Editing Helena Blavatsky (section)

== Influence ==

According to religious studies scholar [[Mark Bevir]], Blavatsky "adapted the occult tradition to meet the challenge of Victorian science and morality".{{sfn|Bevir|1994|p=764}}
Historian [[Ronald Hutton]] described Blavatsky as "one of the century's truly international figures" whose ideas gained "considerable popularity".{{sfn|Hutton|1999|p=18}}
Various biographers have noted that, by the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Blavatsky was little-known among the general public.{{sfnm|1a1=Washington|1y=1993|1p=45|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2p=xi}} In 2006, scholar [[James A. Santucci]] nevertheless noted that she was "as visible today as any modern trend-setting guru, and she will most likely remain the most memorable and innovative esotericist of the 19th century."{{sfn|Santucci|2006|p=184}}

Some scholars have suggested that Blavatsky sometimes spoke and/or wrote while in [[altered states of consciousness]].{{sfn|Fodor|2003}}{{sfn|Kalnitsky|2003|p=180}}{{sfn|Сенкевич|2010|p=427}} {{nowrap|[[G. R. S. Mead]]}} wrote about Blavatsky, "I know no one who detested, more than she did, any attempt to hero-worship herself{{spnd}}she positively physically shuddered at any expression of reverence to herself{{spnd}}as a spiritual teacher; I have heard her cry out in genuine alarm at an attempt to kneel to her made by an enthusiastic admirer."{{sfn|Mead|1920}} [[Leo Klejn]] wrote about Blavatsky: "Indefatigability and energy of this woman were surprising. She had a revolutionary's merits."{{sfn|Клейн|2011}}{{efn|Theosophist Leadbeater claimed that, at the time of the [[French Revolution]], Blavatsky was "in [[incarnation]] under the name of Père Joseph" and worked with "the [[Comte de S. Germain]]".{{citation|last=Leadbeater |first=Charles Webster |year=1992|title=The Hidden Life in Freemasonry |location=Whitefish, MT |publisher=Kessinger Publishing |isbn=978-1-56459-026-8|url=http://www.anandgholap.net/Hidden_Life_In_Freemasonry-CWL.htm}}}} [[Mabel Collins]], an associate and publisher of [[Lucifer (magazine)|''Lucifer'']] between 1887 and 1889, believed Blavatsky's influence to be derived largely from a talent for manipulation. After leaving the Theosopical movement, Collins said that "she taught me one great lesson. I learned from her how foolish, how 'gullible', how easily flattered human beings are, taken ''en masse''. Her contempt for her kind was on the same gigantic scale as everything else about her, except her marvellously delicate taper fingers. In all else, she was a big woman. She had a greater power over the weak and credulous, a greater capacity for making black appear white, a larger waist, a more voracious appetite, a more confirmed passion for tobacco, a more ceaseless and insatiable hatred for those whom she thought to be her enemies, a greater disrespect for ''les convenances'', a worse temper, a greater command of bad language, and a greater contempt for the intelligence of her fellow-beings than I had ever supposed possible to be contained in one person. These, I suppose, must be reckoned as her vices, though whether a creature so indifferent to all ordinary standards of right and wrong can be held to have virtues or vices, I know not."<ref>Theosophy: Origin of the New Age – C. C. Martindale in ''This Rock'' magazine, Feb 96<!--
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--></ref><ref>From serialized installment in {{cite journal|last=Wheeler|first=Joseph Mazzini|date=21 April 1895|title=Madame Blavatsky|journal=[[The Freethinker (journal)|The Freethinker]]|volume=15|issue=16|pages=242–243|issn=0016-0687|url={{Google books|nnkvAAAAYAAJ|page=PA242|keywords=|text=|plainurl=yes}}}}</ref>

[[File:Leo Tolstoy The Voice of the Silence.jpg|thumb|The book ''[[The Voice of the Silence]]'' presented by Blavatsky to Leo Tolstoy]]

Blavatsky presented her book, ''The Voice of the Silence'', to [[Leo Tolstoy]]. In his works, Tolstoy used the ''dicta'' from ''{{lang|de|Theosophischer Wegweiser}}'', a Theosophical journal.{{sfn|Толстой|1955|p=67}} In his 12 February 1903, diary entry, Tolstoy wrote: "I am reading a beautiful theosophical journal and find many commonalities with my understanding."{{sfn|Толстой|1935|p=155}}

=== Theosophical movement ===

According to Kalnitsky, the Theosophical movement of the nineteenth century was created and defined in the main through the astuteness and conceptual ideas provided by H.P. Blavatsky. He stated that "without her [[charismatic leader]]ship and uncompromising promotion of the Theosophical agenda, it appears unlikely that the movement could have attained its unique form."{{sfn|Kalnitsky|2003|p=331}} By the time of her death in 1891 she was the acknowledged head of a community numbering nearly 100,000, with journalistic organs in London, Paris, New York and Madras.<ref>''[[Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition]]'' 1911, Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna</ref> Her writings have been translated and published in a wide range of European and Asian languages.{{sfn|Cranston|1993|p=xxii}}

Blavatsky's Theosophy redirected the interest in Spiritualism toward a more coherent doctrine that included cosmology with theory of evolution in an understanding of humanity's spiritual development.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004|p=18}} Further, it took the traditional sources of Western esotericism and globalized them by restating many of their ideas in terminology adopted from Asian religions.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004|p=18}} Blavatsky's Theosophy was able to appeal to women by de-emphasizing the importance of gender and allowing them to take on spiritual leadership equal to that of men, thus allowing them a greater role than that permitted in traditional Christianity.{{sfn|Bednarowski|1980|p=222}}

Since its inception, and through doctrinal assimilation or divergence, Theosophy has also given rise to or influenced the development of other mystical, philosophical, and religious movements.{{sfn|Melton|1990|pp=xxv–xxvi}}
During the 1920s the [[Theosophical Society Adyar]] had around 7,000 members in the U.S.{{sfn|Tillett|1986|pp=942–947}} There also was a substantial following in Asia. According to a Theosophical source, the Indian section in 2008 was said to have around 13,000 members while in the US the 2008 membership was reported at around 3,900.{{sfn|TIS|2009}}

=== Western esotericism ===
Blavatsky's Theosophy has been described as representing "a major factor in the modern revival" of Western esotericism.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004|p=2}} Godwin deemed there to be "no more important figure in modern times" within the Western esoteric tradition than Blavatsky.{{sfn|Godwin|1994b|p=xv}} For Johnson, Blavatsky was "a central figure in the nineteenth-century occult revival".{{sfn|Johnson|1994|p=2}} Lachman claimed that "practically all modern occultism and esotericism" can trace its origins back to her influence.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=xi}}  Blavatsky's published Theosophical ideas, particularly those regarding Root Races, have been cited as an influence on [[Ariosophy]], the esoteric movement established in late 19th- and early 20th-century Germany and Austria by [[Guido von List]] and [[Jörg Lanz von Liebenfels]].{{sfnm|1a1=Gardell|1y=2003|1pp=21–22|2a1=Lachman|2y=2012|2p=251}}<ref name="Spielvogel1986">{{cite journal|title=Hitler's Racial Ideology: Content and Occult Sources.|journal=[[Simon Wiesenthal Center Annual]]|year=1986|first=Jackson|last=Spielvogel|author2=David Redles|volume=3|at=Chapter 9|issn=0741-8450|url=http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=gvKVLcMVIuG&b=395043|access-date=22 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101219035524/http://motlc.wiesenthal.com/site/pp.asp?c=gvKVLcMVIuG&b=395043|archive-date=19 December 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref> Hannah Newman stated that via Ariosophy, Blavatsky's Theosophical ideas "contributed to Nazi ideology".{{sfn|Newman|2005|p=73}} Nevertheless, Lachman has asserted that Blavatsky should not be held accountable to any of the [[antisemitism|antisemitic]] and [[racism|racist]] ideas that the Ariosophists promoted, commenting that were she alive to witness the development of Ariosophy, she probably would have denounced its ideas regarding race.{{sfn|Lachman|2012|p=251}} Blavatsky's Theosophical ideas regarding Root Races have also been cited as an influence on [[Anthroposophy]], the esoteric movement developed by [[Rudolf Steiner]] in early 20th-century Germany,{{sfn|Staudenmaier|2008|pp=6–7}} with Steiner's [[Anthroposophical Society]] being [[Rudolf Steiner and the Theosophical Society|termed a "historical offshoot" of the Theosophical Society]].{{sfn|Bevir|1994|p=765}}

Blavatsky's Theosophy has been cited as an influence on the [[New Age]] movement, an esoteric current that emerged in Western nations during the 1970s.{{sfnm|1a1=Bevir|1y=1994|1p=765|2a1=Goodrick-Clarke|2y=2004|2p=18|3a1=Santucci|3y=2006|3p=184}}
"No single organization or movement has contributed so many components to the New Age Movement as the Theosophical Society. ...&nbsp;It has been the major force in the dissemination of occult literature in the West in the twentieth century."{{sfn|Melton|1990|pp=458–461}}{{efn|The "Chronology of the New Age Movement" in ''New Age Encyclopedia'' begins with the formation of the Theosophical Society in 1875.{{sfn|Melton|1990|loc=ix,&nbsp;xxxviii}} See {{harvnb|Lewis|Melton|1994|loc=xi}}.}} Other organizations loosely based on Theosophical texts and doctrines include the [[Agni Yoga]], and a group of religions based on Theosophy called the [[Ascended Master Teachings]]: the [["I AM" Activity]], [[The Bridge to Freedom]], [[Universal Medicine]] and The Summit Lighthouse, which evolved into the [[Church Universal and Triumphant]].<ref>{{harvnb|Lewis|Melton|1994|pp=1–2}}</ref>

=== Linguistics ===
American scholar of religion Jason Josephson-Storm has argued that Blavatsky and her Theosophical Society influenced late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century academic [[linguistics]]. Josephson-Storm notes that Blavatsky's linguistic theories and typologies were widely circulated in Europe, and that influential linguists such as [[Émile-Louis Burnouf]] and [[Benjamin Lee Whorf]] either practiced Theosophy as promoted by the Theosophical Society or publicly defended its doctrines.{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|pp=119–20}} [[Ferdinand de Saussure]] is also known to have attended [[séance]]s and wrote a lengthy analysis of the Theosophical claims about linguistics and India, "la théosophie brahmanique (Brahamanic Theosophy)" while delivering his [[Cours de linguistique générale]].{{sfn|Josephson-Storm|2017|p=119}}

=== South Asian religion and politics ===

Hutton suggested that Blavatsky had a greater impact in Asia than in the Western world.{{sfn|Hutton|1999|p=19}} Blavatsky has been cited as having inspired Hindus to respect their own religious roots.{{sfn|Meade|1980|p=8}}
The Theosophical Society influenced the growth of Indian national consciousness, with prominent figures in the [[Indian independence movement]], among them Mohandas Gandhi and [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], being inspired by Theosophy to study their own national heritage.{{sfn|Goodrick-Clarke|2004|p=17}}
The Theosophical Society had a major influence on [[Buddhist modernism]] and [[Hindu reform movements]],{{sfn|MacMahan|2008}} while Blavatsky and Olcott took part in [[Anagarika Dharmapala]]'s revival of [[Theravada Buddhism]] in Ceylon.{{sfn|Gombrich|2003|pp=185–188}}{{sfn|Fields|1992|pp=83–118}}

Meade stated that "more than any other single individual", Blavatsky was responsible for bringing a knowledge of Eastern religion and philosophy to the West.{{sfn|Meade|1980|p=8}} Blavatsky believed that Indian religion offered answers to problems then facing Westerners; in particular, she believed that Indian religion contained an evolutionary cosmology which complemented Darwinian evolutionary theory, and that the Indian doctrine of reincarnation met many of the moral qualms surrounding [[vicarious atonement]] and eternal [[damnation]] that preoccupied 19th-century Westerners.{{sfn|Bevir|1994|p=748}}
In doing so, Meade believed that Blavatsky paved the way for the emergence of later movements such as the [[International Society for Krishna Consciousness]], [[Transcendental Meditation movement]], [[Zen Buddhism]], and [[yoga]] in the West.{{sfn|Meade|1980|p=8}} Hutton believed that the two greatest achievements of Blavatsky's movement were in popularizing belief in reincarnation and in a singular divine [[Anima mundi|world soul]] within the West.{{sfn|Hutton|1999|p=20}}

Blavatsky "both incorporated a number of the doctrines of eastern religions into her occultism, and interpreted eastern religions in the light of her occultism", in doing so extending a view of the "mystical East" that had already been popularized through Romanticist poetry.{{sfn|Bevir|1994|p=674}}
[[Max Müller]] scathingly criticized Blavatsky's Esoteric Buddhism. Whilst he was willing to give her credit for good motives, at least at the beginning of her career, in his view she ceased to be truthful both to herself and to others with her later "hysterical writings and performances". There is nothing esoteric or secretive in Buddhism, he wrote, in fact the very opposite. "Whatever was esoteric was ''ipso facto'' not Buddha's teaching; whatever was Buddha's teaching was ''ipso facto'' not esoteric".{{sfn|Müller|1893a}}{{efn|For Sinnett's response and Müller's rejoinder, see {{harvnb|Sinnett|1893}} and {{harvnb|Müller|1893b}}.}} Blavatsky, it seemed to Müller, "was either deceived by others or carried away by her own imaginations."{{sfn|Müller|1902}}
Blavatsky responded to those academic specialists in Indian religion who accused her of misrepresenting it by claiming that they understood only the exoteric nature of Hinduism and Buddhism and not the inner esoteric secrets of these faiths, which she traced back to the ancient Vedas.{{sfn|Bevir|1994|pp=758–759}}