Charles Johnston - 1867 — 1931

[KALKI]

As one author notes, Charles Johnston “left us very little in the way of autobiography,—if biography still mean to us, as it had ceased to mean to him, a record of the personal outer life.”1 The personal facts of his life are few, and, as with all personal facts, are but sign-posts that mark the stations along the track of an inward journey, a journey traceable, if only slightly, through his voluminous writings.
Johnston “was born at Ballykilbeg, Co. Down, Ireland, on February 17th, 1867, the son of ‘Johnston of Ballykilbeg’, Member of Parliament for Belfast, a famous Orangeman and leader of the Temperance movement. His mother was a daughter of Sir John Hay, a Scotch Baronet. He was educated at Derby, England, and later at Dublin University.”2 Though we know little about his early life, we know that he maintained a deep love for his homeland, its history, its people, and its natural beauty.
Among the friends of his youth Johnston counted a group of young thinkers, philosophers and poets, including, most notably, W. B. Yeats and G. W. Russell. These three, seeking deeper answers to life’s riddles, began exploring the profound vistas of hidden wisdom that lie concealed in the world’s major religious and philosophical systems, a search that lead them ultimately to the modern theosophical movement and its burgeoning presentation of esoteric wisdom. At the center of this movement stood the powerful and enigmatic figure of H. P. Blavatsky, a woman that would come to have a profound influence upon the direction of Johnston’s life, as she has had on many others. As Johnston relates:

“I had been first introduced to her by reading A. P. Sinnett’s Occult World in November, 1884, and Esoteric Buddhism3 in the following spring; and had been completely convinced of the truth of her message, of the reality of Masters, and of her position as Messenger of the Great Lodge. This conviction was tested by the attack made on her by the Society for Psychical Research in London, in June, 1885,4 when I made a vigorous protest in H. P. B.’s defense, and by further study of Isis Unveiled,5 Five Years of Theosophy,6 and Light on the Path7 in the months that followed.”8

It becomes immediately clear, as one explores his life and work, the profound impact the theosophical philosophy had on the direction of his life. It is important to keep in mind that in 1884, when first coming into contact with Theosophy, Johnston was but 17 years old. Yet from that moment forward, until his last breath, in his 65th year, he would dedicate his life to the cause of Theosophy and to the study and elucidation of theosophical wisdom.
The year of 1886 would mark the beginning of Johnston’s life-long work on behalf of Theosophy and the Theosophical Society. This visible work began with his first article: “The Second Wave”, which was given the leading place in the December, 1886, issue of The Theosophist. In this article, written at the young age of 19, Johnston displays an already keen, awakened and mature vision of Theosophy and its movement in the world. He writes:

“The Theosophical movement claims to be the returning tide of the Spirit and Truth which have ebbed from the world’s religions. Its first advance has already been made, and it has been marked by strange and marvellous occurrences,—no longer ‘miracles’ but ‘phenomna,’—by wonderful theories and new-born Ideas. When first coming to the study of Theosophy we have talked learnedly of such things as Sthula-sariras and Mulaprakriti, of psychic currents and astral forms, and a hundred others as extraordinary. We have gathered together to talk of the decadence of religions, and of the wonderful future before Theosophy. But while doing so we have not always remembered that it is we ourselves who must make the future, if it is really to exist at all; and while accusing the old religions of superstition and materialism, we have ourselves, perhaps, been lacking in the earnestness and sincerity, without which the religions we find fault with would never have survived their birth. Let us ponder well on the matter, for now is the dead-point of Theosophy, and it depends on each one of us whether it will ever pass that dead-point, and go on towards the glorious future we are so ready to predict for it. A year or two will decide whether there is in Theosophy the vitality of true life. If the seed which was so prolifically sown in the beginning of the movement has borne real fruit in the minds of those who have received it: if the lessons so patiently taught have been profitably received, the movement will become a real power in the world of suffering men and women.
“When the first generation of theosophical teachers has passed away, and the early supporters of the Society are no more, how shall we be able to take our stand in their places and carry on the work they have begun, unless we have been strengthened and purified by the lessons they have taught? Is theosophy to advance a second time, or is it to perish out of sight like some imperfect thing born out of due time? It is useless for us to say ‘we are weak and unworthy, we are unable to bear the burden which is laid upon us,’ for if we do not carry on the work entrusted to us, who is to give it permanence and power to live? Rather let us strive, with an earnest appreciation of our duty, to make ourselves worthy and able to maintain the light which is given into our hands.”

The wisdom in these words, yet young and newly growing in his heart, would continue to shine through in his life and in his work for theosophy. He took his own advice to heart and made himself worthy and, in time, became one of those who would “carry on the work” that would indeed allow theosophy “to advance a second time” and give to it the “permanence and power to live”, a power that would allow it to continue on even to the present day, over a century and a quarter later.
Having helped to found a theosophical lodge in Dublin, having defended his teacher when she was attacked and the movement threatened, having begun his work for theosophy with the wielding of his ever-powerful pen, the time arrived for Johnston to meet the woman who stood at the center of this inspiring force that had so stirred his soul, Madame H. P. Blavatsky.

“I first met dear old ‘H. P. B.,’ as she made all her friends call her, in the spring of 1887. Some of her disciples had taken a pretty house in Norwood, where the huge glass nave and twin towers of the Crystal Palace glint above a labyrinth of streets and terraces. London was at its grimy best. The squares and gardens were scented with grape-clusters of lilac, and yellow rain of laburnums under soft green leaves. The eternal smoke-pall was thinned to a gray veil shining in the afternoon sun, with the great Westminster Towers and a thousand spires and chimneys piercing through. Every house had its smoke-wreath, trailing away to the east.”

“The first and earliest impression I received from Madame Blavatsky was the feeling of the power and largeness of her individuality; as though I were in the presence of one of the primal forces of Nature. . . .
“This sense of the power of individuality was not what one has felt in the presence of some great personality, who dominates and dwarfs surrounding persons into insignificance, and tyrannously overrides their independence. It was rather the sense of a profound deep-seated reality, an exhaustless power of resistance, a spirit built on the very depths of Nature, and reaching down to the primæval eternities of Truth.
“Gradually apparent under this dominant impression of power, arose a subtle sense of great gentleness and kindliness, an unfailing readiness to forget herself entirely and to throw herself heartily into the life of others.”9

Having met with H. P. B., Johnston’s dedication to the theosophical movement was solidified. It fell on him next to establish, in the words of the Upanishads, his own “firm foundation”, his own deep-roots in the living-philosophy itself. And this quest, this building of his foundation, would carry him outwardly around the world and inwardly through the realms of his own being.
Through the following years, Johnston lived in part in Ireland and England; met his future wife and life-long partnet, Vera Jelihovsky (H.P.B.’s niece); lived for a brief time in India, where he came down with jungle fever, forcing him to return to Europe. He lived for a time in various places across the European continent, making his living as a writer. During this time we find several insightful articles from his pen, most notably his early attempts at translations and commentaries upon the Great Upanishads. We may glimpse in these early articles a little of the inward journey of Johnston himself. Though traveling outwardly from Europe to India and back, he was likewise traveling inwardly, exploring the depths and nature of his own consciousness. Having studied theosophical literature in preceding years, he then took the ideas found therein and subjected them to his own inner trials, weighing them on that “firm foundation” of his own developing soul-wisdom. In this he exemplifies what may be called “the theosophical method”, where intellectual knowledge fuels intuitional development and the power of one’s own will and inner-discernment are brought to bear on every subject, where mind and heart come together to reach towards inner, experiential wisdom.
In May of 1891, Johnston’s teacher and mentor H. P. Blavatsky passed away in London, England. The event marked a turning point in the life of the Theosophical Society that would give rise to a flurry disruptions and difficulties, beginning a roughly seven year period of trials and tribulations for those devoted to the cause of Theosophy. This period of tribulation rose to a second climax with the death of William Q. Judge, co-founder of the Society and one of Johnston’s early teachers and guides.
Prior to his death, William Judge had been producing a small periodical titled “The Oriental Department”, with the goal of translating and elucidating the fundamental texts of the east for western students of Theosophy. He was in need of a knowledgeable translator and student of Theosophy, which he found in Charles Johnston. Not only did Johnston accept Judge’s invitation to volunteer his energy and knowledge on behalf of the Oriental Department, he seems to have taken Mr. Judge’s request deeply to heart—thus we find, even after Judge’s death, even after the Oriental Department came to a close, Johnston continued upon his task of translating and commentating upon central eastern texts until the very last days of his life. We may be justified, then, in imagining that Johnston viewed his acceptance of Mr. Judge’s request as taking on a supreme life’s duty, a task set for him, of which he would be rightful to dedicate his life.
Johnston’s work for the Oriental Department began in January, 1894, and marks a point of enlivening in the department’s work. Throughout the three and some years of its existence we see a steady expansion of both the quantity and quality of Johnston’s writings, as well as of his role in the Theosophical Movement on the whole. The storm that swept through the ranks of the Theosophical Society rent it in two, challenging each and every member to live up to their professed principles; the kind of trials any who dare to seek the Path inevitable face. While outward challenges were met, one after another, the true trials were within the hearts and minds of each theosophist, and while retrospect affords us a different, perhaps broader view, for those facing the tests of Brotherhood the difficulties are very real, very present and right-action not always easily discerned. During these years we find Johnston siding conclusively and strongly on the side of Mr. Judge, both continuing in his duty undeterred and defending the character of his colleague and mentor.
In October of 1896, only a few short months after Mr. Judge’s passing, Johnston and his wife Vera relocated permanently to New York, to carry on the work of theosophy and give what energy they could to the task. The fallout of Mr. Judge’s death would come to a head in the spring and summer of 1897, this time with another figure standing at the center of the storm: Katherine Tingley. This fallout caused yet another split within the theosophical movement, leading to two further distinct organizations, both using the name “The Theosophical Society”. Johnston weathered this storm, as he had done in years past, by staying true to his duty, by continuing his work and by holding to that “firm foundation” within.
Throughout this period of conflict and adversity within the theosophical movement, we find a great insight into Johnston’s character not solely by what he says, but by what he doesn’t say. While many fell into the trappings of the fight, while many slung words of anger, resentment, hatred and all manner of abuse and accusation at fellow theosophists, Charles Johnston remained silent. He lashed out at none; he had not a dark word to say, not a single condemnation to fling. In fact, even in the many years that followed this time of trial, in the calm aftermath when reflection on such events would’ve been easy, perhaps even relieving, we find hardly a word on it from Johnston’s pen. His duty was in the present and was presently clear, and his focus remained with it.
As the storm began to subside, Johnston, along with several other of his close co-workers—students who had worked intimately with Mr. Judge in the preceding years—began the slow and arduous task of rebuilding a Society along the lines they perceived to be the most true to the purpose and cause of Theosophy. Among these close co-workers and friends, with whom Johnston would work for years to come, were Dr. Archibald Keightley and his wife Julia (a.k.a. Jasper Niemand), Clement Griscom and his wife Genevieve (a.k.a. Cavé); Miss Katharine Hillard, Ernest Hargrove, Henry and John Mitchell, and many others.
This group worked together to re-start the publication of the Theosophical Forum, the continuation of a newsletter-style periodical originally founded by Mr. Judge. In this newsletter, between July, 1898 and August, 1900, we find another glimpse into Johnston’s inner life through a series of articles which have been collated posthumously under the title “The Beginning of Real Life”. In these articles we find a new height to Johnston’s poetic skill and inspiration, while we are given a glimpse, it would seem, into a transformative period in his inner life. There is therein an continued expression, in beautiful lucidity, of an awakening to a more expansive view of human life. We cannot help but imagine that Johnston is here relaying something of his own inner journey, and perhaps the shared journey of his closest co-workers and co-students, something of an emergence from a period of trials and tests into open fields of victory and new spiritual vision.
Johnston opens this series of articles with a statement of profound import:

“One has heard good people, during these stormy years, express, with sighs, a deep regret for all our turmoils, and a devout longing that we might have peace, balmy peace. The lords of life who arranged these things, must have smiled,—an inscrutable eastern smile,—knowing well that the turmoil was the work; that all these shocks and storms and stresses were the very heart of the whole matter, the essential part of the educational process; the very end and aim for which they were working. The lords of life have little taste for peace, balmy peace.”10

We here find Johnston passing through one stage of his inner life and emerging into another. The early days of study and trial have been waded through and new days of work—a transformed work, as we will see—lies in wait. We feel justified in seeing the emergence of a new man in the latter part of Johnston’s life. With the turn of the century he moves steadily from the role of student to the role of instructor. Yet while becoming a teacher in one sense of the term, elucidating the wisdom of theosophy and particularly of the Upanishads and Indian wisdom, he remains, as we all do, a student. It is in this latter part of Johnston’s life that we find his great work coming to fruition in his translations and commentaries of those eastern texts that form the heart and soul of India—the Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the works of Sankaracharya and the Suttas of Buddhism—and in his unveiling of the wisdom that lay hidden in other traditions—most notably of the Tao Teh King and the New Testament.
We saw the beginning of Johnston’s work with eastern texts as far back as 1887, and his first full translation in 1892. We then saw his first great effort, under the direction of William Q. Judge, with his translations and commentaries in the Oriental Department Papers between 1894 and 1897. The final stage in this lifelong work begins to come to light with the founding of the Theosophical Quarterly in 1903. Of all Johnston’s writings, the publications made in this periodical are the greatest in both quantity and quality. We find him revisiting the key translations previously done for the Oriental Department, but with a new degree of insight, with an increased quality of translation, and with finer and deeper commentary.
We find first a complete translation, with commentary, of the Bhagavad Gita, appearing in 1906-07. This is followed by a translation of Gaudapada’s Mandukya Karika in 1908, and a translation with commentary of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras in 1909-10. During these years we also find a series of articles on the world’s religious systems, commentaries and explorations of eastern and western texts, deep insights offered into the esoteric wisdom of the New Testament and of the Vedanta Philosophy of Sankaracharya. In all these Johnston shines through as one who is well-rooted in the fundamental wisdom of the ages, whose “firm foundation” is not only secure but wide and expansive.
In these early years of the Theosophical Quarterly, we also see Johnston providing much leadership within the Theosophical Society,11 stepping into the role of chairman of the Executive Committee, acting as chairman at several annual conventions where also providing yearly talks on the subject of Theosophy, and generally guiding the ship of the T. S. forward, through the first World War and beyond. His talks on Theosophy were serialized in the Quarterly, making their yearly appearance in the July numbers, and these provide much insight into Johnston’s approach to Theosophy, the Theosophical Society and the larger Movement.
In 1920, nearly thirty years after his initial efforts of translation, Johnston began his final effort to translate and comment upon the ten Principle (Mukhya) Upanishads. We find the Isha and Kena Upanishads completed in 1920, the Katha in 1921, Prashna in 1922, Mundaka and Mandukya in 1923, Taittiriya in 1924, Aitareya in 1925, Chhandogya between 1926 and 1929, and the Brihad Aranyaka between 1927 and 1931, the final installment coming but a few months before his passing. During this time we also find a full translation, with commentary, of Lao Tse’s Tao Teh King (1921) and Sankaracharya’s Crest-Jewel of Wisdom (1923-24).
The value of these translations and commentaries, representing the fruition of Johnston’s lifelong study, testing and practice of theosophical wisdom, must be left to each student to discover for themselves. We feel confident that they will be found of inestimable aid to any who, like Johnston, wish to walk the path of the ancients.

“Charles Johnston died on Friday, October 16th [1932], at about twenty minutes past three in the afternoon. His death was due to heart disease, from which he had been ill for nearly a year. He seemed much better in April, at the time of the T. S. Convention, but not long afterwards became seriously worse. To the end he retained his high courage, keen sense of humour, perfect cheerfulness, and steadfast aspiration; there was never a word or sign of complaint or self-pity. In conversation with one close to him, he spoke of his desire not only to accept his Karma, but to welcome whatever the Master might have in store for him, that he might learn its lesson as thoroughly as possible, since he wished only the Master’s will; and toward the end he spoke of the months of his illness as the most fruitful of his life.”12

The same author as provides the above notice of passing, also provides us with a glowing presentation of Johnston’s meaning to Theosophy and to his friends:

“No member of The Theosophical Society, no reader of the QUARTERLY, needs to be told of Mr. Johnston’s services to the Movement through the forty-six years of his association with it. The hundred and fifteen numbers of this magazine, which stand as a lasting memorial to Mr. Griscom, its founder and first editor, are only less of a memorial to Mr. Johnston, who, from its inception, has been its most generous contributor. Dependent always upon his earnings as a writer, he contributed his articles to the THEOSOPHICAL QUARTERLY, not only without financial recompense (no contributions to the QUARTERLY are ever paid for), but lavishly and with punctilious regularity: he was never late, or too busy or too tired. Not content with this, for many years past he had returned all the royalties due him from the sale of his books published by the Quarterly Book Department, insisting that the money be used for the benefit of the work. He was one of the few who made possible the continuance of the Society when it was all but disrupted after the turn of the cycle, and for more than a quarter of a century he was Chairman of its Executive Committee. He travelled from New York to the Pacific coast, and went again to Europe, in order to visit the Branches and isolated members of the Society, and it was upon him that the chief burden of public lecturing devolved. The list of our standard theosophical books owes more to him than to any save H. P. B.; and he has interpreted for us the great scriptures of India as has no other writer. One of his last expressions of satisfaction was that he had completed the material for the second volume of his translations of the Upanishads. In every department of the work, our debt to him is deep and lasting. But greater than his gifts, to some of us, was the man himself, and our deepest gratitude is for his comradeship.”13

And lest we should think that Johnston’s life was spent in leisurely writing of theosophical literature, with endless time available for the efforts, the same author gives us an insight into his many additional duties.

“Let us remember, too, as we look back over this record of his services to us and to our Cause, that while rendering them he had the common duties and responsibilities of outer life, which claimed his strength and time, so that his work for Theosophy was done in the hours which most men deem necessary for recreation and for rest. He lectured at Cooper Union, and for the New York Board of Education. In 1908, he was Special Lecturer in Political Science at the University of Wisconsin—where he was presented with a loving cup by the members of the faculty—and he also delivered a number of addresses at Columbia University in New York. At one time he taught at the Russian Seminary. A great lover of nature and science, he was especially interested in ornithology, and was a valued member of the Linnaean Society. In 1918-19, he served as Captain in the Military Intelligence Division at Washington. But no matter where he was, or what his occupations, he permitted nothing to interfere with his contributions to the QUARTERLY.”14

On the whole, Johnston’s voluntary contributions to the cause of Theosophy are vast and perhaps beyond our appreciation at this distant time. In quantity alone, his literary contributions are second only to H.P.B., W.Q.J. and, perhaps, one or two others. In quality they may, perhaps, be regarded in the same light. Beyond these objective and subjective measurements there is the measureless value that arises from one who strove to walk the path in broad daylight so that others might follow.

[KALKI]

Originally Posted by Clueless

1% chance? warra optimistic fool!

ps looking good and much more user friendly than essays!

NOT AS EASY AS IT LOOKS!! SOME OF THESE PEOPLE HAVE BIRTH DATES AN ALL SORTS MIS MATCHED...IN THE WEST THEY HAVE 1 NAME, EAST ANOTHER AN THEN SO CALLED "PET NAMES"

TRYING TO SUMMARISE INFO UP ..TO SQUEEZE ONTO A READABLE SIZE...NOT FUN!

....AIM: DIGESTIBLE FOR DUMMIES...HOPEFULLY

[Clueless]

hehe so far so good!

[KALKI]

Originally Posted by Clueless

hehe so far so good!

IF YOU KNW ANY INDIANS ASIANS FLOATING ARND YOUR END RUNNING A CORNER SHOP... QUOTE: 'Charles Johnston' WITH THE DATE... 1867 — 1931!!

....THAT SHOULD IMPRESS THEM!

..MOST LIKELY THEY NOT HEARD OF HIM

..SO YOU'LL SOUND EXTRA INTELLIGENT ...WOOO HOOOO TO YOU!