# 310: BOOK OF THE WEEK — “Madame Blavatzky”
Story behind the Book Choice
Many books just come to you via other people. This was the case with this one as well. If I had seen this book in a store or on the screen in the online book store, I would not have taken a closer look, probably. Or maybe I would have, I do not know. The subtitle might have caught my attention but I had no clue who Madame Blavatzky was. And this is the curious thing already: We see books around about Buddha, Hinduism, Islam, mindfulness, and other self-help books based on ancient “religious” practices (even if the authors do not declare these origins). But what we hardly ask ourselves is: Who exactly brought the knowledge about these spiritual traditions, to use a broader term, to our countries?
This is basically the role which Madame Blavatzky played. The biography tells the entire story of how she explored spirituality around the world and how she then implemented the vision of creating a unified approach to bonding with something greater. I have to say at the outset that many details about her life remain a myth, as the author also describes, despite the really thorough research behind the book. Also, I personally do not “buy” into the very mystical ideas of “talking to spirits, having visions for the future, etc.” This is mostly because my own experience and my conversations with other people have not convinced me of this. Nevertheless, even if we just stick to the facts as we know them based on historical evidence, Blavatzky had the knowledge she had and she did found the Theosophical Society in New York in 1875. It would have a lasting influence on many of the figures which would later leave their mark on history, including William Butler Yeats, Thomas Edison, Wassily Kandisky, Rudolph Steiner, and many others.
Again, I need to make one thing clear: When I am writing about all this, I am writing about it because I am fascinated by the history that unfolds behind the surface of “conventional” U.S. cultural and maybe even religious history. And, as always, I am focusing on some key passages that especially triggered my reflection. I am not justifying or defending any of the “doctrines” and activities which emerged from Blavatzky’s circle. What I argue, however, is that this biography does provide one with a good idea of how difficult it can be to bring knowledge of other “faiths” or “creeds” to a different cultural sphere and to link it with the idea that social change can derive from shared spiritual practices which focus on unity, not division. This, after all, is the strongest mission Blavatzky was pursuing — at least as far as I read her story.
1. Educating the educated
This passage from the introduction resonated a lot with me because it describes exactly what good biographies can do: They “destroy” the image you had of a person by adding information in a plausible but nevertheless remarkable way. I am putting “destroy” into quotation marks because, as you might know from what I wrote about framing and unlearning at some point, you cannot really wipe out all the knowledge you have in your head but you can add new information that will somehow change the way in which you interpret existing information. And the way in which the author describes this act of creative destruction in this passage is very revealing for this process.
I think, especially when it comes to spiritual/religious figures, we all have our prejudices in mind because, usually, unless we really deal with these topics in detail, we do not know more about these people except for whatever we pick up from others. So, “Buddha was this enlightened guy and Buddhists believe in Kharma…. Jesus was nailed to the cross and that is why all over the world we have religious wars now… Allah is the God of the Muslims and the Qur’an is the reason why overly devoted believers become martyrs…” All these stereotypes very often prevent one to look more closely at the respective religious leader or the topic at large. And I think, Lachman does a great to job in voicing his own disbelief and lack of information despite bringing up and linking a vast amount of new and old information.
The research aspect behind biography writing, by the way, is something that I just want to quickly stress as this point because, after all, what Lachman is writing applies to biography writing on the whole. Whenever I read a biography of several hundred pages, I become aware of the vast amount of work that went into this. I think, people who are not writers hardly ever appreciate this. They have a book in their hands, a “product,” and then they might even throw it away. But a biography, which usually covers the ENTIRE life span of a person (unless we are talking about the now fashionable biographies of 20-year old YouTube and Instagram celebrities), is a treasure box that takes years to fill up, not even talking about the writing process itself. So, what I am saying, even as a writer, biographies constitute the CHAMPIONS LEAGUE of writing and, to me personally, the most important schools of life. They teach you everything: human behavior, science, religion, politics, psychology… they are mirrors for your own life.
2. Travel
This is going to be a short paragraph because it merely highlights what I, more or less, write about every single day. If you are a seeker, meaning you believe in the fact that there is more than you presently see in your life, you have to travel — physically and mentally. Physically, you travel to foreign countries. There, you usually meet like-minded people. Many of them might not look like seekers (anymore) because they might have found already what you are looking for. Still, they keep traveling because there is, this is my view, nothing more educational and transforming than travel. In addition, as far as mental travel is concerned, you can travel in your own mind. How do you do it? Guess what — read books! I am not kidding. The entire purpose of my writing about books is to invite you to go on these journeys. A few pages can transform your life. If you have not tried it, go for it and give a shit about people who only see “facts and figures” in books that supposedly nobody reads anymore. You will find out how transformational reading can be if you really do it.
3. One source
Isis Unveiled was Blavatzky’s major work. It refers to Isis, the goddess of Ancient Egypt and the sister and later wife of Osiris. But the book itself is not even that important in the passage here. I chose it because it brilliantly explains Blavatzky’s mission. By going back to the origin of human history and spirituality, she “unveiled” the source of all religions that were yet to unfold. As the author works out in a convincing manner, this joint source of faith was rooted in common experiences of unity — of “God” and the people as one. This is the common pattern that you find in all the early accounts of spiritual awakening and you still find it in all present-day narratives. Just to add this: This does not conflict at all with other scholarly sources about life and faith in ancient societies.
But the passage not only hints at the origin of Blavatzky’s findings, namely in The Hermetica (which I discussed last week: # 303: BOOK OF THE WEEK — “The Hermetica” | by Silke Schmidt | Aug, 2021 | Medium), it also points to the intellectual journey these findings underwent. This is the breathtaking thing that always strikes me and encourages me to learn more. Yes, you might say, the past is past and historians can take care of it. It might be interesting but has no value for our present-day lives. I disagree. If you understand the past, if you go back to the source of everything, be it political order, religion, or even medicine and other sciences, you will find answers to present-day challenges. This is because, after all, some things never change, including human nature. Our solutions today derived from the challenges of the past. Humans came up with them and in many cases, these solutions came from geniuses. If we learn, why and how these people did what they did, we have a solid ground for developing solutions for OUR future.
If we are willing to, of course.
If this is the case.
You have to start with understanding yourself.
Reflection Questions
1) How do you think about institutionalized religion, e.g., attending religious services, following rules, etc.? How is this related to “faith”?
2) What is the impact of religious conflicts on politics in your country?
3) Which biography did you read in the past which really impressed you? Why?