Boris de Zirkoff – USA
Original cover of Theosophia, cover photo: California Desert Scene: Cholla Cactus in foreground, and Barrel Cactus in the center; to the left, Mojave Yucca in full bloom*
The Theosophical Movement is a movement of Youth. This is a concept that has nothing to do with the age of the body. Youth is a condition of mind, a resiliency of thought, a dynamism of the vital streams, a readiness for spiritual adventure, a search for greater realities, an undying hope and trust in the unshakeable foundations of Truth. Those who can feel and embody these ideas and feelings are young at ninety! ...
We are in need today of new Pioneers in the fields of our Movement. Men and women, young and old, who are inspired by the vastness of spiritual horizons, whose hearts leap forward into the reaches of the unknown, and whose minds, instead of dwelling on the past and asking "why," scan the possibilities of the future and ask "why not"!
The Theosophical Society was founded to stem the tide of materialism, of spiritualistic phenomenalism and of unregulated psychism. It was intended to direct the minds of serious men and women away from psychic cravings and into the fields of spiritual ethics. Today, we have in the world a violent contest between out-of-hand psychism and a noble philosophy-science- religion, based on deep occult research, and the foundation principles brought by H.P.B. from her own Teachers. We must become aware of this great conflict in the world of thought, and support, with all we have, the spread of the age-old traditions of the Esoteric Philosophy.
Many of our ideas and ideals are today only noble dreams, but we work towards the actual realization of some of them, and when we look back upon H. P. Blavatsky's days, we notice that some of her noble truths have begun to be manifested in mankind, in spite of the many terrible things which are taking place. Mankind, through struggle and violence, is beginning to understand that it is ONE, and that universal Oneness and collaboration is the only way out into a new age. It is also beginning to realize that, perhaps, we are not the only mankind in the universe, and this is a very important idea to dwell upon.
The test of theosophical interest lies in the ability of the student to set aside the entanglements of his personal life to the advantage of an impersonal dedication to a Universal Ideal; to renounce the futility of personal interests in favor of a selfless work for a world-wide objective; and to submerge his own personal self in the sense of universal freedom, which comes upon all those who can rise above the turmoil of worldly affairs, into the limitless spaces of universal concern.
Let us rise to the higher spiritual stratospheres of our being, free of old contentions and disharmonies, united and strong. Let us tread the ancient Path which leads to the spiritual Himalayas of our inmost nature - the ascending Path - which winds up the slopes of Mount Meru (1), towards the flaming dawn where the Sun of a greater age will rise with healing in its wings ... East of Tomorrow!
[Excerpts from a talk delivered at the Annual Theosophical Convention at Adyar, December 26, 1977.]
Footnote:
(1) Mount Merru is a is a 4,562-meter (14,967 ft) dormant stratovolcano in Arusha National Park, Tanzania, known as Africa's 8th highest peak.
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*Theosophy Forward is indebted to Anton Rozman for making this publication possible.