Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj

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The Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of Aryavarta , sometimes also Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of India , but mostly only briefly Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj (TS of AS), was the name for the Theosophical Society from May 22, 1878 to to March 1882 when she was part of the Hindu reform movement Arya Samaj .

history

In 1875 Swami Dayananda Saraswati founded a movement for the renewal of Hinduism on the sole basis of the Veda in Mumbai , India under the name Arya Samaj . In the same year, just a few months later, the Theosophical Society was founded in New York by Helena Blavatsky , Henry Steel Olcott and others . Their initial aim was the scientific study of occultism .

Already in 1870 Olcott had made the acquaintance of the Indian Moolji Thakurshi (Moolji Thackersey), but then lost sight of each other. In 1877, Olcott accidentally learned of Thakurshi's address and then wrote him a letter, in which he also outlined the Theosophical Society, of which he was president, and its goals. Thakurshi's answer in turn mentioned the Arya Samaj , described their plans and referred to the address of its president in Mumbai, Hari Chand Chintamani (Hurrychund Chintamon). In the correspondence that followed between Olcott and Chintamani, each explained the position of their own organization, which ultimately gave the impression of numerous similarities between the teachings of Arya Samaj and the Theosophical Society. Chintamani then became a member of the Theosophical Society, and Olcott began correspondence with Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj, of whom Blavatsky also claimed that his soul was that of a master of wisdom . In several letters, Olcott asked Dayananda for enlightenment and advice, and Dayananda responded to the request with sometimes extensive instructional letters in which he set out his rules of faith and worldview. Finally, the proposal came up that the two societies should be united in order to jointly pursue the goals that had been declared as coincident under Dayananda's leadership. The main thing should be the fight against false beliefs and the search for and worship of a formless God.

At a meeting of the Theosophical Society on May 22, 1878 in New York, the merger proposal was decided. With this decision the subordination of the Theosophical Society to the Arya Samaj was connected, at the same time the Theosophical Society recognized Dayananda as its new head and changed its name to Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of Aryavarta , mostly abbreviated to Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj (TS of AS). The first and only branch of the TS of AS was founded on June 27, 1878 by Charles Carleton Massey in London and was called the British Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of Aryavart .

Blavatsky and Olcott embarked from New York for India on December 17, 1878, where they arrived in Bombay on February 16, 1879 . The following evening a large reception with 300 invited guests was held for them in the house of Chintamon Hurrychund, the president of the Arya Samaj , where the two of them were staying . But the next day Hurrychund presented his American guests with an invoice for all his expenses. Since he had embezzled the donations entrusted to him by TG, the collaboration was ended. The two theosophists then left the accommodation provided by Chintamani and moved to another building in Mumbai on Girgaum Back Road for the next two years .

In fact, the TS of AS only existed on paper, so the Theosophists' lodges in India and Sri Lanka that were founded at this time did not have the addition "Arya Samaj" in their names. When Olcotts and Blavatsky converted to Buddhism on May 25, 1880 , the separation was also religious.

The official breach did not take place until March 26, 1882, when Dayananda presented a public indictment under the title Humbuggery of the Theosophists , which was then published as a pamphlet and in it raised a number of serious allegations against the Theosophists. So he called them "crooks" and "swindlers". Olcott responded in The Theosophist magazine in July 1882 with the article Swami Dayanand's Charges , in which he tried to refute the charges and in turn incriminated Dayananda.

Blavatsky and Olcott had expected to see a miraculous superman, but found nothing of the kind in Dayananda. Dayananda, on the other hand, had expected fellow campaigners for his theological convictions, but found atheists in the theosophists . The break with the Arya Samaj led to the reformulation of the goals of the Theosophical Society , which were easily accepted by people from the most varied of countries and cultures, which facilitated the international dissemination of theosophy.

literature

  • John Murdoch: Theosophy unveiled . Madras 1885
  • Henry Steel Olcott: Old diary leaves, Inside the occult, the true story of Madame HP Blavatsky . Running Press, Philadelphia 1975, ISBN 0914294318
  • Chhajju Singh: Life and teachings of Swami Dayanand Saraswati . New Delhi 1971

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ursula Keller, Natalja Sharandak: Madame Blavatsky. A biography. Insel Verlag Berlin 2013. pp. 169–171.