Called to our attention by Jeff Gresko – USA

Dennis Kucinich, former mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, is a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from the state of Ohio. He was also a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the American presidency in both 2004 and 2008. In 2003 he received the Quaker-related Gandhi Peace Award, whose other recipients have included Eleanor Roosevelt, Benjamin Spock, and U Thant. Kucinich’s autobiography, The Courage to Survive (Beverly Hills CA: Phoenix Books, 2007) has several references that will be of interest to Theosophists because they show a life-long familiarity with Blavatsky, Theosophy, and reincarnation:

[As a young boy:] “I was on my way to becoming a magician and, if I got good enough, maybe I could make this asthma disappear. Fat chance. I studied Houdini and Madame Blavatsky, and they didn’t know anything about getting rid of asthma” (p. 74).

 

[As a young man:] “I had a philosophy term paper due in thirty-six hours and I had to read about fifty books for the topic I chose: Immortality and the Theosophical Concept” (p. 252).

“I was really big on reincarnation, although I had no idea where I came from or where I was going. Maybe I needed a few more Philosophy of Religion classes and a few more chapters of Augustine and Aquinas to balance out Cayce and Blavatsky before I came to any conclusions” (p. 304).