THE letter from which the following pages are translated — and
which was never meant for publication — was recently
addressed to one of the Editors by Madame Camille Lemaître,
the friend of our late and regretted brother Louis Dramard,
and a most worthy member of the T. S. in France. The tone
and spirit of the writer's remarks are so eminently noble,
theosophical, and altruistic, and the suggestions made so
desirable, that permission has been obtained from the lady
for their translation and publication. It is hoped that the
seed thus sown will bear fruit in the minds of our readers. — H.
P. B.
As regards the theosophical movement in France, about which
you ask my opinion, Dramard and myself shared precisely the
same ideas. In our view the T. S. is too fine and delicate
a plant to live and thrive in the surroundings among which
it was first planted. Flourishing in all its glory and bearing
fruit in its strength upon the highest tablelands of the
earth, its birth-place, it neither can nor ever could take
root in the strong soil of plains fattened and watered with
the sweat of the poor, or on those sterile tufa rocks called
respectively the bourgeoisie, or middle-class, and an aristocracy
more or less learned or ignorant, lazy or active; just as
it could only fade and wither in the hot-house drawing-rooms
and boudoirs, where women of the world, gay, foolish, capricious,
see in it only an exotic novelty of a special kind.
This plant of life needs pure air, blazing sunshine and fresh
dews. It is only in the heart of a man purified by suffering,
by the daily battle for life; it is in the heart of him who
has begun to pay his debt to Karma by the unheard-of sufferings
which our civilization of steel and iron, with its sham airs
of equality and philanthropy, imposes on the disinherited
of life; it is in the heart of him who, in spite of the difficulties
of all kinds amidst which he struggles, thinks more of others
than of himself, forgetting self in the thought of those
who suffer more than he does — it is in such hearts,
I say, that the divine plant can find the elements needed
for its first development.
That plant can indeed never take root among us, nor doubtless
elsewhere, unless it finds congenial soil where men desire
to know and to learn from pure love of the truth and not
of the honour, the glory, the riches which its truths can
bring them. And however astonishing it may seem to many at
first sight, that soil exists in the people and in the [Page 4] French
people — I
answer for it! I do not speak thus in a narrow national spirit; by temperament I have no
country, no family, and I strive daily to have no "self." Father,
mother, husband, all disappear before the great questions
of general welfare. An integral part of the great whole,
my centre, like its centre, is everywhere in the thought
of my future harmonious unity. For the moment, I must act
in one small special corner of the earth, whither in the
course of my evolution my previous affinities have brought
me. I speak of this little corner, simply because I know
it best.
"The French nation is frivolous", say of it the
other nations. Well, yes, it is frivolous! It forgets from
one day to the next its injuries and insults. Under the influence
of one kind word it puts itself back entirely into the hands
of its most terrible enemy, and allows itself to be deceived
like a baby. Yes, it is frivolous, for to obtain for its
dear ones, for its neighbours, for all, the smallest liberty
of action and thought, it goes to
meet death — singing.
The proof of what I thus assert
is to be found in its love for the
revolution bourgeoise of 1789. For what has that revolution
done for the proletariat, for the penniless, for the daily
labourer who possesses nothing whatsoever on the face of
this our planet ? Nothing, but to increase, by a violent
transformation of social conditions, the intensity of his
sufferings, of his physical and moral anxieties. The middle
class ousted the aristocracy and took its place in the possession
of honours, of fortune, in the guidance of the classes it
exploits, with no other thought of the poor than, to batten
on their misery.
And yet the French masses actually worship "their revolution", and
those who have defended its spirit. The poor owe nothing,
absolutely nothing, to one or to the others on the plane
of material gratification, for they are still more inexorably
shorn and put to ransom than before; but they revere the
one and the others because they know that they have given
freedom to the spirit; and to a certain extent, liberty to
thought. The revolution certainly did more in this direction
than Luther's Reformation, which with us left the people
mostly indifferent, as the Catholic Church, which is seldom
mistaken in judging an enemy, well knows; and it considers
the French Revolution as one of the hardest blows which have
struck it since its establishment. It is right, for it is
thanks to the breach opened in its ramparts by the light
artillery of '89, that the T. S. can to-day penetrate to
the very heart of the stronghold, and the Church feels that
it is by the hand of that doctrine that it will irrevocably
perish.
A people which thus raises itself unconsciously from off
the material [Page 5] plane,
which it considers as nothing, to attach itself to the spirit,
is it not ploughed and ready to receive the divine seed?
Moreover, to accomplish
anything lasting in Theosophy, one must leave the dead and
dying, and those who slumber in the comfort of the flesh,
gorged with material and intellectual riches, and who neither
see, nor hear, nor understand, nor desire, nor do anything.
We must address those who live, who think, who suffer, who
aspire, who desire, who hunger physically, intellectually,
morally, and even spiritually. We must go to the true (the
poor) people.
But how is the true to be distinguished from the false, the
good man from him who hides under a simple exterior the same
gross needs, the same selfish desires, the same longings,
the same brutality and cruelty as the satisfied, the possessors,
those in power, and who, if tomorrow they held the place
of these, would be the same oppressors of the feeble, as
those they seek to overthrow today?
In this difficulty we have only to imitate Nature; to
cast myriads of seeds on the wind to obtain one plant.
According to the ancient parable of esoteric wisdom, re-edited
like so many other things by our relatively modern evangelists: " one-third
will be trodden under foot, one-third will be eaten by the
birds, and the third part will sprout and bear fruit a hundredfold". [ This
is just the policy of the T. S. from its beginning. Its visible
leaders are unable to always distinguish the good from the
bad, to see still dormant evil in the hearts of those who
apply to join our Society, and the real Founders — those
behind the screen — will denounce or accuse no living
man. All are given a chance. Gladly would our Society abolish
even the small entrance fee, had it any funds, however small,
to carry on the work which increases daily, and many branches
have already done so. For several years no initiation fees
were paid; but our scanty and even joint means were found
insufficient to maintain the Headquarters, pay the stationery,
and the ever-increasing postage, and feed and lodge all those
who volunteered to work gratis for theosophy. Thus the fees
were re-established. Other Societies beg for, and are given,
large sums of money, but the T. S. never does. Nevertheless,
the taunt that the Founders sell Theosophy, creating Theosophists
for £1, or twenty shillings, a head, is being repeatedly
thrust into our faces! And yet the poor are never made to
pay anything at all. And if those who have the means will
refuse to help to do good to the disinherited and the suffering,
what are those who have given all they had, and have nothing
now to give but their services, to do ? — H. P. B.]
The Protestants imitated this example; they have cast the
seed of their foolish ideas to the four corners of the earth,
and have made the weeds of their folly and ineptness to spring
up everywhere. You will say that the soil for such a harvest
is not scarce. True; but it is also true that, in their hunger,
many souls have thrown themselves upon this poor and insipid
food, hoping it would give them strength, moral health, and
spiritual life.
If to such are given true bread and a fish,
instead of a serpent, to use the language of their New Testament,
they will surely know how to [Page 6] distinguish
between them. If a real doctor, an expert in the heating
art,
is brought to them instead of a charlatan who adds to their
sufferings, they will know how to leave one for the other.
Beauty is always beauty, justice always justice, truth will
be ever truth. Every soul to which is shown the pure gold
of truth will of itself turn away from the base imitation,
from the false in religion: and the hollowness of many of
our scientific data will be perceived by one who, in the
eyes of the world, is the simplest and most ignorant of men.
Thus, in order to naturalise in France, and even anywhere,
in Europe as in America, the divine plant of Theosophy, we
should sow broadcast the seed of the Eastern esoteric teachings.
But how shall we sow the seed ? How shall we bring within
reach of the many, who have neither the means nor the leisure,
these precious teachings ? How ? How ? It is of the solution
of this question only that I have been thinking, since I
have had the happiness to find food to renew my life by their
reception and assimilation.
The following was Dramard's idea: Form a closed nucleus of
attraction, however small, of tried Theosophists, and accept
anyone who, whether from idleness, from curiosity, or any
other vain feeling, comes to ask anything. That which is
of importance in this open group is to bring together the
largest possible number of adherents, in view of their clubbing
together as means for propagandising in the way we desire.
[ We are glad, however, to hear on the testimony
of our correspondent, and old and trusted friend of M. Louis
Dramard, the late President of our T. S. in Paris, that such
were his ideas, as we had been assured of the contrary. We
may have something to say of this at some future time.—H.
P. B. ]
This propaganda should not have for its objects to make Theosophists
à la lettre, as, for instance, the Catholics seek to make
Catholics, or people ready to declare themselves as such,
but to spread effectively the Theosophical teachings, and
to make their meaning reach those hearts which are ready
to welcome it, and which it cannot reach from want of an
inlet.
Dig canals through which a large part of what has for years
past been filtering into the world from a sacred fountain
can reach the fertile soil which is ready for it, a soil
which is only waiting or such an irrigation to produce abundant
harvests.
We must thus select among all that has been written since
the foundation of the T.S., and without commentary or explanation
of the why and wherefore, sow pamphlets broadcast, like the
Biblical fanatics who thrust everywhere their little tracts,
in which they beseech us to save our souls from Hell, to
come to Jesus, to believe in Jesus, to fear a personal [Page
7] devil cunning and wise, and a god no less personal,
but more foolish and more ignorant than his devil.
And to think that for centuries past it is with such "rubbish" that
men feed souls, and seek to edify human beings! Can one wonder
at the moral and physical weakness of poor humanity?
Blessings be upon the beings who have worked for their own
divinity, and praise be to those through whom they have sent
to us their work; it is not the materials for edification
that are wanting, but the means of turning them to account.
At one with Dramard, my husband and I would have considered
ourselves the greatest wretches and egoists on earth had
we remained quietly contemplating the splendid treasure we
held in our hands, without thinking of spreading it abroad
and sharing it with others.
How then! Such a fortune in the hands of some thousands of
Theosophists, and of these three-fourths are indifferent
to the blessing granted to them, or think only how to profit
by themselves. What! Of these only a few have air, light
and food, while the masses beside them agonize in the shadow,
and die of starvation on the spiritual plane! The matter
is a grave one and must have, for all of us, the most terrible
consequences!
With our present social organizations, a man — ten
men, die of hunger. That is a trifle, for which the law of
retribution will exact payment from the organizers and leaders
of men and society; but that does not prevent the globe rolling
on. But what is of real serious importance and a hindrance
to the march of evolution is that, through the faults of
men calling themselves friends of humanity, souls should
wither, from want, and die of inanition.
Is it surprising that our world should advance so slowly
? What numbers of motive powers are unused, what numbers
of beneficent forces are left inactive from want of a fulcrum,
from want of one true datum which could serve as the starting-point
for a whole series of actions, which would strengthen the
great movement of regeneration.
I repeatedly begged the "Isis Branch" to work
in this direction to, print, for instance, the Abbé Roca's
articles and your luminous and crushing replies. Nothing
is better calculated to strike the mind of the French people,
and to assist it to find its orientation, than the work you
have there done.[ Reference here is made to the late Isis, the Branch of the T. S. in Paris, and a controversy
in the Lotus between the Abbé Roca and one of the Editors
of LUCIFER. — H.P.B.]
The same remark applies to the letter published in LUCIFER
to the [Page 8] Primate
of England; I should like to see it translated into all languages and distributed
in millions in all Catholic and Protestant countries. The
same, again, for Theosophy or Jesuitism, which I translated
for the Lotus. How much good might already have been done.
So little has "Isis" concerned
itself with propaganda, that twice have the subscriptions
sent by my husband and myself been returned to us (after
Dramard's death ?). Thus, though the " Isis " cannot
be accused of having done nothing and kept the money, yet
the last thing its staff cared to do, was to spread Theosophy
broadcast.
What numbers of things might be used for the masses! And
always on our system of spreading on all sides the glad tidings,
how much might be taken from Esoteric Buddhism, Magic:
White and Black, etc., but the most fruitful source of all to draw
from will be the Secret Doctrine; yet for its spread, when
translated, it is to be regretted that Esoteric Buddhism
has not been published. For France, its translation would
have aided the spread of the Theosophical movements far more
than that of the Occult World. Such was Dramard's opinion.
Esoteric
Buddhism, its completeness notwithstanding, gives
a far better general idea of the Doctrine. All are of the
same opinion. It is absolutely necessary for our country
to prepare the way for the Secret Doctrine, which throws
light on just those points which are left in the shadow by
Esoteric Buddhism, and amplifies its explanations by the
way in which it states the truth.
But to return to our idea of propaganda, which I want to
explain to you thoroughly. For I feel disgusted when I see
that the "Salvation Army" manages, penny by penny,
to draw millions into its coffers, millions which it uses
to distribute bad tea, rancid cakes, and poisonous doctrines,
while sincere Theosophists cannot manage to quit their own
narrow circle and spread far and wide the flood of saving
truths, which they have received for some time past.
To accomplish anything, we must understand each other (and
should that be so impossible among co-thinkers who preach
only, UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD ?), and each should give financially,
intellectually, morally, and spiritually, according to his
means. An annual subscription is a good thing, apart from
the donations which those who are favoured by fortune can
give; always on condition, however, that for their few pounds
the latter do not imagine that they have the right to hamper
everything by their narrow views, their timid spirit, and
their pusillanimous character.
The poor man's farthing even is not to be disdained; on the
contrary, a great step will be made when "the widow" will
have understood that [Page 9] she can do no more useful
work for Humanity than to give her mite towards relieving
the great burden of ignorance under which that poor humanity
is dying, whether clad in silken vesture or in rags, marching
under the banners of Religion, of Science, Politics, or Society
.
I say all this to you, and you know it better than anyone
since you are the mouth-piece of the Teachers who keep on
repeating it in their letters and writings. And I only speak
to you thus at length of this mode of organization, which
belongs to the entirely practical domain, because such an
organization tends to beget consequences on the "spiritual
plane".
One word more on this subject. François de Sallès,
terrified at the progress of the Reformation, was seeking
every means to combat it. In his letters to the ecclesiastics
and bishops among his friends, he used to say: "Let
us write Catholic novels", and they wrote Catholic novels,
and these novels were in everybody's hands. They never ceased
appearing except during the First Republic. And after that
had been crushed by Napoleon I, a revival of this kind of
literature occurred, which became a regular avalanche after
Napoleon III, had crushed, in his turn, the Second Republic.
These books are everywhere today; in the libraries for
children and women, they form the basis of the communal libraries,
and are still given as prizes in the Lycées and other
schools. Thus in spite of Voltaire and the freethinkers,
or those who think themselves so, " François" always
wins the battle and Catholicism still possesses, as in the
past, the heart of the woman; through her it holds the child,
and is master of the man, however emancipated he may fancy
himself.
It is true that those who destroyed had nothing to put in
its place; and the soul's aspirations are no empty word. "Give
us our daily bread" is a prayer uttered with a constancy
worthy of a better fate by these poor starving ones. "Give
us our daily bread" cry in the desert of life those
who know not that this bread cannot be given, but must be
earned, and that it is in ourselves. "Give us our daily
bread" is repeated on every note by poor humanity;
some addressing themselves to the ministers of
their religion, others to the leading lights of science;
these to the philosophers, those to the politicians; these
to the sociologists, who are no better off, those to any
charlatan who claims to know.
And the wisdom of wisdoms, Theosophy, of whose existence
all these needy ones are ignorant, answers to all desires
and can fulfil all aspirations. It alone can restore strength,
health, physical and moral peace to all these troubled, excited
beings, exhausted by centuries of political, economic and
religious despotisms. It alone can show to each man that
he himself is the way, and that in himself alone are the
truth and the life. [Page 10]
Let us then write Theosophical novels for the masses; i.e.,
novels in which, leaving aside the transcendental part of
Occultism, we seek only to express and to render intelligible
by the action of the heroes, the lofty meaning of its saving
morality, thus inculcating in men's hearts its all-embracing
principles.
Let us write Theosophical novels, and if we know how, as
Moleschott says, always to respect the law of cause and effect
in the actions, the words, even the thoughts of the people
we introduce, those novels will be interesting, as well as
instructive. They will be read with pleasure by the men,
whom they will please by their independent and manly tone;
they will charm and move the women by the sentiments they
express and by their healthy psychism; they will appeal
to the children — by their simplicity, their straightforwardness,
their truth.
What cannot be done in this direction with the help of the
light which the esoteric doctrine throws upon man, the worlds,
life, evolution in general ? In the great humanitarian work,
each has his lot. The task given to me, to my Highest Self,
is to work thus — however difficult it may be. I throw
my whole heart into it, knowing that all that a man wills
that can he do.
A little will is my only possession; with this little I work
ceaselessly to learn that I may be able to do. Able to do
what ? Able to start as many Egos as possible upon the path
of the final spiritual growth. By this reckoning, all healthy
books, which quicken the good feelings in man, or which assist
their development, are books written to this end, whether
intentionally or not. Tolstoi's Socialistic novels, for instance,
are thus Theosophical novels; the presence or absence of
the word itself making no difference.
I see in the October number of LUCIFER, that some
members of the T. S. are possessed with the desire to form "Lodges
of Magic." Poor things! What are they thinking of ?
they are but wasting their time. If they are tormented by
the desire to progress on the spiritual plane, let them first
work at rendering healthy the physical and moral atmosphere
in which they live, so as to develop some spiritual faculties.
To that end, let them enlighten the whole, let them employ
their strength, their intelligence, their need of activity, their money, in pushing a propaganda such
as I propose. They ought to have the means, these people whom
the devil tempts by suggesting to them thus to throw themselves
haphazard, without training, without preparation, into a
path so dangerous, so little trodden; and surely the daily
struggle for a livelihood must be unknown to them. If they
have leisure, let them help to teach those who have none.
It will be the first step on the road of Initiation. [Page
11]
Adeptship, i.e., knowledge, and the power it gives,
is what turns the heads of weak mortals and keeps them back
from the goal for long; since, in their haste, full of covetousness
and egoism, they completely lose their way.
For this reason,
in such novels as I suggest, it is not the Adept in his power
and glory whom I would see represented, but the Adept unconscious
even of being so, in course of preparation, the Adept, who
will be, in his toilsome, difficult, impossible, unceasing
struggle against himself, against all the evil and opposing
wills, against all the elements — in one word, against
all the previous causes whose effects he has to destroy by
labours of which those of Hercules are only a pale symbol,
it is this Adept whom I would have shown in every phase of
his arduous ascent, so as to fire men’s souls and raise
their courage.
What is true, is touching, and the Initiate, the Adept, is
no myth. The Mahatma is. Edgard Quinet, in his splendid book, "Creation", wherein
he thinks and has the intuition of so many truths about evolution,
states the fact as a self-evident truth, when he says: — "A
soul which holds straight on to the highest point of human
nature is upon the plane of universal nature; it finds the
truths upon which the world rests. Before experience has
torn them from him, Nature confides her secrets to the
great and good man."
Let the Theosophists who want to found a lodge of Magic meditate
upon these words; let them make themselves able to find the
truths upon which the world is based, and there will he no
further danger for them in gratifying their desire.
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