Advertisement
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Madame Blavatsky Gary Lachman, 2012-10-25 A thoughtful biography of one of the most polarizing pioneers of alternative spirituality, the occult-mystic Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. Pioneer. Visionary. Provocateur. Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the Theosophical Society—is still being hailed as an icon and scorned as a fraud more than 120 years after her death. But despite perennial interest in her life, writings, and philosophy, no single biography has examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf Steiner and Jung the Mystic, brings us an in-depth look at Blavatsky, objectively exploring her unique and singular contributions toward introducing Eastern and esoteric spiritual ideas to the West during the nineteenth century, as well as the controversies that continue to color the discussions of her life and work. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: HPB S. L. Cranston, 1993 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Spiritualism, Madame Blavatsky & Theosophy Rudolf Steiner, 2002 Selections from the Works of Rudolf Steiner Without the spiritualist movement and the amazing personality of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, the creator of the Theosophical Society, the spiritual revolution of the twentieth century--the so-called New Age, with all its movers and shakers--would be unimaginable. And the work of Rudolf Steiner, G.I. Gurdjieff, René Guénon, Hazrat Inayat Khan, Sri Aurobindo, R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz, and C.G. Jung could not have become what it was. In this fascinating volume on the Theosophical movement, Rudolf Steiner, one of its primary participants, tells his story in his own words. We are told of the origins of the theosophical movement in spiritualism and somnambulism. We are given Steiner's own version of the relationship between Anthroposophy and Theosophy through his White Lotus Day Lectures, given over several years on the anniversary of Madame Blavatsky's death. Steiner then moves into the realm of occult history, where he relates Theosophy to its historical ground in Western esotericism, especially Rosicrucianism. He reveals events from the seventeenth century that led to the emergence of Freemasonry and other secret societies, as well as the hidden history of the creation of Theosophy in the nineteenth century and the conflicts that still reverberate today between the Anglo-Saxon and Germanic occult streams. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Madame Blavatsky's Baboon Peter Washington, 1995 Just before the turn of the century, a renegade Russian aristocrat named Madame Blavatsky came to America claiming that man was descended not from the ape but from spiritual beings. Thus began Theosophy, the very first new age religion. This thought-provoking and often hilarious study delineates the course of Theosophy and other sects which have come down through the years. Photos. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Aleister Crowley Gary Lachman, 2014-05-15 This definitive work on the occult’s “great beast” traces the arc of his controversial life and influence on rock-and-roll giants, from the Rolling Stones to Led Zeppelin to Black Sabbath. When Aleister Crowley died in 1947, he was not an obvious contender for the most enduring pop-culture figure of the next century. But twenty years later, Crowley’s name and image were everywhere. The Beatles put him on the cover of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Rolling Stones were briefly serious devotees. Today, his visage hangs in goth clubs, occult temples, and college dorm rooms, and his methods of ceremonial magick animate the passions of myriad occultists and spiritual seekers. Aleister Crowley is more than just a biography of this compelling, controversial, and divisive figure—it’s also a portrait of his unparalleled influence on modern pop culture. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Helena Blavatsky Helena Blavatsky, 2020 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Jung the Mystic Gary Lachman, 2012-12-27 Bold and compact, this new biography of Carl Jung fills a gap in the understanding of the pioneering psychiatrist by focusing on the occult and mystical dimension of Jung's life and work, a critical but frequently misunderstood facet of his career. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Occult America Mitch Horowitz, 2010-10-05 From its earliest days, America served as an arena for the revolutions in alternative spirituality that eventually swept the globe. Esoteric philosophies and personas—from Freemasonry to Spiritualism, from Madame H. P. Blavatsky to Edgar Cayce—dramatically altered the nation’s culture, politics, and religion. Yet the mystical roots of our identity are often ignored or overlooked. Opening a new window on the past, Occult America presents a dramatic, pioneering study of the esoteric undercurrents of our history and their profound impact across modern life. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Rudolf Steiner Gary Lachman, 2007-02-01 The first truly popular biography of the influential twentieth-century mystic and educator who-while widely known for founding the Waldorf schools and other educational and humanitarian movements-remains a mystery to many who benefit from his ideas. People everywhere have heard of Waldorf schools, Biodynamic farming, Camphill Villages, and other innovations of the Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925). Indeed, Steiner—as an architect, artist, teacher, and agriculturalist—ranks among the most creative and prolific figures of the early twentieth century, pioneering work in alternative education, holistic health, and environmental research. While his accomplishments are felt all over the world, few people understand this unusual figure. Steiner's own writings and lectures fill several bookcases, intimidating those who would like to know more. Works on Steiner are often dense and insider in tone, further deterring the curious. No popular biography, written by a sympathetic but critical outsider, has been available. Gary Lachman's Rudolf Steiner provides this missing introduction. Along with telling Steiner's story and placing Steiner in his historical context, Lachman's book presents Steiner's key ideas in a readable, accessible manner. In particular, Lachman considers the spread of Steiner's most popular projects, which include Waldorf schools-one of the leading forms of alternative education-and Biodynamic farming-a popular precursor to organic farming. He also traces Steiner's beginnings as a young intellectual in the ferment of fin de siécle culture, to his rise as a thought leader within the influential occult movement of Theosophy, to the founding of his own metaphysical teaching called Anthroposophy. Finally, the book illustrates how Steiner's methods are put into practice today, and relates Steiner's insights into cosmology to the work of current thinkers. Rudolf Steiner is a full-bodied portrait of one of the most original philosophical and spiritual luminaries of the last two centuries, and gives those interested in the history of ideas the opportunity to discover one of the most underappreciated figures of the twentieth century. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Voice of the Silence Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 2020-09-28 THE following pages are derived from The Book of the Golden Precepts, one of the works put into the hands of mystic students in the East. The knowledge of them is obligatory in that school, the teachings of which are accepted by many Theosophists. Therefore, as I know many of these Precepts by heart, the work of translating has been relatively an easy task for me. It is well known that, in India, the methods of psychic development differ with the Gurus (teachers or masters), not only because of their belonging to different schools of philosophy, of which there are six, but because every Guru has his own system, which he generally keeps very secret. But beyond the Himalayas the method in the Esoteric Schools does not differ, unless the Guru is simply a Lama, but little more learned than those he teaches. The work from which I here translate forms part of the same series as that from which the Stanzas of the Book of Dzyan were taken, on which the Secret Doctrine is based. Together with the great mystic work called Paramartha, which, the legend of Nagarjuna tells us, was delivered to the great Arhat by the Nagas or Serpents (in truth a name given to the ancient Initiates), the Book of the Golden Precepts claims the same origin. Yet its maxims and ideas, however noble and original, are often found under different forms in Sanskrit works, such as the Dnyaneshvari, that superb mystic treatise in which Krishna describes to Arjuna in glowing colors the condition of a fully illumined Yogi; and again in certain Upanishads. This is but natural, since most, if not all, of the greatest Arhats, the first followers of Gautama Buddha were Hindus and Aryans, not Mongolians, especially those who emigrated into Tibet. The works left by Aryasanga alone are very numerous. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Occult History Rudolf Steiner, 1982 These lectures are concerned with spiritual forces and influences working in world history and in the karma of human beings. Steiner's penetrating insights into the events and personalities history are one of his major contributions to modern times. Steiner focuses here on the Babylonian and Greek cultures and the connecting threads running between individual personalities and the evolution of humanity as a whole. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: A Secret History of Consciousness Gary Lachman, 2003-07 For the last four centuries, science has tried to account for everything in terms of atoms and molecules and the physical laws they adhere to. Recently, this effort was extended to try to include the inner world of human beings. Gary Lachman argues that this view of consciousness is misguided and unfounded. He points to another approach to the study and exploration of consciousness that erupted into public awareness in the late 1800s. In this secret history of consciousness, consciousness is seen not as a result of neurons and molecules, but as responsible for them; meaning is not imported from the outer world, but rather creates it. In this view, consciousness is a living, evolving presence whose development can be traced through different historical periods, and which evolves along a path to a broader, more expansive state. What that consciousness may be like and how it may be achieved is a major concern of this book. Lachman concentrates on the period since the late 1800s, when Madame Blavatsky first brought the secret history out into the open. As this history unfolds, we encounter the ideas of many modern thinkers, from esotericists like P. D. Ouspensky, Rudolf Steiner, and Colin Wilson to more mainstream philosophers like Henri Bergson, William James, Owen Barfield and the psychologist Andreas Mavromatis. Two little known but important thinkers play a major role in his synthesis --Jurij Moskvitin, who showed how our consciousness relates to the mechanisms of perception and to the external world, and Jean Gebser, who presented perhaps the most impressive case for the evolution of consciousness. An important contribution to the study of consciousness ... a must-read. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Secret Teachers of the Western World Gary Lachman, 2015-12-08 This epic study unveils the esoteric masters who have covertly impacted the intellectual development of the West, from Pythagoras and Zoroaster to the little-known modern icons Jean Gebser and Schwaller de Lubicz. Running alongside the mainstream of Western intellectual history there is another current which, in a very real sense, should take pride of place, but which for the last few centuries has occupied a shadowy, inferior position, somewhere underground. This other stream forms the subject of Gary Lachman’s epic history and analysis, The Secret Teachers of the Western World. In this clarifying, accessible, and fascinating study, the acclaimed historian explores the Western esoteric tradition – a thought movement with ancient roots and modern expressions, which, in a broad sense, regards the cosmos as a living, spiritual, meaningful being and humankind as having a unique obligation and responsibility in it. The historical roots of our “counter tradition,” as Lachman explores, have their beginning in Alexandria around the time of Christ. It was then that we find the first written accounts of the ancient tradition, which had earlier been passed on orally. Here, in this remarkable city, filled with teachers, philosophers, and mystics from Egypt, Greece, Asia, and other parts of the world, in a multi-cultural, multi-faith, and pluralistic society, a synthesis took place, a creative blending of different ideas and visions, which gave the hidden tradition the eclectic character it retains today. The history of our esoteric tradition roughly forms three parts: Part One: After looking back at the earliest roots of the esoteric tradition in ancient Egypt and Greece, the historical narrative opens in Alexandria in the first centuries of the Christian era. Over the following centuries, it traces our “other” tradition through such agents as the Hermeticists; Kabbalists; Gnostics; Neoplatonists; and early Church fathers, among many others. We examine the reemergence of the lost Hermetic books in the Renaissance and their influence on the emerging modern mind. Part Two begins with the fall of Hermeticism in the late Renaissance and the beginning of “the esoteric counterculture.” In 1614, the same year that the Hermetic teachings fell from grace, a strange document appeared in Kassel, Germany announcing the existence of a mysterious fraternity: the Rosicrucians. Part two charts the impact of the Rosicrucians and the esoteric currents that followed, such as the Romance movement and the European occult revival of the late nineteenth century, including Madame Blavatsky and the opening of the western mind to the wisdom of the East, and the fin-de-siècle occultism of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Part Three chronicles the rise of “modern esotericism,” as seen in the influence of Rudolf Steiner, Gurdjieff, Annie Besant, Krishnamurti, Aleister Crowley, R. A Schwaller de Lubicz, and many others. Central is the life and work of C.G. Jung, perhaps the most important figure in the development of modern spirituality. The book looks at the occult revival of the “mystic sixties” and our own New Age, and how this itself has given birth to a more critical, rigorous investigation of the ancient wisdom. With many detours and dead ends, we now seem to be slowly moving into a watershed. It has become clear that the dominant, left-brain, reductionist view, once so liberating and exciting, has run out of steam, and the promise of that much-sought-after “paradigm change” seems possible. We may be on the brink of a culminating moment of the esoteric intellectual tradition of the West. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group Michael Duncan, 2021-07-06 Abstract painting meets theosophical spirituality in 1930s New Mexico: the first book on a radical, astonishingly prescient episode in American modernism Founded in Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico, in 1938, at a time when social realism reigned in American art, the Transcendental Painting Group (TPG) sought to promote abstract art that pursued enlightenment and spiritual illumination. The nine original members of the Transcendental Painting Group were Emil Bisttram, Robert Gribbroek, Lawren Harris, Raymond Jonson, William Lumpkins, Florence Miller Pierce, Agnes Pelton, Horace Towner Pierce and Stuart Walker. They were later joined by Ed Garman. Despite the quality of their works, these Southwest artists have been neglected in most surveys of American art, their paintings rarely exhibited outside of New Mexico. Faced with the double disadvantage of being an openly spiritual movement from the wrong side of the Mississippi, the TPG has remained a secret mostly known only to cognoscenti. Another World: The Transcendental Painting Group aims to address this slight, claiming the group's artists as crucial contributors to an alternative through-line in 20th-century abstraction, one with renewed relevance today. This volume provides a broad perspective on the group's work, positioning it within the history of modern painting and 20th-century American art. Essays examine the TPG in light of their international artistic peers; their involvement with esoteric thought and Theosophy; the group's sources in the culture and landscape of the American Southwest; and the experience of its two female members. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Isis Unveiled H. P. Blavatsky, 2015-06-01 Creating a sensation when it was first published in 1877, the first major work by the young Russian noblewoman who would found the Theosophical Society devoted 1200 pages to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. This new edition abridged by Theosophical scholar Michael Gomes breathes fresh life into this classic of Western esoteric thinking. Stripped of its lengthy quotations from other writers and its repetitious commentary, Isis Unveiled is revealed to be a clear and readable exploration of the universal truths of the Ancient Wisdom Tradition by one of the most remarkable women of modern times. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: A Curious Invitation Suzette Field, 2014 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: An American Covenant Lucile Scott, 2020-10-06 A history of mystic resistance and liberation and of five women who transcended the expected to transform America. For centuries, women who emerge as mystic leaders have played vital roles in American culture. For just as long, they've been subjugated and ridiculed. Today, women and others across the nation are once again turning to their mystic powers to #HexThePatriarchy and help fight the forces that seem bent on relegating them to second-class citizenry. Amid this tumult, Lucile Scott looks to the past and the stories of five women over three centuries to form an ancestral spiritual coven: Marie Laveau, the Voodoo Queen of New Orleans; Cora L. V. Scott, nineteenth-century Spiritualist superstar; Helena Blavatsky, mother of Theosophy; Zsuzsanna Budapest, feminist witch and founder of Dianic Wicca; and Marianne Williamson, presidential candidate and preacher of the New Age Gospel of Love. Each, in their own ways, defied masculine preconceptions about power. A scathing queer feminist history and a personal quest for transcendence, An American COVENant opens our eyes to the paths forged by women who inspired the nation in their own times--and who will no longer be forgotten or silenced in ours. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Philosophy for Life and Other Dangerous Situations Jules Evans, 2013-10-03 When philosophy rescued him from an emotional crisis, Jules Evans became fascinated by how ideas invented over two thousand years ago can help us today. He interviewed soldiers, psychologists, gangsters, astronauts, and anarchists and discovered the ways that people are using philosophy now to build better lives. Ancient philosophy has inspired modern communities — Socratic cafés, Stoic armies, Epicurean communes — and even whole nations in the quest for the good life. This book is an invitation to a dream school with a rowdy faculty that includes twelve of the greatest philosophers from the ancient world, sharing their lessons on happiness, resilience, and much more. Lively and inspiring, this is philosophy for the street, for the workplace, for the battlefield, for love, for life. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Return of Holy Russia Gary Lachman, 2020-05-12 A history of how mystical and spiritual influences have shaped Russia’s identity and politics and what it means for the future of world civilization • Examines Russia’s spiritual history, from its pagan origins and Eastern Orthodox mysticism to secret societies, Rasputin, Roerich, Blavatsky, and Dostoyevsky • Explains the visionary writings of the spiritual philosophers of Russia’s Silver Age, which greatly influence Putin today • Explores what Russia’s unique identity and its history of messianic politics and apocalyptic thought mean for its future on the world stage At the turn of the 20th century, a period known as the Silver Age, Russia was undergoing a powerful spiritual and cultural rebirth. It was a time of magic and mysticism that saw a vital resurgence of interest in the occult and a creative intensity not seen in the West since the Renaissance. This was the time of the God-Seekers, pilgrims of the soul and explorers of the spirit who sought the salvation of the world through art and ideas. These sages and their visions of Holy Russia are returning to prominence now through Russian president Vladimir Putin, who, inspired by their ideas, envisions a new “Eurasian” civilization with Russia as its leader. Exploring Russia’s long history of mysticism and apocalyptic thought, Gary Lachman examines Russia’s unique position between East and West and its potential role in the future of the world. Lachman discusses Russia’s original Slavic paganism and its eager adoption of mystical and apocalyptic Eastern Orthodox Christianity. He explores the Silver Age and its “occult revival” with a look at Rasputin’s prophecies, Blavatsky’s Theosophy, Roerich’s “Red Shambhala,” and the philosophies of Berdyaev and Solovyov. He looks at Russian Rosicrucianism, the Illuminati Scare, Russian Freemasonry, and the rise of other secret societies in Russia. He explores the Russian character as that of the “holy fool,” as seen in the great Russian literature of the 19th century, especially Dostoyevsky. He also examines the psychic research performed by the Russian government throughout the 20th century and the influence of Evola and the esoteric right on the spiritual and political milieus in Russia. Through in-depth exploration of the philosophies that inspire Putin’s political regime and a look at Russia’s unique cultural identity, Lachman ponders what they will mean for the future of Russia and the world. What drives the Russian soul to pursue the apocalypse? Will these philosophers lead Russia to dominate the world, or will they lead it into a new cultural epoch centered on spiritual power and mystical wisdom? |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Divine Feminine Joy Dixon, 2003-05-01 Honorable Mention for the Wallace K. Ferguson Prize from the Canadian Historical AssociationChosen by Choice Magazine as an Outstanding Academic Title of 2003 In 1891, newspapers all over the world carried reports of the death of H. P. Blavatsky, the mysterious Russian woman who was the spiritual founder of the Theosophical Society. With the help of the equally mysterious Mahatmas who were her teachers, Blavatsky claimed to have brought the ancient wisdom of the East to the rescue of a materialistic West. In England, Blavatsky's earliest followers were mostly men, but a generation later the Theosophical Society was dominated by women, and theosophy had become a crucial part of feminist political culture. Divine Feminine is the first full-length study of the relationship between alternative or esoteric spirituality and the feminist movement in England. Historian Joy Dixon examines the Theosophical Society's claims that women and the East were the repositories of spiritual forces which English men had forfeited in their scramble for material and imperial power. Theosophists produced arguments that became key tools in many feminist campaigns. Many women of the Theosophical Society became suffragists to promote the spiritualizing of politics, attempting to create a political role for women as a way to sacralize the public sphere. Dixon also shows that theosophy provides much of the framework and the vocabulary for today's New Age movement. Many of the assumptions about class, race, and gender which marked the emergence of esoteric religions at the end of the nineteenth century continue to shape alternative spiritualities today. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Sādhanā Rabindranath Tagore, 1913 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: In Search of Being G. I. Gurdjieff, 2021-07-20 Over one hundred years ago in Russia, G. I. Gurdjieff introduced a spiritual teaching of conscious evolution—a way of gnosis or “knowledge of being” passed on from remote antiquity. Gurdjieff’s early talks in Europe were published in the form of chronological fragments preserved by his close followers P. D. Ouspensky and Jeanne de Salzmann. Now these teachings are presented as a comprehensive whole, covering a variety of subjects including states of consciousness, methods of self-study, spiritual work in groups, laws of the cosmos, and the universal symbol known as the Enneagram. Gurdjieff respected traditional religious practices, which he regarded as falling into three general categories or “ways”: the Way of the Fakir, related to mastery of the physical body; the Way of the Monk, based on faith and feeling; and the Way of the Yogi, which focuses on development of the mind. He presented his teaching as a “Fourth Way” that integrates these three aspects into a single path of self-knowledge. The principles are laid out as a way of knowing and experiencing an awakened level of being that must be verified for oneself. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Canon of Reason and Virtue (Lao-Tze's Tao Teh King) Laozi, 1903 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Theosophy and the Theosophical Society Annie Besant, 1913 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Secret Doctrine Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 1893 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Cosmogenesis Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 1917 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Anthropogenesis Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, 1917 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Esoteric Buddhism Alfred Percy Sinnett, 1907 This theory recognizes the evolution of the soul as a process that is quite continuous in itself, though carried out partly through the instrumentality of a great series of dissociated forms. Putting aside for the moment of profound metaphysics of the theory which trace the principle of life from the original first cause of the cosmos, we find the soul as an entity emerging from the animal kingdom, and passing into the earliest human forms, without being at that time ripe for the higher intellectual life with which the present state of humanity renders us familiar. But through successive incarnations in forms whose physical improvement, under the Darwinian law, is constantly fitting them to be its habitation at each return to objective life, it gradually gathers that enormous range of experience which is summed up in its higher development. In the intervals between its physical incarnations it prolongs and works out, and finally exhausts or transmutes into so much abstract development, the personal experiences of each life. This is the clue to the true explanation of that apparent difficulty which besets the cruder form of the theory of reincarnation which independent speculation has sometimes thrown out. Each man is unconscious of having led previous lives, therefore he contends that subsequent lives can afford him no compensation for this one. He overlooks the enormous importance of the intervening spiritual condition, in which he by no means forgets the personal adventures and emotions he has just passed through, and in the course of which he distills these into so much cosmic progress. In the following pages the elucidation of this profoundly interesting mystery is attempted, and it will be seen that the view of events now afforded us is not only a solution of the problems of life and death, but of many very perplexing experiences on the borderland between those conditions - or rather between physical and spiritual life - which have engaged attention and speculation so widely of recent years in most civilized countries. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Madame Blavatsky, Personal Memoirs Mary K. Neff, 2018-08-08 For those interested in Occultism and its greatest modern exponent, this Autobiography of H. P. Blavatsky brings together all the available events, experiences and relevant facts of that vigorous, brave, mysterious and wonderful life, arranged in their proper sequence. The task has been somewhat similar to what H. P. B. describes as her method of writing Isis Unveiled When I think and watch my thoughts, they appear to me as though they were like those little bits of wood of various shapes and colours in the game known as casse tete I pick them up one by one, and try to make them fit each other, first taking one, then putting it aside until I find its match, and finally there comes out in the end something geometrically correct. With an introduction by H. P. Blavatsky's sister, Vera Petrovna de Zhelihovsky. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Studies in Occultism H. P. Blavatsky, 2019-01-09 Occultism is not magic. It is comparatively easy to learn the trick of spells and the methods of using the subtler, but still material, forces of physical nature; the powers of the animal soul in man are soon awakened; the forces which his love, his hate, his passion, can call into operation, are readily developed. But this is Black Magic — Sorcery. For it is the motive, and the motive alone, which makes any exercise of power become black, malignant, or white, beneficent Magic. It is impossible to employ spiritual forces if there is the slightest tinge of selfishness remaining in the operator. For, unless the intention is entirely unalloyed, the spiritual will transform itself into the psychic, act on the astral plane, and dire results may be produced by it. The powers and forces of animal nature can equally be used by the selfish and revengeful, as by the unselfish and the all-forgiving; the powers and forces of spirit lend themselves only to the perfectly pure in heart — and this is DIVINE MAGIC. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Ramayana Linda Egenes, M.A., Kumuda Reddy, M.D., 2016-09-06 A delightfully straightforward and lyrical retelling of the ancient Indian epic of loyalty, betrayal, redemption, and insight into the true nature of life -- one of history's most sacred ethical works, rendered with completeness and sterling accuracy for the modern reader. Here is one of the world's most hallowed works of sacred literature, the grand, sweeping epic of the divine bowman and warrior Rama and his struggles with evil, power, duplicity, and avarice. The Ramayana is one of the foundations of world literature and one of humanity's most ancient and treasured ethical and spiritual works. Includes an introduction by scholar Michael Sternfeld. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Esoteric Character of the Gospels H. P. Blavatsky, 2014-03 This Is A New Release Of The Original 1922 Edition. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Theosophical Enlightenment Joscelyn Godwin, 1994-10-28 This is an intellectual history of occult and esoteric currents in the English-speaking world from the early Romantic period to the early twentieth century. The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875 by Helena P. Blavatsky, holds a crucial position as the place where all these currents temporarily united, before again diverging. The book's ambiguous title points to the author's thesis that Theosophy owed as much to the skeptical Enlightenment of the eighteenth century as it did to the concept of spiritual enlightenment with which it is more readily associated. The author respects his sources sufficiently to allow that their world, so different from that of academic reductionism, has a right to be exhibited on its own terms. At the same time he does not conceal the fact that he considers many of them deluded and deluding. In the context of theosophical history, this book is neither on the side of the blind votaries of Madame Blavatsky, nor on that of her enemies. It may, therefore, be expected to mildly annoy both sides. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Quest For Hermes Trismegistus Gary Lachman, 2011-06-09 From the sands of Alexandria via the Renaissance palaces of the Medicis, to our own times, this spiritual adventure story traces the profound influence of Hermes Trismegistus -- the 'thrice-great one', as he was often called -- on the western mind. For centuries his name ranked among the most illustrious of the ancient world. Considered by some a contemporary of Moses and a forerunner of Christ, this almost mythical figure arose in fourth century BC Alexandria, from a fusion of the Egyptian god Thoth and the Greek god Hermes. Master of magic, writing, science, and philosophy, Hermes was thought to have walked with gods and be the source of the divine wisdom granted to man at the dawn of time. Gary Lachman has written many books exploring ancient traditions for the modern mind. In The Quest for Hermes Trismegistus, he brings to life the mysterious character of this great spiritual guide, exposing the many theories and stories surrounding him, and revitalizing his teachings for the modern world. Through centuries of wars, conquests and religious persecutions, the fragile pages of the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus have still survived. This is a book for all thinkers and enquirers who want to recover that lost knowledge and awaken a shift in human consciousness. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Masters Revealed K. Paul Johnson, 1994-07-22 List of Illustrations The Masters Foreword Acknowledgments Introduction: The Masters and the Myth Part One. Adepts Prince Pavel Dolgorukii Prince Aleksandr Golitsyn Albert Rawson Paolos Metamon Agardi Metrovitch Giuseppe Mazzini Louis Maximilien Bimstein Jamal ad-Din al-Afghani James Sanua Lydia Pashkov Ooton Liatto Marie, Countess of Caithness Sir Richard Burton Abdelkader Raphael Borg James Peebles Charles Sotheran Mikhail Katkov Illustrations Part Two. Mahatmas Swami Dayananda Sarasvati Shyamaji Krishnavarma Maharaja Ranbir Singh of Kashmir Thakar Singh Sandhanwalia Maharaja Holkar of Indore Bhai Gurmukh Singh Baba Khem Singh Bedi Surendranath Banerjea Dayal Singh Majithia Sumangala Unnanse Sarat Chandra Das Ugyen Gyatso Sengchen Tulku Swami Sankaracharya of Mysore Part Three. Secret Messages Suspicion on Three Continents An Urgent Warning to the Viceroy Who Inspired Hume? The Occult Imprisonment Notes Bibliography Index |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Lives of Alcyone Annie W. Besant, C. W. Leadbeater, 1998 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Waking Up Sam Harris, 2015-06-16 Spirituality.The search for happiness --Religion, East and West --Mindfulness --The truth of suffering --Enlightenment --The mystery of consciousness.The mind divided --Structure and function --Are our minds already split? --Conscious and unconscious processing in the brain --Consciousness is what matters --The riddle of the self.What are we calling I? --Consciousness without self --Lost in thought --The challenge of studying the self --Penetrating the illusion --Meditation.Gradual versus sudden realization --Dzogchen: taking the goal as the path --Having no head --The paradox of acceptance --Gurus, death, drugs, and other puzzles.Mind on the brink of death --The spiritual uses of pharmacology. |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Madame Blavatsky and Her "theosophy" Arthur Lillie, 1895 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: Jesus Christ the Bearer of the Water of Life Daughters of St Paul, 2007-02-01 |
madame blavatsky the mother of modern spirituality: The Secret Doctrine Elena Petrovna Blavatskaâ, 1946 |
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituali…
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituali…
controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality until now Gary Lachman the acclaimed …
Lachman, Gary: Madame Blavatsky. The Mother of M…
Lachman, Gary: Madame Blavatsky. The Mother of Modern Spirituality, Nueva York, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. Año II, No. 3, Primavera 2013. ISSN: …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituali…
examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituali…
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spiritualit (book)
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality Copy
controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality until now Gary Lachman the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind volumes such as Rudolf …
Lachman, Gary: Madame Blavatsky. The Mother of Modern Spirituality ...
Lachman, Gary: Madame Blavatsky. The Mother of Modern Spirituality, Nueva York, Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. Año II, No. 3, Primavera 2013. ISSN: 2314-1204.
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spiritualit - Helena …
examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality Full PDF
Madame Helena Petrovna Blavatsky—mystic, occult writer, child of Russian aristocrats, spiritual seeker who traveled five continents, and founder (with Henry Steel Olcott) of the …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality Helena Blavatsky …
13 Nov 2022 · Helena P. Blavatsky was a spiritual adept who appeared on the world scene during the second half of the 19th Century when intellectual, scientific and religious thinking had …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality
examined the controversy and legacy of this influential thinker who helped define modern alternative spirituality—until now. Gary Lachman, the acclaimed spiritual biographer behind …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality Copy
This book delves into Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality. Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality is an essential topic that needs to be grasped by everyone, …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality 3 3 Greats of Occult Writing (Fantasy and Horror Classics) Philaletheians UK A thoughtful biography of one of the most...
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality
world carried reports of the death of H. P. Blavatsky, the mysterious Russian woman who was the spiritual founder of the Theosophical Society. With the help of the equally mysterious …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spiritualit [PDF]
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spiritualit Blavatsky (1831-1891) left her native Russia and traveled through India, Tibet, Egypt, Europe, and the Americas seeking out the sources of …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality
How does Blavatsky’s work resonate with modern spirituality? Her emphasis on universal brotherhood, the interconnectedness of all things, and the pursuit of inner wisdom are themes …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality
Madame Blavatsky, a controversial yet influential figure, is often hailed as the mother of modern spirituality. Her esoteric teachings, blended with theosophical concepts, resonated deeply with …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spiritualit [PDF]
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality How does Blavatsky’s work resonate with modern spirituality? Her emphasis on universal brotherhood, the interconnectedness of all …
H.P. BLAVATSKY THE MAHATMAS AND THEOSOPHY - Blavatsky …
"Blavatsky's esoteric synthesis has served as a basic source for later esotericists, literati, scientists, and entire movements, including the New Age. Unlike most of her contemporaries, …
The Key to Blavatsky? - cris.maastrichtuniversity.nl
Madame Blavatsky: The Mother of Modern Spirituality. New York: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin, 2012. xx + 331 pp. ISBN-1: 1585428639. ISBN-13: 978–1585428632 “There are as many …
Madame Blavatsky The Mother Of Modern Spirituality / …
Theosophy's non-dogmatic and ecumenical approach to spirituality offers 21st Century seekers a viable alternative to religious fundamentalism. Today thousands of people on every continent …