Theos-Talk Archives (August 2001 Message tt00118)

Any reference to indigenous Australians in relation to Theosophy is 
somewhat unfortunate given the racist comments made about them by 
Theosophical writers, including Blavatsky. Admittedly, none has quite 
surpassed Leadbeater's promotion of a quasi-thoeosphical genocide as the 
solution to the "karmic" problem (?) of Australian Aboriginal people, but 
others like Jinarajadasa seem to have tried valiantly to do so. His 
"First Principles of Theosophy" heads enthusiastically in the direction 
of the Nazi's pseudo-science of racial "classification". This has been 
claimed as the reason the book has never been reprinted by the TPH in the 
USA (although one US publisher has indeed recently released a reprint of 
the work). Ignorance of science can, presumably, explain the strangely 
racist views of Blavatsky, Leadbeater et al towards the indigenous 
peoples of Australia. One would be hard pressed to argue that they 
possessed insights into "universal wisdom" in this regard. It is either 
ironic or scandalous to note that various TS groups in Australia offer 
lectures on such topics as the "Wisdom of the Australian Aborigines" 
while still selling (and sometimes in modern editions) works which define 
them as less than fully human. Of course, it is more common for the TPH 
to selectively edit out the more blatant racism from the writings of 
Leadbeater and others. For a country still (after 200 years) struggling 
to find a place in its family of humanity for its first peoples, the 
standard works of theosophical writers have only a message of despair. 
The influence of theosophy on various forms of racism against Australian 
Aborigines is a topic which warrants further historical study.

Gregory Tillett