Sir John Woodroffe

Sir John Woodroffe (* December 15, 1865, † 1936 in France, also known by his pseudonym Arthur Avalon ) was a British judge in India and Professor of Law at the University of Calcutta.

Life

John Woodroffe is the eldest son of Sir James Tisdall Woodroffe, Advocate - General of Bengal, and his wife Florence. He studied at University College, Oxford Law. In 1890, he took in Calcutta the job as a lawyer. They called him as a professor at the University of Calcutta. In 1902 he became an adviser to the Indian government and two years later a judge at the Calcutta High Court in 1915, he was appointed President of that High Court. After his return to England he taught Indian law at the University of Oxford. After his final retirement he lived in France, where he died in 1936.

Work

John Woodroffe was interested in Hindu philosophy and studied Sanskrit. He immersed himself with the help of an Indian teacher in the teaching of tantric Shaktism and under the name Arthur Avalon has published several writings about it. His most famous work is the 1918 published book " The Serpent Power" ( The serpent power ), which deals with kundalini and the chakra.

Books by John Woodroffe

• Shakti and Shakta (1918 )
• Principles of Tantra (2 volumes)
• Kamakalavilasa
• Introduction to the Tantra Sastra
• Mahanirvana Tantra ( Tantra of the Great Liberation )
• Hymns to the Goddess and Hymn to Kali
• The World as Power
• The Garland of Letters
• Bharati Shakti: Essays and Addresses on Indian Culture
• India: Culture and Society
• Is India Civilized? Essays on Indian Culture