Hinduism is regarded by modern Theosophy as one of the main sources of "esoteric wisdom" of the East. The Theosophical Society was created in a hope that Asian philosophical-religious ideas "could be integrated into a grand religious synthesis." Prof. Antoine Faivre wrote that "by its content and its inspiration" the Theosophical Society is greatly dependent on Eastern traditions, "especially Hindu; in this, it well reflects the cultural climate in which it was born." A Russian Indologist Alexander Senkevich noted that the concept of Helena Blavatsky's Theosophy was based on Hinduism. According to Encyclopedia of Hinduism, "Theosophy is basically a Western esoteric teaching, but it resonated with Hinduism at a variety of points."
Philosophical parallels Merwin Snell's opinion
In 1895, Prof. Merwin Snell (Catholic University of America) published an article, in which he, calling Theosophy a "peculiar form of Neo-Paganism", attempted to determine its attitude to the "various schools of Bauddha and Vaidika" thought, i.e., to Buddhist and Hindu beliefs.
According to him, there is no connection between Theosophy and Vedism, because the first Vedic texts, the Rigveda, for example, are not containing the doctrine of reincarnation and the law of karma. The Upanishads contain the hidden meaning of the Vedas, and "this is a very important" for understanding Theosophy, since the Upanishads were a basis "of the six great schools of Indian philosophy" which Blavatsky called "the six principles of that unit body of Wisdom of which the 'gnosis, the hidden knowledge, is the seventh." However, according to Snell, only in some cases the Theosophical theory corresponds to the Upanishads, that is, its most important, philosophical, part was "derived from the Darsanas." Thus, Brahman and Maya of the Vedantins, the Purusha and Prakriti of the Sankhya of Kapila, the Yoga of Patanjali, and the Adrishta of the Vaisheshika under the name of karman, all "find their place" in Theosophy. In Snell's opinion, almost all elements of its "religio-philosophical system" are clearly Hindu. Its philosophy is closely linked to the "Vedantized Yoga philosophy, but accepts the main thesis of the pure Advaita school".
In conclusion, Snell wrote that the "process of Hinduization" of Theosophy can be seen by comparing the first and later works of its leading figures. In his opinion, this process has been greatly influenced by the Society "Arya Samaj", new branch of Vaishnavism (see Fig. 1), which especially emphasized the importance of a study of the Vedas.
Hinduism and secret teachings
Prof. Donald Lopez noted that in 1878 the founders of the Theosophical Society directed their efforts "toward a broader promotion of a universal brotherhood of humanity, claiming affinities between Theosophy and the wisdom of the Orient, specifically Hinduism and Buddhism." In Jones and Ryan's opinion, the Theosophists "drew freely from their understanding of Eastern thought, particularly Buddhist and Hindu cosmologies." A British Indologist John Woodroffe noted that the Theosophical teaching was "largely inspired by Indian ideas." Prof. Iqbal Taimni wrote that much of the knowledge about the universe "has always been available, especially in the literature of the ancient religions like Hinduism." But, in most cases, this was presented in the form of difficult-to-understand doctrines. In Taimni's opinion, Theosophy has introduced in them "order, clarity, system and a rational outlook" which allowed us to get a "clear and systematic" understanding of the processes and laws underlying the revealed universe, "both visible and invisible."
According to the Theosophical teaching, the "universal consciousness, which is the essence of all life", lies at the basis of the individual consciousness, and this coincides with the Advaita Vedanta point of view, which states that atman "is identical with Brahman, the universal self". Prof. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke wrote: "[Blavatsky's] preference for Advaita Vedanta related to its exposition of the ultimate reality as a monist, nontheistic, impersonal absolute. This nondualist view of Parabrahm as the universal divine principle would become the first fundamental proposition of The Secret Doctrine." A proem of the book says that there is "an Omnipresent, Eternal, Boundless, and Immutable Principle''' on which all speculation is impossible, since it transcends the power of human conception and could only be dwarfed by any human expression or similitude." In his book Man, God, and the Universe, Taimni demonstrated several examples showing the coherence of cosmology in The Secret Doctrine with the positions of Hindu philosophy. "In the Absolute there is perfect equilibrium of all opposites and integration of all principles which by their differentiation provide the instruments for running the machinery of a manifested system. The primary differentiation of the Ultimate Reality leads to the appearance of two Realities which are polar in nature and which are called Shiva and Shakti in Hindu philosophy, and the Father-Mother principle in The Secret Doctrine. Shiva is the root of consciousness and Shakti that of power: all manifestations of consciousness are derived from Shiva and those of power from Shakti." Prof. Robert Ellwood wrote that, according to the Theosophical point of view, spirit and matter are "to be regarded, not as independent realities, but as the two facets or aspects of the Absolute (Parabrahm), which constitute the basis of conditioned Being whether subjective or objective."
According to Hindu philosophy, Shiva consciousness serves as a repository in which the universe is in the pralaya stage. After each period of manifestation, the cosmos, or the Solar System, "passes into His Consciousness", in accordance with the eternal alternation of the manifestation phase (Shrishti) and the rest one that is "inherent in the Absolute." This state is "beautifully" described, in Taimni's opinion, in the first stanza of Cosmogenesis in The Secret Doctrine. Thus, the universe in the state of pralaya is in the consciousness of Shiva. In fact, it is "in His Consciousness all the time", and the changes associated with manifestation and pralaya can be viewed as affecting "only the periphery of His Consciousness."
The Logos of a Solar System creates in the "Divine Mind" a thought-form which becomes the basis for the construction of His system. Taimni claimed that this "aspect of the Logos corresponding to Not-Self is called Brahma, or the Third Logos" in Theosophy. But a world conceived in this way cannot become, according to Taimni, independent without its being animated by the Logos, just as "a picture in the mind of an artist cannot remain without the artist ensouling it with his attention." The created world animated by the Logos is called Vishnu, the "indwelling Life, or the Second Logos" in Theosophy. "This corresponds to the Ananda aspect which is the relating principle between Sat and Cit or Self and Not-Self," Taimni wrote. But this process of thought-formation, which takes place in consciousness, and not in matter, does not in any way affect the "Logos Himself." He "remains as He was," although He supports and permeates the manifested solar system that He controls. "Having created this world and ensouled it I remain," as Sri Krishna says in The Bhagavad-gita [X, 42]. Thus, the aspect of the Logos, which keeps "unaffected and independent" of the world that He created, "is called Mahesha, or the first Logos" in Theosophy. Taimni explained: "It is the Transcendent Aspect, as Vishnu is the Immanent Aspect and Brahma the Imprisoned Aspect of Divinity, if I may use such a term. The first is related to pure Consciousness, the second to Life and the third to Form."
The Theosophists used the concept of reincarnation common for Hinduism and Buddhism to substantiate the one esoteric core of these religions. Thus, for A. P. Sinnett, an author of the Esoteric Buddhism, Gautama Buddha is simply one of a row of mahatmas who have "appeared over the course of the centuries." According to Theosophy, "his next incarnation" that occurred sixty years after his death became Shankara, the "great Vedanta philosopher." Sinnett did not deny that the "uninitiated" researcher would insist on Shankara's date of birth a "thousand years after the death of the Buddha, and would also note Shankara's extreme "antipathy" towards Buddhism. And yet he wrote that the Buddha appeared as Shankara "to fill up some gaps and repair certain errors in his own previous teaching."
Hinduists and Theosophists According to John Driscoll, an author of The Catholic Encyclopedia, "India is the home of all theosophic speculation", because the main "idea of Hindu civilization is theosophic." Its evolution, reflected in Indian religious literature, has shaped "the basic principles of theosophy." Prof. Mark Bevir noted that Blavatsky identified India as the "source of the ancient wisdom." She wrote about India the following: "None is older than she in esoteric wisdom and civilization, however fallen may be her poor shadow—modern India. Holding this country, as we do, for the fruitful hot-bed whence proceeded all subsequent philosophical systems, to this source of all psychology and philosophy a portion of our Society has come to learn its ancient wisdom and ask for the impartation of its weird secrets."
In 1877, first president of the Theosophical Society Henry Olcott accidentally found out about a movement recently organized in India, whose "aims and ideals, he was given to believe, were identical with those of his own Society." It was the Arya Samaj, founded by one Swami Dayananda, who, as the Theosophists believed, was a member of the same occult Brotherhood, to which their own Masters belonged. Olcott set up "through intermediaries" contact with Arya Samaj and offered to unite.
In May 1878, the union of the two societies was formalized, and the Theosophical Society "changed its name to the Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj of Aryavarta." But soon Olcott received a translation of the statute and the doctrines of Arya Samaj, which led the Theosophists to some confusion. The views of Swami Dayananda had either "radically changed" or were initially misunderstood. His organization was in fact "merely a new sect of Hinduism", and several years after the arrival of Blavatsky and Olcott in India, the connection between the two societies finally ceased. Dayananda Saraswati's disappointment was expressed in a form of warning to the members of Arya Samaj on contacts with the Theosophists, whom he called atheists, liars, and egoists. Prof. Lopez noted that the relations that Blavatsky and Olcott established with "South Asians tended to be short-lived." They went to India, believing that Swami Dayananda was, in fact, "an adept of the Himalayan Brotherhood". But in 1882, when he declared that the beliefs of Ceylon Buddhists and Bombay Parsis "both were false religions," Olcott concluded that "the swami was just a swami," but he was not an adept.