Thomas Richard Duncan Greenlees (1899–1966) was a British writer,

theosophist Theosophy is a religion established in the United States during the late 19th century. It was founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and draws its teachings predominantly from Blavatsky's writings. Categorized by scholars of religion a ...

and teacher.

Early life

Duncan Greenlees was born in

Grahamstown Makhanda, also known as Grahamstown, is a town of about 140,000 people in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is situated about northeast of Port Elizabeth and southwest of East London, Eastern Cape, East London. Makhanda is the lar ...

Cape Colony The Cape Colony ( nl, Kaapkolonie), also known as the Cape of Good Hope, was a British Empire, British colony in present-day South Africa named after the Cape of Good Hope, which existed from 1795 to 1802, and again from 1806 to 1910, when i ...

, the son of Scottish physician

Thomas Duncan Greenlees Thomas Duncan Greenlees FRSE (29 September 1858 – 22 January 1929) was a Scottish psychiatrist who had a strong association with South Africa. He headed the Medical Association of South Africa for many years and was Inspector of Asylums for the ...

(of

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, Ayrshire) and Edith White Greenlees of

Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. Norwich is by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. As the seat of the See of Norwich, with ...

. He had his early education in England. Greenlees received his MA degree in 1922 from Oxford, where he studied Egyptian, Coptic and Arabic. For a brief period during 1925 he was a staff member of Harvard University/Boston Museum of Fine Arts Expedition to Giza in Egypt. On 2 April 1925, Greenlees was appointed Assistant Curator of Egyptian Art at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts. On completion of his studies, he moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

, working as a schoolteacher (he taught English at Madanpalle High School) and was a headmaster in South India from 1926 onwards. While working in India, he was drawn towards the Theosophical Movement and served in one of the schools which

Annie Besant Annie Besant ( Wood; 1 October 1847 – 20 September 1933) was a British socialist, theosophist, freemason, women's rights activist, educationist, writer, orator, political party member and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human f ...

founded.

Indian independence movement

Being a close associate of Annie Besant, Greenlees like her, was drawn to the

Indian independence movement The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British rule in India. It lasted from 1857 to 1947. The first nationalistic revolutionary movement for Indian independence emerged ...

. Later, he became a fervent

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

an and participated in his non-violent struggle against British rule. When India got independence in 1947, Greenlees was appointed to draft the new nation's education policy. reface to ''The Gospel of Zarathushtra'' by Duncan Greenlees/ref> Gandhi and Greenlees exchanged letters on various topics.

Later life

Greenlees retired from active politics after India's independence and spent his time researching religion and theosophy. He wrote 14 small "World Gospel" books about various religions and faiths. He died in 1966 at the age of 67.

Works

Greenlees wrote the 'World Gospel Series' from 1949 to 1966 following his retirement from active politics. He was primarily a social worker, rather than a politician. His talks with

Ramana Maharshi Ramana Maharshi (; 30 December 1879 – 14 April 1950) was an Indian Hindu sage and ''jivanmukta'' (liberated being). He was born Venkataraman Iyer, but is mostly known by the name Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi. He was born in Tiruchuli, Ta ...

and correspondence with Gandhi were purely spiritual and of devotional nature. * ''The Gospel of Islam'' No.1 * ''The Gospel of China'' No.2 (1949) * ''The Gospel of Hermes'' No.3 (1949) * ''The Gospel of the Jesus'' No.4 * ''The Gospel of Zarathushtra'' No.5 * ''The Gospel of the Mystic Christ'' No.6 * ''The Gospel of Narada'' No.7 * ''The Gospel of Peace:Guru Granth Sahib'' No.8 (1952) * ''The Gospel of the Pyramids No.9'' * ''The Gospel of Advaita'' No.10 (1953) * ''The Gospel of Israel'' No.11 (1955) * ''The Gospel of the Prophet Mani'' No.12 * ''The Gospel of the Gnostics'' No.13 * ''The Gospel of Sri Krishna'' No.14 He also published ''The Song of Divine Love (Gita-Govinda) of Sri Jayadeva''.

References

External links

'Gospel of the Gnostics' by Duncan Greenlees from Googlebooks.com

The Gospel of Hermes by Duncan Greenlees, From Googlebooks.com

The Gospel of the Prophet Mani by Duncan Greenlees, From Googlebooks.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Greenlees, Duncan 1899 births 1966 deaths English Theosophists Indian Theosophists Date of birth missing Place of death missing Date of death missing