Showing results by author "Annie Besant" in All Categories

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. Here she writes about the qualifications of being a disciple, what an aspirant can expect, and what types of behavior their teacher may expect of them, as well as why we shouldn't judge other aspirants as not being worthy of having a teacher and what is to be gained by the whole process.

More than 40 years prior to Bill Wilson creating the organization known as Alcoholics Anonymous, in 1892 noted spiritual author Annie Besant gave a lecture on the subject of alcoholism (published later that same year) and referred to drinking alcohol as "the alcoholic disease"! She, of course, approached the subject from a theosophical and thus spiritual standpoint. She briefly described her own history with alcohol as well as the physical and spiritual effects it has on the individual.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This piece by her is a short lecture she gave in 1891, on the topic of Universal Brotherhood, altruism, and their importance to both, the Theosophy movement in general and members of the Theosophical Society, in particular.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent theosophist, and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various theosophical publications of her day. This particular piece was a lecture she gave in 1893, discussing yoga, consciousness, the Atman, and a multitude of related concepts.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist, and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This particular piece was a lecture delivered to the League of Liberal Christianity at Manchester in May of 1911, regarding a global awakening of consciousness that she felt she was witnessing at the time.

Annie Besant was a writer, lecturer, prominent Theosophist, and women's rights activist of her time. She was a frequent contributor to various Theosophical publications of her day. This particular piece, originally published in 1906, is an examination and comparison of the two principle types of yoga in India, the Hatha, for the body and the Raja for the mind.

Annie Besant lo cree personalmente, realmente cree que es posible materializar nuestros deseos, nuestros sueños, nuestras metas por el simple hecho de controlar nuestros pensamientos positivos. Dentro de cada uno de nosotros hay corrientes poderosísimas cuyo empleo correcto significará un avance en lo trascendente. Annie Besant -preclara expositora del ideal teosófico- enseña a través de estas páginas, a utilizar tales energías internas, para bien de uno mismo y de los demás.

Annie Wood Besant (1847-1933) was a prominent Theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, and orator. She was born in London into a middle-class family of Irish origin. She fought for the causes she thought were right, starting with freedom of thought, women’s rights, secularism (she was a leading member of the National Secular Society), birth control, Fabian socialism, and workers’ rights. Soon, she was earning a small weekly wage by writing a column for the National Reformer, the newspaper of the National Secular Society. She was also one of the leading figures in Theosophy.

The subject of my discourses I have called "The Laws of the Higher Life", because so many people in dealing with religion that has to do with the Higher Life seem inclined to remove it from the realm of law, bringing it into some strange region of arbitrary whim and results without endeavor, of failure without weakness.

This short account of Swami Vivekananda, the Vedantist who brought Hinduism to America, focuses on the years 1893 to 1897. After a famous speech at the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893, Vivekananda promoted his religious beliefs and practices by lecturing extensively across the United States, teaching and attracting devotees, producing a wealth of publications and tracts on Hinduism, encouraging vegetarianism, writing the first book on yoga to appear in America and so on, for a new and enthusiastic audience.