Blavatsky and Buddhism

Colonel Olcott: Under Eastern Eyes
Uditha Devapriya – February 20, 2015
Not that he didn’t achieve. He established schools. He began with Ananda College in 1886. By 1907, the year he died, there were 183 Buddhist Theosophical Society (BTS) schools. That number multiplied as the decades went on. True to his “universalist” outlook, they sought to incorporate the best of East and West. Following a British curriculum while assimilating “localised” subjects like Pali and Sanskrit, they managed to bridge both worlds. In a way.
https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/colonel-olcott-under-eastern-eyes/

Review of Buddhist chapter of Diana Eck’s 2001 book
 A New Religious America: How a “Christian Country” Has Become the World’s Most Religiously Diverse Nation:
From this insider’s division of understanding, Eck moves on to an outsider’s typology with sections running in a rough chronological order based on appearance in the U.S.: The Chinese in America, Japanese Buddhists in America, The Pioneers (early European Americans who adopted and adapted the religion), and onward… All, or at least nearly all, of the “big names” in American Buddhism are represented, from Anagarika Dharmapala and Soyen Shaku to Paul Carus and Henry David Thoreau and Helena Petrova Blavatsky; D.T. Suzuki and Jan Chozen Bays, Jack Kerouac and Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Mahaghosananda, Henepola Gunaratana and Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg and Sylivia Boorstein, and of course Thich Nhat Hanh and the Dalai Lama along with at least a dozen others. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/americanbuddhist/2016/02/exploring-a-new-buddhist-america.html

Article on early Theosophy opponent Charles Pfoundes
The hidden history of Buddhism in the West:
During his three year mission in London and elsewhere in the UK starting in 1888 Pfoundes’ lectures were well attended given that he was apparently an engaging and interesting speaker. A photograph of him at this time shows him in the full regalia of a Japanese prelate, accoutrements that must have increased his authority and made him appear even more interesting. Newspaper reports of the time show that Pfoundes’ two main subjects were Buddhist doctrine and criticisms of Theosophy which he dismissed as nonsense masquerading as Buddhism.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=147069

French article on Tulpamancy current (negative appraisal of Theosophy, but interesting research) http://tulpa.wikia.com/wiki/Tulpamancy:
Donc l’interprétation de David-Néel est juste sans l’être. La pratique mentale utilisée est effectivement tibétaine, mais en revanche, la philosophie, les buts ne sont pas les mêmes. En fait nous rappelle Joffe, la croyance en la possibilité de créer des êtres par la force de la pensée est commune au sein de l’occultisme occidental… Le tulpa imaginée par Alexandra David-Néel était probablement influencée par l’ésotérisme « orientalisant » de la Société Théosophique et les écrits d’Helena Petrovna Blavatsky et Annie Besant, qui utilisaient les termes de « forme-pensée » et « d »élémental » pour décrire ce type de créature. Alexandra David-Neel était en effet membre de la Société Théosophique fondée par la première, puis dirigée par la seconde
http://internetactu.blog.lemonde.fr/2016/09/24/les-cultures-a-lheure-de-la-globalisation-pizzas-lamas-bols-chantants-et-tulpas/
see also:
https://earthenergyreader.wordpress.com/2016/12/15/tulpas-thought-forms-and-going-into-the-vortex/

New D. T. Suzuki collection mentions Theosophical connection:
Selected Works of D.T. Suzuki, Volume III: Comparative Religion, Volume 3
Univ of California Press, Aug 2, 2016 - 320 pages
https://books.google.ca/books?id=C4IkDQAAQBAJ&pg=PR24&lpg=PR24&dq=d+t+suzuki+theosophy&source=bl&ots=jVxC17pWeN&sig=zjoU7iLGGIGN33p1SVeVN4ZB474&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj2sMuu37XSAhXD64MKHcXGB1cQ6AEIPzAH#v=onepage&q=%20theosophy&f=false

Blavatsky and the Nine Unknown Men was a trendy topic recently - there's no substance to the story, but the Talbot Mundy novel is fun https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Nine_Unknown :
http://www.jasoncolavito.com/blog/the-copy-and-paste-mysteries-of-the-nine-unknown-men

A talk was given on Blavatsky recently at the Buddhist Society:

http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/the-amazing-madame-blavatsky

Blavatsky, Olcott and Sri Lanka

Article on Olcott in Sri Lanka - European warrior of the modern Buddhist mission:

Henry Steele Olcott was born on August 2, 1832, to a pious, Presbyterian family in Orange, New Jersey. On May 16, 1880, Olcott and Blavatsky arrived in Colombo first time and a few days later on May 25, at the Wijananda Temple in Galle, Olcott and Blavatsky observed five precepts. Olcott's second visit to Ceylon was in April, 1881, accompanied by Ven Mohottivatte Gunanando Thera.
http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/02/17/features/european-warrior-modern-buddhist-mission

How Western theosophists shaped modern Sri Lanka - Manisha Gunasekera
"While the Christian movement flourished with state sanction from early-19^th century, Buddhism was going through its own process of revival with the establishment of two new Buddhist Orders of Amarapura(1799) and Ramannna(1864), with links to Burma, andwith the formation of new Buddhist monastic institutions such asthe ParamaDhammaChetiyaPirivena in Ratmalana(in 1845), the VidyodayaPirivena in Maligakanda(in 1873) and the VidyalankaraPirivena in Peliyagoda(in 1875) (Meegama 2003).  These developments enlivened the contemporary polemical debate within Buddhism. The arrival of Blavatsky and Olcott in Sri Lanka in 1880 which led to the formation of the Buddhist Theosophical Society of Ceylon (which I will hereafter refer to as the BTS),coincided with and was catalysed by thevery public polemical debates between Evangelical Christianity and Buddhism, which culminated in the great Panadura debate of 1873 that catapultedMigettuwatteGunanadaTheroto international fame.[v]Olcott and Blavatsky on their arrival declared themselves to be Buddhists, and becamein Olcott’s own words “the first white champions”[vi] of the Buddhist revivalist movement in Ceylon.  Seven branches of the BTS were formed in Ceylon in 1880.
http://www.sundaytimes.lk/160807/sunday-times-2/tradition-modernity-and-elite-formation-203755.html

New Book on History of Sri Lanka, Colonialist Period:
Confrontations with Colonialism – Resistance, Revivalism and Reform under British Rule in Sri Lanka. 1796 – 1920 (Volume 1). By Dr. P.V.J. Jayasekara. Published by Vijitha Yapa, 2017. Pages 569. Rs 1,500. Reviewed by Leelananda De Silva.
The third chapter is on "Buddhism, Theosophy, and Nationalism". In the latter part of the 19th century three leading Theosophists, Blavatsky, Olcott, and Annie Beasant, made a powerful impact on Buddhist and nationalist movements in Ceylon. They were critical of "Western civilization, its materialism, and the claims of western science as the path to progress". They were critical of Christian missionaries, and they undermined the Christian missionary claim to superior wisdom and modern thinking. "The most popular theme of their public lectures was the spiritual superiority of oriental civilization, its ancient wisdom, as opposed to Western materialism. Theosophists played an important role in the revival and establishment of Buddhist educational institutions, especially in English.
http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=159188

 An animal shelter in Sri Lanka inspired by Olcott & Blavatsky:
"Mr. Senaka Weeraratna, Chapter Leader (Colombo Chapter) in his Welcome Address compared the visit of Bob Isaacson to an event that took place 135 years ago when another American lawyer and Civil War veteran by the name of Henry Steele Olcott arrived in Galle in 1880 with Madame Blavatsky, a Russian lady. They embraced Buddhism reciting pansil along with the Ti-sarana (taking refuge in the noble triple gem) at a Temple i.e. Vijayananda Pirivena, and thereafter embarked together with the support of indigenous Buddhist leaders like Anagarika Dharmapala to revive Buddhism in Sri Lanka. Henry Olcott addressed the weakest point in the Buddhist firmament namely Education and set up Buddhist schools which later blossomed into institutes of international renown such as Ananda, Nalanda, Mahinda, Dharmaraja, Sangamitta and Dharmasoka."
http://www.lankaweb.com/news/items/2015/10/25/dharma-voices-for-animals-colombo-chapter-inaugurated-with-call-for-creation-of-a-caring-and-compassionate-society-in-sri-lanka/