Printed in the Summer 2015 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Boyd, Tim."A Great Idea" Quest 103.3 (Summer 2015): pg. 88-89.
By Tim Boyd, President
Contemporary poet and philosopher Diane Ackerman has described humanity as "a life form that quests." In many ways this is an apt description of beings who, since appearing on the earth, have turned over rocks to discover what lies beneath, traveled beyond distant hills to find what lies on the other side, sent exploratory vehicles into space, and delved into the minutest corners of the subatomic realm. Throughout time we have been seeking, asking, and exploring.
One reason for the reappearance of the Ageless Wisdom teachings in our time was as an attempt to shift the focus of that questing. This quality of questing is recognized in the Three Objects of the Theosophical Society. It could be said that the Objects taken as a whole define a very specific quest: (1) to form a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of humanity; (2) to encourage the comparative study of religion, philosophy, and science; (3) to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity. To form, study, and investigate is the character of this particular quest.
Every quest necessarily begins with a question. Is there a shorter route to India? Where and what is the Grail? Is there life on Mars? Who am I? All of these questions have fueled intense journeys of exploration and have changed the course of our collective lives. The great Sufi mystic Rumi said, "Ask a difficult question and marvelous answers appear."
Recently I was in California for a program. It was a public conversation between Michael Murphy and me. Michael has led a remarkable life and is a brilliant man. Although he is the author of a number of books that have been influential in the field of contemporary spirituality, he is probably best-known for his role in founding California's Esalen Institute. Ever since it was started in 1962, Esalen has been a force in the Western world for developing the teachers and the conversation about human potential and peak states of human experience — what the TS would describe as the "powers latent in humanity." Most of today's prominent teachers of contemporary spirituality have made their way through Esalen's doors at one time or another.
It was a two-hour conversation that could have gone on much longer. One fascinating feature for me was that although the evening was sold out, it was an audience that did not have more than a passing familiarity with Theosophy or the Theosophical Society. As is necessarily the case for anyone exploring contemporary approaches to spirituality, many of them had come across the TS or its literature, but for a variety of reasons felt it was not enough. Some of them had been turned off from their study of Theosophy by the difficult Victorian English that was common in our early literature. Others, who had studied a little more, ran into difficulties correctly understanding the sometimes complex and challenging concepts involved.
During the question-and-answer part of the evening, a gentleman asked me a couple of probing questions. He was a man who clearly had delved into a study of the TS's history and at least some of its teachings. His first question called attention to a number of prominent people who have left the TS to pursue other approaches to the Ageless Wisdom. He pointed to Rudolf Steiner, who left to form the Anthroposophical Society, taking with him most of the German Section of the TS. He brought up the separations of J. Krishnamurti after disbanding the Order of the Star, of William Quan Judge, and others. After outlining some of the history of these highly regarded people, he asked, "For an organization that promotes unity, truth, and brotherhood, how can you explain so many schisms?" From the manner in which the question was framed, it was clear that it was not merely about TS history, but was about the credibility of the TS in advancing some of its high ideals. I got the impression that my questioner had already made up his mind.
My response to that question can be found in the Adyar Theosophist, April 2015, "The River Delta." But in brief, it was that there is no individual or organization that can fully contain the wisdom of the ages. The individuals involved in the various schisms were, like H.P. Blavatsky, subject to the influence of their personalities, but were also sincere and intuitive people who had been affected by some profound insight into the Ageless Wisdom. The fact that they developed their own vision and organizations made it possible for a broader audience to be exposed to different aspects of the wisdom teachings.
The gentleman's first query called into question the TS's credibility as an organization. His second question targeted the teachings. In his introduction to the question he pointed out that the most substantial teachings of Theosophy are credited to the Mahatmas, the Masters of Wisdom. The actual question was, "Since nobody has ever seen or spoken to these Mahatmas, isn't it stretching credulity to present these as authentic teachings?"
As someone who frequently speaks to groups of people, over the years I have found that during question-and-answer sessions often people ask leading questions — those that walk you through the person's beliefs or knowledge, eventually leading you to the answer that confirms those beliefs. These are always wonderful opportunities to "step outside of the box" and see things from a different point of view.
Although my questioner was exaggerating in saying that nobody had seen or spoken to the Mahatmas, it was not a huge departure from the facts. In the history of the TS, approximately twenty-four people received letters from the Mahatmas, and only eight actually saw them physically. Because this was an audience that had limited exposure to the teachings of the Ageless Wisdom, I began by going through a basic description of the idea and process of spiritual evolution which supports the existence of those highly evolved beings described as Mahatmas. I noted that in the normal conception of the chain of being there is a progressive unfoldment of function and consciousness from the mineral kingdom to single-celled organisms to plants, to animals, and then humans. In conventional thought, humanity is where it ends, with the next step beyond us being God, or, for the religious, angels or their equivalent. This gap in the spectrum of consciousness does not accord with the rest of the natural world. From the Theosophical point of view, the Mahatmas are the next stage in the human evolutionary process.
My answer to the questioner went something like this: whether or not someone accepts this view of spiritual evolution does not really matter. What is important is the value of the teachings. H.P. Blavatsky described Theosophy as "the accumulated wisdom of the ages, tested and verified by generations of seers." Individual testing and verification are essential.
Since the founding of the TS, many prominent people have been affected by profound insights resulting from their exposure to the wisdom tradition. These are people in every field of human endeavor whose lives have deeply influenced society. The list is long — Alfred Lord Tennyson, Thomas Edison, Kandinsky, Scriabin, Gandhi, Albert Einstein, William James, Nehru, Henry Wallace (vice-president of the U.S.), Elvis Presley, and many others. Through their lives and vision, countless people have been exposed to some of the nuances of the One Tradition that Theosophy embodies.
Then there are the countless unheralded students and practitioners of the many forms of contemporary spirituality who are unaware that their roots trace back directly to the TS. Groups like the Esalen Institute and the numerous other spiritual groups that comprise the landscape of contemporary spirituality continue to draw on those teachings. One can either believe that these teachings are inspired by Great Ones, such as the Mahatmas, or that they are simply an example of a great idea whose time has come. Given that the ideas of unity, multidimensionality, spiritual evolution, omnipresent intelligence, and self-responsibility that the TS introduced have permeated world culture, the best approach would be to judge the tree by its fruits.
HPB once commented that "the world is man living in his personal nature." The teachings of Theosophy were intended for that world. They were presented in full knowledge that they would not, could not, be fully comprehended or faithfully followed, that their meaning would necessarily be distorted, but that their reintroduction to the current of world thought was the greatest hope for an alternative to the "degrading superstition and still more degrading brutal materialism" that characterized the time.
In my conversation with Michael Murphy and the interaction with the audience, it became clear that in the year 2015, 140 years after the founding of the TS, its teachings are not yet understood or fully appreciated, but its influence is growing stronger. Though this is dimly understood by many, the fact is that its ideas and the societal influence it exerts are slowly but surely moving humanity toward a deeper experience of truth. To my optimistic eyes the process is slow, the results are imperfect, but the end is certain.