Theosophical Society,
H P Blavatsky
"Helena Petrovna Blavatsky"
by The
An Editorial published in the New-York Daily
Tribune
Sunday, May 10, 1891, two days after H. P.
Blavatsky's death.
Few
women in our time have been more persistently misrepresented, slandered and
defamed than Madame Blavatsky, but though malice and ignorance did their worst
upon her there are abundant indications that her life-work will vindicate
itself;
that it will endure; and that it will operate for good. She was the
founder
of the Theosophical Society, an organization now fully and firmly
established,
which has branches in many countries, East and West, and which is
devoted
to studies and practices the innocence and the elevating character of
which
are becoming more generally recognized continually. The life of Madame
Blavatsky
was a remarkable one, but this is not the place or time to speak of
its
vicissitudes. It must suffice to say that for nearly twenty years she had
devoted
herself to the dissemination of doctrines the fundamental principles of
which
are of the loftiest ethical character. However Utopian may appear to some
minds
an attempt in the nineteenth century to break down the barriers of race,
nationality,
caste and class prejudice, and to inculcate that spirit of
brotherly
love which the greatest of all Teachers enjoined in the first century,
the
nobility of the aim can only be impeached by those who repudiate
Christianity.
Madame Blavatsky held that the regeneration of mankind must be
based
upon the development of altruism. In this she was at one with the greatest
thinkers,
not alone of the present day, but of all time; and at one, it is
becoming
more and more apparent, with the strongest spiritual tendencies of the
age.
This alone would entitle her teachings to the candid and serious
consideration
of all who respect the influences that make for righteousness.
In
another direction, though in close association with the cult of universal
fraternity,
she did important work. No one in the present generation, it may be
said,
has done more toward reopening the long-sealed treasures of Eastern
thought,
wisdom, and philosophy. No one certainly has done so much toward
elucidating
that profound wisdom-religion wrought out by the ever-cogitating
Orient,
and bringing into the light those ancient literary works whose scope and
depth
have so astonished the Western world, brought up in the insular belief
that
the East had produced only crudities and puerilities in the domain of
speculative
thought. Her own knowledge of Oriental philosophy and esotericism
was
comprehensive. No candid mind can doubt this after reading her two principal
works. Her steps often led, indeed, where only a few initiates could follow,
but the tone and tendency of all her writings were healthful, bracing and
stimulating.
The lesson which was constantly impressed by her was assuredly that which the
world most needs, and has always needed, namely, the necessity of subduing self
and of working for others. Doubtless such a doctrine is
distasteful
to the ego-worshippers, and perhaps it has little chance of anything
like
general acceptance, to say nothing of general application. But the man or
woman
who deliberately renounces all personal aims and ambitions in order to
forward
such beliefs is certainly entitled to respect, even from such as feel
least
capable of obeying the call to a higher life.
The
work of Madame Blavatsky has already borne fruit, and is destined,
apparently,
to produce still more marked and salutary effects in the future.
Careful
observers of the time long since discerned that the tone of current
thought
in many directions was being affected by it. A broader humanity, a more
liberal
speculation, a disposition to investigate ancient philosophies from a
higher
point of view, have no indirect association with the teachings referred
to.
Thus Madame Blavatsky has made her mark upon the time, and thus, too, her works
will follow her. She herself has finished the course, and after a
strenuous
life she rests. But her personal influence is not necessary to the
continuance
of the great work to which she put her hand. That will go on with
the
impulse it has received, and some day, if not at once, the loftiness and
purity
of her aims, the wisdom and scope of her teachings, will be recognized
more
fully, and her memory will be accorded the honor to which it is justly
entitled.
Theosophical Society,