Betty Bland – USA

One of my favorite but decadent recipes comes from my mother’s family; it is the traditional Southern pound cake. The recipe probably began when recipes were not as sophisticated as today, so its ingredients were simple: a pound of eggs and a pound each of butter, sugar, and flour. Refining adjustments have been made over the years, but the proportions are still similar. Now this is an instance in which the whole is definitely better than its parts. Each ingredient is dependent on its proper blending with the others and if any ingredient is missing, the operation is a disaster.

Southern Pound Cake

As Theosophists who are committed to a chief aim of brotherhood, we are similar to that pound cake. Through our unfortunate splits and disagreements we have evolved into different but essential ingredients for the whole Theosophical cake. If any one of our groups which is committed to the Theosophical worldview as espoused by Madame Blavatsky shuns the rest, it denigrates the outcome of our final product—the upliftment of humanity, humanity being freed from religious superstition and scientific materialism so that we might grow in harmony and peace.

Dara Eklund – USA

It is only natural that Theosophists would be soul-searching at a time when it seems that so many divisive elements are still at work in society. Upholding the ideal that "Brotherhood is a Fact in Nature,” it seems mankind as a whole has not yet acknowledged this Fact.  While mouthing allegiance to "Unity in Diversity,” the diverse elements have not yet been brought into a balanced perspective, much less unity. We observe with the ancient Taoist precept that "The Great Way is very simple, but the people love the by-paths".  Also from the Chinese philosophy we have been shown, that to have harmony in the world one must first have harmony in the individual, the family and the nation. So harmony begins with us, in our hearts and daily lives, by mastering the negative tendencies which have cut us off from our True Being.

As Alice Cary wrote her poem "Nobility":

"True worth is in Being, not seeming - in doing, each day that goes by, some little good - not in dreaming of great things to do by and by… There's nothing so kingly as kindness, and nothing so royal as truth."  We influence the whole of humanity by such simple beginnings.

My thinking on the unity of various Theosophical traditions is, that we already have in place a group of cooperating societies and lodges, in the International Theosophical Conferences organization.  Aside from this group there are many efforts at cross fertilization within the Theosophical Movement.  Here in California several lodges reach out to other traditions for their speakers.  They welcome non-theosophical persons who are in harmony with our ideal of Universal Brotherhood.  In our individual lives and professions our striving and practical application of Theosophia promotes the unity of One Life in all beings.

Jacques Mahnich - France

Since its creation, the history of the modern Theosophical movement looks like a never-ending record of schisms, human conflicts and divergences in ideas and actions. To realistically propose ideas and initiatives for reconciliation with plans to move forward as a united (re-united) stream of thoughts and actions, we must assess thoroughly the root-causes for these departures from the initial Theosophical Society’s goals and from its founder’s intents. A common denominator, often existing in most spiritual movements, seems to be this everlasting egoistic behavior of people who are so convinced that they know how to find the Truth better than anyone else, including the founders of the movement, and therefore reject any other voice.

Through individual and collective initiative, the twenty-first century seems to have triggered a theosophical “renewal” where students are moving away from the crystallization of existing organizations in order to go back to the original goals of the Divine Wisdom. It seems history is repeating itself when we compare this with religious movements like, for example, Christians who have returned to the original Gospels message. And it brings hope of a new energy and a unity in diversity.

Vicente Hao Chin Jr. – The Philippines

On Theosophical Unity

The issue of Theosophical unity is a complex one. We must first be clear as to what kind of unity we are talking about.

If it is about organizational unity – that is, merging all Theosophical organizations into one – then this looks improbable, at least in the foreseeable future. The ground is not yet well set.

If it is about cooperative unity among the different Theosophical organizations to further the mission of the Theosophical movement, then it is definitely possible as well as desirable.

Below are some thoughts on such an effort: