About: A New Beginning: Theosophy Here & Now:
Here we are in 2009, one hundred and thirty-four years since the founding of the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875.
It started out with three objects:
[1] To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste/status or color.
[2] To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
[3] To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
In their day these three objects were decried and denounced as the extreme of radicalism. The very notion that humanity could form a universal brotherhood was considered to be hopelessly idealistic even by those who agreed with it.
Today these principles are enshrined in the UN Charter and the constitutions of progressive nations all over the world including Canada, and the European Union. Civil rights and gender equality are now taken for granted in all advanced societies.
The Theosophical Society and movement have had a profound influence upon the evolution of world culture and have given birth to the New Age Movement and New Spirituality. In fields as diverse as Art, Education, Transpersonal Psychology, Literature and Philosophy, Theosophy has made its presence felt in all its diversity and richness.
When we look out into the modern world we see that real progress has been made but the three objects of the original Society remain very far from full realisation. The vision evoked in 1875 and the mission that began then remains uncompleted.
The turbulent and controversial history of the Theosophical Society and Movement leaves many modern Theosophists hopelessly divided and overburdened with a history which, despite all the passionate debate and research, is not fully understood by any current Society or Organisation.
The Theosophical Society and Movement itself remains fragmented and splintered into many different Societies and Organisations. We don’t know how many active Theosophical Organisations there are around the world. Many groups choose to carry on the traditional work at a discrete distance from the controversies that waste so much time and energy in the large public Organisations.
At the New Theosophy Network we embrace all Theosophists of good will. We are not a ‘back to’ initiative of any kind. We embrace the entire history of the Theosophical Society and Movement and are rather a ‘forward to’ initiative.
Our task is to convey the essential vision and message of Theosophy to this new 21st Century and this can only be done in a new way.
This begs two questions:
[1] What is the essential vision and message of Theosophy?
[2] How can this message be best conveyed now and in the future?
The key element of the theosophical message is that all humans are connected, with each other and with the universe. My vision is that this message should be understood by everybody, and that this understanding will bring more harmony to the world.
The theosophical message is written down in many books and on the internet, but words in books are without meaning until they are read by human beings. Even reading the words is not enough; they must be understood before wisdom can blossom.
Notwithstanding the Three Objects of the Theosophical Society, I believe that theosophists have three duties: to deal with others with respect and compassion; to preserve the teachings in their original form for future generations; and to make the teachings more accessible to the current generation.
The teachings are preserved, and many of them are freely available online, and so we must focus on the two other duties. Despite the unity of humanity, we are all individuals at different stages of our evolution, and we must each discover where we are on the spiritual path. Through meditation and learning we need to raise awareness of our own strengths and weaknesses, and to consider the consequences of our thoughts, speech and action. We then become part of the message.
Making the teachings more accessible is the difficult part. Every time we simplify the message we risk losing some of the original meaning, and yet this is a necessary process. The Christian message was simplified with the telling of parables. We should not be afraid of story-telling, blogging, tweeting, film-making, song-writing and poetry as ways of reaching out with the essence of the theosophical message. The teachings in their original form are still available if some of the seeds that have been sown germinate.
Blavatsky started the monumental task of disseminating the teachings, doing it in a way that best-suited the nineteenth century. She was a best-seller of her day. She did not complete the task, and neither will this generation. But even if we do not become best-sellers of the twenty-first century, we have to make sure that the light does not go out on our watch.