted from master to pupil, was the true secret treasure. The western approach to the study of eastern Secret Philosophy requires an impartial mind that can proceed without bigotry but with discrimination, both analytically and synthetically, discern similarities, make comparisons, and draw conclusions as to the merit or demerit of the eastern lore of Occult Knowledge.

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