THEOSOPHICAL MORALISM
We have already noted that after the death of Mme Blavatsky the doctrinal side of Theosophy lost some of its importance to the moral and sentimental side; this is not to say, however, that this was absent at the beginning, for 'universal brotherhood' has always been the first of the three goals proclaimed by the Theosophical Society. In this connection, if not as regards Theosophist propaganda properly speaking, it was notably Mme Blavatsky herself who took the initiative in certain working class circles. Here is what she wrote in 1890:
At London, which is the real center of the most luxurious materialism, we have founded in the East End the first club of Women Workers, completely free of theological conditions and beliefs. Until now such efforts have been sectarian and have imposed certain specific religious beliefs; our efforts are based solely on human brotherhood and do not recognize any confessional differences as barriers. [1]
Thus, in the mind of the founder it was a matter of direct competition with charitable institutions having a confessional character, and this competition was to be carried into other fields as well, particularly education; it is in this sense that declaration like the following must be understood:
With this object in view [universal brotherhood], it is the duty of all Theosophists to promote in every practical way, and in all countries, the spread of non-sectarian education. [2]
But on the very admission of numerous Theosophists who today are dissidents, educational work as well as other works of the Theosophical Society have on the contrary taken on a pronounced 'sectarian' character under Mrs Besant; we believe, moreover, that this unfortunate 'evolution' was inevitable, for whether one likes it or not, the Theososophical Society is a sect like any other and has always been so, even if its 'pseudo-religious' allure has certainly become more accentuated. It is precisely in order to give their movement the character of a religion, even while giving assurances that this is not their intention at all, that the present leaders insist so much on 'moralism'; for they believe in accordance with Protestant conceptions that this is the essential in all religion. As Leadbeater said:
All enjoin the same virtues and condemn the same vices ... and the adherents of all religions agree in declaring that in order to merit the name of a good man, one must be just, kind, generous, and truthful. [3]
It is with the same intention that especially today the Theosophists develop theories like those of 'karma' and reincarnation, and comfortably dwell on their 'consoling' aspect; [4] at least, they find them 'consoling', but others may value them very differently. At root this is a mere difference in each one's sentimental disposition; but the important thing in taking account of the Theosophist mentality is to see how much this 'consoling' character contributes to an acceptance of theories like these independently of any logical justification, which could not be attempted without a certain imprudence. There is in the very fact of having adopted such an attitude an incontestable sign of intellectual weakness among the leaders of Theosophy. But there is something else, namely the religious competition that
goes on under a form different from that it assumed originally; in order to compete with the religions it is necessary to offer benefits comparable to those which their ordinary believers find in them. Theosophy must therefore sooner or later present itself as a religious sect; whether they admit it or deny it changes nothing; and if one takes into account the origins of its leaders, it must inevitably have tendencies similar to those of Protestant sects. This in fact is what has come to pass, and these tendencies have one of their most significant manifestations in the preponderance of 'moralism'.
If one refers to the list of auxiliary organizations of the Theosophical Society given in the last chapter, it is easy to see that the declared aims of nearly all these organizations, putting aside those of a special and overtly Theosophical character, are related almost exclusively to a few guiding ideas that are at root sentimental: humanitarianism, pacifism, anti-alcoholism, and vegetarianism, all of which are especially dear to the essentially 'moralistic' mentality of Anglo-Saxon Protestantism. Certain current movements, some anti-alcoholism campaigns for example, have backgrounds which it would be very interesting to examine; [5] it would be very instructive to follow, on the one hand, the influence of Protestantism, and on the other that of Masonry and the secret societies; and we will add that the study of the feminist movement, even apart from the CoMasonry of which we have spoken, would be no less interesting from the same point of view. We will limit ourselves to citing a few examples concerning anti-alcoholism and vegetarianism; [6] of course, the organizations we are going to mention have no direct link to Theosophy, but it is no less incontestable that they proceed from the same mentality.
In America there are two secret societies, one masculine and one feminine, called 'Sons of Jonadab' and 'United Daughters of Rechab', based on this verse from the Bible:
We will drink no wine, for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, 'You shall not drink wine, neither you nor your sons for ever.'7
No member who has broken this pledge can again become a member in good standing. Another similar association is the 'Order of the Sons of Temperance', which is for men only but which is joined by the 'Daughters of Temperance' for women and the 'Temperance Cadets'. To the question, 'Why does this Order have secrets?' this answer is given:
An old allegory teaches that Envy and Idleness were married one day, and they had a child whose name was Curiosity. This child still lives on this earth, where he is a kind of omnipresent being assuring his subsistence by stealing a little from this one and from that one, and something from everyone. It is in order to avoid the too frequent incursions of this importunate and indiscreet creature that secrets were introduced into our Order.
We offer this citation because it is rather characteristic of the special mentality prevailing in all such groups; we do not believe that before the present period anyone would have dreamed of forming secret societies for such puerile ends. On the other hand, in English Masonry there are special lodges called 'Temperance Lodges' whose members pledge to abstain from all alcoholic beverages. Finally, we will call attention to the 'Independent Order of Good Templars', another association of American origin which also requires a formal oath of secrecy under the pretext of habituating its members to mastering themselves; this association has numerous links with Masonry. Side by side with the adult lodges where members of both sexes are admitted from the age of sixteen, this Order has children's lodges or 'Temples of Youth'. There are branches of this organization in several European countries including England, the Scandinavian nations, Germany, Hungary, Belgium, and France; in 1906 the 'Great International Chief Templar' was a Mr Wawrinski, a deputy in the Swedish Parliament; the head of the French branch is
currently Dr Legrain, chief physician at the Asylum of VilleEvrard. [8]
Anti-alcoholism is also part of the teaching of Theosophy. As Mme Blavatsky wrote:
[Wine and spirits] are worse for his spiritual and moral advancement than meat, for in all its forms alcohol has a direct, marked, and very deleterious influence on man's psychic condition. [9]
As for vegetarianism, Theosophists recommend it for reasons of different sorts; here too they first advance the reason of 'spiritual evolution':
When the flesh of animals is assimilated by man as food, it imparts to him, psychologically, some of the characteristics of the animal it came from. Moreover, occult science teaches and proves this to its students by an ocular demonstration [sic], showing also that this 'coarsening' or 'animalizing' effect on man is greatest from the flesh of the larger animals, less for birds, still less for fish and other cold-blooded animals, and least of all when he eats only vegetables. . . . and so we advise really earnest students to eat such food as will least clog and weight their brains and bodies, and will have the smallest effect in hampering and retarding the development of their intuition, their interior faculties and powers. [10]
As these last words show, it is especially in view of certain 'psychic attractions' that vegetarianism is particularly recommended, if not imposed, on the members of the 'esoteric section'. But if Mme Blavatsky had really believed that this was as necessary as she claimed, it is probable that she would have begun by adopting it as her personal practice, which she never did; but it is true that one cannot level the same reproach against Mrs Besant. The reasons given are certainly debatable, but in any case they are far less ridiculous than
the sentimental considerations which are added to justify vegetarianism more generally and which indeed are those on which Theosophists today most insist: we are brothers to the animals, they say, and one must not devour one's brothers even if they are less 'evolved' than ourselves. The response could be that, understanding evolution as they do, we are also the brothers of plants and even of the minerals, so their reasoning rigorously followed and applied would condemn us quite simply to die of starvation. Nonetheless, it is for this motive that most Theosophists adhere to a vegetarian regimen, to which they sometimes add milk and eggs, which are no less animal substances; it is true that in vegetarianism there are varieties and degrees. In our view it is not a question of condemning vegetarianism absolutely, but what can be reasonably said is that one's dietary regimen must be uniquely a function of climate, race, and temperament. Papus was able to write quite correctly that 'one must be as ignorant as a Theosophist to impose on an Englishman the same dietary regimen as that of Hindus, [11] and in connection with this he recounts the following story:
In London, in the community of a mystical society [the Theosophical Society], we saw two members, the Countess W... and Mme M..., [12] literally dying of hunger in order to avoid eating 'living beings', while the founders, under pretext of illness, devoured great platters of fish, followed by colossal plates of rice and various vegetables. The ladies wished to have 'visions', and while awaiting them they procured for themselves a pretty case of cerebral anemia. [13]
Among Theosophist creations we have mentioned the 'Vegetarian Society of France', whose official publication, conjointly with the 'Belgian Society for the Study of Alimentary Reform', is the review Hygie; previously there had been a similar publication entitled La Reforme Alimentaire which also proposed to 'fight vaccination and
the methods of Pasteur.' On this last point we have already noted Dr Anna Kingsford's animosity toward Pasteur, and also the existence in the 'Service Order of the Theosophical Society' of an English association whose aim is the 'abolition of vaccination and inoculation.' These are opinions which can be quite tenable in themselves, but it is astounding to see them so intimately mingled with all sorts of sentimental and 'humanitarian' (or better, as the English say, 'humane', a word which expresses a nuance that is almost untranslatable) foolishness, which can only make them lose all seriousness in the eyes of many sensible people.
With vegetarianism we find that there are similarities with what we found for anti-alcoholism; to begin with, we shall say that the Antoinist doctrine mentioned in the previous chapter also recommends a vegetarian regime; on the other hand, we know of an English secret society called the 'Order of the Atonement', with its seat at Brighton and 'Grand Temples' in Paris, Jerusalem, and Madras. This organization defines itself as 'a strictly Templar and vegetarian Order,' two things between which it is surely difficult to find the least logical relationship; on the other hand, the denomination 'Good Templars' applied to an anti-alcoholic association is scarcely any easier to explain. This 'Order of Atonement' claims to have its origin in 'the Temple of Ioua [sic] in the Holy City', that is to say in the Temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem, just as does Masonry; its members swear to dedicate all their efforts to hasten the coming of the 'Golden Age'. This expression, which here evidently designates the period when men abstained from all animal food, calls to mind another association founded in England in 1895 which bears precisely the name 'Order of the Golden Age'; the members of this organization, who modestly call themselves 'Knights of the Redemption', go much further than the Theosophists toward a strict vegetarianism; not only do they proscribe any animal substance, but they are also 'fruitarians' and abstain from all cooked foods; it would be difficult to be more rigorous than this. This Order, which states its 'ideal' in particularly pompous and declamatory formulas, has adherents in North America, which is not surprising, and even in India; in the second country they recruit almost exclusively among the Jains. The same Order counts among its most eminent
members Dr Wu-Ting-Fang who in China was a minister in the provisional government of Sun-Yat-Sen (who after some period of refuge in Japan has recently been elected President of a Chinese Republic of the South and who, let us note, is a Protestant and belongs to American Masonry). [14] Finally, this Order also claims as a 'fruitarian' the President of Mexico, Francisco Madero (assassinated in 1913), who was at the same time an occultist and an upper-grade Mason; there are quite unexpected relationships among all these things. But this is enough on this subject, which some perhaps will consider lacking in seriousness and unworthy of attention; if we have nonetheless dwelt on these things, it is because, as extravagant as they are, they are far from being as inoffensive and negligible as a superficial observer might think; it is also because they clearly show the currents of the modern mentality to which Theosophy is akin; and we think it is not useless to emphasize this last point.