through its expression as the world (similar to the phi-
losophy of Alfred North Whitehead), and the purpose
of human life is to further that evolutionary develop-
ment by a conscious participation in it. All individuals
have a high and serious calling, which may be responded
to by carrying out the duties of their stations in life.- Human beings are assisted in fulfilling the purpose of
their lives by the teachings and examples of sages,
prophets, saints, avatars, or bodhisattvas; but the re-
sponsibility for that fulfillment and the impulse to meet
it arise from within the individual, who is responsible
for his or her own salvation. A means to fulfill one’s pur-
pose for being is an intelligent and spiritually sensitive
activism, tempered by the realization that one’s knowl-
edge of the world and of oneself is still severely limited,
making humility and tolerance the best guideposts to ul-
timate success.
EXTENSIONS AND INFLUENCES. For a small and nonprosely-
tizing organization, the Theosophical Society has had some
notable effects. Offshoots of the parent society, head-
quartered at Adyar, Chennai, India, include the Theosophi-
cal Society with international headquarters at Pasadena, Cali-
fornia (the direct descendant of the Judge group); the United
Lodge of Theosophists; the Temple of the People at Halcy-
on, California; the Anthroposophical Society, which began
as the German section of the Theosophical Society; the Bud-
dhist Society U.K., which began as the Buddhist Lodge of
the Theosophical Society; the Arcane School, Lucis Trust,
and other organizations springing from Alice Bailey (1880–
1949), who was an employee of the Theosophical Society;
and a number of organizations often loosely categorized as
New Age.
The concepts of the Theosophical Society have affected
modern life especially in the areas of religious and social re-
form, art, literature, and what may loosely be called spiritual-
ity. Olcott was a leading force in the modern Buddhist reviv-
al, as was a protégé of his, Anaga ̄rika Dharmapa ̄la (1864–
1933), who founded the Maha Bodhi Society to preserve
Buddhist sites and to extend Buddhism. Besant’s promi-
nence in Indian politics and in social movements inspired a
number of others in India, England, and the United States
to promote reform, especially for women’s rights. An earlier
Theosophical exponent of woman’s rights was Matilda Jos-
lyn Gage (1826–1898), American feminist and coauthor
with Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony of the
History of Woman Suffrage (1881–1887). Wassily Kandinsky
framed his theory of nonobjective art in Theosophical terms,
citing Blavatsky in his manifesto, Concerning the Spiritual in
Art (1912); another pioneer in abstraction, Piet Mondrian,
developed the neoplastic style of art on Theosophical princi-
ples. The Irish literary revival was influenced by Theosophy,
particularly in the person of its chief exponent, William But-
ler Yeats. On a more general level, the Theosophical Society
popularized such concepts as reincarnation, karma, and the
aura as well as practices such as yoga and the complementary
healing technique called Therapeutic Touch.
SEE ALSO Anthroposophy; Besant, Annie; Blavatsky, H. P.;
Olcott, Henry Steel; Steiner, Rudolf.BIBLIOGRAPHY
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. Isis Unveiled: A Master-Key to the
Mysteries of Ancient and Modern Science and Theology. 2 vols.
London, 1877; reprint, Wheaton, Ill., 1972. The author’s
first major work, which established her reputation as a figure
in nineteenth-century esotericism.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Secret Doctrine: The Synthesis of
Science, Religion, and Philosophy. 2 vols. London, 1888; re-
print, 3 vols., Wheaton, Ill., 1978. The author’s major work,
a commentary on the otherwise unknown Stanzas of Dzyan,
dealing with the origin of the universe (cosmogenesis) and
of the human species (anthropogenesis) and including essays
on symbolism and contemporary science.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Key to Theosophy: Being a Clear
Exposition, in the Form of Question and Answer, of the Ethics,
Science, and Philosophy for the Study of Which the Theosophical
Society Has Been Founded. London, 1889; reprint, Pasadena,
Calif., 1995. One of the author’s last works, a presentation
of her ideas for the general reader.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. Collected Writings. 15 vols. Compiled
and edited by Boris de Zirkoff. Wheaton, Ill., 1950–1991.
A collection of all known periodical articles and some other
incidental writings by Blavatsky, with an extensive index by
Dara Eklund as vol. 15.
Blavatsky, Helena Petrovna. The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky, vol. 1:
1861–1879. Edited by John Algeo. Wheaton, Ill., 2003. The
beginning of a collection of all of Blavatsky’s known corre-
spondence, this volume contains letters written before she
settled in India in 1879, with extensive background essays
and notes.
Ellwood, Robert. Theosophy: A Modern Expression of the Wisdom
of the Ages. Wheaton, Ill., 1986. A popular presentation of
basic Theosophical concepts as viewed by a religion scholar
who is also a Theosophist.
Harrison, Vernon. H. P. Blavatsky and the SPR: An Examination
of the Hodgson Report of 1885. Pasadena, Calif., 1997. An ex-
amination by an expert in forgery of the 1885 report submit-
ted to the Society for Psychical Research, which branded Bla-
vatsky as a fraud, concluding that the report was biased and
that the crucial handwriting evidence was misinterpreted.
Olcott, Henry Steel. Old Diary Leaves: The True Story of the Theo-
sophical Society. 6 vols. New York, 1895–1935; reprint,
Adyar, India, 1974–1975. The founder-president’s recollec-
tions of events between 1874 and 1898, originally published
partly as journal articles that were later collected.
Prothero, Stephen. The White Buddhist: The Asian Odyssey of
Henry Steel Olcott. Bloomington, Ind., 1996. A biography of
Olcott focusing on his interactions with the Buddhist com-
munity and his role in the modern Buddhist revival, especial-
ly in Sri Lanka, where he became a national hero.
JOHN ALGEO (2005)THERAVA ̄DA. The term Therava ̄da Buddhism refers,
first, to a “school” and closely related “orientations” within9144 THERAVA ̄DA