Jiddu Krishnamurti
Annie Besant
Alice Bailey
Rudolf Steiner
Omraam Mikael Ayvanhov
George Ivanovich Gurdjieff
Shri Rajneesh (Osho)
ANNIE BEZANT (1847-1933)
Annie Besant. We know her as a disciple and follower of Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, as the president of the Theosophical Society, as the author of many Theosophical works. But her path to Theosophy, to Divine wisdom was full of inner struggle.
Annie Besant was born on October 1, 1847, in England, into a family of zealous followers of the Anglican Church and was raised in a strict religious spirit. Curious, inquisitive and impressionable, she embraced Anglicanism with all her heart. The lofty structure of the religious young soul determined its life ideal as well. A marriage to an Anglican priest followed, but the marriage was unsuccessful. Her characteristic sincerity, inner honesty, aroused protests against the stiffness and hypocrisy of the Victorian rules of conduct supported by the church. Fierce internal strife led to an outward rejection of religion. Annie Besant becomes an atheist.
A heightened sense of justice, an inquisitive mind, energy forced her to delve into the study of the theory of socialism. The leader of the socialist movement, a well-known public figure in England, Charles Burrow, of whom she became an employee, had a tremendous influence on Annie Besant. She becomes a social reformer, and her talent as an organizer is soon revealed in the process. The struggle for the social rights of the poor captivated Annie Besant and highlighted all the striking features of her personality. Huge work on organizing charitable activities: collecting donations, opening canteens, hospitals for the poor. Speeches at meetings and rallies made Annie Besant's name popular in London. The articles and pamphlets written by her were distinguished by their sharpness of thought and passion. Her speeches were carried away, she was fluent in oratory. People were drawn to her, delighted with the courage, brightness, persuasiveness of the arguments. The articles were remembered for the imagery of the language, the severity of the style. Literary glory also came. Annie Besant became famous not only in London, but throughout England, becoming one of the leaders of the socialist movement.
Always devoting time to self-education, she did not miss the "Secret Doctrine" just published in English by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. The philosophical orientation of Annie Besant's mind, the desire to get to the essence of phenomena prompted her to treat this theosophical work with the deepest interest, which is a synthesis of religion, science and philosophy. The integrity and depth of the theosophical doctrine of the origin and evolution of the Cosmos and man, the truth of the doctrines of the relationship of all things in Blavatsky's presentation conquered Annie Besant, a convinced socialist and ardent propagandist of atheism. Personal acquaintance with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, deep study of the "Secret Doctrine", ancient esoteric postulates more and more convinced her of the need to radically change her life. The person known throughout England, who stands at the head of the socialist movement, Annie Besant, had to make her decision public, publicly announcing the change of ideals. Having abandoned the prosperous career of a socialist leader, she publishes the brochure Why I Became a Theosophist, which traces all the stages of her internal struggle. Having withstood all attacks and accusations, Annie Besant becomes an adherent of Theosophy.
The Theosophical Society, led by Blavatsky and located at that time in England, was going through hard times. The extraordinary personality of the president and the activities of the society were severely criticized both by official science and by representatives of the church. Annie Besant was not intimidated by the opportunity to also become the object of criticism. On the contrary, with all her characteristic passion, she directs her extraordinary abilities to the rehabilitation of Theosophy.
Besant becomes not only Blavatsky's student, but also an associate, and her brilliant organizational talent, her literary and oratorical gift are now manifesting themselves under the banner of Theosophy.
And here, in the Theosophical Society, at the center of its activity is serving people, facilitating their lot. Again Annie Besant deploys a wide network of charitable institutions - new shelters, food outlets, orphanages and hospitals are opening. This side of activity has won the popularity of the Theosophical Society and gratitude to him from a huge number of people. Public recognition of the Theosophical movement also came.
Annie Besant's active creative activity was aimed at popularizing Blavatsky's ideas and spreading theosophical views. She is driven by the conviction that "... for a person of ordinary mental development, with an ordinary education, accustomed to using reason in worldly affairs, to understand the main teachings of Theosophy, as something coherent and synthesizing, nothing is required but unremitting attention and everyday mental development ". This is what Besant said at one of her many lectures.
A follower of Blavatsky, she defined Theosophy as a broad worldview, "... which is capable of satisfying reason as philosophy and, at the same time, giving the world an all-embracing religion and ethics ..." as "a single source from which all teachings, all sacred books of the East, all ancient teachings that have survived to this day, containing knowledge about God, about man, about the Universe. "
Annie Besant's creative work was active and fruitful. The books published by her "On the Eve of the Temple", "The Path to the Initiation and Perfection of Man", "Spiritual Alchemy", "The Brotherhood of Religions", "The Laws of Higher Life" and many others reveal to the reader the depths of Divine wisdom.
After the death of H.P. Blavatsky, Besant devoted much effort to preparing for the publication of the works left by the founder of the Theosophical Society, preserving for the reader every word of his Teacher.
In 1907, after the death of Blavatsky's deputy Henry Olcott, Annie Besant herself became the president of the Theosophical Society and led it for 26 years until 1933, until the end of her life.
The Society's activities took place first in England, then in India, in Madras. All this time, Annie Besant's bright speeches, participation in congresses, lectures contributed to the wide dissemination of ancient knowledge and in India helped many to turn to their spiritual and philosophical roots. The social activity of the new president of the Theosophical Society draws her into the thick of politics, and since 1889. to 1891 she is the chairman of India's largest political party, the Indian National Congress. However, Theosophy remains an urgent necessity for Besant, she continues to lecture, deliver lectures, and work a lot on books on Theosophy.
An internal dispute with the church ended with the admission that "in ancient times theosophy brought religions to life, in our times it must justify them." This situation caused the appearance of the book "Esoteric Christianity", where the reader finds a study of the roots of religions on the basis of Besant's deepest knowledge of the ancient origins and works of the church fathers, the ancient Greek mysteries and teachings of the Neoplatonists, the works of the Gnostics and comparative mythology. Annie Besant's brilliant literary talent opens with her book "On the Eve of the Temple", where the path to the heights of spiritual knowledge is shown figuratively and colorfully, using ancient sacred chants. "But if you want to know," writes Besant, "not only to hope, not only to passionately desire, not only to believe, but to know with certainty and conviction, unable to hesitate, then you must seek the Divine spirit not outside, but within yourself."
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Annie Besant
Confession
Foreword
Among the memoirs and autobiographies that mark the end of the century with their numbers, a new book by Annie Besant, a famous social activist in England, attracts special attention. Like the diaries of prominent people living the life of their time, Annie Besant's autobiography is an eloquent page in the psychology of time. The future historian of the era we are living through will not pass by this truthful confession, which so simply depicts the spiritual life of a woman who is outstanding in her mind and spiritual strength. The psychological interest of this "document humain" can only be compared with another woman's autobiography, the diary of Maria Bashkirtseva, which so strongly excited the minds several years ago.
Maria Bashkirtseva and Annie Besant are representatives of different trends of the same time, they with equal completeness and sincerity reflect different aspects of modernity, are equally full of consciousness of their strength and faith exclusively in the voice of their own soul. Maria Bashkirtseva was one of the first to reflect the new moods that combine extreme skepticism with idealistic and partly mystical impulses; her diary was the starting point of those complex literary and aesthetic movements that have been given the conventional, inexplicable nickname of decadence. The same psychological background is felt in all of Annie Besant's activities and is reflected in her autobiography. The struggle of contradictory aspirations, the contrasts of faith and unbelief were transferred from the purely psychological to the intellectual; she is not interested in the nuances of moods, but in the truth of certain convictions, she is full not of a cult of herself, but of some kind of spontaneous love for humanity, a thirst for deeds of self-sacrifice. But the vicissitudes of her spiritual struggle, the alarming search for new forms corresponding to the depth of her impulses - all this makes the strong personality of the English preacher and agitator in common with the artistic temperament of Bashkirtseva. Both of them strongly and deeply reflected the nature of our transitional era - the thirst for faith and the need for love, on the one hand, and, on the other, the inability to reconcile our spiritual impulses with any of the existing religious or philosophical forms, the inability for integral activity that does not know hesitation.
Annie Besant has strongly occupied the attention of English society over the past twenty years and her name is associated with such opposite phenomena of social life that, it would seem, participation in one excludes the possibility of communication with the other. As the wife of an Anglican pastor whom she married out of sympathy for his priestly mission, after a few years she openly severed all ties with the church and joined the atheist movement, led by the famous Bradlow. Inspiring general resentment and sacrificing not only her position in society, but her maternal feelings, Annie Besant showed the consistency of her nature and did not stop before the practical consequences of her new convictions. A loyal assistant to Bradlow during the difficult days of his political career, she was the leader of mass movements associated with the propaganda of materialism and discovered a moral courage close to heroism in her clashes with society. But in the midst of Bradlow's activities, Annie Besant suddenly - so it could at least seem to the public and even the friends of the ardent atheist - removed her signature from the cover of Bradlow's magazine and in the next issue of the magazine announced in print about a new change in her beliefs, about her disagreement with the doctrine materialists. Very soon thereafter, she became an active member of socialist associations, joined the "Fabian Society" and all went into practice, guided by certain economic theories. This phase of her life was as full of love for people and a readiness to serve them as the previous stages of her spiritual development, and her strong, talented personality left a deep imprint on socialist propaganda during the period of her participation in it.
But socialism was with Annie Besant the same transitional stage as atheism. In 1889, in Paris, she met HP Blavatsky, who was temporarily living there; Carried away at first by her personal charm, she became better acquainted with her teachings and found in Theosophy a solution to those spiritual doubts, to which she could not find an answer either in Anglicanism or in the teachings of materialists and economists. Theosophy is the last teaching in which Annie Besant believed and to which it remains true to this day. The former preacher of radical political theories, who thundered the exploitation of the capitalist system in front of gatherings of many thousands of people, calling for open indignation, continues to speak in front of a crowd of thousands; her outstanding oratorical talent, sincerity and persuasiveness of her speeches still attract a crowd of listeners to the readings and meetings organized by her. But the general tone of her sermons changed along with the changed content; She sees not in economic theories the salvation of mankind, but in the deepening of man into himself. An enthusiastic love of freedom was replaced by faith in inexorable "karma", and Annie Besant travels to all countries where English is dominant, preaching an ascetic attitude to life and setting out the foundations of the teachings of the Mahatmas. A zealous associate of Blavatsky during the latter's life, devoted to the cause to the point of fanaticism, Annie Besant became Blavatsky's successor after her death. At present, she is the chairman of the London branch of the Theosophical Society (Blayatsky Lodge), is in charge of the philanthropic affairs of the society and concentrates all spiritual forces on the propaganda of Theosophy by the pen and the word, especially the word, which she knows so perfectly.
Whether Annie Besant has reached the final phase of her psychic life in Theosophy, this, of course, cannot be foreseen, in spite of the conviction with which she now speaks of the path to truth that she has found. One cannot doubt the sincerity of Annie Besant's theosophical views, but one can hope that they will give way to a different worldview, the idealism of which does not need such confirmation as letters falling from the ceiling, the appearance of astral bodies, etc. Annie Besant shares this hope of connoisseurs and well-wishers Gladstone, who devoted a long article to the analysis of her autobiography. “Let's hope,” he says, “for her own sake, that Mrs Besant will complete the full circle of beliefs and end up somewhere near the point from which she left.”
Annie Besant's autobiography provides an inner story of the amazing metamorphoses that spill over her life. For superficial observers of human actions, these frequent and strange transitions caused only distrust of the strength of character of Annie Besant, condescending disregard for her female weakness and suppleness; even opinions were expressed that the preacher, deprived of initiative, was carried away primarily by the people who were at the head of this or that movement, and following them, she became an obedient instrument in their hands. Of course, the thought of Annie Besant's passivity disappears when first meeting the course of her life - not a woman's weakness, but heroic fortitude in the search for truth was needed in order to go so fearlessly against public opinion in matters of faith and morality, as did the woman who started his oppositional activities from twenty-five years. Her mental life did not develop under other people's influences - this is clearly seen from the fact that the first and decisive doubts about the truth of church teachings arose in her amid the pietistic atmosphere of her family hearth; only after walking alone with herself the difficult path of hesitation and doubt and finally losing faith, she began to look for people who shared her changed views. The same thing happened in later moments of disappointments and transitions, from which she herself suffered the most, not counting herself, however, in the right to sacrifice the truth, for the sake of external peace. Something deeper than outside influences or the superficial vacillation of an immature mind lies at the heart of Annie Besant's life. She vividly and fully reflected in herself the contrasts that get along in the modern soul and bring anxiety not only to the mental, but also to the mental life.
The autobiography of Annie Besant illuminates step by step all the difficulties of the path she traveled, and in its simple and sincere presentation, the story of her doubts and searches becomes close and understandable to the modern reader. Many people with a sensitive soul went through the phases of spiritual life that it experienced, but rarely did anyone have the courage to reconcile their life with the suggestions of the soul and, listening only to the voice of their own conscience, unswervingly follow the path of the learned truth, no matter how others feel about it.
Annie Besant's book was met by English critics with the contradictory reviews that in most cases are found in works that bear the imprint of a strong personality. Some understood its modern character and welcomed the sincere reflection of moods and thoughts that are close to everyone; others remained blind to the internal motives revealed by the author, and with only the facts in mind, called spinelessness and mental weakness that in essence constitutes proof of heroic strength of character. Annie Besant's critics were joined a few months ago by Gladstone, who wrote in the Nineteenth Century about her autobiography. 1
True and false conceptions of the Atonement. By the Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone, M. P. (Nineteenth Century September 1894).
This article decided the fate of the book, which immediately became famous, like everything that Gladstone would say at least one word about. It is characteristic that for all the integrity and positiveness of his worldview, Gladstone raises his authoritative voice in defense of books that seem to be very far from his spiritual world. He introduced into fashion, so to speak, Bashkirtseva's diary in England; now he has come up with an article about Mrs Besant. There is something spontaneous in the currents of time, if their reflection penetrates even the consciousness of people who are far from the currents themselves, but are sensitive to the phenomena of life around them.
Gladstone's article is of a very special nature. The author rebels against the view of Annie Besant on the teaching of the Church of England about the atonement by Jesus Christ of the sins of mankind. He proves the groundlessness of her criticism of the teachings of the Church and delves into arguments of a purely dogmatic nature. All his evidence is aimed at defending one point that embarrassed Annie Besant and led her to break with the church. But before going into the details of a dogmatic nature, Gladstone gives in a few words a general description of his autobiography: “This book,” he says, “is of great interest. She inspires sympathy for the author, not only as a highly gifted person, but as a seeker of truth, although, unfortunately, at one point of the story, her reasoning causes an unpleasant impression. " These last words refer to the controversial issue of reconciling Christ's innocent suffering with the concept of God's justice.
Zin. Vengerova
Preface by the author
It is difficult to convey the story of someone else's life, but it becomes even more difficult when it comes to your own life story. Even at its best, the story will carry the stamp of vanity. The only justification for such descriptions is that the life of a middle-level person reflects many other lives in itself, and in such a troubling time as ours, it can represent the experience of not one, but several life stories. Thus, the autobiography writer does so in order, at the cost of some suffering, to shed light on some of the problems of his contemporaries; perhaps he will thereby be able to lend a helping hand to his brother struggling in the dark, and to encourage him in a moment of discouragement. All of us, men and women, of a restless and sensitive generation, are surrounded by forces that we vaguely recognize, but do not understand, are dissatisfied with old ideas and are somewhat afraid of new ones, we greedily pounce on the material results of knowledge and science, but we look inquiringly at its attitude to the soul, we are shy superstition, but we are even more alienated from atheism, we turn away from empty shells, experienced beliefs, but we feel an irresistible striving for spiritual ideals. We all experience the same anxiety, the same suffering, the same full of vague hopes and a passionate thirst for knowledge. Therefore, it is possible that the experience of one of us can be of benefit to others; it is possible that the story of a soul that went on a journey alone, in the midst of darkness, and came to light, overcame the storm and came to peace, will be able to bring a glimpse of light and tranquility into the darkness and storm of other lives.
Chapter I
"From the eternal to the transitory"
On October 1, 1847, as I know for certain, I first opened my eyes and saw the light of a London day at 539 pm.
I always hate to remember that I was born in London, while three-quarters of my blood and all my heart belong to Ireland. My mother was a purebred Irish, my father was Irish by his mother, and by his father belonged to the Devonshire Wood family. The Woods were a native English farmer, and managed their land in an honest and independent manner. In later times, they began to gravitate towards intellectual pursuits, especially since Matthew Wood was elected mayor of London and fought on the side of Queen Caroline against her pious and gracious regal consort; he also rendered substantial assistance to the Duke of Kent and was elevated for his services to the barony by the royal daughter, Duke of Kent. Since then, the Woods gave England the Lord Chancellor in the person of the noble and pure-hearted Lord Gatherle, and many other family members differed in different ways of serving the fatherland. But I still cannot overcome a certain annoyance with them for bringing English blood into the veins of my father, who had an Irish mother, who was born in the north of Ireland and raised at Trinity College Dublin. The Irish language sounds a special harmony to my ears, the Irish nature is especially close to my heart. Only in Ireland does it happen that an exhausted woman dressed in rags will tenderly answer you on the question of how to get to some old monument: “Here, dear,” she will say, “climb only the hillock and turn the corner, and then everyone will show you road. And there you will see the place where the blessed Saint Patrick set foot on our land, and may he bless you. " In other countries, old women, in such poverty, are not so cheerful, affable and talkative. And where, besides Ireland, will you see the population of an entire city pouring out to the station to say goodbye to half a dozen immigrants, and forming a continuous mass of men and women who scurry back and forth and climb one on top of another, for the last kiss of those leaving; everyone is crying and laughing at the same time, trying to cheer up their friends, and there is such excitement in the air that you start to feel a tightness in your throat and tears come to your eyes as the train departs. Where, besides Ireland, you happen to shake the streets on a bad cocktail, next to some silent Jervie, who, suddenly learning that spies from the "castle" are following you, becomes talkative and friendly and begins to show you on the way everything that could be of any interest? Blessed be the talkativeness and warm hearts of this people, which are so easy to lead, but so difficult to push around! Blessed be the ancient country, once inhabited by powerful sages and later turned into an island of saints! it will turn again into an island of sages when the wheel of fate will complete a circle.
My maternal grandfather was a typical Irishman. As a child, I felt great respect for him and some fear. He belonged to the seedy Irish family of the Maurice family, and in his youth he spent a lot of fun with his beautiful wife, as frivolous as himself, all the fortune he had left. In old age, in spite of the whiteness of his long and thick hair, at the slightest occasion he discovered the hotness of Irish blood, was hot-tempered to the point of rage, but very easily calmed down. My mother was the second daughter in a large family, which was growing more and more at a time when money became increasingly scarce. My mother was taken up by her unmarried aunt, whose memory passed through my mother's childhood into my own and influenced the character of both of us. This aunt, like most descendants of seedy families in Ireland, was very proud of her family tree, the foundation of which was rooted in the inevitable "kings." The aunt's special kings were the "Seven Kings of France," "The Kings of Milesia," and the tree showing this origin was spread in all its majesty on the parchment that adorned the fireplace of the humble living room. This ugly document was the subject of deep awe for little Amelia, an awe quite undeserved, I dare to think, unworthy kings, with whom she, fortunately, was in the most distant relationship. Expelled from France, probably not without sufficient reason, they went by sea to Ireland and there continued to lead their dissolute, predatory way of life. But so amazingly changes the whole passage of time that these vicious and cruel people became something like a moral thermometer in the house of a good-natured Irish lady of the first half of this century. My mother told me that when in childhood she committed any offense, her aunt raised her eyes above her glasses and, casting a stern glance at the guilty one, said: "Emilia, your behavior is unworthy of descent from the seven kings of France." And Emilia, with her gray Irish eyes and thick black curls, began to cry from remorse and shame for her insignificance; a vague consciousness stirred in her that these regal, undeniable for her, ancestors would despise her, a petite, sweet girl so unworthy of their imaginary greatness.
These fantastic shadows of the past had a strong influence on her as a child and made her flee everything unworthy and petty. She was ready at the cost of all suffering to save herself from the slightest shadow of dishonor and instilled in me, her only daughter, the same proud and passionate horror of shame or deserved condemnation. It was suggested to me that you should always walk with your head up in front of people and keep an unblemished name, because suffering can be endured, but dishonor never. A woman of a good circle should prefer death from starvation to debt; if her heart breaks with pain, she should keep a smile on her face. I often thought that these lessons of isolation and proud sense of honor were a strange preparation for my tumultuous life, which brought with it so much condemnation and slander; undoubtedly, this sensitivity instilled in me from childhood to judgments about my personal purity and personal honor increased my suffering in the face of social indignation; The acuteness of this suffering will only be understood by someone who has gone through the same school of self-respect as me. And yet, perhaps my upbringing led to yet another result, outweighing in importance the intensification of suffering in life; an insistent inner voice formed in me, rising and inwardly establishing the purity of my intentions when a low lie touched me; he urged me to look at my enemies with contempt, not condescending to justify or defend my actions, and to say to myself, when the most loud condemnation was heard: “I am not what you think I am, and your sentence cannot change my nature. You cannot make me low, no matter what you think of me, and I will never become in my own eyes what I now seem to you. " Thus, pride served me as a shield against moral humiliation, because although I lost the respect of society, I could not tolerate the stains on myself in my own eyes - and this is not a useless thing for a woman cut off, as I was at one time, from home. , friends and society. Therefore, rest in peace to the old aunt and her senseless kings, to whom I still owe something. I am grateful to the memory of this woman I have never seen for her concern for the upbringing of my mother, the most loving and gentle, proud and pure of women. How good it is if you can look back at the image of the mother, as the ideal of all that was dear and lofty in childhood and first adolescence, when her face was the beauty of the house, and her love was both the sun and the shield. No later feeling in life can make up for the lack of perfect attachment between mother and child. With us, this attachment has never diminished or waned. Although my change of faith and the social ostracism brought on by this caused her great suffering and hastened even her death, this did not bring the slightest shadow into our cordial relations; although it was most difficult to resist her requests in later years and I endured terrible torments in the struggle with her, even this did not create a chasm between us, did not bring cold to our mutual relations. And I think of her today with the same love and gratitude with which I treated her during my lifetime. I have never seen a woman more selflessly devoted to those whom she loved, more passionately hating everything petty and low, more sensitive in matters of honor, more solid and at the same time more tender. She made my childhood bright, like a fairy-tale world, she protected me until my very marriage from any suffering that she could remove or endure in my place and suffered more than myself in all the difficult moments of my later life. She died in May 1874 in the little house I rented for us in Norwood; grief, poverty and illness strained her strength until the onset of old age.
My earliest memories are of a house and garden in Grove Rode St. Jones Wood, where we lived when I was three and four years old, I remember my mother bustling around the dinner table to give everything a cozy and welcoming look when my husband came; my brother, who is two years older than me, and I are waiting for my dad; we know that he will happily greet us, and that we will still be able to play and fool around with him before the adults' dinner. I remember how on October 1, 1851, I jumped out of my little bed early in the morning and declared in a triumphant voice: “Daddy! Mother! I am four years old". On the same day, my brother, realizing that I had really grown older, asked with a significant air at dinner: "Could I give Annie a knife today, since she was four years old?"
In the same year, 1851, I experienced great chagrin when I was not taken to the exhibition, finding that I was still too young; I vaguely remember how my brother, in order to console me, brought me a multi-colored folding picture depicting all the delights of the exhibition, so that my curiosity flared even more. What are all these distant, poor, meaningless memories. What a pity that a child cannot notice and observe, cannot memorize and thus shed light on how the impressions of the external world arise in human consciousness. If only we could remember the kind of objects when they were first imprinted on our reticular shell; if we recall what we felt when we first began to relate consciously to the outside world, when the faces of the father and mother began to stand out from the surrounding chaos and become familiar objects, the appearance of which causes a smile, and the disappearance of them - crying; if only memory were not clothed in fog, when in later years we want to go back in thought to the dark time of childhood, how many lessons would we learn for the benefit of psychology now wandering in the darkness, how many questions could be resolved, answers to which we are in vain to seek in the West.
The next scene, which clearly stands out in my memory against the background of the past, refers to the time of my father's death. The events that caused his death are known to me from the stories of my mother. My father all his life continued to love the profession for which he prepared in his youth; having many acquaintances among doctors, he sometimes went with them to hospitals or worked in the anatomical theater. It happened once that while opening the corpse of a man who had died of fleeting consumption, my father cut his finger on the edge of the sternum. The wound was healed with great difficulty, the finger was swollen and severely inflamed. “If I were you, Wood, I would have had my finger amputated,” said one surgeon I knew who examined the finger a few days later. But others began to laugh at his advice, and my father, who wanted to agree to amputation, decided to leave it to nature.
About half of August 1852, he got wet, riding in the rain on an imperial omnibus, and caught a bad cold that fell on his chest. One of the famous doctors of the time was summoned, as skillful in his work as he was rude in handling. He carefully examined his father, listened to his chest and left the room, accompanied by his mother. "What's the matter with him?" she asked, expecting an answer without much excitement and thinking only that it would be unpleasant for her husband to sit idle at home for a while. “Don't be discouraged,” came the doctor's careless answer. "He has fleeting consumption and won't live more than six weeks." My mother leaned back at these words and fell to the ground like a stone. But love prevailed over grief, and after half an hour she was again at her husband's bedside, not retreating from him either day or night until his death.
I was taken to his bed, "to say goodbye to dear dad," the day before his death, and I remember how frightened I was by his wide eyes and the strange voice with which he took from me a promise to obey and love my mom, because dads will no longer be. I remember how I insisted that my dad kiss Sherri, the doll that I received as a gift from him a few days before, and how I began to cry and resist when they wanted to take me out of the room. The father died the next day, October 30; my brother and I were sent to my grandfather, my mother's father, and we returned home only a day after the funeral. When the moment of death came, the strength left my mother and she was carried unconscious from the room. I was later told that, having come to her senses, she began insistently demanding that she be left alone, and locked herself in her room for the night; The next morning, her mother, finally convincing her daughter to let her into her room, recoiled when she looked at her and shouted: "God, Emilia, you are completely gray-haired!" And so it was; the black, shiny mass of her hair, which gave a special charm to her face by its contrast with her large gray eyes, turned gray from the suffering of that night; in my recollections, my mother’s face is always framed by silvery, smoothly combed hair, white as freshly fallen snow.
I heard from others that the mutual love of my parents was something truly beautiful, and there is no doubt that this was reflected in the character of the mother throughout her future life. My father was an extremely intelligent and brilliantly educated man; mathematician and at the same time an expert in classical languages, he was fluent in French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, knew a little of ancient Hebrew and ancient Irish, and was fond of studying ancient and new literature. Most of all, he loved to sit with his wife, reading aloud to her while she worked, sometimes translating some foreign poet, sometimes melodiously conveying the sonorous stanzas of Queen Mab. While doing a lot of philosophy, he was imbued with deep skepticism; I was told by a very religious relative that my mother often had to leave the room in order not to listen to his frivolous mockery of the dogmas of the Christian church.
His mother and sister were strict Catholic and when he was dying they brought the priest into his room; the latter, however, had to leave at once, in view of the anger of the dying man and the persistence of his wife, who decided not to allow the messenger of the hated religion to her husband, so as not to darken his last minutes.
Very well-read in the field of philosophical knowledge, my father was above the orthodox religion of his time; and his wife, whose boundless love excluded any criticism, tried to reconcile her religiosity with his skepticism, saying that "a woman should be devout," and a man has the right to read everything and think whatever, as long as he remains an honest and decent person ... But the result of his free views on religion was a gradual change in her beliefs and some concessions to rationalism. In later years, she enjoyed reading the works of people such as Joet, Colenzo, Stanley. The last of them seemed to her the ideal of gentlemanliness in Christianity, gentleness, open-mindedness and beautiful piety. The nakedness of ordinary evangelical worship offended her taste, just as the lack of evidence of evangelical principles angered her reason. She loved to acknowledge her Christianity in an uplifting and artistic setting, to take part in divine services amidst solemn music and in artistically constructed temples.
Westminster Abbey was her favorite church, thanks to the semi-darkness and solemnity reigning in it; carved chairs in which the choir is located and from where measured singing is heard, the beauty of multi-colored windows, protruding arches united in separate groups of columns, the rich harmony of organ sounds, the ashes of great people of the past around, the memory of the past, which, as it were, is part of the structure itself - all this gave in her eyes a special majesty to religion, elevated her soul.
To me, who was more passionate about religion, such an elegant and refined piety seemed dangerous to true faith; she was unpleasantly struck by the fervor of my faith and its manifestation in life; it seemed to her an extreme, incongruous with the graceful balance that a noble woman should possess. She was a person of old concepts, but I belonged by nature to a fanatical nature. I often think, returning in my thoughts to the past, that she was often asked to come out of the never uttered phrase, which finally burst out before her death: “my dear,” she said, “you have never grieved me with anything other than your own suffering; you have always been too full of the thought of religion. " And after that, she whispered to herself, as it were: “Yes, this is Annie's misfortune; she is too religious. " It seems to me that the voice of the dying mother spoke the truth, and the dying eyes revealed deep insight. Although at that moment, when I was kneeling in front of her bed, I was a heretic, from whom society recoiled. My heart was full of faith, expressed in the passion of my denial of religion and revolutionary protest against dogmas that demean reason and do not satisfy the soul. I went into darkness alone, not because religion was inaccessible to me, but because it was insufficient for me; she was too insignificant, banal, demanded too little for herself, too much in accordance with earthly interests, was too calculating in her compromises with social conditions. The Roman Catholic Church, if it possessed me, as it almost happened, would entrust me with some dangerous and sacrificial mission and would make me a martyr; the statutory church turned me into an unbeliever and an enemy of religion.
Childhood and adolescence of Anna Besant
Anna Besant's parents were of Irish descent, which she was proud of until the end of her days.
Unfortunately, Anna Besant lost her father early, so she learned from the age of five what poverty and social injustice are, with which, as an adult, she mercilessly fought.
Foster family of Anna Besant
After the death of her husband, Anna Besant's mother worked a lot, but she could not find the funds to support her daughter and, moreover, for her education. Therefore, she made a difficult decision for herself - to place young Anna Besant in the care of her good friend Ellen Marriet.
The adoptive family, of course, was not a "home nest", nevertheless, this allowed Anna Besant to receive a very good education and early to get carried away with religion and philosophy.
Anne Besant's unsuccessful marriage
At the age of eighteen, Anna married Frank Besant, but, unfortunately, their marriage was not destined to be happy - they very quickly parted due to religious differences.
In addition to religious differences, the spouses also had exclusively material difficulties. To realize her talents, Anna Besant wrote short stories for children, but, unfortunately, at that time the rights of women were severely infringed, so she could not receive royalties for them. Instead, her husband received them, who did not recognize women's freedom and believed that the wife belonged to the man, and was not his companion in life. Naturally, the combination of all these factors and the freedom-loving character of Anna Besant did their job ...
Pursuit of Anna Besant
After the divorce, Anna Besant moved to London, where she began to engage in active social activities and soon became very famous speakers in the circles of the National Secular Society (secularism is the concept that government and other sources of law should exist separately from any type of religion and religious faith).
In 1877, Anne Besant and one of her friends were prosecuted for publishing Charles Nolton's The Fruits of Philosophy, which dealt with birth control and, in particular, the seditious right of women to have an abortion at the time. But, detractors, instead of denigrating the name of the rebellious girl, only brought her glory - she became known to many people, which later helped her a lot.
Social activities of Anna Besant
After the scandal with the publication of the book, the rebellious spirit of Anna Besant manifested itself even more forcefully, and she began to increasingly take part and organize various political actions, as a rule, which had a resounding success. In addition to various speeches, Anna Besant participated in strikes of match factory workers, was a member of the Fabian Society and the Marxist Social Democratic Federation, and so on.
Anna Besant and the Freemasons
Spending a lot of time on political issues, as well as being keenly interested in the occult sphere, Anna Besant "went out" to the Masons. As in all areas of her life, she devoted herself passionately to Masonic activities, and as a result, in 1902, she founded an international Masonic order in England, and then over the next few years, Anna Besant became the founder of several more Masonic lodges in various parts of the British Empire ( 3 in London, 3 in the south of England, 3 in the North and Northwest, and even 1 in Scotland).
Some have researched Anna Besant's life and claim that she also formed new Masonic lodges in South America, Canada, India, Ceylon, Australia and New Zealand.
The beginning of the theosophical path of Anna Besant
Anna Besant's fascination with theosophy began after her meeting with Helena Blavatsky. This happened in 1889, when Anne Besant was asked to write a review of Blavatsky's fundamental work, The Secret of Doctrine, which had just recently been published. After reading the book itself, Anna Besant was greatly impressed and wanted to meet the author. Upon personal acquaintance, Elena Petrovna made an even greater positive impression on Anna Besant, arousing in her a fiery interest in Theosophy.
From that moment on, Anna Besant became not only a student of Helena Blavatsky, but also her faithful companion. And after the death of her teacher, she gives a lot of energy to prepare for the publication of her works.
Anne Besant's Journey to India
After meeting with Helena Blavatsky, Anna Besant went to India in 1898 to directly touch the source of Wisdom. There she studied the Bhagavad Gita and later wrote a book of commentaries on this sacred text. In addition, in the same year, Anna Besant establishes the Central Indian College in Benares.
Anna Besant liked India so much that she moved to her for permanent residence.
Anna Besant - reformer of theosophy
In 1908, Anne Besant was elected president of the Theosophical Society, which she led for 26 years until her death.
Upon taking office, Anna Besant almost immediately transgresses to reform it, trying to reorient the "Buddhist" orientation to the "Hindu" one.
Anna Besant's struggle for Indian independence
Despite her theosophical busyness, Anna Besant does not cease to lead an active social life, striving to combine these two vectors of her life. Anna Besant pays particular attention to the issue of Indian independence.
With the outbreak of the First World War, Anna Besant became one of the organizers of the League of Self-Government of India, and in 1917 she was elected to the presidency of the Indian National Congress.
Anna Besant and Jiddu Krishnamurti
Theosophists of that time were waiting for the appearance of a new Messiah, and for the role of such a young Jiddu Krishnamurti was chosen by Anna Besant, whose father, being an orthodox Brahmin, was a member of the Theosophical Society. For material reasons, he and his family moved to Adyar, where Charles Webster Leadbeater, who possessed the gift of clairvoyance, noticed Jeddah while walking. Krishnamurti later said that Leadbeater's "discovery" saved him, both physically and spiritually.
The Theosophists took the young Krishnamurti under their care - caring for him and providing him with an excellent education. A year later, Anna Besant personally formalized custody of him.
It is not known whether Jiddu Krishnamurti was really the messiah the Theosophists were waiting for, but after many years he became a famous philosopher and spiritual teacher. Nevertheless, Krishnamurti himself voluntarily and formally renounced the role imposed on him by the Theosophists, dissolving the "Order of the Star of the East", specially created to support him. Naturally, this greatly wounded Anna Besant and did not pass without leaving a trace for her.
The literary legacy of Anna Besant
Anna Besant was a hardworking woman who did not tolerate idleness, so it is not surprising that she left behind a great literary legacy. Anna Besant is the author of such books as "The Brotherhood of Religions", "Ancient Wisdom", "Laws of Higher Life", "Research of Consciousness", "Mysticism", "Does Theosophy Contradict Christianity?" The path of discipleship ”,“ Perfect man ”,“ What is Theosophy ”and many others. Also, in co-authorship with Charles Leadbeater, Anna Besant wrote The Lives of Alcyone, Thought Forms, The Beginning of the Sixth Root Race, and Occult Chemistry.
Most of Anna Besant's works have been translated into many languages of the world and are still being reprinted.
Death of Anna Besant
© Alexey Kupreichik
Annie Wood Besant, 1847-1933
Annie Wood Besant is a truly strong character, publicist, excellent orator, theosophist and fighter for justice.
Annie was born on October 1, 1847 in the suburbs of London to a family of Irish descent, which she was proud of all her life. Her father worked as a doctor, but, unfortunately, he passed away when the girl was only 5 years old. The family, having lost the breadwinner, began to experience severe financial difficulties. The mother had to work as a cleaner at a local school, but there was still not enough money to support her daughter. In the end, Annie's mother decides to place her daughter in the care of her good friend Ellen Marriet. In a foster family, the girl received an excellent education. At an early age, Annie began to show an interest in fiction, philosophical and religious literature, which caused great approval from the household.
At the age of eighteen, she meets twenty-six-year-old Anglican priest Frank Besant, brother of the famous English writer Walter Besant. After a year, they form a marriage.
Soon Frank becomes a curate, and the young family moves to Lincolnshire. A few years later, they have children - a son Arthur and a daughter Mabel. Over time, relations between the spouses began to heat up, disagreements arose. Annie wrote small children's stories, but at that time, a married woman was forbidden to have any property and her husband took all the money he earned. Life at church seemed to Annie limited both spiritually and physically, she needed more freedom. The conflict came to a head when Annie refused to participate in the Sacrament. In 1873, the marriage breaks up, after a legal showdown, the son remains with his father, and Annie and her daughter leave for London. It was there that she met the English philosopher Charles Bradlow, one of the founders of the National Secular Society. On his recommendation, Besant began giving public lectures and publishing in the National Reformer magazine, which Bradlow publishes. Annie turned out to be a gifted speaker and journalist.
Especially Besant and Bradlow became famous in 1877, after the publication of a book by Charles Nolton entitled "The Fruits of Philosophy", which dealt with the so-called "family control" and considered the rights of women to voluntary abortion. For the release of such "atheistic" work to the masses, both of them were prosecuted. Subsequent proceedings in court marked the beginning of the existence of the Malthusian League. The ex-husband, taking advantage of the situation, sued his daughter from her rebellious mother. However, this scandal brought them considerable popularity. Liberals began to actively support them, and soon Charles Bradlow was elected to parliament, but refused to take the oath, which caused strong outrage among Christians.
In the meantime, Annie Besant is forging contacts with the Irish House of Government and actively supports them in her articles. In particular, she meets Michael Davitt, who promotes the idea of mobilizing Irish peasants against the landlords.
Despite the fact that women were not eligible to vote at the time, Annie Besant was elected to the London School Council and spearheaded several progressive school reforms.
Thanks to her passion for socialism, she met Bernard Shaw, after which she became an outstanding orator in the Fabian Society. On November 13, 1887, Annie speaks at a demonstration in Trafalgar Square. Later this event will be called "Bloody Sunday".
The key moment in Besant's life was his acquaintance with Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. In 1889, Annie was asked to write a review for the Pall Mall Gazette of the recently published book The Secret Doctrine. After getting to know the work, she decided to meet with the author, who was in Paris at the time. Blavatsky made a huge impression on Annie and aroused in her a deep interest in Theosophy. From that moment, Annie Besant began a spiritual path, and acquired a desire to change the world and humanity for the better. She visited India more than once with Blavatsky. And even after the death of Elena Petrovna, Besant remained one of the outstanding figures of the Theosophical Society, and in 1908 she became its president.
The desire for equality between a man and a woman, as well as a passion for spiritual teachings, awakened Annie's interest in Freemasonry. Thus, Besant finds himself among the initiates of the International Mixed Masonic Order "Human Right". The idea of true brotherhood, where men and women of different nationalities and religions work side by side to improve humanity, has had a huge impact on her. It is Annie who forms the first lodges of the Order of the "Human Right" in England. Later, thanks to her efforts, new lodges appeared in South America, Canada, India, Ceylon, Australia and New Zealand. Soon all of these lodges were named the "British Federation of the Order of the Right of Human", and Annie Besant was given the status of the Grand Commander of the Order. Also, under her influence, a charter appeared, which was named "Rite of Dharma", which is also called "Rite of Besant-Leadbeater" or "Ritual of Rodeldale". In this ritual, special attention was paid to the importance of the esoteric and mystical aspects, which, according to Theosophists, constituted the heart of Freemasonry.
Annie Besant left for the Eternal East on September 20, 1933. Her grave is located in India in the city of Adyar on the seashore.
