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Theosophical Society would be untrue to its name were it to profit by money
to which others are entitled virtually, at any rate on Theosophical
principles, if not legally.
Q. Again, and I say this on the authority of your own Journal, The
Theosophist, there's a R ja of India who donated to the Society 25,000
rupees. Have you not thanked him for his great bounty in the January
Theosophist for 1888?
A. We have, in these words, "That the thanks of the Convention be conveyed
to H.H. the Mah r ja & for his promised generous gift of Rupees 25,000 to
the Society's Fund." The thanks were duly conveyed, but the money is still a
"promise," and has never reached the Headquarters.
Q. But surely, if the Mah r ja promised and received thanks for his gift
publicly and in print, he will be as good as his promise?
A. He may, though the promise is 18 months old. I speak of the present and
not of the future.
Q. Then how do you propose to go on?
A. So long as the T.S. has a few devoted members willing to work for it
without reward and thanks, so long as a few good Theosophists support it
with occasional donations, so long will it exist, and nothing can crush it.
Q. I have heard many Theosophists speak of a "power behind the Society" and
of certain "Mahatmas," mentioned also in Mr. Sinnett's works, that are said
to have founded the Society, to watch over and protect it.
A. You may laugh, but it is so.
-oOo-
The Working Staff of the T.S.
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Q. These men, I have heard, are great Adepts, Alchemists, and what not. If,
then, they can change lead into gold and make as much money as they like,
besides doing all kinds of miracles at will, as related in Mr. Sinnett's The
Occult World, why do not they find you money, and support the Founders and
the Society in comfort?
A. Because they did not found a "miracle club." Because the Society is
intended to help men to develop the powers latent in them through their own
exertions and merit. Because whatever they may or may not produce in the way
of phenomena, they are not false coiners; nor would they throw an additional
and very strong temptation on the path of members and candidates: Theosophy
is not to be bought. Hitherto, for the past 14 years, not a single working
member has ever received pay or salary from either the Masters or the
Society.
Q. Then are none of your workers paid at all?
A. Till now, not one. But as everyone has to eat, drink, and clothe himself,
all those who are without any means of their own, and devote their whole
time to the work of the Society, are provided with the necessaries of life
at the Headquarters at Madras, India, though these "necessaries" are humble
enough, in truth! But now that the Society's work has increased so greatly
and still goes on increasing (owing to slanders) in Europe, we need more
working hands. We hope to have a few members who will henceforth be
remunerated-if the word can be used in the cases in question. For every one
of these Fellows, who are preparing to give all their time to the Society,
are quitting good official situations with excellent prospects, to work for
us at less than half their former salary.
Q. And who will provide the funds for this?
A. Some of our Fellows who are just a little richer than the rest. The man
who would speculate or make money on Theosophy would be unworthy to remain
in our ranks.
Q. But you must surely make money by your books, magazines, and other
publications?
A. The Theosophist of Madras, alone among the magazines, pays a profit, and
this has regularly been turned over to the Society, year by year, as the
published accounts show. Lucifer is slowly but steadily engulfing money,
never yet having paid its expenses-thanks to its being boycotted by the
pious booksellers and railway stalls. The Lotus, in France-started on the
private and not very large means of a Theosophist, who has devoted to it his
whole time and labor-has ceased to exist, owing to the same causes, alas!
Nor does the New York Path pay its way, while the Revue Théosophique of
Paris has only just been started, also from the private means of a
lady-member. Moreover, whenever any of the works issued by the Theosophical
Publishing Company in London do pay, the proceeds will be devoted to the
service of the Society.
Q. And now please tell me all you can about the Mahatmas. So many absurd and
contradictory things are said about them, that one does not know what to
believe, and all sorts of ridiculous stories become current.
A. Well may you call them "ridiculous!"
The "Theosophical Mahatmas"
Are They "Spirits of Light" or "Goblins Damned"?
Q. Who are they, finally, those whom you call your "Masters"? Some say they
are "Spirits," or some other kind of supernatural beings, while others call
them "myths."
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A. They are neither. I once heard one outsider say to another that they were
a sort of male mermaids, whatever such a creature may be. But if you listen
to what people say, you will never have a true conception of them. In the
first place they are living men, born as we are born, and doomed to die like
every other mortal.
Q. Yes, but it is rumored that some of them are a thousand years old. Is
this true?
A. As true as the miraculous growth of hair on the head of Meredith's
Shagpat. Truly, like the "Identical," no Theosophical shaving has hitherto
been able to crop it. The more we deny them, the more we try to set people
right, the more absurd do the inventions become. I have heard of Methuselah
being 969 years old; but, not being forced to believe in it, have laughed at
the statement, for which I was forthwith regarded by many as a blasphemous
heretic.
Q. Seriously, though, do they outlive the ordinary age of men?
A. What do you call the ordinary age? I remember reading in The Lancet of a
Mexican who was almost 190 years old; but I have never heard of mortal man,
layman, or Adept, who could live even half the years allotted to Methuselah.
Some Adepts do exceed, by a good deal, what you would call the ordinary age;
yet there is nothing miraculous in it, and very few of them care to live
very long.
Q. But what does the word Mahatma really mean?
A. Simply a "great soul," great through moral elevation and intellectual
attainment. If the title of "Great" is given to a drunken soldier like
Alexander, why should we not call those "Great" who have achieved far
greater conquests in Nature's secrets, than Alexander ever did on the field
of battle? Besides, the term is an Indian and a very old word.
Q. And why do you call them "Masters"?
A. We call them "Masters" because they are our teachers; and because from
them we have derived all the Theosophical truths, however inadequately some
of us may have expressed, and others understood, them. They are men of great
learning, whom we term Initiates, and still greater holiness of life. They
are not ascetics in the ordinary sense, though they certainly remain apart
from the turmoil and strife of your western world.
Q. But is it not selfish thus to isolate themselves?
A. Where is the selfishness? Does not the fate of the Theosophical Society [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]