Theosophy across boundaries : transcultural and interdisciplinary perspectives on a modern esoteric movement / edited by Hans Martin Kramer and Julian Strube.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Krämer, Hans Martin, editor.

Strube, Julian, editor.

Series:

SUNY series in Western Esoteric Traditions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Theosophy--Influence.

Theosophy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix, 471 pages) : illustrations

Place of Publication:

Albany, New York : SUNY Press, [2020]

Summary:

"Demonstrates that Theosophy was part of a truly global movement and played an important role in the general histories of religion, science, philosophy, art, and politics"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Intro

Contents

List of Illustrations

Introduction Theosophy across Boundaries

A Brief History of the Theosophical Society

Summary of Part One: New Perspectives on Theosophy

Summary of Part Two: Theosophy in Literature, the Arts, and Politics

Notes

References

Part I New Perspectives on Theosophy

Chapter 1 Western Esotericism and the Orient in the First Theosophical Society

The First Theosophical Society

The Theosophical Microbe: George Henry Felt

The Other Woman: Emma Hardinge Britten

Mysteries of Authorship and the Orphic Circle

The Contents of Art Magic and Ghost Land

India in the Early Theosophical Imagination

Conclusion

Chapter 2 Hinduism, Theosophy, and the Bhagavad Gita within a Global Religious History of the Nineteenth Century

1. Bhagavad Gita in Precolonial India

2. Bhagavad Gita and Europe

3. Bhagavad Gita and the United States

4. Theosophy and the Bhagavad Gita

4.1. Christianity and the Bhagavad Gita

4.2. Bhagavad Gita and "Eastern" Wisdom

4.2.1. "Busiris the Ancient"

4.2.2. Early Theosophy and Bhagavad Gita

4.2.3. Theosophical Orientation toward the Bhagavad Gita

4.2.4. Theosophical Appropriation of the Arnold Translation of the Bhagavad Gita

4.2.5. Interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita by Indian Theosophists

5. Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita

6. Political Bhagavad Gita

6.1. Krishna as the "Ideal Man"

6.2. Bhagavad Gita as a Call for Armed Resistance

6.3. Bhagavad Gita and the Ethics of Action

7. Conclusion: Bhagavad Gita and Global Religious History

Chapter 3 Theosophying the Vietnamese Religious Landscape

Introduction

1. The Establishment of the Theosophical Society in Cochinchina (1928-1975)

The Beginning

The Leadbeater Branch

Postwar Developments.

2. "The Path That Leads to the Masters of Wisdom": Translation and Circulation of Models

Buddhist Messianic Dynamics

Theosophical Literature: Translation and Exegesis

The Vietnamese Lodges at the Intersection of the International Theosophical Society Network

3. Theosophying the Vietnamese Religious Landscape

Reimagining Buddhist Philanthropy and Preaching

Recasting and Laicizing Meditation

Chapter 4 Theosophical Movements in Modern China

The Early Theosophical Movement in Modern China

After Wu's Death

The Besant School in Shanghai

Chapter 5 Absence Unveiled?

Academic Evaluation of the Theosophical Society

Historical Insignificance or Unexplained Absence?

Theosophical Historiography, A. P. Sinnett, and the Masters

Spiritualism, Occultism, and the Truth?

Critics and Defenders of the Mahatmas

The Septenary Consitution

Crossing the Boundary-T. Subba Row

Chapter 6 Affinity and Estrangement

Cosmopolitan Theosophical Affinities

Estrangement: Reformulating Transnational Spiritual Affinities for Secular Agendas

Summary

Chapter 7 "To Study Judaism in the Light of Theosophy and Theosophy in the Light of Judaism"

1. Introduction

2. Jewish Theosophists and the Association of Hebrew Theosophists

3. The Jewish Identities of the Hebrew Theosophists

4. "To Study Judaism in the Light of Theosophy": The Mission to Jews

5. "To Study Theosophy in the Light of Judaism": The Mission to the Gentiles

Part II Theosophy in Literature, The Arts, and Politics

Chapter 8 International Religious Organizations in a Colonial World

Introduction.

The Theosophical and Maha-­Bodhi Societies as International Religious Organizations

Local Actors, Movements, and Organizations

Arakanese and the Early Days of the Maha-­Bodhi Society

Shin Chandra and the Maha-­Bodhi Society

Arakanese Networks in the Maha-­Bodhi Society

Arakan and Chittagong

The Arakanese Maha-­Bodhi Society: Asserting Independence Through Religion?

Asserting Independence from the International Maha-­Bodhi Society

A European Buddhist in Arakan

Conclusion: From Arakan to Ambedkar

Coda

Journals Consulted

Chapter 9 Euro-­Asian Political Activist and Spiritual Seeker

1. Early Life and Political Activism

2. Paul Richard as a Spiritual Seeker in Asia

3. Paul Richard and Theosophy

Chapter 10 An Irish Theosophist's Pan-­Asianism or Fant-­asia?

1. Synaesthesia Echoed by Fantasia (1940)

2. Cousins, Belated or Unintentional Benefactor

3. Cousins's Appreciation of Koumé and Gurcharan Singh's Appropriation of Cousins?

4. Gurcharan Singh's Appropriation of Cousins?

5. Gurcharan Singh's Lotus Pattern: from Aryan to Asian?

Chapter 11 Theosophy as a Transnational Network

The Theosophical Society in 1920s Tokyo

Noémi Pernessin Raymond and Theosophy

Stefan Łubienski

Theosophy and Artists

The Golconde Dormitory Project

Chapter 12 From Healer to Shaman

1. Introduction: The Hidden Influence of Theosophy on Balinese Tradition

2. The Esotericization of Balinese Medicine

3. Esoteric Bali as Part of the Spiritual Trail

4. "Indian Bali" as a Product of Colonial History

5. The Coming of Theosophy

6. Conclusion: Across all Boundaries-Theosophy and Esotericism in Bali

References.

Chapter 13 Effects of Theosophy on Russian Cultural History

General Introduction

Russian Freemasons as Trailblazers for Theosophy in Russia

The First Wave of Theosophical Aspirations in Russia in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries (a Historical Overview)

Theosophy in Russia after the Revolutions of 1917

Theosophy and Its Effects on Russian Intellectual Art and Literature

Prospective Research Directions

Contributors

Index.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438480435

1438480431