A MODERN REVIVAL OF ANCIENT WISDOM - A BOYD KUHN, Masońskie
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A
M
ODERN
R
EVIVAL
O
f
f
A
NCIENT
W
ISDOM
Alvin Boyd Kuhn
STUDIES IN RELIGION AND CULTURE
AMERICAN RELIGION SERIES II
THEOSOPHY
PREFACE
Since this work was designed to be one of a series of studies in
American religions, the treatment of the subject was consciously
limited to those aspects of Theosophy which are in some manner
distinctively related to America. This restriction has been difficult
to enforce for the reason that, though officially born here,
Theosophy has never since its inception had its headquarters on
this continent. The springs of the movement have emanated from
foreign sources and influences. Its prime inspiration has come
from ancient Oriental cultures. America in this case has rather
adopted an exotic cult than evolved it from the conditions of her
native milieu. The main events in American Theosophic history
have been mostly repercussions of events transpiring in English,
Continental, or Indian Theosophy. It was thus virtually impossible
to segregate American Theosophy from its connections with
foreign leadership. But the attempt to do so has made it necessary
to give meagre treatment to some of the major currents of world-
wide Theosophic development. The book does not purport to be a
complete history of Theosophy, but it is an attempt to present a
unified picture of the movement in its larger aspects. No effort has
been made to weigh the truth or falsity of Theosophic principles,
but an effort has been made to understand their significance in
relation to the historical situation and psychological disposition of
those who have adopted it.
The author wises to express his obligation to several persons
without whose assistance the enterprise would have been more
onerous and less successful. His thanks are due in largest measure
to Professor Roy F. Mitchell of New York University, and to Mrs.
Mitchell, for placing at his disposal much of their time and of their
wide knowledge of Theosophical material; to Mr. L. W. Rogers,
President of the American Theosophical Society, Wheaton, Illinois,
for cordial
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co-operation in the matter of the questionnaire, and to the many
members of the Society who took pains to reply to the questions; to
Mr. John Garrigues, of the United Lodge of Theosophists, New
York, for valuable data out of his great store of Theosophic
information, and to several of the ladies at the U.L.T. Reading
Room for library assistance; to Professor Louis H. Gray, of
Columbia University, for technical criticism in Sanskrit
terminology; to Mr. Arthur E. Christy, of Columbia University, for
data showing Emerson's indebtedness to Oriental philosophy; and
to Professor Herbert W. Schneider, of Columbia University, for his
painstaking criticism of the study throughout.
A. B. K.
New York City
September, 1930
CONTENTS
I. THEOSOPHY, AN ANCIENT TRADITION
II. THE AMERICAN BACKGROUND OF THEOSOPHY
III. HELENA P. BLAVATSKY: HER LIFE AND PSYCHIC CAREER
IV. FROM SPIRITUALISM TO THEOSOPHY
V. ISIS UNVEILED
VI. THE MAHATMAS AND THEIR LETTERS
VII. STORM, WRECK, AND REBUILDING
VIII. THE SECRET DOCTRINE
IX. EVOLUTION, REBIRTH, AND KARMA
X. ESOTERIC WISDOM AND PHYSICAL SCIENCE
XI. THEOSOPHY IN ETHICAL PRACTICE
XII. LATER THEOSOPHICAL HISTORY
XIII. SOME FACTS AND FIGURES
BIBLIOGRAPHY
INDEX
CHAPTER I
THEOSOPHY, AN ANCIENT
TRADITION
In the mind of the general public Theosophy is classed with
Spiritualism, New Thought, Unity and Christian Science, as one of
the modern cults. It needs but a slight acquaintance with the facts
in the case to reveal that Theosophy is amenable to this
classification only in the most superficial sense. Though the
Theosophical Society is recent, theosophy, in the sense of an
esoteric philosophic mystic system of religious thought, must be
ranked as one of the most ancient traditions. It is not a mere cult,
in the sense of being the expression of a quite specialized form of
devotion, practice, or theory, propagated by a small group. It is a
summation and synthesis of many cults of all times. It is as broad
and universal a motif, let us say, as mysticism. It is one of the most
permanent phases of religion, and as such it has welled up again
and again in the life of mankind. It is that "wisdom of the divine"
which has been in the world practically continuously since ancient
times. The movement of today is but another periodical recurrence
of a phenomenon which has marked the course of history from
classical antiquity. Not always visible in outward organization--
indeed never formally organized as Theosophy under that name
until now--the thread of theosophic teaching and temperament can
be traced in almost unbroken course from ancient times to the
present. It has often been subterranean, inasmuch as esotericism
and secrecy have been essential elements of its very constitution.
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