Accelerating Human Evolution by Theosophical Initiation: Annie Besant’s Pedagogy and the Creation of Benares Hindu University

Yves Mühlematter

book: Accelerating Human Evolution by Theosophical Initiation

Open Access Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg 2023

Accelerating Human Evolution by Theosophical Initiation

Annie Besant’s Pedagogy and the Creation of Benares Hindu University

Yves Mühlematter
Funded by: Schweizer Nationalfonds (SNF)

Volume 6 in the series Okkulte Moderne

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110794694

Overview
Contents

About this book

Open Access

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

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

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter Oldenbourg
Audience: Academics in the field of religious studies, studies of esotericism, theosophy, historians
Pages
- Front matter: 12
- Main content: 423
Illustrations
- Illustrations: 1
- Coloured Illustrations: 13
- Tables: 8
Keywords: Religious studies; esotericism; theosophy; postcolonialism

eBook

Published: December 19, 2022
ISBN: 9783110794694

Hardcover

Published: December 19, 2022
ISBN: 9783110794564