In course of time branches of the Society were in India and in
Ceylon. The Buddhist and Brahmanical members became more numerous
than the Europeans. A league was formed, and to the name of the
Society was added the subtitle, "The Brotherhood of Humanity."
After an active correspondence between the Arya-Samaj, founded by
Swami Dayanand, and the Theosophical Society, an amalgamation was
arranged between the two bodies. Then the Chief Council of the
New York branch decided upon sending a special delegation to India,
for the purpose of studying, on the spot, the ancient language of
the Vedas and the manuscripts and the wonders of Yogism. On the
17th of December, 1878, the delegation, composed of two secretaries
and two members of the council of the Theosophical Society, started
from New York, to pause for a while in London, and then to proceed
to Bombay, where it landed in February, 1879.
It may easily be conceived that, under these circumstances, the
members of the delegation were better able to study the country
and to make fruitful researches than might, otherwise, have been
the case. Today they are looked upon as brothers and aided by
the most influential natives of India. They count among the
members of their society pandits of Benares and Calcutta, and
Buddhist priests of the Ceylon Viharas--amongst others the learned
Sumangala, mentioned by Minayeff in the description of his visit
to Adam's Peak--and Lamas of Thibet, Burmah, Travancore and elsewhere.
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