Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa
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Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa (16 December 1875,
British Ceylon British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...
– 18 June 1953, United States) was a Ceylonese author,
occultist The occult () is a category of esoteric or supernatural beliefs and practices which generally fall outside the scope of organized religion and science, encompassing phenomena involving a 'hidden' or 'secret' agency, such as magic and mystic ...
,
freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
and
theosophist Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...
. The fourth president of the
Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...
, Jinarajadasa was one of the world's foremost Theosophical authors, having published more than 50 books and more than 1600 articles in periodicals during his life. His interests and writings included religion, philosophy, literature, art, science and occult chemistry. He was also a rare
linguist Linguistics is the scientific study of language. The areas of linguistic analysis are syntax (rules governing the structure of sentences), semantics (meaning), Morphology (linguistics), morphology (structure of words), phonetics (speech sounds ...
, who had the ability to work in many
European languages There are over 250 languages indigenous to Europe, and most belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. The three larges ...
.


Early life

Jinarajadasa was born on 16 December 1875 in Ceylon (modern
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
) to a family of Sinhalese parents. He was one of the first students of
Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...
,
Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
. In 1889, when
Charles Webster Leadbeater Charles Webster Leadbeater (; 16 February 1854 – 1 March 1934) was a member of the Theosophical Society, Co-Freemasonry, an author on occult subjects, and the co-initiator, with J. I. Wedgwood, of the Liberal Catholic Church. Orig ...
, the first principal of Ananda College was asked by A.P. Sinnett to come back to England to tutor his son, Leadbeater agreed and also brought one of his pupils, Jinarajadasa, to England with him. Thanks to Leadbeater, Jinarajadasa went to
St John's College, Cambridge St John's College, formally the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge, is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge, founded by the House of Tudor, Tudor matriarch L ...
where he studied oriental languages and four years later took his Degree in the Oriental Languages Tripos.


Career

He then came back to Ceylon and became the vice principal of Ananda College in Colombo. Jinarajadasa returned to Europe, to study at the
University of Pavia The University of Pavia (, UNIPV or ''Università di Pavia''; ) is a university located in Pavia, Lombardy, Italy. There was evidence of teaching as early as 1361, making it one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest un ...
, Italy. He soon became proficient in Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Around 1904 he visited
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, where he met and influenced Weller van Hook, the well-known surgeon and author, who then became a theosophist. During his lifetime, Jinarajadasa traveled to many countries despite all the war difficulties of that era for his devoted service to Theosophy. ”He also traveled to
South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...
, where he lectured in Spanish and Portuguese and founded branches of the Theosophical Society (TS). He was the Vice-President of the Theosophical Society from 1921 to 1928. After the death of Dr
George Arundale George Sydney Arundale (1 December 1878 in Surrey, England — 12 August 1945 in Adyar, India) was a Theosophist, Freemason, president of the Theosophical Society Adyar and a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. He was the husband of th ...
in 1945, Jinarajadasa became president of the
Theosophical Society Adyar The Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Petrovna Blavatsky and others in 1875. The designation 'Adyar' is sometimes added to the name to make it clear that this is the Theosophical Society headquartered there, after the American se ...
. In 1949 he founded the School of Wisdom in Adyar, which attracted students from many countries. He was also a
Freemason Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
, joining
Le Droit Humain The International Order of Freemasonry ''Le Droit Humain'' is a global Masonic order, membership of which is available to men and women on equal terms, regardless of nationality, religion or ethnicity. This practice is known as Co-Freemasonry ...
also known as
Co-Masonry Co-Freemasonry (or Co-Masonry) is a form of Freemasonry which admits both men and women. The first known co-masonic lodge was created 24 December 1784 as the mother lodge La Sagesse Triomphante in Lyon, France by Alessandro Cagliostro. Cagliostro ...
. Curuppumullage Jinarajadasa was the president of Theosophical Society until his death on 18 June 1953 in the United States.


Personal life

On 11 November 1916 (in Kensington, West London), Jinarajadasa married British feminist, Dorothy May Graham ( May Dorothea Graham; 19 March 1881 - 13 January 1963), who founded the
Women's Indian Association The Women's Indian Association (WIA) was founded at Adayar, Madras, in 1917 by Annie Besant, Margaret Cousins, Dorothy Jinarajadasa, and others to liberate women from the deplorable condition women suffered in socio-economic and political matters ...
(WIA) in Adyar with
Annie Besant Annie Besant (; Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was an English socialist, Theosophy (Blavatskian), theosophist, freemason, women's rights and Home Rule activist, educationist and campaigner for Indian nationalism. She was an arden ...
and
Margaret Cousins Margaret Elizabeth Cousins (''née'' Gillespie, also known as Gretta Cousins; 7 November 1878 – 11 March 1954) was an Irish-Indian educationist, suffragist and Theosophist, who established All India Women's Conference (AIWC) in 1927. She was ...
in 1917.Jinarajadasa, Curuppumullage (1875-1953)
''Theosophy Forward'', 20 May 2011.
She accompanied him in his travels around the world for some years. At one stage of his life, he resided in Brazil. By 1953, he declined renomination as president of the Theosophical Society due to poor health and installed
Nilakanta Sri Ram Nilakanta Sri Ram or Nilakantha Sri Ram (N. Sri Ram) (* 15 December 1889 in Thanjavur, Tamil Nadu, India; died 8 April 1973 in Adyar, India) was a freemason, theosophist and president of the Theosophical Society Adyar during twenty years. ...
as his successor. He visited America where he died on 18 June 1953 at the national headquarters of the Theosophical Society, called “Olcott”. His body was cremated; half of his ashes were sent to Adyar for deposit in the Garden of Remembrance there. The rest were kept at Olcott until the late 1990s, when they were deposited in an American Garden of Remembrance created to receive them.


Works (selection)

Jinarajadasa wrote many works on
Theosophy Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neop ...
,
Theology Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
,
philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...
,
literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...
,
art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...
and
science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...
. He also participated in Annie Besant's and Charles Leadbeater's researches on Occult Chemistry. In 1913, Jinarajadasa was awarded the Subba Row Medal for his contribution to Theosophical literature. Jinarajadasa published more than 1,600 articles in periodicals such as ''The Adyar Bulletin'', ''The American Theosophist'', ''The Australian ES Bulletin'', ''The Herald of the Star'', ''The Messenger'', ''Sishya (The Student)'', ''The Theosophic Messenger'', ''
The Theosophist ''The Theosophist'' is the monthly journal of the international Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India. It was founded in India in 1879 by Helena Blavatsky, who was also its editor. The journal is still being published till date. For the ye ...
'', and ''World Theosophy''. Jinarajadasa was also editor of ''The Theosophist'' for three periods.


''The K.H. Letters to C.W. Leadbeater''

It is a book compiled by Jinarajadasa; it was first published in 1941. Jinarajadasa wrote that C.W. Leadbeater joined the
Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society is the organizational body of Theosophy, an esoteric new religious movement. It was founded in New York City, U.S.A. in 1875. Among its founders were Helena Blavatsky, a Russian mystic and the principal thinker of the ...
in November 1883, and after his contact with
Helena Blavatsky Helena Petrovna Blavatsky (; – 8 May 1891), often known as Madame Blavatsky, was a Russian-born Mysticism, mystic and writer who emigrated to the United States where she co-founded the Theosophical Society in 1875. She gained an internat ...
in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
he decided to become a chela (disciple) of one of the
Mahatma Mahātmā (English pronunciation: , , ) is an honorific used in India. The term is commonly used for Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, who is often referred to simply as "Mahatma Gandhi". Albeit less frequently, this epithet has also been used wit ...
s. ;First Letter from the Master At the beginning of the book Jinarajadasa proclaimed that an incident with receiving certain letters from the Master K.H. was very great Leadbeater's success. Leadbeater reminisced that he wrote a letter to the Master K.H. In that letter it was said that "his one great wish has been to become chela but it would be almost impossible without going out to
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
." Then Leadbeater entrusted the letter to a medium William Eglinton and his "control" Ernest. He talked later:
"I waited for some months, but no reply came, and whenever I went to Eglinton's séances and happened to encounter Ernest I always asked him when I might expect my answer. He invariably said that my letter had been duly delivered, but that nothing had yet been said about an answer, and that he could do no more."
Leadbeater received a reply on the morning of October 31, 1884. The letter of the Master K.H. was to be posted in England, on envelope it was typed "Kensington" (it is a postal district in the west of London) and "OC-30-84" (it is the date). Master Kuthumi replied in this letter:
"Last spring — March 3rd — you wrote a letter to me and entrusted it to 'Ernest'. Tho' the paper itself never reached me — nor was it ever likely to considering the nature of the messenger — its contents have. I did not answer it at that time, but sent you a message through Upasika. In that message of yours it was said that, since reading ''Esot. Bud:'' and ''Isis'' your 'one great wish has been to place yourself ''under me as a chela'', that you ''may learn more of the truth''.' 'I understand from Mr. S.' you went on 'that it would be almost impossible to become a chela without going out to India'. You hoped to be able to do that in a few years, tho' for the present ties of gratitude bind you to remain in this country. Etc. I now answer the above and your other questions. (1) It is ''not'' necessary that one should be in India during the seven years of probation. A ''chela'' can pass them anywhere. (2) To accept any man as a chela does not depend on my personal will. It can only be the result of one's personal merit and exertions in that direction. ''Force'' any one of the 'Masters' you may happen to choose; do good works in his name and for the love of mankind; be pure and resolute in the path of righteousness (as laid out in ''our'' rules); be honest and unselfish; forget your ''Self'' but to remember the good of other people — and you will have ''forced'' that 'Master' to accept you. So much for candidates during the periods of the undisturbed progress of your Society. There is something more to be done, however, when theosophy, the Cause of Truth, is, as at the present moment on its stand for life or death before the tribunal of public opinion — that most flippantly cruel, prejudiced and unjust of all tribunals. ''There'' is also the collective karma of ''the caste you belong to'' — to be considered. It is undeniable that the cause you have at heart is now suffering owing to the dark intrigues, the base conspiracy of the Christian clergy and missionaries against the Society. They will stop before nothing to ruin the reputation of the Founders. Are you willing to atone for ''their'' sins? Then go to Adyar for a few months. 'The ties or gratitude' will not be severed, nor even become weakened for an absence of a few months if the step be explained plausibly to your relative. He who would shorten the years of probation has to make sacrifices for theosophy. Pushed by malevolent hands to the very edge of a precipice, the Society needs every man and woman strong in the cause of truth. It is by ''doing'' noble actions and not by only determining that they shall be done that the fruits of the meritorious actions are reaped. Like the 'true man' of Carlyle who is not to be seduced by ease — 'difficulty, abnegation, martyrdom, death are the ''allurements'' that act' during the hours of trial on the heart of a ''true'' chela. You ask me — 'what rules I must observe during this time of probation, and how soon I might venture to hope that it could begin'. I answer: you ''have'' the making of your own future, in your own hands as shown above, and every day you may be weaving its woof. If I were to ''demand'' that you should do one thing or the other, instead of simply advising, I would be responsible for every effect that might flow from the step and you acquire but a secondary merit. Think, and you will see that this is true. So cast the lot yourself into the lap of Justice, never fearing but that its response will be absolutely true. Chelaship is an educational as well as probationary stage and the chela alone can determine whether it shall end in adeptship or failure. Chelas from a mistaken idea of our system too often watch and wait for orders, wasting precious time which should be taken up with personal effort. Our cause needs missionaries, devotees, agents, even martyrs perhaps. But it cannot demand of any man to make himself either. So now choose and grasp your own destiny, and may our Lord's the Tathâgata's memory aid you to decide for the best. −K.H."
In the book Jinarajadasa gave about thirty detailed commentaries to the statements of the first Master's letter. ;Second letter from the Master Jinarajadasa stated that Leadbeater wrote "his second letter to the Master K.H., in reply to the Master's communication, and took it with him to London. Here we have the story of the next events in this striking drama from Mr. Leadbeater himself." Leadbeater was reminiscing that he wished to say in answer to this that "his circumstances were such that it would be impossible for him to come to Adyar for three months, and then return to the work in which he was then engaged; but that he was perfectly ready to throw up that work altogether and to devote his life absolutely to Master's service". Ernest having so conspicuously failed him, he knew of no way to get this message to the Master but to take it to Blavatsky, and as she was to leave England on the following day for India, Leadbeater rushed up to London to see her. Leadbeater talked that "it was with difficulty that he induced her to read the letter, as she said very decidedly that such communications were intended only for the recipient". He was obliged to insist, however, and at last she read it and asked him what he wished to say in reply. He answered to the above effect, and asked her how this information could be conveyed to the Master. She replied that he knew it already, referring of course to the exceedingly close relation in which she stood with him, so that whatever was within her consciousness was also within his when he wished it. Leadbeater talked:
"She then told me to wait by her, and not to leave her on any account. I waited patiently all through the afternoon and evening, and even went with her quite late at night to Mrs. Oakley's house, where a number of friends were gathered to say farewell Madame Blavatsky sat in an easy chair by the fireside, talking brilliantly to those who were present, and rolling one of her eternal cigarettes, when suddenly her right hand was jerked out towards the fire in a very peculiar fashion, and lay palm upwards. She looked down at it in surprise, as I did myself, for I was standing close to her, leaning with an elbow on the mantelpiece; and several of us saw quite clearly a sort of whitish mist form in the palm of her hand and then condense into a piece of folded paper, which she at once handed to me, saying, 'There is your answer'."
Every one in the room crowded round, of course, but H.P.B. sent Leadbeater away outside to read it, saying that he must not let anyone see its contents. The letter read:
"Since your intuition led you in the right direction and made you understand that it was ''my desire'' you should go to Adyar ''immediately'', I may say more. The sooner you go the better. Do not lose one day more than you can help. Sail on the 5th if possible. Join Upasika at Alexandria. Let no one know that you are going, and may the blessing of our Lord and my poor blessing shield you from every evil in your new life. Greeting to you, ''my new chela.'' −K.H."
;Two brief messages from the Master The author wrote that during the trip from Ismailia to Cairo, Blavatsky received a precipitated message from the Master K.H., in which there was some words for Leadbeater:
"Tell Leadbeater that I am satisfied with his zeal and devotion."
In 1886 at
Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
Leadbeater became first principal of the Buddhist High School (today
Ananda College Ananda College () is a Prestigious Buddhist school in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is often known as "The Pinnacle of buddhist education " It is the largest national Buddhist school for boys in Sri Lanka, with a student population exceeding 8000 ac ...
). In this time at
Colombo Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
he received from Blavatsky a letter containing Master's addendum which was precipitated during passing through the post. The Master K.H. said in the addendum that he is "pleased with" Leadbeater.


Criticism

His books on Theosophy were negatively reviewed by scientists. Science writer Hugh S. R. Elliot mocked Jinarajadasa's belief that every
genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...
and
species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...
has a " group soul". Elliot noted that "for wherever a difficulty occurs, the author invents a spook to account for any process he cannot understand."Elliot, Hugh S. R. (1917)
''Reviewed Works: Essays Towards a Theory of Knowledge by Alexander Philip; Theosophy and Modern Thought by C. Jinarajadasa''
''Science Progress (1916-1919)'' 12 (45): 157.


Notes


References


Sources

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External links




''The K.H. Letters to C.W. Leadbeater''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jinarajadasa, Curuppumullage 1875 births 1953 deaths Sri Lankan Theosophists Alumni of Ananda College Sri Lankan emigrants to the United States Alumni of St John's College, Cambridge Sinhalese people Sri Lankan academics