Excerpt from TheosophyTheosophy is derive from two Greek words - Theos, God; Sophia, Wisdom - and is therefore God-Wisdom, Divine Wisdom. Any dictionary will give as its meaning: "A claim to a direct knowledge of God and of Spirits," a definition which is not inaccurate, though it is scanty and affords but a small idea of all that is covered by the word, either historically or practically. The obtaining of "a direct knowledge of God" is - as we shall see in dealing with the religious aspect of Theosophy - the ultimate object of all Theosophy, as it is the very heart and life of all true Religion; this is "the highest knowledge, the knowledge of Him by whom all else is known"; but the lower knowledge, that of the knowable "all else" and the methods of knowing it, bulk largely in Theosophical study. This is natural enough, for the supreme knowledge must be gained by each for himself, and little can be done by another, save by pointing to the way, by inspiring to the effort, by setting the example; whereas the lower knowledge may be taught in books, in lectures, in conversation, is transmissible from mouth to ear.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.