The Adyar Library and Research Centre was founded in 1886 by theosophist Henry Steel Olcott . The library is at the Theosophical Society Adyar in Adyar, near Chennai .
99-516: Henry Steel Olcott founded the "library Olcott" in December 1886. Olcott's small private collection of approx. 200 books in 24 languages was the core of library. During his travels in Asia, Olcott acquired more and often rare books for the library. After Olcott's death in 1907, the library was continued by other theosophists. Today, the library has approx. 250,000 books and 20,000 palm leaves. The library
198-668: A border ruffian , was killed. Preston Brooks 's May 22 caning of anti-slavery Senator Charles Sumner in the United States Senate , news of which arrived by newswire (telegraph), also fueled Brown's anger. A pro-slavery writer, Benjamin Franklin Stringfellow , of the Squatter Sovereign , wrote that "[pro-slavery forces] are determined to repel this Northern invasion, and make Kansas a slave state ; though our rivers should be covered with
297-637: A U.S. state in the history of the United States. The Harpers Ferry raid and Brown's trial , both covered extensively in national newspapers, escalated tensions that in the next year led to the South's long-threatened secession from the United States and the American Civil War . Southerners feared that others would soon follow in Brown's footsteps, encouraging and arming slave rebellions. He
396-850: A bequest by the Australian philanthropist Elliston Campbell (1891 – 1990) further funded the Adyar Library and founded the Campbell Theosophical Research Library, in Sydney , Australia . The University of Chicago is trying to preserve the old works in the Adyar library with modern techniques. 13°0′39.14″N 80°15′45.65″E / 13.0108722°N 80.2626806°E / 13.0108722; 80.2626806 Henry Steel Olcott Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (2 August 1832 – 17 February 1907)
495-480: A book. He worked briefly at his father's tannery before opening a successful tannery outside of town with his adopted brother Levi Blakeslee. The two kept bachelor's quarters, and Brown was a good cook. He had his bread baked by a widow, Mrs. Amos Lusk. As the tanning business had grown to include journeymen and apprentices, Brown persuaded her to take charge of his housekeeping. She and her daughter Dianthe moved into his log cabin. Brown married Dianthe in 1820. There
594-597: A city that shared his own anti-slavery passions, and each seemed to educate the other. Certainly, with both successes and failures, Brown's Springfield years were a transformative period of his life that catalyzed many of his later actions. Two years before Brown's arrival in Springfield, in 1844, the city's African-American abolitionists had founded the Sanford Street Free Church, now known as St. John's Congregational Church , which became one of
693-465: A deep impression on his mind. 27. Q: Why had he not also seen them? A: The astrologers had foretold at his birth that he would one day resign his kingdom and become a Buddha. The King, his father, not wishing to lose his son, had carefully prevented his seeing any sights that might suggest to him human misery and death. No one was allowed even to speak of such things to the Prince. He was almost like
792-497: A farm where he could provide guidance and assistance to the blacks who were attempting to establish farms in the area. He bought from Smith land in the town of North Elba, New York (near Lake Placid ), for $ 1 an acre ($ 2/ha). It has a magnificent view and has been called "the highest arable spot of land in the State." After living with his family about two years in a small rented house, and returning for several years to Ohio, he had
891-411: A fine at Meadville for declining to serve in the militia. During this period, Brown operated an interstate cattle and leather business along with a kinsman, Seth Thompson, from eastern Ohio. In 1829, some white families asked Brown to help them drive off Native Americans who hunted annually in the area. Calling it a mean act, Brown declined, even saying "I would sooner take my gun and help drive you out of
990-720: A hero to many Northern abolitionists. On September 7, Brown entered Lawrence to meet with Free State leaders and help fortify against a feared assault. At least 2,700 pro-slavery Missourians were once again invading Kansas. On September 14, they skirmished near Lawrence. Brown prepared for battle, but serious violence was averted when the new governor of Kansas, John W. Geary , ordered the warring parties to disarm and disband, and offered clemency to former fighters on both sides. Brown had become infamous and federal warrants were issued for his arrest due to his actions in Kansas. He became careful of how he travelled and whom he stayed with across
1089-528: A lawyer during the first few years of the establishment of the Theosophical Society , in addition to being a financial supporter of the new religious movement . In early 1875 Olcott was asked by prominent Spiritualists to investigate an accusation of fraud against the mediums Jenny and Nelson Holmes, who had claimed to materialize the famous "spirit control" Katie King (Doyle 1926: volume 1, 269–277). In 1880 Helena Blavatsky and Olcott became
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#17327800921231188-835: A letter of recommendation from a prominent and wealthy merchant, George Walker. Walker was the brother-in-law of Franklin Benjamin Sanborn , the secretary for the Massachusetts State Kansas Committee , who introduced Brown to several influential abolitionists in the Boston area in January 1857. Amos Adams Lawrence , a prominent Boston merchant, secretly gave Brown a large amount of cash. William Lloyd Garrison , Thomas Wentworth Higginson , Theodore Parker and George Luther Stearns , and Samuel Gridley Howe also supported Brown, although Garrison,
1287-594: A liberal education and become a Gospel minister. He consulted and conferred with Jeremiah Hallock, then clergyman at Canton, Connecticut , whose wife was a relative of Brown's, and as advised proceeded to Plainfield, Massachusetts , where, under the instruction of Moses Hallock, he prepared for college. He would have continued at Amherst College , but he suffered from inflammation of the eyes which ultimately became chronic and precluded further studies. He returned to Ohio. Back in Hudson, Brown taught himself surveying from
1386-492: A means of developing his scheme of emancipation". The white leadership there, including "the publisher of The Republican , one of the nation's most influential newspapers, were deeply involved and emotionally invested in the anti-slavery movement ". Brown made connections in Springfield that later yielded financial support he received from New England's great merchants, allowed him to hear and meet nationally famous abolitionists like Douglass and Sojourner Truth , and included
1485-463: A mighty king. Fifty men, twenty men, in the Alleghenies would break slavery to pieces in two years. Brown kept his plans a secret, including the care he took not to share the plans with his men, according to Jeremiah Anderson, one of the participants in the raid. His son Owen , the only one who survived of Brown's three participating sons, said in 1873 that he did not think his father wrote down
1584-483: A pacificist, disagreed about the need to use violence to end slavery. Most of the money for the raid came from the " Secret Six ", Franklin B. Sanborn , Samuel G. Howe M.D., businessman George L. Stearns , real estate tycoon Gerrit Smith , transcendentalist and reforming minister of the Unitarian church Theodore Parker , and Unitarian minister Thomas Wentworth Higginson . Recent research has also highlighted
1683-630: A partnership with Zenas Kent to construct a tannery along the Cuyahoga River , though Brown left the partnership before the tannery was completed. Brown continued to work on the Underground Railroad. Brown became a bank director and was estimated to be worth US$ 20,000 (equivalent to about $ 590,710 in 2023). Like many businessmen in Ohio, he invested too heavily in credit and state bonds and suffered great financial losses in
1782-523: A person a Buddhist who has merely been born of Buddhist parents? A. Certainly not. A Buddhist is one who not only professes belief in the Buddha as the noblest of Teachers, in the Doctrine preached by Him, and in the brotherhood of Arhats , but practices his Precepts in daily life. Q. What is Karma? A. A causation operating on the moral, as well as physical and other planes. Buddhists say there
1881-399: A pity and love as that. 55. Q. Why does ignorance cause suffering? A. Because it makes us prize what is not worth prizing, grieve for that we should not grieve for, consider real what is not real but only illusory, and pass our lives in the pursuit of worthless objects, neglecting what is in reality most valuable. 56. Q. And what is that which is most valuable? A. To know
1980-567: A preacher for a Congregational Society in Richmond. Their first meetings were held at the farm and tannery compound. He also helped to establish a post office, and in 1828 President John Quincy Adams named him the first postmaster of Randolph Township, Pennsylvania ; he was reappointed by President Andrew Jackson , serving until he left Pennsylvania in 1835. He carried the mail for some years from Meadville, Pennsylvania , through Randolph to Riceville , some 20 miles (32 km). He paid
2079-414: A prisoner in his lovely palaces and flower gardens. They were surrounded with high walls; and inside everything was made as beautiful as possible, so that he might not want to go and see the sorrow and distress that are in the world. 28. Q: Was he so kind-hearted that his father feared he might really want to sacrifice himself for the world's sake? A: Yes; he seems to have felt for all being so strong
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#17327800921232178-462: A statue of Colonel Olcott was unveiled at a Buddhist temple near Princeton, New Jersey. He is still remembered fondly by many Sri Lankans today. The date of his death is often remembered by Buddhist centers and Sunday schools in present-day Sri Lanka , as well as in Theosophical communities around the globe. Olcott believed himself to be Asia's savior, the outsider hero who would sweep in at
2277-472: A successful tannery, to be better situated to operate a safe and productive Underground Railroad station. He moved to Richmond Township in Crawford County, Pennsylvania , in 1825 and lived there until 1835, longer than he did anywhere else. He bought 200 acres (81 hectares) of land, cleared an eighth of it, and quickly built a cabin, a two-story tannery with 18 vats, and a barn; in the latter
2376-489: A wagon loaded with weapons and ammunition. Brown stayed with Florella (Brown) Adair and the Reverend Samuel Adair, his half-sister and her husband, who lived near Osawatomie . During that time, he rallied support to fight proslavery forces, and became the leader of the antislavery forces in Kansas. Brown and the free-state settlers intended to bring Kansas into the union as a slavery-free state. After
2475-730: Is considered a Buddhist modernist for his efforts in interpreting Buddhism through a Europeanized lens. Olcott was a major revivalist of Buddhism in Sri Lanka and he is still honored in Sri Lanka for these efforts. Vice President of the Ananda College Old Boys Association Samitha Seneviratne has said that "Col. Olcott's contribution towards the betterment of our country, nation, religion, justice and good conduct has been so great that he remains in our hearts forever". Olcott
2574-400: Is no known picture of her, but he described Dianthe as "a remarkably plain, but neat, industrious and economical girl, of excellent character, earnest piety, and practical common sense". Their first child, John Jr. , was born 13 months later. During 12 years of married life Dianthe gave birth to seven children, among them Owen , and died from complications of childbirth in 1832. Brown knew
2673-522: Is no miracle in human affairs: what a man sows that he must still reap. Q. What other good words have been used to express the essence of Buddhism? A. Self-culture and universal love. Concerning the Four sights and how they impacted the Buddha: 26. Q: Why should these sights, so familiar to everybody, have caused him to go into the jungle? A. We often see such signs. He had not; and they made
2772-687: Is today among the most important orientalist libraries in the world. The library was at first situated inside the headquarters of the Theosophical Society. In 1966 it was moved to a separate building, the Adyar Library Building . It also has a public museum that shows old books and manuscripts. The Adyar library is also used by post-graduate students in Sanskrit and Indology of the University of Madras . In 1990,
2871-744: The New York Daily Graphic , republished it. His 1874 publication People from the Other World began with his early articles concerning the Spiritualist movement. Also in 1874, Olcott met Helena Blavatsky while both were visiting the Eddy farm. His foundational interest in the Spiritualist movement and his budding relationship with Blavatsky helped foster his development of spiritual philosophy. Olcott continued to act as
2970-535: The Battle of Osawatomie . In October 1859, Brown led a raid on the federal armory at Harpers Ferry, Virginia (which later became part of West Virginia ), intending to start a slave liberation movement that would spread south; he had prepared a Provisional Constitution for the revised, slavery-free United States that he hoped to bring about. He seized the armory, but seven people were killed and ten or more were injured. Brown intended to arm slaves with weapons from
3069-710: The John Brown Farm State Historic Site has been owned by New York State and is now a National Historic Landmark . Kansas Territory was in the midst of a state-level civil war from 1854 to 1860, referred to as the Bleeding Kansas period, between pro- and anti-slavery forces. From 1854 to 1856, there had been eight killings in Kansas Territory attributable to slavery politics. There had been no organized action by abolitionists against pro-slavery forces by 1856. The issue
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3168-463: The League of Gileadites onward, not one person was ever taken back into slavery from Springfield. His daughter Amelia died in 1846, followed by Emma in 1849. In 1848, bankrupt and having lost the family's house, Brown heard of Gerrit Smith 's Adirondack land grants to poor black men, in so remote a location that Brown later called it Timbuctoo , and decided to move his family there to establish
3267-549: The Panic of 1837 . In one episode of property loss, Brown was jailed when he attempted to retain ownership of a farm by occupying it against the claims of the new owner. In November 1837, Elijah Parish Lovejoy was murdered in Alton, Illinois for printing an abolitionist newspaper. Brown, deeply upset about the incident, became more militant in his behavior, comparable with Reverend Henry Highland Garnet . Brown publicly vowed after
3366-622: The Revolutionary War in New York on September 3, 1776. His mother, of Dutch and Welsh descent, was the daughter of Gideon Mills, an officer in the Revolutionary Army. Although Brown described his parents as "poor but respectable" at some point, Owen Brown became a leading and wealthy citizen of Hudson, Ohio. He operated a tannery and employed Jesse Grant , father of President Ulysses S. Grant . Jesse lived with
3465-673: The Spiritual Telegraph under the pseudonym "Amherst". From 1858 to 1860 Olcott was the agricultural correspondent for the New York Tribune and the Mark Lane Express , but occasionally submitted articles on other subjects. He was present for John Brown 's execution. He also published a genealogy of his family extending back to Thomas Olcott, one of the founders of Hartford, Connecticut , in 1636. In 1860 Olcott married Mary Epplee Morgan, daughter of
3564-923: The University of Oxford . Olcott's main religious interest was Buddhism, and he is commonly known for his work in Sri Lanka . After a two-year correspondence with Sri Piyaratana Tissa Mahanayake Thero , he and Blavatsky arrived in the then capital Colombo on May 16, 1880. Helena Blavatsky and Henry Steele Olcott took Five Precepts at the Wijayananda Viharaya located at Weliwatta in Galle on May 19, 1880. On that day Olcott and Blavatsky were formally acknowledged as Buddhists, although Olcott noted that they had previously declared themselves Buddhists, while still living in America. During his time in Sri Lanka Olcott strove to revive Buddhism within
3663-548: The assassination of Abraham Lincoln , assisted in the investigation of the assassination. In 1868 he became a lawyer specializing in insurance, revenue, and fraud. In 1874 he became aware of the séances of the Eddy Brothers of Chittenden, Vermont . His interest aroused, Olcott wrote an article for the New York Sun , in which he investigated Eddy Farms. His article was popular enough that other papers, such as
3762-477: The "strong-minded, brave, and dedicated" Eli Baptist, William Montague, and Thomas Thomas —who risked being caught by slave catchers and sold into slavery. Upon leaving Springfield in 1850, he instructed the League to act "quickly, quietly, and efficiently" to protect slaves that escaped to Springfield – words that would foreshadow Brown's later actions preceding Harpers Ferry. From Brown's founding of
3861-557: The American Protestant grammars of his youth and the Asian Buddhist lexicon of his adulthood was able to conjure traditional Sinhalese Buddhism, Protestant modernism, metropolitan gentility, and academic Orientalism into a decidedly new creole tradition. This creole tradition Olcott then passed on to a whole generation of Sinhalese students educated in his schools. Olcott is probably the only major contributor to
3960-451: The Bible thoroughly and could catch even small errors in Bible recitation. He never used tobacco nor drank tea, coffee, or alcohol. After the Bible, his favorite books were the series of Plutarch 's Parallel Lives and he enjoyed reading about Napoleon and Oliver Cromwell . He felt that "truly successful men" were those with their own libraries. Brown left Hudson, Ohio , where he had
4059-446: The Brown family for some years. The founder of Hudson, David Hudson , with whom John's father had frequent contact, was an abolitionist and an advocate of "forcible resistance by the slaves." The fourth child of Owen and Ruth, Brown's other siblings included Anna Ruth (born in 1798), Salmon (born 1802), and Oliver Owen (born in 1804). Frederick, identified by Owen as his sixth son, was born in 1807. Frederick visited Brown when he
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4158-943: The Congregational church at Kent, then called Franklin, Ohio, for taking a colored man into their own pew; and the deacons of the church tried to persuade him to concede his error. My wife and various members of the family afterward joined the Wesley Methodists, but John Brown never connected himself with any church again. For three or four years he seemed to flounder hopelessly, moving from one activity to another without plan. He tried many different business efforts attempting to get out of debt. He bred horses briefly, but gave it up when he learned that buyers were using them as race horses. He did some surveying, farming, and tanning . Brown declared bankruptcy in federal court on September 28, 1842. In 1843, three of his children — Charles, Peter, Austin — died of dysentery . From
4257-529: The Free State settlements there and then march on Topeka and Lawrence . On the morning of August 30, 1856, they shot and killed Brown's son Frederick and his neighbor David Garrison on the outskirts of Osawatomie. Brown, outnumbered more than seven to one, arranged his 38 men behind natural defenses along the road. Firing from cover, they managed to kill at least 20 of Reid's men and wounded 40 more. Reid regrouped, ordering his men to dismount and charge into
4356-530: The Negro community at Timbuctoo, New York , and organizing in his own mind an anti-slavery raid that would strike a significant blow against the entire slave system, running slaves off Southern plantations. According to his first biographer James Redpath , "for thirty years, he secretly cherished the idea of being the leader of a servile insurrection: the American Moses, predestined by Omnipotence to lead
4455-437: The Theosophical Society would still be as president, but the induction of Annie Besant sparked a new era of the movement. Upon his death, the Theosophical Society elected her to take over as president and leader of the movement. Olcott's "Buddhist Catechism", composed in 1881, is one of his most enduring contributions to the revival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, and remains in use there today. The text outlines what Olcott saw to be
4554-513: The Underground Railroad, during which, it is estimated to have helped 2,500 enslaved people on their journey to Canada, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. Brown recruited other Underground Railroad stationmasters to strengthen the network. Brown made money surveying new roads. He was involved in erecting a school, which first met in his home—he was its first teacher —, and attracting
4653-536: The Union as a slave state or a free state . He was dissatisfied with abolitionist pacifism, saying of pacifists, "These men are all talk. What we need is action – action!" In May 1856, Brown and his sons killed five supporters of slavery in the Pottawatomie massacre , a response to the sacking of Lawrence by pro-slavery forces. Brown then commanded anti-slavery forces at the Battle of Black Jack and
4752-543: The World (1829), which he helped publicize. Before Brown left Springfield in 1850, the United States passed the Fugitive Slave Act , a law mandating that authorities in free states aid in the return of escaped slaves and imposing penalties on those who aid in their escape. In response, Brown founded a militant group to prevent the recapture of fugitives, the League of Gileadites , operated by free Blacks—like
4851-430: The answer was that he was a slave. According to Brown's son-in-law Henry Thompson, it was that moment when John Brown decided to dedicate his life to improving African Americans' condition. As a child in Hudson, John got to know local Native Americans and learned some of their language. He accompanied them on hunting excursions and invited them to eat in his home. At 16, Brown left his family for New England to acquire
4950-495: The armory, but only a few slaves joined his revolt. Those of Brown's men who had not fled were killed or captured by local militia and U.S. Marines , the latter led by Robert E. Lee . Brown was tried for treason against the Commonwealth of Virginia , the murder of five men, and inciting a slave insurrection. He was found guilty of all charges and was hanged on December 2, 1859, the first person executed for treason against
5049-600: The basic doctrines of Buddhism, including the life of the Buddha , the message of the Dharma , the role of the Sangha . The text also treats how the Buddha's message correlates with contemporary society. Olcott was considered by South Asians and others as a Buddhist revivalist. It is presented in the same format of question and answer used in some Christian catechisms . Here are a few examples from that text: Q. Would you call
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#17327800921235148-444: The blood of their victims, and the carcasses of the abolitionists should be so numerous in the territory as to breed disease and sickness, we will not be deterred from our purpose". Brown was outraged by both the violence of the pro-slavery forces and what he saw as a weak and cowardly response by the antislavery partisans and the Free State settlers, whom he described as "cowards, or worse". The Pottawatomie massacre occurred during
5247-591: The committee appointed to design a Buddhist flag in 1885. The Buddhist flag designed with the assistance of Olcott was later adopted as a symbol by the World Fellowship of Buddhists and as the universal flag of all Buddhist traditions . Helena Blavatsky eventually went to live in London, where she died in 1891, but Olcott stayed in India and pursued the work of the Theosophical Society there. Olcott's role in
5346-442: The conflict on June 2. In the Battle of Black Jack of June 2, 1856, John Brown, nine of his followers, and 20 local men successfully defended a Free State settlement at Palmyra, Kansas , against an attack by Henry Clay Pate . Pate and 22 of his men were taken prisoner. In August, a company of over 300 Missourians under the command of General John W. Reid crossed into Kansas and headed toward Osawatomie , intending to destroy
5445-416: The country. Brown's plans for a major attack on American slavery began long before the raid. According to his wife Mary, interviewed while her husband was awaiting his execution, Brown had been planning the attack for 20 years. Frederick Douglass noted that he made the plans before he fought in Kansas. For instance, he spent the years between 1842 and 1849 settling his business affairs, moving his family to
5544-506: The country." In 1831, Brown's son Frederick (I) died, at the age of 4. Brown fell ill, and his businesses began to suffer, leaving him in severe debt. In mid-1832, shortly after the death of a newborn son, his wife Dianthe also died, either in childbirth or as an immediate consequence of it. He was left with the children John Jr. , Jason, Owen , Ruth and Frederick (II). On July 14, 1833, Brown married 17-year-old Mary Ann Day (1817–1884), originally from Washington County, New York ; she
5643-401: The current house – now a monument preserved by New York State – built for his family, viewing it as a place of refuge for them while he was away. According to youngest son Salmon, "frugality was observed from a moral standpoint, but one and all we were a well-fed, well-clad lot." After he was executed on December 2, 1859, his widow took his body there for burial ;
5742-707: The divide between East and West—as seen in their presentation of Buddhism to Europe. Olcott helped financially support the Buddhist presence at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago, 1893. The inclusion of Buddhists in the Parliament allowed for the expansion of Buddhism within Europe in general and in America specifically, leading to other Buddhist Modernist movements. As Stephen Prothero wrote, It
5841-834: The earliest attempts to combine scientific understanding and reasoning with Buddhist religion. The interrelationship he saw between Buddhism and Science paralleled his Theosophical approach to show the scientific bases for supernatural phenomena such as auras, hypnosis, and Buddhist "miracles". Olcott was President of the Theosophical Society until his death on February 17, 1907. Two major streets in Colombo and Galle have been named Olcott Mawatha, to commemorate him. Statues of him has been erected in Galle and Colombo. Many other Buddhist schools that he helped found or have been founded in his memory possess commemorative statues in honour of his contribution to Buddhist education. On September 10, 2011,
5940-400: The elementary level in Hudson at that time, Brown studied at the school of the abolitionist Elizur Wright, father of the famous Elizur Wright , in nearby Tallmadge . In a story he told to his family, when he was 12 years old and away from home moving cattle, Brown worked for a man with a colored boy, who was beaten before him with an iron shovel. He asked the man why he was treated thus, and
6039-477: The end of the drama to save a disenchanted subcontinent from spiritual death. The effort to revitalize Buddhism within Sri Lanka was successful and influenced many native Buddhist intellectuals. Sri Lanka was dominated by British colonial power and influence at the time, and many Buddhists heard Olcott's interpretation of the Buddha's message as socially motivating and supportive of efforts to overturn colonialist efforts to ignore Buddhism and Buddhist tradition. This
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#17327800921236138-561: The enslaved, he was following Christian ethics , including the Golden Rule , and the Declaration of Independence , which states that "all men are created equal." He stated that in his view, these two principles "meant the same thing." Brown first gained national attention when he led anti-slavery volunteers and his sons during the Bleeding Kansas crisis of the late 1850s, a state-level civil war over whether Kansas would enter
6237-584: The entire plan. He did discuss his plans at length, for over a day, with Frederick Douglass, trying unsuccessfully to persuade Douglass, a black leader, to accompany him to Harpers Ferry (which Douglass thought a suicidal mission that could not succeed). To attain financial backing and political support for the raid on Harpers Ferry, Brown spent most of 1857 meeting with abolitionists in Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut. Initially Brown returned to Springfield, where he received contributions, and also
6336-411: The first Westerners to receive the Three Refuges and Five Precepts , the ceremony by which one traditionally becomes a Buddhist; thus Blavatsky was the first Western woman to do so. Olcott once described his adult faith as "pure, primitive Buddhism", but his was a unique sort of Buddhism. From 1874 on, Olcott's spiritual growth and development with Blavatsky and other spiritual leaders would lead to
6435-415: The foundation of the League of Gileadites . Brown's personal attitudes evolved in Springfield, as he observed the success of the city's Underground Railroad and made his first venture into militant, anti-slavery community organizing. In speeches, he pointed to the martyrs Elijah Lovejoy and Charles Turner Torrey as white people "ready to help blacks challenge slave-catchers". In Springfield, Brown found
6534-496: The founding of the Theosophical Society . In 1875, Olcott, Blavatsky, and others, notably William Quan Judge , formed the Theosophical Society in New York City, USA. Olcott financially supported the earliest years of the Theosophical Society and was acting president while Blavatsky served as the Society's Secretary. In December 1878, they left New York in order to move the headquarters of the Society to India. They arrived at Bombay on February 16, 1879. Olcott set out to experience
6633-410: The incident: "Here, before God, in the presence of these witnesses, from this time, I consecrate my life to the destruction of slavery!" Brown objected to Black congregants being relegated to the balcony at his church in Franklin Mills. According to daughter Ruth Brown's husband Henry Thompson, whose brother was killed at Harpers Ferry: [H]e and his three sons, John, Jason, and Owen, were expelled from
6732-552: The mid-1840s, Brown had built a reputation as an expert in fine sheep and wool. For about one year, he ran Captain Oviatt's farm, and he then entered into a partnership with Colonel Simon Perkins of Akron, Ohio , whose flocks and farms were managed by Brown and his sons. Brown eventually moved into a home with his family across the street from the Perkins Stone Mansion . In 1846, Brown moved to Springfield, Massachusetts , as an agent for Ohio wool growers in their relations with New England manufacturers of woolen goods, but "also as
6831-433: The most active and forceful. John's mother Ruth died a few hours after the death of her newborn girl in December 1808. In his memoir, Brown wrote that he mourned his mother for years. While he respected his father's new wife, Sallie Root, he never felt an emotional bond with her. Owen married a third time to Lucy Hinsdale, a formerly married woman. Owen had a total of 6 daughters and 10 sons. With no school beyond
6930-465: The most anti-slavery region of the country. Owen hated slavery and participated in Hudson's anti-slavery activity and debate, offering a safe house to Underground Railroad fugitives . Owen became a supporter of Oberlin College after Western Reserve College would not allow a Black man to enroll in the school. Owen was an Oberlin trustee from 1835 to 1844. Other Brown family members were abolitionists, but John and his eccentric brother Oliver were
7029-504: The most prominent abolitionist platforms in the United States. From 1846 until he left Springfield in 1850, Brown was a member of the Free Church, where he witnessed abolitionist lectures by the likes of Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth . In 1847, after speaking at the Free Church, Douglass spent a night speaking with Brown, after which Douglass wrote, "From this night spent with John Brown in Springfield, Mass. [in] 1847, while I continued to write and speak against slavery, I became all
7128-603: The native country of his spiritual leader, the Buddha . The headquarters of the Society were established at Adyar , Chennai as the Theosophical Society Adyar , starting also the Adyar Library and Research Centre within the headquarters. While in India, Olcott strove to receive the translations of sacred oriental texts which were becoming available as a result of western researches. His intent
7227-446: The night of May 24 and the morning of May 25, 1856. Under Brown's supervision, his sons and other abolitionist settlers took from their residences and killed five "professional slave hunters and militant pro-slavery" settlers. The massacre was the match in the powderkeg that precipitated the bloodiest period in "Bleeding Kansas" history, a three-month period of retaliatory raids and battles in which 29 people died. Henry Clay Pate , who
7326-570: The nineteenth-century Sinhalese Buddhist revival who was actually born and raised in the Protestant Christian tradition, though he had already left Protestantism for Spiritualism long before he became a Buddhist. His childhood Protestantism is a reason that many scholars have referred to the Buddhist modernism he influenced as "Protestant Buddhism". John Brown (abolitionist) John Brown (May 9, 1800 – December 2, 1859)
7425-775: The rector of Trinity parish, New Rochelle, New York . They had four children, two of whom died in infancy. He served in the US Army during the American Civil War and afterward was admitted as the Special Commissioner of the War Department in New York. He was later promoted to the rank of colonel and transferred to the Department of the Navy in Washington, DC. He was well respected, and in 1865, following
7524-934: The region, while compiling the tenets of Buddhism for the education of Westerners. It was during this period that he wrote the Buddhist Catechism (1881), which is still used today. The Theosophical Society built several Buddhist schools in Ceylon, most notably Ananda College in 1886, Dharmaraja College Kandy in 1887, Maliyadeva College Kurunegala in 1888, Siddhartha Kumara Maha Vidyalaya (First named as "Buddhist boys' School") Gampaha in 1891, Dharmadutha College, Badulla in 1891, Mahinda College Galle in 1892, Nalanda College, Colombo in 1925, Musaeus College (Girls School) in Colombo and Dharmasoka College in Ambalangoda . Olcott also acted as an adviser to
7623-467: The same less hopeful for its peaceful abolition." During Brown's time in Springfield, he became deeply involved in transforming the city into a major center of abolitionism, and one of the safest and most significant stops on the Underground Railroad. Brown contributed to the 1848 republication, by his friend Henry Highland Garnet , of David Walker 's An Appeal to the Colored Citizens of
7722-467: The servile nations in our Southern States to freedom." An acquaintance said: "As Moses was raised up and chosen of God to deliver the Children of Israel out of Egyptian bondage, ...he was...fully convinced in his own mind that he was to be the instrument in the hands of God to effect the emancipation of the slaves." Brown said that, A few men in the right, and knowing that they are right, can overturn
7821-481: The substantial contribution of Mary Ellen Pleasant , an African American entrepreneur and abolitionist, who donated $ 30,000 (equivalent to $ 981,000 in 2023) toward the cause. In Boston, he met Henry David Thoreau and Ralph Waldo Emerson . Even with the Secret Six and other contributors, Brown had not collected all money needed to fund the raid. He wrote an appeal, Old Browns Farewell , to abolitionists in
7920-463: The tenets of conventional science in extrapolating from the Romantic- and Transcendentalist -influenced 'occult sciences' of the nineteenth century." The Theosophists combination of spiritualism and science to investigate the supernatural reflected the society's desire to combine religion and reason and to produce a rationally spiritual movement. This "occult science" within the Theosophical Society
8019-430: The trip took five days, and he was buried on December 8. Watson's body was located and buried there in 1882. In 1899 the remains of 12 of Brown's other collaborators, including his son Oliver, were located and brought to North Elba. They could not be identified well enough for separate burials, so they are buried together in a single casket donated by the town of North Elba; there is a collective plaque there now. Since 1895,
8118-725: The university. While living in Amherst, Ohio , Olcott was introduced to spiritualism by relatives who had formed a spiritualist circle after seeing the Fox sisters on tour in Cleveland. During this period, Olcott became interested in studies of " psychology , hypnotism , psychometry , and mesmerism " In 1853, after returning to New York, Olcott became a founding member of the New York Conference of Spiritualists. He also published letters and articles on spiritualist topics in
8217-513: The whole secret of man's existence and destiny, so that we may estimate at no more than their actual value and this life and its relations; so that we may live in a way to insure the greatest happiness and the least suffering for our fellow-men and ourselves Olcott's catechism reflects a new, post-Enlightenment interpretation of traditional Buddhist tenets. As David McMahan stated, "[Olcott] allied Buddhism with scientific rationalism in implicit criticism of orthodox Christianity, but went well beyond
8316-470: The winter snows thawed in 1856, the pro-slavery activists began a campaign to seize Kansas on their own terms. Brown was particularly affected by the sacking of Lawrence , the center of anti-slavery activity in Kansas, on May 21, 1856. A sheriff -led posse from Lecompton, the center of pro-slavery activity in Kansas, destroyed two abolitionist newspapers and the Free State Hotel . Only one man,
8415-514: The woods. Brown's small group scattered and fled across the Marais des Cygnes River . One of Brown's men was killed during the retreat and four were captured. While Brown and his surviving men hid in the woods nearby, the Missourians plundered and burned Osawatomie. Though defeated, Brown's bravery and military shrewdness in the face of overwhelming odds brought him national attention and made him
8514-415: Was Olcott who most eloquently articulated and most obviously embodied the diverse religious and cultural traditions that shaped Protestant Buddhism, who gave the revival movement both its organizational shape and its emphasis on education-as-character-building. The most Protestant of all early Protestant Buddhists, Olcott was the liminoid figure, the griot who because of his awkward standing betwixt and between
8613-558: Was a hero and icon in the North. Union soldiers marched to the new song " John Brown's Body " that portrayed him as a heroic martyr . Brown has been variously described as a heroic martyr and visionary, and as a madman and terrorist . John Brown was born May 9, 1800, in Torrington, Connecticut , the son of Owen Brown (1771–1856) and Ruth Mills (1772–1808). Owen Brown's father was Capt. John Brown, of English descent, who died in
8712-544: Was a prominent leader in the American abolitionist movement in the decades preceding the Civil War . First reaching national prominence in the 1850s for his radical abolitionism and fighting in Bleeding Kansas , Brown was captured, tried, and executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia for a raid and incitement of a slave rebellion at Harpers Ferry in 1859. An evangelical Christian of strong religious convictions, Brown
8811-460: Was a secret, well-ventilated room to hide escaping slaves. He transported refugees across the state border into New York and to an important Underground Railroad connection in Jamestown , about 55 miles (89 km) from Richmond Township. The escapees were hidden in the wagon he used to move the mail, hides for his tannery, and survey equipment. For ten years, his farm was an important stop on
8910-406: Was an American military officer, journalist, lawyer, Freemason (member of Huguenot Lodge #448, now #46) and the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society . Olcott was the first well-known American of European ancestry to make a formal conversion to Buddhism . His subsequent actions as president of the Theosophical Society helped create a renaissance in the study of Buddhism. Olcott
9009-669: Was born on 2 August 1832 in Orange, New Jersey , the oldest of six children, to Presbyterian businessman Henry Wyckoff Olcott and Emily Steele Olcott. As a child, Olcott lived on his father's New Jersey farm. During his teens he attended first the College of the City of New York and later Columbia University , where he joined the St. Anthony Hall fraternity, a milieu of well-known people. In 1851 his father's business failed and he had to leave
9108-633: Was despite the fact that his re-interpretation of the Buddha was along modern liberal ideas promoted by the British in Sri Lanka. As David McMahan wrote, "Henry Steel Olcott saw the Buddha as a figure much like the ideal liberal freethinker – someone full of 'benevolence,' 'gratitude,' and 'tolerance,' who promoted 'brotherhood among all men' as well as 'lessons in manly self-reliance". His Europeanized view of Buddha influenced Sri Lankan leaders, such as Anagarika Dharmapala . Olcott and Anagarika Dharmapala were associates, which reflects both men's awareness of
9207-474: Was in jail, awaiting execution. He had an adopted brother, Levi Blakeslee (born some time before 1805). Salmon became a lawyer, politician, and newspaper editor. While Brown was very young, his father moved the family briefly to his hometown, West Simsbury, Connecticut . In 1805, the family moved, again, to Hudson, Ohio , in the Western Reserve , which at the time was mostly wilderness; it became
9306-592: Was part of the sacking of Lawrence was, either during or shortly before, commissioned as a Deputy United States Marshal. On hearing news of John Brown's actions at the Pottawatomie Massacre , Pate set out with a band of thirty men to hunt Brown down. During the hunt for Brown, two of his sons (Jason and John Junior ) were captured (either by Pate or another marshal), charged with murder, and thrown in irons. Brown and free-state militia gathered to confront Pate. Two of Pate's men were captured, which led to
9405-475: Was profoundly influenced by the Puritan faith of his upbringing. He believed that he was "an instrument of God," raised to strike the "death blow" to slavery in the United States , a "sacred obligation." Brown was the leading exponent of violence in the American abolitionist movement , believing it was necessary to end slavery after decades of peaceful efforts had failed. Brown said that in working to free
9504-453: Was the younger sister of Brown's housekeeper at the time. They eventually had 13 children, seven of whom were sons who worked with their father in the fight to abolish slavery. In 1836, Brown moved his family from Pennsylvania to Franklin Mills, Ohio , where he taught Sunday school . He borrowed heavily to buy land in the area, including property along canals being built, and entered into
9603-780: Was to avoid the Westernized interpretations often encountered in America, and to discover the pure message of texts from the Buddhist , Hindu , and Zoroastrian religions, in order to properly educate Westerners. Olcott's research and translation efforts put him in dialogue with early, ostensibly secular anthropologists and scholars of religion . He corresponded extensively with Max Müller , asking questions related to his interest in Hinduism and Buddhism and sharing discoveries from his travels in South Asia. He also personally met both Müller and Edward Burnett Tylor at least once at
9702-409: Was to be decided by the voters of Kansas, but who these voters were was not clear; there was widespread voting fraud in favor of the pro-slavery forces, as a Congressional investigation confirmed. Five of Brown's sons — John Jr., Jason, Owen, Frederick, and Salmon — moved to Kansas Territory in the spring of 1855. Brown, his son Oliver, and his son-in-law Henry Thompson followed later that year with
9801-432: Was used to find the "truth" behind all of the world's major religions. Through their research, Olcott and Blavatsky concluded that Buddhism best embodied elements of what they found significant in all religions. Olcott utilized scientific reasoning in his synthesis and presentation of Buddhism. This is clearly seen in a chapter of his "Buddhist Catechism", entitled "Buddhism and Science". Notably, his efforts represent one of
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