An Outline of the Secret Doctrine

Charles Johnston (1867-1931) was an Irish writer, journalist, theosophist, linguist, naturalist, and Sanskrit scholar. Johnston He wrote numerous books on Indian philosophy, translating works from Sanskrit as well as on Theosophy. He was married to the niece of Madame Blavatsky and was involved in the development of the Theosophical Society in the United States.

Johnston translated several works from Sanskrit and Russian. As an author, he devoted himself primarily to philosophical and theosophical topics, and wrote a great number and variety of articles and books, ranging from scholarly writings on scriptures to popular volumes of humor, travel, and history.

In his essay-commentary An Outline of the “Secret Doctrine”, which we propose to our readers today and which was published between October 1891 and May 1892 in the Lucifer Magazine, Charles Johnston attempted to give a clear account of the theory of life and development contained in Madame Blavatsky's Secret Doctrine, based on stanzas from the Book of Dzyan.

In our opinion, it is still a fundamental work today for understanding the thought and message of Helena Petrovna Blavatsly and for approaching Theosophy.