The Real H. P. Blavatsky?

A Tour of HPB’s Collected Writings (I)

© 2021 Kurt Leland

Who This Talk Is For

l Students of • Intimidated by the Collected Writings l Study Groups • Looking for discussion material l Scholars of the Theosophical Movement • Needing to go beyond l Defense against Internet trolls? • A non-harming approach

1 Collecting HPB’s Articles l Five Years of Theosophy (1885) l Nightmare Tales (1892) l A Modern Panarion (1895) l Studies in Occultism (6 vols.,1895; 1 vol., 1946) l The Secret Doctrine, vol. 3: Occultism (1897) l The Complete Works of H. P. Blavatsky (4 vols. issued, 1931-36)

Collecting HPB’s Articles l Collected Writings (15 vols., 1950-91) l Theosophy Company (37 pamphlets published since 1963) l Theosophical Articles (TC pamphlets collected in 3 vols., 1981) l The Lucifer Collection (8 vols. so far, 2021)

2 Boris de Zirkoff (1902-81)

Boris de Zirkoff (1902-81) l Relative of HPB (son of a second cousin) l Came to live at the TS Point Loma community (near San Diego, California) in 1923 l Began CW project in 1924 l Edited Theosofia , an independent Theosophical journal (1944-81)

3 Collected Writings Series l 1877 (2 vols., 1972) l 1883-86 From the Caves and Jungles of Hindostan (1975) l 1888 The Secret Doctrine (3 vols., 1979)

Not in Collected Writings Series l 1889 l 1889 The Voice of the Silence l 1892 The

4 Uncollected Writings l 1881 The Durbar in Lahore (trans. Theosophist, Aug-Dec 1960, Jan-Mar 1961) l 1881 The Grand Inquisitor (HPB’s trans. of Bk. 5, Ch. 5 of The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoevsky; Theosophist, Nov-Dec 1881) l 1884-85 The People of the Blue Mountains (trans. pub., 1930) l Other Russian articles from the 1880s

Edition Format (vols. 1-14) l Preface (identical in every volume) l Acknowledgments (identical in every volume) l Foreword (concerning texts in each volume) l Chronological Survey (covers events in the lives of HPB and HSO and TS developments during period covered by each volume) l Table of Contents l List of Illustrations (including photographs and facsimiles, but not figures, charts, or foldouts)

5 Edition Format (vols. 1-14) l Texts (sometimes with special editorial introductions) by HPB, known and suspected pseudonyms, and Masters, including: • Articles and essays (published, unpublished, unfinished) • Comments, notes, and footnotes • Editorials • Letters, queries, and replies • Reviews • Short stories (“Nightmare Tales”) • Transcripts (conversations, instructions, oral teachings)

Edition Format (vols. 1-14) l Note on the Transliteration of Sanskrit and Other Terms (identical in every volume) l Bibliographies • “Oriental Works Quoted or Referred to in the Present Volume” • “General Bibliography with Selected Biographical Notes” l Index l Cumulative Index (vol. 15)

6 Online Source

l http://www.katinkahesselink.net/blavatsky/ l “The full set of Blavatsky's articles. She doesn't bore, she doesn't repeat herself and she keeps on fascinating.” l Does not include: • Bibliographies • Indexes (does include vol. 15) l Chronological Survey missing from vol. 1

Events (HPB in United States) 1874 HPB and HSO meet in Vermont 1875 TS founded in New York 1877 Isis Unveiled pub- lished 1878 Departure for England and India

7 Gems from CW 1 l Biography of HPB l Genealogical Tables l Horoscope of HPB l Scrapbooks l Travel Sketches l Diaries

Gems from CW 1 l A Few Questions to “HIRAF” l The Science of Magic l An Unsolved Mystery [“Nightmare Tale”] l A Story of the Mystical (aka, Can the Double Murder?) [“Nightmare Tale”] l The Luminous Circle l The Cave of the Echoes [“Nightmare Tale”]

8 From “The Real Madame H. P. Blavatsky” (1878)

“To begin with I am not a Countess, so far as I know. [. . .] I am too democratic, and I love and respect the people sufficiently, having devoted all my sympathy to them, and this without distinction of race or color, to trick myself out in any kind of title.” • CW 1:401

Events (HPB in England, India, and Ceylon) 1879 London visit TS HQ established in Bombay Theosophist founded 1880 “Conversion” to Buddhism Phenomena with Sinnetts First Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett

9 Gems from CW 2 l Chronological Survey (January 1879 to December 1880) l Namastae l What Is Theosophy? l What Are the Theosophists? l The Ensouled Violin [Nightmare Tale]

From “What Are the Theosophists?” (1879)

“As a body, the holds that all original thinkers and investigators of the hidden side of nature whether materialists—those who find matter ‘the promise and potency of all terrestrial life,’ or spiritualists—that is, those who discover in spirit the source of all energy and of matter as well, were and are, properly, Theosophists.

10 From “What Are the Theosophists?” (1879)

“For to be one, one need not recognize the existence of any special God or a deity. One need but worship the spirit of living nature, and try to identify oneself with it. To revere that Presence, the invisible Cause [. . .]: indivisible in its Essence, and eluding form, yet appearing under all and every form [. . .].” • CW 2:102 [Quotation from John Tyndall (1820-93)]

Events (HPB in India) 1881 The World published

11 Gems of CW 3 l Chronological Survey (January 1881 to February 1882) l The Leaven of Theosophy l The Six-Pointed and Five-Pointed Stars l Superstition l The Aryan-Arhat Esoteric Tenets on the Sevenfold Principle in Man (T. Subba Row, with notes by HPB) l Are Dreams but Idle Visions?

From “The Leaven of Theosophy” (1881) “[T]he aim of the Society was not to destroy but to purify spiritualism.” • CW 3:50

12 Problems of Mediumship l Low moral caliber of mediums l Passivity in trance (openness to all comers) l “Departed spirits” not what they seem • Shells, elementals, elementaries l Dangers of physical phenomena l Harmfulness of summoning the dead l Adepts capable of producing similar phenomena “by cultivating inherent powers in their living selves”

From “The Leaven of Theosophy” (1881)

“[M]any now cordially endorse our position that there can be no intercourse, either with the souls of the living or the dead, unless it is preceded by self-spiritualization, the conquest of the meaner self, the education of the nobler powers within us. The serious dangers as well as the more evident gratifications of mediumship, are gradually being appreciated.” • CW 3:52

13 Events (HPB in India) 1883 TS HQ moves to Adyar Esoteric Buddhism published

Gems of CW 4

l Chronological Survey (March 1882 to June 1883) l What Is Matter and What Is Force? (KH) l The Bugbears of Science l A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words from a Wise Man [Bengali writer Babu Rajnarain Bose] l Zoroastrianism in the Light of Occult Philosophy l The Septenary Principle in Esotericism l Chelas and Lay Chelas

14 From “A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words from a Wise Man” (1883)

“In our humble opinion, the only ‘Essentials’ in the Religion of Humanity are—virtue, morality, brotherly love, and kind sympathy with every living creature, whether human or animal. This is the common platform that our Society offers to all to stand upon;

From “A Few Thoughts on Some Wise Words from a Wise Man” (1883)

“the most fundamental differences between religions and sects sinking into insignificance before the mighty problem of reconciling humanity, of gathering all the various races into one family, and of bringing them all to the conviction of the utmost necessity in this world of sorrow to cultivate feelings of brotherly sympathy and tolerance.” • CW 4:502-3

15 Events (HPB in India) No events pertaining to this talk

Gems of CW 5

l Chronological Survey (July to December 1883) l Devachan [Master KH and HPB] l Transmigration of the Life Atoms l Some Inquiries Suggested by Mr. Sinnett’s Esoteric Buddhism [questions by Frederic W. H. Myers, answers by KH and HPB; includes “The Mineral Monad”]

16 The Mineral Monad

From “A Christian Minister on Theosophy” (1883) “Theosophy is the science of all that is divine in man and nature. It is the study and the analysis, within the known and knowable, of the unknown, and the otherwise UNKNOWABLE.” • CW 5:353

17 Events (HPB in India, Europe) 1884 HPB and HSO in Paris, London, Germany, then back to Adyar separately HPB in Cairo, Ceylon Coulomb Affair 1885 SPR investigations in Adyar HPB returns to Europe (Italy, Germany), begins writing SD

Gems of CW 6

l Chronological Survey (December 1883 to December 1884) l Are Chelas “Mediums”? l Mahatmas and Chelas l Is the Desire to “Live” Selfish? l Can the Mahatmas Be Selfish? l Chelas l Spiritual Progress l A Bewitched Life [Nightmare Tale]

18 From “Editor’s Note to ‘Kama-Loka and the Bearings of the Esoteric Doctrine on Spiritualism’” (1885) “Subjective, purely spiritual ‘Mediumship’ is the only harmless kind, and is very often an elevating gift that might be cultivated by every one.” • CW 6:329

Events (HPB in Europe) 1886 HPB in Germany, Belgium 1887 HPB settles in London Blavatsky Lodge (BL) founded BL established at Lansdowne Road

19 Gems of CW 7 l Chronological Survey (January 1886 to August 1887) l Occult or Exact Science? l Ancient Magic in Modern Science l The Original Programme of the Theosophical Society l Some Words on Daily Life (Written by a Master of Wisdom)

Gems of CW 7 l Theories about Reincarnation and Spirits l The Kabalah and the Kabalists at the Close of the Nineteenth Century l Classification of “Principles” l Re-classification of Principles

20 From “Some Words on Daily Life (Written by a Master of Wisdom)” (1886) “The problem of true Theosophy and its greatest mission are, first, the working out of clear unequivocal conceptions of ethic ideas and duties, such as shall best and most fully satisfy the right and altruistic feelings in men;

From “Some Words on Daily Life (Written by a Master of Wisdom)” (1886) “and second, the modelling of these conceptions for their adaptation into such forms of daily life, as shall offer a field where they may be applied with most equitableness.” • CW 7:175

21 Events (HPB in London) 1887 Lucifer founded

Gems of CW 8

l Chronological Survey (September to December 1887) l The Origin of Evil l “Let Every Man Prove His Own Work” l The Esoteric Character of the Gospels l The Science of Life. Translation from a Lecture of Tolstoi l Psychology, the Science of the Soul

22 From “From the Notebook of an Unpopular Philosopher” (1887)

“A Sheep.—A weak, silly fellow, figuratively, an insulting epithet among laymen; but one quite flattering among churchmen, who apply it to ‘the people of God’ and the members of their congregations, comparing them to sheep under the guidance of the lamb.” • CW 8:138

Events (HPB in London) 1888 Second American Convention

23 Gems of CW 9 l Chronological Survey (January to June 1888) l “What Is Truth?” l Conversations on Occultism [2 parts, 30 + 20 pages] l Practical Occultism l Letter from H. P. Blavatsky to the Second American Convention l Occultism versus the Occult Arts l Karmic Visions [Emperor Frederic III of Prussia]

From “Letter from H. P. Blavatsky to the Second American Convention” (1888)

“Men cannot all be Occultists, but they can all be Theosophists. Many who have never heard of the Society are Theosophists without knowing it themselves; for the essence of Theosophy is the perfect harmonizing of the divine with the human in man, the adjustment of his god-like qualities and aspirations, and their sway over the terrestrial or animal passions in him.

24 From “Letter from H. P. Blavatsky to the Second American Convention” (1888)

“Kindness, absence of every ill feeling or selfishness, charity, good-will to all beings, and perfect justice to others as to one’s self, are its chief features. He who teaches Theosophy preaches the gospel of good-will; and the converse if this is true also,—he who preaches the gospel of good-will, teaches Theosophy.” • CW 9:244-45

Part 2 Collected Writings (10-14) l Secret Doctrine Dialogues l Esoteric Instructions l Posthumous Writings l Strategies for reading l Sunday, July 25, same time

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