Who is H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society

Blavatsky was an independent woman in an age when most women stayed at home.

Blavatsky traveled to India to her spiritual teachers, when nobody did that yet.

Blavatsky spread the love for Eastern Wisdom to the West.

H.P. Blavatsky or H.P.B. as she was often called, was born July 31st 1831 (or August 12th western calendar) at Ekaterinosklav in South Russia. (*)

She was one of the founders of the Theosophical Society and main inspiration of its work and theories. Her writings have been collected into 14 volumes of articles, one volume of stories (The Caves and Jungles of Hindostan), and two books of each two volumes (Isis Unveiled and The Secret Doctrine).

Historians think of H.P. Blavatsky as the person who started what is currently called New Age. H.P. Blavatsky is not unique in the fact that she talked of occultism as a live factor in her life. Nor was she the first to search in the orient for wisdom. What she did though was combine these two in her (in my opinion) two major achievements. First the founding of the Theosophical Society, which embraces free research into both these realms. Second the writing of articles and books. For instance The Secret Doctrine, which synthesizes east and west, science and occultism into one great vision of past present and future. Included in her writings is also her last book: "The Voice of the Silence", which places the individual searcher on the path of illumination, moderated by ethics and self-knowledge.

H.P. Blavatsky was in her time, and is still, a controversial figure. As a female public figure at the end of the nineteenth-century (she lived from 1831 till 1891) she was bound to be scorned. The fact that her opinions were unusual to say the least and scorned even by the people who she started out championing (the spiritualists) did not help. The phenomena she produced caused the attention she needed to start her work. But it also gave her the name of a juggler, a deceiver and those around her were (in the public opinion) either dupes or accomplices. Aside from this she had a temper which was terrible even in her own estimation. She was no saint, in the ordinary sense of the word. Founder of the Theosophical Society, which members these days are in a majority vegetarians, she ate meat and a lot of it.

Source of this summary of Blavatsky's life

More

... once that a student abandons the old trodden highway of routine, and enters upon the solitary path of independent thought - Godward - he is a Theosophist, an original thinker, a seeker after the eternal truth, with 'an inspiration of his own' to solve the universal problems.

H.P. Blavatsky Col. Wr. II, p. 102
From a great collection of quotes by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was a woman of noble birth, educated very well for a lady of the 19th century. She learned French, English, literature and piano playing.

The time was one in which women did not have a lot of rights. For instance while Jewish men were being given the right to vote in most European countries while she was alive, women weren't allowed to vote until the early 20th century: after Blavatsky's death.

Blavatsky is a name in esotericism now. Her works are remembered, but for the people of her time it was essential that the Theosophical Society she founded was headed by a man: Col. Olcott. Col. Olcott is still remembered: mainly for his work for the Buddhists of Sri Lanka. I have nothing against him, but it does seem strange that Blavatsky would need a man in the first place. She did. Any strong woman had a prominent man beside her back then.

Annie Besant (also a theosophist later on) had a whole string of strong men (only one husband though) - when a new project came up she found a new man to support her in that endeavor.

But with Blavatsky it was different. Not only did she need men to support her, she also took on masculine characteristics - probably to be more plausible as a spiritual teacher. Many have remarked on her swearwords, her smoking and her lack of emotional control. In other words: she got angry. Looking at the people she got most angry with: they were all men. These same men were quick to notice that she wasn't so feminine in their eyes. Olcott remarked that she was more of a hermaphrodite. There was even a doctor's certificate stating that she could never have had sex, or a child, in her life.

At the time this anger was explained both as a test on the men, as well as a result of her peculiar psychological state as messenger of the masters. Looking back on it, I wonder: was it perhaps a way to shock the men into listening to someone who was after all only a woman?

There is a road, steep and thorny, beset with perils of every kind,
but yet a road, and it leads to the very heart of the Universe:
I can tell you how to find those who will show you the secret gateway
that opens inward only,
and closes fast behind the neophyte for evermore.

There is no danger that dauntless courage cannot conquer;
there is no trial that spotless purity cannot pass through;
there is no difficulty that strong intellect cannot surmount.
For those who win onwards there is a reward past all telling
- the power to bless and save humanity;
for those who fail, there are other lives in which success may come.

H.P. Blavatsky Col. Wr. XIII, p. 219
From a great collection of quotes by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

... it has been decreed, from time immemorial, that each one must be his own sufficient pilot and body-guard so far as visible things are concerned.
The 'Kingdom of Heaven,' which I need not tell you is but the dominion of man's immortal spirit over the inner force of the Universe, must be taken by violence.
I am sorry to be compelled to tell you, that the prize of Wisdom and Power must be won through danger, trial, temptation, the allurements of sense and all the besetments of this world of matter which they counterpoise, hence antagonists of spirit. Broad, smooth and flower-sprinkled is the way to the world's rewards; narrow, hard, sorrow beset the path to the Temple of Truth.

letter from H.P. Blavatsky to Thomas H. Evans, Occult World, dec. 1885
From a great collection of quotes by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Blavatsky was raised as noble ladies in her time were raised: educated by governesses.

She learned languages (besides her native Russian English and French), played the piano and that was about it.

What is the real object of modern education? Is it to cultivate and develop the mind in the right direction; to teach the disinherited and hapless people to carry with fortitude the burden of life (allotted them by Karma); to strengthen their will; to inculcate in them the love of one's neighbour and the feeling of mutual interdependence and brotherhood; and thus to train and form the character for practical life? Not a bit of it. And yet, these are undeniably the objects of all true education. No one denies it; all your educationalists admit it, and talk very big indeed on the subject. But what is the practical result of their action? Every young man and boy, nay, every one of the younger generation of schoolmasters will answer: "The object of modern education is to pass examinations," a system not to develop right emulation, but to generate and breed jealousy, envy, hatred almost, in young people for one another, and thus train them for a life of ferocious selfishness and struggle for honours and emoluments instead of kindly feeling.

Life is built up by the sacrifice of the individual to the whole. Each cell in the living body must sacrifice itself to the perfection of the whole; when it is otherwise, disease and death enforce the lesson.

Blavatsky Col. Wr. VIII, p. 14
From a great collection of quotes by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

Best books about karma and reincarnation
Best books about alchemy

Best Jiddu Krishnamurti Books

Krishnamurti's books were usually compiled by others from his talks. Below you will find introductions to his work, but also deeper philosophic reflection...

Interfaith Jewelry - letting all religions coexist

A lot of people are worried about the way different religions antagonize one another. It's an old story, but one that humanity can no longer ignore. Islam...

Theosophy Books - theosophical inspiration

Links to book reviews of theosophical books and a selection of the most famous and inspirational books in the theosophical movement. Books by Annie Besant, ...

Yoga Sutras by Patanjali - Science of Yoga - Taimni

A very scholarly translation and commentary on THE yoga classic: the Yoga Sutras by Patanjali. Taimni not only explains each sutra, but also puts them in ...

Alex Grey

Alex Grey (born November 29, 1953) is an American artist specializing in spiritual and visionary art. There is a clear connection with the world of alternative...

Annie Besant, teacher, lecturer, secularist and theosophist...

Minister's wife, student of medicine, raised a prophet, reformer, secularist and more. Annie Besant (1847-1933) was many things in her lifetime - and living...

The Wisdom of Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, Ravi Ravindra

The yoga sutras are two thousand year old spiritual classic. In India every spiritual teacher of any note has written a commentary on it. Ravi Ravindra is the...

Man The Measure Of All Things

Deep, engaging and insightful interpretation of Blavatsky's 'The Secret Doctrine'. 'Man the measure of all things' is one of those books I've heard about...

Jiddu Krishnamurti, world teacher

Jiddu Krishnamurti was famous in his lifetime for first being raised as a 'world teacher' and then renouncing the organisation founded in his honor. Paradox...

Best Paul Brunton books and biography

Paul Brunton was an influential spiritual teacher in the first half of the 20th century. He was instrumental in making the Maharshi known in the West. His...

Blavatsky Collected Writings and Books

The best series of occult and spiritual literature ever. This lens contains links to all Blavatsky's books and articles. Read The Secret Doctrine, Isis Unve...

H.P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society

Blavatsky compared the science of her day, studied the world religions and came up with her own synthesis, which she called 'theosophy', or ancient wisdom. With...

Elizabeth Clare Prophet Books

Spiritual teachers are often controversial. Elizabeth Clare Prophet is accused of the usual: not being very scientific, not being clear about her sources...

Reflections on an Ageless Wisdom: A Commentary on The Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett

The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett is one of the books that is central to theosophical literature. I read, and reread it a lot, in the early years of my being...

Best Books by Alexandra David-Neel

Best known for her visit to Tibet, when it was closed to foreigners, Alexandra David-Neels books are travel journals mixed with spiritual insight. She helped...

Geoffrey Hodson books on clairvoyance

Geoffrey Hodson (12 March 1886 in Lincolnshire, England - 23 January 1983 in Auckland, New Zealand) was a occultist, Theosophist, mystic, philosopher and ...

There IS an afterlife

I think there IS an afterlife. This lens records various religious beliefs - and gives you the option of really deciding which is best. From Ancient Egypt and...

Theosophical Society - theosophy

The cool thing about the Theosophical Society is that it is a great place to learn about religion, philosophy, science and metaphysics - without having to ...

The Law of One Quotes

Though we see a world of change and contrast all about, it's one of the ancient esoteric insights that all is One. That is: everything is intimately connec...

The Best H.P. Blavatsky Books

Blavatsky's public life was spent doing two things: writing and organizing the Theosophical Society. This lens introduces her books: The Secret Doctrine, Is...