Years of wanderings.

The next period of H.P. Blavatsky’s life has not been described in exact chronological order by anyone, since she herself did not keep diaries, and none of her relatives were nearby who could talk about her.
N.A. Fadeeva wrote that only the father knew where his daughter was and periodically sent her money.

It is known that in Cairo H.P. Blavatsky met an American Alberta Rawson(later - Doctor of Theology and Doctor of Law in Oxford). Blavatsky told him about her participation in work that would one day serve to emancipate human thought.
Rawson noted: “Her attitude towards her mission was highly impersonal, for she often repeated: “This is not my work, but that of the one who sent me.”

German for some god? Portrayed herself as a new Christ? (She didn’t know her future “Teacher” then).

After leaving the Middle East, Blavatsky, together with her father, as she herself reported, went on a trip to Europe. It is known that at this time she took piano lessons from Ignaz Moscheles, a famous composer and virtuoso pianist, and later, earning a living, gave several concerts in England and other countries.

Theosophists also consider Koot Hoomi to be one of the members of the Spiritual Hierarchy, which oversees the development of the human race of this planet to a higher level of consciousness.

According to theosophy, Koot Hoomi belongs to the group highly developed people, known as Great White Brotherhood . Also known as Mahatma .

Some experts point out that the name Kuthumi is not the personal name of the Teacher, but comes from the name of the Tibetan Buddhism sect Kuthumpa. Perhaps his real name is Nishi Kanta Chattopadhyaya, since it was under this name that he (if it was him) studied at at least one European university (which one?).

After leaving England, H. P. Blavatsky went to Canada, then in Mexico, Central and South America, and from there headed to India, where she arrived in 1852. Elena Petrovna recalled that “I stayed there for about two years, traveling and receiving money every month - having no idea from whom (oh!); and conscientiously followed the route that was shown to me. I received letters from this Indian, but nothing I haven’t seen him once in these two years.”

Somehow not very believable. Especially about money from an unknown sender.

Before leaving India, she tried to enter through Nepal V Tibet, but the intervention of the British representative upset her plans.

From India H. P. Blavatsky returned to London, where, as V.P. Zhelikhovskaya reports, “having gained fame for her musical talent, ... she was a member of the philharmonic society.” Here, in London, as Elena Petrovna herself stated, she once again met her Teacher.

After this meeting she went to NY. There she renewed her acquaintance with A. Rawson.
From New York Blavatsky first went to Chicago,... and then - to the Far West and through the Rocky Mountains with caravans of settlers, until finally she stopped for a while in San Francisco.

Blavatsky sailed from America in 1855 or 1856 via Pacific Ocean to the Far East. Through Japan And Singapore reached Kolkata.

E. P. Blavatsky’s memoirs about her stay in India in 1856 were published in the book “From the Caves and Wilds of Hindustan,” in the writing of which Blavatsky showed great literary talent.
The book is compiled from essays she wrote between 1879 and 1886 under the pseudonym " Radda Bai" and first appeared in the Russian newspaper "Moskovskie Vedomosti".In 1892, this book was partially, and in 1975 completely translated into English.

From India via Kashmir Blavatsky tried for the second time to get into Tibet, but received instructions from her Master and sailed from Madras on a Dutch ship to Java(Indonesia). She then returned to Europe.

H. P. Blavatsky spent several months in France And Germany and then headed to... Pskov to relatives, where she arrived on Christmas night at the end of 1858. As Zhelikhovskaya reports, Blavatsky returned from her wanderings “as a person gifted with exceptional properties and powers that amazed everyone around her.” In Russia, H. P. Blavatsky arranged spiritualist sessions.

In May 1859, the family moved to the village of Rugodevo, where H. P. Blavatsky lived for almost a year. Her stay there is over severe illness, having recovered from which, in the spring of 1860 she and her sister went to Caucasus to visit my grandparents. As V.P. Zhelikhovskaya reports, on the way to the Caucasus, in Zadonsk H. P. Blavatsky met with the former Exarch of Georgia Isidore, who later became metropolitan Kievsky, and then Novgorod, St. Petersburg And Finnish, from whom she received a blessing.

From Russia Blavatsky set off on a journey again. Although the further route has not been reliably established, except Persia, Syria, Lebanon And Palestine(Jerusalem), in all likelihood, she visited Egypt, Greece and Italy more than once.

In 1867, she traveled for several months Hungary And Balkans, visited Venice And Florence.

According to the biography of HPB compiled by N. Fodor, she, disguised as a man, took part in the Battle of Mentana on November 3, 1867 on the side of the Garibaldians. Her left hand She was killed twice in battle by saber blows, in addition, she received two severe bullet wounds in the right shoulder and leg. At first she was considered killed, but was later picked up on the battlefield. Blavatsky told Olcott that she was a volunteer in Mentana along with other European women.

The authenticity of the latest story raises great doubts among the author of this site.

At the beginning of 1868, having recovered from her wounds, H. P. Blavatsky again arrived in Florence. Then she went through Northern Italy and the Balkans, and from there to Constantinople and further in India And Tibet.

In Tibet, H. P. Blavatsky studied in a monastery for several years Tashilumpo and knew well Panchen Lama VIII Tenpai Wangchuga.
These days, this monastery looks almost the same as it did 150 years ago:

Photo source: http://foto.rambler.ru/users/tyapnitsa/albums/50399145/

Last period Blavatsky, as biographers note, spent her stay in Tibet in the house of her Teacher K.H. and with its help I gained access to several lamaistic monasteries that no European had ever visited before. It was during this stay in Tibet that H. P. Blavatsky began to study the texts that were included in one of her main works - " Voice of Silence".

After almost three years of stay in Tibet, H. P. Blavatsky set off on a trip to the Middle East. Was on Cyprus and in Greece.

In 1871, while traveling from the port of Piraeus to Egypt on the steamship Eunomia, a powder magazine exploded and the ship was destroyed. 30 passengers died. Blavatsky escaped injury, but was left without luggage and money.

In 1871 Blavatsky arrived in Cairo, where she organized Spiritualist Society (Societe Spirite) for the research and study of psychic phenomena. The company soon found itself at the center of a financial scandal (that's it!) and was dissolved.

After leaving Cairo Blavatsky through Syria, Palestine And Constantinople in July 1872 she reached Odessa and spent nine months there.

From Odessa in April 1873, H. P. Blavatsky went to Bucharest, and then in Paris, where she was staying with her cousin Nikolai Gan. At the end of June of the same year I took a ticket to New York.

G.S. Olcott(future colleague) and Countess K.Wachtmaster It is reported that Blavatsky, seeing a poor woman with two children who could not pay the fare, exchanged her first-class ticket for four third-class tickets and set off on a two-week voyage across the ocean in third class.

From my earliest youth - that is, for more than 40 years - the teaching of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, H.P.B., which I became acquainted with through her books, notebooks and notes, filled my soul and mind with admiration. Her knowledge seemed to me - and I am still convinced of this - truly colossal and comprehensive, and its versatility and depth seemed incredible for a person born in the 19th century - the century of materialism, and not in the time of Pericles.

But a real philosopher, if he wants to find the truth, no matter where it is hidden, should not be captured by his own likes and dislikes, for in this case he is likened to a person looking at the world through rose-colored or black glasses. And therefore, in my article I want to give a generalized statement of the fundamental concepts and theories that HPB left us without commenting on them.

It is very difficult to isolate individual themes in the voluminous and complex works written by her, but we will try to do so.

God

H.P.B. repeatedly mentions that the great mystical ability to perceive what we call God is an inherent property of man. And this ability excludes the very concept of atheism, for, losing the ability to perceive the Divine, a person falls into spiritual numbness, and his human self remains only in a potential state. She also explains how in different, different eras, the mystical perception of God is influenced by the way of life that a particular people leads. And he says that religious clashes are nothing more than the rotten fruits of human blindness and delusion, for even the little original knowledge that is contained in the so-called scriptures, do not contradict each other. Thus, desert dwellers imagine hell to be hot, while those living in the polar regions imagine hell to be dark and icy.

H.P.B. asserts that there is no personal, personified God. Her position is exclusively pantheistic. And no one has the right, she believes, to claim the role of God’s representative on earth. Moreover, each person, as he opens up to the spiritual, becomes more and more involved in this Divine Essence and therefore feels its Presence. God, called “That,” whose name is ineffable, unknowable by human reason, is a Mystery. Man can only understand what his mind can comprehend, and therefore he has always attributed to God those qualities and attributes that were considered the best in each era and in each particular place. It got to the point that many peoples, having gone to extremes, became convinced that God belongs only to them, that they are the chosen ones, and their enemies are damned - “God”, who is their personal property, destroys their enemies, tramples, drowns or burns .

H.P.B. was opposed to any religious discrimination, because she knew how relative and short-lived any beliefs are. No one has absolute Truth, everyone has only an incomplete, distorted idea of ​​it. H.P.B. rejected any kind of inquisition, be it initiated by Ashoka or Torquemada. She reminded us that our choice of one religion or another is determined by the place of our birth, the era and family traditions. H.P.B. was an opponent of any racism, and especially spiritual racism.

Everything that a person is capable of mystically perceiving is only a rational, definite idea of ​​what we conventionally call “That”. And therefore in consciousness different nations In ancient times, similar ideas constantly arose about the existence of “intermediary gods” - countless, usually invisible creatures that control the nature of humans and all objects. In this hierarchy, every material form, starting with atoms and ending with galaxies, is “controlled” by some more subtle essence of Nature. In addition, there are Masters of Wisdom through whom Apprenticeship becomes possible.

Cosmogenesis

In her teaching, the “CHAOS + THEOS = COSMOS” scheme, well known in the Platonic West, reappears.

The cosmos, as the Neoplatonist Marcion said, is Macrobios, a huge living being, constantly renewed, like any mineral, plant, animal or person. In this Cosmos, man by himself does not have special significance, he is only one of many transient phenomena of the physical world.

The dimensions of the Cosmos are incomprehensible to the human mind, but this does not characterize the Cosmos, but rather us as people. Our ability to understand the Cosmos increases or decreases depending on whether astronomical sciences develop or decline. Ultimately, all we know about the Universe is an image that changes over time. Beyond these ideas, which reflect the characteristics of the culture and mentality of a particular period of human history, there are ancient teachings supposedly transmitted to people by the Gods. H.P.B. uses primarily the Tibetan Book of Dzyan. This teaching describes the visible Cosmos as the only thing that we, at our current stage of development, are able to perceive. The cosmos is an extremely complex organism, the forms of matter and energy of which have no limits. Moreover, in addition to “our” Cosmos, there are others, more or less similar to it, but they are inaccessible to our understanding due to the limitations of our mind.

The entire Cosmos and every part of it are born, live, reproduce and die, like any living creature. The cosmos expands and contracts (Pralaya and Manvantara) in the process of cosmic breathing (Kriya), based on the harmony of opposites.

Using educational diagrams of “chains,” “globes,” and “circles,” H.P.B. explains the concept of “Path of Souls”. Ancient traditions teach that souls gradually, over the course of millions of reincarnations, awaken (evolve?) and, moving from planet to planet, each time incarnate in a more perfect body - from the unimaginable darkness of limitless proto-matter to stones, plants, animals, humans, gods and etc. She speaks not only of planets that exist today, but also of those that have long disappeared, collapsed, or have yet to appear. All this relates to the “human line” of evolution, but there are many other “lines” of life in the Cosmos (for example, the “angelic” line, within which the spirits of Nature, or elementals, as well as some types of minerals, plants and animals develop).

As the ancient texts say, the reasons and purposes of the existence of the Cosmos “not even the greatest seer of the highest heavens knows.” This is a Sacrament, a Sacrament of Sacraments. The beginning and end of the Cosmos elude the perception of even those whose consciousness is awakened by initiation and adeptship.

Anthropogenesis

H.P.B. refutes the very fashionable ideas of Darwin in her time, which were so extolled by the followers of this experienced scientist-traveler. It follows ancient teachings about humanity “landing” in a spiritual way from another, then still living planet, which is now called the Moon. Gradually, as the newborn Earth became denser, people acquired a bodily shell. And this is just one stage of a long journey. On the physical Earth in the physical body, man has been developing for more than 18 million years: at first he passed his way as a giant, belonging to the subrace of the Cyclops, with limited intelligence and one eye in the middle of his forehead. But already nine million years ago, man began to resemble modern man, although representatives of some groups were still of gigantic size. A million years ago, the so-called Atlantean civilization reached full bloom, the center of which was located between the Eurasian and American continents on a continent that resembled modern Australia. The Atlanteans stood at an extremely high level of technological progress. They had vimana aircraft that moved through the air using anti-gravity devices and movable “wings”, which were actually jet engines. Their military aircraft, which resembled birds in appearance, launched egg-shaped projectiles that were powerful enough to destroy a million enemy soldiers in an open field. They also used paralyzing rays as weapons. The rulers of Atlantis watched the battles with the help of "magic mirrors", and this makes us remember modern television sets, unknown in the time of H.P.B. (1831–1891).

Geological disasters, caused in particular by the abuse of Marmash energy (perhaps something similar to modern atomic energy), destroyed Atlantis, but its colonies remained in different parts of the globe. The large island with its capital gradually fell apart until it became Poseidonis; The Egyptians told Plato about it, and he described it in Timaeus. Poseidonis, the last fragment of the continent, sank into the waters of the ocean, which was later called the Atlantic, about 11,500 years ago.

Currently living on Earth are representatives of the Third Race, the race of giants - blacks; representatives of the Fourth Race - red-skinned Americans and yellow-skinned Asians descended from the Atlanteans; and the modern masters of the world are representatives of the Fifth Race, or Aryans, a white race settled in Europe, America and Asia.

Nature laws

Using Sanskrit terminology, H.P.B. mentions two basic laws - Dharma and Karma.

Dharma is a universal law that directs everything towards the ultimate goal, towards purpose. This is the path (Sadhana) established by God for everyone. He who tries to avoid the Dharma suffers blows and suffers, but he who acts in accordance with the Dharma does not suffer. Every creature can deviate from its path; in humans, this possibility is due to relative free will. The wheel of reincarnation (Samsara) provides a person with the opportunity to act rightly or wrongly, but any excess of the first or second gives rise to Karma, “Action”, in which cause is inevitably combined with effect. Forgiveness, HPB teaches, is not an act of politeness and nobility, and it has more than just psychological consequences. She does not believe in the remission of sins, but only believes that they can be atone for by merciful deeds.

Since no one is able to either “get rid of” or “pay off” all the accumulated Karma in one incarnation, karmic seeds (skandhas) lead to new incarnations, which follow one after another (with a break in time) until it runs out driving force Karmas. Then Nirvana comes (going beyond the limits of multiplicity), but it is not true goal, but only a pause on the “Path of Souls”.

All Souls differ in their manifestation in human form, but are the same in essence, regardless of gender or race. Everyone has equal rights - in accordance with their merits, with the level of spiritual development. You can go forward or not along the “Path of Souls” - it depends on the way you think, feel and act. But according to the Dharma program, a certain limit is set for man, and therefore he cannot descend to the level of animals or rise to the level of gods. A human being is always reincarnated only into a human being - of the race and gender that suits him best or is necessary for him to satisfy the thirst for knowledge (Avidya).

As the myth of the dolphin, which was part of the Eleusinian Mysteries, teaches, everything disappears, only to appear again in time. However, in fact, nothing disappears or dies, but only sinks under water and reappears on the surface... cyclically, since in our world everything is cyclical, in the transcendental there is nothing linear, everything meets again in the unity of Fate.

Life after death

From HPB's point of view, man continues to be practically the same, whether he is incarnate or not. He participates in the inevitable cycle of birth, life and death. She did not like to dwell on this topic in detail, but in her years spiritualism flourished, which was very dangerous. According to H.P.B., what visits the medium's body is actually the astral trace or "shell" of the deceased, and sometimes an elemental which assumes the name of the spirit being invoked. And this “shell” or elemental, like a vampire, feeds on the psycho-magnetic fluids of the participants in the experience. In support of many ancient books, including the works of the same Plato, H.P.B. strongly recommended to refuse such sessions. After death, a person plunges into a sudden sleep (to describe the most general case), more or less deep and lasting - this depends on the spiritual development of the person. And then, gradually awakening, the Soul, or Consciousness, is directed either to the world of the living, if it is still drawn there, or to some more subtle plane of existence. Tallest in spiritually souls enter Devachan, the “Abode of Angels,” where they remain in a state of peace and happiness. The souls of those who did not live by spiritual values ​​and were too attached to earthly things are sent to Kamaloka, the “Place of Desires,” where they suffer the torment of being unable to satisfy their desires. These souls seek contacts with the living and strive to incarnate as soon as possible. The mechanism of reincarnation is reminiscent of the one that Plato reveals in the myth of Er in the final part of the Republic. The difference is only in some details, namely: souls yearning for embodiment rotate, as Neoplatonists write, in the “Belt of Venus”, which encircles our planet in a ring and almost coincides with its magnetic equator (it corresponds to the currently known “Van Alen Belt” ).

As Plato writes, the desire for the dead gives impetus to the sexual desire of those couples who are capable of reproduction. The soul enters the body of the human fetus in the fourth month of uterine development. Gradually, etheric and more subtle elements penetrate a person, causing the life experience of previous incarnations to manifest over the years; The ages of 7, 14 and 21 are especially important.

In the case of natural death, death from old age, human shells also fade away gradually, starting from physical body, which, by slowing down its vital functions, allows other shells to prepare to leave this world. H.P.B. does not attach too much importance to this process; on the contrary, he believes that in old age the thirst for the end of the current incarnation intensifies. (Undoubtedly, one can recall many examples that contradict this. But these are consequences of distortions that arise under the pressure of the surrounding world.)

Parapsychological phenomena

H.P.B. I didn’t consider them anything valuable or worthy of attention. Such phenomena, she believed, are inspired and captivated only by those who are unable to comprehend certain truths. She argued that there are no “supernatural” phenomena, since nothing can go beyond the limits of nature, Nature (in European languages, the words “natural” and “natural” have the same root. - Approx. per.). Therefore, she did not believe in miracles and did not consider the ability to cause parapsychological phenomena to be a spiritual quality (although she herself had an amazing ability for such phenomena). She also denied that these miracles themselves had a good or evil nature, and viewed them as simple “mechanisms” that acquired a positive or negative meaning depending on the meaning given to them by those who practice them, or on the intentions of those who use them. She did not consider such phenomena to be something exceptional, but rather potentially characteristic of all people, regardless of their level of spirituality.

We repeat that it is impossible to briefly describe in a magazine article everything achieved by this great philosopher and magician of the 19th century. However, we hope that we have awakened in the reader the interest and desire to study more deeply the topics covered in this article and get to know Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, such an amazing and incomprehensible person.

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The books of Helena Blavatsky are popular to this day among our contemporaries. The ideas presented in them have not lost their relevance, despite the fact that the knowledge of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was acquired by her more than a hundred years ago.

In the article:

Helena Blavatsky - books and ideas

The main sources of Helena Blavatsky were ancient religious texts and the orally retold theses of Mahatma Moriah, Tibetan monks and other teachers met during her travels.

Helena Blavatsky

Extremely saturated. The Theosophical Society created by Blavatsky enjoyed considerable popularity in India, Europe and America. Among the fans of her work were members of the Roerich family, widely famous philosophers, orientalists and esotericists.

Helena Blavatsky became one of the first authors who clearly explained reincarnation and the theory of reincarnation. She sought to show that all world religious movements have common roots and the same origin. The original source is the same for all religions. Blavatsky tried to guide humanity towards self-development and argued for the need to study the secrets of the universe.

Helena Blavatsky - The Secret Doctrine

« Secret Doctrine Blavatsky consists of three volumes. In addition to them, there is a collection of commentaries on these works. The latter consists of notes from discussions of materials presented in The Secret Doctrine by members Blavatsky Lodge, or Theosophical Society. It is recommended to study these materials if questions arise while reading the three-volume book.

The Secret Doctrine is considered the most ambitious and significant work of Helena Blavatsky. The author’s goal in writing it was to save archaic knowledge by transferring it to humanity. She tried to prove that nature is not just a random combination of atoms.

With the help of Blavatsky's works, you can understand what is the basis for all world religions. She believed that their source was one. The book “The Secret Doctrine” also introduces the reader to the occult side of nature, which, according to the author, will not be available for scientific justification for several centuries.

The sources that Elena Petrovna used when creating this work are the writings of Asian religious teachings, as well as early European legends, myths and other folklore. Helena Blavatsky paid attention to the secret knowledge hidden with the help of hieroglyphs and symbols that people possessed several hundred and even thousands of years ago. With the help of this three-volume book, she tried to combine knowledge different cultures into one whole, and also find answers to questions about what awaits people after death, why they come to this world and what is the meaning of existence.

Helena Blavatsky - Isis Unveiled

Blavatsky's Isis Unveiled makes clear the connection between 19th century occult practices and ancient schools of philosophy. The author will help each reader trace this connection and understand why this is generally needed and how it will help a person who studies esotericism.

Blavatsky's theories are supported by a lot of evidence that the author presents in his book. The book is considered one of the most understandable works of Helena Blavatsky. It was written during one of the first trips to Egypt. The book also reveals the mysterious knowledge found in this country, lost by generations of the 19th century.

Blavatsky's book "From the Caves and Wilds of Hindustan"

The book “From the Caves and Wilds of Hindustan” is dedicated to Eastern mysticism, in particular, the traditions and culture of India through the eyes of Helena Blavatsky. The book was written while traveling through this mysterious and vibrant country.

This book will explain to the reader what Hinduism and Buddhism look like in the author's understanding. With its help you can get acquainted with esotericism and philosophy eastern peoples. The book will appeal to any connoisseur of Eastern philosophy.

It is known that the esoteric writer often based her works on the knowledge gained during her travels to the countries of the East. With the help of this book the reader will be able to become acquainted with the ideas from which Blavatsky's later works were subsequently shaped.

Blavatsky's works - "The Key to Theosophy"

Blavatsky's Key to Theosophy is mistakenly called a textbook on Theosophy. This book cannot be called a complete collection of theosophical knowledge, however, it will become a real key that will fit the lock on the door behind which this knowledge is hidden. If you are interested in theosophy and the ideas of Helena Blavatsky, you should start studying from this source.

With this book you can get acquainted with religious ideas author. It is known that she tried to unite all the religions that exist in the countries of our world. It is possible to trace general direction this idea and understand what it is.

Spiritual development is something that every person should do independently. With the help of Blavatsky's book "The Key to Theosophy" you can try to understand various religious movements and understand their unity, despite the fact that it is considered one of the most difficult to understand works of this author. This is how the author talks about his ideas:

The Wisdom Religion was one in antiquity, and the identity of the original religious philosophy is demonstrated by the identical doctrines transmitted to the initiates during the Mysteries, an institution once universal. All ancient cults point to the existence of a single theosophy that preceded them. The key that opens one thing must open everything, otherwise it cannot be the right key.

Helena Blavatsky - "The Voice of Silence"

Blavatsky’s book “The Voice of Silence” is based on ancient Tibetan manuscripts, which the author translated during her stay in Tibet with the teacher Mahatma Morya. She also used excerpts from Hindu ethical literature.

In this book, the reader will find simple and accessible explanations of the meaning of all esoteric movements that are widespread in our time. We are talking about Kabbalah, Zoroastrianism, alchemy and some other areas. In “The Voice of Silence” the author also reveals the secret meaning of Buddhism. This knowledge was not available to Europeans before the birth of Elena Petrovna.

This book can become the first stage in the spiritual and philosophical search for the meaning of life. They will be useful in studying the theory of magic, and will also help every person lift the veil over the secrets of nature. A difficult and long path to knowledge awaits the reader of Blavatsky’s book:

The path before you is long and tedious, O student. The single thought of leaving behind the past will pull you down, and you will have to start climbing again. Kill all memories of previous experiences. Don't look back, otherwise you're lost.

"The Mysterious Tribes of the Blue Mountains" by Blavatsky

A book entitled “Mysterious Tribes in the Blue Mountains” is able to tell the reader about a wide variety of wonders of the East that were noticed by the author during his travels to India, Tibet, Japan and other eastern countries.

With the help of this book you can get acquainted with the world of magic and sorcery as imagined by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The material will clarify your understanding of the supernatural abilities of man, the connection of each person with other world, about magic and witchcraft. The author also talks about entities that live in other worlds.

From the title of the book it is clear that we will talk about the mysterious tribes of the East, who are carriers of mysterious esoteric knowledge. From it the reader learns about the life of magicians and shamans from distant countries. For several generations they have been passing on sacred knowledge, which until recently was not available to Europeans. Helena Blavatsky became one of the first inhabitants of Europe to whom this knowledge was revealed.

The book “Mysterious Tribes in the Blue Mountains” will be useful not only to people who are interested in esotericism, philosophy and the culture of the East. It is also devoted to the history of some eastern countries and ethnic psychology.

Other books by Helena Blavatsky, her letters and articles

Helena Blavatsky left a rich legacy. The total number of works she wrote is more than forty. They all have a similar direction and are devoted to theosophy to one degree or another. For example, the book “The Enchanted Life” talks about the secrets of dreams, working with the subconscious, revealing natural gifts, paranormal abilities, and parapsychology.

A collection of instructions for students of the Theosophical Society has also been preserved. It was these rules that members of her society used during Elena Petrovna’s life. “Karmic Visions” is a collection of essays and travel notes by Blavatsky, which were made during her trip to India.

"surrounded by love and hatred, in the annals of world history her personality is coming immortal"
Schiller

There are people who come into the world with a clearly defined mission. This mission of serving the common Good makes their life a martyrdom and a feat, but thanks to them the evolution of humanity is accelerated. This was the mission of H. P. Blavatsky. More than a hundred years have passed since one May day in 1891. the heart of our great compatriot stopped beating. And only now we begin to comprehend the feat of her life.

None of those close to her, those who worked with her, people devoted to her, or her enemies knew all of her, with all her qualities. The variety of their opinions is amazing, as if before us is not one, but many personalities with the same name “Helena Petrovna Blavatsky”. For some, she is a great being who opened new paths to the world, for others, she is a harmful destroyer of religion; for some she is a brilliant and fascinating interlocutor, for others she is a vague interpreter of incomprehensible metaphysics; Now she is a great heart, full of boundless pity for everything that suffers and love for everything that exists, now she is a soul that knows no mercy, now she is clairvoyant, penetrating to the bottom of the soul, naively trusting the first person she meets. Some talk about boundless patience, others about her unbridled temper. And there are no bright signs of the human soul that are not associated with the name of this great woman.

But everyone, without exception, claims that she possessed extraordinary spiritual strength that subjugated everything around her. Her credulity and sincerity reached dimensions extraordinary for a soul that had collected such an unprecedented variety of life experiences: from a student of the Eastern sages to the no less unusual position of Teacher and herald of Ancient Wisdom, who sought to unite in a common esotericism all ancient Aryan beliefs and prove the origin of all religions from a single divine source.

“Living next to Elena Petrovna meant being in constant proximity to the wonderful,” wrote one of her biographers. She possessed the extraordinary abilities of a real Magician, surprising everyone with her erudition, deep holistic knowledge, and wisdom of the soul.

As one of her biographers says: “... She charmed and conquered everyone who came into contact with her more or less closely. She, with the power of her all-penetrating and bottomless gaze, performed the most incomprehensible miracles: flower buds opened before your eyes, and the most distant objects at just one call they rushed to her hands.”

“The whole history of literature,” writes Olcott, “does not know a more remarkable character than this Russian woman.”

Elena Petrovna was capable of incredible work and superhuman patience when it came to serving an idea, fulfilling the will of the Teachers. Her devotion to her Teachers was heroic, fiery, never weakening, overcoming all obstacles, faithful until her last breath.

As she herself said: “Nothing matters to me anymore except my duty to the Teachers and the Cause of Theosophy. All my blood belongs to them to the last drop. The last beat of my heart will be given to them...”

This Russian woman fought with great indomitable strength against the materialism that shackled human thought, she inspired so many noble minds and managed to create a spiritual movement that continues to grow, develop and influence the consciousness of mankind. She was the first to promulgate the sacred teachings on which all religions are based, she was the first to attempt to give a religious and philosophical synthesis of all centuries and peoples; it caused the awakening of the religious consciousness of the ancient East and created a world fraternal Union, the basis of which is respect for human thought, in whatever language it may be expressed, broad tolerance for all members of the single human family and the desire to embody not dreamy, but concrete idealism, penetrating into all areas of life.

Every century, the Teachers of Shambhala make an attempt to find a messenger through whom they can convey to the world part of the true ancient Teaching for the enlightenment of people.

In the 19th century, the choice fell on H. P. Blavatsky. “We have found one like this in 100 years on Earth,” wrote the Mahatmas.

H. P. Blavatsky was born on August 11, 1831. in Ekaterinoslavl, in an aristocratic family. Elena Petrovna's childhood and youth passed in very happy conditions, in an enlightened, friendly family with humane traditions. The second stage of life /1848-1872/ can be characterized by the words - Wanderings and Apprenticeship. 24 years of wandering, again and again renewed attempts to penetrate Tibet. This entire period of her life was first preparation for her apprenticeship, and then the apprenticeship itself.

The main obstacle was her temperament. Even with the Teachers, whom she admired, she was often militant, and for free communication she needed many years of self-education. “I doubt that anyone else has entered the Path with such difficulty or with greater self-sacrifice,” Olcott wrote. Teachers said: “In us, Blavatsky aroused special trust - she was ready to risk everything and endure any difficulties. More than anyone else, she had psychic powers, driven by extreme enthusiasm, uncontrollably striving for her goal, physically very resilient, she was for "We would be the most suitable, although not always obedient and balanced, mediator. Another, perhaps, would have had fewer mistakes in his literary works, but he would not have withstood, like her, seventeen years of hard work. And then much would remain unknown to the world." .

The 3rd period of Blavatsky’s life is a period of creativity that clearly bears the stamp of a certain spiritual mission /1873-1891/. In 1875 together with Henry Olcott, Elena Petrovna founded the Theosophical Society - one of the links in that chain of higher schools of secret knowledge, which were founded from century to century by employees of the Hierarchy, as needed, in one country or another, in one form or another. All these schools of higher knowledge were offspring of that One Tree of Life and the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. The task of the Theosophical Society is to unite everyone striving for the unity of humanity, regardless of race and religious beliefs, striving to understand the true nature of man and the Cosmos.

The seeds of higher knowledge sown by the Theosophical Society penetrated the consciousness of the people of the Western world and spread throughout the world. Such societies exist in all cultural countries; the Theosophical Society also operates in Moscow.

In the 70s of the last century, a wave of enthusiasm for spiritualism swept across America, Europe and Russia. Elena Petrovna writes: “I received an order to tell the public the truth about spiritualistic phenomena and their mediums. And from now on my martyrdom begins. All spiritualists will rise up against me, in addition to Christians and all skeptics. Let your will, Teacher, be done!”

She temporarily joined spiritualism to show all the dangers of mediumship sessions and the difference between spiritualism and true spirituality.

At the same time, Blavatsky was working on her first great work, Isis Unveiled. And then - the main work of Blavatsky’s life - “The Secret Doctrine” - 3 volumes, about a thousand pages in each /1884-1891/. The first volume reveals some of the mysteries about the creation of the Cosmos, the second - about human evolution, the third - about the history of religions.

The essence of the information given to humanity through Blavatsky in “Isis Unveiled” and in the “Secret Doctrine” that continues it, are revelations about the Great Creative Principle of the Cosmos, the creation of the Cosmos and man (microcosm), about the eternity and periodicity of Existence, about the basic cosmic laws by which life Universe. The teaching transmitted by Blavatsky is as old as humanity itself. So, the “Secret Doctrine” is the accumulated Wisdom of the Ages, and its Cosmogony alone is the most amazing and developed of all systems.”

The life of H. P. Blavatsky can be characterized in two words: martyrdom and sacrifice. More terrible than all the physical torment - there were many of them in her life - was the suffering of the soul that she endured as a result of collective hatred, misunderstanding, cruelty caused by her struggle against the ignorance and inertia of the human soul. For 17 years Blavatsky fought against ignorance and dogmatism in both science and religion. And all this time she was the center of attacks and slander.

She had colossal, comprehensive, incredible versatility of knowledge.

Here is a brief summary of the Teachings conveyed by her in her numerous works:

GOD. For Blavatsky there is no personal God. She is a supporter of pantheism. She does not believe that anyone can represent God on Earth. But every human being, as consciousness develops, feels the presence of the Divine principle within itself. God is a Sacrament. A person can comprehend only what his mind can accommodate and therefore attributes to God those qualities that were considered the best in each era in different regions.

Helena Petrovna Blavatsky was opposed to any discrimination based on beliefs, because knew all their relativity in time and space. No one owns the entirety of the Truth, but only a partial distorted vision of it. She was opposed to any racism, especially spiritual racism.

COSMOGENESIS. In the teaching transmitted by her, the concept of COSMOS arises. In Neoplatonism there is a definition of the Cosmos as a huge living form, constantly renewing itself like the body of any mineral, plant, animal or human. Actually, a person in this Cosmos is one of the many manifestations of life on the physical plane. Space has no dimensions comprehended by the mind. Our knowledge of the Cosmos increases in accordance with our progress. As history progresses, our ideas about the Universe change. Beyond this era-appropriate knowledge that culture reflects, there are ancient teachings that were transmitted to people by higher cosmic civilizations.

H. P. Blavatsky mainly uses the Tibetan book Dhyan. It talks about the Cosmos as an extremely complex organism with an infinite number of forms of matter and energy. And moreover, it is said that in addition to “our cosmos” (i.e. physical), there are others, more or less similar to ours, inaccessible to understanding due to the limitations of the human mind. Parts of the Cosmos, and even the whole of it, are born, live, reproduce and die, like any living creature. It expands and contracts through the process of cosmic breathing, based on the harmony of opposites.

Ancient traditions teach that souls evolve, going through millions of reincarnations, moving from planet to planet in order to enter a more perfect body. Some of the planets she mentions no longer exist today, some will only exist in the future. As they say in ancient texts, neither the reason nor the reason for which the Cosmos exists, “even the greatest clairvoyant, who is closest to the sky, knows.” This is the Sacrament of Sacraments. The beginning and the end elude human perception.

ANTHROPOGENESIS. Blavatsky does not accept Darwin's ideas. She supports the ancient Doctrines regarding humanity “landing” on Earth from the Moon. Gradually, these creatures began to acquire a bodily shell as the Earth became denser. On Earth, man develops in the physical body for more than 18 million years, first as a giant with limited intelligence. 9 million years ago, man already became similar to modern man. A million years ago, the so-called “Atlantean Civilization” was in full bloom, living on the continent located between Eurasia and America. Among the Atlanteans, technical progress has reached a very high level. This continent, due to geological disasters caused by the excessive use of energy such as modern atomic energy, split apart. The last remaining island sank into the waters of the ocean, called the Atlantic, 11.5 million years ago. Reminds me of this disaster biblical story about Noah.

NATURE LAWS. Blavatsky mentions two basic laws - Dharma and Karma.

Dharma is a universal law that directs everything towards its destination. Any attempt to deviate from the Dharma is accompanied by suffering and is rejected. That which is consistent with purpose is not subject to suffering and rejection. A person has the opportunity to deviate, because he has relative free will. The Wheel of Transformation gives him the ability to act rightly or wrongly. Any of his actions in both directions generates Karma, i.e. a cause that inevitably leads to an effect.

Blavatsky does not believe in the forgiveness of sins, but in the fact that they can be compensated for by merciful actions.

All souls are different in their external manifestation, but essentially the same, since they have no gender, nation, or race. A human being is always reincarnated only into a human being of the race and gender that he needs to gain experience.

Everything disappears over time only to appear again, but in reality nothing disappears or dies, but only sinks and reappears cyclically. In our world everything happens cyclically, while in the transcendental world everything happens in a circle.

LIFE AFTER DEATH. For Blavatsky, human beings remain roughly the same whether they are in embodiment or not. They carry out the inevitable cycle of birth, life and death.

PARAPSYCHOLOGICAL PHENOMENA. She treated them with disdain, believing that only those who were unable to comprehend the deepest truths could be carried away by them. She did not admit that some of these phenomena could supposedly stem from Good, and others from Evil; she considered them not something exceptional, but potentially characteristic of all people, regardless of their level of spirituality. In May 1891 Elena Petrovna died in her work chair, like a true warrior of the Spirit, which she was all her life. The day of her tranquility is celebrated as White Lotus Day.

“Let us not forget to express gratitude to those who imprinted Knowledge with their lives.” Looking back at the past of humanity, one can see a pattern of rejection of both discoveries and revelations that are ahead of their time. Until now, few people realize that not only the teachings she brought from the East, but also she herself, her personality, her extraordinary mental properties represent a phenomenon of the greatest importance for our era. It is not a theory, it is a fact.

“The day will come when her name will be written down by grateful posterity... at the highest peak, among the chosen ones, among those who knew how to sacrifice themselves out of pure love for humanity!” /Olcott/.

"...H.P.Blavatsky, truly, our national pride, the Great Martyr for Light and Truth. Eternal glory to her!" (E. Roerich)

Introduction
Hierarchy
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Annie Besant
Ramakrishna
Alice Bailey
Vivekananda

Politics of the Theosophical Society

Asking. In the time of Ammonius there were several ancient great religions, and in Egypt and Palestine alone there were many sects. How could he reconcile them?

Theosophist. Doing what we're trying to do again now. The Neoplatonists formed a large group and belonged to various religious philosophies; so are our Theosophists. In those days the Jew Aristobulus argued that Aristotle's ethics represented the esoteric teachings of the Law of Moses; Philo the Jew tried to reconcile the Pentateuch with the Pythagorean and Platonic philosophy; and Joseph proved that the Essenes of Carmel were only followers of the Egyptian therapists (healers) and simply copied them. It's the same today. We can show the path of origin of every Christian denomination, every, even the smallest, sect. The latter are twigs or shoots grown on larger branches; but the shoots and branches originate from the same trunk - the RELIGION OF WISDOM. To prove this was the goal of Ammonius, who tried to convince pagans and Christians, Jews and idolaters to put aside their disputes and struggles, remembering only that they possess the same truth, only dressed in different clothes, and that they are all children of the same mother . This is also the goal of Theosophy.

Theosophist. Almost countless well-known authors. Mosheim, one of them, says:

“Ammonia taught that the religion of the people went hand in hand with philosophy and with it shared the fate of being gradually distorted and obscured by simple human vanity, prejudices and lies; that therefore it must be restored to its original purity by removing these impurities and explaining it on philosophical principles; and all that Christ intended to do was to restore the wisdom of the ancients and restore it to its primitive integrity, to reduce to certain limits the everywhere prevailing power of prejudice, and partly to correct, and partly to eradicate, the various errors which had penetrated into the various popular religions.”

This again is exactly what modern Theosophists say. But while the great philalethe was supported by two Fathers of the Church, Clement and Athenagoras, all the learned rabbis of the Synagogue, the Academy and the "grove", helping him in his policies, and while he taught a common doctrine for everyone, we, the continuers of his line , we do not receive any recognition, but on the contrary, we are subjected to insults and persecution. Thus, it turns out that 1500 years ago people were more tolerant than they are now in this enlightened country.

Also called analogetics. As Professor A. Wilder (a member of the Theosophical Society) explained in his Eclectic Philosophy, they were so called because of the practice of interpreting all sacred legends and stories, myths and mysteries, on the principle of analogy and correspondence: so that the events narrated as about what happened in the external world were considered as expressing the actions and experiences of the human soul. They were also called Neoplatonists. Although Theosophy, or the eclectic theosophical system, is usually assigned to the third century, yet, if Diogenes Laertius can be trusted, its source is much older, since he attributed this system to the Egyptian priest Pot-Amun, who lived in the early period of the Ptolemaic dynasty. The same author informs us that the name is Coptic and denotes that which is sacred to Amun, the god of wisdom. Theosophy is the equivalent of Brahma Vidya, divine knowledge.

Eclectic theosophy was divided into three components: 1) Belief in one absolute, incomprehensible and supreme Deity or infinite essence, the root of all nature and everything that exists - visible and invisible. 2) Belief in the eternal immortal nature of man, which, due to the fact that it is a radiation of the Universal Soul, is consubstantial with it. 3) Theurgy, "divine work", or doing the work of the gods; from qeoi, “gods,” and ergein, “work.” This term is very old, but since it belongs to the vocabulary of the mysteries, it was not in common use. There was a mystical belief - practically proven by initiated adepts and priests - that by becoming as pure as incorporeal beings - that is, by returning to the original purity of nature - man could induce the gods to impart to him knowledge of divine secrets, and sometimes even make them visible - subjectively or objectively. This was the highest aspect of what is now called Spiritualism; but, due to its abuse and misunderstanding among the people, it began to be considered by some as necromancy and was generally prohibited. The distorted practice of Iamblichus theurgy still persists in the ceremonial magic of some modern Kabalists. Modern Theosophy shuns both of these types of magic and "necromancy", and rejects them as very dangerous. True divine theurgy requires an almost superhuman purity and holiness of life; otherwise it degenerates into mediumship or black magic. The immediate disciples of Ammonius Sacca, who were called theodidaktos, “taught by God,” such as Plotinus and his follower Porphyry, initially rejected theurgy, but then reconciled with it thanks to Iamblichus, who wrote a work dedicated to this phenomenon, entitled “Mysteries,” under his own name teacher, the famous Egyptian priest Abammon. Ammonius Sakkus was the son of Christian parents, and since he was repulsed by dogmatic Christianity from childhood, he became a Neoplatonist. They say that, like Jacob Boehme and other great seers and mystics, divine wisdom was revealed to him in dreams and visions. Hence his name - Theodidaktos. He decided to reconcile everything religious systems, and by showing their common source, establish one universal creed based on ethics. His life was so impeccable and pure, and his teaching so deep and extensive, that several church fathers became his secret disciples. Clement of Alexandria had a very high opinion of him. Plotinus, “Saint John” of Ammonius, was also respected and revered by all, a man of the deepest learning and decency. At the age of 39, he accompanied the Roman Emperor Gordian and his army on a campaign to the East to receive instructions from the sages of Bactria and India. He had a school of philosophy in Rome. His student Porfiry, whose real name was Malek (Hellenized Jew), collected all the works of his Teacher. He was himself a great writer and gave an allegorical interpretation to some parts of Homer's writings. The system of meditation that the Philaletes resorted to was ecstatic, akin to the practice of Indian yoga. What is known about the Eclectic School we owe to Origen, Longinus and Plotinus, direct students of Ammonius. (See “Eclectic Philosophy” by A. Wilder).