An Outline of the Perennial Philosophy
C. W. Leadbeater
Adaptation, preface and edition: Arnaldo Sisson Filho
Adaptation based on the work by C.W. Leadbeater:
An Outline of Theosophy
Theosophical Publishing House, Adyar, Chennai, India.
First printing: 1902. Second to eighth printings: 1905-1977.
Nineth printing: 1987.
INITIAL QUOTATIONS
Theosophy Is the ‘Great Renunciation of SELF,’ It Is ALTRUISM
“Let them know at once and remember always that true Occultism or Theosophy is the ‘Great Renunciation of SELF,’ unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM.” (Helena Blavatsky. Practical Occultism, p. 43; emphasis added)
Good Deeds Will Be Theosophy
“However insignificant, and however limited the line of good deeds, the latter will have always more weight than empty and vainglorious talk, and will be theosophy whereas theories without any practical realisation are at best philosophy. Theosophy is an all-embracing Science; many are the ways leading to it, as numerous in fact as its definitions, which began by the sublime, during the day of Ammonius Saccas, and ended by the ridiculous – in Webster’s Dictionary.” (Helena Blavatsky. The Original Programme of the Theosophical Society, p. 44; emphasis added)
The Golden Stairs
“A clean life, an open mind, a pure heart, an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness for one’s co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive advice and instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, a willing obedience to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant defense of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the ideal of human progress and perfection which the secret science (GUPTA-VIDYA) depicts – these are the golden stairs up the steps of which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom.” (Helena Blavatsky. Collected Writings, Vol. XII, p. 591; emphasis added)
It Is Esoteric Philosophy Alone that Can Bring Mediate State and Lead to the Alleviation of Human Suffering
“Under the dominion and sway of exoteric creeds, the grotesque and tortured shadows of Theosophical realities, there must ever be the same oppression of the weak and the poor and the same typhonic struggle of the wealthy and the might among themselves … It is esoteric philosophy alone, [NE: The Perennial or Esoteric Philosophy] the spiritual and psychic blending of man with Nature, that, by revealing fundamental truths, can bring that much disered mediate state between the two extremes of human Egotism and divine Altruism, and finally lead to the alleviation of human suffering.” (Adept. In C. Jinarajadasa, editor: Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, 2nd Series, n. 82, p. 157; emphasis added)
Only by Comparing the Great Religions and Philosophers
that Men Can Hope to Arrive at the Truth
“It is only by studying the various great religions and philosophers of humanity, by comparing them dispassionately and with an unbiassed mind, that men can hope to arrive at the truth. It is especially by finding out and noting their various points of agreement that we may achieve this result. For the sooner do we arrive — either by study, or by being taught by someone who knows — at their inner meaning, than we find, almost in every case, that it expresses some great truth in Nature.” (Helena Blavatsky. The Key to Theosophy, p. 58; emphasis added)
Divine Order of Chivalry Is the Order of the Christ
“The divine Order of Chivalry is the enemy of ascetic isolation and indifferentism. It is the Order of the Christ who goes about doing good. The Christian knight, mounted on a valiant steed (for the horse is the symbol of Intelligence), and equipped with the panoply of Michael, is the type of the spiritual life, – the life of heroic and active charity.” (Anna Kingsford. Dreams and Dream-Stories. Edited by Edward Maitland. Second Edition, p. 278. Emphasis added]
Helena Blavatsky on Wisdom
“Without truth and justice there can be no Wisdom.” (Collected Writings, Vol. XII, p. 310)
“Wisdom and Truth are synonymous terms, and that which is false or pernicious cannot be wise.” (Collected Writings, Vol. XII, p. 316)
“THE DIVINE WISDOM, Theosophia – the Wisdom ‘full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy’. (James, 3:17)” (Collected Writings, Vol. XII, p. 320) [NE: A key verse describes divine wisdom as pure, peaceable, gentle, friendly, full of mercy and good fruits, and free from partiality or hypocrisy, contrasting it with earthly wisdom. It emphasizes that this wisdom cannot be reduced merely to an intellectual aspect but is also fundamentally practical, necessarily manifesting in conduct that promotes peace, mercy, and goodness, while being sincere and oriented toward the well-being of others.]
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CHAPTERS (SUMMARY)
1 – EDITOR’S PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION
What Is the Perennial Philosophy ?
How Is It Known ?
The Method of Observation
2 – GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The Three Great Truths
Advantages Gained From This Knowledge
3 – THE DEITY
The Divine Scheme
4 – CAUSE AND EFFECT
5 – THE CONSTITUTION OF MAN
The Perennial Philosophy and the Law of the Universal Brotherhook:
The Diversity of the Manifested Capacities
The Inner Constitution of Man
The Evolution of Man’s Higher Self
The Causal Body: the Only True Register of Evolution
Diversity Applied to Social Organization
The Importance of the Law of Reincarnation
The True Man
6 – DEATH
7 – REINCARNATION
8 – THE WIDER OUTLOOK
9 – MAN’S PAST AND FUTURE
10 – WHAT THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY DOES FOR US
ADDITIONAL TEXTS:
11 – THE EXISTENCE OF THE PERENNIAL PHILOSOPHY
12 – THE DUAL ASPECT OF WISDOM
13 – THE MEANING AND USE OF PAIN
14 – BIBLIOGRAPHY
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1. EDITOR’S PREFACE AND INTRODUCTION
EDITOR’S PREFACE
For the reader interested only in a brief introduction to the Perennial Philosophy, this preface would be unnecessary, as Charles W. Leadbeater’s original text already serves as a sufficient introduction to this vitally important subject.
However, for the reader interested in a deeper, more critical perspective on the various books comprising Mr. Leadbeater’s significant and extensive body of work, this preface may prove truly valuable. For instance, it helps explain why the work’s title was changed, as well as the instances where the word “Theosophy” was replaced by “Perennial Philosophy” throughout the text.
As this is an introductory work, a lengthy explanation on this matter does not seem appropriate. Therefore, we provide below – by way of a concise explanation – a few paragraphs from the book Theosophy, the Law of Universal Brotherhood and the World Problems, which we recommend to readers wishing to explore this subject in greater depth. The full text of that work is available for free at https://www.ideas4betterworld.com .
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[Beginning of the paragraphs from the work Theosophy, the Law of Universal Brotherhood and the World Problems]
Mere Intellectual Knowledge Is Not Theosophy
We can clearly see that, in the case of this interpretation, Divine Wisdom or Theosophy can never be totally disassociated from truth, from a way of being, or from a compassionate, beneficial and just life.
It could never be confused, in this instance, with a mere intellectual knowledge, which may always be used to build as well as to destroy. More than this, often purely intellectual knowledge is much more an impediment than an aid to the spiritual evolution of the human being, as is affirmed in the quotations below:
“Spiritual faculties demand instruction and regulation even more than our mental gifts, for intellect imbibes wrong far more easily than good.” (K.H., Letters from the Masters of the Widom, 1st Series, L. IV, p. 150-151; emphasis added)
“To spiritual evolution, purely intellectual growth is often more an impediment than a help.” (HPB, Collected Writings, Vol. V, p. 145; emphasis added)
This dual possibility of interpretation, which, on the one hand, stands for a glorious conception of Theosophy and, on the other hand, for a conception which is, to say the least, mediocre, was alluded to by the Adepts who inspired the foundation of the TS, as we can read below:
“I am sorry to find you comparing Theosophy to a painted house on the stage whereas in the hands of true philanthropists and theosophists it might become as strong as an impregnable fort.” (M., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, L. 38, p. 251; emphasis added)
An example of very clear testimony with respect to the possible differences and the problems brought by them into the life of the TS appears in the following extract from an article by Jeanine Miller, published in The American Theosophist:
“The fountain of the spiritual truth is not contained in any book, but it is extrated through the soul of man.
The crucial aspect of theosophy, the divine wisdom, was expressed by H.P. Blavatsky thus:
‘Real theosophy is altruism. It is brotherly love, mutual help, unswerving devotion to truth.’ (Lucifer, 1889; emphasis added)
This note of devotion to truth, not to any personality or set of doctrines or concepts, sounded by Mme. Blavatsky is far too often overlooked.(…)
Our international president in her article on ‘Krishnaji’s Challenge’ in the Fall 1987 issue of The American Theosophist, gave us a similar emphasis:
‘Theosophy is in reality the living wisdom which comes into being through observing and understanding the process of life, not merely at the physical level, but also at the psychological and subtler levels of existence. Wisdom is born when the mind casts aside its preconceptions and limitations and moves into a different dimension.’ (p. 346; emphasis added)
She adds, and this is of fundamental relevance to us here and now:
‘The Theosophical Society can continue to be a force for the good, only to the extent that theosophy does not become another set of concepts or beliefs.’ (p. 345-6; emphasis added)
In my experience of members of the Theosophical Society – I have traveled round the world – theosophy has become just another set of concepts and beliefs. Far too often members equate theosophy with the set of doctrines given out at the end of the nineteenth century through HPB’s major works and the other writers, and not with divine wisdom. (…) What a terrible crippling of the mind! Some of us have in the past decades made the nineteenth century reformulation into a dogma which is offered as the pure fountain of spiritual truth.
The danger of the Theosophical Society becoming set in a particular pattern of thought which centers around certain reformulations of age old truths is all too painfully with us here and now and most of us are not even aware of it.” (J. Miller, “Theosophy for the Future”, in The American Theosophist, Jan-Feb/1989, pp. 3-4; emphasis added)
For Jeanine Miller, therefore, when Theosophy is seen as a given doctrine, there will always be a problem of the Theosophical Society becoming set in a particular pattern of thought.
Another example of testimony regarding the possible differences and the problems they cause in the life of the TS is the following excerpt from an article by Ariel Sanat, published in the American Theosophist, (May/1988):
“Another implication in all this is that anyone who believes in or presents Theosophy to others as if it were a series of fixed teachings, would be, despite good intentions, most lamentably misrepresenting the truth and likely to be doing a disservice to the esoteric teaching.” (The Secret Doctrine, Krishnamurti and Transformation, p. 143; emphasis added)
[Final of the added paragraphs.]
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This subject – and the problems alluded to by Jeanine Miller and Aryel Sanat – might appear to be a merely terminological matter, and thus of little significance. However, for an organization named the Theosophical Society, the way this word is defined clearly makes a great difference.
By virtue of its name, if we understand Theosophy as a specific philosophy – that is, as a specific philosophical-religious doctrine – the Society becomes inextricably linked to that doctrine, however true it may be. And even if that doctrine is not presented as a mandatory belief for membership in the Society, there would be a clear contradiction with its first and foremost objective.
For readers unfamiliar with the Society’s objectives, it is worth mentioning them:
I – To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
II – To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy, and Science.
III – To investigate the unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
[Emphasis added on the word creed.]
It should not be difficult to see that understanding and realizing these objectives becomes very difficult, or even impossible, when Theosophy is defined as a specific doctrine. In that case, there is an immediate and evident contradiction with the Society’s first and foremost Objective, which calls for making no distinction based on creed. Regarding the understanding of these three Objectives, it seems appropriate to quote one of the Sages who, according to Mme. Blavatsky, inspired the founding of this organization:
“On the other hand, we claim to know more of the secret cause of events than you men of the world do. I say then that it is the vilification and abuse of the founders, the general misconception of the aims and objects of the Society that paralyses its progress – nothing else. There’s no want of definitiveness in these objects were they but properly explained.” (M., The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett, n. 38, p. 251; emphasis added)
Along these same lines, here is a quotation from the final chapter of what was one of the last – if not the very last – book by the principal founder of this organization, Helena Blavatsky (The Key to Theosophy):
“Every such attempt as the Theosophical Society has hitherto ended in failure, because, sooner or later, it has degenerated into a sect, set up hard‐and‐fast dogmas of its own, and so lost by imperceptible degrees that vitality which living truth alone can impart.
You must remember that all our members have been bred and born in some creed or religion, that all are more or less of their generation both physically and mentally, and consequently that their judgment is but too likely to be warped and unconsciously biassed by some or all of these influences. If, then, they cannot be freed from such inherent bias, or at least taught to recognise it instantly and so avoid being led away by it, the result can only be that the Society will drift off on to some sandbank of thought or another, and there remain a stranded carcass to moulder and die.” (p. 173; emphasis added)
In concluding this brief preface, it is also worth clarifying that three supplementary appendices have been added to the core text by C.W. Leadbeater. The first two address the conceptualization and the immense global importance of the Perennial (or Esoteric, Hermetic, Occult etc.) Philosophy and of Theosophy (Divine Wisdom, Wisdom from Above, Noetic wisdom etc.); the second appendix is drawn from an article by Helena Blavatsky (The Dual Aspect of Wisdom), who was the principal founder of the Theosophical Society.
As for the third appendix – a lecture by Dr. Annie Besant titled Pain: Its Meaning and Utility – it was included because experience has shown us that this is a difficult question (and source of doubt) for those beginning their study of the Perennial Philosophy: the apparent contradiction between the existence of so much pain, conflict, and the like in the world, and the assertion that the Being – the Divine Creator of all things – is simultaneously Truth, Love, and Bliss (Indescribable Happiness).
May this brief outline of the Perennial Philosophy contribute, in some measure, to Truth, Altruism, and Harmony in our lives.
[End of the Editor’s Preface.]
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[Beginning of the core text by C.W. Leadbeater.]
INTRODUCTION
What Is the Perennial (or Esoteric) Philosophy ?
For many a year men have been discussing arguing, enquiring about certain great basic truths – about the existence and the Nature of God, about His relation to man, and about the past and future of humanity.
So radically have they differed on these points, and so bitterly have they assailed and ridiculed one another’s beliefs, that there has come to be a firmly-rooted popular opinion that with regard to all these matters there is no certainty available – nothing but vague speculation amid a cloud of unsound deductions drawn from ill-established premises. And this in spite of the very definite, though frequently incredible, assertions made on these subjects on behalf of the various religions.
This popular opinion, though not unnatural under the circumstances, is entirely untrue. There are definite facts available – plenty of them.
The Perennial Philosophy gives them to us; but it offers them not (as religions do) as matters of faith, but as subjects for study. It is itself not a religion, but it bears to religions the same relation as did the ancient philosophies. It does not contradict them, but explains them. Whatever in any of them is unreasonable, it rejects as necessarily unworthy of the Deity and derogatory to Him; whatever is reasonable in each and all of them it takes up, explains and emphasises, and thus combines all into one harmonious whole.
It holds that truth on all these most important points is attainable – that there is a great body of knowledge about them already existing. It considers all the various religions as statements of that truth from different points of view; since, though they differ much as to nomenclature and as to articles of belief, they all agree as to the only matter which are of real importance – the kind of life which a good man should lead, the qualities which he must develop, the vices which he must avoid. On these practical points the teaching is identical in Hinduism and Buddhism, in Zoroastrianism and Islamism, in Judaism and Christianity.
The Perennial Philosophy may be described to the outside world as an intelligent theory of the universe. Yet for those who have studied it, it is not theory, but fact; for it is a definite science, capable of being studied, and its teachings are verifiable by investigation and experiment for those who are willing to take the trouble to qualify themselves for such enquiry. It is a statement of the great facts of Nature so far as they are known – an outline of the scheme of our corner of the universe.
How Is It Known ?
How did this scheme become known, some may ask; by whom was it discovered? We cannot speak of it as discovered, for in truth it has always been known to mankind, though sometimes temporarily forgotten in certain parts of the world.
There has always existed a certain body of highly developed men – men not of any one nation, but of all the advanced nations – who have held it in its fullness; and there has always been pupils of these men, who were specially studying it, while its broad principles have always been known in the outer world. This body of highly-developed men exists now, as in past ages, and the teaching of the Perennial Philosophy is published to the Western world at their instigation, and through a few of their pupils.
Those who are ignorant have sometimes clamorously insisted that, if this be so, these truths ought to have been published long ago; and most unjustly they accuse the possessors of such knowledge of undue reticence in withholding them from the world at large.
They forget that all who really sought these truths have always been able to find them, and that it is only now that we are in the Western world are truly beginning to seek. For many centuries Europe was content to live, for the most part, in the grossest superstition; and when reaction at last set in from the absurdity and bigotry of those beliefs, it brought a period of atheism, which was just as conceited and bigoted in another direction. So that it is really only now that some of the humbler and more reasonable of our people are beginning to admit that they know nothing, and to enquire whether there is not real information available somewhere.
Though these reasonable enquirers are as yet a small minority, there are organizations that have been founded in order to draw them together, and its books are put before the public so that those who will, may read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest these great truths.
We are not in the least under the delusion of the poor arrogant missionary, who dares to condemn to an unpleasant eternity every one who will not pronounce his little provincial shibboleth; we are perfectly aware that all will at last be well for those who cannot as yet see their way to accept the truth, as well as for those who receive it with avidity.
But the knowledge of this truth has, for us and for thousands of others, made life easier to bear and death easier to face; and it is simply the wish to share these benefits with our fellow men that urges us to devote ourselves to writing and lecturing on these subjects. The broad outlines of the great truths have been widely known in the world for thousands of years, and are so known in the present day.
It is only we in the West who, in our incredible self-sufficiency , have remained ignorant of them, and scoffed at any fragment of them which may have come in our way. As in the case of any other science, so in this science of the soul, full details are known only to those who devote their lives to its pursuit.
The men who fully know – those who are called Adepts – have patiently developed within themselves the powers necessary for perfect observation. For in this respect there is a difference between the methods of occult investigation and those of the more modern form of science; this latter devotes all its energy to the improvement of its instruments, while the former aims rather at development of the observer.
The Method of Observation
The detail of this development would take up more space than can be devoted to it in a preliminary manual such as this. The whole scheme will be found fully explained in other works (1) about the Perennial Philosophy; for the moment let it suffice to say that it is entirely a question of vibration.
All information which reaches a man from the world without, reaches him by means of vibration of some sort, whether it be through the senses of sight, hearing or touch. Consequently, if a man is able to make himself sensitive to additional vibrations he will acquire additional information; he will become what is commonly called “clairvoyant”.
This word, as commonly used, means nothing more than a slight extension of normal vision; but it is possible for a man to become more and more sensitive to the subtler vibrations, until his consciousness, acting through many developed faculties, functions freely in new and higher ways.
He will then find new worlds of subtler matter opening up before him, though in reality they are only new portions of the world he already knows. He learns in this way that a vast unseen universe exists round him during his whole life, and that it is constantly affecting him in many ways, even though he remains blindly unconscious of it.
But when he develops faculties whereby he can sense these other worlds, it becomes possible for him to observe them scientifically, to repeat his observations many times, to compare them with those of others, to tabulate them, and draw deductions from them.
All this has been done – not once, but thousands of times. The Adepts of whom I spoke have done this to the fullest possible extent, but many efforts along the same line have been made by students of the Perennial Philosophy. The result of our investigations has been not only to verify much of the information given to us at the outset by those Adepts, but also to explain and amplify it very considerably.
The sight of this usually unseen portion of our world at once brings to our knowledge a vast body of entirely new facts which are of the very deepest interest. It gradually solves for us many of the most difficult problems of life; it clears up for us many mysteries so that we now see them to have been mysteries to us for so long, only because heretofore we saw so small a part of the facts, because we were looking at the various matters from below, and as isolated and unconnected fragments, instead of rising above them to a standpoint whence they are comprehensible as parts of a mighty whole.
It settles in a moment many questions which have been much disputed – such, for example, as that of the continued existence of man after death. It affords us the true explanation of all the wildly impossible statements made by the churches about heaven, hell and purgatory; it dispels our ignorance and removes our fear of the unknown by supplying us with a rational and orderly scheme. What this scheme is I will now endeavour to explain.
NOTES
(1) See, for example, Ancient Wisdom, by Dr. Annie Besant.
NE: The word “wisdom,” in the title of the work mentioned above, is used to signify a philosophical-religious doctrine – a sense in which the title is almost synonymous with “perennial” or “ancient” doctrine or philosophy. In our view, it is regrettable that the word “wisdom” is employed in this way in such an important work by Dr. Annie Besant. This is because a person may possess a deep intellectual understanding of the work – or be a great scholar well-versed in many texts regarding the doctrine we call Perennial Philosophy – yet remain far from being a sage. No one deserves to be called a sage who does not embody virtues such as truth, justice, beneficence, or altruism in their life. In this regard, see the Book “Wisdom of Solomon [e.g., 7:22–25] in the Bible:
The Nature of Wisdom
(22) For wisdom, which is the worker of all things, taught me: for in her is an understanding spirit holy, one only, manifold, subtil, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing that is good quick, which cannot be letted, ready to do good,
(23) Kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most subtil, spirits.
(24) For wisdom is more moving than any motion: she passeth and goeth through all things by reason of her pureness.
(25) For she is the breath of the power of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory of the Almighty: therefore can no defiled thing fall into her.