The “Path” is a term that refers to the time-tested pathway towards spiritual realization. In theosophical literature it includes the narrow sense of the path towards spiritual initiation under the guidance of Masters of the Wisdom. These two need to be distinguished from each other:

The existence of Perfected Men and Women is one of the most important of the many facts which Theosophy puts before us. It follows logically from the other great Theosophical teachings of karma and evolution by reincarnation. As we look round us, we see individuals obviously at all stages of their evolution.

We generate three karmic forces every day of our lives: thought, emotion, and action. The most powerful of these three is thought. Thought is the origin of action and controls emotion. It is as powerful a force as electricity. Like all forms of energy, thought can be used for both good and ill, just as electricity can be used to improve the quality of life or to destroy it. Since the action of every force has an equal and opposite reaction, and since thought is a power we all control to some degree, it is important to know just what thought is and how it can be used effectively.

Karma is a Sanskrit word, literally meaning “action.” All actions are effects flowing from preceding causes, and as each effect becomes a cause of future effects, this idea of cause and effect is an essential part of the idea of action. The word action, or karma, is therefore used for causation, or for the unbroken linked series of causes and effects that make up all human activity. Hence, the phrase is sometimes used of an event, “This is my karma,” i.e., “This event is the effect of a cause set going by me in the past.” No one's life is isolated! It is the child of all the lives before it, the parent of all the lives that follow it, in the total aggregate of the lives that make up the continuing existence of the individual.

Reincarnation is the theory or belief that human beings are born into the physical body, not just once, but multiple times. In many religions and teachings, it includes being born into animal bodies, but in others, such as in theosophy, only in human forms. n the latter half of the twentieth century, studies in reincarnation took a new turn when researchers began to actually verify the claims of people (particularly children) who said that they remembered their previous lives. One of the events that triggered this direction was a book entitled The Search for Bridey Murphywritten by Morris Bernstein, about a woman who, under hypnosis, spoke about her past life. The case became controversial after some investigators claimed that it was a hoax, but it was sufficient to arouse the interest of independent researchers to do their verifications.