Philosophy; religion and theology; American; Blavatsky; Metaphysical; Olcott; Theosophical
摘要
Henry Steel Olcott, as both co-founder and President of the Theosophical Society, along with being a self-proclaimed Buddhist, presents an interesting case study in understanding how religious pluralism developed and acted on individuals during the turn of the century in American religious history. While many scholars have researched the Asian influences on the Theosophical Society, very few have looked at Olcott specifically. This paper hopes to remedy this problem by presenting not only Olcott's metaphysical upbringing as justification for how he understood Buddhism, but it also hopes to demonstrate the power that Buddhism had over Olcott's understanding of the metaphysical. Using "creolization" as its main tool, this paper suggests that an exchange of ideas was occurring in Olcott's journeys throughout Asia as the Theosophical Society grew from a purely occultist group focused on scientific approaches to spiritual phenomena, to one that claimed a more Buddhist identity. This paper supports the notion that Olcott's religious pluralism remained a steady factor throughout his life, and demonstrated itself most fully in what this paper identifies as "Theosophical Buddhism."
