Why I joined the Theosophical Society

I spent much of last week studying and teaching at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society

America in Wheaton, Ill., and decided to become a member before I headed home. I had known about

Theosophy since my teens, and had always admired it as one of the very first truly inter-spiritual

organizations. The three goals of the Society are simple: promoting a global human community devoted

to the thriving of humanity in harmony with nature; the comparative study of religion, philosophy,

science, and the arts; and the investigation into and cultivation of human potential beyond the

normative capacities of mind and body. Now that I think of it, these could have formed the mission

statement of my life, but these alone didn’t compel me to join the Society.

I joined the Theosophical Society because of its motto: There is no religion higher than Truth. Truth,

unlike belief, is what is revealed when we shed all opinions, and see what is rather than we are told

must be. I would inscribe this motto on the doors of every church, synagogue, mosque, and temple

throughout the world, reminding everyone who enters that their religion is a finger pointing

beyond itself toward the greater Truth owned by none and open to all. This single act would go a long

way to ending the violence perpetrated in the name of our Gods and faiths. I doubt we will see it posted

anytime soon. Hence my decision to join the Theosophical Society.