THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY The term "theosophy" has in recent years obtained a wide cur rency in certain circles as denominating the beliefs and teachings of the Theosophical Society. This society was founded in the United States in 1875 by Madame H. P. Blavatsky (q.v.), in con nection with Col. H. S. Olcott and others. Col. Olcott remained president of the original society till his death in 1907, when he was succeeded by Mrs. Annie Besant. But soon after the death of Madame Blavatsky (1891) a split took place which led to the formation of a separate organization in America under the leader ship of William P. Judge. The main objects of this society, as originally propounded, were: (I) To establish a nucleus of the universal brotherhood of hu manity; (2) to promote the study of comparative religion and philoso phy; and (3) to make a systematic investigation into the mystic poten cies of life and matter, or what is usually termed "occultism." Mahatmas.—According to Madame Blavatsky's original state ments this wisdom has been transmitted through the ages as a secret doctrine or esoteric teaching by a brotherhood of adepts or Mahatmas scattered through the world but in close relation with one another. With a certain group of these in Tibet she claimed to be in communication. In such adepts the spiritual nature is supposed to have been so developed that the body has become the ductile instrument of the intelligence and they have thus gained a control over natural forces which enables them to bring about results that appear to be miraculous.
modern "theosophical" teaching is the belief in reincarnation, and here again the close connection with Indian thought is ob servable. The succession of earthly lives through which the spirit advances to its goal is interpreted in strict accordance with the Brahmanic and Buddhistic doctrine of Karma. First introduced in the Upanishads as the great secret which solves the problem of human destiny, Karma is in a sense the logical origin of all Indian thought. It expresses the inexorable law of moral causation— whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap—and this law is represented as fulfilling itself in the life-history of each individual agent. The consequences of a man's actions in his present life are reaped by the agent on earth in a fresh incarnation. Hence the saying, "A man is born into the world he has made." The theory of Karma is thus primarily an explanation of a man's lot in the present life as deteritined by his own actions in a series of pre vious lives. If it is true that whatsoever a man soweth that shall he also reap, it must be equally true that whatsoever a man reaps that he must also have sown. The doctrine is thus in its essence a vindication of cosmic justice in face of the perplexities caused by the apparent disregard of moral considerations in the distribution of happiness and misery in the present life, and it is in this sense that it is accepted and applied by theosophists. (A. S. P.-P.)