Imagining the East

The Early Theosophical Society

Edited by Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Brings attention to overlooked representations of the East and approaches to the East
Fills a significant historical gap in the study of Western esotericism, modern religions and interchanges between the East and the West
Brings together internationally recognized scholars in the field

Imagining the East

The Early Theosophical Society

Edited by Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Description

The Theosophical Society (est. 1875 in New York by H. P. Blavatsky, H. S. Olcott and others) is increasingly becoming recognized for its influential role in shaping the alternative new religious and cultural landscape of the late nineteenth and the twentieth century, especially as an early promoter of interest in Indian and Tibetan religions and philosophies. Despite this increasing awareness, many of the central questions relating to the early Theosophical Society and the East remain largely unexplored. This book is the first scholarly anthology dedicated to this topic. It offers many new details about the study of Theosophy in the history of modern religions and Western esotericism.

The essays in Imagining the East explore how Theosophists during the formative period understood the East and those of its people with whom they came into contact. The authors examine the relationship of the theosophical approach with orientalism and aspects of the history of ideas, politics, and culture at large and discuss how these esoteric or theosophical representations mirrored conditions and values current in nineteenth-century mainstream intellectual culture. The essays also look at how the early Theosophical Society's imagining of the East differed from mainstream 'orientalism' and how the Theosophical Society's mission in India was distinct from that of British colonialism and Christian missionaries.

Imagining the East

The Early Theosophical Society

Edited by Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Acknowledgments
Introduction

Part 1: Approaches to the East
1. Christopher Partridge
Adventures in "Wisdom-land": Orientalist Discourse in Early Theosophy
2. Donald Lopez
Orientalist vs. Theosophist

Part 2: Representations of the East
3. James A. Santucci
H. P. Blavatsky's Acquaintance with the Language of the Gods
4. Tim Rudbøg
Early debates in the reception of Buddhism: Theosophy and Esoteric Buddhism
5. Tim Rudbøg and Erik Reenberg Sand
H. P. Blavatsky's early reception of Hindu Philosophy
6. Joscelyn Godwin
The Mahatma Letters
7. Patrick D. Bowen
"The real pure Yog": Yoga in the early Theosophical Society and the Hermetic Brotherhood of Luxor
8. Gillian McCann
Emerging Representations of the East: The Role of Theosophical
Periodicals 1879-1900
9. David Weir
Theosophy and Modernism: A Shared but Secret History

Part 3: Interactions with the East
10. K. Paul Johnson
Theosophy in the Bengal Renaissance
11. Erik Reenberg Sand
The Marriage between the Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj
12. Tim Rudbøg
The West moves East, Blavatsky's discourse for Universal Brotherhood in India
13. Isaac Lubelsky
Allan Octavian Hume, Madame Blavatsky, and the Foundation of the
Indian National Congress
14. Mark Bevir
Theosophy, Cultural Nationalism, and Home Rule
15. Michael Bergunder
Experiments with Theosophical Truth: Gandhi, esotericism, and global religious history

Imagining the East

The Early Theosophical Society

Edited by Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Author Information

Dr. Tim Rudbøg is Associate Professor and director of The Copenhagen Center for the Study of Theosophy and Esotericism at the University of Copenhagen. As a historian of religions, Rudbøg's previous publications have particularly focused on Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, Theosophy, hermeticism, intellectual history, and the academic study of Western esotericism.
Erik Reenberg Sand is Associate Professor, emeritus, at the University of Copenhagen. His English publications include articles on Hindu ancestor rituals in the Puranas, the history and rituals of the Maharashtrian place of pilgrimage, Pandharpur, religion and the Indian constitution, and the history of the discipline of the phenomenology of religions.

Contributors:

Mark Bevir, Professor of Political Science and Director of the Center for British Studies, Berkeley
Joscelyn Godwin, Professor of Music, Colgate University
Donald S. Lopez, Jr., Professor of Buddhist Studies Department Chair, University of Michigan
Christopher Partridge, Professor, Lancaster University, UK
Patrick D. Bowen, PhD, University of Denver
K. Paul Johnson, independent
Dr. Isaac Lubelsky, Lecturer at Tel Aviv University, University of Haifa, The Israeli Open University
Gillian McCann, Associate Professor, Faculty of Arts & Science - Religions & Cultures, Nipissing University
David Weir, Professor Faculty humanities and social sciences, The Cooper Union, Manhattan, NY
James Santucci, Professor of Comparative Religion at California State University, Fullerton
Michael Bergunder, Professor Religious Studies and Intercultural History, Heidelberg University
Mark Bevir, University of California Berkeley

Imagining the East

The Early Theosophical Society

Edited by Tim Rudbog and Erik Sand

Oxford Studies in Western Esotericism

Reviews and Awards

"Reading through this superb collection was a pleasure ride -- inspirational and much recommended." -- Lukas Pokorny, Religious Studies Review

"The early Theosophical Society was uniquely positioned between Orientalist and Occidentalist imaginations, and it had a significant influence on how people in the 'West' looked at 'Eastern' traditions of wisdom (and vice versa). Imagining the East provides a nuanced analysis of the complex processes of colonial entanglements that shaped influential movements in India, Europe, and North America. Highly recommended to everyone interested in the cultural impact of an allegedly 'esoteric' or 'Western' phenomenon!" -- Kocku von Stuckrad, author of The Scientification of Religion: An Historical Study of Discursive Change, 1800-2000

"In Imagining the East, leading scholars tell the story of the early Theosophical Society's relation to Buddhism and Hinduism more fully than it has ever been told before--a story that includes eccentric and strange episodes, but nevertheless had a global impact in history: being nothing less than an important bridge upon which Eastern ideas and practices travelled to the West." -- Jens Schlieter, author of What Is it Like to Be Dead? Near-Death Experiences, Christianity, and the Occult

"The early years of the Theosophical Society were a crucial time with regard to the interaction between Euro-American occultism and colonial India. In this volume, leading experts open up new vistas on the formation of occult South Asia. It thus will serve as a veritable treasure trove of insights for anyone interested in South Asian society and religion, orientalism, and the history of occultism." -- Karl Baier, Head of the Department of Religious Studies, University of Vienna