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vol. title: vol. period: 1882 pages in vol.: 229 |
“The Theosophical Society.”
Such is the designation of an association started about seven years ago in America, the founder and President whereof (Colonel H. S. Olcott) and the Corresponding Secretary whereto (Madame H. P. Blavatsky) are now on a visit to our city. The Society was founded with the following objects:—“First, To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, or color; Second, To promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literature, religions, and sciences, and vindicate its importance; and Third, To investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature, and the Psychical powers latent in man.” That these ‘objects’ are most excellent ones no one will deny; nor will it be questioned that the two last are of a kind such as to commend themselves most heartily and even naturally to Hindus. Add to this the fact that both Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky have proved themselves, beyond all shadow of doubt, to be thoroughly honest, pure-living people, completely above any selfish motives, and imbued with a deep love of the Indian people and a sincere desire to promote their best interests—add, we say, these good qualities and kind feelings of ‘the Colonel and Madame,’ to the really praiseworthy ‘objects’ of the Theosophical Society, and it is no wonder that we find both these good people immensely popular; and the Society whose cause they cherish so dearly in a fair way to take root and flourish in our Presidency (as in India) generally, and in the city of Madras particularly.
As we had the pleasure of announcing in our last issue, Colonel Olcott and Madame Blavatsky arrived in Madras on the morning of Sunday before last; and were met on the pier by an enthusiastic if not very numerous deputation of the Hindu inhabitants of Madras, who accompanied them to the house (at Mailápúr) selected for their temporary residence. Colonel Olcott has since then given two lectures at Pacchchaiappan’s Hall (which we hope to have the pleasure of reviewing directly they are published); a ‘Madras Branch’ of the Theosophical Society has been founded; and upwards of a hundred of our native fellow-citizens of the most respectable, if not the highest, social status have been formerly initiated and enrolled members of the same.
Believing, as we do, that a study of Theosophy, in all or any of its phases, is pre-eminently fitted for awakening that spiritual life that, as we humbly trust, lies dormant in the Hindu mind, and fully sympathising with the aims of a Society which seeks to accomplish that end, we trust we may be permitted to offer a few remarks to our readers this evening on a subject that is of the utmost importance and interest to us, in that it aims at supplying a very felt want in our social organisation (if we can be said to have such a thing) at the present day.
The first object of the Theosophical Society is, as we pointed out already, the formation of a “Universal Brotherhood of Humanity.” Few, if any, who have studied and pondered over the past history of our native land will venture to deny, or even to question, that the odious system of ‘caste’ (as at present developed) has been, and continues to be, the most serious obstacle in the path of our onward progress and healthy growth as a nation. Anything, therefore, that seeks to weaken and remove the hateful barriers raised by this system in opposition to the growth and spread of true civilisation cannot but be hailed with pleasure and thankfulness by every patriotic and well-thinking Hindu. We wish it, however, to be distinctly understood that we are not advocating any hasty measures of ‘radical reform.’ On the contrary we still do, as we have always and openly done, protest against anything that may tend, ever so slightly, to disturb the even tenor of Indian life. We are, and always have been, staunch supporters of caste in the abstract. We believe it capable of exercising a certain not altogether unwholesome influence on the well-being of society; and to be, in a great measure, the chief means of preserving intact some of the grandest truths, and most fundamental principles of social order, that have been bequeathed to us by those glorious old sages who framed the laws by which we are governed, who moulded the society in which we live, and who taught our forefathers the elements of those great truths which have expanded themselves into one of the sublimest systems of religious philosophy that the world has ever seen. While going so far, though, in favor of the system of caste, we cannot but feel that the system is capable of immense improvement and modification; and this, it appears to us, is precisely what the Theosophist movement is calculated to assist us in doing. While most unmistakably and carefully tolerant of all religious beliefs, and while representing no one sectarian creed in particular, Theosophy aims first and chiefly at that love for our fellowmen which is taught by and which forms the basis of, all religions in existence. We see no reason whatever, therefore, why this same Theosophy should not prove of incalculable service in the great cause of Indian progress; and why the Theosophical Society should not come to be one of the most powerful means whereby the vast and growing Indian commonwealth should be welded into a homogeneous and sympathetic entity such as might well be entrusted with no unimportant or uninteresting portion of the destinies of the world—such as would play no ignoble part in the future history of the human race.
We then come, in the next place, to the second of the objects wherewith the Theosophical Society has been founded. This, as we have seen, is “to promote the study of Aryan and other Eastern literature, religions, and sciences, and to vindicate its importance.” It is one, we make bold to think, which even the most bigotedly conservative of our fellow-countrymen can and should approve; and is one which ought specially to command the attention of the educated and progressive portion of our community. There are few sources, if indeed there be any, from which greater wisdom of the highest kind is to be obtained than the world-renowned works, metaphysical particularly, and philosophical generally, of our ancient Sanskrit sages; and it is in them, more emphatically perhaps than anywhere else, that one is taught to rise, more than metaphorically, above the littlenesses and vanities of this world. And is not this just exactly what we need amidst the increasingly materialistic influences and tendencies of the present age? Besides, are we not more or less bound—morally, if not legally—to do all that may lie in our power to prevent Sanskrit from getting numbered among the ‘dead’ languages? That language is bound up with the dearest and strongest of our social and national ties; and contains the choicest treasures of science, philosophy, and all learning. Are we to be so utterly devoid of national pride, and so incapable of appreciating those sublime achievements of our ancestors in the world of mind, that we are to sit by and, unconcerned, see the very Mistress of all Tongues slip gradually into an unhonored grave? Surely not. Surely we are not going to be outdone by our brethren in America or Germany (distant offshoots of our ancient Aryan ancestry) in not only preserving but in, as it were, revivifying the wit and wisdom of our Sanskrit sages, their laughter and their love? If we are not, if we are, on the other hand, ready and willing to take up the matter seriously and at once, here is the Theosophical Society at hand to guide and help us, as we have the highest of assurances that they will do if certain of our sincerity, of our wishes and the staunchness of our sympathy with their aims and views. Such an opportunity is not likely to occur every day, or even less frequently. Let us see to it that we not only embrace but truly improve it.
The third and last named ‘object’ of the Theosophical Society is “to investigate the hidden mysteries of Nature and the Psychical powers latent in man.” This is a subject on which we do not at all feel ourselves either fitted or called <... continues on page 13-86 >
Editor's notes
- ↑ “The Theosophical Society.” by unknown author, Madras Native Opinion, Wednesday, 3rd May, 1882, p. 183