A. J. Hamerster

A. J. Hamerster (1883-1951), was a Dutch Theosophist active in the Theosophical Society based in Adyar, India. He was a government official in the Dutch East Indies, in the Government Financial Affairs bureau. He was also known as M. Bhikshu Arya Asariga or Arya Asanga, and by the pen name James Arthur.

Theosophical Society involvement

Hamerster lectured at lodges in the Dutch East Indies. He met C. W. Leadbeater in 1926 in Australia, and corresponded with him. Hamerster served as international Treasurer of the Society during the early 1930s, and around that time became a Buddhist monk in Ceylon. In 1937 he was appointed by George S. Arundale to succeed Anna Kamensky as head of the International Centre in Geneva, Switzerland, where the Society hoped to influence the League of Nations. He later worked as Joint Director and Curator of the Western section of the Adyar Library and Research Centre.

Writings

According to the Union Index of Theosophical Periodicals, Hamerster wrote 75 articles under the name A J Hamerster and 21 more under the name AJH. Note that "AJH van Leeuwen" was not the same person. A. J. Hamerster also wrote for the Maha Bodhi under the name James Arthur.

Under the name "Arya Asanga" he wrote introductions to several editions from the Theosophical Publishing House:

• The Secret Doctrine, 1940.
• The Voice of the Silence, introduction, notes and index in 1939, 1944, and 1959 editions.
• Two books of the Stanzas of Dzyan , Introduction and notes in 1941 and 1956 editions.

Using the name James Arthur, he wrote:

• A Royal Romance, Bacon-Shakespeare. Madras: Theosophical Publishing House, 1941. 363 pages.