The Occult of Theosophy

It happens to us often in our lives, when we wonder – Is there a God and is there a universal order that follows God’s decree?’ It so happens that in spite of belonging to some religious order and following some fundamental basis of religion, we seek a more logical and more inspiring solution. The occult of Theosophy explores a rational explanation to these questions, as a body of ideas, not to be thrust upon an individual but offered for one’s own examination and judgment, for those united by a common search for truth and the desire to learn the meaning and purpose of existence by engaging themselves in study, reflection, purity of life and loving service.

Annie Besant (1847-1933), a reformer, humanist and educationist along with Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891), one of the outstanding spiritual figures of the 19th century – were the most forceful orators of the Theosophical Cult in India as a leaning towards the metaphysics of pure, unselfish life; to be ever ready to sacrifice one’s own pleasures for the others; of pursuing truth, goodness & wisdom for their own sake and not for the benefit that they may confer. It is a philosophy which renders life intelligible and demonstrates that justice and love guide the cosmos and its teachings aid the unfolding of the latent spiritual nature in the human being without dependence or fear.

Before she came to India, Dr. Besant, a radical freethinker, remained active in the British suffragist movement and an important speaker for women's suffrage. She moved to India to study Hindu ideas (karma, reincarnation, nirvana) which were foundational to the Theosophical school of thought in describing the universe as not just a place where nature’s forces operate by chance, but every event takes place according to certain laws inherent in the universe, which are the expressions of one’s consciousness. Theosophy as a cult outlines the vast schemes of life in which we are involved, the long route towards self-realisation. It says each man is his own lawgiver, the dispenser of glory or gloom to himself, the decreer of his reward, his punishment.

The abiding truth is that the nature of God resides in every man and woman, for we live, move and have our being in Him. Man has sought for the Almighty in many ways, but the one place where He can be found, never to be lost again is beyond emotion & intellect, in the depths of one’s own spirit. In other words, all that we postulate concerning God, of goodness, holiness, truth and beauty resides in a man, who as an immortal being, unfolds the divine powers that are latent within through repeated lives in mortal bodies. Theosophy primarily offers an optimistic view of life based on the law of natural justice – ‘As a man sows, that shall he reap’, which means that man is a master of his own destiny.

As a lateral perspective on divine wisdom, Theosophy emphasizes on the fact that the spirit of God is derived from the mind, the ‘spiritual soul’ using the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive. It militates against a religious thought that occurs at a level of sensibility not susceptible to reason. It concludes that the God in us – that is, the divine wisdom of justice, goodness & power alone should be our true and permanent love, our faith, which will never fail us even if all other things perish, which shall bring about our fundamental unity with all other living beings.