In the dying hours of the old cycle the struggle between the forces of light and darkness becomes accentuated. This is apparent in every department of life.
By giving place to personal vanity and weakness within ourselves we resist the beneficent action of the divine powers, furnish a resistance to the spread of truth and block the way of progress. All are tried to the utmost.
A spirit of aggressiveness is frequently so fostered by some that it leads to a complete transformation of character and destroys the higher ideals which they profess to uphold and of which they are the glib exponents.
The following quotations are as useful today as when they were written and it seems important to reiterate them with still greater emphasis. What is said of the Theosophical Society and Theosophy is true of all organizations and teachings. When the living spirit is sacrificed for the outward form, and when personal aims and ambitions are allowed to dim the strength and beauty of true principle, those who sincerely love truth above every other consideration will defend its interests and endeavor to work in accordance with its ideals.
Just as we should defend our country from the invasion of enemies seeking its destruction so we must protect the interests of the Cause which we love; but let us always strive to do this in the true spirit of brotherly love and avoid aggressiveness.
Several years ago Mr. Judge wrote, in answer to a question as to what true and earnest Theosophists could do against the black age:
Nothing against it, but a very great deal in it; for it is to be remembered that the very fact that it is the iron or foundation age gives opportunities to be obtained in no other. . . A very slight cause produces gigantic effects. To aspire now ever so little will bring about greater and more lasting effects for good than at any other time. And similarly, evil intent has greater powers for evil. These great forces are visibly increased at the close of certain cycles in the Kali Yuga. The present cycle, which closes November 17th, 1897 — February 18th, 1898, is one of the most important of any that have been. Opportunities for producing permanent effects for good in themselves and in the world as a whole are given to Theosophists at the present time, which they may never have again if not taken advantage of.
The following is taken from a letter written in H. P. B.'s time:
The Theosophical Society was chosen as the corner-stone, the foundation of the future religious of humanity. To achieve the proposed object, a greater, wiser, and especially a more benevolent intermingling of the high and the low, the alpha and the omega of society, was determined upon. The white race must be the first to stretch out the hand of fellowship to the dark nations . . . This prospect may not smile for all, but he is no Theosophist who objects to this principle. . . .
As we find the world now, whether Christian, Mussulman, or Pagan, justice is disregarded, and honor and mercy are both flung to the winds. ... If the Theosophists say, we have nothing to do with all this [the sorrow and crime in the world]; the lower classes and inferior races (those of India, for instance, in the conception of the British) cannot concern us, and must manage as they can, what becomes of our fine professions of benevolence, philanthropy, reform, etc.? Are those professions a mockery? And if a mockery, can ours be the true path? Shall we devote ourselves to teaching a few Europeans — fed on the fat of the land, many of them loaded with the gifts of blind fortune — the rationale of bell-ringing, of cup-growing, of the spiritual telephone, and astral body formation, and leave the teeming millions of the ignorant to take care of themselves, and of their hereafter, as best they can? Never! Perish rather the Theosophical Society with both its hapless Founders, than that we should permit it to become no better than an academy of magic, and a hall of occultism! (An Important Letter, Lucifer, Vol. XVIII, p. 501)
In a letter to Mr.___ in the early days of the Society we find:
You have ever discussed, but to put down, the idea of a universal brotherhood, questioned its usefulness, and advised to remodel the Theosophical Society on the principle of a college for the special study of occultism, (Occult World, p. 104.)
For to have the Theosophical Society a part of the School of Antiquity would mean the dissolution of both organizations.
The mysteries never were, and never can be, put within the reach of the general public, not, at least, until that longed-for day when our religious philosophy becomes universal. — (Idem.)
Those who seek to advance their own theories often misuse quotations and mislead the unwary. Those who are interested in the School for the Revival of the Lost Mysteries of Antiquity will note the importance of not arriving at wrong conclusions as to its meaning, scope and purpose. When the true philosophy is more universally diffused throughout the world; when Universal Brotherhood is nearer a visible realization, then will the Mysteries come within the reach of all, but not till then.
In this connection the following should be especially noted:
You see, then, that we have weightier matters than small societies to think about; yet the Theosophical Society must not be neglected. The affair has taken an impulse which, if not well guided, might beget very evil issues. Recall to mind the avalanches of your admired Alps, and remember that at first their mass is small, and their momentum little. A trite comparison, you may say, but I cannot think of a better illustration when viewing the gradual aggregation of trifling events growing into a menacing destiny for the Theosophical Society. — {Occult World, p. 119.)
All who seek to reverse the true order of things and try to limit the divine philosophy within channels as narrow as their own conceptions, will ultimately find themselves in a prison cell of their own making within which their power for retarding the work of brotherly love will be confined.
The ethical life is the basis of true Occultism; "By their fruits shall ye know them."