In 1922, a proposal was made to establish a School at Adyar whose programmes would attempt to develop a dynamic synthesis of all the aspects of philosophy, religion, science, literature and art. Annie Besant directed that the work should be based on the central principle that all human activity is an evolving expression of the One Life. Students coming from different countries were to have the opportunity to listen to experts on these subjects, study in the Adyar Library, contribute papers and take part in discussions. The school was called Brahmavidya Asrama, a name meaning practically the same as 'School of the Wisdom', with the word asrama suggesting that the students as a rule would be resident at Adyar. It was opened in in 1926 with the expectation that educated young men and women, eager for knowledge and prepared to lead a simple life, would come from all the Sections of the TS in the world. The programmes went on successfully for some time and then subsided.
                 In 1926 a report was also published in The Theosophist from the General Secretary of the German Section, Mr Axel von Fielitz-Coniar, about a School of the Wisdom conducted in Darmstadt, Germany, in 1921, in the presence of Rabindranath Tagore, and interpreted by Count Hermann Keyserling. It said that so great was the effect of the lectures that many who saw each other for the fIrst time immediately discovered kinship of soul; and that it was impossible to realize what the School of the Wisdom signifIed for the spiritual life of Germany. Count Keyserling declared: 'I do not intend to educate a body of disciples for myself, but on the contrary, my desire is to train each one to be his own leader and guide.'
                 Today's School of the Wisdom at Adyar succeeded the above-mentioned efforts, and was resuscitated under the guidance of the then President of the TS, Mr C. Jinarajadasa. The English nomenclature was preferred, but the aims and ideals were the same as before. When speaking on this subject of the School in 1926, Annie Besant made various points which are still relevant today. First of all, she clarifIed the purpose of the studies to be undertaken. What would the students be seeking? The answer is suggested by the name of the School itself. Wisdom comes to those who seek the Eternal and catch a glimpse of the Divine Plan, for it 'illuminates the whole field of the unfoldment of Divinity' through the processes of manifestation. As we are told in At the Feet afthe Master: 'When once a man has seen that and really knows it, he cannot help working for it and making himself one with it, because it is so glorious, so beautiful.'
                 In the light of the Eternal alone, seemingly unconnected and fragmented phenomena and events can be truly un­derstood. But as the Divine Plan cannot be analysed and assessed by the finite mind, it has to break out of its own periphery. Dr Besant drew attention to the ancient teaching that all knowledge that can be taught is the lesser knowledge or apara vidya, learnt through the mediation of the mind and intellect. A teacher may have a role at this level. The higher knowledge or para vidya is the light that illuminates the lower field of know ledge. It cannot be taught and is acquired only when knowledge is wedded to the aban­donment of a separate self, implied in the virtue of devotion. Then the light radiates from within.
                 The student who aspires to Wisdom needs to cultivate the talent to look from within, and not as an outsider. This means developing a higher faculty which sees from inside and is therefore called intuition, insight or buddhi. The ordinary mind looks from outside at the whole movement of life as 'objects', and hence lacks the understanding necessary for synthesis and reconciliation of apparently discordant elements in a Unity. Theosophy proclaims that the life-force works from within outwards, at the individual as well as higher levels. All outer action has its root in an inner condition. Studies in the School of the Wisdom should aim at stimulating the latent faculty of intuitive awareness that perceives the deep rela­tionship of the inrterwith the outer, of the many with the One.
                 The School of the Wisdom is meant to be a nursery from which generations of Theosophical communicators would arise, combining in themselves the best qualities of mind and heart. They would then gain the respect, or at least the attention, of the world. Such messengers, being endowed with an open mind, would refrain from any controversy, merely presenting what they understand as the basis for further discourse by intelligent men and women.
                 Students leaving the school were encouraged to form similar mini schools in their own areas and even Lodges. Such an expansion has taken place to a certain extent. The European Federation conducts a School of the Wisdom in Holland, at the Theosophical Centre in Naarden. The West African Section has also been conducting a mini School of the Wisdom in Accra, Ghana. In Krotona, California and in the Springbrook Centre. in Australia there are Schools of Theosophy, which is another word for Wisdom. Although geographically they may be remote from each other, their shared aims and approach to studies can inte­grate them in spirit. Stimulation of in­tuitive perception that relates the inner and the outer; a point of view embracing the happenings in the temporal world in a synthesis that draws sustenance from openness to the sphere of the Eternal; and communicating energy which blends knowledge with devotion and seeks not to raise controversy, but to engender enquiry and the capacity to find illumination from within - these are the shared aims.