Put simply, it states that: meditation is the fixing of the mind on an object and holding it there. What then results after prolonged practice is the… - David Reigle

Theosophy is the modern name given by H. P. Blavatsky to what is described by her as the once universal but now hidden Wisdom-Religion, the parent source of all known religions. This original Wisdom-Religion had been preserved intact out of the reach of the many conflicting sects, who each thought that their piece of it was the only truth.

While the idea of initiation is not new, these teachings on the initiations are not found in the earlier Theosophical writings of Blavatsky, but are considered by many to have originated with Bailey.

One of the most defining teachings of the Bailey writings is that on the five initiations, given in her first book, Initiation, Human and Solar, (1922), used throughout her writings, and given its final elaboration in her last book, The Rays and the Initiations, (1960)