(July 1892)
Publications:
- The New Californian, Vol. II (No. 1), July 1892, p. 28
- Echoes of the Orient: The Writings of William Quan Judge, comp. Dara Eklund, 2nd ed. (Pasadena, California: Theosophical University Press, 2011), vol. III, p. 203
CTD entry in Russian: Джадж У.К. - Обязанности теософа
DATA
Title for references: Judge W.Q. - Theosophic Duties
Short description: A short list of practical duties for Theosophists, on avoiding politics, refraining from judging oth...
It is not our duty as Theosophists to meddle with politics, saying “such and such a policy is Theosophical,” but it is our duty to avoid dragging the Society into any political movement. The T.S. is unsectarian and unpolitical, and no member has the right to say that Theosophy teaches this, that, or the other sort of government or form of law. Forms of government and legislation all pass away. The truth alone remains. Man himself is the greatest truth of all, for he is Truth trying to make itself known.
Under any form of government or any social order men may prosper if they follow the dictates of the soul. It does not follow that either republics or monarchies or empires are the best form. Each age determines for itself those things; and yet Theosophy remains.
There are enough good laws on the statute books to make this an Arcadia, if only men would abandon selfishness and practice brotherhood. But you cannot force the development of a people by laws or revolutions. The first are passed as limiters or agitators; the second result from inherent disorders in the people.
But it is no part of a Theosophist’s duty to condemn another member because he upholds any particular law or policy, so long as the Society is not involved in it.
It is our duty to refrain from declaring too definitely and on insufficient proof that the Adepts, or H.P.B., have said the world is on the eve of war, and that the close of the cycle in 1897 will witness revolutions, or to assume we can alter these events within that time. For the proof is not clear that the Adepts ever said these things, and it is quite plain that no causes for revolutions explodable into such disasters in five years, could be altered by us — supposing them now fixed — in so short a time. I say this in view of statements to that effect made by sundry members.
It is not the duty of a Theosophist to pry into the motives, the means, or the actions of other members. By attending strictly to our own duties we will have enough to do. We cannot know the limitations nor the conscience of any other person.
What is the plain duty of every Theosophist? To read and understand, so as to be able to explain theosophical doctrines. The Society has never suffered from outsiders so much as it has from its unintelligent representation by members. The world is full of minds who wish to know, and Theosophists should form clear conceptions of what they think they believe, in order to meet objections, dispel doubts, and carry conviction. Such is our duty.