[The following address was delivered by Mrs. Tingley in the Town Hall, Bombay, October 29th, 1896, and was afterwards printed, by request, as a pamphlet. The Chairman introduced Mrs. Katherine A. Tingley as the Leader of the Theosophical Movement throughout the World, and as one who since her early childhood had devoted herself to the cause of humanity.]
The first question that must naturally arise in the minds of those who are present at such a meeting as this is, "What can be the object of this visit to India of a body of American Theosophists who are making a tour around the world, and what can they expect to accomplish in so short a time?"
It should be understood at the beginning that I have not come to India to seek the favor or recognition of any person or body of people, nor in the hope of affiliating with any public organization. My duty is to say what I have to say to the best of my ability, and my hearers may accept or reject the message as they please.
Though I occupy this independent position, as do the other members of my party, I am most anxious to work in harmony with all people who earnestly desire to serve humanity. Our object is to do our utmost for every soul who needs our help, for in the world of souls there are no distinctions of creed or sex. Every true Theosophist holds that the distinctions which appear in material life are of little importance as compared to the realities of the soul.
The best way of extending such help is to show people of all religions and beliefs the underlying meaning of their ancient teachings. It is not my desire to convert any one to some established creed or dogmatic system, but to help the Hindu to grasp the deeper, more spiritual and more scientific side of his own scriptures, and to do the same for the Mohammedan, the Parsi, the Christian, the Jain, and the Buddhist. For in each of their religions there are the same great teachings hidden, deeply locked in by the encrusting hand of time, as well as by the deliberate intention of the great teachers who first brought them to the world. The same key will open each of them to the gaze of the student who has first found the universal key within himself and has learned the way to use his knowledge rightly.
Should any one assume that he knows all that there is to be known, or that he has already solved the mysteries of the religious books of the world, it would be useless to attempt to add to his knowledge — or his ignorance. There are some who, while professedly desiring enlightenment, are actually blinded by their spiritual pride which holds them to the false idea that their religion is the oldest of all, and that the occult truths it contains are the greatest that the world has ever known.
It should be known that India was not the source of the world's religions, though there may be some teachers in India who flatter you with that view in order to gather you into some special fold. The occult learning that India once shared in common with other ancient peoples did not originate here, and does not exist to any extent in India proper to-day.
That sacred body that gave the world its mystic teachings and that still preserves it for those who yearly become ready to receive it, has never had its head-quarters in India, but moved thousands of years ago from what is now a part of the American continent to a spot in Asia, then to Egypt, then elsewhere, sending teachers to India to enlighten its inhabitants. Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Zoroaster, Mohammed, Quetzalcoatle, and many others who could be named were members of this great Brotherhood and received their knowledge through interior initiation into its mysteries. I hold that if any of these had given out a hundredth part of what they knew, the world would not only have refused to listen to their message, but would have crucified them in every instance. It is for this reason that every true teacher must keep back much that he knows, only revealing it to the few who can understand it and who are worthy of it.
There is no religion at the present time that has remained pure and undefiled. Man-made dogmas have crept into all of them, and their sacred books have been tampered with. In many sects of orthodox Christianity you will find doctrines that are utterly opposed to the spirit of Christ's teachings, as well as in Mohamedanism and Buddhism. Hinduism is no exception to the rule. Witness the shocking practice of suttee that ceased only a few years ago, and the custom of child-marriage and the enforcement of caste distinctions that still prevail. Such things are as much opposed to the laws of nature as to the spirit of the Hindu teachings.
It must be admitted that Hinduism has an esoteric side, but it is unprogressive and stagnant. Teachings that were secret 500 or 1,000 years ago should be exoteric today, but are not. The explanation is that there would have been nothing to replace them, so that which was secret had to remain so. Madame Blavatsky, who gave out some of the Hindu esoteric doctrines, was bitterly opposed by certain of the orthodox in India for doing so. By this they hindered their own advancement and the advancement of their country, for they interfered with the law of universal progression.
The first step to be taken in Occultism is the practice of unselfishness, for all work for humanity should be performed without thought of reward. Such work is of greater importance than the mere cultivation of the intellect or the collecting of large libraries.
There are in this great world of ours suffering men and women starving for bodily sustenance, for human sympathy and loving tender words that go further than anything else to arouse in them an answering voice of love. Believing this, I have instituted in many of the large towns which we have visited in Europe meetings for the very poor, at which many hundreds have been taken in out of the streets, fed, encouraged, taught the spirit of brotherly love, without interfering with their religious belief. The simplest ideals of pure thought and action were held up to them, and the divinity of man's nature was strongly accentuated. In all places where this work was carried on, the members of our Society have continued it. I know that here in India there are many thousands, even millions, of suffering people who live in the midst of the saddest poverty and distress. I hope on my return to America, after I have become better acquainted with their needs, to be able to establish means of assisting them, which, when begun, will no doubt have the support of many outside the Theosophical Society — Americans who wish to show in a practical way their interest in the spiritual life, whose first law is that of compassion and self-sacrifice.
Let me remind you that while your first duty lies with your families, your cities, your country, there is another duty you owe to the world as a whole. Come with me for a moment and make a mental tour of the globe. Try to realize that there are millions of souls in America with the same hopes and fears, sorrows and joys, as your own, feeling as you feel, struggling as you struggle. That there are thousands upon thousands of Theosophists there who are studying the ancient truths that are hidden in your scriptures as well as in all the sacred books of the world. Try to imagine the prehistoric civilization that once existed on that great continent, and think of it in connection with prehistoric India.
Pass on in thought from America to Europe. See the clear light that shines in Ireland — the home of forgotten mysteries; see England, France, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and Greece rising once more from its slumber of centuries to remind the rest of Europe of its by-gone triumphs in philosophy and art. Yet still on to Egypt, once the home of earth's mightiest sages, still the custodian of some of their profoundest secrets — the sacred land that is destined to again lead the world in its spiritual development.
So passing over many waters with a life and usefulness of their own, return to India and look around. See India as it is and as it might be. Compare it with other lands; take that broad view of it that is necessary if you would see things as they are instead of as you imagine them to be.
Oh, ye men and women, sons of the same universal mother as ourselves; ye who were born as we were born, who must die as we must die, and whose souls like ours belong to the eternal, I call upon you to arise from your dreamy state and to see within yourselves that a new and brighter day has dawned for the human race.
This need not remain the age of darkness, nor need you wait till another age arrives before you can work at your best. It is only an age of darkness for those who cannot see the light, but the light itself has never faded and never will. It is yours if you will turn to it, live in it; yours today, this hour even, if you will hear what is said with ears that understand. Arise then, fear nothing, and taking that which is your own and all men's, abide with it in peace for evermore.