81. Theosophical Congress in Amsterdam

From June 19 to 21, 1904, the Federation of European Sections of the Theosophical Society held its congress in Amsterdam. The members of the Dutch section were tasked with taking care of all the work to be done at the meeting location. And they took on this truly difficult task in a way that must ensure them the full recognition and warmest thanks of the European sections, who were their guests this time. They organized the three-day proceedings in the most dignified and meaningful way, interspersing the actual Theosophical meetings with artistic performances that included musical and declamatory performances. These performances were not organized with outside artists, but by the members of the Dutch section themselves. It is only with heartfelt satisfaction that one can look back on what was offered there. It has testified to the tireless work and successful propaganda of the great spiritual movement in Holland. It already has almost eight hundred members there.

The proceedings of the congress will now be outlined in a few strokes. — Annie Besant chaired the meeting. She returned to Europe a few weeks ago from an eighteen-month stay in India. It was good that she was able to lead the proceedings. Everyone who understands the true meaning of the important spiritual movement embodied in the Theosophical movement knows this. After the death of H.P. Blavatsky, the spiritual leadership of the Society passed to Annie Besant. This must be counted as a good karma for the Society. In everything that comes from this woman lives the power by which the Society must be guided if it is to fulfill its mission. This mission consists in elevating present-day civilization to a spiritual life. This civilization has achieved untold intellectual and material cultural work. It has enormously expanded humanity's outlook and outer work and will continue to expand it even further. The spiritual deepening was bound to suffer. The nineteenth century lacked the spiritual direction, it lacked the spiritual life that gave impulses to earlier great epochs of human development. That was the necessary fate of cultural development. For when man's energy is particularly expressed in one direction, it must withdraw its activity somewhat in the other. At present, however, we have again reached the point where spiritual life must be added to our culture if it is not to become completely externalized, and if humanity is not to lose touch with spiritual experiences. This mission of the Theosophical Society is now expressed completely in everything Annie Besant does and says. The highest task of our time is the innermost impulse of her own soul. Knowledge and will, insight and ideal of our time are united in Annie Besant, to be fertilized by her own highly developed spiritual life as a force emanating from her and to communicate as such to her fellow human beings. Where she speaks, the spirit of the audience is raised to the heights of divine knowledge and their hearts are filled with enthusiasm for the spiritual currents of humanity. And so it was when she gave her magnificent opening address at the Amsterdam Congress. She set out the conditions under which the work of the Society must be carried out. The question of the “why” and “wherefore” of the gathering was answered by her in broad strokes. She described the theosophical movement as part of the great spiritual movement that is taking hold of the whole world today. The spiritualization of the whole civilization must be achieved. A glance at this civilization teaches this. In the material, this civilization lives itself out. In a science that seeks to understand the material, in an industry and technology that serves the outer life, in a traffic that makes the material interests of the whole earth more and more common. But all this lacks the spiritual. Our knowledge is a mind knowledge, our commercial prosperity promotes external well-being. But this science on the one hand and material prosperity on the other are only an external form of culture, not its inner life. To everything we have conquered, the heart and the life must be added. We must again include the divine ideal in our will; then all externals will no longer be an end in themselves, but only the outer garment, only the form of civilization. The spirit must fill the body of our civilization if it is to endure. And to fill this body with the spirit is the purpose for which the Theosophical movement has been called into being. It starts from the most ancient thoughts of mankind, from that wisdom which in primeval times raised our race to its present level of consciousness, and which has always been effective in all great progress. These thoughts, this wisdom are essentially as old as humanity. Only their forms must change according to the different needs of different times.

Theosophy does not ascribe the origin of wisdom to an external, random development. Rather, it derives it from the brotherhood of the great leaders of humanity. These are the beings who have already achieved the high degree of perfection in the past that the average human being will strive for in the future. Such advanced brothers of the human race use their degree of perfection to help the rest of humanity to progress. Their work is done in secret. It must be done in secret because it is too high to be understood by the masses. They are the custodians of the divine ideals. From time to time they send their emissaries into the world to give it great cultural impulses. The great world religions owe their origin to such impulses; all cultural achievements owe their foundations to them.

One such impulse has been sent into the world in recent times, leading to the founding of the Theosophical Society by H.P. Blavatsky and H.S. Olcott. Its aim is to remind mankind that thought is greater than expression, spirit greater than form. It seeks to show that science must regain its knowledge not only of the sensual but also of the supersensible worlds, that the heart should not cling only to material goods but should open itself to the divine ideal. Above and beyond the material gain that each individual can derive from our present means of culture stands the general spiritual uplift of the whole of mankind. All the prosperity that humanity strives for should be sought only in order to build a dwelling for the spirit on this earth. And this dwelling is worthy only if it is suffused with beauty. But beauty is only possible when it emanates from the spirit. Our material culture cannot have true art unless it conquers true faith again. From the art of the Middle Ages, the faith of medieval humanity shines out to us. Its painters allowed themselves to be inspired by the religious feeling that lived in their hearts. The content of faith gave meaning and significance to the lines and colors of the artists. A new content of thought, appropriate to the imagination of contemporary humanity, is what Theosophy seeks to bring to bear. And the new content of thought will be the creator of a new art. This is a task of our time. All nobler spirits feel this. The striving towards it is noticeable everywhere. The Theosophical Society wants to be a leader, a vanguard in this movement. It wants to inspire individual men and women for this goal, which is currently felt so clearly.

And in this way it unites the striving for tolerance and universal love of humanity. These have always been the forces from which the great advances of humanity have emerged. What individual cultural movements strive for, the theosophical current seeks to form into a great unity. It seeks to overcome narrow-mindedness and intolerance. For only in united striving can humanity today achieve its goal. The Theosophical Society does not exist for the selfish pursuit of its members. It is a mistake to join it for the purpose of one's own advancement. It wants to be there for humanity, it wants to work in its service. One should become a member of the Society only to be a channel through which flows a knowledge that promotes human progress. The Society does not grow when its membership increases daily, but when these members grow in confidence and insight into their lofty task with each passing day. The justification of the Society lies in the change that has taken place in human thinking over the last thirty years. Today, people no longer look down on those who no longer focus solely on the material side of culture. The heart begins to expand, and people have an appreciation again for those who strive for the spiritual. Our materialism became so powerful because our devotion had become so weak. But the person who is unable to ascend to spiritual heights in adoration closes himself off. But devotion opens the heart and mind. We rise to that which we behold in devotional love and high esteem. The call for such deepening has gone out to those who have united in the “Theosophical Society”; they shall be good helmsmen for the path that is mapped out for the present civilization.

The individual sections were represented by their general secretaries: the English section by Bertram Keightley, the Dutch section by W. B. Fricke, the French section by Dr. Th. Pascal, and the German section by Dr. Rudolf Steiner. Unfortunately, the general secretary of the Italian section, Decio Calvari, could not be present. Johan van Manen conducted the business of the congress and also gave his report at the meeting on June 19, 1904. His work deserves special mention. He had an enormous workload during the preparations for the meeting and during the meeting itself. One could only admire the willingness to make sacrifices, the prudence and energy of this member of the Theosophical Society.

On the evening of June 19, a public lecture was held. Annie Besant spoke on “the new psychology”. She outlined the change that has taken place in the last forty years in the prevailing views on the nature of the mind. Forty years ago, materialism, in the form of men like Büchner and Vogt, could claim that the brain secretes thoughts like the liver secretes bile. Since that time, people have abandoned the belief that the nature of the mind can be known by studying the mechanism of the brain. Today we know that such a process would be the same as trying to penetrate the secrets of a Mozart or Beethoven creation by studying the hammers and keys of a piano. The phenomena of dream life have been studied, and those manifestations of consciousness that occur in abnormal states of the physical body have been studied in depth. This has led to the conviction that the spiritual is an independent entity in man, and that the way in which it manifests itself in the ordinary state is only one of its forms. Only this form, this mode of expression, is conditioned by the physical structure of the human senses and the human brain. It must be the nature of the spirit to express itself through other instruments in a different way. Experimental science has thus confirmed the fundamental truth of all deeper religious world views that the spirit in human day-consciousness has only one of its revelations. It has shown that through certain processes (in trance, etc.) forms of consciousness arise in man in which he is quite different from his so-called normal consciousness. Thus it is also scientifically justified not to seek the truth only through the form of consciousness that comes to us in everyday life, but to rise to higher forms of consciousness in order to get to know the higher worlds.

The other works of the congress were dealt with in such a way that departments were formed according to the subject matter, in which corresponding lectures were held. It became clear how Theosophy has already extended its work to all branches of modern spiritual life and to social ideals. Theosophists seek to bring the suitability of their goals to bear in all branches of culture, and they also seek to integrate their thoughts and ideals into the endeavors of the present everywhere. The individual departments were as follows: 1. Science; 2. Comparative Religion; 3. Philology; 4. Human Brotherhood; 5. Occultism; 6. Philosophy; 7. Theosophical Method of Work; 8. Art.

In the scientific section, a paper by Dr. Pascal on the “Nature of Consciousness” was read. The author had subtly combined the basic tenets of Theosophy with modern ideas. This was followed by a suggestion from Ludwig Deinhard (Munich). He pointed out the various experimentally determined states of consciousness (multiplex personality), explained them lucidly, and called on those who had developed higher states of consciousness within themselves to also put their experiences at the service of the theosophical basic views (reincarnation and karma). This was followed by a stimulating discussion of the “Development of a Second Personality” by Alfred R. Orage (Leeds). The two presentations followed on nicely from what Annie Besant had presented in her lecture on “the new psychology”. From the proceedings of this section, it can only be stated that Emilio Scalfaro (Bologna), Arturio Reghini (Italy) and Mrs. Sarah Corbett (Manchester) presented papers on important questions of space, matter and other topics. The wealth of material presented cannot be covered in a short summary, especially since lectures were held in different rooms at the same time and it was only possible for individuals to attend a part of each. The works will also be published in a detailed congress report (yearbook of the congress) and will thus be accessible to everyone. Therefore, only a few things will be reported here. In the section on comparative religion, the following was available: “The Religion of the Future - a View of Vaishnavism” by Purnendu Narayana Sinha (India).

In the section on “human brotherhood”, there was a treatise on community life among so-called primitive peoples by Mme Emma Weise (Paris). Works of this kind are important for the theosophist because they point to conditions in which the principle of brotherhood was effective as a natural law of the soul in human tribes. Progress had to lead necessarily to separation and to egoism. But this is only a transitional epoch. Seclusion must give way to selfless devotion, to ethical brotherhood, again, at a higher level, to what was once innate in man at a lower level. The social coexistence of people was the subject of the lectures by D. A. Courmes (Paris) and S. Edgar Aldermann (Sacramento, Cal.).

In the “Occultism” section, Annie Besant spoke about the “Nature of Occultism”. She pointed out H.P. Blavatsky's saying that occultism is the study of the universal world spirit in all of nature. The occultist recognizes that everything that can be perceived in the world is based on a universal spirit; and that the world of appearances only gives the forms, the expressions of this hidden (occult) world spirit. This conviction is expressed in all great world religions, and occultists find the real foundations of religions confirmed by their own experience. The science of the intellect can only recognize the outside of the world. It speaks of forces and laws. The occultist sees behind these forces and laws. And he then perceives that these are only the outer shell for living entities, just as man's body is the shell for soul and spirit. From the lower forms that hide behind the forces of nature, to the exalted world spirits, whom he addresses as Logoi, the occultist pursues the spiritual realm according to his ability. But in order to recognize this world as a reality, he must go through a careful training. He must achieve two things. First, he must expand his consciousness so that it can embrace higher worlds, just as the ordinary conscious mind dominates the physical world. Second, he must develop the higher senses, which can perceive in these worlds as eyes and ears perceive in the physical world. The first goal, the expansion of consciousness, depends on man learning to control his thoughts. In ordinary life, man is controlled by his thoughts. They come and go, dragging the consciousness hither and thither. The occultist must be master of the course of his thoughts. He regulates their course. It is in his power to decide which thoughts he will allow to enter and which he will reject. This goal can only be achieved through the most diligent self-education. Once you have prepared yourself in this way, you can begin to develop the higher senses. As long as a person is still under the influence of his passions, desires and instincts, the possession of higher senses can only be harmful to him. A pure, selfless life is a matter of course for the occultist. The personal desires he harbors of his own accord take shape in the higher worlds. Man himself is the author of these forms. If he begins to see these forms, he is exposed to the danger of mistaking his own personal creations of desire and longing for objective realities. These products of his body of desire and longing are hidden from the average person. If they are not to become the source of serious errors and illusions for the developed higher senses, they must fade from view. The occultist must personally be without desire. There is a further danger that man may mistake the fragments of higher worlds that present themselves to his open eyes for exhaustive realities. The occultist must learn to recognize all this.

What particularly hinders the development of occult abilities is the haste and rush with which some disciples want to advance. These arise from personal impatience and restlessness. But the occultist must develop complete inner calm and patience. He must be able to wait until the right time for inspiration has come. He must wait patiently until he is given what he should not take in greed. He must do everything to enable the voices from the spiritual world to speak to him at the right moment; but he must not have the slightest belief that he can force these voices to come. He who is proud because he believes he knows more than others cannot become an occultist. This is why occultists speak of the heresy of separatism. If a person wants something for himself, if he does not want to possess everything in community, then he is immature for occultism. Every separation, every striving for personal self-interest, even if it is of the highest spiritual nature, kills the occult senses. The dangers of the occult path are great. Only patience and selflessness, willingness to make sacrifices and true love can make the occultist.

One of Leadbeater's letters, which was intended for this section, included some interesting remarks about the astral forms that are evoked by musical works of art. A sonata by Beethoven or a piano piece by Mozart can be characterized by the architecture that the clairvoyant can perceive in the astral space.

In the “Philosophy” section, Dr. Rudolf Steiner gave a lecture on “ Mathematics and Occultism”. He assumed that Plato demanded a mathematical education from his students, that the Gnostics referred to their higher wisdom as mathesis and that the Pythagoreans saw the basis of all being in number and form. He explained that they all had not the abstract mathematics in mind, but that they meant the intuitive vision of the occultist, who perceives the laws in the higher worlds with the help of a spiritual sensation that presents in the spiritual that which music is for our ordinary sensual world. Just as air, through vibrations that can be expressed in numbers, arouses musical sensations, so the occultist, if he prepares himself by knowing the secrets of numbers, can perceive spiritual music in the higher worlds, which, with particularly high development of the human being, intensifies to the sensation of the music of the spheres. This music of the spheres is not a figment of the imagination; it is a real experience for the occultist. By incorporating the arithmetics into his own being, by permeating his astral and mental body with the intimate sense that is expressed in the numerical relationships, the human being prepares himself to let hidden world phenomena have an effect on him.

In more recent times, the occult sense has withdrawn from the sciences. Since Copernicus and Galileo, science has been concerned with conquering the physical world. But it is in the eternal plan of human development that physical science, too, should find access to the spiritual world. In the age of physical research, mathematics has been enriched by Newton and Leibnitz's analysis of the infinite, by differential and integral calculus. Those who seek not only to understand in the abstract but to experience inwardly what a differential really represents will gain a view that is free of sensuality. For in the differential, the sensual view of space is overcome even in the symbol; for moments, human cognition can become purely mental. To the clairvoyant, this reveals itself in that the thought form of the differential is open to the outside, in contrast to the thought forms that a person receives through sensual observation. These are closed to the outside. Thus, through the analysis of the infinite, one of the paths is opened through which the higher senses of the human being open to the outside. The occultist knows what happens to the chakra (lotus flower) between the eyebrows when he develops the spirit of the differential within himself. If the mathematician is a selfless person, he can lay what he has achieved in this way on the general altar of human brotherhood. And the seemingly driest science can become an important source for occultism.

In the same section, Gaston Polak (Brussels) spoke about symmetry and rhythm in man. It was interesting to hear these discussions about the way in which the human being can be integrated into the general laws of the world. A paper by Bhagavän Däs (Benares) on the “Relationship between Self and Non-Self” was read out. Since this paper will soon be available in book form, a summary can be dispensed with here, which would also be rather difficult due to the subtle form of the train of thought.

In the section on the “Method of theosophical work”, the remarks of Ms. Ivy Hooper (London) were of great importance. She emphasized that the essential thing for the theosophist is not the dogmatic forms in which the spirit, the spiritual life is expressed, but this spirit, this life itself. It is commendable that this has been said with such clarity. We can express the spirit with Christian as well as with oriental symbols, if only we preserve this spirit. Where Christian symbolism is better understood, the Theosophist may make use of it. For one can be a good Theosophist without knowing anything about the dogmas in which spiritual wisdom was necessarily taught in the beginning. The Theosophical Society is supposed to be the bearer of this wisdom; but it should change the forms according to necessity. Buddhist formulas and oriental dogmas must not be confused with the theosophical spirit. Theosophy has no dogmatics. It only wants to be spiritual life.

A section on “Art” showed how the Theosophical worldview can also bring light to this area. Jean Delville (Brussels), for example, developed something spiritual in his lecture on the “Mission of Art.” Ludwig Deinhard (Munich) took this opportunity to present a treatise by the German painter Fidus, in which the latter expresses his Theosophical view of the secrets of art.

On Tuesday afternoon, the congress concluded with a short address by Annie Besant and expressions of thanks to our Dutch Theosophists from the attending general secretaries. That evening, there was another public lecture by Dr. Hall on the human aura, illustrated with slides.

An exhibition of works of art of particular interest to Theosophists had been organized and could be viewed during the entire duration of the congress.

London was chosen as the venue for next year's congress.