njoyed a
considerable vogue, and he also had a very great influence on the
Renaissance period. The Hermetic books, with all their mysteries, have
become part of the theosophical gospel, as well as the doctrines of
Plato and of the Neo-Platonists, Plutarch's treatises on Isis and
Osiris, the philosophies of Plotinus and Iamblichus, the teachings of
Philo and of the Gnostics, and the works of innumerable others, who in
seeking to throw light on the super-physical realms seem often only to
have succeeded in plunging them into greater darkness. Augmented by
all these obscure products of philosophy and metaphysics, the new
Theosophy gives the impression of a gigantic and impenetrable maze, but
it must be admitted that its followers have drawn from it maxims whose
justice and high morality are beyond question.

The general trend of its teachings is indicated by the following
sublime passages from the Bhagavad Gita, or Lord's Song:--

"He attaineth Peace, into whom all desires flow as rivers flow into the
ocean, which is filled with water, but remaineth unmoved--not he who
desireth desires. Whoso forsaketh all desires and goeth onwards free
from yearnings, selfless and without egoism--he goeth to Peace. . . .
Freed from passion, fear and anger, filled with Me, taking refuge in
Me, purified in the fire of wisdom, many have entered into My Being.
However men approach Me, even so do I welcome them, for the path men
take from every side is Mine, O Partha."

But the many imitations and variations of this wonderful Song have
despoiled it of some of its freshness and beauty, so that in these days
it is rather like the airs played on barrel-organs whose original
tunefulness is forgotten through wearisome repetition.

Theosophists are also concerned, with studying the sevenfold nature of
man and of the universe, with the existence of invisible worlds, the
graduated stages of death and rebirth, and the attainment of divine
wisdom through perfect purity of life and thought. They are opposed to
racial prejudices, social classifications, and all distinctions that
separate and divide mankind, and they inculcate the greatest possible
respect for, the widest possible tolerance between, the world's
different religions. Like Christian Scientists they do not believe in
the practice of hypnotic suggestion, but they disagree with the
materialism of the Scientists, holding that, in the search for truth,
purity of life is the one essentia