Theosophical Society Adyar
Encyclopedia
Theosophical Society
The Theosophical Society is an organization formed in 1875 to advance the spiritual principles and search for Truth known as Theosophy. The original organization, after splits and realignments has several successors...
founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. Its headquarters moved with Blavatsky and president Henry Steel Olcott
Henry Steel Olcott
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society....
to Adyar, an area of Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...
in 1883. The designation 'Adyar' is added to clarify that this is the Theosophical Society with headquarters there, after William Quan Judge
William Quan Judge
William Quan Judge was a mystic, esotericist, and occultist, and one of the founders of the original Theosophical Society. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. When he was 13 years old, his family emigrated to the United States...
were separated by Besant and formed his own organization, known as the "Theosophical Society - Pasadena" with its International Headquarters in Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
.
The presidents of the Theosophical Society - Adyar have included Annie Besant
Annie Besant
Annie Besant was a prominent British Theosophist, women's rights activist, writer and orator and supporter of Irish and Indian self rule.She was married at 19 to Frank Besant but separated from him over religious differences. She then became a prominent speaker for the National Secular Society ...
, George Arundale
George Arundale
Dr. George Sidney Arundale was a theosophist, freemason, president of the Theosophical Society Adyar and bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church...
, C. Jinarajadasa, Nilakanta Sri Ram
Nilakanta Sri Ram
Nilakanta Sri Ram or Nilakantha Sri Ram was a freemason, theosophist and president of the Theosophical Society Adyar....
, John Coats
John Coats
John B. S. Coats or JBS Coats was a theosophist, president of the Theosophical Society Adyar and bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church....
and Radha Burnier
Radha Burnier
Radha Burnier is president of the Theosophical Society Adyar since 1980. She was General Secretary of the Indian Section of the Society between 1960 and 1978....
.
US National Section of this organization is called the Theosophical Society in America
Theosophical Society in America
The Theosophical Society in America is a member-based nonprofit organization dedicated to the teaching of Theosophy and affiliated with the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, Chennai, India. The name "Theosophical Society in America" was legally adopted by the American Theosophical...
located in Wheaton, Illinois
Wheaton, Illinois
Wheaton is an affluent community located in DuPage County, Illinois, approximately west of Chicago and Lake Michigan. Wheaton is the county seat of DuPage County...
.
Founders
Henry Steel Olcott
Colonel Henry Steel Olcott was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer and the co-founder and first President of the Theosophical Society....
, William Quan Judge
William Quan Judge
William Quan Judge was a mystic, esotericist, and occultist, and one of the founders of the original Theosophical Society. He was born in Dublin, Ireland. When he was 13 years old, his family emigrated to the United States...
and others founded the Theosophical Society on 17 November 1875 in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. The American Section split off with William Quan Judge as its leader. Henry Steel Olcott remained president till his death in 1907.
Aims & ideals
- To form a nucleus of the Universal Brotherhood of Humanity, without distinction of race, creed, sex, caste or color.
- To encourage the study of Comparative Religion, Philosophy and Science.
- To investigate unexplained laws of Nature and the powers latent in man.
Monastic / Non-monastic
The Theosophical Society is open to anybody who supports its three objects, regardless of belief, social custom or marriage status. Celibacy is neither encouraged nor discouraged, each member being free to decide his/her own way of life.General philosophical outlook
- Universal Brotherhood
- Belief in theory of KarmaKarmaKarma in Indian religions is the concept of "action" or "deed", understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect originating in ancient India and treated in Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh philosophies....
- Belief in ReincarnationReincarnationReincarnation best describes the concept where the soul or spirit, after the death of the body, is believed to return to live in a new human body, or, in some traditions, either as a human being, animal or plant...
- There exists a ConsciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
(LogosLogos' is an important term in philosophy, psychology, rhetoric and religion. Originally a word meaning "a ground", "a plea", "an opinion", "an expectation", "word," "speech," "account," "reason," it became a technical term in philosophy, beginning with Heraclitus ' is an important term in...
), UniversalUniversal (metaphysics)In metaphysics, a universal is what particular things have in common, namely characteristics or qualities. In other words, universals are repeatable or recurrent entities that can be instantiated or exemplified by many particular things. For example, suppose there are two chairs in a room, each of...
and IndividualIndividualAn individual is a person or any specific object or thing in a collection. Individuality is the state or quality of being an individual; a person separate from other persons and possessing his or her own needs, goals, and desires. Being self expressive... - ImmortalityImmortalityImmortality is the ability to live forever. It is unknown whether human physical immortality is an achievable condition. Biological forms have inherent limitations which may or may not be able to be overcome through medical interventions or engineering...
of Man
Spiritual discipline
The practice of brotherhood regardless of race, creed, sex, color, or any other difference is recommended. Nothing is mandatory. Members are free to have any or no spiritual practice at all.Administrative set-up
The organization has a highly autonomous setup in that lodges and sections are fully autonomous. The President gets involved in National Section matters only when there is some dispute between them. Otherwise the President does not interfere in the matters of the sections or lodges.The President is nominated by the members of the General Council and then elected by members all over the world. President holds office for seven year period.
The Vice-President acts on behalf of the President as necessary and assists him or her in various ways.
The Secretary handles worldwide correspondence, maintains records including statistics of the worldwide membership of the Society, its Lodges and Sections, and is responsible for producing an annual report.
He/she is also the Secretary of the General Council and the Executive Committee of the Society. This Committee, which meets a number of times each year, implements the decisions of the General Council, and makes financial and administrative decisions relating to the Society's Headquarters. The Treasurer is responsible for the finances of the Society, and prepares an annual financial report.
Locally members are organised in lodges. When a country has at least seven lodges, these can be gathered in a national section. Lodges and sections have a democratic organisation in which chairperson, secretary, treasurer and optional other officers are elected. Similarly officers of the national sections are directly elected by the members of that section in a business meeting.
Religion & spirituality
The Theosophical Society is organised in lodges and national sections. These organise meetings for religious study and lectures. Members individually practice any kind of meditation or other spiritual practice they choose.Social field
- The Olcott Education Society
- The Olcott Memorial School
- The Olcott Memorial High School
- The Theosophical Order of ServiceTheosophical Order of ServiceThe Theosophical Order of Service is an international organization founded in 1908 by Annie Besant, the second International President of the Theosophical Society...
Olcott Memorial High School
Olcott Memorial High School
Olcott Memorial High School is a secondary school located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.The school provides free education, uniforms, books, and two daily meals to 750 impoverished rural children in Chennai. The school is a portion of Theosophical Society Adyar's charity work. Colonel Olcott served...
provides free education, uniforms, books, and two daily meals to impoverished rural children in Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Relief activities
When the TsunamiTsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
hit South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
and many of the people living near the Adyar-compound were affected, the Theosophical Society, through the Theosophical Order of Service, helped them survive and later helped (and is still helping) to reclaim their lives. Similar activities were undertaken after the Hurricane that destroyed much of New Orleans in 2005.
Province of its influence
The influence of the Theosophical Society has been major, especially considering its small size. The new ageNew Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
movement involves many of its main characteristics especially holism
Holism
Holism is the idea that all the properties of a given system cannot be determined or explained by its component parts alone...
and eclecticism. In Modern Art
Modern art
Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...
Kandinsky and Mondriaan are both famous and both were influenced by theosophy.
Theosophical Society and Jiddu Krishnamurti
The leadership of the Theosophical Society at Adyar was responsible for promoting young Jiddu KrishnamurtiJiddu Krishnamurti
Jiddu Krishnamurti or J. Krishnamurti or , was a renowned writer and speaker on philosophical and spiritual subjects. His subject matter included: psychological revolution, the nature of the mind, meditation, human relationships, and bringing about positive change in society...
as the new "World Teacher"
Maitreya (Theosophy)
Maitreya or Lord Maitreya is described in Theosophical literature of the late 19th-century and subsequent periods as an advanced spiritual entity and high-ranking member of a hidden Spiritual Hierarchy, the so-called Masters of the Ancient Wisdom...
during the first few decades of the 20th century. Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Charles Webster Leadbeater was an influential member of the Theosophical Society, author on occult subjects and co-initiator with J. I. Wedgwood of the Liberal Catholic Church...
, one of the Society's leaders at the time, had "discovered" fourteen-year-old Krishnamurti in 1909, and considered him the likely "vehicle" for the expected reappearance of the Maitreya
Maitreya (Theosophy)
Maitreya or Lord Maitreya is described in Theosophical literature of the late 19th-century and subsequent periods as an advanced spiritual entity and high-ranking member of a hidden Spiritual Hierarchy, the so-called Masters of the Ancient Wisdom...
. However, as a young man in 1929, Krishnamurti disavowed his expected "mission" and disassociated himself from the Theosophical Society and its doctrines and practices. Over the next six decades he pursued an independent course, becoming widely known as an original, influential thinker and speaker on philosophical and religious subjects.
It is remarkable that many members of the Theosophical Society are ardent students of his philosophy.
Publications
- Magazines
- Brahmavidya — Adyar Library Bulletin
- The TheosophistThe TheosophistThe Theosophist is a theosophical journal. It was founded in 1879 by Helena Blavatsky, who was also its editor, and is still being published. The journal features articles about philosophy, art, literature and occultism.- External links :...
- English monthly Current Issue - Adyar Newsletter - quarterly journal
- Wake Up India - quarterly journal
- The Theosophical Digest - quarterly journal
- Books
- The Key to Theosophy - H. P. Blavatsky
- An Outline of Theosophy - C.W. Leadbeater
- The Ancient Wisdom - Annie Besant
- At the Feet of the Master - Alcyone
- First Principles of Theosophy - C. Jinarajadasa
- Light on the Path - Mabel Collins
- Seven Great Religions - Annie Besant
- Quest Books is the imprint of the Theosophical Publishing House, the publishing arm of the Theosophical Society in America (Wheaton, IL) branch of the International Theosophical Society Adyar.
- Internet maillist -- theos-talk at www.groups.yahoo.com. A very active and independent maillist which has no official connection with any organization is a valuable source for uptodate information on all matters relating to theosophy and TS Adyar and others. The archives are also Public.
- Internet Community - www.theosophy.net - An new public community website setup by a few interested theosophists. It is totally independent and is not funded or directly or indirectly controlled or moderated by any theosophy organization.
See also
- Survey of Hindu organisations
- Anthroposophy (Rudolf Steiner)AnthroposophyAnthroposophy, a philosophy founded by Rudolf Steiner, postulates the existence of an objective, intellectually comprehensible spiritual world accessible to direct experience through inner development...
- J. Krishnamurti
- TheosophyTheosophyTheosophy, in its modern presentation, is a spiritual philosophy developed since the late 19th century. Its major themes were originally described mainly by Helena Blavatsky , co-founder of the Theosophical Society...
- Adyar LibraryAdyar LibraryThe Adyar Library and Research Centre was founded in 1886 by theosophist Henry Steel Olcott. The library is at the Theosophical Society Adyar in Adyar, near Chennai.- History :...