Accelerating Human Evolution by Theosophical Initiation
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Yves Mühlematter
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Funded by:
Schweizer Nationalfonds (SNF)
About this book
The main subjects of analysis in the present book are the stages of initiation in the grand scheme of Theosophical evolution. These initiatory steps are connected to an idea of evolutionary self-development by means of a set of virtues that are relative to the individual’s position on the path of evolution. The central thesis is that these stages were translated from the “Hindu” tradition to the “Theosophical” tradition through multifaceted “hybridization processes” in which several Indian members of the Theosophical Society partook. Starting with Annie Besant’s early Theosophy, the stages of initiation are traced through Blavatsky’s work to Manilal Dvivedi and T. Subba Row, both Indian members of the Theosophical Society, and then on to the Sanâtana Dharma Text Books. In 1898, the English Theosophist Annie Besant and the Indian Theosophist Bhagavan Das together founded the Central Hindu College, Benares, which became the nucleus around which the Benares Hindu University was instituted in 1915. In this context the Sanâtana Dharma Text Books were published. Mühlematter shows that the stages of initiation were the blueprint for Annie Besant’s pedagogy, which she implemented in the Central Hindu College in Benares. In doing so, he succeeds in making intelligible how “esoteric” knowledge was transferred to public institutions and how a broader public could be reached as a result.
The dissertation has been awarded the ESSWE PhD Thesis prize 2022 by the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism.
Author / Editor information
Yves Mühlematter, University of Zurich, Switzerland.
Topics
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Frontmatter
I -
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Acknowledgments
V -
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Contents
VII -
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1 Introduction
1 -
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2 The Problem of the “Western” in “Western Esotericism” and in Research on the Theosophical Society
8 - I Encounters in the Global Colonial Discursive Continuum: A Theoretical Framework
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Introduction
37 -
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3 Postcolonial Studies, Hybridization, and the Global History Approach
39 -
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4 Towards the Conceptualization of an Analytical Tool
59 - II The Theosophical Society in the “Indian Middle Class,” (Theosophical) Evolutionism, and the Narrative of the Theosophical Masters: Three Essential Contexts
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Introduction
81 -
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5 The Indian Middle Class as a Field of Colonial Encounters
83 -
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6 Theosophical Evolutionism, or the Narrative of Progress
103 -
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7 Masters and Disciples, or: How to Transfer Knowledge
121 - III The “Quickening of Evolution” 1: The Stages of Initiation in Annie Besant’s Early Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence
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Introduction
139 -
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8 The “Quickening of Evolution”: The Stages of Initiation as the Cornerstone of Besant’s Early Theosophy
141 -
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9 Following the Traces of Hybridization: The Stages of Initiation in Blavatsky’s The Voice of the Silence
171 - IV The Stages of Initiation In-between “Hinduism” and Theosophical Evolutionism
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Introduction
201 -
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10 The Reception of “Hinduism” in the Theosophical Society: Encounters in the Indian Middle Class
203 -
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11 Manilal Dvivedi, the Forgotten “Expert” on “Hinduism”
240 -
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12 T. Subba Row, the “Expert” on “Hinduism”
282 - V The “Quickening of Evolution” 2: The Pedagogy of Morality Based on the Stages of Initiation
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Introduction
327 -
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13 The “Quickening of Evolution”: Education for Initiation in the Central Hindu College and the Sanâtana Dharma Text Books
329 -
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14 Conclusion
379 -
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Bibliography
389 -
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List of Figures
409 -
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List of Tables
411 -
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Historical Persons Index
413 -
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Person Index
415 -
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Publications Index
417 -
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Subjects Index
419
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