Freedom of the Society
Resolution passed by the General Council of The Theosophical Society, 1949
Freedom Of The Society
“The Theosophical Society, while cooperating with all other bodies whose aims and activities make such cooperation possible, is and must remain an organisation entirely independent of them, not committed to any objects save its own, and intent on developing its own work on the broadest and most inclusive lines, so as to move towards its own goal as indicated in and by the pursuit of those objects and that Divine Wisdom which in the abstract is implicit in the title, The Theosophical Society.
Since Universal Brotherhood and the Wisdom are undefined and unlimited, and since there is complete freedom for each and every member of the Society in thought and action, the Society seeks ever to maintain its own distinctive and unique character by remaining free of affiliation or identification with any other organisation.”
Resolution passed by the General Council of The Theosophical Society, 1949.
If Eastern comparisons may be permitted, Theosophy is the shoreless ocean of universal truth, love, and wisdom, reflecting its radiance on the earth, while the Theosophical Society is only a visible bubble on that reflection. Theosophy is divine nature, visible and invisible, and its Society human nature trying to ascend to its divine parent. Theosophy, finally, is the fixed eternal sun, and its Society the evanescent comet trying to settle in an orbit to become a planet, ever revolving within the attraction of the sun of truth. It was formed to assist in showing to men and women that such a thing as Theosophy exists, and to help them to ascend towards it by studying and assimilating its eternal verities.
H. P. Blavatsky, in The Key To Theosophy, 'The Concrete And The Abstract'
The idea that the Three Objects are subject to the name of the Society, which is “Theosophical”, is made very clear in the “Freedom Of The Society” Resolution, passed by the General Council in 1949. The Resolution points out that “it is not committed to any objects save its own, and intent on developing its own work on the broadest and most inclusive lines”. It goes on by saying “so as to move towards its own goal as indicated in and by the pursuit of those objects and that Divine Wisdom which in the abstract is implicit in the title, The Theosophical Society”. Therefore, ‘Theosophy’ is the vision. The Three Objects are aspects of a mission statement, or qualitative tools in the service of attaining Divine Wisdom. The character of the work carried out by Theosophists inherits this vision, and hence Theosophy becomes both an inspiration and a goal. It is a star in the distance to draw out ones highest qualities and also an unfolding plan in which to discover and find ones purpose.
Yet just as the TS operates under the guiding light of the Three Objects, so in turn can this Resolution, the “Freedom of The Society” best be read and interpreted when it is blended into, and brought under the broad umbrella of, the Three Objects.
