tobias churton - Aleister Crowley In India (Tobias Churton)

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Aleister Crowley in India

The Secret Influence of Eastern Mysticism on

Magic and the Occult

TOBIAS CHURTON

Follow Aleister Crowley through his mystical travels in India, which profoundly influenced his magical system as well as the larger occult world

Shares excerpts from Crowleys unpublished diaries and details his travels in India, Burma, and Sri Lanka from 1901 to 1906

Reveals how Crowley incorporated what he learned in Indiajnana yoga, Vedantist, Tantric, and Buddhist philosophyinto his own school of Magick

Explores the world of Theosophy, yogis, Hindu traditions, and the first Buddhist sangha to the West as well as the first pioneering expeditions to K2 and Kangchenjunga in 1901 and 1905

Early in life, Aleister Crowleys dissociation from fundamentalist Christianity led him toward esoteric and magical spirituality. In 1901, he made the first of three voyages to the Indian subcontinent, searching for deeper knowledge and experience. His religious and magical system, Thelema, shows clear influence of his thorough experimental absorption in Indian mystical practices.

Sharing excerpts from Crowleys unpublished diaries, Tobias Churton tells the true story of Crowleys adventures in India from 1901 to 1906, culminating in his first experience of the supreme trance of jnana (gnostic) yoga, Samadhi: divine union. Churton shows how Vedantist and Advaitist philosophies, Hindu religious practices, yoga, and Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism informed Crowleys spiritual system and reveals how he built on Madame Blavatsky and Henry Steel Olcotts prior work in India. Churton illuminates links between these beliefs and ancient Gnostic systems and shows how they informed the O.T.O. system through Franz Hartmann and Theodor Reuss.

Churton explores Crowleys early breakthrough in consciousness research with a Dhyana trance in Sri Lanka, becoming a devotee of Shiva and Bhavani, fierce avatar of the goddess Parvati. Recounting Crowleys travels to the temples of Madurai, Anuradhapura, and Benares, Churton looks at the gurus of yoga and astrology Crowley met, while revealing his adventures with British architect, Edward Thornton.

Churton also details Crowleys mountaineering feats in India, including the record-breaking attempt on Chogo Ri (K2) in 1902 and the Kangchenjunga disaster of 1905.

Revealing how Crowley incorporated what he learned in India into his own school of Magick, including an extensive look at his theory of correspondences, the symbology of 777, and the Thelemic synthesis, Churton sheds light on one of the most profoundly mystical periods in Crowleys life as well as how it influenced the larger occult world.

Britains leading scholar of Western esotericism, Tobias Churton is a world authority on Gnosticism, Hermeticism, Freemasonry, and Rosicrucianism. Appointed Honorary Fellow of Exeter University in 2005, he holds a masters degree in theology from Brasenose College, Oxford, and is the author of many books, including Gnostic Philosophy and Aleister Crowley in America. He lives in the heart of England.

Inner Traditions ISBN 978-1-62055-796-9 $40.00 (CAN $49.99) Hardcover Also available as an ebook 512 pages, 6 x 9 101 black-and-white il ustrations Rights: World Biography/Occult History

December 2019

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INDIA, as traveled in 1902 by Dr. Jules Jacot-Guil armod,member of Aleister Crowleys Kangchenjunga Expedition(from Guil armods Six Mois dans lHimalaya,

Neuchatel, Switzerland: Sandoz, 1904).

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The Secret Influence of

Eastern Mysticism on

Magic and the Occult

Tobias ChurTon

Inner Traditions

Rochester, Vermont

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Inner Traditions

One Park Street

Rochester, Vermont 05767

www.InnerTraditions.com

Copyright 2019 by Tobias Churton

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Cataloging-in-Publication Data for this title is available from the Library of Congress ISBN XXX-X-XXXXX-XXX-X (print)

ISBN XXX-X-XXXXX-XXX-X (ebook)

Printed and bound in XXXXX

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Text design and layout by Debbie Glogover

This book was typeset in Garamond Premier Pro with Heirloom Artcraft, Gill Sans MT Pro, and ITC Legacy Sans Std used as display fonts Because hyperlinks do not always remain viable, we are no longer including URLs in our resources, notes, or bibliographic entries. Instead, we are providing the name of the website where this information may be found.

To send correspondence to the author of this book, mail a first-class letter to the author c/o Inner Traditions Bear & Company, One Park Street, Rochester, VT

05767, and we will forward the communication, or contact the author directly at tobiaschurton.com.

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Contents

Acknowledgments 00

INTRODUCTION Tipping-Point for India:

Catalyst for Crowley 00

P A R T O N E

Crowley in india

ONE Go East, Young Man! 00

Madame Blavatsky and India 00

Theosophy in Ceylon 00

How Indians Became Aryans 00

TWO Fall-Out and Fall-In 00

Allan Bennett 00

Bennett in Ceylon 18991901 00

THREE The Beast in Colombo 00

FOUR To Kandy 00

Yoga The Essentials 00

FIVE Big Game, Small Games 00

Dambulla, Sigiraya, and Anuradhapura 00

Thomas William Rhys Davids 00

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SIX The Aim Is Being: Calcutta 00

Madura

Edward Thornton

SEVEN Burma, by Train, Boat, and Paddle Steamer 00

The Irrawaddy Flotilla Company

Akyab

EIGHT Across India 00

Benares

NINE K2 00

TEN Return to Ceylon, via Boleskine 00

ELEVEN The Works 19011904 00

The Argonauts

The Dhammapada

Berashith

Science and Buddhism

TWELVE The Works II:

Ascension Day and Pentecost 00

Pansil

Pentecost

Done, at Akyab

THIRTEEN 1905: Jna Yoga 00

Sabhapatys System

FOURTEEN Kangchenjunga 00

FIFTEEN Moharbhanj 00

SIXTEEN Get Out of Calcutta Quick! 00

SEVENTEEN Return to Burma 00

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