This paper seeks to investigate the growth progress and background of the worldview formation of Helena Blavatsky, founder of the Theosophical Society, as well as the manner in which Blavatsky"s theosophy impacted Nicholas and Helena Roerich’sliterary movement. The Theosophical Society, which was founded in 1875, once boasted 50 different journals published at the start of the 20th century as well as more than 100,000 active members, but under the Soviet system, the members of the Theosophical Society were persecuted and exiled, and the study of Blavatsky"s writings on religious philosophy wasprohibited because they ran counter to the official ideology of the state. Nonetheless, since the 1980s, post-perestroika Russia has witnessed a boom in the re-publishing of her writings, to the extent that it has been called the "Blavatsky phenomenon," and interest in theosophy has also increased exponentially. Despite once being denounced as a lunatic scholar of the psychic sciences, Blavatsky for emphasized the existence of ancient knowledge hidden around the world, in places like India and Tibet, through such writings as Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, and The Key to Theosophy combining science, religion, and philosophy, she has been the subject of growing interest as a pioneering figure in the academic pursuit of establishing a more harmonized worldview.
Of course, such an evolution of the social atmosphere may also be a reaction to the atmosphere of religious oppression under Soviet rule, where a materialist perspective served as the cornerstone of its ideology. However, more fundamentally, it is a reflection of the Russians" interest in a philosophy of the soul based on Eastern spirituality, and in a world governed by the laws of the spirit beyond the physical world. This atmosphere also derives from the fact that, freed from discrimination basedon race, sex, social hierarchy, or religion, and with the belief in humanity"s mental strength, the Theosophical Society studies the world"s religions and various disciplines without prejudice, in an attempt to discover hitherto hidden human psychic abilities and the hidden secrets of nature; its current objective is to follow the course of the progression of the humanities which has emphasized the "integration" of various disciplines and the "cooperative
communication" between different religions and different people.
Nicholas Roerich and his wife Helena were representative thinkers of the Theosophical movement who were greatly influenced by Blavatsky and her attempts to merge faith and knowledge, religion and science, aimed at drawing attention to the correlation between "human progress" and "culture." They felt called to re-establish Blavatsky"s historic achievements, and enlisted and became active in the Theosophical Society in 1920. Nicholas Roerich, who was especially infatuated with Indian philosophy, represented images of Eastern religions in paintings and participated in Blavatsky"s theater, which focused on how "art" connects different people together, while Helena Roerich translated The Secret Doctrine into Russian in an effort to spread the spirit of Blavatsky"s ideas. Together, the Roerich couple wrote Living Ethics, wherein they describe a religious and philosophical perspective that follows the principle of integration, which they shared in common with Blavatsky"s own theosophy. In this book, the Roerich couple also recreate Blavatsky"s perspective on "culture," and argue that "culture"is intimately tied to issues of humanity"s cosmic evolution and is founded on beauty and knowledge. They present the possibility that the category of "culture"comprises the highest achievements of religious experience, science, art, and education, and that humanity"s awareness can thereby be elevated to a cosmic level, thus ultimately altering human life. Organized as the "Roerich movement" in 1990, these feats have had a profound impact on the development of spiritual movements in Russia.