H P B Condensed Bio-chronology
Jul 16, 2003 05:57 PM
by dalval14
H. P. B.
HELENA PETROVNA BLAVATSKY
( 1831 - 1891 )
CHRONOLOGICAL REVIEW OF EVENTS IN HER LIFE
MADAME BLAVATSKY'S MAIN TEACHINGS ARE:
That Morals have a basis in Law and in fact.
That Moral Law is Natural Law.
That Evolution makes for Righteousness.
That the "fundamental identity of all souls with
the
Oversoul" renders moral contagion
possible through
the subtle psychic medium (the Earth's
electro-magnetic field called "astral").
That the Spiritual Identity of all Being renders
Universal-
Brotherhood the only possible path for
truth-seeking man.
That Universal Law, in every department, rigidly
opposes and avenges the commission of
sin. (Nature's law,
not man's does this. This law is
true and fair and cannot be diverted.
[ Source: ISIS UNVEILED, SECRET DOCTRINE, KEY TO
THEOSOPHY, VOICE OF THE SILENCE,
ARTICLES. ]
______________________________________________________
BIRTH - FAMILY
1831
1831 Aug 11/12 Birth at "midnight." Ekaterinoslav,
Ukraine, Russia - July 31st (Julian calendar), around 1.42 A.M.
Helena was called by the servants and locals: "The Sedgmika"
THST 15 -pp. 12-17)
A cholera epidemic raged. She was born prematurely.
Immediate baptism was decided on. A child holding a candle in a
row behind the officiating priest nodded sleepily and
inadvertently set fire to his robes.
PARENTS AND FAMILY
Father: Peter Alexeyevich von Hahn, Captain, later
Colonel, of artillery in the forces of
Tsar Nicholas 1st, the "Iron Tsar."
Mother: Helena Andreyevna, eldest daughter of Andrey
Mihailovich de Fadeyev and
Princess Helena Pavlovna Dolgorukovna; a
well known writer in Russia.
Grand-father: Andrey Mikhailovitch de Fadeyev; Privy
Councillor to the Tsar.
Grand-mother: Princess Helena Pavlovna Delgorovna.
Great-Grand-Father: Prince Paul Vassilyevitch
Delgoroukov.
A student of alchemy, magic, and a
kabalist.
HPB would be found reading in his library
when visiting.
Siblings: Vera
Alexander (died in early childhood)
Leonid
B C W, Vol. I pp xxv - xliv
I. BIRTH TO MARRIAGE 20 YEARS OF YOUTH
THE EDUCATION of a RUSSIAN NOBLEWOMAN (1831 - 1851)
1831 - 1848
1831-34 Lived at Ekaterinoslav - Romankovo - Odessa
1835 Sister Vera born
1836-7 Father posted to St. Petersburg. Family moved
there.
1837 Travel to visit grand-parents in Astrakan,
Caucasus--
then to Poltava, Ukraine
1838 Odessa
1839 Dec. To grand-parents in Saratov until June 1840
1841 Ukraine
1842 Odessa -- July 6th -- Mother dies -- to
Saratov
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 38
1844-6 Travels with her father in Europe and Siberia up
to
Semipalatinsk
1846 Return to Saratov and the Ukraine
1847 To Georgia, Caucasus at their grand-parents -
Tiflis
1848 May Stayed with her aunt Catherine and uncle Yuliy
de Witte
1848 Summer Tiflis
1848 Affianced to General Nikifor V. Blavatsky, b. 1809, 40 .
(22 years older than she). He was an official in the government
of Russian Georgia. This occurred because of a dare, which her
governess made: that she would never be able to attract any man
to ask for her hand. Once this was done and she accepted, she
found that she could not retract her acceptance under the Russian
law at that time.
1849 July 7 Marriage and flight from Blavatsky to Poti and by
sea to Constantinople. She absolutely refused to be a “wife" in
the accepted sense of the word. The marriage was never
consummated. After several violent confrontations she broke a
candlestick over her husband's head and escaped on horseback to
friends. She was finally, after some narrow escapes, able to
reach Constantinople where her husband had no power over her
movements. Her father helped her thereafter.
HPB TO APS p. 143, HPB SPEAKS II p 17, 155
INCIDENTS p. BLAVATSKY: Collected Works
(TPH) Vol. I, p. xxxvii
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 37-38
1849
1849 In the company of an old family friend, HPB travels in
Greece, Turkey and Egypt [Countess
Kisselev]
BLAVATSKY: Collected Works (TPH) Vol. I xxxviii
1850
1850 In London with her father, HPB meets the first time the
Master of my dreams" Master Morya, who at that time was traveling
in the suite of the Prime Minister of Nepal, visiting as
ambassador to England.
HPB SPEAKS Vol. I 20,
FIVE YRS OF THY. p. 305, GLOS 217, C W B IX--
p. 20,
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB. p. 40-41
1850 Meeting in Hyde Park, they conversed for several hours.
He gives her a preview of her future mission and work.
HPB TO APS p. 150, PATH IX p. 298, HPB SPEAKS II
p. 20
B C W I p. xxxix, Irish Theosophist. Vol. 2, p.
128
=================================================================
=
II. 20 YEAR S OF TRAVEL and PREPARATION
FOR HER PUBLIC MISSION (1851 -
1871)
1851 - 1853
1851-2 Travels to Canada, she is robbed of her property. Goes
to the United States. To New Orleans. to Mexico. through Texas.
Then to Yucatan, Copan, Honduras where she meets a disciple of
her Master, and goes on to Peru to see the Incan ruins of
pre-Colombian civilizations in the Andes. To Ceylon and India.
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 43
1853-4 travels to London - America - Japan - India -- Crossed
the Rocky Mountains in a Covered Wagon
HPB TO APS p. 150-1, HPB SPEAKS II p. 20
1854 - 1857
1854-5 Twice she tries to enter Tibet, the first time from
Darjeeling, where she is stopped at the border. The second time,
with the help of a Siberian Shaman she enters Ladhak and the
Tibetan plateau, but cannot proceed to Central Tibet.
HPB SPEAKS II p. 20, 66, MOD. PANAR.
p.255, 257, M L p. 203,
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 45;
Cranston, HELENA BLAVATSKY, p. 58...
1854 On March 3rd 1893, Major General C. Murray told Col.
Olcott that he had, as a Captain, then in charge of the Tibetan
border thwarted her plans to cross over the border in 1854.
TRACES OF H.P.BLAVATSKY, THE THEOSOPHIST, Apl.
1893, pp. 4-9
Dr. A. L. Rawson, had met her in Cairo in 1873, in a
letter in he wrote in 1878 he cited several of his friends who
said they had met her in India at that time: Dr. D. E. Dudley of
Manila and Mr. F. A. Hill of Boston.
"H P B -- HELENA BLAVATSKY," Cranston, 1993, p.
51
1857 Her stay in India is interrupted by her Master before the
outbreak of the seypoy mutiny - she travels to Assam, Burma Siam
and Java before returning to Europe via So. America
HPB TO APS p. 69, 154-5 & fn
1858 - 1862
1858 Travels in Europe and return to Russia in Autumn 1858.
1859 Jan 6 She surprises her family with an unannounced
visit on Jan 6th - the Russian Christmas - at Pskov (near
Estonia) where the family had assembled at Vera's father-in-law's
home for a marriage. Returns with her father to St. Petersburg
and later stays for some time with Vera in Rougodevo (Pskov
province).
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 44-5
1860-2 In spring time the two sisters traveled to Tiflis to
visit their grand-parents. On the trip they stopped at the holy
city of Zadonsk on the Don river where a friend of the family,
Isidore the Metropolitan of Kiev received them. As he had heard
of HPB's "powers" he asked to be a witness to some of the
paranormal phenomena; seeing which, he prophesies that she "can
help humanity if she uses them with discretion."
HPB TO APS p. 151 Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p.
46-7
1860-2 Reconciled with N. Blavatsky HPB SPEAKS II p. 152, 156
During this visit in Russia (Imeretia, Mingrelia,
Aghasia) hundreds of visitors and family witnessed her use of her
powers, now entirely under her conscious control. Also visited
Tiflis and Odessa.
HPB TO APS pp. 151,155-7, HPB SPEAKS II p. 152,
156
1863 - 1866
1863-5 There is uncertainty about her whereabouts during this
period. Some biographers place her in Tibet visiting Master M.
Cranston, HELENA BLAVATSKY, p. 51
1864 Traveled to Serbia (Servia) and to Karpat, then left for
Egypt.
HPB TO APS p. 144-5, 151, HPB SPEAKS II p. 26
1865 Leaving the Caucasus she probably traveled to Syria, then
to the Lebanon where she came in contact with the Druzes, and
perhaps other mystic orders and sects of the Middle East. A
change in her nature is hinted at.
Writing of this period to Prince Dundoukov, she says: "
I have lived with the whirling Dervishes, with the Druzes of Mt.
Lebanon, with the Bedouin Arabs and the Marabouts of
Damascus..."
HPB SPEAKS, Vol. II, pp. 58, 66. C W B I p.
xlvi-ii
1867 April 13 Visits Venice and the Balkans. She arrived in
Belgrade the same day that the Turkish garrison left it. (April
13 1867)
She had taken the child of her late friends the Metrovitches,
Yuri, for a cure, but he did not survive. She then brought his
body back to his family in Russia to be buried and then she
returned to Italy.
C W B I p. xlvi-ii, HPB TO APS p. 147
Writing of herself in 1882, she stated:
"...between the Blavatsky of 1845-65 and...1865-82 there is an
unbridgeable gulf."
HPB SPEAKS II, p. 58
1867
1867 Nov 3 She was present at the battle of Mentana fought
by the Garibaldians for Italy's freedom, was wounded five times
and left for dead.
MODERN PANARION p. 257, C. W. B. I, p. xlvii
1868 - 1871
1868 She is restored to health and returns to Odessa
HPB SPEAKS II p. 26
1868 She visits Florence, then, Egypt
HPB TO APS p. 151, HPB SPEAKS II p. 23
1868-9 Back again to India, she returns to Tibet to her Master.
She stays there till the end of 1870. Visits Tchigatse and the
Teshu Lama, later stays in Cashmere at the home of another
Master later known as the Master Khoot Hoomi.
HPB TO APS p. 151, HPB SPEAKS II 23, 35-6, PATH
X p. 298-9
C W B I p. xlviii, Kingsland: THE REAL HPB,
p. 50
1870 Nov 11 The Master sends a letter to her family saying
(in French) she is well and will soon return to them.
LETTERS FROM THE MASTERS OF WISDOM-II, p. 3-5,
PATH X, p.170
LETTERS OF HPB TO APS p. 38, 5 YEARS OF THY. p.
280, 293
1870 Dec She returns to Europe via Aden and Cairo, passing
through Suez canal (recently opened). Visits her family, and
leaves again. From Greece she went to back to Egypt.
HPB TO APS, p. 99, 152-3; HPB SPEAKS--II,
p.35-6
C W B I, p. xlix, Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p.
50-51
=================================================================
====
III. H P B s PUBLIC LIFE - 20 YEARS OF PUBLIC
SERVICE
CONSECRATED TO THEOSOPHY (1871 -
1891)
1871
1871 July 4 She sails from Piraeus, the port of
Athens. Ship was wrecked by an explosion in the gulf of Nauplia
near Spetsai (a shipment of explosives to be used against
pirates detonates).
HPB SPEAKS II p. 35-6, HPB TO APS p. 152-3
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 51
1871 Oct-Nov HPB lives in Alexandria, Egypt, then in Cairo
until April 1872. For three weeks she attempts to start a
"Societe Spirite," which would investigate the phenomena of
mediumship, and reported messages from the "dead." This proved a
failure because of the dishonesty and fraud of the "mediums."
She then left for Lebanon, Syria and Constantinople. In Cairo
she met Mrs. Emma Coulomb, who later asked for help for herself
and her husband when she was in Bombay in 1879-80
HPB TO APS p.152-3, HPB SPEAKS II p. 35-6
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 52
[Note: many of her adventures were fictionalized
by her under the pseudonym Radda Bai and sent in Russian to
Editor Mikhail N. Katkov, of the Moskovskiya Vedomosty (Moscow
Chronicle), and later in Russkiy Vestnik (Russian Messenger).
These were later
1871 translated into English and published under the title of
FROM THE CAVES AND JUNGLES OF HINDOSTAN,
T.P.H.]
1872-73
1872-3 July Finds her in Odessa after visiting her family.
She leaves for Bucharest and Paris (March 1873). There she
stays with her cousin Nicholas von Hahn, 11 rue de l'Universite.
H P B to APS, p. 152-3, HPB SPEAKS II p. 23
1873 June end she receives an order from her Master to go to
the United States. She left the next day and reached New York on
July 7th 1873. (see incident of crossing narrated below).
HPB TO APS p. 154,
HPB SPEAKS II p. 23
C W B I p. l
1873 - 1875
1873 Jul 7 Arriving in New York without money (she had
exchanged her 1st class ticket for steerage tickets for herself
and for a woman with several children who had been cheated of her
passage money when she bought a bogus ticket), HPB used her
artistic talents and found work making ties and artificial
flowers. Her father had died July 27th 1873, and a letter from
her half-sister Elizabeth reached her months later along with an
advance on her inheritance of 1,000 rubles. This enabled her to
invest in some property, which later proved an unsuccessful
venture.
CWB I p. l-li
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 137
1874 In July, Col. Henry Steel Olcott became interested in
"spiritual" phenomena occurring at the Eddy farmstead in
Chittenden, Vermont. He investigated and on this he wrote
accounts that were published in August in the New York SUN and
THE DAILY GRAPHIC. [Later these were published in book form
under the title: People from the Other World. He intended, he
said, to return and complete his investigations. HPB, reading
this in the papers, determined to meet him. She went to
Chittenden, and there they met.
C W B-I, p. li, ODL-I p. 30-1, M L p. 263 203
370
1874 Oct 14 They became friends and entered into a life-long
collaboration.
M L p. 263 203 370 ; Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p.
139
1875 - 1878
1875 Aug W. Q. Judge, after reading Col. Olcott's book:
PEOPLE FROM THE OTHER WORLD wrote asking him if he could give him
the name of a "good medium." Almost simultaneously HPB asked
Olcott if he would invite Judge to visit them. The call was paid
at No. 46 Irving Place, in New York, and HPB met for the first
time in this life the man who was to 1975 become her most
devoted pupil and friend, face to face. This relationship
continued unbroken until her body died, and, we may presume,
after, for she often wrote at the end of her letters to him:
"Yours till death and after, HPB."
PATH VI, p. 66;
C W B I p. lvi
1875 Judge himself felt that they were finding each other
again, as later, he wrote: "It was her eye that attracted me, the
eye of one whom I must have known in lives long passed away. She
looked at me in recognition at that first hour, and never since
has that look changed."
HPB -- IN MEMORIAM, p. 65
Many were the important personages of the times who
visited HPB and Col. Olcott, there was always much talk of the
phenomena of the Spiritualists which HPB defended when it was
genuine and exposed when it was fraudulent.
1875 Early in that year Col. Olcott attempted to start a
"Miracle Club," where the phenomena of Spiritualism and other
such phenomena could be demonstrated and tested, but this did not
succeed.
Kingsland: THE REAL HPB, p. 147
1875 Towards the end of the year, on September 7th, after an
interesting lecture by Mr. G. H. Felt, HPB stated she wrote a
note on a slip of paper which she gave to Mr. Judge to pass to
Olcott suggesting the starting of a society to study such things.
In this she was acting under the direction of the Masters.
B. COL. WKS., Vol. I - pp. 123, 73 94;
HPB SPEAKS II p. 23
THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IS FOUNDED
1875, Sept. 7th, 9th, On motion of Mr. Judge, Col. Olcott was
elected Chairman of this meeting which was adjourned till Sept
8th., when 16 persons gave their names as "founders."
1875, Sept. 13th, 16th 30th At the next meeting, Sept. 13,
the name THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY was adopted. Further meetings
were held to develop Bye-laws and Officers on October 13th, 16th,
30th. Mott Memorial Hall was selected to be the society's
meeting place.
B C W I lviii - lix ODL I 114 - 126 133-135
PATH IX - op. p.1 THST Vol. 14 p. 71-5
1875 Nov 17 The 17th of November was selected by Col. Olcott
for an Inaugural Meeting and the public launching of the
Theosophical Society.
PATH, Vol. 10, p. 55-6 C W B I lix 375-378
OBJECTS OF THE T.S.
Three Objects were adopted by the
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY:
1. To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood of
Humanity without distinction of
race, sex, color, or creed.
2. To promote the study of
Aryan and other Scriptures, of the
World's religion and sciences,
and to vindicate the
importance of old Asiatic
literature, namely, of the Brahmanical, Buddhist, and Zoroastrian
philosophies.
3. To investigate the hidden
mysteries of Nature under every
aspect possible, and the psychic
and spiritual powers latent in man especially.
KEY p. 39; B C W I p. 375-378
1875-76 In a PROSPECTUS issued to explain the "ORIGIN,
PLAN and AIM" of the TS is found the following attributed by Col.
Olcott to the pen of HPB:
"As the highest development,
physically and spiritually, on earth, of the Creative Cause, man
should aim to solve the mystery of his being. He is the
procreator of his species, physically, and having inherited the
nature of the unknown but palpable Cause of his own creation,
must possess in his inner, physical self, this creative power in
lesser degree. He should, therefore, study to develop his latent
powers, and inform himself respecting the laws of magnetism,
electricity, and all other forms of force, whether of the seen or
unseen universes."
"The Society teaches and expects its fellows to
personally exemplify the highest morality and religious
aspiration; to oppose the materialism of science and every form
of dogmatic theology, especially the Christian, which the Chiefs
of the Society regard as particularly pernicious; to make known
among Western nations the long-suppressed facts about Oriental
religious philosophies, their ethics, chronology, esotericism,
symbolism; to counteract, as far as possible, the efforts of
missionaries to delude the so-called "Heathen" and "Pagans" as to
the real origin and dogmas of Christianity and the practical
effects of the latter upon public and private character in
so-called civilized countries; to disseminate a knowledge of the
sublime teachings of that pure esoteric system of the archaic
period, which are mirrored in the oldest Vedas, and in the
philosophy of Gautama Buddha, Zoroaster and Confucius; finally,
and chiefly, to aid in the institution of a Brotherhood of
Humanity, wherein all good and pure men, of every race, shall
recognize each other as the equal effects (upon this planet) of
one Uncreate, Universal, Infinite, and Everlasting Cause."
Blavatsky: COLLECTED WORKS, Vol. I, p.
376-7
1876 Is marked by the work of HPB to write, and Col.
Olcott, Mr. Judge and others to assist her and prepare for
printing ISIS UNVEILED.
PATH VIII 237-239 C W B I lx ML 289
1877
1877 ISIS UNVEILED was published by J. W. .Bouton in
the fall of 1877 and enjoyed an immediate success. The first
printing of 1,000 copies were sold within 10 days, and a second
printing of 1,000 copies disappeared equally rapidly. Several
reprints were then issued as enthusiasm for the book continued
unabated. The New York Herald Tribune, and other major
newspapers and journals reviewed the book with favor. In London
PUBLIC OPINION (Dec. 29, 1877) called it:"...one of the most
extraordinary works of the 19th Century."
HPB's methods of writing ISIS UNVEILED were
specially noted by Olcott who wrote of them: "...she was well
brought up, but was not at all learned...the unusual richness of
her intellectual nature, the delicacy and swiftness of her
thought, her marvelous facility in understanding, grasping and
assimilating the most difficult subjects, such as would require
from anybody else years of laborious study...these gave her such
an unusual superiority...that she could never avoid attracting
general attention, and the consequent envy and animosity of all
those who, in their trivial inferiority, felt wounded by the
splendor of the faculties and talents of this really marvelous
woman..."
Cranston, HELENA BLAVATSKY, 151
In the early years The Theosophical
Society seems to have been a quasi-secret society, with signs and
passwords developed to recognize members. This was abandoned
some years later and meetings were made public. Many subjects
ranging from Alchemy to Spiritualism were considered.
BCW I 73 193-4 245 380 403 393
1877 HPB held open house every evening and many were
the prominent persons of her day who called and lively were the
discussions that ensued lasting sometimes into early morning.
Thomas A. Edison, Dr. Alexander Wilder, Charles
Southeran, and General Abner Doubleday were early members of the
TS.
SPIRITUALISM -- EFFORTS TO EXPLAIN and REFORM
Early magazine articles written by HPB did not
please the Spiritualists, as she advanced reasons why their
theories were inaccurate, and needed revision. She defended true
"mediums," disclosed the nature of "mediumship," and gave the
reasons for their tenuous and only occasional contact with
invisible intelligences in the "astral, invisible world;" and,
she exposed fraud when it was practiced for money.
(see articles in FIVE YEARS. OF
THEOSOPHY, BCW Vol. I )
ADEPT FRATERNITY -- A FACT --
THEIR WORK FOR MANKIND [ I U II 98 -
103 ]
1877 Sept 29 ISIS UNVEILED is published, 1,000 copies
are sold in 10 days The book goes through 10 reprints and demand
continues. [ over 1300 pages in 2 volumes ]. HPB earned less
than
$ 1,000.00 from all sales made during her life.
"ISIS UNVEILED contains a mass of original and
never hitherto divulged information on occult subjects...neither
ideas nor teachings are mine...every word of information found in
this work or in my later writings, comes from the teachings of
our Eastern Masters; and...many a passage in these works has been
written by me under their dictation..."
[MY BOOKS -- HPB ARTICLES - ULT - I p.
476-478]
Mr. W.Q.Judge, who collaborated closely
with HPB during the time that ISIS UNVEILED was being
written (1875-77) records:
"ISIS UNVEILED attracted wide attention, and all
the New York papers reviewed it, each saying that it exhibited
immense research. The strange part of this is, as I and many
others can testify as eye-witnesses to the production of the
book, that the writer had no library in which to make researches
and possessed no notes of investigation or reading previously
done. All was written straight out of hand. And yet it is full
of references to books in the British Museum and other great
libraries, and every reference is correct. Either, then, we
have, as to that book, a woman who was capable of storing in her
memory a mass of facts, dates, numbers, titles and subjects such
as no other human being ever was capable of, or her claim to help
from unseen beings is just."
THE ESOTERIC SHE - WQJ ART ULT II p. 32
1877 An ancient FRATERNITY of ADEPTS is referred to by
HPB from the first paragraph of the introduction to Vol. I of her
first book: ISIS UNVEILED. [ I U II 98 - 103 ] This
states:
"The work now submitted to public judgment is the
fruit of a somewhat intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and
study of their science. It is offered to such as are willing to
accept truth wherever it may be found, and to defend it, even
looking popular prejudice straight in the face...The book is
written in all sincerity. It is meant to do even justice, and to
speak the truth alike without malice or prejudice, But it shows
neither mercy for enthroned error, nor reverence for usurped
authority. It demands for a spoliated past, that credit for its
achievements which has been too long withheld. It calls for a
restitution of borrowed robes, and the vindication of calumniated
but glorious reputations..."
ISIS U. Vol. I, Pref. p. v [ see also
ISIS II p. 98-105 ]
It exists as a perennial source for the
preserving and recording of the events and facts of the history
of religious and philosophical evolution in the World. The
Theosophical Movement is declared to be Their inspiration, and
HPB claims only to be their "agent-messenger" and their student.
[ see also, ISIS II 98-105 ]
Members and agents of this benevolent Fraternity
are at work all over the World; but in the Orient, the isolation
of the Himalayas in Tibet and the vast deserts of Mongolia in
particular, offer them the isolation they require to perform
these preservative and other functions.
Periodically, they state, conditions in the world
permit them to make publicly available portions of the lore that
they preserve for Humanity. HPB stated that the Theosophical
Society of our era is a part of this process.
In the past the Neo-Platonic movement in
Alexandria in the early centuries of our era was one of these
efforts, others can be traced in the records left by the
MYSTERIES of Greece and Egypt, and of the COLLEGES of Magi in
Assyria and Babylon. Still further back in time, the literature
of the pre-Vedic Buddhists, the Hindus, the Chinese and the
Zoroastrian systems and their records form the archaic part of
this work of preservation and cyclical rediffusion. Therefore it
is that a single thread of continuity can be traced in all of
them.
1877 ISIS UNVEILED was dedicated to the "Theosophical
Society...to Study the Subjects on which they Treat." In her
article My BOOKS [ LUCIFER May 1891, HPB ARTICLES - ULT - I p.
483], HPB writes: " It (ISIS) was not written for the public...
but for the use of Theosophists and members of the Theosophical
Society to which ISIS is dedicated..."
VOLUME 1 deals with "SCIENCE" - both ancient
and modern -- the records left of the knowledge of the ancients,
and of the discoveries and development being currently made. It
treats of the invisible side of Nature and offers evidence that
this was well known in antiquity, and the modern "Spiritualists"
were bringing continued proof of its existence, its laws, and its
phenomena -- which could only be produced under "natural" law.
In ancient times this was called "magic," from the word mage--a
wise man.
Modern science opposed and ridiculed the
phenomena of "Spiritualism" because they could not assign causes
in the material visible world for them. The research of fearless
men, like Prof. Crookes in England, of Baron Du Potet in France
did show that the phenomena were genuine and deserved attention.
Mesmeric healing was proved to occur.
It has the effect of destroying a mind-destroying
skepticism: "materialism" - or the belief that all powers,
causes, actions and forces originate only with gross physical
matter. The operation of an internal intelligence or force was
demonstrated as a factor common to all physical events.
VOLUME II deals with THEOLOGY - specifically
with the historical origins of Christianity--treated as a reform
of Judaism, and its origins being traceable to the more ancient
Egyptian, Chaldean and Zoroastrian, and still further back to
ancient Indian philosophies, sciences and religions which
provided the basis for the current religions and sciences in the
West and in the modern East. The evidence of antiquity was
brought to bear on the phenomena and discoveries of the present.
HPB showed that this evidence was continuous.
This study points to a common source from which
they have all drawn their origins: the WISDOM-RELIGION of the
Ancients. Metaphysical and philosophical logic, as well as the
records of ancient, archaic, and Eastern sources are adduced to
demonstrate this unity and familiarity with Nature's laws.
Members of the Fraternity have included Krishna,
Gautama Buddha, Lao Tse, Confucius, Quetzalcoatl, Pythagoras,
Plato, Socrates, Hermes, Osiris, the ancient Rishis of India,
Manco Capac, Moses, Hillel, Apollonius of Tyana, Jesus, Simon
Magus, Iamblichus, Ammonius Saccas, Plotinus, Hypatia, Zoroaster,
Tson-ka-pa, Shankaracharia, Paracelsus, Saint Germain, and
innumerable other personages known to history.
1877 UNBROKEN CONSISTENCY OF TEACHINGS
Students of Theosophy have noticed that from the
first of her writings to the very end, her last article entitled:
"MY BOOKS" there is an unbroken continuity of ideas, a single
theme. The same basic propositions that describe the world
situation: its emanation from the "ABSOLUTE - UNKNOWABLE" as an
all inclusive deific SOURCE, it evolves according to regular
intransgressible laws of progression, which take into account
every part and aspect of being, including man, the "atom," and,
the UNIVERSE. Evolution is seen to be continuous, universal, and
involves every atom of the living Universe. There is no
universal waste-pile to which are consigned unused components.
Every part has its due place.
CONSCIOUSNESS
It declares that evolution is a development of
consciousness and that this is the permanent center of each
"being" -- the result of its experience. The final objective of
Life is declared to be the assumption of a cooperative assistance
towards all beings: an active and universal Brotherhood.
MORALITY - ETHICAL LIFE THE KEY TO WISDOM
It therefore posits an ethical conduct of life
applied through the individual self-choice of one's embodied self
(personality) - a form of discipline which in effect treats all
others as one's "brothers," to put it simply.
Finally, it declares that the only key to acquire
the "secret knowledge of antiquity, which is of the minutest
operations of the Universe, whether visible or invisible -- as
force and as energy -- is through this self-imposed moral
posture. Obviously this cannot be a matter of superficial or
hypocritical pretense, but has to be sincerely and completely
adopted and practiced. This alone opens the gates to
"adeptship." The great Adepts, she declared had the power to
"look into the hearts of men, and see the Soul of things there."
To Them, there were no secrets.
ATTACKS ON THEOSOPHY -- AND ON HPB
It is interesting and important to note that all
the "attacks" made on Theosophy have been aimed at the
discrediting of HPB. No one has yet successfully attacked or
disproved the validity of any of the propositions she advanced
under that name nor any of the historical facts she sets forth.
The greatest proportion of the "Attacks" made on
HPB have been on episodes alleged to have occurred during the
period of her travels and preparation up to 1871. From 1871
onward she lived in the pitiless glare of publicity and during
that period none of the accusations made have been found to be
provable or valid. She wrote:
"For the last fifteen years...an incessant shower
of ugly accusations has been poured upon me. Every libelous
charge, from immorality and the "Russian spy" theory down to my
acting on false pretenses, of being a chronic fraud and a living
lie, an habitual drunkard, an emissary of the Pope--paid to break
down Spiritualism, and Satan incarnate.. Every slander that can
be thought of has been brought to bear upon my private and public
life. The fact that not a single one of these charges has ever
been substantiated;...I have lived surrounded by friends and foes
like as in a glass-house,--nothing could stop these wicked,
venomous, and thoroughly unscrupulous tongues..."
[ MY BOOKS - HPB ARTICLES, Vol.
I, p. 477]
1878
1878 May 16 HPB receives orders from her Master to
leave for India.
1878 July 8 HPB is naturalized a citizen of the
U.S.A.
C W B I p. 224fn
Col. Olcott given diplomatic status by
the President of the US
C W B I p. lxvi
1878 Dec 17 HPB and Olcott embark on S Canada for
England.
Actual sailing is delayed till the 19th waiting for the
tide to cross Sandy Hook bar.
C W B I p lxvi
1879
1879 Jan HPB and Olcott in England at the newly
formed branch of the TS (C.C. Massey, president) Stay with Dr.
D. H J. Billing. British TS meeting on Jan 5th.
B C W II p. xxv
1879 Jan 17 General Abner Doubleday appointed Acting
President of the TS ad interim.
ODL II p. 8 ; RANSOM 124-5
(Judge let. text)
1879 Jan 18 Embark on S Speke Hall for Bombay with
Miss Rosa Bates and Mr. E. Wimbridge (sail on 19th) C
W B II p xxv - vi
INDIA
1879 Feb 16 Arrival at Bombay Travels through India
and Ceylon. Many important persons met.
MODERN PANARION p. 220-1, 217;
B C W II p. xxvi-vii
CAVES & JUNGLES OF HINDOOSTAN
1879 Mar 7 HPB and Olcott reside at 108 Girgaum Back
Rd.. Babula, servant for HPB hired March 2nd
B C W II p. xxvi
1879 May 23 HPB outlines and begins work on a new
book -- later develops into THE SECRET DOCTRINE ODL II p.
89-90
1879 Oct. 1st issue of THE THEOSOPHIST issued in
Bombay (400 copies, 381 subscribers, next issue 750 copies)
BCW II xxvii-viii
1879 Dec Visit to Mr. A.P.Sinnett, editor of THE
PIONEER at Allahabad. Mr. A. O. Hume also met (later founder of
the INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS in 1885) This organ was eventually
used to stimulate national sentiment which led to the
independence of India in 1948.
1880
1880 Jan Bombay branch of the TS established - First
formal meeting of the TS in India
O D L II p. 137
1880 Apl 17 HPB writes General Abner Doubleday
advising him of his formal election as Vice-President of the TS.
T. FORUM XV Nov 1939
1880 May 16 HPB and party embark for Ceylon on S
ELLORA
1880 May 25 HPB and Col. Olcott take "pansil" (the
non-sectarian statement made by those who endorse Buddhism)
:--
"I take my refuge in the Buddha.
(the Enlightened One)
I take my refuge in the Dhamma.
(the Law)
I take my refuge in the Sangha.
(the Association)"
1880 June Colombo Branch of TS started
1880 July 13 HPB and party embark on S CHANDA for
return to Bombay
1880 Oct Sinnett and Hume begin to consider the
formation of an Anglo-Indian T S Around Oct. 15th Sinnett seems
to have sent his first letter to the Mahatma. Response prompt.
OCCULT WORLD p. 93-4, 116-24,
121; B C W II p. xxxiv
1880 Oct 16 Hume sends HPB his first letter to the
Mahatmas for transmission
OCCULT WORLD P. 59-60, ODL II
242-3 CWB II xxxiv-v
1880 Dec Family motto of the Maharaja of Benares
adopted by TS:
"THERE IS NO RELIGION HIGHER THAN
TRUTH "
======================================
1881
1881 July 24 Olcott's BUDDHIST CATECHISM is published.
It includes a rendition of the
DHAMMAPADA - sayings of the Buddha.
1882
1882 Purchase of the Adyar property near Madras city
to be used as a future Head-quarters of the
Theosophical Society by HPB and Col. Olcott.
1882 May Subba Row first met in Madras
1882 Oct Visit to Sikkhim (HPB mortally
ill-kidneys) to see the Master
MOD. PANARION p. 256, HPB
SPEAKS II p. 35, 85
5 YEARS OF THY. p.280, 293,
PATH X, p.170
Letter from the Ghum Monastery HPB
SPEAKS II, p. 96-99
1883
1883 Transfer of TS H.Q. from Bombay to Adyar.
1884
1884 Feb 20 HPB and Olcott together with 3 Hindus
leave Bombay for Europe (arrive at
Marseilles March 12)
1884 Feb HPB to Nice at the home of the Duchess de
Pomar
To Paris, at 46, Notre-Dame des Champs.
Visited by W. Q. Judge who is on his way
to visit India. He stays with HPB for a while to help with a
revision of ISIS UNVEILED in preparation for her writing of the
new book projected: THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
1884 May HPB visits Enghien and stays with
Countess d'Adhemar. Mr. W. Q. Judge also visits, and continues
works with H.P.Blavatsky indexing ISIS UNVEILED preparatory to
her writing THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
1884 SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH of London becomes
interested in HPB's "phenomena". Olcott, Sinnett and others are
invited to give testimony. They do.
In HPB and Olcott's absence from Adyar a great scandal
develops. The Coulombs abetted by Madras Christian Missionaries
try to discredit HPB, her phenomena and Theosophy. HPB accused
of imposture by local Christian missionaries who fear her
influence and that of Theosophy on the Indians and particularly
students. They pay the Coulombs for false testimony and for
constructing certain apparatus in HPB's absence in her rooms at
Adyar. This was first discovered by the Council, exposed, and
later the fake apparatus is destroyed by Mr. Judge who had been
given "full powers" to act there for HPB and Col. Olcott during
his visit. [Neither the missionaries nor Mr. Hodgson ever saw
the apparatus that Mr. Coulomb had attempted to construct, but
left unfinished.]
1884-6 COULOMB CONSPIRACY WITH MISSIONARIES
1884 May Coulombs are expelled from Adyar by
Secretary, Damodar K. Mavalankar and the
Council.
1884 July Judge arrives in Bombay - travels in
India to Adyar by Aug 10th he witnesses the
crude constructions made by Mr. Coulomb and has them destroyed.
1884 Oct Judge returns suddenly to the US.
1884 Sept-Oct. issue of the CHRISTIAN COLLEGE
MAGAZINE in Madras gives an expose of HPB together with forged
letters said to be hers, provided by the Coulombs. Later these
when subjected to a rigorous and impartial examination were
declared to be forgeries.
300 students of the Christian College
protest.
1884 HPB visits the Gebhards at Elberfeld in
Germany.
1884 Oct Olcott returns to Adyar.
1884 Dec 17 HPB embarks for India - stops at Cairo to
secure information on the Coulombs whom she had met when there in
l873. (Penniless, they had earlier appealed to her for help in
Bombay, and had been taken into the TS headquarters and given
work and shelter in Bombay and Adyar.)
1884 Dec 21 HPB returns to Adyar -- is visited the
next day by Richard Hodgson, investigator for
the SOCY. for PSYCHICAL RESEARCH.
1884 Dec 23 Mrs. Coulomb publishes slanderous
documents in the CHRISTIAN COLLEGE MAGAZINE, under the title:
"The Collapse of Khoot Humi.” Hodgson, perplexed, visits the
missionaries and the Coulombs.
1885
1885 Jan 3 Hodgson is captivated by missionary
views and their claims against Theosophy and
HPB. Begins interviewing in India.
1885 Mar 26 Hodgson leaves India after visiting Adyar
- no hint of the "Report position" he will take
against the TS and HPB
1885 March HPB not permitted by the TS Council to
take the Coulombs to Law for slander. Fear
the Mahatmas' names would be further desecrated if dragged into
court.
1885 Mar 29 HPB gives her resignation as
Corresponding Secretary T S
[ see WHY I DO NOT RETURN TO
INDIA, HPB ART ULT V. I 106;
B C W , Vol 12, p. 162 ]
1885 Mar 31 HPB seriously ill is carried on board a
ship to go to Europe
[ NOTE: THE ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA, 14th Edn.
states:
"...Whilst in India Madame Blavatsky exhibited
many phenomena which were accepted by many, and often discredited
by those who had not witnessed them; every effort was made in
certain quarters to bring her work and teaching into disrepute.
Notwithstanding this opposition, and a very adverse report on her
phenomena by a Member of the Society for Psychical Research, who
went out to India to investigate, but never saw any phenomena
himself, Madame Blavatsky had in 1891 nearly 100,000 acknowledged
followers in all parts of the world."
1885 April 23 HPB arrives at Naples.
1885 Dec HPB at Wurzburg. Countess
Wachtmeister cares for her. She recovers from illness
-- begins writing SECRET DOCTRINE.
[see Wachtmeister "Reminiscences
of H.P.Blavatsky, and The Secret Doctrine, TPH,
1893.]
1885 Dec 200 page account of Hodgson's
investigation published in the Journal of the SPR --
inaccurate and insulting to HPB SPR REPORT
(Later the SPR claimed that the "report" did not
have their official endorsement hence, they would let it stand,
even if apparently damaging to the TS. This REPORT was finally
repudiated by the SPR in 1980s in the face of evidence proving
it to be prejudiced and inaccurate. )
HPB was never given access to the
testimony or the so-called letters said to be hers
that Mrs. C. had forged and published.
OBITUARY THE HODGSON REPORT -- J’ACCUSE by V.
Harrison
All documents are now in the
British Museum and these letters, (supplied by Mrs. Coulomb) now
examined by impartial expert have been determined to be
forgeries. Subsequently, the Society for Psychical Research has
repudiated this report [ see
Adlai Waterman in his “OBITUARY: THE "HODGSON REPORT" on Mme.
Blavatsky, 1885-1860. Adyar, TPH; and, in 1986, Mr. V. Harrison
of the SPR pointed out many flaws in the "Hodgson Report."
[J'ACCUSE, Jnl. of the SPR, Apl., 1986, Vol. 53, pp. 286-310.]
Reprinted by
The THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
IN AMERICA, Pasadena, CA.
One of the accusations had been
that HPB had forged the "Mahatma Letters." V. Harrison's
findings parallel and endorse those of Dr. E. Shutze (1886), Dr.
P. L. Kirk of the University of California in 1964, and Dr. C.
Marshall (1980). The latter used a computerized analysis of the
writing styles and syntax used by HPB and the Masters to prove
that she could not be the author of their letters. [see "A
Syntactic Investigation into the Possibility of Forgery by
Helena P. Blavatsky, a 19th Century Occultist."
-- VIEWPOINT AQUARIUS,
London, Oct. 1980.
1886
1886 Jan 1 For a while the Hodgson-SPR Report had a
devastating effect. The only positive value it had was that it
combed out foes from friends and consolidated those who were
staunch to HPB.
HPB, at this date addressed a solemn letter of
protest, to "Theosophists and Men of Honor." But, until her death
HPB had to take recourse to the law courts to protect her honor
and the TS which was being attacked through her. [ NOTE: The
philosophy of Theosophy has never been seriously challenged or
attacked. all attacks when made have been directed at persons in
the Movement, HPB first of all. ]
H P B UNABLE TO BEAR CHILDREN
Her doctor (Dr. Leon Oppenheim) issued a
certificate stating that she was unable to bear any
children because of a congenital defect in her reproductive
organs.
HPB TO APS. p. 177 151 208
Dr. L. Oppenheim' certificate is quoted
in full.
Kingsland, THE REAL HPB p 54
1885-6 Sinnett writing SOME INCIDENTS IN THE LIFE OF
Mme. BLAVATSKY,
HPB TO APS p. 149
1886 April, Judge in New York signaled renewed work.
The first issue of THE PATH was issued. Financed entirely by
him. Later readers and friends seeing its worth assisted, and
promoted its circulation. Great interest in America and more
Lodges. Respect for HPB and for the TS grew.
HPB visits the Gebhards in Elberfeld, Germany
where she is visited by her sister Vera and her
Nadyeja.
1886 Autumn HPB moves to Ostend, Belgium
HPB TO APS p.201
London students repeatedly visit her and
try to get her to come to stay there.
1886 Sept The first installment of material for
Vol. I of THE SECRET DOCTRINE is copied and sent to Adyar for T.
Subba Row, one of the chelas of HPB's Master, to review and
annotate as earlier arranged. Subba Row, an initiated and
orthodox Brahmin is worried that too much of the secret wisdom
is being revealed to the profane world, and refuses to do the
promised work in spite of the fact that he knows that the Master
himself had directly inspired and even had dictated portions of
the work to HPB. His orthodoxy was the barrier.
HPB TO APS p. 64 197 222
1887
1887 Spring Friends from London continue to visit HPB
in Ostend where she has been living in isolation solely looked
after by Countess Wachtmeister. They plead with her to come and
settle in England, in London. They plead that under Mr. Sinnett
the London Lodge had tried to interest the "upper classes," and
had grown stagnant. Archibald and Bertram Keightley arranged
for accommodations and assisted her in her transfer there.
1887 Mar HPB, exhausted falls into a coma from
which she revives, as had happened several times in the past,
with energy renewed. She later on tells her friends that during
this comatose period she had been visited by her Master and had
been given a choice of relief, through bodily death, or the
continua tion of her life of torture in order to finish THE
SECRET DOCTRINE. She made the choice to remain and finish this.
1887 May 19 Finds HPB now in London where her friends
have arranged a place for her to stay and work. Able to work
again, she labors day and night to bring THE SECRET DOCTRINE to a
conclusion. That portion sent to India, was rewritten, the
manuscript sent there was never returned to her.
1887 May 25th A publishing house is founded in London [T
P H] to help with the production of THE
SECRET DOCTRINE.
1887 Sept. LUCIFER magazine is projected and the
work is started. Its emphasis was to be ethics and philosophy
rather than psychic phenomena and spiritualism. Mabel Collins
offered to be Co-Editor and was accepted. She worked at this for
a short while. Later, Annie Besant became Co-Editor, after she
read and reviewed The SECRET DOCTRINE ..
==============================================================
V THE FINAL SACRIFICE
1887 - 1891
1887 May The BLAVATSKY LODGE of the TS is launched
1887 Sep The first issue of her magazine LUCIFER
appears. The aim of this journal: she declares
is it :is: "Designed to "Bring to Light the Hidden Things of
Darkness."
In addition she explains that
"LUCIFER ... the Light-Bearer is the Morning Star ... "and
'LUCIFER' is no profane or satanic title. It is the Latin
Luciferus. The Light-bringer, the Morning Star, equivalent to
the Greek Phosphorus ... The name of the pure Herald of the
Daylight." -- Yonge.
HPB was thus able to gather
around her Theosophists who were serious students and who were
anxious to receive her oral instructions, receiving directly from
her answers to their questions. She was also freed to do her
writing and to complete it as a full and complete message.
1888
1888 HPB at this time was determined that the TS be
the medium through which Theosophy would be propagated, at least
in all those areas where she had a free hand to do so; and even
if the By-laws of the TS obliged none to follow her lead.
1888 ESOTERIC SECTION OF THE T S STARTED
It was equally felt that food for
those who were seeking even more deeply for the secret doctrine
of antiquity should be provided. Mr. Judge had written HPB from
New York on the 18th of May 1887 asking if she could allow the
forming of an "Esoteric Section of the TS" where those who
desired to draw closer to Masters and Their Work could enter and
learn, and be "tested" -- much as in the earlier "Mysteries" it
had so been done.
1888 Oct 9 The following year after having Mr. Judge
come to London to help in the drafting of the Rules and Pledge
relating to this "Esoteric Section" a public announcement was
made in both LUCIFER and in THE PATH for the months of October
and November 1888.
Taking advantage of the trip, Mr.
Judge, who had been born in Ireland, visited the Dublin Lodge of
the TS, and imparted a large measure of his enthusiasm to its
members. It served as a point of inspiration for the new
generation of Irish poets and writers, such as Yeats, George W.
Russell (AE), and others.
1888-9 During this year the Esoteric Section
began to draw into its ranks the elite of the student body of
Theosophists, those who had dedicated themselves to the service
of humanity and to the work of learning and promulgation
necessary.
1888 Oct 20 & Dec. THE SECRET DOCTRINE, first Vol. 1
and then Vol. 2 were finally published - it had
taken 4 years.
THE SECRET DOCTRINE
1888 THE SECRET DOCTRINE is based on verses (stanzas)
of the Book of Dzyan (wisdom); and written in a style quite
different from that of the previous book: ISIS UNVEILED. It had
become necessary, after over 10 years of its consideration and
the inquiries of student seekers after the wisdom of the ages, to
give them material which was both philosophically profound as
well as the accurate history of the evolution of Nature and of
Man, and of the origins of religions.
Those doctrines unique to Theosophical philosophy
include:
1. the universal and impersonal law
of Karma, under which the whole of evolution proceeded.
2. The fact that all beings were of
the same ONE SPIRITUAL ESSENCE. Therefore,
3. as regards their interaction, all
beings, including men, had all to be considered as brothers
because of the identity of the nature of that ONE ESSENCE,
regardless of the apparent difference in the stage of
evolution which they presently occupied.
4. The great fact of Nature and its
implicit order is the rule of analogy and correspondence: as
above, so below, as in the past, so in the future.
5. That is a statement of the
economy of Nature in the operation of her laws which carry all
beings through the endless chain of evolution; and, in the case
of mankind, this process is by reincarnation until the Man-Spirit
reaches the summation, the goal of life on this Earth. He
masters all avenues of knowledge and learns to apply them by
choice benevolently, just as a professor or teacher does in
dealing with pupils in his charge, imparting to them what he or
she may have learned.
The evolution of the Universe is seen to
be similar to that of our Earth. The evolution of the form of
man follows the evolution of the inner, invisible sheaths of
man's soul. Man is essentially a Mind-Soul, and he is constantly
dealing with the evolution of sentient nature all around him,
including that which passes through him.
Every feeling, thought or action
impresses the motive of his moment on the forms of nature around.
They record it on their sensitive surface and later return the
impress to him during the incidents and circumstances of his
future, partially in this life, and partially in a future life.
We are constantly rewarding, or punishing ourselves in this
fashion. "The hands that smite us are our own."
1888 SECRET DOCTRINE:
3 FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSITIONS
To make the whole philosophy clear HPB offers
three great ideas: principles, or propositions to use in
regarding the world conditions we now find ourself in:
1. DEITY OR SPIRIT is UNIVERSAL,
IMMUTABLE, EVER-ACTIVE.
"We believe in a Universal Divine
Principle, the root of ALL, from which all proceeds, and within
which all shall be absorbed at the end of the great cycle of
Being."
KEY TO THEOSOPHY, p. 62
"In every Cosmogony, behind and higher
than the creative deity, there is a superior deity, a planner, an
Architect, of whom the Creator is but the executive agent. And
still higher, over and around, within and without, there is the
UNKNOWABLE and the unknown, the Source and Cause of all these
Emanations."
SD II 43
2. LAW IS UNIVERSAL, IMMUTABLE, JUST, MERCIFUL AND FAIR TO
ALL.
"We describe Karma as that Law of
re-adjustment which ever tends to restore disturbed equilibrium
in the physical, and broken harmony in the moral world. Karma
does not act in this or that particular way always; but...it
always does act so as to restore Harmony and preserve the balance
of equilibrium, in virtue of which the Universe exists."
KEY, p. 203
"There is one eternal Law in nature, one
that always tends to adjust contraries and to produce final
harmony. It is owing to this law of spiritual development
superseding the physical and purely intellectual, that mankind
will become freed from its false gods and find
itself--SELF-REDEEMED."
SD II 420
3. 3. EVOLUTION IS UNIVERSAL, ETERNAL AND
AN AVER-BECOMING FOR ALL.
"From Gods to men. from Worlds to atoms, from a
star to a rush-light, from the Sun to the vital heat of the
meanest organic being--the world of Form and Existence in an
immense chain, whose links are all connected. the law of Analogy
is the first key to the World-problem, and these links have to be
studied co-ordinately in their occult relations to each other."
SD I 604
"From center to circumference, from the
imperceptible vesicle to the uttermost conceivable bounds of the
Kosmos, those glorious thinkers, the Occultists, trace cycle
merging into cycle, containing and contained in an endless
series. The embryo evolving in its prenatal sphere, the
individual in his family, the family in the state, the state in
mankind, the Earth in our system, that system in its central
universe, the universe in the Kosmos, and the Kosmos in the ONE
CAUSE--thus runs their philosophy of evolution."
THE SECRET DOCTRINE, II, p. 189
"Evolution is an eternal cycle of becoming...and
nature never leaves an atom unused. Moreover, from the beginning
of the Round, all in Nature tends to become Man. All the
impulses of the dual, centrepetal and centrifugal Force are
directed towards one point--Man."
THE SECRET DOCTRINE, II, p. 170
Man is thus considered to be an immortal mind
dwelling in a highly refined animal body. The object of the
attainment of personal perfection (graduation) is not to retire
from active work (as the Nirvana concept seems to imply), but to
continue as a worker with Nature, as a Teacher, and assist in the
current development and elevation of all other beings including
the rest of humanity without distinctions of any kind whatsoever.
1888 THE original 1888 edition of the SECRET DOCTRINE consists
of 2 volumes:
VOLUME I -- covers COSMOGENESIS - the evolution
of our Earth and of the Universe. It reviews some of the
material already mentioned in ISIS UNVEILED and expands it.
VOLUME II -- covers ANTHROPOGENESIS- the
evolution of Man on our Earth, his future role, and the goals of
evolution.
HPB wrote of it:
"It is written in the service of humanity, and by
humanity and the future generations it must be judged. Its
author recognizes no inferior court of appeal. Abuse she is
accustomed to; calumny she is daily acquainted with; at slander
she smiles in silent contempt."
"...there are about half-a-dozen Theosophists who
have been busy in editing it, who have helped me to arrange the
matter correct the imperfect English, and prepare it for print.
But that which none of them will ever claim from first to last,
is the fundamental doctrine, the philosophical conclusions and
teachings. Nothing of that have I invented, but simply given it
out as I have been taught; or as quoted by me in the Secret
Doctrine (Vol. I, xlvi) from Montagne: "I have here made only a
nosegay of culled (Eastern) flowers, and have brought nothing of
my own but the string that ties them."
[MY BOOKS - HPB ARTICLES I, p. 484]
FOUR AGES OF CIVILIZATION
In considering the great periods of time that
make up the cycles of man's evolution on the Earth, she considers
the ancient concept of the change of "age." There are 4: The
"Golden Age," (the infancy of a race or nation); the "Silver"
Age. (adolescence); the "Bronze" Age of maturity, and finally,
the "Iron" Age of final development, senility, and ultimately
"death and re-embodiment." She declared that we are all entering
into this 4th "age," being already about 5,000 years into it.
This age, is called the Kali Yuga by the Hindus (the "black age")
and it is said to last for 432,000 years. (see SD Vol. II, p.
68-70 where the great periods of evolution are given according to
the Hindu system .)
REFERENCES CITED in THE SECRET DOCTRINE
Dr. Thaddeus P. Hyatt of Stamford, Connecticut
spent many years tracing the quotations and references that HPB
used in THE SECRET DOCTRINE.
In 1940 he issued a CHECK LIST OF SOME OF THE
BOOKS AND AUTHORS QUOTED OR REFERRED TO IN THE TWO VOLUMES OF THE
SECRET DOCTRINE BY H.P.BLAVATSKY.
In his Introduction he observes: "It is difficult
to appreciate the wealth of material quoted and the diversity of
subjects included...they are scattered throughout the thousands
of pages in the two volumes...[so that the reader] may gain a
better understanding of the inclusiveness of all the different
aspects of each subject presented, and that the SECRET DOCTRINE
is not the dogmatic presentation of any one religion, or any one
philosophy, or of any one science."
Many of the finest minds of her time were
influenced by the ideas that The Secret Doctrine expounded. Some
are: Dr. Hubbe-Schleiden, editor of The Sphinx; J. Ralston
Skinner, Kabalist; Sir. Wm. Crookes, George W. Russell (AE);
W. B. Yates, W K. Magee, Charles Weekes, Annie Besant, (who
after reviewing The Secret Doctrine interviewed HPB and became
subsequently her devoted student, co-worker and friend.
1888 THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE - a book
of over 150 pages was edited by HPB.
It was prepared from stenographic reports made
during question and answer sessions at the Blavatsky Lodge were
published from time to time as a series. These were found to
throw additional and important light on subjects treated in THE
SECRET DOCTRINE and, on the subject of Dreams and States of
Consciousness and other matters.
1888-89 HPB watched closely over the growth and development of
Theosophical work in the United States. Each year (from 1888 to
1891) she sent a key-note "Message" to the Annual Convention of
American Theosophists.
In these "FIVE MESSAGES" will be
found wise counsel, encouragement, and reminders of the essential
purpose and objectives of the TS -- and contained her hopes for
the future, also found framed in the last pages of THE KEY TO
THEOSOPHY.
She hopes that the TS will
sustain its purity of method and of effort into the 20th Century,
when she declared, a new "messenger" from the Great Lodge might
again visit the West, and be able to take advantage of the gains
made by loyal and industrious Theosophists in the interim. She
stated there that she hoped that the TS would survive, its
adherents, following the lines laid down for study and
self-purification, so that the whole World would profit from the
effort being made by the Masters to "change the Manas [mind-set]
and Buddhi [discernment] of the Race."
1889 THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY
1889 July HPB wrote and published THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.
It is written in question and answer form so that her students
may learn what THEOSOPHY is, and in turn use it to teach other
inquirers. She sub-titled it: "A clear exposition ...of the
ETHICS, SCIENCE, and PHILOSOPHY for the study of which
the Theosophical Society has been founded."
The 2nd printing (edition) published in 1890 contains at
the end, an addition of over 30 pages of Glossary.
PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY
To answer the many questions on Practical
Theosophy she devoted many pages to explaining its application in
the fields of: Duty, Political Reforms, Self-Sacrifice, Charity,
Promulgating Theosophy to the masses, Helping the Society and
"What a Theosophist ought Not to Do." She also considered
Asceticism, Marriage, Education, Prejudice against the TS, "Does
the TS Make Money?," and what is the "Working Staff of the TS."
These practical guidelines have helped solve many a difficult
personal problem in the lives of Theosophists.
She considers in detail the operation of the law
of Karma, and its particular applications in regard to man's
progress.
It deals with the inner constitution of man, his
goals and the part he can play in regard to the objectives of
evolution as a whole.
Other important Theosophical activities in 1889
should be noted. Col. Olcott was invited to spend four months in
Japan working to give more life and cohesion to the various
Buddhist sects there. He was successful in an attempt to bring
more understanding, leading to unification, between the two great
Schools of Buddhism, the Northern (Mahayana) and the Southern
(Hinayana).
1889 May 10 Annie Besant, who had been asked to review THE
SECRET DOCTRINE when it was published, as deeply struck with the
value of the wisdom evident therein.
She visited HPB to interview her and to discuss
THE SECRET DOCTRINE. She joined the Theosophical Society in
London and constituted herself thereafter, HPB's assistant. She
became co-editor of LUCIFER magazine with HPB, and was able to
give her some relief from her constant day-long work. This was
two years before HPB's body died.
She offered her own home as a refuge to the sick
and weary HPB and this afforded her the opportunity of a
"vacation."
1889 July HPB went to Fontainebleau to rest and used the
time there to write her last book:
THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE.
1889
1889 THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE was dedicated to "the
few"-- to those who desired to make Theosophy a "living power in
their lives."
To those who chose to make personal use on a
daily basis of the ethical precepts found in Theosophy, these
practical applications are dedicated for study, as they are the
application of the metaphysical statement of facts in Nature.
Mme. Blavatsky taught that theosophists ought to
make Theosophy a guide in their lives. To the aspirant for
self-improvement, it gave a glimpse of the future -- of the
"goal" to which all may aspire--a "god-like" living.
It is based on a further series of verses drawn
from the BOOK OF DZYAN which formed the basis for THE SECRET
DOCTRINE [in considering the history of the evolution of mankind
and of our Earth.]
It is a sketch of the ancient and difficult
"path" of discipleship, and of the progress that a Man who
decides to accelerate his own evolution can make. It warns of
dangers and difficulties, but also provides examples of success,
and an illustration of the means and methods an aspirant can use
to achieve the goal of all Life.
1889 July In line with the first "Object" of the TS: "to
form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood," a club was opened
in a poor section of London for "working women." Some of the TS
members lent their spare time and energy to providing a
different kind of environment for these disadvantaged persons.
This might be considered one of the first visible effects of
a great change in attitude that was to sweep during the following
decades over the entire world, where the rights of women, of the
poor and the disenfranchised were to be given increasing weight
and care. HPB was asked to open it.
Theosophy burgeoned into the ecological movement
which focuses on all aspects of our common environment and the
rights of plants and animals to protection in addition to those
of humans. One might even trace the political liberalism and the
disencumbering themselves by "master" countries of their
satellites and colonies, which has proceeded apace since the end
of the second World War as a manifestation of this spirit of
freedom and brotherhood and while much is still to be done, the
various health and social plans brought into being to protect the
needs of the poor are also a result of Theosophical teachings
being studied accepted and applied, though not always
acknowledged.
HPB's teachings about psychic man and the psychic
atmosphere that surrounds the Earth has given a better
understanding of mediumship (channeling), and "psychic
phenomena."
1890 EUROPEAN SECTION of the T. S.
1890 July Administratively it had become necessary for the
European Section of the TS Lodges to organize themselves into a
more efficient group. With HPB as their President and the
agreement of Col. Olcott as the Theosophical Society's President
for Life, the EUROPEAN SECTION of the TS was established.
Dr. COUES SLANDERS H.P.B. in the NEW YORK "SUN" --
RETRACTION
1890 July 20 These changes did not please everyone. We find
that in America, Professor Coues, of Washington D.C., who had
aimed at becoming the President of the AMERICAN SECTION of the TS
(of which Mr. Judge had been for many years the General
Secretary), finding himself at odds with the original objects and
their functioning, and not being able to force his ways and ideas
on that Section, or on HPB, or to oust Mr. Judge, published in
the NEW YORK SUN a defamatory article attacking HPB.
This brought into one focus all the libel that
had hitherto been aimed at HPB's character. This demanded an
immediate redress at Law.
Mr. Judge accordingly filed a suit for Libel in
New York on behalf of HPB. [ Unfortunately HPB did not see the
final success of this suit, as she died before the verdict was
passed.]
The N.Y. SUN fully investigated every charge that
Prof. Coues made and found none of them to have any substance.
Accordingly the N. Y. SUN made a full retraction,
and invited Mr. Judge to write an article on HPB, which he did,
entitling it THE ESOTERIC SHE. The importance of this should not
be lost on reviewers of Mme. Blavatsky's life and work: every
charge and rumor that had been circulated concerning HPB had been
proved to have no substance.
Subsequent biographers of HPB have not all taken
adequate notice of this fact. HPB is no longer here to take
issue with, or to defend herself. it is manifestly unfair to
level false accusations at her. A few of her friends will always
demand "fair play."
1891 DEATH OF MME. BLAVATSKY'S BODY
1891 May 8 On this day, HPB who had suffered from a chronic
kidney disease for many years, and who had contracted the 'flu --
as an epidemic was then raging in London -- after a few days of
illness died at 2.25 p.m. in the presence of several of her
friends.
Her last words as reported by her friends then present
are:
"Keep the link unbroken. Let not my last
incarnation be a failure."
1891 May 11 Her body was cremated at Woking crematorium,
Surrey, after a simple service conducted by her friends and
followers.
The news of her death spread like wild-fire.
Telegrams and letters of condolence and sympathy poured in just
as if she had been one of the great rulers of the age. The press
around the world took note of her passing and took opportunity to
discuss her work and Theosophy again.
Those of her friends and students who remained
now had the difficult task of carrying out on their own the
objectives that she had outlined, and the study for which she had
provided the texts and philosophy. This was due to humanity at
large for whom she wrote and for whom she hoped there would be
the increasing recognition of their common rights, together with
the establishment of universal freedoms and safeguards, and such
liberties as would raise them to their rightful level as true
members of the world community: women, children, the poor, the
down-trodden, the "colonials," in fact all those to whom the
benefits of education, political and human freedom had hitherto
been denied.
Reviewing the last 100 years could we not say
that much of her hopes in this direction have seen fulfillment ?
Many of the great patriots of the world, of disadvantaged
countries, previously "colonies" of the powerful European
nations, can trace some early contact with Theosophical ideas, or
even acknowledge a debt to the view of liberty that its
philosophy gave reasons for.
Meantime, this heritage of the race is available
still in its original form, untampered with. HPB wrote thousands
of pages in providing proof, TESTIMONY and substance for her
contention.
VI. THE IMPACT OF HPB's WORK
It would be difficult to measure the extent to
which the Theosophical teachings have influenced the thinking of
some of the "leaders of men," and the social and ecological
structures of our day, a 100 years later. There has been an
enormous change in thinking and a more compassionate regard bent
on society and the creatures of the world around us.
The word "Theosophy" is known to many, even if
they are unsure of its doctrines, ideas or teachings.
MISSION OF HPB SURVEYED
A survey of the mission of HPB will show:
1. It focused attention on the Lodge of
Living Adepts, specifically on their service of Humanity as the
preservers of knowledge and wisdom down the ages, and their help
in individual progress when merited through moral excellence.
It declared man's immortality as a spiritual
being, since a portion of the UNIVERSAL SPIRIT is in him -- as it
is in all other beings in Nature.
3. It demonstrated the universal reign of
LAW --which no being, however powerful, can transgress.
4. It showed how cycles of civilization
arose, then fell.
5. It declared that a sincere and
conscientious application of the innate sense of morality
everyone has (Voice of Conscience and Intuition) is the only key
to spiritual and occult progress for man.
6. It demonstrated the existence of the
invisible (astral,
spiritual) realms of being, within the physical.
7. Karma, the law of moral compensation, and
Reincarnation
are shown to be the active agents and the process
of man's evolution. Man alone is the maker of his own destiny.
He has the inalienable power to choose.
THEOSOPHICAL INFLUENCE IN THE WORLD
It has served to introduce some ancient Sanskrit
terms into our everyday language: karma, dharma, yoga, nirvana,
Bhagavad Gita, Mahatma, are some; and in addition, Theosophical
doctrines like reincarnation, the law of justice, universal
Spirit, astral body and astral light, universal evolution, "the
moral universe," "the invisible universe," "consciousness," and
"intelligence" residing in all forms, cycles of civilization ...
are some powerful ideas defined and integrated into a philosophy
of living.
Many great figures initiating, sustaining and
promoting social and political reforms, not to mention the
ecological movement, where the rights of species other than the
races and nations of Man are considered valid enough to draw
understanding and protection, may be seen to be at some time
influenced by the Theosophical ideas.
GREAT MINDS INFLUENCED BY THEOSOPHY
Some of the great names, either members of the
TS, or connected or influenced at some time with the Theosophical
movement can be mentioned:
Dr. Albert Einstein (who kept a copy of THE
SECRET DOCTRINE on his desk for ready reference); Thomas A.
Edison, (inventor); Prof. Wm. Crookes (chemist, physicist and
investigator into the psychic and the "astral" realm); Camille
Flammarion (astronomer); A. O. Hume (administrator, and founder
of THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS -- a body active in securing
independence for India in 1948). Baron du Potet.
M. K. Gandhi, Motilal Nehru, Bhagavan Das,
Bhavani Shankar, Subba Row, and hundreds of the most prominent
Indians who sacrificed to secure independence through
non-violence, for India. Annie Besant (Social reformer);
Herbert Burrows, and Christmas Humphreys (philosophers, social
reformers); Rudolph Steiner (founder of Anthroposophy); Piet
Mondrian (artist); B.P.Wadia (labor reformer, philosopher,
founder of THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE).
Dr. Alexander Wilder and G.R.S.Mead, (Greek
scholars); Charles Johnston (Orientalist and Sanskrit scholar);
Baron du Potet (healer and magnetist); Alexander Aksakof
(Chancellor of Imperial Russia); Rev. H. Sumangala (High Priest
of Singalese Buddhists); W. B. Yeats and George W. Russell (AE)
(poets and writers of Ireland).
Col. H. S. Olcott, (jurist, investigator and
reporter); Kandinski, Paul Klee, (artists); Scriabine,
(musician); Roerich (artist); James Joyce, D. H. Lawrence, T.
S. Eliot, Henry Miller (writers); D. T. Suzuki (Specialist in
Buddhism); Kazi Dawa Sandup (translator of THE BOOK OF THE DEAD
- Tibetan)... the list can be greatly extended.
___________________________________________
BIBLIOGRAPHY H. P. BLAVATSKY WROTE:
ISIS UNVEILED 1877 - 2 Vols. (1,300 pages +)
facsimile reprint
THE SECRET DOCTRINE 1888 - 2 Vols. (1,500 pages +)
facsimile reprint
INDEX to THE SECRET DOCTRINE 1939 ( 180 pages )
THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY 1889 - (310 pages)
facsimile reprint
THE VOICE OF THE SILENCE 1889 - verbatim reprint of the
original text (per W. Q. Judge New York)
THE THEOSOPHICAL GLOSSARY 1892 - (389 pages)
facsimile reprint
TRANSACTIONS OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE 1889 - (150 pages)
verbatim reprint
A MODERN PANARION 1895 - (504 pages) facsimile reprint
facsimile reprint [Early articles
of HPB]
THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES - HPB (3 Vol.- 1,550 + pages & Index)
verbatim reprint
THEOSOPHICAL ARTICLES & NOTES (310 pages & Index, 70 pp. by HPB
not included in the 3 Vol. set) verbatim reprint
FIVE MESSAGES TO AMERICAN THEOSOPHISTS - HPB (1888 -1891)
(32 pages)
HPB ARTICLES IN PAMPHLET FORM -- arranged by subjects.
(List on request)
FIVE YEARS OF THEOSOPHY - HPB et al. (575 pages, Index. f
facsimile 1885 Ed.)
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