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| '''This is a sandbox used for development of new articles and templates.''' | | '''This is a sandbox used for development of new articles and templates.''' |
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| [[Category:Fiction]]
| | [[File:H.jpg|right|300px|thumb| Hilda Wood]] |
| [[Category:Books]]
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| [[File:Idyl - Three Truths.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Excerpt in ''The American Theosophist'', May, 1953]] | |
| {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Idyll of the White Lotus'' (book)}}
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| '''Idyll of the White Lotus''' is one of the best-known occult works of [[Mabel Collins]] published in 1884.
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| == Content ==
| | {{DISPLAYTITLE:''Parents ''}} |
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| Sensa, a young seer, receives divine guidance from two conflicting forces—one embodying materialism and self-indulgence, the other, love and truth. Torn between their influences, he undergoes a profound inner transformation, ultimately embracing his higher purpose and preparing for a final confrontation in which he shares the three absolute truths with the people.
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| The book was advertised as
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| <blockquote>"The career of the soul in story form. This novel is based on a past life of one of the Masters, and depicts the Egyptian priesthood in its work, its magic and its initiations."<ref>''The American Theosophist'' (Wheaton, IL. Vol. 30, Iss. 2, (Feb 1942)), 50.</ref> </blockquote> and:
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| <blockquote>"A story which has been told in all ages and among every people. It is the tragedy of the Soul. Attracted by desire, the ruling element in the lower nature of man, it stoops to sin; brought to itself by suffering, it turns for help to the redeeming Spirit within; and in the final sacrifice achieves the apotheosis and sheds a blessing on mankind."<ref>''The American Theosophist'' (Wheaton, IL. Vol. 35, Iss. 6, (Jun 1947)), 146.</ref></blockquote>
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| == Production history == | | == Publications == |
| The author claimed to have created this book by automatic writing, dictated by the Master Hilarion.
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| Previous to her Theosophical connections she had started writing the book ''The Idyll of the White Lotus.'' [[N. D. Khandalavala]] recounted the writing of this book as follows:
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| <blockquote>An obelisk from Egypt called "Cleopatra’s Needle" was brought to England and put up on the bank of the Thames, opposite which there lived a lady in a little house. Looking out of her window every day at the obelisk, she used now and then to see strange-looking men coming out of the monument, as it were, dressed in a peculiar garb. She used to make her living by writing small novels. One day, while she was at work at her writing table, she saw a row of priests dressed in white passing by her side and she went into a sort of trance, but her hand went on working and sheet after sheet was written in a different hand. This went on for several days, and half of the book named The Idyll of the White
| | === Periodicals === |
| Lotus was written, and then the writing stopped. A Jewish relative of hers used to watch her while this curious phenomenon was taking place.<ref>N. D. Khandalavala, "Madame H. P. Blavatsky as I Knew Her," The Theosophist, vol 50 (June, 1929), 220-221.</ref></blockquote>
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| Mabel claimed that during the writing of the book, "she had been absolutely taken from her body in order that her hand and pen might be used by another intelligence."<ref>[http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/sisson1.htm# Helena Blavatsky and the Enigma of John King] by Marina Cesar Sisson</ref>
| | === Pamphlets === |
| | | Selected titles: |
| Years later, upon joining the TS, she showed the unfinished manuscript to [[H. S. Olcott]], then visiting Europe with [[H. P. Blavatsky]]. Mabel told him that the text was written either in trance or under dictation by an unseen character, but the inspiration had ceased. Col. Olcott recommended that, if she had ever thought of making money by publishing the book, she should give up such a thought and try again. She did so and the writing of the Idyll was completed in the same manner. The book was dedicated by her "To the ''True Author'', the ''Inspirer'' of this work."
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| Regarding the inspirer of the book, H. P. Blavatsky stated that it was "one who became an adept only in 1886."<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 316.</ref> She also said:
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| <blockquote>When I met her, she had just completed the Idyll of the White Lotus, which, as she stated to Colonel Olcott, had been dictated to her by some "mysterious person." Guided by her description, we both recognized an old friend of ours, a Greek, and no Mahatma, though an Adept; further developments proving we were right.<ref>Helena Petrovna Blavatsky, ''Collected Writings'' vol. XI (Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973), 285.</ref></blockquote>
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| == Publication history == | |
| The work was first published in The Banner of Light.
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| Numerous editions:
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| It was followed later by a sequel "The Story of Sensa. An Interpretation of the Idyll of the White Lotus" (London: Theosophical Publishing Society, 1911).
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| The author claimed to have created this book by automatic writing, dictated by the [[Mahatmas|Master]] [[Hilarion]]. The work was first published in ''The Banner of Light''.
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| Along with the [[Light on the Path (book)|''Light on the Path'']], Idyll of the White Lotus have been widely read by Theosophists worldwide and translated into numerous languages. (????????)
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| == Adaptations ==
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| ''Idyll of the White Lotus'' was also adapted into a play by [[Maud Hoffman]] ''Sensa, a Mystery Play in Three Acts''.<ref>Published in 1950 by [[Theosophical University Press]] in Covina, California.</ref>
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| == Commentaries and reviews ==
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| Following an example of T. Subba Row, who underlined the symbolism of the book, William W. Quinn, Jr., who in his book review called it "A Symbolical Novel", wrote: "The story concerns the events surrounding the discovery, initiation, and eventual work of Sensa, a young "seer" or prophet who alone is able to receive and communicate messages from two goddesses—one representing materialism and hedonism; the other representing love, awareness, and truth. [...] Young Sensa is torn between the beckoning "sirens"—the two goddesses—as to which direction to take, yet the agonies, thought processes, and emotional strains he goes through create a resonance within the reader. [...] As the reader's spiritual ambassador, Sensa succeeds in overcoming "himself" and begins living true to his higher principle, symbolized by the Lady of the Lotus. When he has defeated the adversaries of worldly passions and materialism, symbolized by the Queen of Desire, and self-image and importance through conformity and peer pressure, symbolized by the priesthood, the stage is set for a final confrontation in which the three absolute truths are given." <ref>From a book review by Willian W. Quinn, Jr. in ''The American Theosophist'' (Wheaton, IL. Vol. 63, Iss. 2, (Feb 1975)), 46-47.</ref>
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| <references/> | | <references/> |
| [[Category:Books|Idyll of the White Lotus]] | | [[Category:Nationality English|Wood, Hilda]] |
| | | [[Category:People|Wood, Hilda]] |
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| == Additional resources ==
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| * [https://books.google.ca/books?id=h-AHAAAAQAAJ Idyll of the White Lotus] on Google Books.
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| *[https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Collection_of_Esoteric_Writings_of_T._Subba_Row/The_Idyll_of_the_White_Lotus On the Idyll of the White Lotus by T. Subba Row.]
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