H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Movement

Chapter 1 – Introductory

I produce myself among creatures . . . whenever there is
a decline of virtue and an insurrection of vice and injustice in
the world; and thus I incarnate from age to age for the preservation
of the just, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment
of righteousness.— Krishna in the Bhagavad-Gitâ

The Theosophical Society was organized 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Henry Steel Olcott, William Quan Judge, and others, under the authority of certain Mahâtmans or Masters of Wisdom, Compassion, and Peace, belonging to the highest Lodge of Adepts, as an agent or instrument through which the influence of the Theosophical Movement could reach humanity. The primary object of the Movement is to bring about a Universal Brotherhood based upon the essential divinity of man.

The Movement is greater than any Society, for it includes and employs many organizations and agents, but if they become fossilized in dogma or betray their
original purpose, the spirit of Theosophy can no longer use them. As William Q. Judge says, the Theosophical Movement is moral, ethical, spiritual, universal, invisible save in effect, and continuous; while a society formed for Theosophical work is a visible organization, a machine for conserving energy and putting it to use, though its unique and comprehensive scope is
not easy to express.

Theosophy is not a man-made belief. It may be defined as a formulation of the nature and operation of the Universe, including, of course, the nature of man, his origin and destiny. It is incomparably more comprehensive than what is generally known in the West as Eastern Yoga, and it includes the problems of practical, every-day life in its scope. To quote the opening words of The Ocean of Theosophy, by W. Q. Judge:

Theosophy is that ocean of knowledge which spreads from shore to shore of the evolution of sentient beings; unfathomable in its deepest parts, it gives the greatest minds their fullest scope, yet, shallow enough at its shores, it will not overwhelm the understanding of a child. … Embracing both the scientific and the religious, Theosophy is a scientific religion and a religious science.

Theosophical literature contains, therefore, only a very partial presentation of a cosmic scheme which is far beyond ordinary human comprehension.