Ernest Wood
Ernest Wood | |
---|---|
Indologist |
Ernest Egerton Wood (18 August 1883 – 17 September 1965) was a noted English
Youth and education
Born in
Theosophy
Part of a series on |
Theosophy |
---|
As a young man, Wood became interested in Theosophy after listening to lectures by the theosophist
Wood observed the discovery of the boy Jiddu Krishnamurti by Leadbeater, who soon declared Krishnamurti to be the vehicle for the "coming World Teacher". Wood's account of this discovery is in his autobiography, Is this Theosophy...?, published in 1936, and in two articles written after that.[1][2]
At Besant's suggestion, Wood became involved in education, and after 1910, he served as headmaster of several schools and colleges founded by the
Wood become disillusioned about the future of the Theosophical Society and began to study the yoga classics. Following the Krishnamurti affair, which caused a splitting of the society, Wood campaigned for election to the office of president after Annie Besant's death in 1933. He was defeated by George Arundale, one of Charles Leadbeater's close allies, in a campaign that Wood later described as unfair and questionable. Disenchanted with the society's direction, but impressed with the now mature and independent Krishnamurti, Wood turned to Yoga.[4]
Yoga
In India, Wood had encountered many
Wood did not officially become a student of any Indian master. However, during a visit to New York in 1928(?), he again met with Krishnamurti, who was leaving the Theosophical Society to become an independent teacher, renouncing the ceremonies and occult hierarchies created by the leadership of the society. This meeting affected Wood deeply, and he returned to the classic yoga literature as a source of inspiration.
Shortly after his arrival in India, Wood had begun translating the Indian classics, such as the
Later life
During their years in India, Ernest Wood and his wife Hilda had become familiar with the pioneering educational work of
Ernest and Hilda made their home in Houston, Texas in the late 1950s where they became active in the Unitarian Fellowship of Houston in 1959. "Hilda focused on developing a Fellowship library and began talking about establishing a Montessori school – Ernest was frequently asked to deliver inspirational talks." They successfully opened the Montessori school in the Fall of 1962 with a student body of children of mostly Unitarian parents. Hilda and Ernest ordered all the Montessori materials and Maria Montessori's writings from England and India – none existed in the US in 1962. Ernest Wood was president of the school's first Board of Trustees.
The couple took up residence in a small cottage adjacent to the Fellowship property on Wirt Road in the Spring Branch district of Houston. They nurtured the school until Ernest's death in 1965 and Hilda's in 1968. The board of trustees decided to name School of the Woods after its founders.[6]
Wood died on 17 September 1965, days after finishing his translation of Shankara's Viveka Chudamani, which was posthumously published and entitled The pinnacle of Indian thought.[7]
Works
- The Garuda Purana (Saroddhara). The Sacred Books of the Hindus, Vol. 9. Indian Press 1911.
- The Seven Rays. 1925.
- The Intuition of the Will. The Theosophical Press 1927. ISBN 0-7661-9095-1
- An Englishman Defends Mother India. A Complete Constructive Reply to "Mother India", Ganesh & Co. 1929, revised 1930.
- The Occult Training of the Hindus, 1931 (republished in 1976 under the title Seven Schools of Yoga by the Theosophical Publishing House).
- The Song of Praise to the Dancing Shiva. Ganesh & Co. 1931.
- Mind and Memory Training. Theosophical Publishing House 1936.
- Is this Theosophy...? (Autobiography) Rider & Co. 1936. ISBN 0-7661-0829-5
- Practical Yoga, Ancient and Modern, with an Introduction by Paul Brunton. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc. 1948.
- Concentration – An Approach to Meditation. Theosophical Publishing House 1949. ISBN 0-8356-0176-5
- The Glorius Presence, A Study of the Vedanta Philosophy and Its Relation to Modern Thought, Including a New Translation of Shankara's Ode to the South-Facing Form. Rider & Co. 1952.
- Great Systems of Yoga. Philosophical Library 1954.
- The Bhagavad Gita Explained, With a New and Literal Translation. New Century Foundation Press 1954.
- Yoga Dictionary. Philosophical Library 1956.
- Zen Dictionary. Philosophical Library 1957. ISBN 0-14-021998-6
- Yoga. Penguin Books 1959. Revised 1962.
- A Study of Pleasure and Pain. The Theosophical Press 1962.
- Vedanta Dictionary. Philosophical Library 1964.
- The Pinnacle of Indian Thought, Being a new, independent translation of the Viveka Chudamani (Crest Jewel of Discrimination) with commentaries. The Theosophical Publishing House, 1967.
- Perfeccionamiento de si mismo. Traducido del inglés por Federico Climen Terrer. Editorial Kier 1955. (en castellano)
- Come Unto Me and Other Writings. The Theosophical Publishing House 2000.
References
- ^ Ernest Wood: "Clairvoyant investigations by C.W. Leadbeater on Alcyone's (or Krishnamurti's) previous lives." (with extensive notes by C. Jinarajadasa)
- ^ Ernest Wood: "There is no religion higher than truth", on the discovery of Jiddu Krishnamurti, his youth and upbringing and Leadbeater's role in this
- ^ Kalchuri, Bhau (1986). Meher Prabhu: Lord Meher. 5. Myrtle Beach: Manifestation, Inc. p. 1548.
- ^ a b c "Wood, Ernest E. (1936). "Is this Theosophy...?", Rider & Co". Archived from the original on 18 September 2011. Retrieved 6 April 2010.
- ^ "The Guiding Lights: A Fresh Look at Ernest and Hilda Wood". View from the Woods. Winter 2010–2011.
- ^ Homepage of the School of the Woods, history section (retrieved 4 September 2011)
- ^ Wood, Ernest E. (1967), "The Pinnacle of Indian Thought", editor's note by Hilda Wood, p.161.
Further reading
- Wood, Ernest (December 1964). "No Religion Higher than Truth". The American Theosophist. 52 (12). Groningen, Netherlands: katinkahesselink.net [web publisher].
External links
- Full text of Wood's 1936 autobiography, "Is this Theosophy?" Archived 18 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine
- Full text of Concentration. A Practical Course – With a Supplement on Meditation
- Full text of Natural Theosophy
- Full text of The Garuda Purana at sacred-texts.com
- Full text of Great Systems of Yoga at sacred-texts.com
- Short Author's Biography of E. Wood at Quest Books (http://www.questbooks.net/)
- Ernest Wood: "Clairvoyant investigations by C.W. Leadbeater on Alcyone's (or Krishnamurti's) previous lives". (with extensive notes by
- Ernest Wood: "There is no religion higher than truth", on the discovery of Jiddu Krishnamurti, his youth and upbringing and Leadbeater's role in this