Boris de Zirkoff – USA
Boris de Zirkoff wrote this inspirational and still relevant piece in 1979. As a relative of H. P. Blavatsky, he deserves a unique place in the esteem of Theosophists. It was appropriate that he should, in the karmic course of events, become the compiler-editor of Blavatsky’s Collected Writings.
As a new decade of our century is about to open, we renew our intention to continue quietly to spread the teachings of the Ancient Wisdom far and wide. Unshaken by the rising tide of world unrest and the inhumanity of man to man manifest in so many ways in this world of illusions, we are determined to hold high the banner of Theosophy and to plant it on new ramparts for all men to see.
The clarion call of Universal Brotherhood can be heard all over the world, above the din and clatter of selfish voices and the rattle of weapons of destruction with which one party threatens another in the darkness of material ignorance and the despair of vested interests. Slowly but surely large segments of the human race are beginning to realize that nothing short of worldwide brotherhood and interrelations can ever be the remedy for all our ills, both material and spiritual. Through pain and sorrow, through suffering and remorse the people of this age are slowly moving into recognition of that simple fact that the human race is one and what hurts a portion of it hurts the whole of humanity.
It is mainly the noise of those who are afraid of losing their personal battles that is preventing many of us from realizing that, vast amount of constructive work is going on in today’s world, effort here and there and everywhere to unite the people, to lift them from despair into hope, to shed among them the light of a new philosophy, new but very old, which would stand as a bulwark against the onslaught of human passions and the self-centred interests of minorities. If we give close attention to various newly formed movements and groups, we cannot ignore or deny the fact that millions of people in various countries are preaching a gospel of good neighbourliness, of mutual helpfulness and of a recognition of the fact that Nature must be served and used, but never abused and polluted We believe that, slowly but surely, men are winning that battle and that years to come will see a great regeneration among us and a deeper feeling for spiritual realities.
The human race has never been without guidance, a guidance provided by those superior men and women who have from time immemorial been the spiritual leaders of the human race, whether recognized as such or ignored and often persecuted. They stood and stand today ever ready to help, to inspire and to uphold our efforts along the ancient path, as we climb step by step from darkness into light, from the sombre valley towards the sunlit peaks of true knowledge and understanding. It is for us to call upon their guidance and help, while making daily and hourly efforts to rise, to purify ourselves and to lift others towards the light. No effort initiated by ourselves can ever remain without recognition by those who watch over the progress of mankind as a whole, and our own personal growth spiritually and intellectually, if that growth is intended to make us more capable to help others.
From: The Dream That Never Dies – Point Loma Publications