the Center of the Movement, Point Loma, California, and in England,
Germany, Holland, and Sweden in the respective languages, will thus
be a valuable source of information for all who wish to know what
Theosophy, as understood in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical
Society and as an ideal power for good, is really doing in a practical
way. The magazine seems to have an important mission to fulfil towards
the public in dispelling divers prejudices which the Movement has
encountered in its progress; prejudices of which its adversaries have
readily sought to avail themselves. And all who would like to see
better established those principles of compassion and helpfulness that
lead to practical results have in this magazine an excellent means of
reaching and helping new fellow-travelers on the path of Theosophy.
The international character of the magazine ensures contributions from
prominent foreign writers on problems and questions of general human
and international interest. And the intimate connexion with Point Loma,
it is stated, will allow it to present some views of the life of the
Students there, and to show some of the causes that have made the Râja
Yoga College at Point Loma an educational institution of world-wide
significance.
Not long ago Mrs. Tingley secured an estate on Visingsö, as all know,
in order to establish a school there on the same lines. As a reminder
of this the Swedish publication opens with a picture of the ruins
of Visingsborg Castle. Under the heading "The Path" are given some
quotations from William Q. Judge, who was a Student and co-worker of
H. P. Blavatsky, the Founder of the Theosophical Movement. Later he
became her successor. He passed away in 1896 and was followed by Mrs.
Tingley. General information regarding the early days and growth of the
Theosophical Movement can be found at the end of the magazine, where a
résumé is given.
H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society is the subject of a
special article. Then follow under the heading "On Firm Basis Stands
the Doctrine of Karma" some profound thoughts of Viktor Rydberg. He
says in part:
Our acts and their effects constitute a series as everlasting as all
other series of causes in nature. If you think that death on earth
is able to break it, do not for confirmation plead the judgment of
natural science. Science has its own ground and method, and knows that
it has to explain the quantitative series of causes; beyond these
it is unable to go. If you have not conviction with respect to the
unseen, beware of the contrary shallow idea, that everything which
cannot be seen does not really exist.... The doctrine of Karma has
sprung from the depths of righteousness, which are indeed those of
truth. No one escapes the effects of his acts.
An article by the editor, Dr. Zander, is on "The Power of Imagination
Inherent in Man." Professor Osvald Sirén gives a profusely illustrated
description of Point Loma; and Mr. Per Fernholm, M. E., who is
living at that place, gives some thoughts on Sweden in the Stone
Age, elucidating some points in our ancient history in the light of
Theosophical chronology, which seems to differ somewhat from that still
adopted by archaeologists and geologists.
The American publication presents perhaps a still fuller outline of
the field proposed to be covered by the magazine, as also of the
resources that the Theosophical Movement possesses for the realization
of its objects. A prominent place is evidently given to Art--music,
painting, and sculpture, literature and drama--as a means to reach a
wider circle; serving as a mediator between the supersensible and the
sensible, the immaterial spiritual life and the material physical life.
The object of the magazine is placed in a special light by a quotation
from H. P. Blavatsky, chosen as motto in the American edition. It reads:
The Secret Doctrine is the common property of the countless millions
of men born under various climates, in times with which History
refuses to deal, and to which esoteric teachings assign dates
incompatible with the theories of Geology and Anthropology. The
birth and evolution of the Sacred Science of the Past are lost in
the very night of Time.... It is only by bringing before the reader
an abundance of proofs all tending to show that in every age, under
every condition of civilization and knowledge, the educated classes of
every nation made themselves the more or less faithful echoes of one
identical system and its fundamental traditions--that he can be made
to see that so many streams of the same water must have had a common
source from which they started. What was this source?... There must be
truth and fact in that which every people of antiquity accepted and
made the foundation of its religions and its faith.
A full list of general Theosophical literature is found in the magazine.
THE STRANGE LITTLE GIRL: a Story for the Children, by V.M.
Illustrations by N. Roth. 12mo, about 70 pages, cloth 75 cents.
This little book, printed by the Aryan Theosophical Press, Point Loma,
California, will be ready in time to form a wholly charming Christmas
or New Year's gift. It is in large clear type on good paper, and
the fourteen illustrations are quite unique. Eline, a princess who
lived in a marvelous realm of joy and peace, divines from what some
travelers left unsaid that there is another and a different world. She
interrogates the king, who finally says the children are free to come
and go. A harper arrives whose music speaks of far off sorrow. They
pass away together; she drinks the cup of forgetfulness, and reaches
the other world where many things happen of interest so supreme that we
fancy older folk will be eagerly reading this book when the children
are asleep, for it will interest both young and old.
The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society
Founded at New York City in 1875 by H. P. Blavatsky, William Q. Judge
and others
Reorganized in 1898 by Katherine Tingley
Central Office, Point Loma, California
The Headquarters of the Society at Point Loma with the buildings and
grounds, are no "Community" "Settlement" or "Colony." They form no
experiment in Socialism, Communism, or anything of similar nature,
but are the Central Executive Office of an international organization
where the business of the same is carried on, and where the teachings
of Theosophy are being demonstrated. Midway 'twixt East and West,
where the rising Sun of Progress and Enlightenment shall one day
stand at full meridian, the Headquarters of the Society unite the
philosophic Orient with the practical West.
MEMBERSHIP
in the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society may be
either "at large" or in a local Branch. Adhesion to the principle
of Universal Brotherhood is the only pre-requisite to membership.
The Organization represents no particular creed; it is entirely
unsectarian, and includes professors of all faiths, only exacting from
each member that large toleration of the beliefs of others which he
desires them to exhibit towards his own.
Applications for membership in a Branch should be addressed to
the local Director; for membership "at large" to G. de Purucker,
Membership Secretary, International Theosophical Headquarters, Point
Loma, California.
OBJECTS
This Brotherhood is a part of a great and universal movement which has
been active in all ages.
This Organization declares that Brotherhood is a fact in Nature. Its
principal purpose is to teach Brotherhood, demonstrate that it is a
fact in Nature, and make it a living power in the life of humanity.
Its subsidiary purpose is to study ancient and modern religions,
science, philosophy, and art; to investigate the laws of Nature and the
divine powers in man.
It is a regrettable fact that many people use the name of Theosophy
and of our Organization for self-interest, as also that of H. P.
Blavatsky, the Foundress, and even the Society's motto, to attract
attention to themselves and to gain public support. This they do in
private and public speech and in publications. Without being in any way
connected with the Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society, in
many cases they permit it to be inferred that they are, thus misleading
the public, and honest inquirers are hence led away from the original
truths of Theosophy.
The Universal Brotherhood and Theosophical Society welcomes to
membership all who truly love their fellow men and desire the
eradication of the evils caused by the barriers of race, creed, caste,
or color, which have so long impeded human progress; to all sincere
lovers of truth and to all who aspire to higher and better things than
the mere pleasures and interests of a worldly life and are prepared to
do all in their power to make Brotherhood a living energy in the life
of humanity, its various departments offer unlimited opportunities.
The whole work of the Organization is under the direction of the Leader
and Official Head, Katherine Tingley, as outlined in the Constitution.
Inquirers desiring further information about Theosophy or the
Theosophical Society are invited to write to
THE SECRETARY
International Theosophical Headquarters
Point Loma, California
[Illustration: THE PATH]
The Theosophical Path
An International Magazine
Unsectarian and nonpolitical
Monthly Illustrated
[Illustration]
Devoted to the Brotherhood of Humanity, the promulgation of Theosophy,
the study of ancient & modern Ethics, Philosophy, Science and Art, and
to the uplifting and purification of Home and National Life
Edited by Katherine Tingley
International Theosophical Headquarters, Point Loma, California, U.S.A.
_A knowledge concerning spiritual and Divine things is surely
attainable with much greater precision than commonplace modern
philosophy dreams of: it has been attained by great Theosophists
in all ages; it is recorded in a hundred enigmatic volumes, the
comprehension of which exacts the care and effort which in due time
it will so well reward, and the pursuit of this knowledge is one of
the great aims of the Theosophical Society.... And another great aim
of the Theosophical Society has been to show how the pursuit even of
the highest philosophical knowledge must itself, to be successful, be
wedded with the wish to do good to the whole family of mankind. As a
mere intellectual luxury, sought for in a selfish spirit, spiritual
knowledge itself must necessarily be futile and unprogressive. This
is a great mystic truth, and out of the full knowledge thereof on the
part of those from whom the Theosophical Society received its creative
impulse, has arisen_ THAT PRIMARY WATCH-WORD OF OUR ASSOCIATION
"UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD."--H. P. BLAVATSKY
(_The Theosophist_. Vol. I, No. 2, Leading Article.)
THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH
MONTHLY ILLUSTRATED
EDITED BY KATHERINE TINGLEY
NEW CENTURY CORPORATION, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA, U. S. A.
Entered as second-class matter July 25, 1911, at the Post Office at
Point Loma, California under the Act of March 3, 1879
Copyright, 1911, by Katherine Tingley
COMMUNICATIONS
Communications for the Editor should be addressed to "KATHERINE
TINGLEY, _Editor_, THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH, Point Loma, California."
To the BUSINESS MANAGEMENT, including subscriptions, address the "New
Century Corporation, Point Loma, California."
MANUSCRIPTS
The Editor cannot undertake to return manuscripts; none will be
considered unless accompanied by the author's name and marked with the
number of words. The Editor is responsible only for views expressed in
unsigned articles.
SUBSCRIPTION
By the year, postpaid, in the United States, Canada, Cuba, Mexico,
Porto Rico, Hawaii, and the Philippines, TWO DOLLARS; other countries
in the Postal Union, TWO DOLLARS AND FIFTY CENTS, payable in advance;
single copy, TWENTY CENTS.
REMITTANCES
All remittances to the New Century Corporation must be made payable to
"CLARK THURSTON, _Manager_," Point Loma, California.
VOL. I NO. 6 CONTENTS DECEMBER 1911
Southeastern View of the Râja Yoga College,
Point Loma, California _Frontispiece_
Christmas Kenneth Morris 387
Views of Rothenburg, Germany (_illustrations_) 390-391
Peace on Earth: Good Will toward Men R. Machell 391
Psychism: A Study in Hidden Connexions
H. T. Edge, B. A. (Cantab.) 393
A Magic Boat D. F. 399
Irish Scenes (_illustrated_)
Fred J. Dick, M. INST. C. E., M. INST. C. E. I. 400
The Bluebells of Wernoleu: A Welsh Legend (_verse_)
Kenneth Morris 404
The Soul at the British Association Henry Travers 406
Warwick Castle (_illustrated_) C. J. Ryan 409
Man and Nature R. Machell 410
The Will as a Chemical Product Investigator 413
Open-Air Drama (_illustrated_) Per Fernholm, M. E. (Stockholm) 415
Intra-Atomic Energy H. Coryn, M. D., M. R. C. S. 417
A Japanese Writer's Views on Modern Civilization
E. S. (Tokyo, Japan) 418
Copán, and its Position in American History (_illustrated_)
William E. Gates 419
Scientific Brevities The Busy Bee 427
Views of San Diego, California; Seraejevo, Capital of Bosnia;
Klamath Reclamation Project, Oregon-California (_illustrations_)
434-435
Conflict of the Ages (_verse_) S. F. 435
Women who have Influenced the World The Rev. S. J. Neill 436
The Turkish Woman Grace Knoche 439
An English Lady's Letter (_with illustration_)
F. D. Udall (London) 442
A Magic Place: A Forest Idyll for Young Folks (_illustrated_)
M. Ginevra Munson 443
Current Topics Observer 447
Book Reviews: _Les Derniers Barbares: Chine, Tibet, Mongolia_
(Commandant d'Ollone), _with illustrations_;
H. Alexander Fussell. _The Plough and the Cross_
(William Patrick O'Ryan): F. J. D. 452
Notices; Advertisements 458
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. SOUTHEASTERN VIEW OF
THE RÂJA YOGA COLLEGE, POINT LOMA, CALIFORNIA THE ARYAN MEMORIAL TEMPLE
TO THE LEFT]
THE THEOSOPHICAL PATH
KATHERINE TINGLEY, EDITOR
VOL. I DECEMBER, 1911 NO. 6
The dayspring from on high hath visited us, ... to guide our feet into
the way of peace.--_Luke_ i. 78. 79
CHRISTMAS: by Kenneth Morris
This is the time when we decorate our habitations with holly and
mistletoe, and our hearts with unwonted good feeling, commemorating the
dawning of a great light. There are certain stations in the journey of
the year, where we may see the legend writ large on the signboards:
"Change here for a better way of life; change here for happiness." We
read, and come out on the platform; make festivity a little in the
waiting (and refreshment) rooms, and then bundle back into the old
train, having never changed at all. The Christmas-New Year time, and
the Easter-time of the flowers, are two such important junctions; and
it is worth while to note that these feasts were kept long before the
advent of Christianity. For Christmas is in the very nature of things,
and not merely historically, the birthday of the Christ. It is the end
of the winter solstice, when the sun is, as it were, born anew after
his months of decline, and begins to flow towards the high tide mark of
his power.
That there is a certain reality in the significance of the season,
is proven by the bright good will that greets us when we rise on a
Christmas morning, and that it is so hard to escape. Marley's ghost and
the three spirits will be apt to haunt the veriest Scrooge among us,
forcing issues, compelling us to see that benevolence and kindliness
are part of the essential business of life. Though we starve our
souls on a thin diet of self-interest during the rest of the year,
now our fare shall be less meager, and the whole world demands of us
that we share in the common joy. There lies the heart and crux of it
all--_share_. It is a great thing that there should be the habit of
present-giving; it is so easy, when one is considering the giving
of a gift, to escape from self, and take thought in some degree for
the one to whom the gift is destined. Just a little such thought
is cleansing; for even the least trickle of it, Augean selfhood is
the sweeter and more habitable. And here it is flowing at Christmas
time, a full current of which all the world may partake. The force of
age-long custom has dedicated the day, and the habit has been formed
of making an effort at brotherly feeling. We think of the children, of
absentees, of many we give no thought to at other times. No doubt but
for this, many a soul still flickers on, that would else have dwindled
long since into pin-point insignificance, or waned altogether out of
minds anchored at all other times to dreary and sordid self-interest.
No doubt our civilization would be nearer to the rocks even than it
is, or quite battered and broken on them, were it not that we do put
some strain on the rudders, and turn, if falteringly and without clear
design, to the free open waters on this one day of the year.
It is the proof of brotherhood, and that we are all filled with a
common life, this generality of Christmas good will. We share in
thought and feeling, as much as we do in the very air we breathe;
mental infection is as real, and perilous, as the physical infection
of disease. One man's thinking, though unuttered, shall pass through a
thousand minds, sowing wheat or tares, good or evil, light or darkness,
health or disease, in every one of them. What a new light this sheds
on the question of reform! New laws are only efficient as old modes
of thought are sweetened and uplifted. Will you move heaven and earth
over the mote that is in your brother's eye, forgetting the beam that
is in your own? Then do you stand accused, not merely of hypocrisy, but
of being a worthless, profitless laborer, a twister of sand-ropes, a
plower of the barren shore.
But what might not Christmas be for us, were we to treat it really
reasonably! Happiness lies not in the region of sanctimonious
ecstatics; but then, it is also incompatible with an overloaded
stomach. We begin well enough with the wishes for a "Merry Christmas";
excellently well with the geniality and present-giving. What a promise
there is for all sorts and conditions of men, or nearly all, on a
Christmas morning: what a general sun of Austerlitz is it that rises!
But how of its setting? What heavy physical clouds there are apt to be;
what a sinking low, a simple vanishing, of ideals--what mere brute,
material indigestion! Heigho! here's a come-down--from PEACE ON EARTH,
GOOD WILL TO MEN, to these well-known, brain-deadening results!
It all comes of our erratic, freakish extremism. We pride ourselves on
the practical trend of our lives: Gad, there's no nonsense here; it is
a businesslike and commonsense generation, with the whole trade of the
world on its hands; and what would you have, sir? Why, some evidence of
that same so-much-bragged-of commonsense, if there be any. Our notion
of carrying on the work of the world is, on the whole and for the most
part, a fever; a wearing out of manhood, a furious, unseemly jostling
round the trough wherein providence, like a swineherd, pours the wash
of money, position, fame, power, etc.; and while we are so fighting
and swilling, the work of the world is left undone; it may take care
of itself, it may go hang, we will have none of it. Does anyone doubt
that? Let him look around and see the abuses that remain and fester,
heaven knows, till the world is rank with the corruption of them. Let
him think of the reformatories that don't reform; of the horror that
walketh by night in the cities. When he has taken note of _all_ the
work left undone within the limits of his own nation, let him consider,
but with more charity--for the conditions will be less easy for him
to understand--the work that other nations are leaving undone; the
work that humanity as a whole whistles past unheeding. And meanwhile
we sweat and drudge and strain, strain and drudge and sweat after the
things we desire, money and so forth; we give health for it, culture
for it, leisure for it, honor for it, virtue for it, manhood for it;
and call that business; call that doing the work of the world. Oh how
this aching earth must be desiring a humanity that can put in some
claim to be human!
We cannot go on so always; we must of course have safety-valves
somewhere; and so we arrange these holidays and festivals, when we
shall react and revolt against the things of common day, and be wildly
different, for those few annual hours at least. Now we will have
pleasure, rest, recreation. So--
Oh, we know the sweet fair picture! We know how it is done, only too
often, this recreation business. Come now, who is it that is recreated?
Which element, which party, which guild or stratum of society in that
curious pathocratical republic, that kingless, impolitic, mob-swayed
kingdom called the human personality, rises like a giant refreshed from
the somnolent, torpid nebulosity wherewith the liver, poor drudge on
strike, has its revenge on its tyrant? How much of Christmas good will,
Christmas merriment and cheer, will be carried forward? What new light
will shine on our workaday activities?
You pass through a treasure-house, from which you may take what you
will, and the more you take, the better. But you "take no thought
for the morrow"--with a vengeance! you pay no heed to the rich and
beautiful things; you allow yourself to be beguiled, from entrance to
exit of it, by that most wily esurient companion Appetite, that should
be slave and porter but has tricked himself into the position of master
and guide. We do go in there, indeed; we do see the treasures; it is
proven for us that they exist, and undoubtedly we are the better for
that. But we might go forth enriched for the whole year; and--we don't.
Christmas, that might be perennial, hardly lasts for a whole day.
Why should not such a birthday be kept in a fitting manner? Is there
nothing within ourselves that corresponds to the Hero of the day--no
sunbright redeeming principle? Indeed there is; and it is the service
of that that pays (to put it vulgarly); for that is the soul, whose
mere garments are brain and body and appetites; indeed, whose mere
hopples and handcuffs they are. No joy is acceptable, or without its
sickening foul aftertaste, unless countersigned by It; that feast is
poisonous of which It does not partake. To carry through the day the
jolly atmosphere of good will and good service, of stepping outside
selfhood; to keep one's insolent servant, appetite, cowed and right
down in its place, finding pleasure in the things that belong to
ourselves, not to it--that would be to celebrate Christmas rationally.
When we do so, we do not find that the Christmas spirit wanes with the
waning of the holidays.
I wish the whole world could have just a glimpse of the Lomaland
Christmas, which is such a rational one, permeated with sunlight "both
within and without." Then it would be more generally understood,
how that the day may be, and ought to be, the feast-day of Human
Brotherhood, the annual reconsecration of the celebrants to all things
bright and beautiful, and cheerful and excellent, and happy and
thoroughly practical and of good report. By heaven, the influence of
these Theosophical Christmases will make its mark on the world yet!
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ROTHENBURG: A VIEW
OF THE MEDIEVAL TOWN]
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ANOTHER VIEW OF
ROTHENBURG: A ROMANTIC CORNER]
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. VIEW OF ROTHENBURG
SHOWING SOME OF THE OLD TOWN HOUSES]
[Illustration: Lomaland Photo. and Engraving Dept. ROTHENBURG: THE
"STRAFTHURM"]
PEACE ON EARTH: GOOD WILL TOWARD MEN: by R. Machell
Peace to all beings! is an Eastern benediction. Peace on earth: good
will toward men! is the Christian expression of the same heart-felt
emotion. But what is peace? Is it merely the suspension of war, or
the prevention of war, or its postponement? Is a long period of
peace merely _in itself_ productive of "good will toward men"? Does
prosperity necessarily produce generosity, love, nobility, dignity,
purity, or happiness? Can we possibly answer in the affirmative with
the statistics of want and crime, corruption and suicide before our
eyes constantly? Is peace the absence of war? If so we must stretch the
meaning of the word war very considerably, stretch it indeed until it
includes all unbrotherly acts; but then it will include a great part
of our commercial system as well as of our social life. What then? Is
peace a mockery? If so why is it so generally recognized as a desirable
state, a blessed state, a state of beauty and joy? The cessation of
international wars, so greatly to be desired, is peace of one kind
only. "The peace of God that passeth all understanding," is another.