People tell me things anyhow, but there are things people have told me about their spiritual paths and their interpretations of life that they certainly would not have told me if I hadn’t made my miles, so to speak. [Is that an English expression?]

Theosophy certainly offers more depth than some of the new age alternatives out there (’the secret’ comes to mind - again). Does theosophy offer enough dept - I don’t know. I’m certainly contemplating dipping into other pools myself - Gelugpa Tibetan Buddhism seems closest to theosophy on several scores (though it’s not gender neutral - I recently learned, which just might be a deal breaker for me). I’m pretty sure, for instance, that for learning meditation theosophy isn’t the place to stick to - at least exclusively.

Also - in my opinion the TS is strongest when its members take that second object seriously and actually actively seek out other traditions as well. Perhaps not more than one extra traditions per member to keep that depth thing going? [Let's not put that in any guidebooks though - such rules may work for the ES, but not the TS. And I'm not even sure it works for the ES.]

Another good point. A number of years ago I had the opportunity to ask Ken Wilber about this very point, the tendency towards spiritual dilettantism and how to navigate the overabundance of choices. He basically said “Just pick one and stick with it.” Others have invoked the metaphor of using all your time and energy digging dozens of wells that never hit water, rather than just going deep enough in one spot.

And just today I came across this from the Hagakure: “It is bad when one thing becomes two. One should not look for anything else in the Way of the Samurai. It is the same for anything that is called a Way. If one understands things in this manner, he should be able to hear about all ways and be more and more in accord with his own.”

We’re in agreement that an amorphous ’spirituality’ might well be resistant to such depth.

The question then is can theosophy offer this depth? Does a syncretic tradition that encourages a comparative study of all the world’s religions, philosophies, sciences and arts fall prey to the same pitfalls as new age-ism?