“Enq: I was told that the Theosophical Society was originally founded to crush Spiritualism and belief in the survival of the individuality in man?
Theo: You are misinformed. Our beliefs are all founded on that immortal individuality. But then, like so many others, you confuse personality with individuality.
Your Western psychologists do not seem to have established any clear distinction between the two. Yet it is precisely that difference which gives the key-note to the understanding of Eastern philosophy, and which lies at the root of the divergence between the Theosophical and Spiritualistic teachings.
And though it may draw upon us still more the hostility of some Spiritualists, yet I must state here that it is Theosophy which is the true and unalloyed Spiritualism, while the modern scheme of that name is, as now practiced by the masses, simply transcendental materialism.
Enq: Please explain your idea more clearly.
Theo: What I mean is that though our teachings insist upon the identity of spirit and matter, and though we say that spirit is potential matter, and matter simply crystallized spirit (e.g., as ice is solidified steam), yet since the original and eternal condition of ‘all’ is not spirit but meta-spirit, so to speak, (visible and solid matter being simply its periodical manifestation), we maintain that the term spirit can only be applied to the true individuality.”
H. P. Blavatsky
The Mark Of God: Understanding Your "I AM Presence" 