Greetings and welcome
to the continuation of
our program introducing
the Theosophical Society
with Mr. Daniel J. Noga,
the Member Services
Coordinator of
the Theosophical Society
in America.
As a relatively recent
movement that
has strived to embrace
the timeless wisdom,
the Theosophical Society
has no particular practice,
nor ceremony nor rite.
Rather, it extends to
its members the freedom
to follow
their own traditional
religious customs.
Because Theosophy
is not incompatible with
religions, members are
encouraged to take part
in their regular
religious ceremonies.
So, members do things
like meditation,
or attend church if they
happen to be Christian or
temple if they’re Jewish,
mosque if they’re Muslim.
Theosophy claims that
regardless of one’s religion,
we should be
spiritually aware.
Why is spiritual awareness
important to
our daily lives?
Spiritual awareness sort of
brings a recognition
of that unity that
we have discussed,
in distinction to purely
religious awareness,
whereas spiritual
awareness is more open
and inclusive in
bringing people together.
Meditation
and spiritual practice
are encouraged by
the Theosophical Society.
The specific method,
however, may vary
among individuals.
The attitude of the Society
is that its members are
to be able to seek
for themselves and sort of
determine for themselves
what the best path is.
But most forms of
meditation have the effect
of expanding
our awareness.
Even a simple meditation
like mindfulness of
breathing makes us more
aware of our own breath,
it makes us more aware
of our own actions
in general.
And it brings
sort of a clarity
and a peace of mind.
And it’s from this
foundation that some of
the other consequences
flow, a deeper
understanding of unity.
So, what is the ultimate
message of Theosophy?
The message that comes
through most strongly
and most often is
the emphasis on unity.
Unity of all things,
that even though we all
appear to be separate,
we’re really all one.
And from that,
I would say that
the most important object
is brotherhood, which is
the practical expression
of that unity, that way of
actually not just saying
but demonstrating that
we’re all one.
One of the main
objectives of the
Theosophical Society is
to “encourage the study
of Comparative Religion,
Philosophy, and Science.”
The main intention
behind that is the idea
that truth is something
that has to be
approached from
more than one angle.
So in other words,
the Theosophical Society
recognizes the validity
of the scientific,
the religious and the
philosophical methods of
approaching truth,
and sort of professes that
to arrive at
a clearer picture of truth,
we need to have
a worldview that combines
all three of these
and sort of takes them all
into account.
In accordance with
this objective,
from 1975 onwards,
then president of the
Theosophical Society
Mrs. Dora Van Gelder
Kunz organized yearly
science seminars
which take place at
the Olcott Estate, the
American headquarters of
the Theosophical Society
in Wheaton, Illinois.
The seminars explored
fascinating topics of
science and spirituality,
cycles, evolution, and
unfolding consciousness.
In 1981, His Holiness the
14th Dalai Lama attended.
The Theosophical Society
has had a long history of
providing charitable and
humanitarian services.
The Theosophical Order
of Service (TOS)
was founded in 1908
by Annie Besant,
the second president of
the Theosophical Society.
TOS’s motto is “to unite
all who love in the
service of all that suffer.”
Some of the early
expressed objectives
of TOS were:
1. To minimize the sum
of misery in the world;
2. To forget self
in working for others;
3. To eliminate selfishness
and substitute love
as the rule of the world;
4. To live to the highest
that is within us.
Today,
the Theosophical Order
of Service is established
in many countries around
the world and strives to
provide medical missions
and disaster relief,
establish orphanages
and schools, provide
scholarships, rehabilitate
malnourished children,
care for the disabled,
prevent cruelty to animals,
and promote
vegetarianism, etc.
Mr. Noga spoke about
the environmental and
charitable principles
that guide
the Theosophical Society.
Learn to honor
our natural resources
for what they are.
Recognize that they are
limited and that
we need to share them
rather than to
hoard them for ourselves.
One of the other core
principles of Theosophy
is selflessness,
service to others and
sharing in the wealth
of not just the world,
but the universe
in spirituality and ideas.
The problems that we see
in the environment
stem from a materialistic
attitude, that sort of looks
at the world around us
as just matter to be
played with, dominated
or taken over.
There’s this attitude
by science that we’ll
someday dominate nature.
Theosophy instead
points to the idea that
since we’re all connected,
we can’t even separate
ourselves from the
environment around us.
And that if we were to
recognize that we’re one
with our environment and
that there’s harmony
that exist between us
and the environment,
then we would reverse
the position that we have
in relationship to
our planet.
When we return, we’ll
find out more about the
Theosophical Society’s
views on vegetarianism
and meet some of
history’s famous people
who were shaped
by Theosophy.
Please stay tuned to
Supreme Master
Television.
Welcome back to
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms
and our program briefly
introducing the principles
and history of
the Theosophical Society.
The Theosophical Society
has played an important
role in the promotion
of vegetarianism,
based on reasons of
universal compassion
as well as
spiritual well-being.
We do promote
vegetarianism on principle.
And actually, here
at the national center,
we don’t allow meat
on campus at all, and all
of the meals that we serve
here are vegetarian.
The Society’s founder,
Helena Blavatsky,
was a vegetarian
and explicitly advised
Theosophy members to
abstain from eating meat
for the following reason:
“When the flesh of
animals is assimilated
by man as food,
it imparts to him,
physiologically, some
of the characteristics of
the animal it came from...
We advise
really earnest students to
eat such food as will
least clog and weigh
their brains and bodies,
and will have
the smallest effect in
hampering and retarding
the development of
their intuition, their inner
faculties and powers.”
Other prominent
members of the
Theosophical Society
who advocated
a vegetarian diet were
Dr. George Arundale
and his wife Mrs.
Rukmini Devi Arandale.
Dr. Arundale, who was
a bishop of the Liberal
Catholic Church in India
and the third president of
the Theosophical Society,
said this about the value
of the cruelty-free living:
“One way leads to
destruction.
It is the way of
the tolerance to cruelty,
if not the active
engagement in it.
It is the way of
hunting for sport,
the way of vivesection,
the way of killing
for self-adornment,
the way of killing
animals for food,
the way of making slaves
of animals without
thought for their
happiness and well-being.
This is the way the world
has been treading.
The other way leads to
salvation.
It is the way of
harmlessness, the way
of the recognition
of brotherhood with
all creatures,
the way of tenderness
and compassion,
the way of service and
not of selfishness.”
Dr. George Arundale’s wife,
Rukmini Devi Arundale,
was a classical dancer
of Bharatnayam and
founder of the famous
Kalakshetra Academy of
Indian Dance and Music
in Chennai, India.
She was also
the vice president of the
International Vegetarian
Union for 31 years.
The Theosophical Society
has had a deep influence
on many distinguished
individuals who shared
the ideals of
inclusiveness, unity, and
brotherhood among all.
There are some pretty
big historical figures who
have professed to be
influenced by Theosophy.
Mohandas Gandhi
was one.
It’s very clear that his
actions had a wide effect
on the world, and
as did the effects of
some of the early
Theosophical members,
like Annie Besant, who
was once the president of
the Theosophical Society.
She actually worked with
Gandhi in India towards
the liberation of
the Indian people.
And there are
other examples:
Maria Montessori,
the educator, spent
some time living at the
Society’s international
headquarters in India,
at Adyar,
and it’s certain that
Theosophy influenced
her teaching methods.
And the same with
Rudolf Steiner and
his Waldorf education.
Austrian-born
Dr. Rudolf Steiner was
the General Secretary of
the German section of
the Theosophical Society.
He later founded
the Anthroposophical
Society which brought
forth the Waldorf schools,
a new method of organic
vegetable farming,
the Camphill movement
assisting people
with special needs,
and a new holistic
medicine approach.
Other influential
individuals who were
deeply influenced by
Theosophical thoughts
include Irish poet and
Nobel Prize winner
William Butler Yeats,
American author of
children’s books
L. Frank Baum,
Russian composer
Alexander Scriabin, and
accomplished painters
Paul Gauguin from France,
Piet Mondrian
from the Netherlands,
and Wassily Kandinsky
of Russia.
Today, the ideals of the
Theosophical Society
continue to appeal to
the open-minded.
Keeping pace
with current issues,
its members carry on
the work of
their predecessors to
bring greater fellowship,
peace, and tolerance
in our world.
What does the Society
view as some of the most
prevalent problems today
and how should
these issues be resolved?
One of the issues that
the Theosophical Society
in America has
recently been paying
close attention to is
interfaith and dialogue.
The society, not just now,
but in the past, has been
active in the promotion
of interfaith dialogue.
In this day and age
there are many different
religions, philosophies.
Theosophy calls for
unification of people
and ideas.
How can this be done
and what would be
a good starting point?
I think a very good
starting point is simple
open-minded inquiry,
to lay ourselves open to
different possibilities and
even to possibly seek out
different possibilities.
Occasionally make
a special effort to
step outside of our own
personal comfort zones;
get some exposure to
different experiences and
different ideas and
really try to understand
where other people
are coming from.
Some would argue that
we have been created
differently from
one another and achieving
unity or oneness is
an ideal and not a reality.
How would you
respond to this?
Many of the realities that
we see around us
started out as ideals.
There was a time
in history, when the idea
that people could be
free individuals, was not
very popular and now it’s
something that we really
sort of take for granted.
So, whenever we have
an ideal that doesn’t exist,
I think that becomes
a challenge for us to
make that ideal happen,
and it’s something that
we need to carry out
in our everyday lives.
We thank Mr. Noga and
the Theosophical Society
in America for explaining
the noble minded
principles and
past and present
endeavors of
the Theosophical Society.
By joining together,
may our shared dream
of a harmonious planet
be realized soon.
Thank you, gentle viewers,
for your presence on
A Journey through
Aesthetic Realms.
Coming up next is
Our Noble Lineage, right
after Noteworthy News.
Blessed be the Divine
spirit in everyone.