The Theosophical Society is composed of students, belonging to any
religion in the world or to none, who are united by their approval of
the Society’s Objects, by their wish to remove religious antagonisms and
to draw together men of goodwill whatsoever their religious opinions,
and by their desire to study religious truths and to share the results
of their studies with others.
Their bond of union is not the profession of a common belief, but a
common search and aspiration for Truth. They hold that Truth should be
sought by study, by reflection, by purity of life, by devotion to high
ideals, and they regard Truth as a prize to be striven for, not as dogma
to be imposed by authority. They consider that belief should be the
result of individual study or intuition, and not its antecedent, and
should rest on knowledge, not on assertion.
They extend tolerance to all, even to the intolerant, not as a
privilege they bestow but as a duty they perform, and they seek to
remove ignorance, not to punish it. They see every religion as an
expression of the Divine Wisdom and prefer its study to its
condemnation, and its practice to proselytism. Peace is their watchword,
as Truth is their aim.
Theosophy is the body of truths which forms the basis of all
religions, and which cannot be claimed as the exclusive possession of
any. It offers a philosophy which renders life intelligible, and which
demonstrates the justice and the love which guide its evolution. It puts
death in its rightful place, as a recurring incident in an endless
life, opening the gateway to a fuller and more radiant existence. It
restores to the world the Science of the Spirit, teaching man to know
the Spirit as himself and the mind and body as his servants. It
illuminates the scriptures and doctrines of religions by unveiling their
hidden meanings, and thus justifying them at the bar of intelligence,
as they are every justified in the eyes of intuition.
Members of the Theosophical Society study these truths, and
Theosophists endeavour to live them. Everyone willing to study, to be
tolerant, to aim high, and to work perseveringly, is welcomed as a
member, and it rests with the member to become a true Theosophist.
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We could say that knowledge can be conveyed to another whereas wisdom cannot.
But wisdom and knowledge can often
be poles apart. The courses we run are designed to give you the
knowledge whereby you may find your own wisdom. This knowledge has been
handed down throughout the ages by initiates, seers, wise people and
adepts and referred to in all the great scriptural and philosophical
texts of humanity.
Theosophists understand that by
studying and meditating on this knowledge and by putting it into
practice through living a life of high ideals, we might, from that
moment, begin realising divine wisdom from within ourselves.
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