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animal food is undoubtedly must larger. A few ladies testified to having
forsworn the wearing of furs on humanitarian grounds. Alcohol and tobacco were
taboo along with flesh foods in the case of several.
Whereas almost all the respondents spontaneously emphasized the intellectual
aspects of Theosophy, comparatively few were explicit on the element which is
supposed to be central in their faith, viz., the practice of universal
brotherhood. Only about twenty per cent emphasized such interests (brotherhood,
social service, etc.) as in Theosophic terminology would belong to the practice
of Karma Yoga; and of these an unusually large percentage were women. They came
mostly from Evangelical churches or no-church; few were Episcopalians. This
group, emphasizing Karma Yoga, proved to be fairly distinct from the group which
emphasized meditation, though both groups were recruited largely from former
Evangelical Protestants. The practice of meditation seemed to have little
measurable effect one way or the other on the amount of time and energy devoted
to work for the Theosophical Society. About fifty per cent said they gave a
definite amount of time to specific Theosophic activities, and of these about
thirteen per cent gave at least one-half of their time to the cause. Many gave
from a half-hour to three, four, five hours per day; some "three evenings a
week, with home study"; others "one-fourth to one-half of all time." Many
devoted "all spare time" to it. But a significant element that crept into quite
a large percentage of the answers was the statement that the pursuit of
Theosophy "permeates all my activity"; "enters into my whole life as an
undercurrent"; "colors all my behavior, modifies my attitude toward all I do";
is "a subconscious influence directing my entire life"; is "the background of my
life, polarizing all I do to the one central principle of brotherhood"; forms
"the pervasive spirit of all I do;" is "the motivating agent in all my efforts
to work and to serve"; and the like expressions. In other words there is the
persuasion with these people that one is a Theosophist all the time, whatever be
one's momentary mode of activity. "The specific time I give to it is impossible
to estimate," says one; and "it absorbs my thought and is the determining motive
in every act of my life," avers another. The percentage so declaring themselves
ran as high as seventy-four.
The query desiring to ascertain which leaders and which Theosophic organizations
commanded higher allegiance brought answers which were a foregone conclusion
from the fact that all the respondents were attached to the "Besant"
organization. The favored leaders were naturally Mr. C. Jinarajadasa, Mr. A. P.
Sinnett, Mr. G. S. Arundale, Mr. L. W. Rogers, Mr. Max Wardall, Bishop Irving
Cooper, and others. Although the name of the Society's great Founder, Madame
Blavatsky, was brought in apparantly in most cases incidentally or as an after-
thought, she or her writings were mentioned by one out of every three. Only two
failed to name Mrs. Besant or Mr. Leadbeater at all. As to favored writings,
those of Mrs. Besant and her colleague again led the list, with J.
Krishnamurti's books a good third. As to choice of organization the
International Theosophical Society, of which Mrs. Besant is the presiding
genius, found a unanimous approval in this selected group. Only two declared
they were impartial or indifferent to all organization.
As a secondary interest (all Theosophists are urged to devote some energy to at
least one outside humanitarian movement) many expressed allegiance to the Order
of the Star in the East, Mrs. Besant's vehicle to prepare the way for the
reception of the announced Avatar (since renounced by Krishnamurti himself and
disbanded by him), the Order of Service, the League of Brotherhood, the Karma
and Reincarnation Legion, the Liberal Catholic Church, the Co-Masonic Order,
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Anti-Vivisection Societies, the League for Prison Work, the Order of the Round
Table (for children), and other subsidiary forms of extra-Theosophic activity.
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FOOTNOTES
CHAPTER I THEOSOPHY
1
The same idea is voiced by William James (Pragmatism, p. 299): "I thoroughly
disbelieve, myself, that our human experience is the highest form of experience
extant in the universe. I believe rather that we stand in much the same relation
to the whole of the universe as our canine and feline pets do to the whole of
human life. They inhabit our drawing rooms and libraries. They take part in
scenes of whose significance they have no inkling. They are merely tangent to
curves of history, the beginnings and ends and forms of which pass wholly beyond
their ken. So we are tangent to the wider life of things."
2 See in particular such works as From Religion to Philosophy, by F. M. Cornford [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]