CHALLENGES OF
TRANSFORMATION IN THE
NEW CYCLE
By Ken Small

TRUTH is the Voice of Nature and of Time -- TRUTH is the startling monitor WITHIN US -- Naught is without it, it comes from the stars, The golden sun, and every breeze that blows . . .
-- W. Thompson Bacon, as quoted by H.P. Blavatsky in "What is Truth."

In 1912, Robert Crosbie founded THEOSOPHY. Over the past five years, this quarterly publication of Theosophy Company has transformed remarkably. With its current issue (volume 93, number 1), it fully mirrors the qualities our foundation journals embodied and mirrors the paradigms they reflected. Its subheading "The Synthesis of Science, Religion, and Philosophy" reflects this inner change, encompassing a simultaneously broader and deeper scope and perhaps heralding revitalized new cycle. I will elaborate with some thoughts on these points in what follows.

With a creative circle of contributing editors and writers under the guidance and steadfast perseverance of its editor, Phyllis Ryan, the magazine has entered a new cycle of Theosophic vitality. The special issue on INTELLIGENT DESIGN embodies this principle with elegant design combined with content that bridges the timeless principles of Theosophy and the present cycle.
The images and photos add a compassionate human touch, truly countering and beginning a healing of what many critics of the United Lodge of Theosophy [ULT] describe as a tendency to "cold intellectualism" and "bibliolatry." At times in the past, this narrow, fundamentalist worship of the letter has pervaded the ULT. This has sidetracked it from its original mission as stated by Robert Crosbie, which we read in the ULT Declaration of Principles. These fragile beginnings that we now see in THEOSOPHY need great care with support and perseverance to take root and grow. With these changes, we hopefully see old, narrow molds of the past broken and the initiation of a renaissance of Theosophy into the future.

In these brief comments, it is not possible to go into depth regarding the following questions. However, it is necessary to raise some basic, simple points that may lead to a deeper enquiry if taken the right way.

What is the nature of a truly theosophical journal? How does the journal relate to the current era? What is its spiritual and transformational purpose? Who is its audience? Ah, of course, you say the Theosophists. Yes, and Blavatsky brings this "who" -- the principles of what guide the genuine Theosophist -- to life.

"All original thinkers and investigators of the hidden side of nature whether materialists -- those who find in matter "the promise and potency of all terrestrial life," or spiritualists -- that is, those who discover in spirit the source of all energy and of matter as well, were and are, properly, Theosophists . . .

Be what he may, once that a student abandons the old and trodden highway of routine, and enters upon the solitary path of independent thought -- Godward -- he is a Theosophist; an original thinker, a seeker after the eternal truth with "an inspiration of his own" to solve the universal problems.
-- H.P. Blavatsky, "What Are the Theosophists"

Referring to her own journal, she states:

For LUCIFER tries to satisfy its readers of whatever "school of thought," and shows itself equally impartial to Theist and Atheist, Mystic and Agnostic, Christian and Gentile.
-- H.P. Blavatsky, "What Is Truth"

She is not describing the ability to repeat and adhere to a formal doctrine, text, or creed nor the signing of a particular membership card. She is very clear about "an original thinker, a seeker after the eternal truth with 'an inspiration of his own.'" Her tall order and challenge is to "solve the universal problems."

It is gratifying to read this new incarnation of THEOSOPHY. In its special issue on INTELLIGENT DESIGN, the balance of spirit, thought, and form engages and reaches the genuine THEOSOPHIST that Blavatsky described.

Go back in time for a moment. To place the present into perspective, taste the roots of our theosophical past. Go back to the journals of the initial cycle of Theosophy in the late 1870's to late 1890's. They include Blavatsky's LUCIFER, Blavatsky and Olcott's THE THEOSOPHIST, and Judge's THE PATH. (Also, consider Blavatsky's articles "Who are the Theosophists," "What is Theosophy," and "What is Truth?") In this material, we find the foundational paradigms on which to study and reflect.

It is a wonder that some still feel a holier than thou compulsion to criticize these seemingly new endeavors. They say the work is out of line with the Masters intent and the principles of the founders. How can they do so, when they rarely read the original journals? We must see what the founders really considered the breadth and depth of Theosophy before we can bring it to life in our time and cycle. In every case, the initial journals were not only for members of the Theosophical Society, but also brought the ideas, principles, and practices of ancient times and worldwide cultures within the unified view of Theosophy. Speaking to the genuine theosophical audience that HPB described, these three original journals embodied a vibrant living philosophy. They were fresh and new. They included such topics as Sanskrit texts and Indian herbal medicine (THE THEOSOPHIST), an editorial challenge to the Archbishop of Canterbury, Gnostic texts, insights into the nature of mind and the universe, and occult fiction (LUCIFER), and Indian philosophy, theosophic ethics, and short stories (THE PATH).

Without the weight of organizational history, this creative force carried the early years of the Theosophical Movement with radical success. During the past century, the tendency has sometimes arisen in theosophical groups blindly to imitate the past or to diverge into fantasy, resulting in crystallization and cultish self-delusion. The current issue of THEOSOPHY is remarkable, showing vitality in the new cycle, cutting through these extremes with its new form and new life!