The Theosophical Movement

Since the theosophical movement was started by the inauguration of the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875 the movement has fragmented.

There is now the Adyar Society, Point Loma Publications, the Theosophical Society at Pasadena (which moved there from Corvina) and the United Lodge of Theosophists based in Los Angeles. The Society at Pasadena was formed from a nucleus of personnel from the original Point Loma Society which was disbanded. Point Loma Publications Inc still, however, operates independently. This fragmentation of the movement is important because each part went its own way in the matter of teaching. The Adyar Society adopted in very large measure the 'second generation' literature of Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater and others. As time went on this considerably diverged from the original teachings. The Point Loma literature is largely that of Godfried de Puruker. Originally this was based mainly on The Secret Doctrine but latterly many ideas, viz the peregrinations of the Ego round the planets, became an important part of his teaching. No evidence for this exists in the Secret Doctrine, The Corvina theosophists hereto have preserved the original teachings intact and so have the United Lodge of Theosophists but in certain areas, for example the Mahatma Letters to Sinnett, they have reservations as to the authenticity of the letters.

The point of these differences is that, to a very large extent, they have come about through personal views and preferences regarding the teachings. In some cases major divergences from the original as commentaries have been written into much publicized literature, with the consequence that much of what is now regarded Theosophy on a worldwide scale, is in fact not in accordance with the original teachings