The white Buddhist : the Asian odyssey of Henry Steel Olcott / Stephen Prothero.

By:

Prothero, Stephen R

Material type: Text

TextSeries: Religion in North AmericaPublication details: Bloomington : Indiana University Press, �1996.Description: 1 online resource (xiii, 242 pages) : illustrationsContent type:

text

Media type:

computer

Carrier type:

online resource

ISBN:

0585109508
9780585109503

Subject(s):

Genre/Form:

Additional physical formats: Print version:: White Buddhist.DDC classification:

294.3/092 B 20

LOC classification:

BQ976.L36 P48 1996eb

Other classification:

11.93
BE 8520
BG 9735
RR 50962

Online resources:

Click here to access online

Contents:

1. Universal Reformer -- 2. From Spiritualism to Theosophy -- 3. An Errand to Asia -- 4. The Sinhalese Buddhist Revival -- 5. A United Buddhist World -- 6. The Indian Renaissance -- 7. Things Fall Apart.

Action note:

digitized 2011 committed to preserve

Summary: The New York Times denounced him as an "unmitigated rascal". Others described him as a reincarnation of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka or perhaps Gautama Buddha himself. He was Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832 - 1907), friend to Madame Blavatsky and president-founder of the Theosophical Society. This book tells the fascinating story of his spiritual odyssey. Raised a Presbyterian in nineteenth century New York, Olcott embraced spiritualism and then theosophy before becoming the first American of European descent to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. Despite his repudiation of Christianity, Olcott's life was an extension of both the "errand to the wilderness" of his Puritan ancestors and the "errand to the world" of American Protestant missionaries. Olcott viewed himself as a defender of Asian religions against the missionaries, but his actions mirrored theirs. He wrote and distributed tracts and catechisms, promoted the translation of scriptures into vernacular languages, established Sunday schools, founded voluntary associations, and conducted revivals. And he too labored to "uplift" his Asian acquaintances, urging them to embrace social reforms such as temperance and women's rights. However one views his work, his legacy was a lasting one, and today he is revered in Sri Lanka as a leader of the Sinhalese Buddhist Revival and in India as a key contributor to the Indian Renaissance.

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Includes bibliographical references (pages 221-233) and index.

Print version record.

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The New York Times denounced him as an "unmitigated rascal". Others described him as a reincarnation of the Buddhist emperor Ashoka or perhaps Gautama Buddha himself. He was Colonel Henry Steel Olcott (1832 - 1907), friend to Madame Blavatsky and president-founder of the Theosophical Society. This book tells the fascinating story of his spiritual odyssey. Raised a Presbyterian in nineteenth century New York, Olcott embraced spiritualism and then theosophy before becoming the first American of European descent to make a formal conversion to Buddhism. Despite his repudiation of Christianity, Olcott's life was an extension of both the "errand to the wilderness" of his Puritan ancestors and the "errand to the world" of American Protestant missionaries. Olcott viewed himself as a defender of Asian religions against the missionaries, but his actions mirrored theirs. He wrote and distributed tracts and catechisms, promoted the translation of scriptures into vernacular languages, established Sunday schools, founded voluntary associations, and conducted revivals. And he too labored to "uplift" his Asian acquaintances, urging them to embrace social reforms such as temperance and women's rights. However one views his work, his legacy was a lasting one, and today he is revered in Sri Lanka as a leader of the Sinhalese Buddhist Revival and in India as a key contributor to the Indian Renaissance.

Electronic reproduction. [Place of publication not identified] : HathiTrust Digital Library, 2011. MiAaHDL

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