7 Masters and Disciples, or: How to Transfer Knowledge

Chapters in this book

1. Frontmatter I
2. Acknowledgments V
3. Contents VII
4. 1 Introduction 1
5. 2 The Problem of the “Western” in “Western Esotericism” and in Research on the Theosophical Society 8
6. I Encounters in the Global Colonial Discursive Continuum: A Theoretical Framework
7. Introduction 37
8. 3 Postcolonial Studies, Hybridization, and the Global History Approach 39
9. 4 Towards the Conceptualization of an Analytical Tool 59
10. II The Theosophical Society in the “Indian Middle Class,” (Theosophical) Evolutionism, and the Narrative of the Theosophical Masters: Three Essential Contexts
11. Introduction 81
12. 5 The Indian Middle Class as a Field of Colonial Encounters 83
13. 6 Theosophical Evolutionism, or the Narrative of Progress 103
14. 7 Masters and Disciples, or: How to Transfer Knowledge 121
15. III The “Quickening of Evolution” 1: The Stages of Initiation in Annie Besant’s Early Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence
16. Introduction 139
17. 8 The “Quickening of Evolution”: The Stages of Initiation as the Cornerstone of Besant’s Early Theosophy 141
18. 9 Following the Traces of Hybridization: The Stages of Initiation in Blavatsky’s The Voice of the Silence 171
19. IV The Stages of Initiation In-between “Hinduism” and Theosophical Evolutionism
20. Introduction 201
21. 10 The Reception of “Hinduism” in the Theosophical Society: Encounters in the Indian Middle Class 203
22. 11 Manilal Dvivedi, the Forgotten “Expert” on “Hinduism” 240
23. 12 T. Subba Row, the “Expert” on “Hinduism” 282
24. V The “Quickening of Evolution” 2: The Pedagogy of Morality Based on the Stages of Initiation
25. Introduction 327
26. 13 The “Quickening of Evolution”: Education for Initiation in the Central Hindu College and the Sanâtana Dharma Text Books 329
27. 14 Conclusion 379
28. Bibliography 389
29. List of Figures 409
30. List of Tables 411
31. Historical Persons Index 413
32. Person Index 415
33. Publications Index 417
34. Subjects Index 419