[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
190
The Secret Doctrine would be accepted as a text-book on modern science in the
twentieth century. Whether that prophecy be fulfilled or not, it is of note that
the list of students who are dragging it down from dusty shelves is rapidly
increasing at the present writing. Through the efforts mainly of the United
Lodge of Theosophists reprints of the original plates of the two (First and
Second) volumes have been made, and the book made more readily available to the
public. Announcement has also been made from Adyar that H. P. Blavatsky's first
draft of volume one of The Secret Doctrine will be published in 1931.17
Some statistics as to book circulation are indicative of the spread of this
stream of philosophic thought. Officials at the United Lodge of Theosophists,
New York City, supplied data on this score. As the U.L.T. is one of the lesser
bodies propagating Theosophy, the figures here given would cover but a minor
fraction of the actual circulation of Theosophic literature. In recent years the
United Lodge organization has sold:
Ocean of Theosophy, W. Q. Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50,000
Translation of the Bhagavad Gita, W. Q. Judge . . . . . . .40,000
The Voice of the Silence, H. P. Blavatsky . . . . . . . . .30,000
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, W. Q. Judge. . . . . . . . . . . .25,000
Key to Theosophy, H. P. Blavatsky (Original Text). . . . . 10,000
Conversations on Theosophy: Pamphlet. . . . . . . . . . . 150,000
In addition, there are constantly increasing calls for the two ponderous
Blavatskian works, Isis and The Secret Doctrine. These figures may be indicative
of the strength of the back-to-Blavatsky movement in Theosophic ranks.
Theosophy is now organized in more than forty countries of the world, with an
active enrolled membership of more than fifty thousand. There are said to be
some ten thousand members in America with over two hundred forty branches or
lodges. Many more thousands have come in and gone out of the Society. Various
reasons account for these desertions, but in few cases does relinquishment of
formal membership indicate a rejection of Theosophical fundamentals of doctrine.
"Once a Theosophist always a Theosophist," is approximately true, pointing to
the profound influence which the sweeping cosmology and anthropology of the
system exercises over a mind that has once absorbed it. It may then be said that
there are several millions of people who have assimilated organically the
teachings of Theosophy, and who yield a degree of assent to those formulations.
191
CHAPTER XIII
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
The Theosophical Society is therefore not composed of a band of believers in
certain creedal items, but a body of students and seekers. They are travelers on
a quest, not the settled dwellers in a creed. They seek to keep fluidic the
impulses, intuitions, and propensities of the life of spiritual aspiration, in
opposition to the tendency to harden them into dogma.
It is quite impossible for any one to trace with precision the influence of the
Theosophic ideology, first, upon the psychology and then upon the conduct of
devotees. It can be done only within the limits of general outlines. The one
consideration that determines for the Theosophist the value of any thought or
act is whether it tends to promote that unification of human mass consciousness
along the spiritual ideals pictured in the Ancient Wisdom. This demands of the
individual Theosophist that he make of himself, through the gradual expansion of
his own consciousness, a channel for the increased flow of high cosmic forces
that will work like leaven through the corporate body of humanity and dissipate
human misery by the power of light and virtue.
Nevertheless it seems possible to attempt to ascertain the type of people who
have been attracted to Theosophy and to examine the special traits and
environments, if any such were manifest, which have afforded the most fruitful
ground for the seed of the Theosophic faith. Likewise it seems desirable to
estimate the influence of Theosophy upon the lives of its votaries. Through the
cordial coperation of the Theosophical Headquarters at Wheaton, Illinois, a
questionnaire was sent out.1 Answers were received from nearly seventy per cent
of the two hundred addresses-an unusually high return-and they have been
carefully tabulated. The names submitted for the mailing of the questionnaire
were selected by the President of the American Section of the Theosophical
Society, and they must therefore presumably be considered to represent, not all
Theosophists, but those of the "Besant Society" exclusively.2
The professions and occupations represented an average cross-section of American
life. A few admitted membership in no profession. There were included editor,
bishop, railroad executive, corporation president, manufacturer, doctor, lawyer,
dentist, teacher, musician, artist, writer, nurse, college tutor, house painter,
army officer, insurance agent, draughtsman, carpenter, stenographer, merchant,
realtor, business manager, engineer, college secretary, hotel consultant,
photographer, advertising writer, Post Office inspector, restaurant proprietor,
public accountant, social service worker, veterinary, beauty culturist, oil
192
operator, jeweler, optometrist, Braille worker, and a college teacher of
biology. In the list also were a motor car company president, a newspaper
publisher, a life insurance superintendent, an educator, a motion picture
producer, a city sanitary engineer, a sheet metal contractor, a factory head,
and a railroad comptroller. It may be said that these Theosophists are a picked
group and hardly to be regarded as truly typical of the rank and file of the
personnel. Whether this be true or no, it appears that Theosophists are
representative American people, gaining their livelihood in conventional and
respectable ways. The mark of their Theosophy would have to be looked for in
their avocations, not in how they earn their living. They seem to be of the
typical urban middle class, with few farmers or workers.
The ages of those answering the letters ranged from 21 to 86, with an average at
about 45. The average length of time the respondents had been actively
affiliated with Theosophy was about 15 years. The replies chanced to come from
an exactly equal number of men and women. This proportion is hardly to be
explained as a result of artificial selection in the mailing list and is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szkicerysunki.xlx.pl
190
The Secret Doctrine would be accepted as a text-book on modern science in the
twentieth century. Whether that prophecy be fulfilled or not, it is of note that
the list of students who are dragging it down from dusty shelves is rapidly
increasing at the present writing. Through the efforts mainly of the United
Lodge of Theosophists reprints of the original plates of the two (First and
Second) volumes have been made, and the book made more readily available to the
public. Announcement has also been made from Adyar that H. P. Blavatsky's first
draft of volume one of The Secret Doctrine will be published in 1931.17
Some statistics as to book circulation are indicative of the spread of this
stream of philosophic thought. Officials at the United Lodge of Theosophists,
New York City, supplied data on this score. As the U.L.T. is one of the lesser
bodies propagating Theosophy, the figures here given would cover but a minor
fraction of the actual circulation of Theosophic literature. In recent years the
United Lodge organization has sold:
Ocean of Theosophy, W. Q. Judge . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50,000
Translation of the Bhagavad Gita, W. Q. Judge . . . . . . .40,000
The Voice of the Silence, H. P. Blavatsky . . . . . . . . .30,000
Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, W. Q. Judge. . . . . . . . . . . .25,000
Key to Theosophy, H. P. Blavatsky (Original Text). . . . . 10,000
Conversations on Theosophy: Pamphlet. . . . . . . . . . . 150,000
In addition, there are constantly increasing calls for the two ponderous
Blavatskian works, Isis and The Secret Doctrine. These figures may be indicative
of the strength of the back-to-Blavatsky movement in Theosophic ranks.
Theosophy is now organized in more than forty countries of the world, with an
active enrolled membership of more than fifty thousand. There are said to be
some ten thousand members in America with over two hundred forty branches or
lodges. Many more thousands have come in and gone out of the Society. Various
reasons account for these desertions, but in few cases does relinquishment of
formal membership indicate a rejection of Theosophical fundamentals of doctrine.
"Once a Theosophist always a Theosophist," is approximately true, pointing to
the profound influence which the sweeping cosmology and anthropology of the
system exercises over a mind that has once absorbed it. It may then be said that
there are several millions of people who have assimilated organically the
teachings of Theosophy, and who yield a degree of assent to those formulations.
191
CHAPTER XIII
SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
The Theosophical Society is therefore not composed of a band of believers in
certain creedal items, but a body of students and seekers. They are travelers on
a quest, not the settled dwellers in a creed. They seek to keep fluidic the
impulses, intuitions, and propensities of the life of spiritual aspiration, in
opposition to the tendency to harden them into dogma.
It is quite impossible for any one to trace with precision the influence of the
Theosophic ideology, first, upon the psychology and then upon the conduct of
devotees. It can be done only within the limits of general outlines. The one
consideration that determines for the Theosophist the value of any thought or
act is whether it tends to promote that unification of human mass consciousness
along the spiritual ideals pictured in the Ancient Wisdom. This demands of the
individual Theosophist that he make of himself, through the gradual expansion of
his own consciousness, a channel for the increased flow of high cosmic forces
that will work like leaven through the corporate body of humanity and dissipate
human misery by the power of light and virtue.
Nevertheless it seems possible to attempt to ascertain the type of people who
have been attracted to Theosophy and to examine the special traits and
environments, if any such were manifest, which have afforded the most fruitful
ground for the seed of the Theosophic faith. Likewise it seems desirable to
estimate the influence of Theosophy upon the lives of its votaries. Through the
cordial coperation of the Theosophical Headquarters at Wheaton, Illinois, a
questionnaire was sent out.1 Answers were received from nearly seventy per cent
of the two hundred addresses-an unusually high return-and they have been
carefully tabulated. The names submitted for the mailing of the questionnaire
were selected by the President of the American Section of the Theosophical
Society, and they must therefore presumably be considered to represent, not all
Theosophists, but those of the "Besant Society" exclusively.2
The professions and occupations represented an average cross-section of American
life. A few admitted membership in no profession. There were included editor,
bishop, railroad executive, corporation president, manufacturer, doctor, lawyer,
dentist, teacher, musician, artist, writer, nurse, college tutor, house painter,
army officer, insurance agent, draughtsman, carpenter, stenographer, merchant,
realtor, business manager, engineer, college secretary, hotel consultant,
photographer, advertising writer, Post Office inspector, restaurant proprietor,
public accountant, social service worker, veterinary, beauty culturist, oil
192
operator, jeweler, optometrist, Braille worker, and a college teacher of
biology. In the list also were a motor car company president, a newspaper
publisher, a life insurance superintendent, an educator, a motion picture
producer, a city sanitary engineer, a sheet metal contractor, a factory head,
and a railroad comptroller. It may be said that these Theosophists are a picked
group and hardly to be regarded as truly typical of the rank and file of the
personnel. Whether this be true or no, it appears that Theosophists are
representative American people, gaining their livelihood in conventional and
respectable ways. The mark of their Theosophy would have to be looked for in
their avocations, not in how they earn their living. They seem to be of the
typical urban middle class, with few farmers or workers.
The ages of those answering the letters ranged from 21 to 86, with an average at
about 45. The average length of time the respondents had been actively
affiliated with Theosophy was about 15 years. The replies chanced to come from
an exactly equal number of men and women. This proportion is hardly to be
explained as a result of artificial selection in the mailing list and is [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]