The East in the Light of the West

The East in the Light of the West: Two Eastern Streams of the Twentieth Century in the Light of Christian Esotericism

In this first volume of his study of two influential Eastern streams, Prokofieff considers the spiritual movement of Agni Yoga, as presented to the world by Helena Roerich and her husband, the painter Nicholas Roerich. Helena Roerich developed Agni Yoga, or “Living Ethics, ” in fourteen published volumes, which she believed to have been directly dictated by Eastern Masters.

By relating the inspiration Helena Roerich received to that of the later teachings of H. P. Blavatsky, Prokofieff is able to penetrate the occult foundations of this stream. In the light of modern Christian esotericism, particularly the research of Rudolf Steiner, he pinpoints the principal spiritual errors of Agni Yoga, which include the teaching of a future physical incarnation of Christ. Along the trail, he uncovers ominous connections with Lenin and Bolshevik Russia, the American president F. D. Roosevelt, and the bringer of Glasnost, Michael Gorbachov — who referred to Nicholas Roerich as “a representative of our civilization and of its culture, one of its pillars.”

Contents

• The Inspirers of Agni Yoga
• The Asiatic Journey of the Roerichs Conversations
• The Roerichs Mission to Bolshevik Russia
• The Occult Foundations of the Teachings
• The Principle Error of Agni Yoga
• Some Conclusions

Postscript

• The Visit by Tibetans to Russia
• The Mahatma Letter on God
• Nicholas and Helena Roerich
• List of Abbreviations
• List of Works by Rudolf Steiner

About the Author

Sergei O. Prokofieff (1954-2014) was born in Moscow, where he studied fine arts and painting at the Moscow School of Art. At an early age he encountered the work of Rudolf Steiner and quickly realized that his life would be dedicated to the Christian path of esoteric knowledge. He wrote his first book, Rudolf Steiner and the Founding of the New Mysteries, while living in Soviet Russia, and it was published in English in 1994. After the fall of Communism, he helped establish the Anthroposophical Society in Russia. In 2001, he became a member of the Executive Council of the General Anthroposophical Society at the Goetheanum in Switzerland. More than 30 of his books have been translated into English. Sergei Prokofieff passed away in Dornach, Switzerland.