Madame Blavatsky's Victorian-era masterpiece is now scaled down to its essentials, providing the most readable, accessible experience ever of one of history's seminal occult works. The Secret Doctrine, Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's masterwork on the origin and evolution of the universe and humanity itself, is arguably the most famous, and perhaps the most influential, occult book ever written. Published since 1888 only in expensive, two-volume editions of some 1,400 pages, it has long eluded the grasp of modern readers- until now. This single-volume edition, abridged and annotated by historian and Theosophical scholar Michael Gomes, places the ideas of The Secret Doctrine within reach of all who are curious. In particular, Gomes provides a critical sounding of the book's famous stanzas on the genesis of life and the cosmos- mysterious passages that Blavatsky said originated from a primeval source and which form the heart of The Secret Doctrine. Gomes scrupulously scales down the book's key writings on symbolism to their essentials, and offers notes and a glossary to illuminate arcane references. His historical and literary introduction casts new light on some of the book's sources and on the career of its brilliant and elusive author, one of the most intriguing personages of the nineteenth century. At once compact and representative of the work as a whole, this new edition of The Secret Doctrine brings unprecedented accessibility to the key esoteric classic of the modern era.

Chronicles the life of the cofounder of the Theosophical Society, examining her legacy and the controversy surrounding her.

The Secret Doctrine, Volume II. Anthropogenesis H. P. Blavatsky - The Secret Doctrine is the seminal work of the Theosophical Movement and established Blavatsky as one of the most vocal and outspoken advocate of the Wisdom Teachings of the East. Almost every contemporary spiritual movement can trace its lineage back to the impulses expressed most consumately in this, Blavatsky's Magnum Opus. Based upon a disclosure and exposition of the hitherto unknown - and academically, quite controversial - "Stanzas of Dzyan," The Secret Doctrine elaborates on the teachings first brought to the world through the "Masters" Koot Humi and Morya and introduced in A. P. Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism," to which Blavatsky continuously refers and clarifies. In the two volumes (the first being Cosmogenesis) she portrays a sweeping vision of the evolution of humanity and the cosmos out of the spirit, unfolding in "rounds" and cycles of descent and reascent from and to the spirit, through cycles of reincarnation. This ebook edition has been meticulously prepared, with over 1000 footnotes linked from within the text. This complex and challenging work is presented in a highly readable format that invites a fresh approach to the text. Volume I, Cosmogenesis

The "Würzburg manuscript" is a partial copy of H.P. Blavatsky's early manuscript of "The Secret Doctrine," written in 1885 and 1886 while staying in Würzburg, Germany and Ostende, Belgium.