Original Theosophy & Alternative Spirituality 2/6

12-part, 6 short article series on similarities and differences between Blavatskyan theosophy & the alternative spirituality/occulture/new age movement. Informal essay, based on personal observations and experiences.

One-week, 12-part short article series on similarities and differences between Blavatskyan theosophy & the alternative spirituality/occulture/new age movement. More of a subjective mode, based on personal observation. 

 

3- Esoteric History

I think that it is useful to familiarize oneself with the history of the theosophical movement and the modern alternative spirituality movements that have developed since then, not necessarily in extensive detail, but just to be aware of the main trends. I understand the alternative spirituality scene so much better now that I have gained an understanding of the theosophical roots thereof. I actually have a bit of a strange trajectory in that I discovered Blavatsky relatively quickly, only about a year after exploring various hippie spiritual interests. Then I spent a fair bit of time blissfully unaware of the tremendous historical influence of the theosophical movement. Blavatsky was just someone among others I was into. Later, I began looking into the historical intricacies more objectively. It is still somewhat mind blasting to me to be continually discovering her influence, directly or indirectly, in so many areas worldwide.

 

If you look at the history of spiritual movements, fragmentation occurs pretty quickly, such are the ways of the world, it seems – especially after the fall of Egypt and Babylon in the Near East. Theosophy suffered the same fate most spiritual movements do, many currents have emerged since 1875, at least six major ones. (The three major organisations, Adyar (Leadbeater/Besant), the United Lodge of Theosophists (Crosbie/Wadia/Iyer), and the Point Loma/Pasadena groups (Tingley/Purucker/Barborka); then there’s Alice Bailey’s group, Rudolf Steiner’s Anthroposophy, and Max Heindel’s Rosicrucian group; and from there, many different offsprings, Krishnamurti deserves to be mentioned, as the first major independent spiritual teacher, with Crowley and Gurdjieff arriving on the scene at around the same time.

 

Esoteric historian Gary Lachman even sees it as a positive thing. The theosophical movement has been getting academic historical recognition in the last twenty years, so there has been more discussion about the importance of modern theosophy. The New Age movement of today was influenced by these theosophical currents, as well as spiritualism and new thought currents (such as positive thinking, itself derived from the transcendentalist movement) which began in the 1850s.

I stick to the original teachings (1875-1900) or Blavatskyan theosophy (because they have yet to disappoint me and the exploration thereof remains stimulating, educational, and coherent). It is possibly the least popular current, which is understandable, because it can be quite stern and the writings can be quite difficult), but I don’t have anything against other currents (which I would term Neo-Theosophy, not meant to be derogatory, just adopting a popular term, even though it is used in a negative sense). 

 

I’m open to discuss things with other schools. The only position that I maintain is that if someone takes the original teachings and changes them, then I feel justified in politely mentioning that such idea is consistent with the original teachings or such an idea is significantly different. This is because that I feel that if you take a teaching or term that the original writers first introduced, and change it significantly, then to me, it becomes a different thing and should be pointed out.

Some recommended books :

Bruce F. Campbell, Ancient Wisdom Revived: A History of the Theosophical Movement, 1980

https://archive.org/details/ancientwisdomrev0000camp

Antoine Faivre, Jacob Needleman, Karen Voss, Modern Esoteric Spirituality, 1992

http://www.jacobneedleman.com/modern-esoteric-spirituality

Joscelyn Godwin, The Theosophical Enlightenment, 1994

https://sunypress.edu/Books/T/Theosophical-Enlightenment2

Handbook of the Theosophical Current

Series: Brill Handbooks on Contemporary Religion, Volume: 7

Olav Hammer, Mikael Rothstein, 2013

https://brill.com/display/title/22123

Gary Lachman, The Secret Teachers of the Western World, 2015

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/.../the-secret.../

4- The Age of Aquarius

 

The term 'New Age' which refers to the Age of Aquarius, an astrological cycle that Blavatsky acknowledges. She also followed the Hindu theory of cycles known as the four yugas, where we are currently in the Kali Yuga. Blavatsky follows the standard Hindu yuga dates, so the Kali Yuga lasts 432,000 years and there are still about 427,000 years to go. In alternative spirituality movements, one can see a tremendous optimism in describing the Age of Aquarius, with great advances in spiritual development that affect all of society, with things occurring in a relatively short time. 

 

With original theosophy, there is more emphasis on the Kali Yuga, with lots of difficult times and spiritual struggles and so it is not quite so optimistic. It is more of a mixed development, there will be certain developments, but there will also be difficult aspects, and in general, the processes take a long time to develop and details about cycles are considered very secret. I don’t see any reason to think that the age of Aquarius, which last 2,160 years, should be any different from the previous ages, with different phases, up and downs, growing pains, progressive developments, peak and valleys. The original Theosophical Society was founded in part to form a nucleus of stability to face what she described as a coming 'tidal wave'. The Tidal Wave [Lucifer, Vol. V, No. 27, November, 1889, pp. 173-178]