The Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (1831-1891) and Henry S. Olcott (1832-1907), was an attempt to combine Hindu and Buddhist ideas in a new approach to the spiritual life, which Blavatsky and Olcott termed theosophy (i.e., “divine wisdom”).
The Society sought to popularize these ideas in the West. Blavatsky and Olcott not only wanted to make Eastern spirituality accessible to religious “seekers” of the late nineteenth century but also to create a bridge between Western and occult and mystical thought. Blavatsky and Olcott claimed to have knowledge of the secret teachings of the “Ascended Masters” of India and Tibet, whom they claimed to have “channeled.”Blavatsky, the principal theorist of the Theosophical Society, became notorious in the United States when she promoted the practice of seances, through which she claimed to contact the spirits of the dead. Her critics dismissed her as a fraud, but for a time her writings— particularly Isis Unveiled (1877) and The Secret Doctrine (1889)—had considerable influence on “spiritualists” of this period.
The Theosophical Society believed that all religions reveal a common source, often referred to as “perennial wisdom.” Its mission statement reflected its global view of religion, designed to promote a belief in the unity of all peoples and cultures:
1. To form the nucleus of a universal brotherhood of humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.
2. [To promote] the study of ancient and modem religions, philosophies, and sciences, and the demonstration of the importance of such study.
3. [To encourage] the investigation of the unexplained laws of nature and the psychical powers latent in man.5
Of these three goals, the last was the most important to theosophists. The antimaterialist character of Blavatsky’s speculative writings defined the philosophical character of the Theosophical Society for decades to come.
Believing that a philosophy based on psychic powers could best be propagated by a Hindu sage, Blavatsky’s successors—C. W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant—encouraged their followers to embrace a young Indian mystic named Jiddu Krishnamurti (1895-1986). Leadbeater and Besant regarded Krishnamurti as the “Maitreya” (or “World Teacher”) who would succeed in bringing together all of the world’s religious leaders under the banner of theosophy. This great enterprise failed in the late 1920s when Krishnamurti himself withdrew his support from the Society and renounced all of the titles and claims it had bestowed upon him.Today, the Society’s headquarters are in Pasadena, California, and it still has many adherents in India, as well as the United States. It continues to promote a belief in the “oneness of life” and familiar concepts such as karma and reincarnation.
Members of a Hare Krishna community dancing on a London street.