SUPPLEMENT TO THE THEOSOPHIST THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY FINANCIAL STATEMENT The following receipts, from 11th September to 10th October, 1921, are acknowledged with thanks : ANNUAL DUES AND ADMISSION FEES New Zealand Section, T.S., for 1920, £45-16-0 ... Barbados Lodge, T.S., British West Indies, new members, for 1921 ... Spanish Section, T.S., for 1921, £11. Canadian Section, T.S., 863 members, for 1921 ... ... Rs. A. P. 647 11 3 ... South African Section, T.S., 331 members, for 1921, ... ... ... £11-0-8 Nairobi Lodge, T.S., British E. Africa, 4 members, for 1921 Danske Lodge, T.S., Denmark, 125 members, for 1921, £31-15-0 ... ... ... ... OLCOTT PANCHAMA FREE SCHOOLS FINANCIAL STATEMENT The following receipts, from 11th September to 10th October, 1921, are acknowledged with thanks: DONATIONS Dundee Lodge, T.S., Scotland, White Lotus Day Gift Rs. A. P. 31 11 0 18 0 5 49 11 5 Fini, Dist. Noakhali, Bengal ... Shanti Lodge, T.S. Adyar 6th October, 1921 ... 6-8-1921 16-9-1921 J. R. ARIA, Recording Secretary, T.S. Printed and published by J. R. Aria, at the Vasanță Press, Adyar, Madras. NCE more we have reached the month of our Annual ONCE Convention, to be holden this year in Benares, my dear old Home, to which my heart turns always with affection. For I do not know any other place on earth which affects one in quite the same way. The City that comes nearest to it is Rome, for as Benares is the beloved centre of Hinduism, to which millions of loving Hindu hearts turn with deep devotion, so do millions of loving Christian hearts turn to Rome. And these constant streams of love flow ever through the atmospheres of these two Cities, and carry the hearts that go thither to a mood of reverence and of self-recollectedness which disposes to thought and meditation. Through their very air there seems to ripple a quiet melody of whispering music that has a sweetness all its own. And both are very ancient cities, and are redolent of dreams of a dead past; and yet both are intensely living, living with a strength and beauty that are ever young, because they are centres of great Faiths, and the truths which they embody are eternal, and verily the Eternal alone is the Ever-Young. A very unexpected result has accrued from my Sorbonne lecture of last year. The Journal de Gand, in its open column, has an article on H. P. Blavatsky, written by a Dutch lady. I think my readers will enjoy reading some extracts: Since Mrs. Annie Besant, President of the Theosophical Society, was received almost officially in Paris; since she spoke at the Sorbonne before an audience of the élite, some journals, too conservative, have commented in a somewhat venomous fashion on the origin and life of Helena Paula Blavatsky, who laid the foundation-stone of the Theosophical Society. I break for a moment to note that Mme. Blavatsky's second name was not "Paula" but "Petrovna," i.e., the "daughter of Peter," it being the Russian fashion to append the father's name, with a masculine or feminine affix, to that of the child, according as the offspring is son or daughter. Another slight error, omitted above, is calling me "the founder of the Theosophical Institute at Adyar "-an honour which is not mine, but which belongs to H. P. Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcott. To resume: Who has ever affirmed, even among the most ardent Theosophists, that H. P. Blavatsky was a saint? But, on the other hand, who would dare, even among her most fiery detractors, to pretend that she was not an extraordinary personality, endowed with an intelligence, a clairvoyance, with psychic powers, that were really super-terrestrial? To be convinced of this it is only necessary to read her marvellous Secret Doctrine, which in ten Parts forms a whole which certainly shows immense erudition, and is the most complete of all past or present works treating of the history of the worlds, of religions and of philosophies. For Blavatsky there was nothing veiled, nothing not understood But that which made H. P. Blavatsky a great benefactor of humanity, more than any of her literary or philosophic works, was the publicity, the admirable development she gave to Theosophical ideas, the most logical, the most rational, the most consoling that exist. Before such a work and its happy results, how petty are the malicious insinuations which reproach Blavatsky with her passionate temperament and her Germanic ancestors. The whole world was her country, humanity was her family. Does not Theosophy-better than any International, or any League of Nationslead to the friendliness, the fraternity, of the Peoples? It is pleasant to read so warm an appreciation of the noble soul which we know as "H. P. B.". The writer closes by declaring that she will be soon reborn. "Has been reborn would be nearer the truth. There was a tall and dignified figure which was very familiar to all of us in the early Central Hindu College days, Mahāmahopāḍhyāya Adityarāma Bhattacharya. He was a very orthodox Hindú, but at the same time very liberal; away from his home, he would cook his own food, but he never showed any harshness in pressing his views. He served for some time as Principal of the College, and when he found himself growing too old for the heavy and exacting work of that office, he still loved to come and stay at Benares, a wise and gentle counsellor at all times. He has passed away-so many pass away-and the ranks of old comrades grow thinner. But for us who are Theosophists-he was one of the lovers of the WISDOM-death does not much count. He had become rather a recluse, owing to failing health, but his memory will remain green. Very late comes the record of another passing, but though it is late, I do not like to leave it unrecorded, and it reached me too late for last month's notes. "A striking figure in the religious life of Burma passed away on May 7th, 1921, in the venerable U. Enmagyee, |