Laurence Bendit

THE MYSTERIES TODAY AND OTHER ESSAYS

INTRODUCTION

THEOSOPHY, the wisdom of the enlightened mind, is unchanging
for ever. It existed before history began-for man was already
n inhabitant of the earth-and it will endure long after history
has ended as a record of events in time: when it will, in some
form, remain as part of the heritage of the universe. It is the
Pearl of Great Price of the Gnostic Christian, it is the Jewel in
the Lotus, the Clear Light of the Buddhist, the Tao of the mind;
it is known by many names, yet it is always the same Wisdom.

What changes, however, is the setting of the Pearl; the Lot
may fade and have to be renewed in a new bud; the one who
has found Bodhi or Enlightenment may, if he has not attained
liberation, have to reincarnate, bringing his Theosophy with
him. Through the ages its doctrines have been passed from
mouth to ear, from teacher to pupil, in such a way that the
upil became active of mind and so found his own Wisdom
Fragments have been written on papyrus, on palm-leaf, on
parchment and hidden when persecution drove wisdom
underground. Then, too, symbols such as those of the alchemists, the
songs of poets and troubadours, the language of stonemasons
became the vehicles of the hidden lore.

Then, some hundred years ago, more was set down than ever
before, on western style paper, on western printing presses, and
for the first time in history laid before a public which had
become sufficiently educated to appreciate it if they wished;
though they might not realize, even if their interest was caught,
that the true Secret Doctrine would still remain secret until
they found the inner key to it. These teachings, it may be
surmised, were like seed waiting in the ground of the intellect
for the fertilizing rain of a higher, intuitive, form of mind, to
make them live and grow and acquire real meaning

At every stage, therefore, the eternal Wisdom has been there
for the one who sought arduously enough. The words, or the
forms of genuine art which sometimes replaced words, were
suited to their time. And the same applies today when, in the...… (més)