Blavatsky's theosophy is classified by well-known representatives of Western philosophy as “a pantheistic [1] religious-philosophical system ” [2] [3] [4] [5] .
Vladimir Trefilov , a religious scholar and philosopher, wrote that the doctrine of Helena Blavatsky was formed from the very beginning as a "synthesis of philosophical views and religious forms of various eras and peoples" and contemporary scientific ideas [6] . One of the authors of the “ Routlege Philosophical Encyclopedia ”, Michael Wakoff, noted that Blavatsky's theosophy is based on Hindu and Buddhist philosophy and fragments of Western esotericism using “ absolutist metaphysics ” [7] . The New Philosophical Encyclopedia states that Blavatsky's theosophy is an attempt to unite all religions into “universal doctrine through revealing the commonality of their deep essence and revealing the identity of the meanings of their symbols, all philosophies (including esoteric), all sciences (including occult )” [8] [K 1] .
Content
Theosophical Philosophers
Opinion of Rene Guenon
The French philosopher Rene Guenon remarked that there is “a lot in common” between the theosophy of Blavatsky and the philosophy of Henri Bergson . He cited an article by a certain Georges Pekul who argued that the theories of the Theosophical Society “are so strangely similar” to Bergson’s ideas that one wonders if they do not stem from a common source and whether Bergson and the Theosophical leaders belong to the same school of Eastern Occultism [11] [K 2] .
Guenon noted that the “idea of evolution” occupies a central place in the theosophical doctrine. He wrote that, according to the theosophical teaching, there is
“Seven" mother races ", replacing each other during the" world period ", that is, at a time when the" wave of life "resides on this planet. Each “race” includes seven “subraces”, each of which, in turn, is divided into seven “branches”. On the other hand, the "wave of life" consistently passes through seven planets in the " circle ", and this "circle" is repeated seven times for the same "planetary chain", after which the "wave of life" passes to another "chain", so same consisting of seven planets, which, in turn, run seven times. Thus, there are seven “chains” in the “planetary system”, also called the “arena of evolution”; and, finally, in our solar system there are ten "planetary systems" ... Currently, we live in the era of the fifth "race" of the current "world period", we pass the fourth "circle" along the "chain" of which our Earth is a part, ranked fourth in it. Also this “chain” is the fourth in the composition of our “planetary system”. ” [13] [K 3]
Guenon's opinion about, as he put it, “the so-called top-secret Tibetan texts” used by Blavatsky to write the books The Secret Doctrine and the Voice of Silence , is that she had a translation of extracts from Gandzhur and Dandzhur , published in 1836 by Alexander Choma de Körös [15] [K 4] .
Another point of view
The Ukrainian philosopher Yulia Shabanova [17] wrote that in modern interpretations of the theosophical doctrine can be found the concept of "philosophy of theosophy." In accordance with this logic, theosophy must include, in addition to philosophy, other "aspects and manifestations." In her opinion, the feature of theosophy is “the integrity of the theoretical and practical, metaphysical and existential, transcendental and immanent , general and individual , epistemological and ontological ”. As in philosophy, the “object of knowledge” in theosophy is “the universal, the essential, the ultimate.” However, according to Shabanova, [Western] philosophy, in its striving for the essential, “although it allows for an irrational , mystical , intuitive , it rationally explains the peculiarities of the picture of the world”. [ten]
According to Shabanova, the term "theosophy" is usually applied to the theosophical teachings, which can be considered "the body of theosophy." It is necessary to distinguish, as she explained, firstly, the transcendental basis of theosophy, which is its “universal core”, secondly, theosophy as a “state of consciousness” and, thirdly, theosophy as a systematically formulated doctrine. If “Divine wisdom” is the absolute Truth, then “ theosophical teaching ” reflects aspects of this Truth, presented through “enlightened consciousness” and shaped in the form of certain knowledge and ideas. Thus, the theosophical teaching is not the Truth, but only its “description”. The assimilation of theosophical knowledge does not mean the attainment of a “theosophical state of consciousness”, because the accumulation of knowledge is not enough to “attain Wisdom.” She argued that the theosophical teaching gains meaning through the self-realization of man, which is a way of “awakening Divine wisdom.” [K 5] Shabanova noted the “synthetic nature” of the theosophical teachings, due to the syncretic nature of the “transcendent core of theosophy”. For this reason, theosophy cannot be expressed in the form of a “final doctrine,” and its various interpretations lead to contradictions both in the Theosophical society and in its external evaluations. [nineteen]
In the book of Shabanova the definition of theosophy proposed by Blavatsky is given:
“Theosophy is the ancient Religion of Wisdom, an esoteric doctrine once known in all countries that claim civilization. All ancient writings portray this “Wisdom” as an emanation of the Divine Principle; and a clear awareness of this is imprinted in such names as Indian Budha , Babylonian Naboo , Thoth of Memphis, Hermes of Greece, as well as goddess names - Metis , Neith , Athena , Gnostic Sofia - and, finally, in the Vedas , whose name comes from the word know". All the ancient philosophers of the East and the West, the hierophants of ancient Egypt, the rishi of Aryavarta and theodidacts of Greece called theosophy of knowledge about occult and, essentially, divine things ”. [K 6] [K 7]
Professor Shabanova wrote that, according to Blavatsky, “theosophy is basically spiritual knowledge - the very essence of philosophical and theistic quest”. And the real Theosophists must believe in an imperceptible, omnipotent, omnipresent and invisible Cause, which “is the All and the Nothing ; omnipresent and yet one; the quintessence, which fills, binds, limits, contains everything and is itself contained in everything ”. [K 8]
In 1879, the initiator of modern theosophy first introduced, according to Professor Santucci, a “clearly formulated” statement about “a single Supreme Being, the Unknown and Unknowable ”, which was the main idea of “ eclectic theosophy” [K 9] . This provision was later developed by Blavatskaya in the prologue of the Secret Doctrine, which says that "there is some Omnipresent, Eternal, Infinite and Unchanging Beginning , all the arguments about which have no meaning, because it goes beyond human understanding" [K 10] [K 11] .
Blavatsky on philosophy
In 1930, the researcher of esotericism, Alvin Kun, noted that for "theosophical ideology" philosophy is as important as religion [27] . The religious scholar Arnold Kalnitsky in his doctoral dissertation [28] analyzed the attitude of Blavatsky to philosophy, which she outlined in 1889, having published the article “Philosophers and Philosophies” [29] [K 12] . He wrote that, in her opinion, theosophy is a “serious intellectual undertaking” based on publicly voiced “philosophical principles” [31] . However, according to Blavatsky: “Theosophy, of course, is not only philosophy, simply because it includes both philosophy, science, and religion” [K 13] . Kalnitsky concluded that by associating the theosophical system with the tradition of philosophical reasoning and assuming the similarity of goals, Blavatsky tried to achieve greater respectability and authority for theosophists [33] .
Criticism of the Theosophy of Blavatsky
- Rene Guenon
He called Theosophy Blavatsky "Theosophism" ( Fr. théosophisme ) and characterized it as "pseudo-religion." He wrote that the assurance presented by the leaders of the Theosophical Society about the supposedly Oriental origin of their “claiming esotericism” doctrine “turned out to be false”, and its original direction was “frankly anti-Christian”. In addition, between the doctrine of the Theosophical Society, or at least the fact that "such is proclaimed, and theosophy in the true sense of the word, there is absolutely no relationship." He also wrote that “Theosophism” is a “random mix of Neo-Platonism , Gnosticism , Jewish Kabbalah , Hermeticism and Occultism,” and the theosophical concept of evolution is just an “absurd caricature of the Hindu theory of cosmic cycles” [34] . In his opinion, theosophy should take, along with spiritualism and other occult schools, "its proper place in the collection of strange works of the modern mind, which can be given the general name - neo-spiritualism" [35] .
- Vladimir Solovyov and others
The philosopher Vladimir Solovyov wrote that the main "theories and doctrines" of the Theosophical Society "seem to us to be very shaky and vague" [36] . In his opinion, Blavatsky founded the "pseudo-theosophical society" because her teaching was "untenable and false." Thus, modern theosophy is a doctrine supposedly not only anti-religious and anti-scientific, but also anti-philosophical [37] .
Religious philosopher Sergiy Bulgakov noted that theosophy [Blavatsky] in his attempts to become a “ substitute for religion” turned into a “vulgar pseudoscientific mythology” [38] . According to Nikolai Berdyaev , "fashionable" theosophical "trends" discredited "the beautiful word" theosophy "," destroying the memory of genuine "Christian theosophy." He believed that modern theosophy is "not a synthesis of religion, philosophy and science," as its proponents say, but their "mixing", in which there is "neither real religion, nor real philosophy, nor real science" [39] . In addition, he stated:
“It is difficult to find creative thinkers among theosophists. The average level of theosophical books is very low. Theosophists are afraid of independent thought and have little interest in the diverse creative process that takes place outside their circle. A closed circle is very characteristic of a theosophical ... environment. ” [40]
The philosopher Vladimir Lesevich , who did not doubt the ignorance of Blavatsky, sarcastically remarked: “What kind of public they (theosophists) can catch, here you can see from the ingenious exposure of the charlatan tricks of Ms. Blavatsky , who began to interpret Plato ’s philosophy and spread a whole lot of all the means , who decided to interpret Plato ’s philosophies and all of the total, she could draw a lot of the whole world. 41] . Lidia Fesenkova, a senior researcher at the Institute of Physics, RAS , also sharply criticized Blavatsky’s occult statements about anthropogenesis: “From a scientific point of view, such views are obvious profanity and have no right to exist in serious literature” [42] .
See also
- " Is Theosophy a Religion?" "
- "The Key to Theosophy "
- “ Who are the Theosophists? "
- “ Occult or exact science? "
- “ What is theosophy? "
- Theosophy and Buddhism
- Theosophy and Hinduism
- Theosophy and Science
- Theosophy and Christianity
Comments
- ↑ Professor James McCleanon wrote that Blavatsky used philosophy "as one of the inspiring sources" [9] . According to Professor Julia Shabanova, “from all spheres of spiritual culture” philosophy is the closest to theosophy [10] .
- ↑ According to Shabanova, the theosophical epistemology is based on intuitivism (it also includes Bergsonianism) and the “principle of analogies” [12] .
- ↑ Here Guenon summarized the main idea of the book of the famous theosophist Alfred Sinnett Esoteric Buddhism [14] .
- It should be noted that Guenon was an implacable opponent of the Theosophists, for example, he wrote: “In our opinion, the best way to combat theology of Blavatsky is to honestly state her true history” [16] .
- Professor Iqbal Taymni wrote that “Hindu religious teachers, known as rishis , were philosophers, and great philosophers were, as a rule, yogis ” [18] .
- ↑ Cit. in Russian translation: Blavatsky, 1967, p. 89 [20] .
- Vladimir Solovyov wrote that, according to Blavatsky’s explanation, her theosophy “is not a religion, but divine knowledge or science”. The term itself refers “not to the one God, but to the gods or to every divine being, and means not the wisdom of God, but the divine wisdom” [21] .
- ↑ Cit. in Russian translation: Blavatsky, 1879, pp. 5, 6 [22] .
- ↑ See in rus. translation: Blavatsky, 1967, p. 90 [23] [20] .
- ↑ Cit. in Russian translation: Blavatsky, 1888, p. 14 [24] [23] [25] .
- ↑ According to Professor Taymni, wisdom can come "only from true religion and philosophy" [26] .
- ↑ Abbott Clark noted that in this article, Blavatsky ridiculed supporters of the inductive method , calling them "philosophies" [30] .
- ↑ Cit. in Russian translation: Blavatsky, 1973, p. 434 [32] .
Notes
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , p. 294.
- ↑ Britannica .
- ↑ Berdyaev, 1994 , p. 194.
- ↑ Krashkina, 1999 .
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. eleven.
- ↑ Trefilov, 1994 , p. 234.
- ↑ Wakoff .
- ↑ Mityugova, 2010 .
- ↑ McClenon, 1998 .
- ↑ 1 2 Shabanova, 2016 , p. 22
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , p. 29.
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. 93.
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , p. 98
- ↑ Sinnett, 1885 .
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , pp. 85–86.
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , p. 291.
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. 197.
- ↑ Taimni, 1969 , p. xxvii.
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. 19–21.
- ↑ 1 2 Shabanova, 2016 , p. 24
- ↑ Solovyov, 1911a , p. 287.
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. 25
- ↑ 1 2 Santucci, 2012 , p. 234.
- ↑ Percival, 1905 , p. 205.
- ↑ Shabanova, 2016 , p. 91.
- ↑ Taimni, 1969 , p. xxiv.
- ↑ Kuhn, 1992 , p. 6
- ↑ Kalnitsky, 2003 .
- ↑ Blavatsky, 1973 .
- ↑ Clark, 1942 .
- ↑ Kalnitsky, 2003 , p. 147.
- ↑ Kalnitsky, 2003 , p. 148.
- ↑ Kalnitsky, 2003 , p. 153.
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , pp. 3, 91, 100.
- ↑ Guénon, 2004 , p. 108
- ↑ Solovyov, 1911a , p. 291.
- ↑ Solovyov, 1911b , p. 395–398.
- ↑ Bulgakov, 1917 , p. 36
- ↑ Berdyaev, 1994 , p. 175, 192.
- ↑ Berdyaev .
- ↑ Lesevich, 1887 , p. 17
- ↑ Fesenkova, 2004 , p. 93.
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