Bradford Theosophical Society

Bradford Theosophical Society (Promoting understanding and respect for spiritual lifestyles.) (Founded Feb. 1891) President: Cynthia Trasi. Click here: Trasi's home page. or to contact us. A Branch of The Theosophical Society in England 50 Gloucester Place, London W1U 8EA, Tel: 020 7935 9261 www.theosophical-society.org.uk

Theosophy has been defined many times. But Divine Wisdom cannot be enclosed within words. All statements about Theosophy are partial and tentative. Divine Wisdom, which is Truth, must be discovered in experience by each one for himself.

Theosophy stands for the knowledge of Truth. The theosophical tradition affirms that man, by exploring the depth of his own nature, can come to the experience of Truth. This experience is Theosophy, the Divine Wisdom, the knowledge of ultimate Reality.

Theosophy stands also for the principles of existence. The theosophical tradition affirms that all life is one life; that law pervades the universe; that an evolutionary process is everywhere at work. In the sphere of human life, these principles are expressed as the brotherhood of all mankind; the unfolding of possibilities through reincarnation under the law of karma; and human perfectibility and self-transcendence.

Theosophy is the light that shines through the many-coloured lamps of religion. It is the thread of truth in scriptures, creeds, symbols, myths and rituals. The Divine Wisdom is one, the paths towards it are many.

 THE TEACHINGS known as Theosophy fall into two groups. First, Theosophy stands for the direct knowledge of Reality. The tradition affirms that man, in his essential nature, is a part or aspect of that Reality which the great religions of the world have always recognised under the name of God. Because of this inner identity, it is possible for man to know God directly, without intermediary. This he does through an age-long process of self-discovery, until, in realising himself, he experiences the fact of his identity with Reality. Thereafter there can be for him no more doubt or death, no sin or pain. This state, described by mystics as 'union with God', is the goal known variously as liberation, salvation, illumination or nirvana.

Thus Theosophy is the declaration of man's identity with Reality and of his consequent power to know that Ultimate which man call God.
'And ye shall know the Truth, and the Truth shall make you free.'
'Behold, thou art THAT.'

 THE SECOND MEANING of Theosophy is a development from the first. A study of the great religions, past and present, and of the teachings of wise men whose writings have come down through many centuries, shows evidence of a certain common body of knowledge relating to God, man and the universe. This body of knowledge, the highest common factor of religious and philosophical teaching from the remote past, is also called Theosophy.

 Its principal doctrines may be simplified and summarised as follows:

1. All existence is a unity. All seemingly separate units are parts of a single whole.
2. All existence is governed by invariable laws. These laws apply to both the visible and the invisible parts of nature, to the universe and to man.
3. Evolution is a fact in nature. Though the interplay of spirit and matter, of life and form, the infinite possibilities of being gradually emerge from latency into active expression.
4. Man is a phase in the evolutionary process. The human phase differs from earlier ones principally in the fact of self-consciousness, which gives to man uniquely the responsibility for his actions and the power of directing the course of his future evolution.
5. Each human life, from birth to death, is part of a total pattern of individual evolution. This pattern is determined by the operation of laws, those most relevant to understanding of his day-to-day condition being; the law of rhythm, which causes life and death to follow one another as waking follows sleeping in the daily cycle, and the law of action, or karma, which links each event to those which precede and follow it, as causes are linked to effects.
6. The individual, as a part of the One Existence and endowed with self-consciousness, has the power to free himself from all the limitations of a merely human mode of being and to know in experience the fact of his identity with God.
7. The way to the knowledge of one's Divinity is itself a part of law-abiding nature. It may be found and trodden by those who are willing to study nature's laws and to conform their lives to the conditions which alone make possible the discovery of Truth.

THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY exists to make available the teachings of the Wisdom tradition known as THEOSOPHY. It was founded in 1875 and is an international, non-sectarian body, having no dogmas or obligatory beliefs. Membership is open to all who are in sympathy with the three Objects of the Society, which are:

1. To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or colour.
2. To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
3. To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in Man.