THEOSOPHY-THE DIVINE WISDOM

by N.Sri Ram

The Theosophical Society was founded in New York in 1875, jointly by Madame H. P. Blavatsky, a

Russian, and Col. H. S. Olcott, an American, assisted by others. In 1879, the world Headquarters was

shifted to Bombay and later, in 1882, to Adyar, Madras. It is an international organization with

membership which has included 56 countries, belonging to any religion in the world or to none. They

are united by their approval of the Objects of the Theosophical Society; by their wish to remove

religious antagonisms and to draw together men of goodwill whatsoever their religious opinions; and

by their desire to study truths and to share the results of their studies with others. Their bond of union

is not the profession of a common belief but of a common search and aspiration for Truth.

They see every religion as an expression of the Divine Wisdom and prefer its study to its

condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. Everyone willing to study, to be tolerant, to aim high,

and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a member, and it rests with the member to become a true

Theosophist.

The three declared objects of the Theosophical Society are:

1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed,

sex, caste 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.

Col. H. S. Olcott was the first President (1875-1907) , followed by Dr. Annie Besant (1907-1933), Dr.

G., S. Arundale (1934-45), and Mr. C. Jinarajadasa (1946-1953), Mr. N. Sri Ram (1953-1973), Mr.

John Coats ( ) , Mrs. Radha Burnier (1980- )

The word " Theosophy " is defined neither in the constitution of the Theosophical Society nor in any

official document. It is evidently intended that each one interested should discover for himself what it

is or of what nature it is. There have been persons throughout the ages who have embarked on this

quest, and what has been recorded out of their findings or teachings is available for our study. A

person can find out what Theosophy is partly from the thoughts and writings which have come down

from ancient times, partly by studying the modern Theosophical works by H. P. Blavatsky, Annie

Besant and others, and partly by his own earnest meditations and enquiry.

In the very word " Theosophy " there is some indication of the direction in which to search.

Theosophy or Theo-sophia may be translated as the " Divine Wisdom". Some people may prefer to

call it Spiritual Wisdom. But then, what is Wisdom and what is spiritual ? Surely wisdom is not

knowledge. A person may have a great deal of information or even knowledge in a well-ordered form,

yet may err greatly in his judgements, be thoroughly wrong in his evaluations, and in his actions be

blatantly unwise. Knowledge can be used for an ill or for a good purpose. The mere possession of

knowledge is like the possession of wealth, of resources and capacities, which can be used either for

good ends or for ends wrong and harmful. It is easy to find persons who are learned, yet are confused

in their thinking and even petty and ill-advised in their behaviour and actions. Wisdom is something

altogether other than knowledge. It has a quality superior to and different from ordinary knowledge.

What is this quality and how does it manifest itself? This calls for a deep enquiry.

I would suggest a somewhat simple approach to the question. Wisdom lies in action in accordance

with Truth, the truth of all things in life. When life is of one sort or nature, if we act in a way which

contradicts that truth, we are acting in ignorance or illusion and are bound to come to grief. All

illusions must inevitably mislead and fail. They will eventually be blown up by the facts of existence.

We usually interpret action as our outer physical deeds, what we perform outwardly in relation to

persons and things, what is capable of observation by others. But we have to understand this word "

action" in a much truer and more comprehensive sense. Thinking is action, feeling is action, in

addition to the outer visible acts we may perform. If we understand action as the action of the whole

nature of man, the functioning of his whole being, including the physical aspect of it, then if a man

acts, that is to say, thinks, feels, acts in a way which expresses or does not conflict with the truth of

things, he is wise; but if he acts according to various ideas which do not correspond to the actuality of

things or harmonize with the basic process of himself or of the universe, he is wrong. This is common

sense.

Next arises the question: What do we call Truth? Here again we come up against a question which is

exceedingly difficult to answer. To know the Truth requires going into things very, very deeply. What

things? Into all things that actually exist or take place, as distinguished from what is merely imagined

or projected out of one's hopes and wishes. Whatever actually exists at any level represents Truth in

its own way and measure. But if something is merely imagined, if there is a concept which is just a

projection, an hallucination or dream, it may not correspond to the actuality of things.

All that exists can be placed in four simple categories or divisions. First, there is matter, in whatever

form. There is the world of matter, and it is this world with which, in its physical aspect, modern

Science is concerned. The facts that have been discovered by Science, the laws which connect those

facts, all that is the knowledge of the world of matter. There are the forces of which that world is

composed, forces which form the very matrix or substance of matter, as well as the forces which seem

apart from matter and operate in the field of matter. We might take matter and force as belonging to

the same category. Knowledge of their nature and properties is part of the totality of knowledge To

understand Truth in this outermost aspect of it obviously requires a mind which is objective, which

confronts the facts, which does not inject into the explanation of facts ideas that are not inherent in

those facts, which are subjectively generated apart from them. This objectivity makes the mind

precise, accurate and logical. All the qualities which distinguish the scientist are needed by all of us to

comprehend Truth in whatever aspect. They are needed also to conduct our own lives rightly.

Willingness to confront facts and exclude whatever is irrelevant in dealing with them are qualities

which must shape thought on all matters.

In the vast expanse of matter we find there is life in innumerable forms. Life appears like a patch on

what we call inorganic, inert matter, but perhaps actually there is life in every individual thing. At any

rate such is the view of Occultism, as taught by the ancient Teachers. It is a view which has profound

implications and cannot be dismissed as impossible. Life has its own laws for its functioning, growth

and development. Also, it evolves. Perhaps matter also evolves - we need not go into that point here -

though to our limited sight it does not. Life pulsates, expands, reproduces and evolves; it has these

and other extraordinary qualities. The study of life or knowledge of the nature of life is an important

part of the Theosophical wisdom.

Then in addition to life, there is consciousness and intelligence. Wherever there is life, in however

insignificant a form, there is consciousness. Every living organism is conscious in one degree or

another, but in man consciousness rises to grades and functions in ways in which life in other forms

does not. Life has to coincide with the organism, flow along with its processes, limiting itself to the

organism, whereas consciousness and intelligence can transcend the organism. Our minds can

imagine and feel various things, go off into realms quite outside the limits of physical life.

Then, there is a fourth category, not readily perceived, under which we might include all that is truly

spiritual, that is, all that manifests the nature of the Spirit. We know little about this Principle, which

H. P. Blavatsky speaks of as omnipresent and incomprehensible to our limited minds. If we imagine

it, try to form a certain concept of it, that imagination or concept arises from ideas which already exist

in our minds. My mind is made up in a certain way because of my life experiences: I have been born

an Indian and a Hindu; I have lived in a particular family; I have been influenced by my environment;

I have had a certain type of education and associates. All these together have conditioned my mind,

and inevitably any ideas I form are moulded by the facts and factors that have entered deeply into my

composition. A concept is a projection, and it is projected from the ground of ideas already formed by

certain forces operating in association with them. The picture or image is created by the mind

according to its tendencies and ideas; so conceptualization is not the way to arrive at absolute truth.

Moreover, the concept of something is not that something. A concept of God or the Godhead is not

the living God. Therefore, to know the truth there must be nothing in the mind from which to project.

The consciousness has to be purged of all its contents. In that condition what is reflected is what

exists, that is, Truth. There are people who have attained that condition and have discovered what lies

beyond the mind as we understand it, that is, what belongs to this fourth category which has a nature

that is unconditioned.

Therefore, Truth has all these aspects: matter, life, consciousness, and what lies beyond that

consciousness. In this series consciousness is the one thing, substance let us call it, in which and

through which we perceive all the others. Matter, the material form, the material world, are all known

only in the consciousness. How do we know that there is something spiritual, a spiritual condition or

principle ? We know it also in the consciousness, but in its pure unmodified state. Consciousness has

the extraordinary nature of being able to turn into itself, as well as look outside itself. Its action is both

objective and subjective. When it is able to perceive the truth within itself, it knows truth in its

spiritual and subjective aspects. When it looks out it perceives the phenomena, the objects of the

material world. And life partakes both of the nature of matter and of consciousness, because the form

in which life dwells, through which it functions, is composed of material substances, but life has also

qualities of consciousness, such as sensation, will, etc. It is only a consciousness capable of knowing

what exists at all levels, in all its aspects, that can embrace the totality of truth. It becomes then one

with the Truth and that totality is a unity within itself.

When the consciousness is sensitive with a sensitiveness which is its own pure nature, is awake in all

its sections and layers, from the highest Spirit to the lowest matter, it is only then that it can know the

true nature of the whole, of what pervades that whole as well as the subtlety and complexity of the

processes which constitute that whole. The consciousness that embraces the truth completely acts in

accordance with it; in other words, the truth acts through the person and then he is wise. But even

without knowing the universal process, all the facts of existence at the different levels, if a man is

pure in mind, heart and body, empty of self, he will attain unconsciously a perfect relationship with

the whole and will be able to act with an intuition of the truth which will guide him unerringly in aIl

that he does. Birds, animals and insects have instincts which are unerring for their limited purposes.

Man, who is much more developed, is also capable of such an instinct, but operating more universally

and in a more significant manner. That instinct we might call Intuition. In him the Intuition is now

suppressed and confused by various activities of a mind affected by very many factors, its hopes, fears

and so on. The mind is subject to attractions and repulsions, which distort its nature. Even at its best

its mode of action gives only a partial view. But there can be a different kind of action by a

consciousness which belongs to the whole nature of man, subtler, deeper, swifter, more harmonious

and more in contact with the truth. Such action is possible only to a mind which has reverted to its

original unmodified state.

So we may say that Theosophy is a knowledge of truth in its essence, of the heart of truth, of that

nature or Principle which is present in all that exists and also in the heart of man, making it possible

for him to know the truth of everything in a flash.

This wisdom is described as divine. What is divine ? Let me attempt a definition. The divine is that

which has a quality or nature to which the mind and heart can surrender itself without any reservation.

A person may say: " I surrender myself." He may go to a temple, prostrate himself on the ground. But

this is not real surrender. There is much reservation behind such so-called surrender, many

expectations and wants. Surrender is neither physical nor mental, it has to be surrender by the whole

being. It is only when one surrenders or gives himself completely, without asking for anything,

whether in love or devotion, that he can know or, rather, experience that which is Divine.

There are different possible approaches to what Theosophy is. The longer one studies it, The less easy

it is to define it, because it is the universal Truth. How can we define a Wisdom which belongs to life,

therefore lives and breathes, in which there are the depths which belong to what we call the Spirit,

which is subtler than the subtlest mind can encompass, whose every movement is meaningful with the

meaning of that Spirit?

The Truth, or the Wisdom, cannot be known except by a mind which is completely open to it. It is

only when the mind is clear of every idea, every colouring wish, every element of self, that it can

discover the Truth. That truth is reflected in such a mind; there is no need to go after it. The truth then

comes to the person. He discovers it in his heart. It is only in absolute freedom of mind and heart that

truth in its absoluteness can shine and manifest itself. Therefore, in the Theosophical Society we try to

maintain that freedom which is like an open way or space. That is the reason why Theosophy is left

free of all definitions, all limitations.