Quest Magazine

Printed in the  Spring 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Keene, Douglas,  "Seeking Evidence" Quest 111:2, pg 9      

By Douglas Keene

When contemplating the divine, whether personal or impersonal, some see evidence everywhere, and others cannot. This depends, of course, on the nature and quality of such evidence. To some, a field of blooming lavender, a blazing sunrise, or an exploding nebula is all that is needed to inspire and help them know that we are not alone. Others want measurable, material, and irrefutable proof in the divine before acknowledging it.

Historically, the role of an Almighty Being has served different purposes. One was to explain the unexplained. Eclipses, weather events, wars, plagues, and even personal prosperity or penury were attributed to “the will of God.” A pantheon of gods evolved that were worshiped by the Hindus, Greeks, and Romans. The birth of Christianity led to the spread of monotheism, but there was still a plethora of saints to help with day-to-day concerns.

In 1768, Voltaire famously wrote, “Si Dieu n’existait pas, il faudrait l’inventer” (“If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him”). But is this as true in the twenty-first century as it was in the eighteenth? As science has advanced, it has explained many of our progenitors’ perplexities, but in doing so, it has raised a myriad of new questions and challenges.

Nevertheless, with this accumulated knowledge, many have drifted to a more secular understanding of the universe. Neil deGrasse Tyson, the American astrophysicist, pointed out in a 2011 talk that roughly 90 percent of the general public believe in a personal God. This number drops to 60 percent among those with postgraduate college degrees, then to 40 percent for those with degrees in science, and finally to 7 percent of those considered “elite” scientists: members of the National Academy of Sciences.

This correlation is quite curious, as it implies that the more we know about physical existence, the less we believe in (at least a personal) God. This suggests a competition of these two worldviews rather than a melding. Is there any reason that being able to calculate the orbits of the planets and measure the distance of the stars should render their creation and placement any less miraculous? Does splitting the atom into quanta cause it to be any less mind-boggling? Is life after death any more difficult to comprehend than life before death?

Another role of faith in a divine presence is the word of God, which is in part instruction in moral development, presumably leading to eternal life. Undoubtedly, this has uplifted and given hope to millions of devotees, but is it essential in the modern world? In his book Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World, the Dalai Lama has written, “What we need today is an approach to ethics which makes no recourse to religion and can be equally acceptable to those with faith and those without: a secular ethics” (Dalai Lama, 5). He makes a strong argument that if all people live by the highest ethical principles, whether within religious structures or outside of them, many aspects of our lives will improve, regardless of national or political affiliation. Respect, compassion, charity, unity, and humanity are not the province of any one tradition.

There are those who have had direct spiritual experiences (or believe they have) through revelation, clairvoyance, astral projection, near-death experience, and other nonphysical phenomena. Although some instances may have other explanations, they usually lead the experiencer to a deep conviction that an alternative reality exists. Frequently, the fear of physical death dissolves as the body is seen as a mere cloak for a limited time in a specific incarnation. Theosophy regards dreams as excursions into other realms that we will one day experience more fully. Deep meditation allows some to see behind the veil of illusion of sensed physical solidity. Yogis appear to defy laws of physiology, time, and space.

We should remember that the lack of evidence for a divine hierarchy (if one chooses this belief) does not in any way constitute evidence against it. Love cannot be measured by a yardstick, and empathy does not show up on a chest X-ray. Yet who would deny their existence?  It might be helpful here to recall the words of Mabel Collins in her book The Idyll of the White Lotus: “The principle which gives life dwells in us, and without us, is undying and eternally beneficent, is not heard or seen or smelt, but is perceived by the man who desires perception” (Collins, chapter 8).

Sources

Collins, Mabel. Idyll of the White Lotus. London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1885.  

The Dalai Lama XIV. Beyond Religion: Ethics for a Whole World. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011.

Tyson, Neil deGrasse. “Religion versus Science: Can the Two Coexist?” Lecture, YouTube, 2011.

Voltaire. “Epître à l’auteur du livre des Trois imposteurs” (“Epistle to the Author of Three Impostors”). Voltaire Society in America website.

Douglas Keene, vice president of the Theosophical Society in America, has been a member since 1980, first joining in San Antonio, Texas, while in medical school. He has served for several years on the TSA board of directors, initially as eastern director. Doug has presented at a number of lodges in the eastern U.S. as well as at the Ojai Valley TS Lodge and at the Summer National Convention. A practicing doctor for over thirty-three years, he is currently the medical director at an extended care facility and lives with  his wife, Risa, in New Hampshire.

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Smoley, Richard,  "From the Editor's Desk" Quest 111:3, pg 2

The theme of a brotherhood that works in secret for the advancement of humanity has fascinated people for centuries.

Stephan Hoeller’s article in this issue ably outlines the history of this idea, including the role of the Theosophical Society in advancing it. Some have thought of this brotherhood as a kind of secret government of humanity. But as Hoeller notes, there is one definitive objection to this belief: “The sorrowful course of history, the fierce expressions of a ‘blind world-creating will’ . . . does not intimate the handiwork of such intelligences. If there is an ‘inner government’ or a ‘secret directorate,’ it would have to be a rather ineffectual one.”

One might counter that these adepts are working with the raw material of human nature, which includes not only free will but a compendium of instincts that are often violent and cruel. Yet even if we set aside the notion of some unseen directorate of humankind, there may be more to the concept of hidden brotherhoods than meets the eye.

Ernest Scott’s book People of the Secret discusses the history of this idea. He makes a striking comment about the brotherhood’s use of telepathy: “Telepathic powers are currently used, and have been used throughout the whole of human cultures in such a way that tension and rivalry are maintained. This offsets natural inertia and ensures that cultures attain their norm of productivity over an historical period.”

Scott adds something even more startling. He quotes one anonymous adept: “Since we have prescience as well, it can be stated that the necessary effort and ingenuity to accomplish the art of telepathy will not be marshalled during the entire foreseeable period of generations in which this power could be a significant aid to humanity.’”

Are some occult brotherhoods working against a widespread belief in—and use of—human psychic powers?

If we tentatively accept this idea, it brings many otherwise inexplicable things into focus, notably the obstinate resistance of the scientific community and the mainstream intelligentsia to accept the reality of psychic phenomena, even though it has been repeatedly demonstrated scientifically. (For more on this topic, see Quest, winter 2023, containing Mitch Horowitz’s article and my editorial.)

Putting this into perspective, we can suppose that there are at least two hidden brotherhoods: one familiar from Theosophical and similar literature, which is working ceaselessly to advance human evolution, and another, which is equally set on retarding it.

To look at this possibility in a reasonable way, it would be useful to set aside preconceptions of “light” and “dark” brotherhoods, good and evil respectively. Rather it would make more sense to see these two hidden forces as resembling an automobile, which has to have both an engine for moving it forward and a braking system to stop when necessary. We could also consider that this tension may account for the convulsions of history.

Historical events are often naively categorized into Good Things and Bad Things, but a closer look reveals that they are nothing of the kind. Some of the greatest atrocities have had beneficial results. The horrors of the two world wars are well known, but they did break the backs of the colonial empires under which much of the human race had been suffering. Similarly, some of the greatest advances have been accompanied by ruinous side effects. The scientific revolution of the past 250 years has provided countless medicines and increased food production to a level that would once have been considered miraculous, but has also brought about environmental desecration on a global scale.

One esoteric name for the earthly level on which we live is the mixtus orbis: the “mixed globe,” where good and evil are inseparable. It is said—and I believe it myself—that there are other realms and dimensions where this dynamic does not apply, but whatever and wherever they are, they are not here.

You may feel outraged by the thought of a secret brotherhood that is trying to impede humans’ awareness of their own potential. Consider this: at this point it is by no means clear that humanity can use nuclear energy wisely and responsibly. What, then, of the power of the mind, which is infinitely superior? To put the matter more concretely, do you want everybody going around able to read everyone else’s thoughts and move objects by the sheer force of will? For that matter, do you yourself really want to know what’s going on in other people’s minds? Maybe you do, and maybe you don’t.

In the end, I come down on the side of the existence of hidden brotherhoods—one or many—as long as we can accept that their views of what is good and bad, wise and foolish, may have little resemblance to ours. As we read in Isaiah 55:8, “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.”

Richard Smoley

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Braun, Stephen,  "Journey to Adyar" Quest 111:3, pg 14-15

By Stephen Braun

My journey to Adyar began with a flight under the first quarter moon just before the New Year of 2023. I was headed there to participate in the Theosophical Society’s 147th International Convention. Little did I know on that flight how rich of an experience awaited.

My first activity at Adyar was a silent meditation walk at 6 a.m., before sunrise, led by Ven. Ananda Olande of the Netherlands. The bird calls and insect sounds as we walked in the night evoked mystery and oneness. When the first signs of day broke, we meditated at the Garden of Remembrance, which contains ashes of deceased international presidents plus those of C.W. Leadbeater. Afterward, we continued our walk to the edge of campus through a door opening on the Bay of Bengal, where we could be one with the sunrise. What a glorious and contemplative way to start that first day and each day after!

During my weeklong stay, I met Theosophists from more than twenty-five countries. We enjoyed discussing and learning how we approach programs at home and how we can collaborate despite distance. Every section has its own approach to understanding and applying the Ancient Wisdom, and there is much to be learned when we look in the mirror as Theosophists. How exciting, in the world that is emerging, to be able to continue globally sharing and learning.

	Sunrise among Theosophists at Bay of Bengal

There is something about being in India that refreshes the soul: a revitalization and reset of all planes of being. India is a country that functions differently than we Americans are used to, making it a perfect place to see our personal world and attachments from another perspective. It reveals much about our own nature and the nature of humanity, allowing us to make conscious decisions about our lives going forward.

India is also a spiritual home for Theosophists, with beauty, experience, and interactivity speaking to us. This happens at Adyar, which is both a neighborhood in Chennai and how we refer to the headquarters and grounds of our international Society. Adyar, set on a campus of 250 acres full of life, spirit, and perhaps most importantly, applied Theosophy, refreshes the soul of the Theosophist.

I use the term applied to mean both what we do at Adyar and what we are able to see as examples. The local programs reflect the day-to-day potential of Theosophy to serve our world. The campus, for example, is home to the Besant Memorial Animal Dispensary, sheltering hundreds of animals who need rehabilitation or homes; there is also a clinic daily serving hundreds of animal outpatients from the community. One will find Theosophical elementary and secondary schools, a training center for women and a shelter for the poor, a bookshop, printing house, and residential and lodging quarters, all on campus. Outside the campus, one notices streets, neighborhoods, and ecclesiastical structures named after the Society or its leaders, particularly Annie Besant. Our impact on greater Chennai is remarkable and reflects what we can accomplish in our own communities as Theosophists.

The Blavatsky Bungalow at Adyar

At Adyar, we can enjoy magnificent stone gateways, a majestic banyan tree, and a tropical forest. We find plenty of time to meditate, experiencing the energy of forebears like H.P. Blavatsky, Annie Besant, Henry Steel Olcott, and C.W. Leadbeater. This is a home of the Masters, with a palpable sense of their presence and guidance.

Here we may also enjoy time with Theosophists from around the world, sharing and learning from one another, enjoying a distinct sense of the extent of Universal Brotherhood. The unity of life and the brotherhood of humanity feel as if they intersect here.

The campus is very much alive with lectures, art, dance, camaraderie, and oneness. There is a sense of legacy—whether through objects displayed by the museum and archives, reflecting the foundations of our movement, or the crow calls coming from all directions—descendants of the same crows we hear ubiquitously in Krishnamurti recordings from Adyar. Those and other elements reflect our rich inheritance as Theosophists, and it resonates deeply within me to experience them firsthand.

Inside our international headquarters building are bas-reliefs of major world traditions and messengers. Above those, symbols of initiates from traditions throughout our cycle of humanity are to be found and may be reflected on at any of the temples or the mosque or church on campus, reflecting the many traditions which inform Theosophy and which, in the end, are one.

Adyar is filled with many other sorts of life. During the week we saw flying foxes, water buffalo, snails, spiders, snakes, frogs, and peacocks, among the more typical dogs and cats, adding further beauty and inspiration to our experience.

Is it an annual journey? Or a lifetime pilgrimage? The answer varies for each Theosophist, and the permutations of experience, learning, and love enrich the lives of all who attend. There is no sense of time at Adyar, only oneness.

My convention week ended with an extraordinary full moon in Cancer, enjoyed under clear nighttime skies at the Olcott memorial, located next to the Buddhist temple. I realized that my full being had been refreshed after a week steeped in Theosophy. I will make this an annual journey and look forward to seeing friends and acquaintances from around the world in years to come. I hope all who read this will consider joining me.

Printed in the  Summer 2023 issue of Quest magazine. 
Citation: Hebert, Barbara,  "The Goal of the Perfect" Quest 111:3, pg 16-17

Barbara Hebert
National President 

One of the basic teachings of the Ageless Wisdom is that there are beings on this planet whose primary purpose is to facilitate the expansion of the consciousness of all beings. The goal of these perfected human beings is to assist humanity in its spiritual development and ease the suffering of the world.

Because these beings have rarely been seen, some people may believe that they are simply figments of someone’s imagination, the result of a need for a personalized deity or even a wish for a paradise in which someone rescues us from our suffering.  Any of these things may be true—or maybe not. As seekers on the path to Truth, it is important that we suspend our need to see in order to believe. As Hamlet says in Shakespeare’s play (act 1, scene 5), “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

Throughout the ages, there have been wise ones who embody spiritual knowledge and who share what many would call the Ageless Wisdom. If we were to meet one of them, they would immediately be recognizable by their special nature and by the innate strength, compassion, wisdom, and love that emanate from them. Many names have been given to these great teachers over the eons.

Theosophical teachings refer to these wise ones in several ways: the Mahatmas, the Masters of Wisdom, the Masters, or adepts. H.P. Blavatsky introduced the concept of the Mahatmas to the Western world in the latter half of the nineteenth century. The word adept derives from the Latin adeptus, meaning one who has obtained. Blavatsky defines adept as “one who has reached the stage of Initiation, and become a Master in the science of Esoteric philosophy” (Blavatsky, 6). The term Mahatma is from Sanskrit: maha means great and atma means soul; therefore, Mahatma means great soul. It is a title rather than a proper name.

Throughout the ages, the Masters have existed, shining the light of their love, compassion, and wisdom on humanity and the world. Looking through history, we see beings such as Buddha, the sages of Greece, Muhammad, Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus, Lao Tzu, indigenous sages, Confucius, Kwan Yin, Krishna, Radha, and many others. There are too many to name and many others whose names will never be known. Each in their own way brought light to our planet, which is shrouded by the suffering of humanity. 

They bring the light of their wisdom, love, and compassion, because they too have walked the path we are walking now. They have experienced the joy, sadness, love, heartbreak, happiness, and suffering of living physical lives as human beings. 

The Ageless Wisdom tells us that we are on a journey of progressive spiritual development, incarnating again and again in physical bodies in order to grow and learn. Through this journey, through our experiences in physical incarnation, we unfold all aspects of ourselves. The great elders have completed this journey and are perfected human beings.

In her book There is No Other Path to Go, Radha Burnier, the late international president of the Theosophical Society, tells us:

In the Liberated Adept or Master, [the] virtues, which are of the very nature of consciousness, have flowered into perfection as their consciousness has blossomed fully in perfect measure, revealing powers as yet latent in the average person. They are perfect in wisdom, compassion, love, and selfless purity. Purity implies the total absence of the sense of a separate self. Perfect love implies not choosing, not giving love in return for something else. (Burnier, 52‒53)

However, these great beings have made a conscious choice not to move forward, but rather to remain in physical bodies on the planet in order to facilitate the continuing growth of humanity.

According to the occult teachings, then, many of the Mahatmas retain physical bodies and sacrifice their own movement into nirvana in order to help humanity.

We may wonder how the Mahatmas help humanity. In Letter 112 of The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett (chronological), the Mahatma Koot Hoomi talks of the work of the adepts, saying that their “prime duty [is] of gaining knowledge and disseminating through all available channels such fragments as mankind in the mass may be ready to assimilate” (Chin, 382). In The Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row, the author, an admired early Theosophist, states: 

The adept hierarchy is as strictly a product of nature as a tree is: it has a definite and indispensable purpose and function in the development of the human race: this function is to keep open the upward path, through which descend the light and leading without which our race would require to make each step by the wearisome, never ending method of trial and failure in every direction, until chance showed the right way. In fact the function of the adept hierarchy is to provide religious teachers for the stumbling masses of mankind. (Row, 113)

Shankaracharya, the Indian philosopher who is regarded as the founder of Advaita Vedanta and believed by many to be an incarnation of Shiva, states:

The great and peaceful ones live regenerating the world like the coming of the spring; having crossed the ocean of embodied existence themselves, they freely aid all others who seek to cross it. The very essence and inherent will of Mahatmas is to remove the suffering of others, just as the ambrosia-rayed moon of itself cools the earth heated by the intense rays of the sun.

While we do not know the details of the Masters’ work, we do have a glimpse of its essence: alleviating the suffering of humanity by encouraging forward movement in spiritual development. The Ageless Wisdom teachings tell us that we can join them in this great work.

An analogy of a young child and a high-school senior might help us understand how we can help the Mahatmas. A young child and a senior in high school are working together in the same room. The senior is working on calculus, while the young child is coloring: learning to hold the crayons properly, exploring shapes, and experimenting with various colors. The senior knows that he cannot do the work for the child but assists through encouragement, while the child assists the older student by supporting the necessary study environment.

Our collaboration with the Mahatmas is similar in many respects. They cannot do our work for us, but they do support and encourage us, often in unseen ways. We can add to the environment they are working to create through meditation, awareness of the thoughts we are sending out into the world, and living a life of altruism, to name a few ways. Our role in helping the Mahatmas is very much like the role of the first-grader helping the senior: we are using our intentional energy to create an environment that focuses on the unity and interconnectedness of all beings. 

Additionally, our own spiritual self-transformation also facilitates the work of the Mahatmas. N. Sri Ram, another late international president of the Theosophical Society, writes:

The Masters of Wisdom, who aid evolution, although They are interested in all changes that make for human progress, are especially concerned with the spiritual regeneration of mankind, which is of fundamental importance. Because, when that takes place, all else follows . . . What the Masters want . . . is this regeneration, beginning with ourselves.

Therefore our work for the Mahatmas is twofold: spiritual self-transformation and living a life of altruism. The work of living a life of altruism transforms us spiritually, so these two avenues of help are in reality the same path, with a single aim: the alleviation of the world’s suffering through the expansion of consciousness, which brings us to an awareness of our ultimate unity and interconnectedness with all life.

If we focus on living altruistic lives, whether we believe in the Mahatmas or not, we are helping all living beings and alleviating suffering to the best of our ability. In this way, we are joining in the work of the great sages who, throughout time, have brought light to the world through their love, compassion, and wisdom.

Sources

Blavatsky, H.P. Theosophical Glossary. London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1892.

Burnier, Radha. “Masters and Gurus.” In No Other Path to Go. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1985.

Chin, Vicente Hao, Jr., ed. The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett in Chronological Sequence. Quezon City, Philippines: Theosophical Publishing House, 1993.

Row, Tallapragada Subba. Esoteric Writings of T. Subba Row. Adyar: Theosophical Publishing House, 1980.

Shankaracharya. “The Great and Peaceful Ones.” Universal Theosophy website; accessed April 2, 2023.

Sri Ram, N. “Human Regeneration.” Theosophy World website: accessed March 29, 2023.