Theosophy across boundaries : transcultural and interdisciplinary perspectives on a modern esoteric movement /
edited by Hans Martin Krämer and Julian Strube.
- Albany : State University of New York Press, (c)2020.
- 1 online resource.
- SUNY series in Western esoteric traditions .
Includes bibliographies and index.
Intro -- Contents -- List of Illustrations -- Introduction Theosophy across Boundaries -- A Brief History of the Theosophical Society -- Summary of Part One: New Perspectives on Theosophy -- Summary of Part Two: Theosophy in Literature, the Arts, and Politics -- Notes -- References -- Part I New Perspectives on Theosophy -- Chapter 1 Western Esotericism and the Orient in the First Theosophical Society -- The First Theosophical Society -- The Theosophical Microbe: George Henry Felt -- The Other Woman: Emma Hardinge Britten -- Mysteries of Authorship and the Orphic Circle The Contents of Art Magic and Ghost Land -- India in the Early Theosophical Imagination -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 2 Hinduism, Theosophy, and the Bhagavad Gita within a Global Religious History of the Nineteenth Century -- 1. Bhagavad Gita in Precolonial India -- 2. Bhagavad Gita and Europe -- 3. Bhagavad Gita and the United States -- 4. Theosophy and the Bhagavad Gita -- 4.1. Christianity and the Bhagavad Gita -- 4.2. Bhagavad Gita and "Eastern" Wisdom -- 4.2.1. "Busiris the Ancient" -- 4.2.2. Early Theosophy and Bhagavad Gita 4.2.3. Theosophical Orientation toward the Bhagavad Gita -- 4.2.4. Theosophical Appropriation of the Arnold Translation of the Bhagavad Gita -- 4.2.5. Interpretations of the Bhagavad Gita by Indian Theosophists -- 5. Hinduism and the Bhagavad Gita -- 6. Political Bhagavad Gita -- 6.1. Krishna as the "Ideal Man" -- 6.2. Bhagavad Gita as a Call for Armed Resistance -- 6.3. Bhagavad Gita and the Ethics of Action -- 7. Conclusion: Bhagavad Gita and Global Religious History -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 3 Theosophying the Vietnamese Religious Landscape -- Introduction 1. The Establishment of the Theosophical Society in Cochinchina (1928-1975) -- The Beginning -- The Leadbeater Branch -- Postwar Developments -- 2. "The Path That Leads to the Masters of Wisdom": Translation and Circulation of Models -- Buddhist Messianic Dynamics -- Theosophical Literature: Translation and Exegesis -- The Vietnamese Lodges at the Intersection of the International Theosophical Society Network -- 3. Theosophying the Vietnamese Religious Landscape -- Reimagining Buddhist Philanthropy and Preaching -- Recasting and Laicizing Meditation -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References Chapter 4 Theosophical Movements in Modern China -- Introduction -- The Early Theosophical Movement in Modern China -- After Wu's Death -- The Besant School in Shanghai -- Conclusion -- Notes -- References -- Chapter 5 Absence Unveiled? -- Introduction -- Academic Evaluation of the Theosophical Society -- Historical Insignificance or Unexplained Absence? -- Theosophical Historiography, A. P. Sinnett, and the Masters -- Spiritualism, Occultism, and the Truth? -- Critics and Defenders of the Mahatmas -- The Septenary Consitution -- Crossing the Boundary-T. Subba Row -- Conclusion -- Notes