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Latest comment: 10 months ago6 comments3 people in discussion
An IP is repeatedly making the claim that Albert Einstein had a copy of The Secret Doctrine and it inspired the theory of relativity[1]. This is a bogus claim not supported by any scholars, it was originally taken from Theosophy Wiki [2]. The source is supposed to have been Einstein's niece but he is never confirmed to have had a niece. It is a bogus claim only found in Theosophical literature and does not belong on Wikipedia. We need reliable sources not hearsay. Psychologist Guy (talk) 17:24, 27 April 2022 (UTC)Reply
The WP:BURDEN is upon he who posits something. Anyway, Einstein was a thorough materialistic rationalist, and had nothing but contempt for occultism. His "cosmic religion" consisted of materialistic rationalism.
Einstein's Weltanschauung was simply not compatible with the theosophical Weltanschauung. More like opposites.
Einstein was the adversary of quantum mysticism, his spirituality could not be conceived bereft of rationalistic philosophy (like that of Spinoza) and mainstream science.
So, if you think of Einstein, think of a hardcore Spinozist materialist, who only retained from mysticism disdain for authority and a sense of wonder which fitted perfectly within his materialist conception of life. tgeorgescu (talk) 00:22, 3 September 2023 (UTC)Reply
The original source for the claim that Einstein had a copy of The Secret Doctrine was Sylvia Cranston's biography of Blavatsky. She wrote "According to his niece, Einstein always had a copy of it on his desk" (HPB: The Extraordinary Life and Influence of Helena Blavatsky, p. 434). Sylvia Cranston was not a historian or scholar, she was a Theosophist and her biography of Blavatsky was far from neutral [3]. As tgeorgescu cites WP:BURDEN, the burden of proof is on the claimant. There are no scholarly references to back up Cranston's claim and no Einstein biographer has supported or verified such a claim. It is likely to be a hoax. Psychologist Guy (talk) 10:44, 3 September 2023 (UTC)Reply