Theosophical Encyclopedia

Avīchi

Details: Published: Tuesday, 29 October 2019 12:02

A Sanskrit term (lit. “waveless”), usually transliterated avīci, referring to a state of the greatest isolation, perhaps the conscious equivalent of absolute zero, and attained after physical death by a person who has been unrelentingly selfish and devoted to inflicting injury on others, therefore is a state devoid of spirituality, the result of a life of absolute evil. In Buddhist literature, it is the lowest Hell, immediately below one called Nirarbuda (“excessively cold”).

Brothers of the Shadow

Details: Published: Friday, 18 October 2019 16:07

Refers to those who in their occult practices concern themselves almost entirely with the material forces in Nature. The term is often applied to the so-called “Black Magicians” or “Sorcerers.”

Pantheism

Details: Published: Friday, 04 October 2019 05:43

From the Greek pan- meaning “involving all” and théisme meaning “pertaining to the divine.” It is a doctrine that equates God with all the matter and forces of the universe, but not transcending them. In that sense it is closely associated with monism, the doctrine that there is only one reality in the universe, usually conceived in spiritual terms (although atheistic materialism is also a kind of monism).

A New Occasional Paper

Details: Published: Tuesday, 24 September 2019 14:12

Theosophical History Occasional Papers: Vol. XV: Revisiting Visionary Utopia: Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland 1898-1942: Exhibit and Archive Overview

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Lomaland

A new volume of Theosophical History Occasional Papers will be devoted to an overview of the Lomaland Community Theosophy exhibit held at the Special Collections Library at San Diego State University. The exhibit, Revisiting Visionary Utopia: Katherine Tingley’s Lomaland 1898–1942, has been ongoing since 2017, and will continue until 2020.

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Lomaland garden

The co-curators, Kenneth Small and Robert Ray, have assembled an extensive collection that includes original material from Emmett and Carmen Small (Mr. Small’s parents), Iverson and Helen Harris, Gordon Plummer, Marian Lester and other Lomaland residents. Original artwork by Lomaland resident artists, notably Reginald Machell, Edith White, Marian Lester, and Leonard Lester are featured. Documents from Theosophical luminaries, including co-founders Helena Blavatsky (1831–1891) and William Q. Judge (1851–1896) and Lomaland Leaders Katherine Tingley (1847–1929) and G. de Purucker (1874–1942) will be included.

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Lomaland, Roja Yoga Academy

The exhibit includes memorabilia from drama, art, music and literature produced at Lomaland, residents’ letters and diaries, exhibit overviews of the community through photos and graphic art displays, recordings of Lomaland residents’ historical reflections and presentations on Theosophy and much more. Also, unique art works by Lomaland artists generously loaned from the San Diego History Center are displayed. A comprehensive finding aid is in process of being developed to make the exhibit accessible for students and scholars to study, with access to a comprehensive digital database.

The publication of the volume is planned for November 2019. It will contain a number of archival photos, documents, and letters from the Point Loma archives and selected examples of artwork by its members. The length will be approximately125 pages.

Publication will be in print form only. For information, please contact:

Dr. James Santucci

Department of Religious Studies

P.O. Box 6868

California State University

Fullerton, CA 92834-6868

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

P. C. Mukherji and Theosophical Archaeology – Part two

Details: Published: Sunday, 22 September 2019 14:55

Andrew Huxley – England

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The author

Introduction by Professor James Santucci

“P. C. Mukherji and Theosophical Archaeology” provides a fascinating insight in the colonialist view of archeology in India and the Theosophical perspective. Furthermore, the value of The Theosophist from its inception in 1879 to the end of the nineteenth century cannot be overstated. Aside from archival material, many of the activities and interests of its leaders are chronicled in the pages of both the journal and its Supplements, the latter especially serving as a veritable goldmine for historians. This was evident in Professor Baier’s article, “Mesmeric Yoga and the Development of Meditation within the Theosophical Society” (Vol. XVI, No. 3-4), as also in the present article. Keeping in mind the third reason for establishing The Theosophist (“the necessity for an organ through which the native scholars of the East could communicate their learning to the Western world, and, especially, through which the sublimity of Aryan, Buddhistic, Parsi, and other religions might be expounded by their own priests and pandits, the only competent interpreters”), it is no wonder that the policy of the Theosophists, especially its leaders Blavatsky and Olcott, was what Dr. Huxley describes as “Indology for the Indians,” a view that was in direct opposition to the colonialist policy to Belittle and conquer. How the Babus and pandits fared vis-à-vis government agencies such as the Archaeological Survey of India, is illustrated in the example of Rājendralāla Mitra and Purna Chundar Mukherji. Of the two, Mukherji takes on an added importance for those interested in Blavatsky’s erudition concerning Indian archaeology and history, for instance the controversy over the Buddha’s dates. Her response is pertinent today, especially with the varying opinions appearing in Heinz Bechert’s collection entitled When did the Buddha Live?: The Controversy on the Dating of the Historical Buddha (1996).

The author, Dr. Andrew Huxley, was Emeritus Professor in the School of Law at the School of Oriental and African Studies (London) from his retirement in 2013 until his death on November 29, 2014. From 1984 to 2012 Dr. Huxley was Lecturer of Southeast Asian law at SOAS and an authority on Burmese Buddhist Law and on the pre-colonial legal history of Southeast Asia. In 2012, was appointed Professor of Southeast Asian law in 2012 and in 2013 delivered his inaugural lecture, “T. W. Rhys Davids and the Forged Relics of the Buddha,” which can be viewed on YouTube.

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Historical Photos from the Adyar Archives JOHN COATS (1906 – 1979)

Details: Published: Friday, 20 September 2019 17:59

Presidency of the Society

In 1973, International President Nilakanta Sri Ram passed away in April. Vice President James S. Perkins took over temporarily and supervised the electoral process, in which many fine candidates had been nominated: Rukmini Devi Arundale, Joy Mills, Radha Burnier, James S. Perkins, and others.

Mr. Coats traveled extensively in Central and South America that year. He attended the Convention and Summer School of the Argentine Section at the resort town of Embalse de Rio Tercero near Cordoba, along with about 300 people from eight nations, including Theosophical Society in America President Joy Mills. Council meetings of the Inter-American Theosophical Federation held in conjunction with the convention, improved cooperation of members in the Americas in preparation for the 1975 Centenary Congress held in New York City. In June, he began touring the United States, lecturing at numerous branches and for a week at each of the four Theosophical camps. He led sessions at the American convention on the theme, "Preparing for Tomorrow."