Blavatsky, Vivekananda and the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions, Chicago, part 2

On the occasion of the 130th anniversary of the 1893 Chicago World Religion Parliament, I'd like to present some links that comment on the relation of Theosophy to Vivekananda.

 

On September 11, 1893, at World Parliament of Religions held at Chicago, America, Swami Vivekananda gave a revitalizing speech by emphasizing the harmony of religions and enlightening the glory of India to the world. This day is marked as Universal Brotherhood Day in India and among the Ramakrishna Math centres in 22 countries worldwide.

https://www.vrmvk.org/universal-brotherhood-day

 

Swami Vivekananda in India: A Corrective Biography 

Rajagopal Chattopadhyaya, 1999, p. 132

Was Vivekananda really the singular sensation of the 1893 Chicago World Religion Parliament? This biography suggests that there are no substantial news reports on record that go beyond indicating that he gave a well-received speech and that the actual sensation was the subsequent result of media buildup.

https://books.google.ca/books?redir_esc=y&id=EtcoeaQIQdAC&q=olcott#v=snippet&q=olcott&f=false

 

Evan Goldstein reviews 

Heathen, Hindoo, Hindu: American Representations of India, 1721-1893 

Michael Altman   (Oxford, 2017)

not a huge fan of conflating Theosophy with orientalism, but he covers Parliament of the World's Religions/ Chicago Fair Vivekananda

https://s-usih.org/2018/11/review-of-heathen-hindoo-hindu/

 

Swami Vivekananda, Reform Hinduism, Nationalism & Scientistic Yoga 

Karl Baier  Interdisciplinary Journal for Religion & Transf. in Contemp. Society 5 (2019) 230–257  

Last year, I wrote how US politics have theosophical aspects, same for India, decent intro roots of Hindu nationalism.

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6047/5fe178e2d0cb544f659aadc7e0fba546cbcd.pdf

 

Vivekananda popularized the notion of involution, a term which Vivekananda probably took from western Theosophists, notably Helena Blavatsky, in addition to Darwin's notion of evolution, and possibly referring to the Samkhya term sātkarya. Theosophic ideas on involution has "much in common" with "theories of the descent of God in Gnosticism, Kabbalah, and other esoteric schools." According to Meera Nanda, "Vivekananda uses the word involution exactly how it appears in Theosophy: the descent, or the involvement, of divine consciousness into matter."^[30]

Heehs, Peter (2020), "Sri Aurobindo's Theory of Spiritual Evolution", in Mackenzie Brown, C. (ed.), Asian Religious Responses to Darwinism: Evolutionary Theories in Middle Eastern, South Asian, and East Asian Cultural Contexts, Springer Nature

https://www.academia.edu/70252237/Sri_Aurobindo_s_Theory_of_Spiritual_Evolution
 

Antiracism & Spiritual Universalism. Japan, India, & the Development of Internationalism 

Akio Tanabe Apr 5, 2021 

Kinza Hirai Kakuzō Okakura, HS Olcott Anagarika Dharmapala Vivekananda Nikola Tesla World’s Parliament of Religions, 1893 to UNESCO, 1946  

https://politika.io/en/article/antiracism-and-spiritual-universalism-japan-india-and-the-development-of-internationalism

 

“Hinduism, Theosophy, & the Bhagavad Gita within a global religious history of the 19th century

Michael Bergunder - (Theosophy across Boundaries, 2021)

very good text, historically accurate, detailed, precise, 1877-1905 discusses influence on Vivekananda  

https://google.ca/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwi3us7LtaqBAxW1kYkEHYGaABkQFnoECCgQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Frmserv.wt.uni-heidelberg.de%2Fweb%2Fonline-artikel%2F2020-bergunder-hinduism-theosophy-and-the-bhagavad-gita.pdf&usg=AOvVaw2ZQm7lRzLHPyIwtsmvaKpt&opi=89978449

 

Guru to the World: The Life and Legacy of Vivekananda

Ruth Harris Harvard, 2022

Recent bio has rather weak  coverage of Theosophy, research outdated 10-20 years, a few good bits on Dharmapala and William Q Judge.

https://books.google.ca/books/about/Guru_to_the_World.html?id=rW2IEAAAQBAJ&redir_esc=y

 

There have been various exchanges and comments between Vivekananda and various theosophists. Overall, the commentaries from theosophists seem to have been generally supportive, with some criticisms. Vivekananda seems to have distanced himself from theosophy after the death of William Q Judge.

The Theosophist v16 December, 1894, p. 185 - Vivekananda's Appeal – anon

Theost y1895 v17 Dec Supplement p.15 - Swami Vivekananda in England - (The Standard) – anon

Theost y1897 v18 April Suppl. p.23 - Swami Vivekananda -- E.

Theost y1914 v35 February p790 - Svami Vivekananda & Theosophy -- anon

Good general overview

http://iapsop.com/archive/materials/theosophist/theosophist_v35_n5_feb_1914.pdf 

 

Part 1