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Introduction by the editor
In one of her last books, The Key to Theosophy,
Blavatsky dedicated a small but important chapter to the
future of the TS. Besides enumerating the virtues to be
embodied by future Theosophists to keep the society successful,
she also makes a quite specific prediction about the form
of the XXth century spiritual impuls. It would be a person
bringing new truths, using Theosophy as his idiom of expression,
and the TS as his organization of propagation.
The question is whether the term "new torch-bearer
of Truth," as HPB uses for this person, prophetically
refers to Krishnamurti or not. Many, including Annie Besant,
C.W. Leadbeater and possibly even K himself, thought this
was the case (see paragraph about K's
self-perception).
The second very important idea presented in this chapter
is the idea that the Masters are responsible for a cyclical
outpouring of spiritual teachings during the last quarter
of every century. For an experimental working out of this
idea see Centennial
Efforts and Counter-Efforts of the Millennium, which
is an esoteric interpretation of the last millennium of
western history.
(Theosophical University Press Online has the complete
text of The
Key to Theosophy online)
Last chapter from:
The Key to Theosophy:
Being a Clear Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer,
of the ETHICS, SCIENCE, AND PHILOSOPHY for the Study of
which The Theosophical Society has been Founded.
H.P. Blavatsky
(Pasadena, CA: Theosophical University Press,
1995 [1889])
Conclusion
The Future of the Theosophical
Society
[304] ENQUIRER. Tell me, what do you expect for Theosophy
in the future?
THEOSOPHIST. If you speak of THEOSOPHY, I answer that,
as it has existed eternally throughout the endless cycles
upon cycles of the Past, so it will ever exist throughout
the infinitudes of the Future, because Theosophy is synonymous
with EVERLASTING TRUTH.
ENQUIRER. Pardon me; I meant to ask you rather about the
prospects of the Theosophical Society.
THEOSOPHIST. Its future will depend almost entirely upon
the degree of selflessness, earnestness, devotion, and last,
but not least, on the amount of knowledge and wisdom possessed
by those members, on whom it will fall to carry on the work,
and to direct the Society after the death of the Founders.
ENQUIRER. I quite see the importance of their being selfless
and devoted, but I do not quite grasp how their knowledge
can be as vital a factor in the question as these other
qualities. Surely the literature which already exists, and
to which constant additions are still being made, ought
to be sufficient?
THEOSOPHIST. I do not refer to technical knowledge of the
esoteric doctrine, though that is most important; I spoke
rather of the great [305] need which our successors in the
guidance of the Society will have of unbiassed and clear
judgment. Every such attempt as the Theosophical Society
has hitherto ended in failure, because, sooner or later,
it has degenerated into a sect, set up hard-and-fast dogmas
of its own, and so lost by imperceptible degrees that vitality
which living truth alone can impart. You must remember that
all our members have been bred and born in some creed or
religion, that all are more or less of their generation
both physically and mentally, and consequently that their
judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously
biassed by some or all of these influences. If, then, they
cannot be freed from such inherent bias, or at least taught
to recognise it instantly and so avoid being led away by
it, the result can only be that the Society will drift off
on to some sandbank of thought or another, and there remain
a stranded carcass to moulder and die.
ENQUIRER. But if this danger be averted?
THEOSOPHIST. Then the Society will live on into and through
the twentieth century. It will gradually leaven and permeate
the great mass of thinking and intelligent people with its
large-minded and noble ideas of Religion, Duty, and Philanthropy.
Slowly but surely it will burst asunder the iron fetters
of creeds and dogmas, of social and caste prejudices; it
will break down racial and national antipathies and barriers,
and will open the way to the practical realisation of the
Brotherhood of all men. Through its teaching, through the
philosophy which it has rendered accessible and intelligible
to the modern mind, the West will learn to understand and
appreciate the East at its [306] true value. Further, the
development of the psychic powers and faculties, the premonitory
symptoms of which are already visible in America, will proceed
healthily and normally. Mankind will be saved from the terrible
dangers, both mental and bodily, which are inevitable when
that unfolding takes place, as it threatens to do, in a
hot-bed of selfishness and all evil passions. Man's mental
and psychic growth will proceed in harmony with his moral
improvement, while his material surroundings will reflect
the peace and fraternal good-will which will reign in his
mind, instead of the discord and strife which is everywhere
apparent around us to-day.
ENQUIRER. A truly delightful picture! But tell me, do you
really expect all this to be accomplished in one short century?
THEOSOPHIST. Scarcely. But I must tell you that during
the last quarter of every hundred years an attempt is made
by those "Masters," of whom I have spoken, to
help on the spiritual progress of Humanity in a marked and
definite way. Towards the close of each century you will
invariably find that an outpouring or upheaval of spirituality
-- or call it mysticism if you prefer -- has taken place.
Some one or more persons have appeared in the world as their
agents, and a greater or less amount of occult knowledge
and teaching has been given out. If you care to do so, you
can trace these movements back, century by century, as far
as our detailed historical records extend. [1]
ENQUIRER. But how does this bear on the future of the Theosophical
Society?
THEOSOPHIST. If the present attempt, in the form of our
Society, succeeds better than its predecessors have done,
then it will be in existence as an organized, living and
healthy body when the time [307] comes for the effort of
the XXth century. The general condition of men's minds and
hearts will have been improved and purified by the spread
of its teachings, and, as I have said, their prejudices
and dogmatic illusions will have been, to some extent at
least, removed. Not only so, but besides a large and accessible
literature ready to men's hands, the next impulse will find
a numerous and united body of people ready to welcome the
new torch-bearer of Truth.[2] He will find the minds of
men prepared for his message, a language ready for him in
which to clothe the new truths he brings, an organization
awaiting his arrival, which will remove the merely mechanical,
material obstacles and difficulties from his path. Think
how much one, to whom such an opportunity is given, could
accomplish. Measure it by comparison with what the Theosophical
Society actually has achieved in the last fourteen years,
without any of these advantages and surrounded by hosts
of hindrances which would not hamper the new leader. Consider
all this, and then tell me whether I am too sanguine when
I say that if the Theosophical Society survives and lives
true to its mission, to its original impulses through the
next hundred years -- tell me, I say, if I go too far in
asserting that earth will be a heaven in the twenty-first
century in comparison with what it is now!
FINIS
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