Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa

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Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa

Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa (* 1875 or 1877 in Sri Lanka , † June 18, 1953 in Wheaton , Illinois , USA ) was a Sinhalese author , Freemason , theosophist and 1946-1953 president of the Adyar Theosophical Society (Adyar-TG).

Life

Childhood and youth

Jinarajadasa was reported variously as either 1875 or 1877 Sri Lanka in Sinhalese , Buddhist Born family. In 1889 he met Charles Webster Leadbeater , who worked in Sri Lanka for the Theosophical Society, and joined this. Leadbeater took over the education of the young Jinarajadasa and in the same year both went to England .

Study, work and marriage

In England, Jinarajadasa enrolled at St John's College in Cambridge in 1896 , studied Oriental languages and law and graduated in 1900 with a Master of Arts . He then became rector of the Ananda College founded by Henry Steel Olcott in Colombo . From 1902 to 1904 he studied at the University of Pavia , where he learned Italian and French , later also Spanish and Portuguese . In 1916 or 1917 he married the English suffragette Dorothy M. Graham , later also known as Dorothy Jinarajadasa , who worked with him for theosophy and accompanied him on practically all of his travels. Dorothy was Annie Besant ’s secretary and together with her founded the Women's Indian Association (WIA) (also called Indian Women's Association ) on May 8, 1917 in Adyar, India's first purely feminist women's rights organization.

The theosophist

After studying in Pavia, he went to the USA in 1904, visited numerous lodges of the Adyar-TG and gave lectures on theosophy. In the following decades he traveled around the world several times and visited South America as one of the first representatives of the Adyar-TG . There he founded theosophical lodges in several countries, some of which still exist today (2006), thus laying the foundation for the sections that exist today in seven countries on this continent. From 1921 to 1928 he was vice-president of the Adyar-TG under Besant, then envoy Besants. During the Second World War he lived in London . Following the insistence of numerous members, he ran for the office of President after the death of George Arundale on August 12, 1945, despite health problems. In 1946 he was elected to this position. During his presidency in 1949, he founded the School of the Wisdom on the Adyar campus , which continues to this day (2006). After his seven-year term in office, on February 17, 1953, he did not run for a second time because of his poor health. Nilakanta Sri Ram was elected as the new president .

The Freemason

In 1904 Jinarajadasa joined the lodge of Le Droit Humain in Cleveland . During the rest of his life he campaigned for the spread of Freemasonry worldwide and founded several lodges.

The writer

Jinarajadasa left numerous works on theosophy, theology , philosophy , occultism and esotericism , including those on elemental spirits . With Leadbeater he carried out numerous experiments to fathom the structure of matter; thoughts on this can be found in the work Occult Chemistry .

Death and succession

Shortly after the end of his term as President, on February 17, 1953, Jinarajadasa died in the United States during a lecture tour on June 18, 1953 at the age of 77. His body was cremated in Wheaton and the ashes scattered around the campus of the American section of the Adyar-TG in Wheaton. Especially in South America, where he is highly regarded, several lodges are named after him. The successor as President of the Theosophical Society Adyar took over Nilakanta Sri Ram .

Works (selection)

  • The occult development of mankind . Adyar-Verlag, Graz 1947.
  • The world as imagination, feeling and will . Adyar-Verlag, Graz 1977, ISBN 3-85005-057-2 .
  • Basics of theosophy . Pieper Ring-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1926.
  • Goethe's Faust, interpreted as a series of events in successive incarnations of Faust . Adyar-Verlag, Graz 1952.
  • In his name . Adyar-Verlag, Graz 1973, ISBN 3-85005-046-7 .

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Jinarajadasa, Curuppumullage
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Sinhala author, freemason and theosophist
DATE OF BIRTH 1875 or 1877
PLACE OF BIRTH Sri Lanka
DATE OF DEATH June 18, 1953
Place of death Wheaton, Illinois , USA