Besant, Annie
BESANT, ANNIE. Annie Besant (1847–1933) was a British activist with many facets to her life: Anglican; atheist and Freethinker; socialist; Theosophist; educator, reformer, and politician in India; and prophetic announcer of the coming World-Teacher and New Civilization. Besant's monism and her desire to serve humanity were the unifying themes in her diverse efforts. She accomplished pioneering and influential work in Britain and India, and exerted an international influence in her political and religious work. As the second president of the Theosophical Society (1907–1933), Besant popularized Theosophical concepts around the world through her lectures and writings, putting the concepts articulated by Helena P. Blavatsky into accessible language.
Besant possessed a progressive millennial outlook, believing that human effort guided by superhuman agents or forces (when she was an atheist she defined them as Nature and Evolution; when she became a Theosophist they were the Masters and the Solar Logos) could create the millennial condition of collective well-being on Earth. In 1908 Besant added messianism to her thought, and groomed a young Indian, J. Krishnamurti, to be the physical vehicle for the Lord Maitreya, a messiah who would usher in the millennial New Civilization. Besant believed that Krishnamurti as the World-Teacher would present a teaching that would become the next world religion, and thus raise humanity's awareness of spiritual unity and create the "New Civilization." Much of Besant's progressive millennialism, including its messianic themes, were perpetuated in the written works of Alice Bailey (1880–1949), another British Theosophist.
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