Theosophical history

[John Vorstermans]

I have over the years been fascinated by the history of the modern day theosophical society. As an organization it has weaved an interesting web in once sense and seen the spawning of many other organisation as it moved through history, many of them having had a great influence on the world.

It seems to me that we have gone through several, well at least three cycles of evolution since 1875 and its founding. The move from one cycle to the other has sometimes come with pain and other times quite naturally through the emphasis of the leadership.

Are there any others that have an interest in the history and evolution of the theosophical society here?

Namaste
John

[John Vorstermans]

Hi Konstantin

I am sure that there are various stories regarding Steiner and thank for for sharing your understanding. It will add to my own.

One think I have found through my study of TS history is that the history (his - story) is just that, someones view on the events that happened or the way someone witnessed it. Depending on ones perspective it can be seen quite differently and usually is. Getting various history stories is good as it helps us to start seeing the various perspectives. However finding out what events were and why they happened is sometimes really difficult.

Namaste
John

[Mark Newbold]

Dear Konstantin,
I have studied this aspect of Theosophical history in depth & have even lectured on it & you are absolutely correct. Besant remained flexible in attempting to accomodate Steiner and the German section, yet the Christology espoused by Steiner as the fulcrum of human history colored all his thinking & efforts. A reading of Steiner's "Esoteric Science, an outline" is really the Secret Doctrine with a Christology blended into it.

I also think there was a strong undercurrent of a Germanic cultural imperialism as well as some inherent racism on Steiner's part that could not accept the cultural cosmopolitan world view of Theosophy and his rejection of Krishnamurti may also have had a racial element as well. Steiner claimed that eastern phiosophy had "fallen into decadence" but I can find no evidence in support of this claim. One can read Steiner and see that his cultural heroes & spiritual antecedents to his Anthroposophy were either classical or German- there is a distinct lack of cultural diversity in the Anthroposophical world view.

[Nick the Pilot]

Mark,

I agree with you on the idea of Steiner's Christology. The other name that needs to be mentioned in the same vein is Alice Bailey. It seems to me that both Steiner and Bailey tried to take Theosophy and "Christianize" it by adding the idea of Jesus.

[Konstantin Zaitzev]

Bailey in this respect is no different from Besant or Leadbeater. She with them supported a view about a world teacher (Christ or Maytreya) who incarnated in the disciple named Jesus. Yet they considered this phenomenon as cyclical and not as a fulcrum of human history. These views come from the gnostic writer Kerinthos whose idea became known to general public through the works of H.P. Blavatsky.

[John Vorstermans]

Yes that is a very good point.

From my perspective this Christian influence was not just Steiner or Bailey but also manifested clearly in the works of Besant and Leadbeater at the time. The all took the original Theosophical impulse and passed it through the filters of their own upbringing.

Don't forget Leadbetter was a Christian cleric before he joined the T.S. and again later in his life. Annie Besant married a minister of the church. This likely had some impact on how they expressed their view of theosophy. If you read Besant lectures (most of her books) you will see the overwhelming Christian flavour. The same no doubt of Stiener. I do not know enough of Bailey except to observe that what she wrote about was not too dissimilar to what Leadbeater wrote on... although much more volume.

[michaelcarlo]

Perhaps the Christian influence was the logical "tip of the spear" after all the teachings of the Avatara of the Piscean age are the most recent chapter in our "Divine Doctrine." The same likewise with Steiner. The Ancient wisdom cyclically circles the Globe. Christianity was the message delivered to enlighten the Occident. Steiner and Bailey the vehicle. Considering Racial evolution, our 5th-sub race, the cream of the crop so far, was Teutonic, including Europe and America.

[Konstantin Zaitzev]

You didn't caught the point. Steiner regarded Leadbeater and other theosophist anti-christian, as the latter (with Bailey) regarded reappearance of Christ (world-teacher) as the cyclic phenomenon, not the fulcrum of human history.

[Murray Stentiford]

Thank you, John, for giving us these overviews of theosophical history. I think it is very helpful to hold the history in mind when you wish to help the forward movement of the Society. It is useful, to see the balances and imbalances, as we have been saying, and to do things to help even up those imbalances.

Go well
Murray

[Janeth]

>"We have yet to manifest the nucleus that is our first object."<---AMEN to this, John!!

[Toni Saghbiny]

Hello :)
While I was reading this subject I remembered a course I took in political science about the Life cycle of organized groups, which somehow apply to the History of T.S.
The course talked about a cycle composed of 4 periods:
- The establishment of the organization where the founders managed it directly. A period characterized by enthusiasm and strong (but somehow personalized) institutions, and the high number of youth in membership and leadership.
- Next is the era where the founders are gone, but the vitality of the organization is still at its best. The organization enters a more stable institutionalized state, and is able to manage bigger projects.
- Then comes the era you called "winter", where the organization enters a state of stagnation, and where the membership rates and productivity and enthusiasm seem to fade more and more.
- After that, one of two things happen: the slow death state continues (at a faster or slower rate), or the organization manages to Renew its vitality.

I can't say I can interpret the History of T.S on the light of these stages, because my knowledge on the subject is still very modest , but I think while reading the History of T.S we need to remember that although it's an organized society subject to the transformations and troubles like every known organization in the world, but in the same time it's not an ordinary society.
The theosophic knowledge and teachings remained hidden and esoteric for centuries, and all the known theosophic societies (using the larger meaning of the word theosophy here) were secret, esoteric, small scaled organizations.
The T.S was the first Esoteric-Exoteric organization, where the announcement of a large scale T.S open to the public, with its three objects, and where the once esoteric teachings became available for everyone, meant the beginning of a new era of consciousness for the human race.
From here, I see that it's always better to read the history of T.S as a question of Identity, because it has a very unique one. Beside identity, history of T.S evolved also around a question of achievement (the nucleus for universal brotherhood).

By using this point of view, the Besant-Leadbeater era seems somehow like a shift in identity, from a light-bearer – school society, to a more organized-belief society. And it also seems like a shift in the perception of achievement, where Besant and Leadbeater saw that achievement can be reached by creating or introducing a new world-teacher, and not only by the accumulation of small accomplishments of T.S, its members and all the good souls out there.

I think reading T.S history from this point of view can help us to answer some of today's questions, because I feel it's still a double question of identity and achievement. And of course, I don't mean by "identity" the Theosophical identity of T.S, but I mean the organizational identity, which is linked to the question: how to achieve?
it's a very central question because any answer implies that studying is ok, but it's not enough to make more forward steps toward a universal brotherhood for human kind.
I don't think it's a bad thing that our history evolves around these two questions, (especially during this phase in the history of T.S), but on the contrary, because questions generally come up when people feel that things could be better, and it's a sign of vitality and renewed birth.

[John Vorstermans]

Great point Toni and the cyclic phases of organizations certainly fits the T.S. as any. It is interesting to speculate what phase the T.S. is in right now I guess.

The Divine Wisdom as always been amongst us. We have probably heard that 1,000 times now and it is always around in some form of expression should we go looking for it. My favorite stories are of the journey's of Pythagoras and Plato who on their journeys found the mysteries, as they then called them, in Egypt. There they we initiated into the inner schools (whatever that might mean :-)). They eventually moved on and both founded their own kind of school many years later. We might wonder why they left if we consider that the initiation is about knowledge, but if you reflect for a moment, perhaps it is not about knowledge but something completely different.

In the T.S. today this initiation is about the formation of the Brotherhood that the founders maintained as the first step on the spiritual journey. Once you truly understand that you are part of the human family and that we are one human family your whole perspective on life changes. It needs to become a reality rather than an intellectual concept however. The "I" disappears and becomes the "i". This is the real initiation. From then we walk on a different path.

So if anything, the original emphasis of the T.S. perhaps was to be a ground for such initiation amongst those who were willing, and then to come together and work as a group (nucleus) would be a very powerful impulse in the world.

This emphasis seems to have become lost in time with the T.S. Maybe not?

[Janeth]

Interesting comment John-☺,

>"This emphasis seems to have become lost in time..."<---I would say the emphasis has not become lost, and as long as there is loyal and dedicated TS members with strong will and drive, intelligence and enthusiasm, high standards and loving energy doing the best they can to serve others in an unselfish and unconditional manner, the emphasis will never be lost.

A bunch of individuals trying to make a lot of undesirable noise means little compared to the thousands of great TS minds, soft hearts and generous souls around the world working silently but diligently, smartly and wisely to help move the Society along into the 21rst Century and helping make of the world a better place!!☺