George Sydney Arundale
Prominent member of the Theosophical Society. Born in Surrey, England, December 1, 1878, he was educated in Italy and Germany before entering St. John's College, Cambridge University, England, from which he graduated M.A., LL.B., D.Lit. He joined the Theosophical Society in 1895 and went to India at the invitation of Annie Besant. Arundale served as principal of the Central Hindu College, Benares (1905), examiner to the University of Allahabad and to the government of United Provinces, India, principal of National University of Madras (1917), and minister of education to the government of the Maharaja Holkar (1923). He was also regionary bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church in India, deputy chief scout of the Indian Boy Scout Association, and provincial commissioner of the Hindustan Scout Association in Madras Presidency.
In 1917 he was interned with Annie Besant, then president of the Theosophical Society, for principles expressed in membership of the All India Home Rule League. In 1920 he married Rukmini Devi, an Indian girl from a Brahmin family, who was a leading exponent of Hindu classical dancing. She helped to restore respect for Indian dancing as an expression of deep spiritual awareness. Arundale lectured extensively in India, Europe, and Australia and was at one time general secretary of the Theosophical Society in England, Australia, and India. In 1934 he succeeded Besant as president of the Theosophical Society. He also wrote a number of works on Theosophy and edited The Theosophist, The Theosophical Worker, and Conscience (Madras). His book Kundalini: An Occult Experience (1938) has special importance as an early personal description of the arousal of kundalini in the body. He died at Adyar, India, August 12, 1945.
Sources:
Arundale, George S. Fragment of Autobiography. Adyar, India: Kalaksetra, 1940.
——. Kundalini: An Occult Experience. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1938.
——. Lotus Fire. Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1939.
——. Thoughts on "At the Feet of the Master." Adyar, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1919.
——. You. Madras, India: Theosophical Publishing House, 1938. Reprint, Wheaton, Ill.: Theosophical Publishing House, 1973.
