This document is one of the foremost works penned within the path of Theosophy- specifically, by one of its foremost members, William Quan Judge, who became Vice President of the entire order.Much of the doctrine to be read about here stems from the East- elements of Hinduism and Buddhism were overlapped with some Western philosophy and crafted into a sort of mystery school that nonetheless was both public and lacked a strict hierarchy in favor of delving into spiritual lore. While some of the theory of Theosophy was eventually supplanted, some of its lore eventually came to be quite accepted- such as the exceptionally long dating of the Earth or the expansive nature of the universe.