George Arundale

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George Sidney Arundale (born December 1, 1878 in Wonersh , Surrey , England ; † August 12, 1945 in Adyar , India ) was an Anglo-Indian Freemason , theosophist , President of the Adyar Theosophical Society (Adyar-TG) and Bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church (LKK).

Live and act

Childhood and youth

Arundale was born in Wonersh on December 1, 1878, the only child of John Kay and Mary Ann Elizabeth Arundale . The father was a Reverend and a preacher. His mother died in childbed , after which he was taken into the care of his aunt Francesca Arundale , who adopted him. His last name comes from this adoption. The aunt had been a member of the Theosophical Society since 1881 , the Adyar-TG from 1895 , a close friend of Helena Blavatsky and Annie Besant, and joined Le Droit Humain in 1896 . As a result, Arundale came into contact with the teachings of theosophy and Freemasonry at an early age. He attended schools in Germany as well as England and graduated from St John's College in Cambridge in 1902 with a Master of Arts .

As a teacher and in politics

Photograph of Krishnamurti with his brother Nitya, Annie Besant, and others in London 1911
Arundale in 1911 together with Jiddu Krishnamurti , his brother Nitya and Annie Besant

As early as 1895 he joined the Adyar-TG, in 1903 he went to India with his aunt at Besant's invitation to teach as a professor of history at the Central Hindu College (CHC) founded by Besant in Varanasi . In 1907 he was Dean and finally Rector of the CHC from 1909 to 1913 . After he came into confrontation with the other professors because of his support for the Order of the Rising Sun (later renamed the Order of the Star of the East ) around Jiddu Krishnamurti , he had to give up this post in 1913. From 1917 he organized the National University of India in Chennai with Besant and Rabindranath Tagore . In 1918 it was opened with Arundale as dean of teacher training, where he received an honorary doctorate in 1924 .

Like many theosophists of that time, Arundale was also involved in the Indian independence movement around the Indian National Congress . In this context he worked for the workers' union, whereby he came into conflict with the British government and in June 1917, together with Besant and Bahman Pestonji Wadia , was briefly placed under house arrest in Udagamandalam .

marriage

In 1920 he married his Indian servant Rukmini Devi (= Rukmini Devi Arundale ) in Chennai , who was 16 at the time and he was 41 years old at the time. The connection sparked a scandal among the conservative Brahmins , as for a Brahman a marriage outside of her caste, and worse, with a foreigner, was contrary to tradition. To smooth things over and also to bring the Adyar-TG, who was also criticized by the marriage, out of the line of fire, the couple left Chennai and drove to Mumbai . Since difficulties loomed for the Adyar-TG there too, Arundale went to Europe for several years to work there for theosophy. Rukmini Devi accompanied Arundale on most of his trips around the world, and they also worked on most of the activities inside and outside the TG together. The marriage remained childless. Rukmini Devi was the sister of Nilakanta Sri Ram , who later became president of the Adyar-TG.

Working for the Adyar-TG

Since arriving in India, Arundale has worked on numerous Adyar-TG projects and became one of the closest collaborators to Annie Besant , who had been Adyar-TG's president since 1907. In 1910 he was the first to publicly mention the Order of the Rising Sun around Jiddu Krishnamurti , albeit without permission . On January 11, 1911, he officially proclaimed this order under his leadership. In April 1911 founded Order of the Star of the East , he took over a secretary position. During his European stay, he was on 4 July 1925 in Huizen in the Liberal Catholic Church (LKK), a spin-off of the English Old Catholicism , consecrated and in 1926 appointed the same for India as bishop. In the same year he reached the post of General Secretary of the Adyar-TG in Australia and became the first General Director of the theosophical radio station 2GB , where he also supported Charles W. Leadbeater in building up the LKK. In 1928 he was finally appointed Secretary General of the Indian Section.

As president

When Annie Besant died on September 20, 1933, Arundale and Ernest Wood came into question as successors. The election was overshadowed by the appearance of forged letters, which Besant allegedly wrote in favor of Arundales. When the forgery could later be proven, it threw an unfavorable light on Arundale, as some considered this to be election fraud . Eventually Arundale received the most votes, in June 1934 he accepted the election and was the new president of the Adyar-TG. In 1934 he founded the Besant Memorial School together with his wife Rukmini Devi and, after hearing about the work of the educationalist Maria Montessori , they invited her to India to sign her up for the school. In 1939 Montessori accepted the invitation, not least because Benito Mussolini had declared it to be undesirable in Italy . Together with her son Mario , she took over the teacher training at the Besant Memorial School and designed the school according to her principles. This was later renamed Besant Theosophical School and still exists today (2006) as a university in Varanasi . On January 6, 1936, Arundale and his wife opened the first Kalakshetra dance school to revive traditional Indian dance on the grounds of the Adyar-TG . Millions of Indians still perform these dances today (2006). Arundale was also involved in the World Federation of Young Theosophists and made numerous trips around the world to promote Adyar theosophy.

The Freemason

In 1902, like his aunt Francesca Arundale, he became a member of Le Droit Humain and in 1904, together with Annie Besant and Francesca, co-founded a lodge in India. The Indian Federation also elected him Grand Commander in 1935.

Death and succession

Arundale died on August 12, 1945 in Adyar at the age of 66, his body was cremated . The date of death is sometimes incorrectly given as July 12th. His successor as president of the TG-Adyar was Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa .

Works

  • The way of service . Theosophical Culture Publishing House, Leipzig 1914.
  • You - forever and ever . Baum-Verlag, Pfullingen 1962.
  • Freedom and friendship . Theosophical Publishing House, Madras 1935.
  • Mount Everest, its spiritual attainment . Theosophical Press, Wheaton 1933.
  • Nirvana, A Study of Synthetic Consciousness . Pieper Ring-Verlag, Düsseldorf 1930.

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Arundale, George
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Arundale, George Sidney (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Anglo-Indian theosophist and freemason
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1878
PLACE OF BIRTH Wonersh , Surrey, England
DATE OF DEATH August 12, 1945
Place of death Adyar , India