ue of Theosophy in the World of Thought

You will have seen on the handbill announcing the lecture, that we are
holding this meeting in connection with my taking office as President
of the Theosophical Society, and it is my purpose, in addressing you
to-night, to try to show you, at least to some small extent, what is
the value which the Society represents, as regarded from the
standpoint of human activities, manifested in the world of thought. I
want to try to show you that when we say THEOSOPHY we are speaking of
something of real value which can serve humanity in the various
departments of intellectual life. I propose, in order to do this, to
begin with a very brief statement of the fundamental idea of
Theosophy; and then, turning to the world of religious thought, to the
world of artistic thought, to the world of scientific thought, and
lastly to the world of political thought, to point out to you how that
which is called Theosophy may bring contributions of value to each of
these in turn.

Now Theosophy, as the name implies, is a Wisdom, a Divine Wisdom; and
the name historically, as many of you know, is identical with that
which in Eastern lands has been known by various names--as Tao, in
China; as the Brahmavidya, in India; as the Gnosis, among the
Greeks and the early Christians; and as Theosophy through the Middle
Ages and in modern times. It implies always a knowledge, a Wisdom that
transcends the ordinary knowledge, the ordinary science of the earth;
it implies a wisdom as regards life, a wisdom as regards the essential
nature of things, a wisdom which is summed up in two words when we say
"God-Wisdom." For it has been held in elder days--although in modern
times it has become largely forgotten--that man can really never know
anything at all unless he knows himself, and knows himself Divine;
that knowledge of God, the Supreme, the Universal Life, is the root of
all true knowledge of matter as well as of Spirit, of this world as
well as of worlds other than our own; that in that one supreme
knowledge all other knowledges find their root; that in that supreme
light all other lights have their origin; and that if man can know
anything, it is because he is Divine in nature, and, sharing the Life
that expresses itself in a universe, he can know at once the Life that
originates and the Matter that obeys.

Starting from such a standpoint, you will at once realise that
Theosophy is a spiritual theory of the worl