In this article, "Theosophical Study and Work," Mr. Judge gives many important hints and ideas that are as applicable to the students of today as they were in 1890 when the article was written. It has been reprinted in The Heart Doctrine. Two other articles on the same subject, reprinted in Vernal Blooms, also provide much food for thought; these two are: "Of Studying Theosophy" and "Much Reading, Little Thought." Inasmuch as a study of Theosophy, as also its application and promulgation, is the duty of present-day students, if H.P.B.'s injunction in the closing portion of her Key to Theosophy is to be carried out, it is as well that we pause and think just what the study of Theosophy implies.
The very first step, perhaps, is to see the necessity for such study. Just as food is a necessity to keep our physical body functioning, so also our inner nature needs food. The right kind of food is important in both cases. Therefore, the study of Theosophy, or of any particular aspect of it, must become a matter of necessity, and not merely a convenience. Often people say they will take up the study of Theosophy, or engage themselves in living a better life, when they have the time for it, and for them that time seldom comes.
Seeing the necessity for study is, therefore, the first important consideration. Next is our attitude of mind. Are we approaching the study as seekers after knowledge, as inquirers and students, or are we approaching it with a view to finding our own opinions confirmed or because we want something new to believe in? If the latter, then we might as well give up at the outset.
Enthusiasm, zeal and perseverance are necessary for study, but these will not be present if we keep our minds closed, or if we accept anything and everything that Theosophy teaches, without any thought on our part. That is why in his article, "Of Studying Theosophy," Mr. Judge gives us at the very outset a series of "don'ts," which should "first engage the student's attention."
The actual study of the teaching comes next. Students often think that, because they are able to repeat exactly what has been written, they have understood and know all that is to be known on the subject. All down the ages people have blindly repeated sacred texts word for word, with no understanding, and they are no wiser as a result. We must first understand the words themselves, and then get behind the words to the ideas. What is the idea that the teacher or writer is trying to convey? It is only when we have understood the ideas that we are able to give expression to them, to promulgate them, and side by side with this comes application of what is studied. We must be able to express our ideas in clear and simple language which the most ordinary mind can understand and grasp. This cannot be done unless we have assimilated the subject ourselves. Take the idea of Reincarnation as an example. Are we able to answer satisfactorily to ourselves all the objections against this doctrine that are commonly raised? Are we able to apply it in our own daily life? Unless we can do this, our power of expression or promulgation will be limited and others will not benefit by our efforts. Therefore, it is not merely studying words, but getting behind them to the ideas, that is important.
Getting to the "seed" ideas is a still further step. It is the assimilation of one or two important ideas, rather than a mass of indigested ideas, that is needed. In any book that we take up for study—for instance, The Ocean of Theosophy—either from the table of contents, or chapter by chapter, we should pick out what we feel are one or two or three seed ideas, and see how they are developed in subsequent chapters throughout the book. In doing this, our knowledge on any particular subject will grow. A plant or a tree grows from a tiny seed, and so does our knowledge of Theosophy.
Often, when giving a talk or a lecture, students have so many ideas to offer on a subject that there is not time to develop them or carry them to their logical conclusion. It is far better to limit oneself to a few seed ideas, and develop them, because thus our own assimilation of a subject will be helped.
Assimilation is, therefore, another important aspect of Theosophical study. Theosophy is the accumulated Wisdom of the Ages, as the First Item of The Secret Doctrine points out; it is "the uninterrupted record covering thousands of generations of Seers whose respective experiences were made to test and to verify the traditions passed orally by one early race to another, of the teachings of higher and exalted beings." We are further told that the Wise Men of the Fifth Race passed their lives "in learning, not teaching." This was done "by checking, testing, and verifying in every department of nature the traditions of old by the independent visions of great adepts." Theosophy, therefore, is not an evolving philosophy, as so many modern-day philosophies are, and we need not hesitate putting its well-tested teachings into practice. Theosophical ideas must, therefore, become, as Mr. Judge points out in "Much Reading, Little Thought," an "integral part" of our "constant thought." To take again the idea of Reincarnation: Do we live our day-to-day life as if we believed in Reincarnation? Do we live to "eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die"? Or do we act as souls, preparing our mental luggage for a future incarnation? Are we making friends or enemies for the future? This is all part of the assimilation and application of our study.
There is also a wider aspect of Theosophical study. All that we have considered so far applies to individual study. In the U.L.T. we have collective or group study carried out by means of study classes and other meetings. By the exchange of ideas with other students, our knowledge is broadened. Collective or group study will be exactly what each makes it. Mr. Judge, in "Theosophical Study and Work," points out that if a Branch as a whole is weak in study and application, this "affects not only the immediate associates but also projects into the great universal current an influence that has its weight in the destiny of the race." A U.L.T., or a study group, has a sphere of influence which embraces the immediate neighbourhood in which it is. If the members are weak in their study, and as a consequence poor in application, then the influence emanating from the lodge or group will also be weak. If Theosophical ideas are eventually to change the minds and hearts of people, they must be injected into the thought atmosphere of the race. With so much of destructive thinking going on today, the world is in need of constructive thought. This can and must come from a group of students intent on the study of Theosophy.
There is another way of looking at this wider aspect of Theosophical study. A weak student will weaken the Lodge or study group he is in; a weakened Lodge or study group will weaken the whole U.L.T. movement. We are thus, in Mr. Judge's words, "theosophically speaking, keepers and helpers of each other....Each Branch is separately responsible for its own actions, and yet everyone is helped or injured by every other. These reciprocating influences work on the real though unseen plane where every man is dynamically united to every fellow man."
If collective study is to be effective, then each should come to the meeting prepared. This cannot be done ten minutes before the meeting begins, by a hasty reading of the portion assigned the week before. The preparation for the next meeting should continue throughout the week, if we are to contribute anything to the group study, which requires a sharing of our knowledge. If, therefore, we go unprepared, it means we are benefiting by the results of the study of others, but are giving nothing in return.
The attitude of mind with which we attend a meeting is also important. Inasmuch as the object of our study, individual or collective, is that Theosophical ideas may gradually permeate the thought atmosphere, and others may benefit from them, our own inner attitude must be such that others will be attracted. They will not be so attracted unless we are able to hold these ideas as a continuous attitude, unless we manifest them in all that we do. Therefore, while the correct study of Theosophy is important, equally important is the attitude of mind with which we approach the teachings, and what we expect to obtain from them.
We should "never delude ourselves into believing that we can accomplish in a single lifetime what has taken avatars innumerable existences to achieve." We can, though, get our mental luggage ready for another incarnation, and as a beginning has to be made, the proper study of Theosophy is the first step.
