Boris de Zirkoff – USA
In the crisis of our age is heralded the birth of a new civilization. Out of the ashes rises, Phoenix-like, the shape of things to come. The temporary dissolution of ethical standards, the wide-spread suppression of Truth, and the suicidal gospel of brute force and opportunism, are here neither denied nor disregarded. But to the eyes of a deeper observer they are only the scum rising to the surface of the boiling cauldron wherein is enacted the alchemical process of racial transmutation, a spiritual regeneration of the vital streams of Humanity.
That which seems to be the debasement of many a lofty ideal, or the stormy overthrow of once noble traditions, is but the clearing of the ground upon which nobler ideals and more enduring traditions will be erected in the course of cycling years. The psychical and intellectual conflagration which dissipates into impalpable ashes what some had mistaken for unshakable edifices of Thought and Conduct releases at the same time the pent-up flood of a new spiritual vigor with which to build a brighter future for all men. And while, in the dismal gloom of a temporary spiritual blackout, we see ancient and familiar lights going out one by one, greater and more effulgent Beacons already now pierce the enfolding darkness with their shafts of redeeming light.
The crisis we are in must be faced and overcome. None can seclude himself behind an imaginary wall of intellectual isolation. Humanity is one and indivisible. Every man or woman is an integral part of the Karman of the race, and has contributed his constructive or disruptive part towards the shaping of this or any other crisis. The appalling misery of today is our own handiwork. The World of Tomorrow will not be built for us by some Gracious divinities descending into our midst from a modern Olympus. If it is ever to become an actuality, it will have to be erected, stone by stone, through our own self-devised efforts and under the guidance of our own spiritual manhood. There is no other way!There is a road which leads into the dawning light of a New Era. There is a message which fully answers the yearning of men for peace. There is a knowledge which can solve our baffling problems and a code of conduct which can provide an unshakable foundation for a better and nobler World to be. That road, the message and that Knowledge is Theosophy, the ageless universal spiritual tradition which no cataclysm has ever been able to obliterate.
The lofty metaphysics of the Ancient Wisdom are only for the few, though they may be many. The simple teachings of that timeless wisdom are, however, for the broad masses of the people, and they can be understood by all, rich and poor, educated and illiterate.
Cause and Effect, the potential Divinity of man, Reincarnation, Ethical Responsibility, the Unity of all Life, the Solidarity of all the peoples of the Earth, their indissoluble Brotherhood or Oneness, the true nature of Death, the great precepts of conduct which the Sages of all times have outlined for us - these and other simple teachings, presented in understandable language and with the conviction of the heart, striking a responsible fire in the hearts of others, could usher in a new Order of the Ages and accomplish that inner change of minds and hearts which neither centuries of organized religion, nor generations of scientific research, periodically prostituting its findings to the wholesale destruction of the human race, have been able to bring about.
The present journal is devoted to the dissemination of the message of Theosophy: simple, for the many; somewhat more technical, for the few. The time is ripe for a wider sowing. It is our earnest hope that the reader as well as the welcome writer will find in this journal an open channel to spread broadcast the soul-healing teachings of Theosophy, and of Theosophy alone. We remember these words of H.P. Blavatsky, and we feel in them an endorsement of our own modest efforts:
"Look around you, my brothers and sisters. Not a sect, not a guild, or Society, however insignificant and useless, and far smaller than our Theosophical body, but has its recognized organ. ... One weekly or even monthly sheet of only four pages is better than none; and if we had not an absolute and immediate necessity for such a defensive organ now, it would serve at all times for the dissemination of our theosophical teachings, the popularization of Theosophy and Eastern Ethics suited for the intelligence of the masses. ... Teach the common laborer the truths he fails to find in the churches, and you will soon have saved half of the mankind of civilized countries, for the PATH is easier to the poor and the simple of heart than to the cultured and the rich." - Issued by H.P.B. from 144 Madison Avenue, New York City, 1889-1890.
Let this be our Banner, the Watchword of THEOSOPHIA, the Secret Wisdom through the Ages, hoary with time, yet perennially young. May its pages guide the footsore pilgrim through the murky clouds of the present, to the Hills of Discernment where is breaking even now the "Dawn of the Mystic East."