What is the essence of Blavatsky's teachings? Theosophy in the understanding of Christianity

Helena Blavatsky (1831-1891) is a huge and incomprehensible phenomenon in world culture. Her mystical teachings time after time convinced people that the supernatural is much dearer and closer to the human soul than the world around us. Acquaintance with her works is an effort to lift the visible veils of the universe on the path to higher wisdom.

In the ancient Indian teachings of Vishnu Purana there is an idea of ​​human history as a change of yugas (epochs, development cycles). According to the teachings of Vishnu, the Black Age - Kali Yuga - was established on earth. In The Secret Doctrine, Blavatsky quotes a fragment of this teaching that can still be applied to the modern historical situation:

There will be modern monarchs reigning on Earth, kings of a rude spirit, a cruel disposition and devoted to lies and evil. They will kill women and children and cows; they will seize the property of their subjects [or, according to another translation, they will seize other people's wives]; their power will be limited... life is short, desires are insatiable... People of different countries, mixing with them, will follow their example; and the barbarians will be strong [in India], protected by princes, while the pure tribes will be abandoned; the people will perish [or, as the commentator says: “Mlechchha will be in the middle, and the Aryans will be at the end”]. Wealth and piety will decrease day by day until the whole world is corrupted... Only property will give position; wealth will be the only source of honor and devotion; passion will be the only connection between the sexes; lying will be the only means of success in litigation; women will only be an object of sensual pleasure... [Appearance will be the only difference between different stages of life]; dishonesty (anyâya) will be the [common] means of subsistence; weakness is a reason for dependence; threat and conceit will replace knowledge; generosity will be called [piety]; the rich man will be considered pure; mutual consent will replace marriage; thin clothes will be a virtue... the strongest will rule... the people, not being able to bear the burden of taxes [kharabhara], will flee to the valleys... Thus, in Kali Yuga, decay will proceed unabated until the human race approaches its destruction [Pralaya]. When... the end of Kali Yuga is very close, a part of that divine Being who exists by virtue of his own spiritual nature [Kalki Avatar]... will descend on Earth... endowed with eight superhuman abilities... He will restore justice (righteousness) on Earth, and the minds of those those who live at the end of Kali Yuga will awaken and become as transparent as crystal. The people who will be thus transformed... will be the seeds of human beings and will give birth to a race that will follow the laws of the Age of Crete [or the Age of Purity]. As it is said: “When the Sun and the Moon, and [lunar asterism] Silence and the planet Jupiter are in the same house, then the Krita [or Satya] Age will return...”.

Blavatsky speaks of a terrible age: the earth seems to be sucking in a person who has lost his true goal along the way. He “scoots” from side to side and cannot stand firmly in place. After the death of her mother, Blavatsky dreams. She dreams of the stupid faces of executioners killing people. She knew that these were prophetic dreams that would materialize in worldwide carnage...

Madras, Adyar (suburb of Chennai)

Vera Petrovna, Blavatsky's sister, writes in her memoirs about her childhood:

Now I must also say that we always called our grandmother a butterfly, why - I don’t know myself... Probably the explanation for this nickname was that grandmother, a very smart, learned woman, among her many other activities, loved to collect collections of butterflies, knew all their names and taught us to catch them. Both of them, grandfather and grandmother, spared nothing to amuse and amuse us. We always had a lot of toys and dolls; They constantly took us for rides, took us for walks, and gave us picture books. Grandfather's house, which I mistook for a lantern at night, was really a large house, with high stairs and long corridors. Grandfather himself lived on the lower floor and his office was located. In the topmost were the bedrooms: grandmothers, aunts and ours. On average, almost no one slept; There were all reception rooms there - a hall, a living room, a sofa room, a piano room.

It is interesting that in the nursery there was no other light except the fire from a wide Russian stove. The sisters loved to listen to fairy tales that the serf nanny told them near the stove. The room was illuminated by the “jumping” reflections of the flame, turning into bizarre shadows and reflections. In time with the flames, the voice of the nanny sounds, who raised two generations and told the children about the evil witch and Ivanushka... When the fire burned out, darkness fell. The children peered into it and their vision involuntarily “expanded”; they felt the presence of another - a mysterious world - nearby.

Elena Petrovna loved the mysterious incomprehensible sky, the blue abyss of eternity. It’s not for nothing that since childhood she has been haunted by visions of the forests of the thirtieth kingdom...

In her youth, Elena Petrovna was tormented by the duality of life surrounding her. Her family and loved ones instilled in her an aversion to social life. On the other hand, they were obliged to support it. Ideals and life diverged greatly in the understanding of these people. What was around? There were balls around, it was fun there, Elena was drawn there. But at the same time she understood that if she got carried away with social life, she would forever lose her dreams, visions, and inner voices.

Elena had something that the people around her did not have: a willingness to act contrary to common sense. This is what her great-grandmother did: she abandoned her children and her loving husband, and ran off for twenty years to no one knows where and with no one knows with whom. Nobody knew why she did this. And only Elena guessed, estimating the opportunity to repeat this act on herself: her great-grandmother, like Elena, heard the Cosmos, felt the unknown distances of the universe and followed the Voice that spoke to her.

Distrust of secular life and established “traditions” grew in Elena. Many years later, she claimed that she had always hated dresses, jewelry, civilized society, balls and state rooms. In Blavatsky's Personal Memoirs we read:

When I turned 16, I was once forced to go to a big ball given by the royal governor of the Caucasus. No one wanted to listen to my protests, and they told me that they would order the servants to force me to dress, or rather undress, in accordance with fashion. Then I deliberately put my foot in a boiling pot and then had to sit at home for 6 months. As I told you, there is no femininity in me. If in my youth any young man had dared to talk to me about love, I would have shot him, like a dog trying to bite me.

Mary K. Naef. Personal memoirs of H. P. Blavatsky / trans. from English L. Krutikova and A. Krutikova.

In her youth, Blavatsky was particularly impressed by her meeting with the young prince Alexander Golitsyn.

I am tormented by guesses about your extraordinary abilities. Something dawns on me. Is it true that you are a sleepwalker and also a clairvoyant? You, of course, have heard about Atlantis? Plato also mentioned it. There are people who consider the myth of Atlantis to be a nonsense fairy tale. At best, an amusing legend. As for me, this very word makes me tremble. Don't be afraid of legends. They are the antidote to the sucking boredom of life. Do you believe that there is an undying memory of generations that passes through centuries?

“Yes,” she responded barely audibly. - I know about it.

In fact, real discoveries are built not on logic, but on revelation, on guesses and conjectures, on dreams, in the end. You agree with me?

She nodded her head affirmatively.

The memory of generations,” the prince said quietly, “is more extensive and more accurate than anything written by human hand.” To some extent, this memory is reflected in legends, conspiracies and beliefs, in myths and fairy tales. But only partially. The continuity of secret knowledge is preserved and protected from destruction by time by initiates: from the priests of Atlantis and Greek hierophants to Egyptian Copts and Hindu saints.

She looked at him with slight concern and asked innocently:

Prince, are you a magician?

He didn't answer, staring intently at the combination of branches and rocks lying in ugly stillness. This frozen, lifeless pile moved and trembled so unexpectedly and alarmingly that she screamed in fright.

Atlantis, as you know, was a huge continent, larger than Asia and Africa combined. The disaster occurred in connection with some kind of cosmic cataclysm, which was preceded by powerful earthquakes. The earth opened up, and a rich, flourishing country sank to the bottom of the sea. “He spoke confidently, without a shadow of doubt in his voice, as if he were a surviving witness to what had happened. - Plato’s message about Atlantis is clothed in the form of a myth about the “Sunny Island”, on which in ancient times the powerful State of the Sun flourished with a developed cult of the god of the deep sea Poseidon and an authoritarian theocracy. Both Christopher Columbus and the Spaniard Pizarro saw the remains of Atlantis, which perished in the ocean depths, in the lands they discovered.

Prince, I realized that Atlantis existed in those times when humanity was united, not divided geographically and ethnographically. Hence the general shape of the pyramids, and the coincidence of many cults, religious emblems and symbols among different peoples.

You are smart! - Golitsyn touched her hair with his hand. - You are a fairly educated girl and should therefore know about the amazing similarity in the names of phenomena and symbols of the cult. For example, among the Semites of Western Asia and the Pacific Polynesians. I must note that quite a lot of questions related to Atlantis arise.

Soon Blavatsky began to understand that everything Golitsyn told her about, he learned from different books, from the same ones that she read. But she read many more such books than he did. And he looked in her eyes arrogant, narcissistic. She doubted that she would attract him with her.

In the photograph Blavatsky is 39-41 years old.

Elena Petrovna is having a hard time with Golitsyn's departure. She agrees to marry old Blavatsky. It was a desperate move. He became a challenge to the new French governess, who was annoying her with threats that she would remain an old maid. In addition, her widower father married for the second time to the beautiful and young Countess Lange. At that time, Blavatsky was also impressed by her meeting with Nina Chavchavadze, the widow of Alexander Griboyedov.

Many years later, in a letter to A. M. Dondukov-Korsakov in 1882, Blavatsky would explain her consent to become Blavatsky’s wife: “Do you know why I married old Blavatsky? Yes, because at a time when all young people laughed at “magical” superstitions, he believed in these prejudices! He told me so often about the Erivan sorcerers, about the secret sciences of the Kurds and Persians, that I decided to use him as the key to this knowledge. But I was never his wife, and I will not stop swearing to this until my death. I was never “Blavatsky’s wife,” although I lived with him for a year under the same roof.”

Blavatsky E. P. Letters to friends and employees. M., 2002. P. 250.

Isis

Blavatsky travels through Egypt. She remembered the Egyptian Book of the Dead, which seemed to her similar to the Christian Revelations. This parallel haunted her more and more often. She believed with all her heart in the legend of Atlantis. She wanted to discover the secret records of the ancient sages, which are connected to the key stone of ancient buildings. Sacred unpronounceable letters are written on it. Each of these letters represented one of the divine names inscribed in the emblem signs that the first Freemasons knew about... This search would lead Blavatsky to a special understanding of Christ: not as Jesus of Nazareth, but as an impersonal deity. In other words, for her, Krishna or Buddha was the same as Christ. She dares to assert that Christian teaching has been distorted by the Church. Christ, in her opinion, means “manifested light,” and not “anointed one,” as the Greek Fathers of the Church reinterpreted this name, identifying it with the Hebrew “messiah.” Gradually, in her writings, the image of Isis as the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, water and wind, a symbol of femininity and family fidelity, will be combined with the Christian image of the Virgin Mary. This is how her work “Isis Unveiled” was born. In it, Blavatsky expounds theosophical teachings, going back to the cult of Maitreya - the Buddha of the coming historical cycle.

Blavatsky's name is associated primarily with the creation and strengthening of the so-called Theosophical Society. Its branches have sprung up in different countries. Having already created it, in 1879, she wrote to A.S. Suvorin: “I am not a spiritualist at all, and I rebel against materializing grandmothers and deceased mothers-in-law with all my might. Our Society has been fighting against the spiritualists for more than four years."

Subba Row T., Bawaji, H. P. Blavatsky

At that time, the Theosophical Society numbered 79 members, and “all of them are educated people and almost all are skeptics, burning with the desire to be convinced of the great truth of immortality, eager for mutual spiritual work to separate the Divine grains from the chaff, seeking to convince themselves and prove to others that there is the world of disembodied spirits, consisting of liberated souls who work in the name of perfection and purification in order to rise even higher and get closer to the Great Divine Source - God, the Great Principle, pure and invisible.”

Blavatsky E. P. Letters to friends and employees. M., 2002. pp. 155-156.

Blavatsky's theosophy was based on her personal myth. He was influenced by reading the books of Pavel Dolgoruky, according to which a group of secret mentors guides the spiritual development of humanity. Blavatsky raised this mythology to the absolute, applying it to everything that surrounds her. All this formed in her mind the myth of secret mentors, whom she and her followers considered “Eastern adepts” who “turned” into “Tibetan Mahatmas”. Blavatsky persistently forced many people, most often Christians by religion, to accept the basic concepts of Hinduism and Tibetan Buddhism - two religious systems. This wisdom was intended to transform the world. Blavatsky said: “Our Theosophical Society is a Great Republic of Conscience, and not a profitable enterprise.”

Blavatsky wrote The Secret Doctrine for 4 years. She received the layout of the book in the fall of 1888 in London. She was convinced that this book would not bring her fame during her lifetime - she foresaw the success of The Secret Doctrine in the next century.

The Secret Doctrine was born out of the need of the Theosophical Society to have a monumental book on the occult. This huge book was designed to change the world no less.

H. P. Blavatsky at her desk in the morning, writing the Secret Doctrine. Late 1887, 17 Lansdowne Road, London.

What is the "Secret Doctrine"?

This is a commentary on the sacred text “Stanza Dzyan”. Blavatsky met him in a Himalayan monastery. The concept of this teaching was based on such provisions of Hinduism as bodily transformation / metempsychosis / reincarnation. Life is understood by Blavatsky as a cyclical cycle, a single circle of births and deaths, growing into another circle of births and deaths.

“The Secret Doctrine” is a book about how life appeared, how it develops, how it exists and whether it has a deeper meaning.

This something, still unknown to the speculation of the West, is called Fohat by the occultists. This is the “bridge” through which the Ideas existing in the Divine Thought are imprinted on the Cosmic Substance as the Laws of Nature. Fohat is thus the dynamic energy of the Cosmic Thought Ground. Considering it from the other side, he is a reasonable mediator, the guiding force of all manifestations. Divine Thought, transmitted and manifested by the Dhyan-Kohans, the Builders of the visible World. Thus, from the Spirit or the Cosmic Thought-ground comes our consciousness, from the Cosmic Substance those several vehicles in which this consciousness is individualized and reaches self-awareness - or reflective - consciousness. Yet Fohat, in its various manifestations, is the mysterious link between Mind and Matter, the life-giving principle electrifying every atom to life.

The second volume of the book is called “Anthropogenesis” and is devoted to an attempt to fit man into the cosmic coordinates designated by the author. Man enters into all cycles of cosmic development and occupies a significant place in them. Moreover, each circle (cycle) of life development corresponds to 7 root races. From the first to the fourth circle, a person degrades; he is ruled by the material world. In the fifth circle, the ascent from darkness to Light begins, from the momentary to the eternal. According to Blavatsky, only the fifth root race can transform the world. This is the Aryan race, which was preceded by the race of the inhabitants of Atlantis. In Blavatsky's mind, the Atlanteans look like giants who have advanced technology. The proto-humanoid race includes the astral, Hyperboreans and Lemurians.

The “Secret Doctrine” is built on three ideological principles. First, the author acknowledges the existence of an omnipresent, eternal, limitless and unchanging God. God rules the cosmos with the help of Fohat. Secondly, every creation is included in the system of endless births and deaths. Each cycle ends with spiritual rebirth and an approach to the divine. Thirdly, the soul of every person is connected with God. Micro- and macrocosmos are not isolated, but merged into a single whole.

Blavatsky rejoiced at The Secret Doctrine. It was as if she wrote it not for people, but for eternity. She admitted that everything in her was trembling with pain and joy... She was possessed by the highest knowledge that evil is not eternal. This biblical truth was confirmed for her by Buddhist sacred texts: evil is overcome through death and resurrection. But Blavatsky could not agree with the Christian resurrection of Christ. She even created a scandalous magazine in England, named after the devil. Later, in response to accusations and gossip, she wrote: “Why did you attack me because I called my magazine Lucifer. This is a great name! Lux, Lucis - light, ferre - to wear. “Bearer of light” - what is better?.. It was only thanks to Milton’s “Paradise Lost” that Lucifer became synonymous with the fallen spirit. The first honest task of my magazine will be to remove the slander of misunderstanding from this name, which the ancient Christians called Christ. Easphoros - the Greeks, Lucifer - the Romans, because this is the name of the star of the morning, the herald of the bright light of the sun. Didn’t Christ himself say about himself: “ I, Jesus, am the morning star“(Revelation of St. John XXII, v. 16)? Let our magazine, like a pale, pure star of dawn, foreshadow the bright dawn of truth - the merging of all interpretations, letter by letter, into a single, in spirit, light of truth!

Zhelikhovskaya V. P. Radda-Bai, or the Truth about Blavatsky. M., 2006. pp. 57-58.

The “Secret Doctrine” is an abyss of dreams, illusions, an abyss of uncertainty, the path, as Blavatsky imagined, to a spiritualized life. The people around her and she herself are unique and inimitable. For them, ideas are more important and more attractive than all material goods, all the riches of the world. She was attracted by the desk, the chair in front of it, the curtained window through which sunlight entered the room, and the smell of blooming nature. In the last years of her life, Blavatsky thought a lot about death, wondering and amazed at the deep-rooted prejudices. Death is not grief, but the acquisition of a new existence. After all, the grain will not come to life if it does not die. There was even more hope in her that after 100 years a person would rapturously look into the depths of himself and see with his spiritual gaze that he is not alone, but involved in the divine, that the infinity of the cosmos is close to him like no one else... She sees Laocoon, who is being strangled, and he children are tormented, their bones broken by thick snakes with bloated heads... She thinks that Laocoon, for the sake of his children, is trying to overcome the madness of the earthly world, but everything is in vain: this earthly world cannot be overcome. But this stubborn and strong-willed profile, distorted by torment, haunts her. He gives hope to slip out of the “snake” shackles of his time, get rid of and convince others.

So, if the light that is in you is darkness, then what is the darkness?(Matt. 6:23)

Theosophy- anti-Christian religious-mystical occult teaching about the possibility of direct comprehension of “God” with the help of mystical intuition, accessible to a select circle of “initiates” and about the possibility of direct communication with the other world. Theosophy as a doctrine was founded by Helena Blavatsky in 1875.

The word "theosophy" comes from two Greek words - theos (God) and sophia (wisdom) - and means "divine wisdom." The term “theosophy” has been known since the 2nd century AD. e., when it was first used by Clement of Alexandria (approximately 150-215). The semantic content of the term “theosophy” over the course of almost two thousand years of its use was different and diverse. In Orthodox Christian usage, this word was synonymous with the term “theology” (theology) with the meaning: “knowledge of sacred, Divine things.” In parallel with this, the term “theosophy” began to be used by Neoplatonists: Ammonius Saccas and his students, who created a philosophical system whose main goal was to reconcile all religions, establishing a single universal principle and a general system of ethics based on eternal truths.

It should be noted that assigning the name “theosophy” to Blavatsky’s teaching is generally unlawful, because the semantic foundation of the term “theosophy” is the concept of “God”, and “Blavatsky’s theosophy” denies the existence of God as such . This was noted, in particular, by N. Berdyaev, saying that the name Blavatsky’s theosophy is unjustified, since there is no knowledge of God in it: “In modern theosophy it is difficult to find the doctrine of God... theosophy... does not deal with God, but with the cosmos."

Followers of this movement are confident that Theosophy combines the essence and basis of all world religions. The motto of the theosophical movement: “there is no religion higher than Truth,” laid down by H.P. Blavatsky as its basis, borrowed from the Maharaja of Benares. At the same time, Theosophy rejects the fundamental possibility of knowledge of the Absolute Truth by people not initiated into esoteric teachings, of which it considers itself the quintessence.

The religious and mystical teaching of H. P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) was formed under the influence of Indian philosophy (the doctrine of karma, reincarnation of the human soul and cosmic evolution as a manifestation of the spiritual absolute), occultism and Eastern esoteric doctrines and is set out in her work “The Secret Doctrine” (1888). Rejecting the “historical forms of religion,” Theosophy seeks to unite different faiths through the revelation of the identity of the hidden meaning of all religious symbols and to create on this basis a “universal religion” not bound by any specific dogma. The ultimate goal is the achievement of occult “knowledge” and the development of supernatural abilities through the esoteric traditions of a few “initiates” or “masters” who carry out the “spiritual evolution of man.”

Roerichov is a continuation of the teachings of theosophy of H. P. Blavatsky.

Many philosophers and scientists, having come into contact with Theosophy and understanding its true goals, considered it necessary to speak out against the propaganda of this teaching. Famous Russian philosophers and scientists Father G. Florovsky, Father S. Bulgakov, B. Vysheslavtsev, V. Kudryavtsev, S. Frank, M. Lodyzhensky in their writings showed the falsity and harmfulness of theosophical ideas, trying to warn against this hobby of those who, not Having a clear and firm Orthodox worldview, he accepts error as truth.

There is currently a tendency in society to rehabilitate Theosophy in the eyes of people, to breathe new life into it and turn it into some kind of respectable, supposedly scientific movement. Some adherents of this teaching quite often declare their commonality with Christianity and position themselves as Christians.

What is the special danger of Theosophy? In her teaching about the unity of all religions, the unity of truth and lies. Theosophy suggests enriching yourself with the experience of other religions: studying this experience and through it deepening Christianity itself. This false spirituality , which has absorbed the spirit and experiences of Shaivites, Buddhist tantrists and shamans, destroys Christianity from the inside, leaving only familiar terminology and names from it. A former Christian ceases to perceive Christ as his personal and only Savior. Christ turns for him, according to the internal religious experience, which has a pagan nature, into a kind of faceless cosmic force, and dogmas are perceived not as the life and light of the soul, but as temporary historical and philosophical ideas.

Blavatsky Elena Petrovna (1831-1891)

Helena Blavatsky was born on August 12, 1831 in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk) in the family of a Russian army officer, Colonel Peter Alekseevich von Hahn, who came from Germany. Her mother Elena Andreevna Gan (Fadeeva) was a famous novelist, but died very young. Her maternal grandmother was Princess Elena Pavlovna Dolgorukaya. On her grandmother's side, Blavatsky's family tree goes back to the princely family of the Rurikovichs; her ancestors on her father's side belonged to the Macklenburg count family of Han von Rottenstein-Hahn. Orphaned at an early age, Elena is raised in the house of her maternal grandparents. In the family of her grandfather Fadeev, the early young Blavatsky spent most of her childhood, first in Saratov, where he was governor, and later in Tiflis.

At the age of 16, Elena Gan marries a man much older than her - the Vice-Governor of Yerevan Nikifor Vladimirovich Blavatsky. But after 3 months she ran away from him. After escaping, she ended up in Constantinople through Odessa, where for a year she worked as an assistant to an illusionist in a circus, who taught her many tricks, which were then so useful in her future career. Later she moved to London, where she made her debut in several drama theaters.

In 1848, after reading a book about the cult of Isis in ancient Rome, Blavatsky traveled to Egypt, known as “the country of pyramids, ancient cults and secret knowledge, hoping to join them.”

In 1851, on her 20th birthday (August 12), in Hyde Park (London), as H. P. Blavatsky herself claimed, she first met with Hindu Rajpur El Morya whom I had previously seen in my dreams. El Morya said that he "needed her participation in the work he was about to undertake" and also that "she would have to spend three years in Tibet in order to prepare for this important task."

Mahatma Morya - in Theosophy and Agni Yoga - one of the “Teachers of Timeless Wisdom”. Mahatma ("great soul") - in Hindu mythology and theosophy one of the names of the world spirit. In Hinduism it means “saved while alive.” In Christianity, the concept of “saint” can be considered a synonym for the term. It should be noted that the traditional Indian idea of ​​​​Mahatmas differs significantly from the understanding of this word adopted in Theosophy. In accordance with theosophical teaching, the Mahatma is not a disembodied spirit, but a highly developed person engaged in individual spiritual growth and the development of earthly civilization as a whole (for example, the spiritual leader of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi). According to Blavatsky, Mahatmas (or adepts) live in Tibet and are considered to have already been saved from the cycle of samsara. In the first years after the creation of the Theosophical Society, the Mahatmas corresponded with many of its members. Blavatsky claimed that Mahatma Morya had appeared to her in dreams and visions since childhood, and that on August 12, 1851, on her twentieth birthday, their first meeting took place in Hyde Park (London). Although many members of the Theosophical Society in the 19th century described their meetings with Mahatma Morya and other Mahatmas, their very existence was questioned by most individuals and organizations (including the London Society for Psychical Research) even at that time. However, after Blavatsky's death, members of the Theosophical Society continued to claim that they met the Master or received secret messages from him. Thus, Helena Roerich claimed that thanks to her and her husband’s communication with the “Great Teacher” (Mahatma Moriah), the teaching of Agni Yoga arose.

After this, Blavatsky traveled a lot in Europe and Asia, and visited the USA. In her own words, she spent seven years in Tibet, where she received initiation into the occult mysteries.

In 1870 Helena Blavatsky founded in Cairo Spiritualist Society and declared herself a medium. This whole daring venture failed when the clients discovered in the house a long glove stuffed with cotton wool, which was used as a hand "freed from bodily flesh."

In 1873, Blavatsky moved to New York and two years later, together with Colonel Henry Olcott, founded Theosophical Society , the main goal of which was “the founding of a universal Brotherhood, without distinction of faiths, races, or origins.”

In 1878 Blavatsky became the first Russian woman to take American citizenship , and this event was widely covered in the press. In December of the same year, H. P. Blavatsky and Colonel Olcott departed through England for Bombay, India, where in February 1879 they set up the headquarters of the Society.

In May 1880, Blavatsky and her friend traveled to Ceylon, where Colonel Olcott began work on the revival of Buddhism in this country. They're both official accept Buddhism .

In September 1887 Blavatsky founded in London Theosophical magazine called "Lucifer" , whose task was considered to be the rehabilitation of the fallen spirit. The magazine was published 12 times a year with a volume of 50-60 pages and was published until 1897 (later it was renamed The Theosophical Review - “Theosophical Review”).

Helena Blavatsky died on May 8, 1891 in London, having suffered from the flu and not reaching three months before her sixtieth birthday. After her body was cremated, the ashes were divided into three parts, which are kept in India, New York and London.

Theosophical Society

Emblem of the International Theosophical Society. Inscription on the emblem: “There is no religion higher than truth”

November 17, 1875 in New York by the writer H. P. Blavatsky, the American Colonel G. S. Olcott and the young Irish lawyer W. C. Founded by Judge Theosophical Society , which declared the following goals:

• To form the nucleus of a Universal Brotherhood without distinction of race, color, sex, caste or creed;
• To promote the study of Aryan and other scriptures, world religions and various sciences, to defend the importance of the significance of ancient Asian sources belonging to Brahmanical, Buddhist and Zoroastrian philosophies;
• To explore the hidden secrets of Nature in all possible aspects, and especially the psychic and spiritual abilities latent in man.

Blavatsky organized this society after long wanderings around the world, passion for spiritualism, and visits to Tibetan sages.

In 1882, the center of the Theosophical Society was moved to Adyar (a suburb of Madras, India). The headquarters at Adyar still exists today and is the center of the International Theosophical Society. The motto of the Society became: “There is no religion higher than Truth.”

The main propagandists of the Theosophical Society were Helena Blavatsky and the English writer Annie Besant (1847-1933), who became the second president of the Theosophical Society. Blavatsky wrote many works on theosophy: “Isis Unveiled” (1877), “The Secret Doctrine” (1888), “The Key to Theosophy” (1889), “Practical Occultism”, etc. Researchers explain the popularity of the teachings of H. P. Blavatsky in Europe in that it offered a religion adapted to the thinking of people of the 19th century, permeated with rationalism and positivism; in India, it responded to the searches of local religious reformers, who sought to connect the values ​​of Hinduism with the values ​​of other world religions.

Among the famous members of the Theosophical Society were the American inventor Thomas Edison, Max Handel, the President of the Royal Society of London (1913-1915), the English chemist and physicist William Crookes, Motilal Nehru (father of the first Prime Minister of independent India Jawaharlal Nehru), etc.

During its existence, the Theosophical Society has undergone a number of significant changes.

The Theosophical Society originally arose as "a society of occultists for comparative experiments between spiritualism and the magic of the ancients according to the instructions of the ancient Kabbalah - Jewish and Egyptian."

In 1884, upon Blavatsky’s return from India, the Society was “restructured” into a “scientific” one, which was already based on the “core of international brotherhood”...Let us note that in 1884 in England, the Society for Psychological Research organized a special commission to conduct a detailed examination of the “scientific” activities of the Theosophical Society. A detailed report was drawn up, covering 200 pages of text, on the unscientific nature of the “scientific” Theosophical Society. Research scientists immediately realized that they were dealing with those for whom science serves only as a cover and partly as a means to attract people .

Since 1911, the Theosophical Society has acted as a religious movement professing the dogma of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ in the form of man - a teaching that contradicts Christianity and brings the Theosophical Society closer to Adventists.

After Blavatsky's death, her successors were the English writer A. Besant, as well as Alcott and Judge. In 1895, the latter, as a result of a conflict with the first two, separated and independently headed the “American Section” of the Society. The split in the Theosophical Society led to the formation of three centers:

1) United Lodge of Theosophists with headquarters in Los Angeles (USA).
2) International Theosophical Society with headquarters in Pasadena (USA);
3) International Theosophical Society with headquarters in Adyar (India).

Currently, Theosophical Societies, taken together, have branches in more than 70 countries around the world. They include people of different races, different religions and working in different fields of human activity.

Basic principles of Blavatsky's theosophy

Theosophy is a whole conglomerate of teachings and opinions. It is not possible to differentiate them, so we will dwell on its general principles, trends and methods, focusing on Blavatsky’s teachings as a characteristic phenomenon in modern theosophy.

The teachings of H. P. Blavatsky are based on Indian philosophy (primarily Buddhism, Hinduism and Brahmanism), but this the admixture of Buddhist and Hindu borrowings is mainly purely terminological, with a complete or almost complete change in the semantic content of the terms. In fact, the content of Theosophy was borrowed by E.P. Blavatsky from Kabbalah.

Blavatsky called herself a conductor of the Higher Powers, the keeper of the secret knowledge of the Teachers, the Mahatmas, from whom she received all the theosophical truths. Until the end of her life, Blavatsky claimed that she was in constant telepathic communication with the Tibetan Mahatmas: she received orders from them, addressed them with questions and heard their answers.

The main provisions of Blavatsky's teachings can be expressed as follows: the origin of the world is based on the First Cause or the Absolute. Everything that exists in the Universe, including man, carries within itself a particle of the First Cause. Man has the opportunity to connect with the First Cause.

According to the logic of theosophical teaching, absolute truth is unknowable. Cognition in Hinduism means the dissolution of the knower in the knowable, when the cognizing personality dissolves in the Divine and ceases to exist as a separate person, as an individual. Therefore, according to Theosophy, one can only talk about the relativity of knowledge of truth. It follows that comprehension of the fullness of Truth is impossible without the destruction of individuality.

Origin of the Universe

Theosophy denies the existence of a creator god and asserts that the starting point of the Universe is the “Unknowable”, the ineffable Absolute, thanks to which everything became, that the Universe unfolds itself, from its own Essence, without being created.

Theosophy's ideas about the world and man

Theosophy distinguishes three worlds:

• physical,
• astral (world of feelings) and
• mental (the world of higher ideas).

The primary matter is ether, or, in the language of occultism, astral. In the understanding of theosophists, “pure spirit” is the astral in its refined, rarefied state; the rough physical world is the same astral in its condensed, “cooled” state.

Man, in the theosophical understanding, consists of four, seven, ten elements, more often of four: physical, etheric, astral bodies and Ego. All these elements are not interconnected and belong to different planes of existence of the world, which have different phases of evolution. Thus, a person is a complex system, a conditional and random combination of different lives. An example of such representations is the following diagram.

I. Material man:

1) physical body (bioenergy);

2) the astral body (as a conductor of desires and passions);

3) etheric body (as a carrier of vital force).

I I. Reasonable person:

4) passionate (animal) soul;

5) human soul.

I I I. Spiritual man (Ego):

6) spiritual soul;

7) pure spirit.

After the death of a person, his lower elements remain in the earth's atmosphere and decompose one by one. The higher elements ascend to the region of “subtle spirits”, where they remain in bliss for some time, and then incarnate on some planet. The evolution of these subtle spirits takes place in a series of planetary transitions. Their planetary states correspond to the structure of the elements in man, each of which lives its own, independent life. During reincarnations, the spiritual person “relocates” into new incarnations; he, as it were, heads the hierarchical structure of several lives.

The result of such an understanding of the world and man is universal evolution or the transfer of the theory of evolution to the spiritual world. This is the “scientific quality” on the basis of which the theosophist “gives everyone a theory of the works of God.”

About reincarnation

One of the central places in Theosophy is occupied by the doctrine of reincarnation.

In Theosophy, reincarnation means evolution. Here the doctrine of the transmigration of souls is presented as good news about a kind of immortality, about a greater fullness of life. And this flatters modern man, because modern non-religious consciousness clearly evaluates earthly life as the only existence and believes in progress. And in order to substantiate faith in progress, it is necessary to give each individual the opportunity to participate in the fullness of progress - to impart to her the idea of ​​​​reincarnation, which is very suitable for such ideas.

With its teaching on reincarnation, Theosophy seeks to rid man of the fear of death, although it is precisely this good fear that can awaken and elevate the human soul. According to the testimony of St. Basil the Great, “the fear of death is a saving fear, the fear by which holiness is achieved...” This saving fear is associated with a person’s responsibility for his immortal soul: “... What ransom will a man give to strangle himself?”(Matt. 16:26. Mark 8:37). There is no responsibility in reincarnation, since for those who are careless, a “re-examination” in another life is possible. And this means: rest, eat, drink, be merry... (Luke 12:19).

Theosophy's relationship to Christianity

According to theosophists, not a single world religion is true, including Christianity, so they should be replaced by Theosophy.

Hypocritically declaring respect for all religions, including Christianity, theosophists declare the Christian Church a breeding ground of lies and superstitions. Helena Blavatsky expressed her attitude towards the Christian Church (in one of her letters) as follows: “Our goal is not to restore Hinduism, but to wipe Christianity off the face of the Earth " For A. Besant, “being converted to Christianity is worse than being a skeptic and a materialist.”

Theosophists deny the sinfulness of humanity . Jesus is an ordinary man who has realized his “higher self” (Christ). Christ is the "higher self" of man, and every man can become Christ.

Theosophists do not recognize Jesus Christ as the God-Man and is often called "the teacher of teachers." They consider Jesus to be a great teacher, one of the Mahatmas who lives in the Himalayas and rules humanity.

E. Blavatsky states: “Jesus Christ is a Bodhisattva who had the spirit of Buddha, and He is one of the reincarnations of Shakyamuni, Sri Shankaracharya, Apollonius of Tyana, Tsong-Ha-Cha - the reformer of Tibetan Buddhism.” But even such reasoning is a lie, a concession for those who are not yet ready to accept the doctrine of Theosophy. In a letter dated March 24, 1884, she writes: “You ask whether we Theosophists believe in Christ. In the impersonal Christ - yes. Krishna or Buddha is the same Christ... but not in Jesus of Nazareth...”

The word “Christ” means “initiated,” that is, a common noun, “assigned in ancient times to all persons who have achieved a certain degree of initiation in the pagan mysteries.” Thus, Christ for Theosophists is a certain state of soul, an abstract idea, an abstract image...

Theosophy, without requiring, at least in the beginning, the renunciation of Christ, removes from a person the moral obligation to fulfill the commandments of the Gospel, replacing Christian morality with Buddhist-Shaivite nihilism.

Theosophy quietly leads people to fall away from Christianity . She is like a “Trojan horse”, which a person accepts into his consciousness through idle, vain curiosity. But, as the Monk Isidore Pelusiot says, “the curious sails on the ship of pride.” It's no coincidence Theosophy does not recognize pride in sin ... Theosophical ideas that have taken possession of a person lead him to destruction: they distort the mind, make him indifferent to true spiritual life, but on the other hand, he is quite capable of accepting the unnatural doctrine of Theosophy, which contradicts the Truth.

Attitude to prayer

Denying a personal God, denying the God-manhood of Jesus Christ, Theosophists also reject prayer . “Don’t pray... Darkness will not give an answer. Don't ask anything from Silence, because it cannot speak. Do not trouble your souls... with pious trials... do not ask anything from the powerless gods, either in hymns or in sacrifices. We must seek liberation only in ourselves.”Instead of prayer it is recommended prayerful reflection - meditation. Theosophy replaces hope in God with faith in human capabilities: “A person must rely only on himself to become perfect.”

Attitude towards sin

Theosophy encourages and develops pride in man; it teaches a person to rely on his own strength, moreover, she declares the person himself to be a deity. The mysticism of Theosophy lies in man's awareness of his divinity. The sin of Satan and Adam, who wanted to become gods without God, is repeated here. Modern man easily falls for this bait, as old as time.

Theosophy lulls a person's morality by identifying sin with ignorance, and with the theory of reincarnation it hides from him the tragic consequences of sin. This appeals to the sensuality and lust that nests in the depths of the human heart. Moreover, Theosophy teaches that for “initiates” such moral categories as good and evil do not exist.

In paraphrase, it may sound like this: “Sin and do not repent. Whatever you do, one end awaits you - return and dissolution into the absolute.”

Rehabilitation of the Devil

Blavatsky can literally be called “the devil’s advocate.” She rejects the existence of demons. The essence of the idea presented in her teaching is as follows. There are certain spirits, dhyan-kohans (angels), who sacrificed their spiritual bliss and abandoned life in the spiritual world, agreeing to incarnate in matter. “Fallen angels” are, according to the statements of H.P. Blavatsky, benefactors of humanity. But in addition, she proposes to consider “Satan, the Serpent in the Book of Genesis, as the true creator and benefactor, the Father of Spiritual Humanity...who opened the eyes of the automaton “created” by Jehovah...”

E.P. Blavatsky claims that the angels (Dhyan Chohans), out of compassion for humanity, voluntarily agreed to reincarnate among people in order to bestow upon them “knowledge and love.” This is where her teaching about Satan is born: “Satan, when he is no longer considered in the superstitious, dogmatic and devoid of true philosophy, spirit of the churches, grows into the majestic image of the one who creates divine Man from the earthly; who gives him, during the long cycle of the Mahakalpa, the law of the Spirit of Life and frees him from the Sin of Ignorance, therefore from Death.” Satan, according to Theosophy, is the savior of mankind from death and the source of knowledge and freedom : by receiving the knowledge bestowed by Satan, a person becomes free. “Freedom is knowledge” is the motto of all occult doctrine. Knowledge for Theosophists is synonymous with truth. Therefore, Satan, as a source of knowledge, is the source of truth: “Satan (or Lucifer) represents the Active principle or ... “Centrifugal” Energy of the Universe (in the cosmic sense). He is Fire..., Progress, Civilization, Freedom, Independence."

Satan in theosophy is represented as a fighter for truth, a kind of “Prometheus”, who stole fire from the “tyrant” - God, in order to use fire to snatch people from “slavery”. Satan is considered synonymous with all creative forces (energies) in the Universe. Such an approach turns the Christian teaching on its head, according to which only God is not only the Creator of the entire universe and man, but also the Source of Life, and the Power that continuously supports our very existence. He who renounces God renounces life and inherits death.

Satan is the goal and source of all theosophical wisdom. But theosophists do not see a fallen angel, but a fiery revolutionary, tearing humanity out of slavery to God, who is depicted as a tyrant. The chain of reasoning of the Theosophists is as follows. The Creator created Adam and Eve. The serpent tempted Eve, Eve tempted Adam. Theosophists believe that God was to blame, because, in their opinion, he should have prevented the temptation. At the same time, it is completely overlooked that the Lord created not a slave, but a person who is free to choose and reap the consequences of his choice. Theosophists completely obscure the role of the serpent-tempter.

If we compare the mythology of Satanists with the mythology of Theosophists and occultists, we can trace the same scenario. The God of Christians is a tyrant who unfairly slanderes Satan, who is the “ideal” of revolution and freedom of spirit. Satan is the bearer and source of freedom and truth.

There is evidence from contemporaries of E.P. Blavatsky, who claim that she was a Freemason and may have belonged to some secret order, clearly of Satanic orientation.

Conclusion

Theosophy has nothing to do with any religion in the world. Claiming to be scientific, it rejects all the basic principles of the scientific approach. The basic position of esotericism implies that the statements of Theosophy are, in principle, unverifiable and unprovable. Theosophy is actively borrowing from traditional religions, completely distorting the semantic meaning of borrowed terms. The resulting compilation is illogical and internally contradictory. Many of the teachings of Theosophy refute each other, but this does not prevent Theosophists from considering them true. The use of terms developed by traditional religions in theosophical semantic interpretation misleads those who are superficially familiar with Theosophy, creating the illusion of its truth.

Theosophy talks a lot about the “brotherhood of religions,” but in reality it considers all traditional religions to be defective, recognizing the truth only for itself.

Theosophy is characterized by the preaching of “brotherhood” without distinction of nationalities, religions, etc., due to which indifference to one's faith, nation, and culture is fostered.

Theosophy seeks to rid man of everything that can remind him of the responsibility that lies upon him, of the answer that he will inevitably have to give before the face of the Righteous Judge. Through her teaching, she leads a person away from God, deprives Him of grace-filled help, and subordinates him to the “cosmic hierarchy.”

Theosophy justifies Satan and the fallen angels. They become the “saviors” of humanity, role models. It is Satan who should be, according to theosophical teaching, the source of “knowledge and love” for unbiased researchers of the truth.

The incompatibility of Christianity and Theosophy is obvious, since the beliefs of Christians and Theosophists are inherently mutually exclusive. Theosophy reduces Christ to the level of the "higher self" of man, declaring that any person can become Christ. In fact, Theosophy preaches the idea of ​​man-theism.

Today there is a revival of the Theosophical Society. Relevant literature is being republished. Through modern pseudo-religious “academies”, “health schools” and similar societies, many are introduced to the doctrine of Theosophy. Moreover, the old teaching receives a new, scientific form, thanks to which the inexperienced can assimilate with even greater confidence what Theosophy offers.

Material prepared by Sergey SHULYAK

Used Books:
1. Deacon Andrey Kuraev. Who sent Blavatsky?
2. Priest Dimitry Druzhinin. Wandering in the Dark: The Basics of the Pseudo-Theosophy of Helena Blavatsky, Henry Olcott, Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater
3. Pitanov V.Yu. Theosophy: Facts vs. Myths
4. Archimandrite Raphael (KARELIN). About Theosophy

Send your good work in the knowledge base is simple. Use the form below

Students, graduate students, young scientists who use the knowledge base in their studies and work will be very grateful to you.

ABSTRACT on CULTURAL SCIENCE

THEOSOPHYE.P.BLAVATSKY

Introduction

1. Biography of E.P. Blavatsky

2. Theosophy. Brief extracts from the works of E.P. Blavatsky

Conclusion

List of used literature

There is no religion higher than truth

E.P. Blavatsky

INTRODUCTION

The appearance of the mysterious figure E.P. Blavatsky on the cultural scene of the 19th century caused a real shock, general confusion and can be compared with the action of the true force of Nature: only the frozen religious, scientific, social, philosophical and ethical-moral structures of society can be shaken and shaken to the ground, as Blavatsky did. a personality that is something titanic, carrying within itself the authenticity and strength of the impulse of Nature, and this impulse acts like a spring thunderstorm: first clouds, collision, thunder, lightning... and then a blessed downpour, bringing purification, a new renewing force of life, like a sign sun and clear skies, which are sure to come next.

Essentially, the topic of this work is slightly broader than listing the dates and places associated with the name of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The main thing that made me pay attention to her was her idea of ​​​​that “unusual” that surrounds us everywhere in the conscious and unconscious states of our existence. The basis of my thoughts were my personal “experience” of communicating with things, from the point of view of science, that are not important; although I can't say that this happens very often. However, even one insignificant detail, an incident or something else, can radically change, if not life, then at least reduce confidence in the indestructibility of a rational explanation of various phenomena or events.

That is why I chose the topic of the essay, dedicated to the philosopher, mystic, prophet, reformer, titan - the enigma known as Helena Petrovna Blavatsky.

1. BIOGRAPHYE.P. BLAVATSKY

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was born on August 11, 1831. Mother Elena Andreevna Fadeeva (who married officer Gan, commander of a battery of horse artillery) wrote stories and novels under the pseudonym “Zinaida R-voy” and was very popular in the early forties; her early death caused universal regret, and Belinsky devoted several pages of praise to her, calling her the Russian “George Sand”. Elena Petrovna, who was orphaned at an early age, spent most of her childhood in her grandfather’s family, first in Saratov, where he was governor, and later in Tiflis.

According to eyewitnesses *), her childhood and youth passed under very happy conditions in an enlightened and very friendly family with humane traditions and an extremely gentle attitude towards people. In the summer, the whole family went to the governor's dacha - a large old house surrounded by a garden, with mysterious corners, ponds and a deep ravine, behind which was a dark forest descending to the Volga. All nature lived a special mysterious life for the ardent girl; she often talked with birds, animals and invisible companions of her games; she spoke very animatedly to them and sometimes began to laugh loudly, amusing them with funny tricks invisible to anyone but her, and when winter came, the extraordinary study of her learned grandmother presented such an interesting world that could ignite even a not so vivid imagination. There were many strange things in this office: there were stuffed animals of various animals, the grinning heads of bears and tigers could be seen, on one wall there were lovely little hummingbirds dazzling like bright flowers, on the other, owls, falcons and hawks sat like living ones, and above them, under right up to the ceiling, a huge eagle spread its wings. When the children came to grandma’s cabin, they sat on a stuffed black walrus or a white seal, and at dusk it seemed to them that all these animals began to move, and little Elena Petrovna told many scary and fascinating stories about them.

From all the memories of Elena Petrovna’s sister (Vera Petrovna) about her childhood, it becomes clear that Elena Petrovna had clairvoyance; the world invisible to ordinary people was open to her, and she lived in reality a double life: a physical one common to everyone and visible only to her alone. Elena often talked about various visits to people unknown to everyone. Most often, a majestic image of a Hindu in a white turban appeared before her, always the same, and she knew him as well as her loved ones, and called him her Patron; she claimed that it was he who saved her in moments of danger. One such incident occurred when she was about 13 years old: the horse she was riding got scared and bolted; the girl could not resist and, entangling her foot in the stirrup, hung on it; but, instead of crashing, she clearly felt someone's arms around her, which supported her until the horse was stopped.

Since childhood, Elena had a passion for travel, for bold undertakings, for strong sensations. She never recognized authorities, she always walked independently, paving the way for herself, setting independent goals, despising the conditions of the world, resolutely eliminating obstacles that hindered her freedom that were encountered on her way... At the age of seventeen, she voluntarily married a man who was good enough for her like her father, and after a few months, without a second thought, she left him, went to an unknown place and disappeared for almost ten years so that her relatives did not know about her whereabouts for years...

She confessed to those close to her that it was only then that she got married to N.V. Blavatsky, to be free from the control of relatives.

Blavatsky spent most of her youth outside Europe:

from 1848 to 1851 - a trip to Egypt, Athens, Smyrna and Asia Minor - the first failed attempt to penetrate Tibet;

since 1851 to 1853 - a trip to South America and a move to India - the second failed attempt to penetrate Tibet and return through China and Japan to America;

from 1853 to 1858 - wandering around North and Central America and moving to England; return from England via Egypt and India and a third failed attempt to penetrate Tibet;

in December 1858 Elena Petrovna unexpectedly appears in Russia with her relatives, first she came to her sister Vera Petrovna and her father in the Pskov province, and then to her mother’s relatives in Tiflis, where she stayed until 1863;

in 1864 she finally penetrates Tibet, from there she leaves for a short time (in 1866) to Italy, then again to India and again to Tibet. In 1872, she travels through Egypt and Greece to her relatives in Odessa, and from there the following year, 1873, she leaves for America.

In 1851, the most important event in the life of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky took place in London - her first meeting with the Teacher, who appeared to her in childhood and whom she called her Patron. The true purpose of these 20-year wanderings (if we subtract the 4 years spent with her family) around the globe was renewed attempts to penetrate Tibet, where she hoped to get closer to her Teacher.

To truly understand this side of her life, it is necessary to know what “apprenticeship” is, what it consists of, what kind of obligations it imposes on the student, and what is the attitude of a student of an occult school to his Teacher in the East.

For Europeans, the very existence of Eastern Teachers, living a completely special life, somewhere among the inaccessible Himalayas, unknown to anyone except theosophist dreamers, seems like some kind of fairy tale. But this idea changes completely when you begin to get acquainted with the inner meaning of the religious teachings of India. The difference between the mental and spiritual life of the materialistic West and the mystical East is very profound, and misunderstanding on the part of the West of the most essential features of the East is quite natural. In the East, no one doubts the existence of high adepts of Divine Wisdom. But Western scientists, at least the most advanced ones, do not deny the possibility of supernormal psychic abilities, which in most people are in a latent state and only develop over time to their full manifestation; and if this is so, it is completely illogical to deny the possibility of higher and higher stages of mental and spiritual evolution, and therefore the appearance of such “High Beings”, whose mental powers and properties are still unknown at our lower stage of development.

People who achieved holiness, which is inevitably accompanied by a refinement of the entire nervous system, always sought solitude, hiding in deserts and jungles. When a person with exceptionally subtle psychic development still has to remain among a crowd of people, he must suffer greatly, and at a very high stage of development, without the precautions known to occultism, he may not even be able to withstand the rough noises of modern city life. Blavatsky returned from her travels to Russia as a man gifted with exceptional properties and powers, which manifested themselves immediately and amazed everyone around her. She turned out to be a powerful medium, a condition which she herself later greatly despised, considering it not only degrading to human dignity, but also very harmful to health. Later, her psychic powers, unfolding, gave her the opportunity to subordinate to her will and control the external manifestations of mediumship. But at the age of 27 they appeared against her will, rarely obeying her. She was surrounded by constant knocking and constant movement, the origin and meaning of which she did not yet know how to explain...”

The entire second period of Blavatsky’s life E.P. was first preparation for apprenticeship, and then apprenticeship itself. Elena Petrovna’s mental powers have reached that stage of development at which communication between Teacher and student, or Guru And brow, as they say in the East, were constant and achieved the same clarity as physical ones (more often these communications were clairvoyant-psychic: the image is clearly visible and the voice of the physically absent person is heard).*) Something like a wireless telegraph is established between them; Only her open inner hearing could clearly hear the internally spoken words of the Teacher, which were transmitted through the magnetic currents connecting them.

All such phenomena as clairvoyance and clear hearing, psychometry, telepathy, suggestion, etc., which until recently seemed supernatural phenomena, are beginning to be recorded in the annals of scientific observations. The correct culture of higher psychic forces has its own science, its own strictly substantiated disciplines, its own centuries-old experience, its own teachers and its own schools. Already in 1884, the manifestations of the forces of invisible agents... were completely submissive to H.P. Blavatsky and never appeared without her will and stopped instantly at her request, she was transported with her spiritual gaze to where she wanted, and saw only what she wanted to see .

It is these psychic powers, developed to full consciousness and completely subordinate to her will, that serve as the most indisputable proof that Blavatsky’s mental development passed through the correct culture of the occult school. These forces can be divided into several groups: a) Suggestion, which causes various illusions - light, sound, tactile, gustatory and olfactory illusions in the one who is being suggested.

b) Clairvoyance of all kinds, reading other people's thoughts and moods.

c) Communication at a distance with persons gifted with the same or greater mental development.

d) Highly developed higher clairvoyance, which gave her the opportunity to gain knowledge in a way inaccessible to most.

e) Imprinting objective ideas by an act of will on paper or other material.

f) Phenomena requiring knowledge of the primary properties of nature, the cohesive force that forms various agglomerates of atoms, and knowledge of the ether, its composition and potentiality.

Another proof of her high occult development is her stubborn silence regarding all the circumstances of this mysterious period of her life. No true chela ever, under any circumstances, speaks of his affiliation with a school or anything pertaining to his occult training.

The next proof is Blavatsky’s constant and unchanging statements that she is not the author of her books, that she is only a tool, only writing under dictation, etc.

The third period of H. P. Blavatsky’s life, which she, starting from 1873, spent successively in America (1873-1878), in India (1878-1884) and in Europe (1884-1891), was so well known, had so many witnesses constantly surrounding her, that it can be traced day by day in every detail.

In 1875, on September 7, the Theosophical Society was opened. 17 people gathered in Elena Petrovna’s modest apartment. Colonel Olcott proposed to establish the Society of Occultists and with it a library for the study of the hidden laws of nature. His proposal was accepted, and he was elected president of the Theosophical Society.

In 1876, Elena Petrovna began to write Isis, A in 1977, Isis was already published in New York and aroused great attention in the American press.

In 1878, the founders of the Theosophical Society decided to move to India and on February 17, 1879, Blavatsky and Olcott reached the shores of India. In October 1879, its own magazine “ Theosophist" The next five years until 1884 were spent in energetic propaganda of Theosophy within India. Both traveled throughout India, trying everywhere to arouse interest in the sublime beauty of ancient Hindu beliefs and evoke memories of the former glory of the great people. Due to illness, Elena Petrovna was forced to return to Europe. Over the next five years (since 1887), a lot was done: three volumes were written Secret Doctrine, of which two were published during her time, and the third after her death; written: “ Key to TeOSofia" And " Voice of Silence” and many articles in the magazine “ Lucifer”, which she began publishing immediately after arriving in London (in 1887). In addition to this literary work, which she did 12 hours a day, Blavatsky was surrounded in the evenings by visitors, including many writers and scientists, and on Thursdays at the evening meetings of the Theosophical Society she gave answers to numerous questions that members of the Society addressed to her.

In May 1891, almost without any warning illness, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky died in her work chair, like the true warrior of the spirit that she had been all her life.

3. THEOSOPHY.BRIEF EXTRACTS FROM WORKSEResearch InstituteH.P.BLAVATSKY

Theosophy - (from the Greek THEOS - god and SOPHIA - wisdom) - Divine wisdom - in a broad sense - any mystical teaching that claims to reveal special divine secrets. Theosophy is the source of all religions.

In order to make the teachings of Theosophy accessible to modern people, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky founded the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875.

The Theosophical Society had three main goals:

to form the core of the Universal Brotherhood without distinction of origin and religion, race and color, gender. Its members undertake to constantly strive for moral self-improvement and to help their neighbors as much as possible - spiritual help, and, if possible, material help;

encourage the study of world Religions and Sciences, i.e. to promote the dissemination of Aryan and other eastern languages, sciences and knowledge;

explore the hidden laws of nature in all its aspects, the mental and spiritual powers of man.

Of these three goals, only the first is obligatory for everyone; the second and third are provided at the goodwill of the members of the Society.

The Theosophical Society has this advantage over existing religions, that it makes no distinction between pagans, Jews or Christians. The Theosophical Society is international because its members may be people of all races, all creeds and all views, working together for the same purpose - the improvement of mankind; but as the Society excludes politics from its interests, it takes no part in any national or party politics. Members of the Theosophical Society as individuals are completely free in their political directions.

Theosophy is a vast ocean of universal Truth, Love and Wisdom, reflecting its light on earth. The Theosophical Society was created to assist people in the knowledge of Divine Wisdom and to help them rise to its heights by studying and assimilating its eternal truths. Theosophy does not have its own special wisdom, it is only a repository of all the truths spoken by the great Clairvoyants, Prophets and Teachers of all historical and prehistoric centuries.

They join the Theosophical Society in the hope of acquiring that strength which arises from properly organized, simultaneously carried out efforts; to serve humanity more perfectly by participating in the struggle against their ignorance and in efforts, by spreading the light of Divine Wisdom, to lessen their sufferings, and also in the hope of taking advantage of the favorable conditions that arise from mutual assistance.

A member of the Theosophical Society must:*)

Study and understand theosophical teachings and share your knowledge with others.

Bring the spirit of these teachings into your individual life.

To take every opportunity to explain what Theosophy is, and to arouse others' interest in it.

To promote the dissemination of theosophical literature.

Defend the honor of the Society by personal example; What is important for the Society is not the quantity, but the quality of members.

To fulfill one’s duty in relation to all people and especially in relation to those with whom one is connected by family or social ties.

The theosophist must regard himself as a part of collective humanity, and not as a personal self. The basic theosophical principle is that everyone should live for everyone and everything for everyone. The basis of Theosophy is the duty to grant to all the same rights and privileges: justice, benevolence and mercy, which we desire for ourselves; and an even higher duty: to give to others more than to take from them, in other words, a manifestation of self-sacrifice.

In discussing what may be considered wise or unwise, each individual decides in the performance of his duty, but each must ask himself whether his given action can be in accordance with theosophical principles and contribute to the growth and success of the Society.

Must control and conquer, with the help of the Higher Self, his lower self and purify himself internally and morally.

He should not fear anyone or anything except the judgment of his own conscience.

should not do anything halfway: if he thinks that his action is good, he should do it openly and boldly, but if it is not good, he should not do it at all.

Public opinion should not matter to him.

The practical application of Theosophy is pure altruism - selfless concern for the good of other people.

Sacrifice time, money and anything that could provide personal gain in the name of devoting oneself exclusively to the interests of the Society.

To fight fanaticism, in whatever form it may appear, religious, scientific or social, and especially against bigotry in all its various forms.

There is a big difference between the established religions and Theosophy. Religions rely on trust and superstition and represent faith in authority; Theosophy, on the other hand, is based on conviction and intuition, and represents faith in one’s spiritual intuition. Theosophy does not adhere to any religion or any philosophy in particular.

A Theosophist should not do:

To impose your personal opinion on another member of the Society.

To remain silent when bad comments are uttered in his presence, much less slander against the Theosophical Society or against innocent individuals.

Slander behind your back. You should always speak openly and to the face of the person against whom you have something.

If you need to speak out about someone else’s bad deed, choose the mildest of all possible sentences; in all cases forgive to the end, especially if they sin against himself.

Do not stand up for the offended.

No member has the right to remain idle, excusing himself by saying that he knows too little to teach others, for he will always find others who know even less than himself. He must remember that the whole heavy burden and the whole responsibility for the Theosophical Movement cannot be left on the shoulders of a few devoted workers.

Teachers or Mahatmas belong to the Great Souls, or Adepts of the highest level, to those sublime Beings who, having achieved complete mastery over their lower nature, live for the good of man, not limited by the properties of the “carnal” man. The Teachers give teachings to those few who have studied under Their guidance for a long time and have dedicated their entire lives to Their service.*)

I will give quotes from the works of E.P. Blavatsky:

“Lead the life necessary to acquire the highest knowledge and the highest power, and then wisdom will come to you naturally.” The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1.

“We stand in bewilderment before the mystery of our own doing and before the mysteries of life that cannot be solved, and at the same time we blame the merciless sphinx who devours us. But, truly, there is not a single event in our lives, not a single unsuccessful day, not a single misfortune that cannot be traced back to our own doing in this or another life. Whoever violates the laws of Harmony, in other words, the “Laws of Life,” must expect to be plunged into the chaos that he himself has created.” The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1.

“The only decree of karma, the eternal and unchangeable decree, is the same absolute Harmony in the world of Matter as it is in the world of Spirit. It follows from this that it is not karma that rewards or punishes us, but that we ourselves reward or punish ourselves, depending on whether we work together and in harmony with Nature, being in harmony with its laws or violating them.” The Secret Doctrine, Volume 1.

“Civilization of all times has developed the physical and intellectual to the detriment of the mental and spiritual. The ability to direct and control one’s own psychic nature, the ability and power which the blind people of our time connect with the supernatural, was at the dawn of mankind innate and came to man as naturally as the ability to move or think.” The Secret Doctrine, Volume 2.

“Karma does not create anything and does not predetermine anything. Man himself makes plans and creates causes, and the karmic law only adjusts the consequences, which bringing into harmony is not an action, but universal harmony, striving to maintain its original position inviolate, like a branch that, bent with excessive force, straightens with the corresponding energy, If the result will be a dislocated arm, which sought to remove the branch from its natural position - shall we blame the branch instead of recognizing the folly of the one who caused this misfortune for himself? The Secret Doctrine, Volume 2.

“Humanity - at least the majority of it - hates thinking for itself. It looks like an insult, at the most modest invitation to, at least for a short time, leave the old rut and, following its own judgment, embark on a new path, in a different direction.” The Secret Doctrine, Volume 3.

“Children need to instill most of all self-confidence, a loving attitude towards everyone, altruism, mutual forbearance and especially the habit of thinking and reasoning for themselves. The purely mechanical work of memory should be limited to the minimum possible and the greater part of the time should be devoted to the development and cultivation of inner feelings, abilities and hidden forces. We must strive to create free people, free mentally, free morally, free from all kinds of prejudices and especially free from selfishness.” Key to Theosophy.

“For the mind is like a mirror: reflecting, it becomes covered with dust. It needs spiritual wisdom, the gentle breaths of which can sweep away the dust of our illusions. Strive, O Beginner, to combine your mind and your soul into one.” Voice of Silence.

CONCLUSION

“There is no religion higher than truth.”

Truth is an individual concept for each person, however, what can be taken as general criteria for determining “truth”?

First of all, this is a visual awareness of the truth of a particular fact or assumption that occurs at every step in our daily life. However, the “visual” factor is quite fragile in comparison with the logical, mental structure, the “apparatus” of awareness of truth. The perception by our eyes of this or that phenomenon (such as the invocation of spirits, etc.) plays a dominant role in the construction of inferences and conclusions, although very often visible things are by no means the very fact by which they (things) are displayed and perceived by our vision and hearing , sense of smell, etc. If we see a UFO or something equally strange, our consciousness comes to a conflict, because “subconsciously” (namely, out of ignorance) an ordinary person denies the possibility of the phenomenon occurring before his eyes.

I believe that for many people, it is precisely the blocking of visible things by their consciousness that does not give sufficient freedom to see the “invisible”. However, it would be wrong to assume that many “visible” things absolutely accurately reflect their essence; here I would like to introduce the concept of a third level: “intuition” (or something else that has no name), which supplements ordinary things with some new meaning, and sometimes, in special states of consciousness, it overwhelms these very “things” to an “invisible” state.

The line between truth and falsehood, visible and invisible is very vague, but in the presence of “experience” that determines the “picture of the world”, existing and developing in consciousness under the influence of this “experience” and the ability not to deny the “invisible” in its “visible” forms - this line is quite noticeable. E.P. had such talent. Blavatsky. Today, she would be a “prophet” for a new culture, a wave of change in the values ​​of the rational (visible) and irrational (invisible) picture of the world.

Unfortunately, until today I did not have enough time to get acquainted in more detail with the activities and creativity of H.P. Blavatsky, but, based on what I did manage to get acquainted with, I believe that if H.P. Blavatsky lived among us today; some of the postulates of her theosophy would have lost their relevance, although they would have looked quite modern.

I was able to get acquainted with some of the works of isotericists of the end of the last and current centuries: Terence McKenna, Carlos Castaneda, Timothy Leary, Aldous Huxley and, perhaps, one little-known Russian writer V. Pelevin. Perhaps their point of view is the most radical, and their methods of comprehension the easiest, but for some reason they also seem to me the most interesting and congenial.

In conclusion, I cannot help but note the growing interest among young people in esoteric literature, art and music, which bring a change in the values ​​of the picture of the world; is it good or bad - it's hard to say. But this will happen sooner or later, despite the resistance of the old system of views and values. People who once realized the full size of the sky above their heads and saw the “invisible,” or at least did not resist the impending change in their consciousness, will move to the next level of human evolution and then a new era of pure “truth” will begin.

LIST OF REFERENCES USEDURY

1. Blavatsky E.P. Selected articles. M., 1996.

2. Pisareva E.F. Elena Petrovna Blavatsky. Biographical sketch. Kyiv, 1991.

Blavatskaya E.P. Mysterious tribes on the “Blue Mountains” in the wilds of India. St. Petersburg, 1993.

Blavatskaya E.P. Key to Theosophy. M., 1996.

Blavatskaya E.P. In search of the occult. M., 1991.

Philosophical Dictionary. M., 1991.

7. Soviet encyclopedic dictionary. M., 1987.

Similar documents

Theosophy is a synthesis of mystical knowledge of God and rational philosophy, the main theories. History of the Theosophical Society in Russia; E. Blavatsky's program, "The Secret Doctrine" - the doctrine of new Eurasianism. N. Roerich's concept of culture, agni yoga or living ethics.

report, added 03/23/2011


The essence of Socrates' ideas about the role of mind control over emotions, the source of knowledge and the method of obtaining it. Plato's teaching about the soul and mind as its highest element. The subject of theosophy and the importance of developing the mental body. Comparison of the teachings of Socrates and Plato.

abstract, added 03/23/2010


Biography of V.S. Solovyova. Basic principles of Solovyov's philosophy. Place in the history of Russian philosophy. The theory of “all-unity”: its concept in ontological, epistemological and axiological terms. Theosophy, the concept of Sophia. Truth, beauty and kindness.

abstract, added 02/27/2017


Pythagoras - ancient Greek philosopher, religious and political figure, founder of Pythagoreanism, mathematician: biography, teaching, aphorisms and sayings. School of Pythagoras, system of pedagogical methods. Pythagorean number theory is the key to life and the essence of existence.

abstract, added 11/28/2010


The concept of faith as a phenomenon of consciousness and the unconscious, its role in our everyday life. Problems of faith, trust, confidence, self-belief and relationship with religion. The main sources of faith, its peculiarity as a way of knowing true reality.

test, added 09/03/2010


Development of science. Structure and functions of science. Fundamental and applied in science. Functions of science. The influence of science on the material side of society. Science and technology. The influence of science on the spiritual sphere of society. Science and human development.

abstract, added 12/01/2006


The role and place of religion in the life of modern society. The phenomenon of philosophical faith in the teachings of K. Jaspers. Common and distinctive features between philosophy and religion. Fundamental features of the religious worldview. New scientific methods for constructing a picture of the world.

article, added 07/29/2013


Socrates - ancient Greek philosopher: biography, lifestyle, character, moral philosophical position, principles. The doctrine of the place and role of man in nature and the world. Socrates about the soul, virtue, needs, knowledge. The trial of Socrates, death and immortality.

course work, added 05/04/2012


Biography of the life and work of V.S. Solovyov - Russian philosopher and poet (childhood, studies, teaching and journalistic activities). His religious-Christian worldview, mystical teaching about Sophia, attitude towards materialism and idealism.

abstract, added 12/12/2013


A brief overview of Bacon's biography. The main provisions of his philosophy. The essence of the empirical method. Analysis of the utopian book "New Atlantis". Theme of God and faith, description of an ideal society and socio-political leadership. Bacon's significance for natural science.

Writer Helena Blavatsky was born on July 31, 1831 in the city of Ekaterinoslav (present-day Dnepropetrovsk). She had a noble pedigree. Her ancestors were diplomats and famous officials. Elena's cousin, Sergei Yulievich Witte, served as Minister of Finance of the Russian Empire from 1892 to 1903.

Family and childhood

At birth, Helena Blavatsky had the German surname Hahn, which she inherited from her father. Due to the fact that he was a military man, the family had to constantly move throughout the country (St. Petersburg, Saratov, Odessa, etc.). In 1848, the girl was engaged to Nikifor Blavatsky, the governor of the Erivan province. However, the marriage did not last long. A few months after the wedding, Helena Blavatsky ran away from her husband, after which she went to wander around the world. The first point of her journey was Constantinople (Istanbul).

Helena Blavatsky remembered Russia and her childhood years in her homeland with warmth. The family provided her with everything she needed, providing her with a quality education.

Travels in youth

In the Turkish capital, the girl was engaged in performing as a rider in the circus. When, as a result of an accident, Elena decided to move to London. She had money: she earned money herself and received transfers sent to her by her father Pyotr Alekseevich Gan.

Since Helena Blavatsky did not keep diaries, her fate during her travels is tracked rather vaguely. Many of her biographers disagree on where she managed to visit, and which routes remained only in rumors.

Most often, researchers mention that in the late 40s the writer went to Egypt. The reason for this was his passion for alchemy and Freemasonry. Many members of the lodges had books in their libraries that were required reading, among which were volumes of the Egyptian “Book of the Dead”, “Code of the Nazarenes”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, etc. For Masons, there were two main spiritual centers - Egypt and India. It is with these countries that numerous of Blavatsky’s researches are connected, including “Isis Unveiled.” However, she will write books in old age. In her youth, the girl gained experience and practical knowledge by living directly in the environment of different world cultures.

Arriving in Cairo, Elena went to the Sahara Desert to study Ancient Egyptian civilization. This people had nothing in common with the Arabs, who had ruled the banks of the Nile for several centuries. The knowledge of the ancient Egyptians extended to a variety of disciplines - from mathematics to medicine. It was they who became the subject of scrupulous study by Helena Blavatsky.

After Egypt there was Europe. Here she devoted herself to art. In particular, the girl took piano lessons from the famous Bohemian virtuoso Ignaz Moscheles. Having gained experience, she even gave public concerts in European capitals.

In 1851, Helena Blavatsky visited London. There she managed to meet a real Indian for the first time. He was Mahatma Morya. True, to this day no evidence of the existence of this person has been found. Perhaps he was an illusion of Blavatsky, who practiced various esoteric and theosophical rituals.

One way or another, Mahatma Morya became a source of inspiration for Helen. In the 50s, she ended up in Tibet, where she studied local occultism. According to various estimates by researchers, Elena Petrovna Blavatsky stayed there for about seven years, periodically going on trips to other parts of the world, including the USA.

Formation of theosophical teaching

It was during these years that the doctrine that Elena Petrovna Blavatsky professed and propagated in her works was formed. It was a unique form of theosophy. According to it, the human soul is one with the deity. This means that there is some knowledge in the world beyond science that is available only to the chosen and enlightened. It was a form of religious syncretism - a cross between many cultures and myths of different peoples in one teaching. This is not surprising, because Blavatsky absorbed knowledge about many countries where she visited in her youth.

The biggest influence on Helen was that she developed in isolation over many millennia. Also, Blavatsky's theosophy included Buddhism and Brahmanism, popular among. In her teaching, Elena used the terms "karma" and "reincarnation." Theosophical teachings influenced such famous people as Mahatma Gandhi, Nicholas Roerich and Wassily Kandinsky.

Tibet

In the 50s, Elena Blavatsky visited Russia periodically (so to speak, on visits). The woman’s biography surprised the local public. She held crowded events that became popular in St. Petersburg. In the early 60s, the woman visited the Caucasus, the Middle East and Greece. Then she tried for the first time to organize a society of followers and like-minded people. In Cairo she got down to business. This is how the Spiritualist Society appeared. However, it did not last long, but it became another useful experience.

This was followed by another long trip to Tibet - then Blavatsky visited Laos and the Karakoram Mountains. She managed to visit closed monasteries where no European had ever set foot. But such a guest was Elena Blavatsky.

The woman's books contained many references to the culture of Tibet and life in Buddhist temples. It was there that valuable materials were obtained that were included in the publication “The Voice of Silence.”

Meet Henry Alcott

In the 70s, Helena Blavatsky, whose philosophy became popular, began her work as a preacher and spiritual teacher. Then she moved to the United States, where she received citizenship and went through the naturalization procedure. At the same time, Henry Steel Olcott became her main ally.

He was a lawyer who received the rank of colonel during the American Civil War. He was appointed as a special commissioner of the War Department to investigate corruption in companies supplying ammunition. After the war he became a successful lawyer and a respected member of the New York bar. His specialties included taxes, duties and property insurance.

Olcott's acquaintance with spiritualism occurred back in 1844. Much later, he met Helena Blavatsky, with whom he went to travel the world and teach. He also helped her launch her writing career when the woman began writing the manuscripts of Isis Unveiled.

Theosophical Society

On November 17, 1875, Helena Blavatsky and Henry Olcott founded the Theosophical Society. His main goal was the desire to unite like-minded people around the world, regardless of race, gender, caste and faith. For this purpose, activities were organized to study and compare various sciences, religions and philosophical schools. All this was done in order to understand the laws of nature and the universe unknown to mankind. All these goals were enshrined in the statutes of the Theosophical Society.

In addition to the founders, many famous people joined it. For example, it was Thomas Edison - entrepreneur and inventor, William Crookes (president of the Royal Society of London, chemist), French astronomer Camille Flammarion, astrologer and occultist Max Handel, etc. The Theosophical Society became a platform for spiritual disputes and disputes.

Beginning of writing activity

To spread the teachings of their organization, Blavatsky and Olcott went to India in 1879. At this time, Elena's writing activity was flourishing. Firstly, the woman regularly publishes new books. Secondly, she has established herself as a deep and interesting publicist. Her talent was also appreciated in Russia, where Blavatsky was published in Moskovskie Vedomosti and Russky Vestnik. At the same time she was the editor of her own magazine, Theosophist. For example, it featured for the first time a translation into English of a chapter from Dostoevsky’s novel The Brothers Karamazov. It was the parable of the Grand Inquisitor - the central episode of the last book of the great Russian writer.

Blavatsky's travels formed the basis of her memoirs and travel notes, published in various books. Examples include the works “Mysterious Tribes on the Blue Mountains” and “From the Caves and Wilds of Hindustan.” In 1880, Buddhism became a new object of research conducted by Helena Blavatsky. Reviews of her works were published in a variety of newspapers and collections. In order to learn as much as possible about Buddhism, Blavatsky and Olcott went to Ceylon.

"Isis Unveiled"

Isis Unveiled was the first major book published by Helena Blavatsky. It was published in two volumes in 1877 and contained a huge layer of knowledge and reasoning about esoteric philosophy.

In addition, “Isis” examined religious teachings: Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism. At first the book was conceived as a review of Eastern schools of philosophy. The work began on the eve of the founding of the Theosophical Society. The organization of this structure delayed the release of the work. It was only after the establishment of the movement was announced in New York that intensive work began on writing the book. Blavatsky was actively helped by Henry Olcott, who at that time became her main ally and associate.

As the former lawyer himself recalled, Blavatsky had never worked with such zeal and endurance. In fact, she summarized in her work all the multifaceted experience gained over many years of traveling to different parts of the world.

At first, the book was supposed to be called “The Key to the Mysterious Gates,” which the author announced in a letter to Alexander Aksakov. Later it was decided to title the first volume as “The Veil of Isis.” However, the British publisher working on the first printing learned that a book with that title had already been published (this was a common theosophical term). Therefore, the final version, Isis Unveiled, was adopted. It reflected Blavatsky’s youthful interest in the culture of Ancient Egypt.

The book had many ideas and goals. Over the years, scholars of Blavatsky's work have formulated them in different ways. For example, the first publication in the UK included a foreword from the publisher. In it, he informed the reader that the book contained the largest number of sources on theosophy and occultism that had ever existed in literature before. And this meant that the reader could get as close as possible to the answer to the question about the existence of secret knowledge, which served as the source of all religions and cults of the peoples of the world.

Alexander Sienkiewicz (one of the most authoritative researchers of Blavatsky’s bibliography) formulated the main message of Isis Unveiled in his own way. In his work devoted to the biography of the writer, he explained that this book is an example of criticism of the church organization, a collection of theories about mental phenomena and the secrets of nature. "Isis" analyzes the secrets of Kabbalistic teachings, the esoteric ideas of Buddhists, as well as their reflection in Christianity and other world religions. Sienkiewicz also noted that Blavatsky managed to prove the existence of substances of an immaterial nature.

Particular attention is paid to secret societies. These are the Masons and Jesuits. Their knowledge became fertile soil that Helena Blavatsky used. Quotes from Isis later began to appear en masse in the occult and theosophical works of her followers.

If the first volume of the publication was focused on the study of science, then the second, on the contrary, examined theological issues. In the preface, the author explained that the conflict between these two schools is key in understanding the world order.

Blavatsky criticized the thesis of scientific knowledge that a person lacks a spiritual principle. The writer tried to find him with the help of various religious and spiritual teachings. Some researchers of Blavatsky's work note that in her book she offers the reader indisputable evidence of the existence of magic.

The second theological volume analyzes various (for example, the Christian Church) and criticizes them for their hypocritical attitude towards their own teaching. In other words, Blavatsky stated that the adherents betrayed their origins (the Bible, the Koran, etc.).

The author examined the teachings of famous mystics that contradicted world religions. By exploring these schools of thought, she tried to find a common root. Many of her theses were both anti-scientific and anti-religious. For this, Isis was criticized by a variety of readers. But this did not stop her from gaining cult popularity among another part of the audience. It was the success of Isis Unveiled that allowed Blavatsky to expand her Theosophical Society, which acquired members in all corners of the world, from America to India.

"Voice of Silence"

In 1889, the book “The Voice of Silence” was published, authored by the same Helena Blavatsky. The biography of this woman says that this was a successful attempt to combine numerous theosophical researches under one cover. The main thing for “The Voice of Silence” was the writer’s stay in Tibet, where she became acquainted with the teachings of Buddhists and the isolated life of local monasteries.

This time Blavatsky did not compare or evaluate several philosophical schools. She began to write a textured description of Buddhist teachings. It contains a detailed analysis of terms such as “Krishna”, or “Higher Self”. Most of the book was written in a Buddhist style. However, it was not an orthodox presentation of this religion. It contained the mystical component familiar to Blavatsky.

This work became especially popular among Buddhists. It went through many reprints in India and Tibet, where it became a reference book for many researchers. She was highly regarded by the Dalai Lamas. The last of them (by the way, now living) himself wrote the preface for “The Voice of the Silence” on the hundredth anniversary of the first edition. This is an excellent foundation for those who want to know and understand Buddhism, including the Zen school.

The book was presented by the writer to Leo Tolstoy, who in his last years intensively studied a variety of religions. The gift copy is still kept in Yasnaya Polyana. The author signed the cover, calling Tolstoy “one of the few who can comprehend and understand what is written there.”

The count himself spoke warmly about the gift in his publications, where he compiled wise excerpts from books that influenced him (“For Every Day,” “Thoughts of Wise People,” “Reading Circle”). Also, the writer, in one of his personal letters, said that “The Voice of Silence” contains a lot of light, but also touches on issues that a person is generally unable to understand. It is also known that Tolstoy read the journal “Theosophist” by Blavatsky, who greatly appreciated what he talked about in his diary.

"The Secret Doctrine"

“The Secret Doctrine” is considered Blavatsky’s last work, in which she summarized all her knowledge and conclusions. During the writer's lifetime, the first two volumes were published. The third book was published after her death in 1897.

The first volume analyzed and compared different views on the second looked at human evolution. It touches on racial issues and also explores the evolution of humans as a species.

The last volume was a collection of biographies and teachings of some occultists. The Secret Doctrine was greatly influenced by stanzas - verses from the Book of Dzyan, which were often quoted on the pages of the work. Another source of texture was the previous book, “The Key to Theosophy.”

The new publication was distinguished by its special language. The writer used a huge number of symbols and images generated by a variety of religions and philosophical schools.

The Secret Doctrine was a sequel to Isis Unveiled. Essentially, it was a deeper look at the issues outlined in the writer's first book. And Blavatsky’s Theosophical Society helped her work on the new edition.

Writing this monumental work was the most difficult test that Helena Blavatsky endured. Books published earlier did not take as much energy as this one. Numerous witnesses later noted in their memoirs that the author worked herself into a complete frenzy, when one page could be rewritten up to twenty times.

Archibald Keightley provided enormous assistance in the publication of this work. He had been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1884, and at the time of writing was General Secretary of its UK branch. It was this man who personally edited a stack of sheets one meter high. The corrections mainly affected punctuation and some points important for the future edition. Its final version was presented to the writer in 1890.

It is known that the great Russian composer Alexander Scriabin enthusiastically re-read The Secret Doctrine. At one time, Blavatsky's theosophical ideas were close to him. The man constantly kept the book on his desk and publicly admired the writer’s knowledge.

Last years

Blavatsky's activities in India were crowned with success. Branches of the Theosophical Society were opened there, which was popular among the local population. In her last years, Elena lived in Europe and stopped traveling due to deteriorating health. Instead, she began to actively write. That's when most of her books come out. Blavatsky died on May 8, 1891 in London after suffering from a severe case of influenza.

Helena Blavatsky

(based on reports by N.D. Spirina andessayE.P. Pisareva)

There are people who come into the world with a clearly defined mission. This mission of serving the Common Good makes their life a martyrdom and a feat, but thanks to them the evolution of humanity is accelerated.

This was the mission of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. More than a hundred years have passed since one May day when the heart of our great compatriot stopped beating. And only now we begin to comprehend the feat of her life.

E. P. Blavatsky was born in 1831, on August 12, in Ukraine, in Ekaterinoslav (now Dnepropetrovsk), into an aristocratic family, combining the physical heredity of three nations of Europe (on the maternal side - the hereditary princes Dolgoruky and the French emigrant Bandre- du Plessis; on her father’s side, she descended from the Russified branch of the princes of Mecklenburg).

Blavatsky's mother, Elena Andreevna Gan, was a talented writer, whom Belinsky called the “Russian Georges Sand.” She passed away early, not yet 25 years old, leaving behind two young daughters.

The camp life of Elena Petrovna's father, an artillery officer, deprived him of the opportunity to raise his daughters himself, and their maternal grandmother, Princess Elena Pavlovna Dolgorukaya, took upon herself to raise them when she was married to Fadeev. She was a remarkably kind, deeply educated woman, fluent in five foreign languages, deeply involved in the natural sciences, and an excellent painter.

Elena Petrovna spent her bright childhood in a circle of loving and intelligent people: in early childhood in communication with the nature of Ukraine, then in central Russia, and then in the Caucasus.

Elena Petrovna had a High Patron since childhood. He appeared to her in dreams, she knew and loved those eyes calling somewhere. In childhood, in times of danger to life, invisible help appeared. She felt the destiny and understood that she could find out about its essence when she met the Teacher. To do this, she left her home and unexpectedly changed places of residence, which makes it impossible to trace the inner meaning of life during this period: her life during these years is known as a chain of travels.

Her first meeting with the Teacher took place in London in 1851. Throughout her life, Elena Petrovna carried devotion to her Teacher. The mystery shrouding this side of her life is understandable to those familiar with the philosophy of the East and Theosophy.

Skeptical Western minds have great difficulty accepting the existence in inaccessible areas of the Himalayas of the Brotherhood of the Teachers of Wisdom (Mahatmas), helping humanity; in the East the attitude to this is different. In 1886, confirming the publications of H. P. Blavatsky, seventy pandits (scientists, experts in the ancient religious teachings of India) signed a statement in which they asserted the existence of Mahatmas.

To become an accepted student of the Great Teachers, it takes a lot of work of more than one life, trials and an overflowing love for people. Only these conditions make it possible to obtain a load of knowledge, grains of which, “crumbs from the table,” are used by magicians and psychics who surprise us with their phenomena. With this knowledge Jesus Christ performed his miracles and healings. But he who can revive can also kill. Therefore, only all-encompassing cosmic love, which gave the strength to Jesus Christ dying on the cross to ask for those who crucified him: “Lord, forgive them, they do not know what they are doing,” allows them to be mastered. That is why such obstacles stand in the way of this cosmic knowledge.

With the move to America in 1873, the third period of H. P. Blavatsky’s life began - the period of creativity (1873-1878 - America, 1878-1884 - India and 1884-1891 - Europe).

On September 7, 1875, the Theosophical Society was opened. This happened in the apartment of H. P. Blavatsky, where 17 people gathered, Colonel G. Olcott, a devoted employee of Elena Petrovna, became its chairman, and she herself took the modest position of “secretary for communications with correspondents.” The Society was subsequently transferred to India, where it continues to function to the present day, becoming the World Theosophical Society, with branches throughout the world.

In America, Elena Petrovna writes, or rather, records her first major work, “Isis Unveiled,” in 2 parts, about one and a half thousand pages. The book was started in 1876 and published in 1877. The level of knowledge presented in Elena Petrovna’s works was comprehensive, which she did not have, despite her high education. Eyewitnesses noted in her notes, sometimes on one page, four different handwriting and writing styles. She received information from Teachers; less often the communication was physical; more often the connections were written, clairvoyant-psychic, and astral. Elena Petrovna’s communication with the Great Teachers reached clarity and continuity, and was something similar to a wireless telegraph.

The essence of the information given to humanity through H. P. Blavatsky in “Isis Unveiled”, and then in the “Secret Doctrine” that continues it, is the revelation about the Great Creative Principle of the Cosmos, the creation of the Cosmos and Man (microcosm), about the eternity and periodicity of Existence, about the basic Cosmic Laws by which the Universe lives. Isis symbolizes Nature, Matter, Mother of the World. The partial lifting of the veil (exposure of Isis), which separates us from her innermost secrets, was given from above through H.P. Blavatsky to accelerate the advancement of humanity along the path of evolution.

“The Secret Doctrine” is a work in 3 volumes, about a thousand pages in each; Elena Petrovna wrote it from 1884 to 1891. The first volume reveals to us part of the mysteries about the creation of the Cosmos, the second about the evolution of man, the third about the history of religions; it was edited and published by her students.

Looking back at the past of humanity, one can trace a pattern of rejection of discoveries and revelations that are ahead of their time. The works of Elena Petrovna met equal resistance from both the Churches, whose sacred books are full of revelations deciphered in the “Secret Doctrine,” and orthodox science. The first and most powerful weapon of the forces of regression is slander directed at the author, which discredits his creations. The Teaching of Living Ethics says: “...Let the torches of slander illuminate the path of steady achievement. By calling our ambassadors charlatans, people give them evidence of unusualness.”

“Torches of slander” very brightly illuminated the path of H. P. Blavatsky - slanderers and ignorant biographers, falsified trials, forgery of personal letters, betrayal of the people she benefited from - everything this “martyr woman” had to endure, as she is called in the Teachings of Living Ethics .

After moving to India, Elena Petrovna did a lot of work, trying to arouse local residents’ interest in the wisdom of ancient Hindu beliefs, and to lift the spirit of the people with memories of their past glory.

In 1879, the magazine “Theosophist” was founded, which published Blavatsky’s outstanding works, written with the help of the Teachers.

The humid climate of Bombay, and then Adyar, where the estate was acquired for the Society, turned out to be harmful to Elena Petrovna’s health, and in 1884 she had to finally move to Europe. During several health crises, Elena Petrovna described cases of miraculous help and healings that came from the Teacher.

Upon arrival in Europe, Elena Petrovna chose quiet Wurzburg as her place of residence, then Ostend, and from 1888 to 1891 she lived in London. Her life after leaving India was completely devoted to work on the “Secret Doctrine,” which she considered her life’s work.

The five years of life that followed were a chain of physical suffering, martyrdom, but despite this she worked 12 hours a day, not giving herself rest in the middle of the day. And in the evenings she was surrounded by visitors, among whom were writers and scientists.

May 8, 1891 E.P. Blavatsky left earthly life, sitting at her desk - like a true warrior of the Spirit, which she was all her life.

According to Helena Roerich, if it were not for the anger and envy of those around her, “she would have written two more volumes of The Secret Doctrine, which would have included pages from the lives of the Great Teachers of mankind. But people chose to kill her..."

Many scientists and artists showed interest in the Secret Doctrine. So, this book always lay on A. Einstein’s desk. The outstanding composer A. Scriabin claimed that Blavatsky’s ideas helped him in his work.

E.I. Roerich translated two volumes of The Secret Doctrine from English into Russian. She wrote: “... H. P. Blavatsky was a fiery messenger of the White Brotherhood. She was the bearer of the knowledge entrusted to her. Namely, of all theosophists only E.P. Blavatsky had the good fortune to receive teaching directly from the Great Teachers in one of Their Ashrams in Tibet. It was she who was the great spirit who took upon herself the difficult task of giving a shift to the consciousness of humanity, entangled in the dead snares of dogma and rushing into the dead end of atheism. Exactly, only through E.P. Blavatsky could get closer to the White Brotherhood, for she was a link in the Hierarchical Chain.” “I affirm that E.P. Blavatsky was the only messenger of the White Brotherhood, and she alone KNEW.” “I bow to the great spirit and fiery heart of our compatriot and I know that in the future Russia her name will be raised to the proper height of veneration. H.P. Blavatsky is truly our national pride. Great martyr for Light and Truth. Eternal glory to her!

In 1924, N.K. Roerich painted the painting “The Messenger”. Giving it as a gift to the Theosophical Society in Adyar (India), he said: “In this house of Light, allow me to present a painting dedicated to H.P. Blavatsky. Let it lay the foundation for the future Blavatsky Museum, the motto of which will be: “Beauty is the robe of Truth.” The painting shows a woman in a Buddhist temple opening the doors to the Messenger.

Z.G. Fosdick, the Roerichs’ closest collaborator in America, explained that the woman in the painting symbolizes humanity, and in the Messenger, which appeared on the threshold of the temple against the backdrop of flashing lightning of the approaching New Fiery Epoch, the artist embodied the image of H.P. Blavatsky. The Teachers of humanity in the Teaching of Living Ethics, addressing us, write: “They may ask, in what relation is Our Teaching to Ours, given through Blavatsky? Tell me - every century is given, after the appearance of a detailed presentation, a final culmination, which actually moves the world along the line of humanity. This is how Our Teaching concludes Blavatsky’s “Secret Doctrine”. It was the same when Christianity culminated the world wisdom of the classical world, and the Commandments of Moses culminated ancient Egypt and Babylon. You just need to understand the meaning of the key Teachings (“Fiery World” part 1, § 79).

Works of Helena Blavatsky and books about her

Photos

Articles from the magazine "Voskhod" about Helena Petrovna Blavatsky

30.11.2015

"...If the present attempt, which has taken the form of our Society, is crowned with greater success than the previous ones, then by the time the time comes for the attempt of the twentieth century, it will already be an organized, living and healthy structure..." ( H.P.B.)

28.08.2018

Theosophy and the Theosophical Society. Meaning of the name
The working system of the Theosophical Society. Goals of the Society
The attitude of the Theosophical Society towards Theosophy. About self-improvement

04.10.2017

August is rich in birthdays of great people who illuminated our planet with their indescribable radiance and unfading Light. This month we remember St. Seraphim of Sarov, H. P. Blavatsky, Yu. N. Roerich and B. N. Abramov.

04.10.2014

Due to the strong and persistently expressed desire of the employees of E.P. Blavatsky to found a society for introducing advanced consciousnesses to the esoteric teachings of all religions and philosophies, Mahatma K.H. agreed to lead such a society, and this experiment was started with the assistance of H.P. Blavatsky, Colonel G. Olcott, Judge and several other people. All this subsequently resulted in the current theosophical movement. (...) The teaching brought by H.P. Blavatsky, did its great work, namely, all over the world it awakened and moved numerous units of consciousness from a dead point...

25.08.2013

In the 19th century in Russia, Elena Petrovna Blavatsky (née Gan) was better known under the pseudonym Radda-Bai, under which her talented essays about India were published. Almost nothing was known in her homeland about her social activities and theosophical works, published in English and French publications. Her sister Vera Petrovna Zhelikhovskaya wrote about the philosophical works of Elena Petrovna: “For us, Russian people, they are of only external interest, as a wonderful mental movement excited throughout the world by a Russian woman, without any means other than her own mind...

30.08.2012

E.P. Blavatsky argued that “theosophy appeared before the world in order to inject a fresh stream of ideas and aspirations into modern thinking, in other words, to provide a logical basis for a more elevated morality, to create a science and philosophy corresponding to the knowledge of the present day. (...) Only the gradual assimilation by humanity of great spiritual truths can rejuvenate the face of civilization..."

01.07.2012

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky set a shining example to follow with her sacrificial service to people. We see her fearlessness, determination to achieve her goal, boundless love for the Elders, overcoming physical suffering, selfless work, readiness for both heroism and reproach, selflessness. The absence of lust for power, ambition, and vanity was clearly evident in her character.

26.11.2011

The exhibition was prepared in 2006 by employees of the Roerich Research Foundation (St. Petersburg) and the Adamant Cultural and Educational Center (Lomonosov) for the 175th anniversary of the birth of our compatriot, an outstanding woman, writer, patriot, traveler, founder of modern theosophical movements of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. An exhibition was held at the Museum-Apartment of N.A. Nekrasov and was called “Helena Blavatsky: destinies and faces...”. For this event, the Research Foundation published a book with the same title, its presentation was successfully held during the e...

20.09.2011

Many books have been written about Helena Petrovna Blavatsky - studies, biographical sketches, memoirs of contemporaries - witnesses of her life and spiritual achievement. Her last years are described in especially detail, when she, working on the fundamental work “The Secret Doctrine,” was practically never left alone.
Of course, it is very important to study the records of those who were close to this great spirit. And the words spoken by E.P. herself are especially valuable. Blavatsky about himself. We mainly find them in letters to friends, family, employees, as well as in some articles written for various periodicals...

20.09.2011

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky brought the ideas of Theosophy to the world. It was she who was chosen for the titanic work - to give a shift to the consciousness of humanity. The Mahatmas wrote: “...H.P.B... had absolutely wonderful and exceptional talents. ... There was no one living who could compare with her in terms of suitability for this work.”

20.09.2011

At the beginning of the 19th century in Ekaterinoslav (Dnepropetrovsk), on Peterburgskaya Street (now Leningradskaya, 11), an estate was created, which was destined to become famous thanks to a family, three generations of whose members - statesmen and public figures, scientists and writers - a unique phenomenon in the Russian culture, and one of its representatives is a personality on a planetary scale. This estate, which survived several owners during its first century, and a number of institutions during the second, went down in history and will remain in it as the Fadeev estate, where in 1831...

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky returns to her homeland. This is one of the signs of the onset of a New Era. Today we meet with her again. Every thought about someone is a meeting with him on the mental plane, which is just as real as the earthly one, but in a different dimension. And if the results of such meetings are not materially obvious, then their mental consequences cannot be taken into account and overestimated in an earthly way. Such meetings nourish us, we grow through them, imperceptibly but steadily. It is only important that we with my heart become involved with them and with those we meet.

27.08.2011

Courage, determination, offensive dynamics are traits of the heroic spirit. Penetration into the depths of secrets. She gave only part of what she knew. She took a lot with her. It is impossible to imagine how incredibly difficult it was to give, meeting the onslaught of resistance, stupid and evil resistance. The phenomenon was so unusual that for many it only fit under the rubric of quackery. Three-dimensional people had no other measures. She lived in the fourth and approved its laws and secrets. They could not understand that she did not bring new things, but purified and gave the foundations of knowledge, not old and not new, but eternally given and eternally distorted...

27.08.2011

On the occasion of the 180th anniversary of H.P. Blavatsky, the Publishing Center of SibRO “Rossaziya” published a collection, which included chapters from the book “The Key to Theosophy” and essays from the journals of the Theosophical Society, published under the editorship of E.P. Blavatsky in the 1880s. These works reveal the meaning of the concept of “theosophy”, touch upon topics of the growth of the spirit, karma, reincarnation, etc. The book includes the Word of N.D. Spirina “Fiery Messenger”, dedicated to the main milestones in the life of E.P. Blavatsky - a great ascetic whose name, according to E.I. Roerich, “will be placed at the proper height of veneration.” We offer our readers several...

27.08.2011

The 1870s for Helena Petrovna Blavatsky were “the beginning of her social activities” in America. She wrote: “I am sent to this country by my Lodge in the interest of the Truth about modern Spiritualism. It is my sacred duty to reveal this Truth and expose the lies. Perhaps I came here a hundred years too early. I’m afraid this is so, given the current state of mind... Every day people care more and more about money and less and less about the truth.”

27.08.2011

2011 is rich in anniversaries for workers of the Common Good. This year we celebrate the 180th anniversary of the birth and 120th anniversary of the death of H.P. Blavatsky, 100th anniversary of the birth of N.D. Spirina, 100 years since the birth of P.F. Belikova. Let this message help us get closer to the beautiful Images of the Servants of Light. Let us turn to the events of 20 years ago. Let us remember how the name of Elena Petrovna Blavatsky was established in Novosibirsk and who stood at the origins of this.

27.08.2011

“How beautiful and spiritual human faces can be” - this is the first thought that falls on your heart when you enter the Fireplace Hall of the N.K. Museum. Roerich, where an exhibition of photographs by H.P. Blavatsky and her closest associates. And then, looking at the yellowed pages of publications from the end of the 19th century, you involuntarily become imbued with the same trepidation that someone unfamiliar experienced a century ago, discovering the world of Theosophy for the first time on these pages. In a world full of wars, contradictions, spiritual dead ends and fossilized remnants of once living truths, a crystal clear...