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Title: H. P. Blavatsky - A Great Betrayal
Author: Cleather, Alice Leighton
Language: English
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H. P. BLAVATSKY
A GREAT BETRAYAL
BY
ALICE LEIGHTON CLEATHER
One of Her Pupils
PRICE
_One Rupee, Fifty cents, or
One Shilling Six Pence_
PUBLISHED BY
THACKER, SPINK & CO
CALCUTTA
1922
WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR.
=H. P. Blavatsky:=--_Her Life and Work for Humanity._ CALCUTTA: THACKER,
SPINK & CO., 1922.
=In Collaboration with Mrs. Laura Langford:=--_Helena Petrovna
Blavatsky. Personal Recollections by Old Friends._ New York, 1922.
=In Collaboration with Mr. Basil Crump:= _Richard Wagner's Music
Dramas._ Embodying Wagner's own interpretations based upon his studies
of Oriental Philosophy.
LONDON: METHUEN & CO., 4 VOLS.
H. P. BLAVATSKY
"Behold the truth before you! a clean life, an open mind, a pure heart,
an eager intellect, an unveiled spiritual perception, a brotherliness
for one's co-disciple, a readiness to give and receive advice and
instruction, a loyal sense of duty to the Teacher, a willing obedience
to the behests of TRUTH, once we have placed our confidence in, and
believe that Teacher to be in possession of it; a courageous endurance
of personal injustice, a brave declaration of principles, a valiant
defence of those who are unjustly attacked, and a constant eye to the
ideal of human progression and perfection which the secret science
(_Gupta Vidya_) depicts--these are the golden stairs up the steps of
which the learner may climb to the Temple of Divine Wisdom. Say this to
those who have volunteered to be taught by you."
Letter to H. P. B. from her Master
(concerning her E. S. students.)
H. P. BLAVATSKY
A GREAT BETRAYAL
BY
ALICE LEIGHTON CLEATHER
_One of Her Pupils_
_Published by_
THACKER, SPINK & CO
CALCUTTA
1922
"Tell them ...; As pure water poured into the scavenger's bucket is
befouled and unfit for use, so is divine truth when poured into the
consciousness of a Sensualist.... Observe, that the first of the steps
of gold which mount towards the Temple of Truth is--A CLEAN LIFE. This
means a purity of body, and a still greater purity of mind, heart and
spirit."
Letter to H. P. B. from her Master
(concerning her E. S. students.)
CONTENTS.
PAGE
FOREWORD vii
INTRODUCTORY 1
MR. WILLIAM KINGSLAND ON THE CRISIS OF 1906 7
M. M. SCHURÉ AND LÉVY ON THE CRISIS OF 1913 11
MRS. BESANT'S "RETURN OF THE CHRIST" 15
FUNDAMENTAL CAUSES: SOME OCCULT METHODS 23
H. P. BLAVATSKY ON TRUE OCCULTISM 31
MRS. BESANT'S RESPONSIBILITY AND THE MADRAS LAW-SUITS 39
THE CENTRAL HINDU COLLEGE: AN INDIAN CRITICISM 43
MRS. BESANT'S LATEST ASSERTIONS AND CLAIMS EXAMINED 51
TAMPERING WITH H. P. BLAVATSKY'S WRITINGS 71
"ANNIE BESANT'S CORRUPTION OF THE SECRET DOCTRINE" 76
THE TRUTH ABOUT THE E. S. COUNCIL AND THE INNER GROUP 83
CONCLUSION 89
ADDENDUM.
THE AUSTRALIAN CRISIS 92
AN INDICTMENT OF MRS. BESANT BY A RESIGNING MEMBER OF
HER E. S. 95
BIBLIOGRAPHY 97
"There is a very, very ancient maxim, far older than the time of the
Romans or the Greeks.... It is a maxim all of them ought to
remember--and live accordingly ... a sound and pure mind requires a
sound and pure body. Bodily purity every adept takes precautions to
keep.... Most of them know this.... But though they have been repeatedly
told of this _sine qua non_ rule on the Path of Theosophy and
_Chelaship_, how few of them have given attention to it.... Behold, how
many of them are ... debauchees, GUILTY OF SECRET IMMORALITY in more
than one form.... Though such a person with any of the faults as above
declared [others are named] should fill the world with his charities,
and make his name known throughout every nation, he would make no
advancement in the practical occult sciences, but be continually
slipping backward. The 'six and ten transcendental virtues,' the
Paramitas[1], are not for full grown Yogis and priests alone, but for
all those who would enter the 'Path.'"
Letter to H. P. B. from her Master
(concerning her E. S. students.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] _See "The Voice of the Silence," by H. P. Blavatsky._
FOREWORD.
This Protest has been undertaken at the earnest and repeated requests of
Theosophical friends of long standing. They feel strongly that the time
has come for one of H. P. Blavatsky's old pupils, who was a member of
her Inner Group, to demonstrate as clearly as possible that the
teachings promulgated for nearly twenty years past by the present
leaders of the "Theosophical Society" have departed more and more from
H. P. B.'s, and are now their direct antithesis, particularly on the
fundamental question of sex morality.
Since Mr. G. R. S. Mead, one of my fellow-members of the Inner Group,
spoke out at the Leadbeater Inquiry of 1906, and resigned, no other
surviving member, so far as I have been able to ascertain, has attempted
to stem the awful and ever increasing tide of horror and delusion, that
is, engulfing--one might almost say _has_ engulfed--Mrs. Besant's
Society. If Mr. Mead could say in 1906;--"We stand on the brink of an
abyss," what is to be said now? The enquiries and researches I have
undertaken to enable me to write this pamphlet have revealed the present
state of things to be far worse than I could have imagined possible.
From the time I left Mrs. Besant in 1895 and Mrs. Tingley in 1899, I
have been out of touch with these two movements, each calling itself
"theosophical" and each leader claiming to be H. P. B.'s "successor."
This is the reason why I have hitherto kept silent; in fact, it was not
until I came to live in India in 1918, after spending some years on the
Continent, and met some of the members--both Indian and European--who
had left Mrs. Besant in more recent years, that I learnt of the
appalling developments since she became President and installed the sex
pervert Leadbeater as supreme esoteric teacher.
I feel that I should be failing in my duty, and false to the solemn
Pledges I have taken, if I did not now do my utmost to clear H. P. B.'s
name from these horrible associations, and demonstrate that they have
nothing whatever to do with her Masters (the Trans-Himâlayan
Brotherhood) or Their Esoteric doctrine.
I therefore PROTEST with all my strength, and _in Their sacred Names_,
against what is to me a desecration and a blasphemy.
_September, 1922._
A. L. C.
_Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad._
INTRODUCTORY.
For the past fifteen years, despite repeated scandals, exposures, and
even the damning evidence produced in various court cases, Mrs. Besant
still persists in her blind and fanatical support of the sex pervert and
pseudo-occultist C. W. Leadbeater, and the promulgation of his delusive,
immoral, and poisonous teachings among the members of the Theosophical
Society she rules, and the public at large, to whom she is known chiefly
as an able speaker and an astute politician. Goaded by a revival of the
well-known evidence against Mr. Leadbeater, and a severe criticism of
her own actions, Mrs. Besant published in her official organ
(_Theosophist_, March, 1922.) an article entitled "Whom Will Ye Serve?"
and a long Supplement addressed to the members, reiterating her support
of Mr. Leadbeater, and making statements in justification of him and
herself that call imperatively for a dispassionate review of the history
of this ill-omened partnership, and the strongest possible protest
against the complete stultification and perversion of H. P. Blavatsky's
life-work and teaching that it involves.
I have no personal quarrel with Mrs. Besant, whose brilliant
intellectual gifts we all so much admired in the early days, and who
accomplished such splendid work for the Cause during H. P. Blavatsky's
lifetime. I had already been a member of the Society for four years when
Mrs. Besant joined in 1889; and as we both subsequently became members
of the Inner Group of H. P. B.'s personal pupils, I feel I am in a
position to review the facts, and entitled to utter this protest. In
fact, I can no longer remain silent in the face of so much that is
abhorrent to every true Theosophist, to every devoted follower of H. P.
Blavatsky, her Masters, and Their teachings.
In a private letter to Mr. Judge, in or about 1887, H. P. B. writes: "I
am the mother and creator of the Society; it has my magnetic fluid....
Therefore I alone and to a degree ... can serve as a lightning conductor
of Karma for it. I was asked whether I was willing, when on the point of
dying--and I said 'Yes'--for it was the only means to save it. Therefore
I consented to live...." Obviously, the only possible conclusion to be
drawn from this is that, when in 1891 H. P. Blavatsky passed away (or
rather was "recalled") nine years before the limit of time within which
the Masters' help could be given,[2] it was because They saw that the T.
S. had definitely failed, that it could no longer be kept alive.
A long and, in this connection, very important letter was written by H.
P. Blavatsky in 1890 "To my Brothers in Aryavarta," giving the real
reason why she did not return to India. Among other significant
statements which she makes (_Theosophist_, January, 1922.), there is one
which shows that she must clearly have foreseen the ultimate
disintegration of the Society, which occurred in 1895. Writing of the
shameful way in which she was thrown overboard, like a second Jonah, by
Colonel Olcott and the T. S. Council at Adyar in their cowardly panic
during the crisis of 1884-85, H. P. B. says: "It was during that time
... that the seeds of all future strifes, and--let me say at
once--_disintegration of the Theosophical Society_ [Italics mine.--A. L.
C.] were planted by our enemies.... In a letter received from Damodar in
1886 [He had been called by his Master to Tibet the previous year.--A.
L. C.] he notified me that the Masters' influence was becoming with
every day weaker at Adyar." Further on in the letter H. P. B. again
refers to Adyar, and to an invitation to return to India which "came too
late ... nor can I, if I would be true to my life-pledge and vows, now
live at the Headquarters _from which the Masters and Their spirit are
virtually banished. The presence of Their portraits will not help; They
are a dead letter._" [Italics mine. Yet Mrs. Besant asks us to believe
that They returned when she was elected President in 1907, and even
nominated her!--A. L. C.]
In the same letter H. P. B. says that she was pledged never to reveal
"the whole truth" about the Masters to anyone, "excepting to those who
like Damodar, had been finally selected and called by Them." She also
speaks of him as "that one future Adept who has now the prospect of
becoming one day a Mahatma, Kali Yuga notwithstanding." It is he again
of whom she spoke four years earlier, when she wrote: "During the eleven
years of the existence of the Theosophical Society I have known, out of
the seventy-two regularly accepted _chelas_ on probation and the
hundreds of lay candidates--only _three_ who have not hitherto failed,
and _one only_ who had a full success." ("The Theosophical Mahatmas."
_Path_, December, 1886.) Damodar is the only _chela_ she ever spoke of
as a "full success" in her lifetime; and it is worthy of special note
that he was a high caste Brahmin who did not hesitate to give up caste
and become a Buddhist (so Colonel Olcott states).
In the late spring Mrs. Besant paid a hasty visit to Australia, whither
her "brother-initiate" had to flee from India some time since, as
previously from London, Paris, and America. The cause is always the
same; scandals inevitably arise, and Australia has proved no exception.
Mr. Leadbeater is a "Bishop" of the "Liberal Catholic Church," an
anomalous body warmly supported and encouraged within and without the T.
S. by Mrs. Besant. Other of its bishops have incurred similar odium and
a "priest" has quite recently confessed in writing and implicated the
"Presiding Bishop" and others. It has been stated that all these men are
being watched by the police, who are only waiting to secure enough
evidence. Matters cannot go on much longer like this; and a pamphlet
published at New York last February says that "with difficulty a delay
of a few months has been obtained in a pending arraignment and exposure
in the Public Press in America." When it comes it will be a far graver
indictment than that which precipitated the 'Besant _v._ Judge' crisis
in 1894-95, and rent the T. S. in twain. _Then_ Mrs. Besant accused her
colleague Mr. Judge of "giving a misleading material form to messages
received psychically from the Master in various ways ..." (_Enquiry_ at
London, July, 1894); but _now_ she is deliberately condoning, if not
actually supporting, something far worse which was investigated and
found true by a T. S. committee of enquiry in 1906.[3]
For those unfamiliar with the events succeeding H. P. Blavatsky's death
in 1891, I must add that those of us who supported Mr. Judge against
Mrs. Besant's charges came under the sway, after his death a year later,
of an equally masterful, able, and ambitious woman having very similar
characteristics and methods. This was Mrs. Katherine Tingley, formerly a
New York professional psychic and trance medium, from whose organisation
("The Universal Brotherhood") I resigned in 1899. Her activities are now
mainly confined to a colony in California.
A point to which I think attention has not hitherto been drawn is the
striking similarity in the fate which befell Mrs. Besant and Mr. Judge
respectively after the death of H. P. Blavatsky. Being left as the most
obvious leaders of the European and American Sections respectively
(neither of them were in England when she died), the E. S. Council
decided that they should carry on the Esoteric School as joint Outer
Heads in place of H. P. B., oblivious of the fact that one of them (Mrs.
Besant) was untrained, and both were unfit to fill such a high occult
office (see _post_ p. 86). This soon became evident when each in turn
fell an easy prey to external influences which first separated them, and
then disrupted the Society and E. S.
Among the old T. S. and E. S. papers now lying before me I find not a
few which throw a most illuminating light on Mrs. Besant's activities in
recent years. Before dealing with her latest statements I will quote
extracts from these papers in support and elucidation of the points I
wish to make, _viz_:--
(_a_) That under Mrs. Besant's guidance the T. S. has long
ceased to represent H. P. Blavatsky's teaching, or the thought
of its Founders.
(_b_) That it is now completely dominated by the deluded,
impure, and poisonous ideas of an acknowledged sex pervert, to
whom this unhappy and misguided woman believes and openly
declares herself to be bound by indissoluble and age-long ties.
(_c_) That in adopting and conniving at the promulgation of the
teachings of this man, and allowing him virtually to control
her Society, Mrs. Besant most impiously gives out that she is
acting under the orders of the Trans-Himâlayan Masters of
Wisdom, and H. P. Blavatsky's directions.
This last point (_c_) is the real gravamen of my Protest. It would be of
relative unimportance--Mrs. Besant having already wrecked the Society in
1895--that it had descended to the level of any existing sect, Christian
or other (as much a close corporation as the Adventists or New
Jerusalemites), had its two present leaders dropped the _title_, and
ceased to claim any connection with the "real Founders." But, on the
contrary, Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater use Their sacred names and
declare themselves to be under Their direct guidance. Such proceedings
merit the sternest possible moral condemnation in view of the facts.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] " ... there remain but a few years to the last hour of the
term--namely, till December the 31st, 1899. Those who will not have
profited by the opportunity (given to the world in every last quarter of
a century) ... will advance no further than the knowledge already
acquired. No Master of Wisdom from the East will himself appear or send
anyone to Europe or America after that period.... Such is the law, for
we are in _Kali-Yuga_--the Black Age--and the restrictions in this
cycle, the first 5,000 years of which will expire in 1897, are great and
almost insuperable." (H. P. Blavatsky in the "Book of Rules, E. S. T."
1888.)
[3] For later and fuller particulars from Australia, see Addendum.
Mr. William Kingsland on the Crisis of 1906.
The first of the old papers I shall quote from is by my old friend and
fellow-Councillor Mr. William Kingsland, author of _The Esoteric Basis
of Christianity_ and kindred works. He was one of the leading members in
the early days under H. P. B. who, when Mrs. Besant on securing the
Presidency after Colonel Olcott's death in 1907 reinstated Mr.
Leadbeater, resigned their membership. Mrs. Besant had reviewed a new
book by Mr. Kingsland, and took the opportunity to refer to his
resignation. Replying in "An Open Letter to Annie Besant" dated
December, 1909, he tells her:
You have dragged in a perfectly irrelevant, uncalled-for and
untrue statement which I cannot allow to pass unchallenged...."
The words I refer to are these: "We have here a very excellent
Theosophical book, with an evasion of all recognition of the
source whence the ideas are drawn. When Theosophy becomes
fashionable, how those who refuse to walk with her in the days
of scorning will crowd to claim her as theirs when she walks in
the sunshine amid applause!" Now these words convey the
implication, in the first place, that there is a connection
between the form in which my book is presented, and recent
events in the Theosophical Society which have led me as well as
many others, to sever our connection with that Society; and, in
the second place, that we now "refuse to walk with her"
because, forsooth, she is not now "fashionable," but "in the
days of scorning." Neither of these statements is true, and the
implication is most unworthy of you.... That, however, is a
small matter compared with the implication that I and others
have turned our backs on Theosophy for so unworthy a reason.
Let me ask you to look at the names of the old and tried
workers whom you have forced out of the Society by your
disastrous policy, and then ask yourself in the Great Presence
whether it is true that any of them have deserted Theosophy--or
rather the Theosophical Society--because it is less
"fashionable" now than it was in the old days when you and I
and these others stood side by side and fought the battle for
H. P. Blavatsky. Did any of us shirk obloquy then, and do you
really think we are less ready to face it now? It is one thing,
however, to incur obloquy for the sake of Truth, and quite
another thing to be asked to do it _in support of immoral
teachings_.... What I want to point out now more particularly,
and in the interest of true Theosophy, is, that you are now
making the grand mistake--one never made by H. P. Blavatsky--of
thinking, writing, and speaking as if Theosophy and the
Theosophical Society were one and the same thing, absoutely
identical; and that there can be no Theosophy in the world
without the Theosophical Society, and no Theosophists outside
of it.... You must know that in leaving the Theosophical
Society, the great majority of us at all events have not given
up Theosophy, even if we may feel compelled to teach it under
another name, and though we can no longer work with or through
the Theosophical Society, we are none the less carrying on the
great work which H. P. Blavatsky initiated.
But in the old days we did at least think that the Theosophical
Society stood for pure Theosophy and pure Morality. _We cannot
think or say this any longer._ The "Theosophy" of the
Theosophical Society is now a definite creed and dogma based
upon authoritative psychic pronouncements, from which those who
dare to differ are first of all squeezed out of office by the
President, and finally compelled to leave the Society, being
denounced in the strongest language as "persecutors" and
"haters." I am quite aware that all the time you are preaching
freedom of opinion; but that is one of the farcical aspects of
the _régime_ which you inaugurated.... Whatever you may preach,
it is now notorious that your practice has been the exact
reverse. You commenced by turning out the Vice-President for
daring to hold a different opinion from your own as to the
inception of the Society; and you then proceeded so to
manipulate matters that several old and tried officials who had
been in opposition to your pronouncements and policy, were
ousted from their positions as General Secretaries of
Sections.... Well, you succeeded in getting your own supporters
appointed--and in losing many hundreds of old members.
Doubtless you will now have complete control and be able to
mould the Society to your own will and liking, and train it to
"obedience" to your psychic authority and visions. At what
expense and sacrifice of principles you have already done this,
we all know. But let none imagine that this is the basis on
which H. P. Blavatsky founded the Society; or that it will thus
fulfil the mission for which it was intended; or that it can
thereby become other than _a narrow and exclusive sect_. And if
perchance your statement is true that the Theosophical
Sciety--which you so mistakenly identify with Theosophy--is now
"in the days of scorning," possibly even more than it was in
the old days; What and who is it that has made it so?
Is it not because the President and General Council have set
their seal and official condonation to a "theosophy" _which
countenances the grossest immorality_, and which can
advocate--as a means of "discharging [_sic_] thought-forms"
(see Van Hook's pamphlet)--a practice which you yourself once
characterised as being "when taught under the name of Divine
Wisdom, essentially earthly, sensual, devilish?" Yet it is thus
taught and justified--with an appeal to the laws of
reincarnation and _karma_--in Van Hook's pamphlet, which you
and the General Council have refused to repudiate, and have
thereby condoned.
And now, since you have had your own way, and have cleared the
Society of the elements of the so-called "hatred and
persecution"; can you not at least refrain from hitting behind
our backs? Nothing is sadder for your old friends and comrades
than to see you stoop to veiled insinuations, and even direct
untruths; missing no opportunity--not even in the review of a
book--of striking unjustly and falsely at those who have
recently been your opponents, and who have now no direct means
of answering you, or of refuting your statements within the
Society itself.
I have italicised a few passages which seem to be of special importance
as showing that, _thirteen years ago_, Mr. Leadbeater's sinister hand
had already grasped the Society and its infatuated President, and that
his vile and immoral teachings, supported by her, had driven out some of
the oldest and most clear-headed and clear-sighted of H. P. Blavatsky's
friends and pupils; among them Mr. G. R. S. Mead, one of the Leadbeater
Committee of Inquiry, who also resigned at the time Mrs. Besant became
President for the same reasons as those stated by Mr. Kingsland. The
"practice" to which he alludes in his Open Letter is of course now well
known to be that taught and advocated by Mr. Leadbeater, who claims that
in so doing he is acting on the advice and under the authority of one of
the Masters of Wisdom. Could a more terrible infamy be perpetrated!
M. M. Schuré and Lévy on the Crisis of 1913.
Let us see, however, what others have to say seven years later on the
state of the T. S. In 1913 another violent crisis convulsed this
miserable travesty of a Society that once stood for the highest
principles and ideals, but which even a Lake Harris might blush now to
be associated with. As before, it centred round the shocking perverter
of morals who had obtained complete ascendancy over Mrs. Besant. A book
entitled _Mrs. Besant and the Present Crisis in the Theosophical
Society_ was published in 1913 by M. Eugène Lévy, "with a Prefatory
Letter by M. Edouard Schuré," the well-known author of _The Great
Initiates_ and other mystical works. Writing to M. Charles Blech,
General Secretary of the French T. S., M. Schuré states that he feels
"compelled to retire officially from the T. S." and that it is his
"duty" to give his "reasons straightforwardly." After alluding to the
date (1907), when M. Blech had offered and he had accepted the honorary
membership in the Society, M. Schuré goes on to speak of Mrs. Besant, as
she had then appeared to him, in high terms, expressing the hope that
"the nobility of her past career" was an augury "that the T. S. would
continue in the broad way of tolerance, impartiality, _and veracity_
which forms an essential part of its programme." M. Schuré then
continues:--
Unfortunately things turned out otherwise. The primary cause of
this deviation lies in the close alliance of Mrs. Besant with
Mr. Leadbeater, a learned occultist, but of an unsettled
disposition and doubtful morality. After Mr. Leadbeater _had
been found guilty_ by an advisory Committee of the T.S. Mrs.
Besant publicly announced her reprobation of the educational
methods with which he was charged.... By an inconceivable
change of front she soon afterwards declared her intention of
bringing Mr. Leadbeater into the T.S. again and she
succeeded.... The excuses she gave for this recantation were
charity and pardon. _The real reason was that the President
needed Mr. Leadbeater for her occult investigations_, and that
this collaboration appeared to her necessary to her prestige.
To those who have followed her words and acts from that time
onwards, it is clearly manifest _that Mrs. Besant has fallen
under the formidable suggestive power of her dangerous
collaborator, and can only see, think and act under his
control_. The personality henceforward speaking through her is
... the questionable visionary, the skilful master of
suggestion who no longer dares to show himself in London,
Paris, or America, but in the obscurity of a summer-house at
Adyar governs the T. S. through its President. The ill-omened
consequences of this influence were soon to appear before the
world through the affair of Alcyone and the founding of the
Order of the Star in the East.... If a real Indian initiate, a
Brahmin or otherwise, of ripe age, had come to Europe on his
own responsibility or in the name of his Masters to teach his
doctrines, nothing would have been more natural or
interesting.... But it was not in this form that we beheld the
new apostle from Adyar. A young Indian, aged thirteen,
_initiated by Mr. Leadbeater_ ... is proclaimed and presented
to the European public as the future teacher of the new era.
Krishnamurti, now called Alcyone, has no other credentials than
his master's injunctions and Mrs. Besant's patronage. His
thirty-two previous incarnations are related at length, the
early ones going back to the Atlantean period. _These
narrations_, given as the result of Mr. Leadbeater's and Mrs.
Besant's visions, _are for the most part grotesquely puerile_,
and could convince no serious occultist. They are ostensibly
designed to prove that for twenty or thirty thousand years the
principal personages in the T. S. have been preparing for the
"Great Work" which is soon to be accomplished. In the course of
_their incarnations, which remind one of a newspaper novel_,
these personages are decorated with the great names of Greek
mythology, and with the most brilliant stars in the firmament.
During a meeting at Benares, Krishnamurti presenting
certificates to his followers, received honours like a divine
being, many persons present falling at his feet. He does not,
however, utter a word, but only makes a gesture of benediction,
prompted by Mrs. Besant. In reporting this scene Mr. Leadbeater
likens it to the descent of the Holy Ghost at Pentecost.
For this dumb prophet is founded the Order of the Star in the
East, which the whole world is invited to join, and of which he
is proclaimed the head ... this passive young prodigy, who has
not yet given the world the least proof of having any mission
at all [this is as true in 1922 as it was in 1913.--A. L. C.],
becomes henceforth the centre and cynosure of the T. S., the
symbol and sacred ark of _the orthodox faith at Adyar_. As to
the doctrine preached by Mrs. Besant, it rests on a perpetual
equivocation. She allows the English public at large, to whom
she speaks of the coming Christ, to believe that he is
identical with the Christ of the Gospels, whereas to her
intimates she states what Mr. Leadbeater teaches, and what he
openly proclaims in one of his books, _The Inner Life_--namely,
that the Christ of the Gospels never existed, and was an
invention of the monks of the second century. Such facts are
difficult to characterise. I will simply say that they are
saddening for all who, like myself, believed in the future of
the T. S., for they can only repel clear-sighted and sincere
minds.... In my eyes, one can no longer be an actual member of
the T. S. without implicitly approving the deeds and words of
the President, which flagrantly contradict the essential
principle of the Society--I mean _scrupulous and absolute
respect for truth_. For these reasons I regret that I must send
you my resignation as a member of the Theosophical Society.
The italics throughout the foregoing quotations are mine, and serve
again to emphasise essential points; points almost exactly similar to
those raised by Mr. Kingsland, the most serious being the condonation by
Mrs. Besant of immoral practices in a colleague whose collaboration, as
M. Schuré shrewdly adds, has become a necessity to her, and under whose
"formidable suggestive power" she has now completely fallen. If this was
true in 1913, what may not be said in 1922, when the intervening nine
years have given time for the growth and development of this deadly Upas
Tree? I use the simile advisedly, for this teaching _is_ a "deadly"
poison, not only from the ordinary moral standpoint, but especially from
that of the esoteric teaching of H. P. B. and the Trans-Himâlayan
Brotherhood, under whose authority it is falsely and blasphemously given
out; I do not hesitate to declare it.
M. Schuré also emphasises an important and vital point which Mr.
Kingsland seems to have felt equally deeply, _viz._--That Mrs. Besant
has no use for any but those who accept everything she says and does
with blind subservience, even when, in the eyes of such men as M.
Schuré, Mr. Mead, Mr. Kingsland, and others, it merits strong
condemnation as "untrue" and "misleading." In the pages of the recent
numbers of the _Theosophist_ the talk about "freedom of opinion" within
the Society is still repeated, although in actual practice, as I have
shown, the exact opposite obtains. Much that emanates from this tainted
source is so fantastic and puerile that ridicule ought long since to
have killed it, as it did Oscar Wilde's Æsthetic movement.
Mrs. Besant's "return of the Christ."
To return to M. Lévy's book; it deals with "Mrs. Besant's Proceedings"
under various headings. In the one entitled "Mrs. Besant's Return of the
Christ" is to be found some of the most amazing balderdash--given out as
serious teaching!--it has ever been my lot to encounter. For instance, a
book called _Man: Whence, How, and Whither_, written by Mrs. Besant and
Mr. Leadbeater in collaboration, is quoted from by M. Lévy at
considerable length. He explains that "the substitution of a "false
Christ" for the "Christ of the Gospels" is here supported by "_a new
order of evidence_" (Italics mine). Specimens of this "evidence" follow,
and I will here give some of it in order to show the almost unbelievably
low level of intelligence to which this whole mischievous
movement--miscalled Theosophical--has descended, and the sort of
elements in human nature to which such an ill-conceived and fantastic
production is designed to appeal. M. Lévy writes:--
In the course of their investigations these two occultists look
up on the one side, the past incarnations of him whom Mrs.
Besant calls the "Master Jesus," that is, of the "Jesus" born
105 B.C.; and on the other side, the past lives of the being
whom she calls the "Lord Maitreya, the present Bodhisattva, the
Supreme Teacher of the World"; whose ego at a given moment
replaced that of "Jesus," this being the last incarnation of
the Christ whose immediate return she is announcing.
Let us first quote from their account of the incarnations of
the "Supreme Teacher" ... In the chapter headed "Early Times
on the Moon Chain," p. 34, we read:--
"There is a hut in which dwell a Moon-Man, his wife and
children; these we know in later times under the names of Mars
and Mercury, the Mahaguru and Surya. A number of these
monkey-creatures live round the hut, and give to their owners
the devotion of faithful dogs; among them we notice the future
Sirius, Herakles, Alcyone, and Mizar, to whom we may give their
future names for the purpose of recognition, though they are
still non-human."[4]
In the Fourth Root Race we again find the personage supposed to
be "Maitreya" as the husband of the ego claimed by these
authors as that of "Master K. H." Mrs. Besant is again
incarnated in the family as daughter, the eldest sister of the
"Master M."; "Maitreya," the future World-Teacher, being at
this time the head of the tribe (p. 113)....
We have thus reached to somewhere about the year 15,000 B.C.,
and then--incredible as it seems--they give no further
incarnations of him whom they nevertheless claim to have been
the World-Teacher at the beginning of our era.
They give us his incarnations as husband, as father, as
counsellor and priest, and are silent as to the only
incarnation of fundamental and vital importance to the whole
world.
Let us see if the incarnations of their "Jesus" will fill this
gap in our knowledge, if they will throw light on this
essential point, thus left in obscurity.
We meet this "Jesus" for the first time at the beginning of the
Fifth Root Race, as daughter of Alcyone (Krishnamurti) and
sister of "Maitreya" (p. 252.)
Then, on p. 328, as the wife of Julius Cæsar 18,878 B.C., he,
or rather she, being at this time the widow of Vulcan (Known in
his last incarnation as Sir Thomas More)....
He is later identified as daughter of Alcyone-Krishnamurti (his
father) and Fabrizio Ruspoli (his mother),[5] parents at the
same time of the future "World-Teacher, Maitreya," their young
daughter. These incarnations took place 72,000 B.C., on the
shores of the Lake of Gobi, we are told on p. 490.
In 15,910 B.C., we find "Jesus" as grandson of "Maitreya," and
as father and grandfather of a large family composed, as in all
cases investigated by these two authors, of _present_ members
of the Theosophical Society _only_, and including the faithful
friends of Adyar _to the exclusion of all others_.[6]
" ... In 12,800 B.C. the "Jesus" of these investigations again
forms part of a very extensive family composed as usual of the
selfsame elements, and including amongst the names known in the
theosophic world that of Mme. Marie Louise Kirby (an Italian
theosophist recently at Adyar) who was his sister. "Jesus" was
then the father of Mrs. S. Maud Sharpe (General Secretary of
the English Section), of Julius Cæsar, and of T. Subba Rao;
the Teshu Lama being at that time his daughter, etc., etc. (p.
499)....
Once more have our hopes been betrayed, for an absolute silence
broods over the Incarnations of "Jesus" later than this date of
13,500, as it reigned over those of the "World-Teacher"....
We cannot, however, conceive that this information gathered
from occult investigation will be felt to be indispensable by
anyone. Now that we know that Mrs. Besant's "World-Teacher" is
an ordinary man of the lunar chain (to whom Mrs. Besant was
first domestic animal and then sister, and who, in the early
period of our earth, was daughter of the young Krishnamurti (or
of M. Ruspoli), who could be found still to imagine that there
could be here any question, save a mad or impious joke"....
Incredible as it may appear to those who know anything of H. P.
Blavatsky's teachings, their comprehensive grandeur and sublimity,
especially as given in _The Secret Doctrine_, this extraordinary mixture
of clumsy fairy-tale and extravagant and even malicious mumbo-jumbo is
apparently swallowed whole by the blind and credulous followers of this
grotesque "Neo-Theosophy." Not so much for them do I write as for those
who, while interested in these subjects, have neither the inclination
nor the leisure to examine, for instance, such published Records as
these from which I quote, for themselves. Such would naturally accept on
their face value Mrs. Besant's own account of herself and of her
Society, unaware that she is no longer anything but a "blind leader of
the blind," incapable of distinguishing light from darkness, truth from
falsehood. We have direct testimony to the truth of this statement in
Mr. T. H. Martyn's now famous letter to Mrs. Besant.[7] In it he tells
her:--"You have been relying upon C. W. L. as _sole intermediary between
the Hierarchy_ [the Trans-Himâlayan Brotherhood, the Masters of Wisdom.
Italics mine.--A. L. C.] and yourself for many years.... C. W. L.'s word
is final and his seership infallible to you." The quality of this
supposed "seership" bears a very close resemblance to a stupid and
vulgar hoax. This is clearly shown by Mr. Martyn, who says:--"In 1919 I
went to America. Young Van Hook was in New York. He talked freely of C.
W. L.'s immorality and about _faking the 'lives' of people_" (Italics
mine.) Mr. Martyn then puts together various pieces of evidence against
this man, and tells Mrs. Besant that he finds "staring me in the face
the conclusions that _Leadbeater is a sex pervert_, his mania taking a
particular form which I have--though only lately--discovered, is a form
well known and quite common in _the annals of sex criminology_."
(Italics mine.) This sex criminal, then, is the creature whom Mrs.
Besant has accepted "for many years" as "sole intermediary between"
herself and--_the Masters of Wisdom_!! One almost hesitates to draw the
obvious inference; for this is the man whom she has for years held up to
and imposed upon their followers as a model of all the virtues--"a
saint"--a person "on the threshold of divinity." (See also footnote
_post_, p. 56.)
Why has it always been necessary for Mrs. Besant to have an
"intermediary"? Before Mr. Leadbeater it was her Brahmin guide, and
before him it was Mr. Judge. To each in turn she gave implicit belief in
the matter of "messages" and directions from the Masters, while
outwardly claiming "direct" communication. The fact is that, as I have
come to believe, the plain psychology of the thing is--sheer femininity.
With all her intellectual talents, her once clear brain, Mrs. Besant is
(in her personality) just simple _woman_, relying upon male guidance and
authority as instinctively as any of her humbler sisters. And what
student of human nature will fail to recognise in her that purely
feminine trait of blind and fanatical "obedience" which loves to receive
and obey "orders" even though the result should be "a world in ruins"?
The existence of this fundamental and essential quality in female human
nature is the real reason why even the most broad-minded men shrink from
giving women equality of power with themselves in wordly affairs.
Let me here declare what I believe to be the real truth; namely, that
after H. P. Blavatsky's death in 1891, neither Mrs. Besant, nor Mr.
Judge, nor Colonel Olcott, nor anyone else, could "communicate," because
_H. P. B.'s withdrawal meant the withdrawal of her Masters as well_. It
has always seemed strange to me that this was never realised by anyone,
for in this pamphlet I have quoted quite enough from H. P. B. to make it
perfectly clear. Does she not say in the 1890 letter to the Indians (see
p. 2) that after she had to leave India in 1885 the Masters' influence
at Adyar became a dead letter? Did not the Masters Themselves write as
early as 1884 that they could only communicate through her or in places
previously prepared magnetically by her presence? How, then, could They
be expected to continue to communicate or direct the affairs of the T.
S. (as They did in India until 1885), or the E. S. (as They did from
1888 to 1891), after They had withdrawn the Agent They had so carefully
prepared and subjected to the severest trials and initiations in Tibet?
Barely three years after this withdrawal the fatal "Split" took place
owing to Mr. Judge giving out what purported to be "direct"
communications, but which, as I discovered after working for a time
under his inspirer and successor, Mrs. Tingley, _were obtained from
her_. Mrs. Besant, in accusing him, did precisely the same, for she
stated in her _Case against W. Q. Judge_ that she had received her
orders direct from the Master, whereas (as I relate elsewhere, _post_,
p. 56) she admitted to the Inner Group that they came "through" her
Brahmin guide.
This, then, was the great and fundamental error committed by the leaders
of the movement, after H. P. B. was withdrawn. It is responsible for all
the subsequent troubles, and the appalling situation with which we are
faced to-day. A great and world-wide organisation is being used to
promulgate blasphemous, poisonous and absolutely anti-Theosophical and
anti-Occult doctrines as emanating direct from the Masters who
definitely withdrew Their chosen Agent in 1891. (See _ante_ p. 2.)
In any case, even had she lived, H. P. B. told the E. S. that the "last
hour of the term" was December 31st, 1899, after which "no Master of
Wisdom from the East will himself appear or send anyone to Europe or
America." (See footnote, _ante_ p. 2.) She also said that the next
Messenger would be sent out in 1975. Yet the fiction that the Masters
are still directing the leaders and the movement is kept up, not only by
Mrs. Besant, but also by Mrs. Tingley, 22 years after "the last hour of
the term."
It is the same with all this wild talk about the imminent advent of a
"World-Teacher." Is this in the least probable, in view of the above
pronouncements? H. P. B. definitely states in _The Secret Doctrine_ the
exact opposite; but all the Neo-Theosophists seem to prefer the Besant
and Leadbeater books. H. P. B. says, with reference to this very
Maitreya whose name they so lightly take in vain, that He is not due
until the Seventh Sub-Race, _i.e._, several thousand years hence; and
that, in any case, "it is not in the _Kali Yug_, our present
terrifically materialistic age of Darkness, the 'Black Age,' that a new
Saviour of Humanity can ever appear." (S. D. Third Ed., Vol. I, p. 510
_et seq._ See also _Theosophical Glossary_, "Kalki Avatar" and "Maitreya
Buddha.") If we accept H. P. B.'s authority there is no evading this
issue, and we must reject the Besant-Leadbeater pretensions _in toto_,
for their absurdity is patent. Yet they claim to have been specially
taught and prepared by her to carry on her message! (_Vide_ Mrs. Besant
in the _Theosophist_, March, 1922; and also _post_ p. 68.)
FOOTNOTES:
[4] In these incarnations such names are used as; Mars for the "Master
M."; Mercury for the "Master K. H."; Surya, the Lord Maitreya, the
present Bodhisattva, the Supreme Teacher of the World"; Sirius for Mr.
Leadbeater; Herakles for Mrs. Besant; Alcyone for Krishnamurti; Mizar
for his young brother, etc. A list of these names and those to whom they
apply is given in the Foreword of the book. [Italics mine. Here we see
the bald and unabashed appeal to the personality and its ambitions and
desires which is characteristic of this kind of charlatanism.--A. L. C.]
We shall here substitute the names of the real persons as given in this
list for the fancy names used to distinguish them in the body of the
book, _Man: Whence, How and Whither_.
[5] M. Ruspoli is an Italian theosophist recently living at Adyar, with
whom Mr. Leadbeater stayed in Italy.
[6] It is a remarkable fact that outside this little circle not a single
being in our great world has ever entered into these family communities
to whom the honour is given of being the pioneers of every civilisation
of the past. Even though we are invited to assist at marriages running
into thousands, _ever_ the same names appear and _all_ the members of
_all_ the families are identified. This singular oligarchy of friends
and devotees of Adyar perhaps merited to be signalised throughout the
evolution of our earth, the more so that Mr. Leadbeater, writing in his
bird's-eye view of the twentieth century and of the pioneers of the
future sixth race, remarks maliciously: "We know who will _not_ be
there." He puts in italics the word _not_; desirous doubtless to
indicate the unworthiness of other theosophists.
[7] Mr. Martyn is the President of the Sydney Lodge, Australian Section
T. S., a member of thirty years' standing. See Addendum.
Fundamental causes: Some Occult Methods.
Under this heading M. Lévy deals with what he calls "the pitiful climax
of this parody":--
What a contrast to the great traditions of the Theosophical
movement, formulated by H. P. Blavatsky in _The Key to
Theosophy_ (Third Edition, p. 191);--"As for our best
Theosophists, they would also far rather that the names of the
Masters had not been mixed up with our books in any way." And
later, on p. 192;--"I say again, every earnest Theosophist
regrets to-day, from the bottom of his heart, that these sacred
names and things have ever been mentioned before the public."
And this would be the moment to say with Mme.
Blavatsky;--"Great are the desecrations to which the names of
two of the Masters have been subjected." ... But when all is
said and done, what _is_ this occultism which produces _such
disregard of truth, such calumny in daily life, such diastrous
confusion in the domain of clairvoyance_, and finally, _advice
of such a kind as to arouse universal disgust_? [Italics
mine.--A. L. C.]
This occultism has its methods, as all schools of occultism
have; for occultism consists in a methodical training and the
awakening of consciousness to superior worlds; and where a
method produces such results, may we not regard it as
legitimate to ask what is the source of such serious and such
numerous aberrations?... On this question, as on all those that
we have examined, we will cite as witnesses original documents,
the appraisements of those who teach their own methods. It is
well known that Mr. Leadbeater is the inventor and manipulator
of the Adyar occultism. In the _Inner Life_ (Vol. I, p. 450),
in speaking of the centres, the awakening of which, as we
know, developes clairvoyance, he expresses himself in these
terms;--"I have heard it suggested that each of the different
petals of these force-centres represents a moral quality, ... I
have not yet met with any facts which confirm this ... _their
development seems to me to have no more connection with
morality than has the development of the biceps_." [Italics
mine. A little later I shall quote some very definite
pronouncements of H. P. Blavatsky's which teach the exact
opposite.--A. L. C.]
Further, it is of interest to find Mrs. Besant and Mr.
Leadbeater, in the first lines of the Preface to _Man; Whence
How, and Whither_, expressing the same view as regards the
connection between morality and clairvoyance--"It is not
generally accepted, nor indeed is it accepted to any large
extent ... [clairvoyance] is a power latent in all men ... it
can be developed by any one who is able and willing to pay the
price demanded for its forcing, ahead of the general
evolution."
Mrs. Besant is no less positive. A price is demanded for the
"forcing" of clairvoyance, but this price is neither "high
spirituality" nor "lofty intelligence," nor even "purity of
character" ... she fully shares the views of Mr. Leadbeater....
Thus the calumny, sectarianism, the disregard of truth in daily
life, the increasingly serious aberrations in the spiritual
life, have gradually revealed the main source of all these
facts, _i. e._, the defect of the method.
All becomes clear. Mr. Leadbeater is probably right, and it may
be possible to develop, as he claims, a certain clairvoyance
(an inferior clairvoyance, it must be said) without the
concurrence of a moral and mental training.... But who will
maintain that without moral purification we shall possess that
moral sense that inspires gracious and noble conduct, and
teaches us to hate falsehood?... be able to distinguish
illusions from reality in our astral visions?
Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater are most certainly not ignorant
of the dangers of occult development without morality. But it
is quite another matter to profess this theory, or even to lean
towards morality in the course of occult development, _by means
of ... generous aspirations perpetually evoked in eloquent
language_, from setting to work on the development of these
centres by means of exercises arranged with the express purpose
of bringing in the _practice_ of morality, of truth, and of
logic as powerful factors in the reorganisation of the subtle
bodies--which produces clairvoyance.... That method which
dissociates moral and intellectual aspiration from occult
development, and seeks to cultivate them separately, will not
achieve moral progress since _the inner nature is not
transmuted_; but this method will produce a very debauch of
phrases invoking these aspirations. For, instead of penetrating
by means of the appropriate practice into the inner regions of
the soul, these aspirations swirl, so to say, perpetually on
the surface of the mind. Their presence there will produce a
kind of psychic intoxication, sometimes rousing in the
occultist thoughts so much above his own mental and moral
standard, that he may come to regard himself as a saint, while
at the same time performing the most despicable actions.
Indeed, during such times the conduct shows a moral
retrogression very noticeable when compared with the conduct
before this occult development For this latter _increases and
intensifies all the temptations_, as every occultist will
admit. An increase of active morality is therefore, required if
we would avoid this most dangerous lack of balance....
We find constantly in Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater, under a
great show of high moral aspirations, the reality of an actual
moral and intellectual fall. Much emphasis is placed on
"liberty of thought" [see p. 14 A. L. C.], and at the same time
the intellectual desertion of this principle is preached in
counselling members to give blind obedience to "the least hint
which falls from the lips of Mrs. Besant," and to follow her
implicitly whether she is understood or not....
We see clearly that the fruits are precisely those we should
expect from the seed; the terrible danger of this method can
neither be misunderstood nor denied ... [we must] never lend
ear to the words which in this school quite naturally take the
place of the honest and right act, and so turn attention from
the moral ugliness of the actions performed.... _Acts alone
show forth morality, not attractive formulas flowing from
literary or oratorical talent._ The constant declaration of
liberty of thought, of human brotherhood, cannot impress us
when the actions of those who delight in them enslave thought,
persecute merit, seek to poison souls by flimsy and deceptive
spiritual pronouncements....
It is a painful duty to have to press this point with such
insistence. But now that we are facing the consequences of the
Leadbeater method on the mental character of the clairvoyant,
our warnings in reference to still more serious harm will not
appear exaggerated.
We know that the higher regions of the invisible worlds are
those in which "consciousness" manifests itself principally in
the most intense awareness of moral beauty.
Since this is so, the cultivation of the non-moral clairvoyance
could only attain results in the lower regions of the astral
world ... the organ of clairvoyant sight, when developed
according to certain methods, will be blind to the moral
outline of subtle worlds, _and will thus be cut off from all
their truly spiritual content. The field of their experiences
will be limited to the lower regions of the astral plane._
And it is these lower visions, more frequently experienced
because of _their affinity to elements in the vehicles of the
investigator not yet purified, that will be presented as the
most sublime images of the higher worlds_. For such a
clairvoyant is deprived of the high morality which is the force
leading our "bodies" by affinity towards truly spiritual Beings
[_e.g._, the Masters in Their Mahatmic "bodies".--A. L. C.]
Deprived of the standard of comparison that these provide, _he
will be the_ _victim of all the illusions of a world that is
the veritable motherland of illusions, for human errors are but
the faint reflection of these_. Since the sense of
responsibility, which is essentially moral in origin [H. P.
Blavatsky says; "_The sense of Responsibility is the beginning
of Wisdom._" A. L. C.] will equally fail him, _he will have no
scruple in sharing his illusions with all in making known his
misleading experiences_--the less since the forces, whose sport
he is, push him irresistibly to this. Are they not in truth the
adversaries of the divine scheme of evolution, _the servants
and sowers of error and immorality the world over_?
In these clear and logical arguments M. Lévy expresses, even in a
translation, so much better than I could have done, the dangers of the
way leading to the path of "error" which Mrs. Besant is now treading,
that I have quoted at greater length than I originally intended.
Although written nine years ago, they are more than ever true to-day. M.
Lévy then continues:--
We have thus sketched in their broad hypothetical outlines _the
incalculable reactions that the defect in the Leadbeater method
brings into the inner life, into the words and actions of those
who yield their souls to him_.
In demonstrating the fatal effects of this method we have shown
the real meaning of the faults and failings of all kinds as
exhibited by Mrs. Besant, who is its most fervent adherent. The
right interpretation of the known facts seems to us so entirely
in conformity with the consequences, as implied in our
hypothesis, as to make it possible to some extent to foresee
these facts with scientific certainty--which is precisely what
has happened....
We recall the "Leadbeater Case," which in 1906 [this was the
Committee of Inquiry in London, above referred to.--A. L. C]
called forth within the Theosophical Society, no less than
outside, unanimous moral censure.... Resigning from the
Theosophical Society in consequence of this affair, Mr.
Leadbeater has since returned, at the invitation of Mrs.
Besant.... Have the principles and methods of Mr. Leadbeater
changed since he has returned to his place amongst us? He
himself informs us on this point in a letter written after the
"affair," at the express desire of Mrs. Besant that he should
"define his position" at the time she started the well-known
campaign in favour of his re-admission (_Theosophist_, February
1908.)
"You ask me," says Mr. Leadbeater, "to write you a clear letter
that you may show at need, expressing my real views on the
advice I gave some time ago to certain young boys. I need
hardly say that I keep my promise not to repeat the advice, for
I defer to your opinion that it is dangerous. I also recognise,
as fully as yourself, that it would be if it were promiscuously
given, but I have never thought of so giving it."
In this declaration Mr. Leadbeater first recognises the danger
of his advice, then immediately retracts this confession by
reservations which imply its harmlessness in just those cases
for which he is blamed. He has not, as we see from this letter,
then, changed his views; but the important fact is that he only
speaks of "danger," and never of "immorality." _His moral
standpoint remains, then, unaltered--is precisely the same as
before the exposé._
And what is this point of view? Mrs. Besant thus gives it in a
letter dated July, 1906 (_Theosophic Voice_, May, 1908):--
"Mr. Leadbeater appeared before the Council of the British
Section, representatives from the French and the American
Sections being present and voting. Colonel Olcott in the chair.
_He denied none of the charges_, but in answer to questions,
very much strengthened them, for he alleged.... _So that the
advice ... became advice putting foul ideas into the minds of
boys innocent of all sex impulses.... It was conceivable that
the advice, as supposed to have been given, had been given with
pure intent, and the presumption was so in a teacher of
theosophical morality; anything else seemed incredible. But
such advice as was given in fact, such dealing with boys_
_before sex passion had awakened, could only be given with pure
intent if the giver were, on this point, insane._" [Italics
mine. The details omitted cannot be put in print.--A. L. C.]
"Let me here place on record my opinion that such teaching as
this, given to men, let alone to innocent boys, is worthy of
the sternest reprobation. It distorts and perverts the sex
impulse ... degrades the ideas of marriage, fatherhood and
motherhood ... befouls the imagination, pollutes the emotions,
and undermines the health. Worst of all that it should be
taught under the name of Divine Wisdom, being essentially
'earthly', 'sensual', 'devilish.'"
Mrs. Besant's last sentence contains the whole _raison d'être_ of this
my Protest. She has expressed precisely the views I hold; but in this
fervid condemnation she herself must now be included, since she condones
and thus supports this horror. M. Lévy graphically portrays for us on
what road it is that this once apparently sane and normal woman, with
all her great gifts, is descending--a road that, as H. P. Blavatsky puts
it in the concluding paragraph of _Occultism_ versus _the Occult Arts_,
"can lead only to Dugpa-ship." (see _post_ p. 33.) He continues:--
Mrs. Besant then deemed Mr. Leadbeater's morality so defective
as to be accounted for only by mental derangement.
Nevertheless, the promise contained in the letter just quoted
and which expresses no shadow of moral repentance whatsoever,
nor anything approaching it, was sufficient, in Mrs. Besant's
eyes, to justify her in bringing back into the Theosophical
Society a teacher she has judged thus. Could one ask a clearer
proof of the anarchy produced by such occultism?
A recent suit, instituted by the parent of the young
Krishnamurti, re-claiming the custody of his child, brings
forward again this question of morality ... reminding us of the
exposé. In fact, the present case clearly formulates the
accusation of immoral conduct testified to by witnesses ... In
such a discussion, this attempt [by Mrs. Besant] to play upon
the political interests of the judges is unexpected,
amazing,--and, alas! significant. We see clearly that a mind
that shows itself capable of throwing into the balance
political (and racial) appeals in a matter of conduct, is
utterly blind to the question of human consideration [a Brahmin
father re-claiming his young sons] that overshadows this whole
case.
Clear and unmistakable through all these actions shows the
consistent distortion of the moral outlook, more serious since
the esoteric ethics should be an extension, a purification, an
exaltation of exoteric morality, and in no circumstances its
decline, its degradation, its negation. And if we would realise
to what extent this moral outlook can be warped under certain
influences, we need but to hear Mrs. Besant say of Mr.
Leadbeater:--"By hard, patient work he has won rewards ...
until he stands perhaps the most trusted of his Master's
disciples on the threshold of Divinity." (_Theosophist_,
November, 1911, p. 308.)
This conception of the "Divinity" that should be the the final
expression of morality has no need of comment other than that
same "deification" by his colleague--who five years earlier
regarded his teaching as so utterly immoral as to suggest
mental derangement as the only explanation.... Perhaps we shall
understand these things a little better if we remember that
this occultist, if he contradicts the Buddha, on the other hand
almost deifies Mrs. Besant. Possibly taking into consideration
this exchange of admiration, the meaning of the "deifications"
will become sufficiently clear.
H. P. Blavatsky on true Occultism.
Before giving some fine passages from M. Lévy's concluding chapters I
will quote from H. P. Blavatsky's _Practical Occultism: Occultism_
versus _the Occult Arts_, mentioned a few pages back. In its original
form it is a booklet containing a reprint of two articles which she
wrote for _Lucifer_ in 1888, shortly before she founded the Esoteric
Section. These extracts will show the "true" teaching in this matter of
Occultism, as contrasted with the "false," or Mrs. Besant's and Mr.
Leadbeater's. H. P. B. begins by declaring that: "There are not in the
West half-a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who call themselves
'Occultists' who have even an approximately correct idea of the nature
of the Science they seek to master. With a few exceptions, they are all
on the highway to sorcery.... Let them first learn the true relation in
which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism.... [It] differs from Magic
and other secret sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light, as
the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man--the reflection of the
absolute, causeless and unknowable ALL--differs from the mortal
clay--the human body.... [The word] OCCULTISM is certainly misleading,
translated as it stands from the compound word _Gupta-Vidya_ (Secret.
Knowledge.) But the knowledge of what? Some of the Sanskrit terms may
help us.
"There are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of
Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the exoteric Purânas.
There is (1) _Yajna-Vidya_, knowledge of the occult powers awakened in
Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites. (2)
_Mahavidya_, the 'great knowledge,' the magic of the Kabalists and of
the _Tantrika_ worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. (3)
_Guhya-Vidya_, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether),
hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers or incantations), and depending on
the rhythm and melody used; in other words, a magical performance based
on knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and (4)
_Atma-Vidya_, a term which is translated simply 'Knowledge of the Soul,'
_true Wisdom_ by the Orientalists, but which means far more.
"This last is the only kind of Occultism that any Theosophist who
admires 'Light on the Path,' and who would be wise and unselfish, ought
to strive after. All the rest is some branch of the 'Occult Sciences,'
_i.e._, arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all
things in the kingdoms of Nature--such as minerals, plants and
animals--hence of things pertaining to the realm of _material_ nature,
however invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has
hitherto eluded the grasp of Science.... _Siddhis_ (or the Arhat powers)
are only for those who are able to 'lead the life,' and to comply with
the terrible sacrifices required for such a training, and to comply with
them _to the very letter_. Let them know at once and remember always,
that true Occultism or Theosophy is the 'Great Renunciation of SELF,'
unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM,
and it throws him who practises it out of the ranks of the living
altogether. 'Not for himself, but for the world he lives,' as soon as he
has pledged himself to the work. Much is forgiven during the first years
of probation. But, no sooner is he 'accepted' than his personality must
disappear, and he has to become a _mere beneficent force in Nature_.
There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and no midway place
of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously step by step, often through
numerous incarnations and _no Devachanic break_, the golden ladder
leading to Mahatmaship (the _Arhat_ or _Bodhisattva_ condition), or--he
will let himself slide down the ladder at the first false step, and roll
down into _Dugpa-ship_....[8]
"All this is either unknown or left out of sight altogether. Indeed, one
who is able to follow the silent evolution of the preliminary
aspirations of the candidates often find strange ideas quietly taking
possession of their minds. There are those whose reasoning powers have
been so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal
passions can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force and
fire can, so to speak, be turned inwards ... _until their collective and
unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the true Sanctuary
of the Soul_, and stand therein in the presence of the _Master_--the
HIGHER SELF.... Oh, poor blind visionaries!... Strange aberration of the
human mind. Can it be so? Let us argue.
"The 'Master' in the Sanctuary of our souls is 'the Higher Self'--the
divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at
any rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from
the mind, which we have agreed to call the _Human Soul_ (the 'Spiritual
Soul' being the vehicle of the Spirit.) In its turn the former (the
_personal_ or human soul) is a compound, in its highest form of
spiritual aspirations, volitions and divine love; and in its lower
aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it by its
association with its vehicle, the seat of all these ... the _inner
animal_. [It] is the instinctual 'animal soul,' and is the hotbed of
those passions which ... are lulled instead of being killed, ... And
where, on what neutral ground, can they be imprisoned so as not to
affect man?
"The fierce passions of love and lust are still alive, and they are
allowed to still remain in the place of their birth--_that same animal
soul_.... It is thus the mind alone--the sole link and medium between
the man of earth and the Higher Self--that is the only sufferer, and
which is in incessant danger of being dragged down by those passions,
that may be re-awakened at any moment and perish in the abyss of
matter.... How can harmony prevail and conquer, when the soul is stained
and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires
of the bodily senses, or even of the 'Astral man'?
"For this 'Astral'--the shadowy 'double' (in the animal as in man) is
not the companion of the _divine Ego_ but of the _earthly body_. It is
the link between the personal self, the lower consciousness of _Manas_,
and the Body, and is the vehicle of _transitory, not of immortal
life_.... It is only when the power of the passions is dead altogether,
and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an
unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh
are dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed out
and the 'Astral' has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the
Union with the 'Higher Self' can take place. Then when the 'Astral'
reflects only the conquered man, the still living but no more the
longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant _Augœides_, the
divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the
human Entity--the man of matter purified, and the ever pure Spiritual
Soul--and stand in the presence of the MASTER SELF, the Christos of the
mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into, and one with IT for ever.[9]
"How, then, can it be thought possible for a man to enter the 'strait
gate' of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with
worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition,
and duties which, however honourable, are still of the earth, earthy?
Even the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of
human affections--is a barrier to _real_ occultism.... While the heart
is full of thoughts for a little group of _selves_, near and dear to us,
how shall the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love
and care will there remain to bestow on the 'great orphan' [Humanity]?
And how shall the 'still small voice' make itself heard in a soul
entirely occupied with its own privileged tenants?... yet, he who would
profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has to reach it through _the
whole of Humanity_, without distinction of race, complexion, religion,
or social status. It is _altruism,_ not _ego_-ism even in its most legal
and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its little Self in
the Universal Selves. It is to _these_ needs and to this work that the
true disciple of true Occultism has to devote himself if he would obtain
_theo_-sophy, divine Wisdom and Knowledge.
"The aspirant has to choose absolutely between the life of the world and
the life of Occultism.... It would be a ceaseless, a maddening struggle
for almost any married man, who would pursue _true_ practical Occultism,
instead of its _theoretical_ philosophy. For he would find himself ever
hesitating between the voice of the impersonal divine love of Humanity,
and that of the personal, terrestrial love.... Worse than this. For,
_whoever indulges, after having pledged himself to_ OCCULTISM, _in the
gratification of a terrestrial love or lust_, must feel an almost
immediate result--that of being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal
divine state down to the lower plane of matter. Sensual, or even mental,
self-gratification involves the immediate loss of the powers of
spiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no longer be
distinguished from that of one's passions, or _even that of a Dugpa_;
the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry. The Dead Sea
fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance ... although it is the
intention that decides primarily whether _white_ or _black_ magic is
exercised, yet the results even of involuntary sorcery cannot fail to be
productive of bad Karma.... _Sorcery is any kind of evil influence
exercised upon other persons, who suffer, or make other_ persons to
suffer, in consequence ... such causes produced have to call forth
effects, and these are evidenced in the just laws of Retribution.
"Much of this may be avoided if people will only abstain from rushing
into practices neither the nature nor importance of which they
understand.... We are in the Kali-Yuga and its fatal influence is a
thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; _hence
the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness in this cyclic
struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now
labouring_." (Italics mine--A. L. C.)
Applying this high and absolutely uncompromising moral standard, these
grand and stern words, to the two pseudo-occultists under discussion, it
is not difficult--even in the light of the little I have already
given--to see that they themselves, and their actions, bear _no sort of
relation_ to real "Occultism" as here briefly outlined by H. P.
Blavatsky. Their teaching concerning sex is indeed its antithesis, which
inevitably leads to Dugpa-ship, as H. P. B. definitely states. The issue
is clear, and cannot be evaded or explained away.
It is true that Mrs. Besant started well, even splendidly, in H. P. B.'s
lifetime, and just after her death wrote a series of simple explanatory
manuals which were of great value to beginners and enquirers. But only
two years later she began, under Brahmin[10] inspiration, to make
serious alterations in H. P. B.'s own works, and even to throw doubt on
her occult knowledge (_e.g._, Mrs. Besant's Preface to the so-called
Vol. III of _The Secret Doctrine_.) Unfortunately larger and more
ambitious works which followed were vitiated by the same influences, and
I well remember marking many passages in _The Ancient Wisdom_ which were
not in accordance with H. P. B.'s teachings. But the radical departure
from them began when Mrs. Besant definitely threw in her lot with C. W.
Leadbeater, the sex pervert, and thereby alienated and caused such deep
sorrow to her former friends and supporters.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] DUGPAS. (_Tibetan_). Lit., "Red Caps," a sect in Tibet. Before the
advent of Tsong-ka-pa in the fourteenth century, the Tibetans, whose
Buddhism had deteriorated and been dreadfully adulterated with the
tenets of the old _Bhon_ religion--were all Dugpas. From that century,
however, and after the rigid laws imposed upon the _Gelukpas_ (Yellow
Caps) and the general reform and purification of Buddhism (or Lamaism),
the Dugpas have given themselves over more than ever to sorcery,
immorality, and drunkenness. Since then the word _Dugpa_ has become a
synonym of "sorcerer", "adept of black magic" and everything vile. There
are few, if any, Dugpas in Eastern Tibet, but they congregate in Bhutan,
Sikkim, and the borderlands generally.--_The Theosophical Glossary_, by
H. P. Blavatsky.
[9] Man is a trinity composed of Body, Soul, and Spirit; but _man_ is
nevertheless _one_, _and_ is surely not his body. The three 'Egos' are
MAN in his three aspects on the astral, intellectual or psychic, and
Spiritual planes, or states.
[10] In making use of the word "Brahmin" in this connection, I mean only
to indicate that "sacerdotal" spirit of the Brahmin caste which has
always resisted (and quite reasonably, _from their point of view_) any
revealing of esoteric teaching to the multitude, and especially to the
West. The particular Brahmin whom Mrs. Besant followed at that period
(see _post_ p. 56 Footnote) induced her to adopt a line of action which
disrupted the Society created by H. P. B., and diverted attention from
her works.
Mrs. Besant's responsibility and the Madras Law-suits.
M. Lévy's concluding chapter, from which I will now quote, is obviously
written from the heart. He says that it is his "imperative duty" to
resign his membership in Mrs. Besant's Society, referring to the pain
caused to her old friends by the opinion expressed by the police court
magistrate in the defamation cases ... for he considered that the facts
before him, and the documentary evidence, supported the view that Mrs.
Besant had known of and even countenanced the practices of Mr.
Leadbeater....
"In restoring to Mr. Leadbeater his influence over herself and
over the destinies of the Theosophical Society [she] has proved
her failure in moral vigilance and her lack of intellectual
discrimination as regards methods to which she thus fails the
first victim. And the sorry contradictions that this brings
into her spiritual message, the utter disregard of truth
resulting from this, impel her to words and actions that now
involve an incalculable number of victims, misled by their
devoted trust in her. Her responsibility is in truth a very
terrible one.... I have come to regard the actions of Mrs.
Besant--and of Mr. Leadbeater equally, of course--as the
_leaven of destruction, of disintegration in the Theosophical
Society_.
We cannot rid ourselves of a growing disquiet in seeing Mrs.
Besant, in her monthly articles in the _Theosophist_, entitled
"On the Watch-Tower," so tirelessly expressing such great and
manifest satisfaction in every smallest material increase,
improvement and enrichment of the Adyar Headquarters.
Mr. Leadbeater shares in this joy. Speaking of Mrs. Besant in
the _Adyar Album_, p. 7, he praises at great length the
material improvements of the Headquarters:--"In her reign have
been added to the estate no less than six valuable pieces of
property." Thus temporal power would clearly seem to be the
main concern of Adyar. And we involuntarily turn to the words
of Christ, who so well described the spiritual splendours:--"My
kingdom is not of this world." _Not thus does Mrs. Besant
understand spirituality_ since she "reigns" as a prince of this
world, over a kingdom that grows by her conquests.... A like
concern follows Mr. Leadbeater even into his occult
investigations into the twenty-eighth century, in which he sees
"a kind of gorgeous palace with an enormous dome, the central
part of which must be an imitation of the Taj Mahal at Agra,
but on a much larger scale. In this great building they mark as
memorials certain spots by pillars and inscriptions, such as
... here such and such a book was written ... they even have
statues of _some of us_ [_sic!!_] ...--_Man; Whence, How, and
Whither._
Truly may one here repeat the somewhat banal phrase "Comment is
needless"; indeed one might add, "impossible," in the face of such an
amazing manifestation of megalomania. But this is not the most serious
disease from which C. W. Leadbeater and his colleague are suffering. As
M. Lévy has already shown, there is much worse behind of which this
megalomania is only one symptom. In an "Addendum" given at, the end of
his book, M. Lévy says that since the publication of his brochure
judgment has been pronounced on the case he mentions (see p. 29), the
judge ruling that the children should be removed from the care of Mrs.
Besant and given back to the father within a fixed time." He then
continues:--
Further legal proceedings have confirmed, with yet more
precision, the infamous immorality of which Mr. Leadbeater
stands accused. (see report in _The Hindu_, Madras, May 9th,
1913.) A Madras medical review called _The Antiseptic_ had
pubished an article in which apprehension of the establishment
of a 'Temple of Onanism" ["unnatural sin." See Dr. Hartmann's
_Paracelsus_, p. 90] at Adyar was expressed. _The Hindu_
newspaper reprinted the scandal. Mrs. Besant took proceedings
aga nst the author of the article and the publisher of _The
Antiseptic_; and the Treasurer of the Theosophical Society was
moved at the same time to action against _The Hindu_. _All
three cases were dismissed._ The gravity of the position is
evident. Mr. Leadbeater's methods have been proved by his own
admissions as well as by documents before the Court to be
subversive of morality....
These facts [I omit the worst details that M. Lévy feels
obliged to quote] condemn Mr. Leadbeater without possibility of
appeal; they reveal to us, with regard to Mrs. Besant, a truly
degrading complaisance, by reason of her desire to hide a crime
as patent as it is abominable ... the members of the
Theosophical Society are not only kept in complete ignorance
regarding these facts, but the administration of Adyar, through
its extensive propaganda, has a great influence over new
members in all conditions, while concealing and perverting the
truth.... The existence of persons like Mr. Leadbeater, who
admit and practise the worst perversities, is a sad reminder of
the darker side of human nature; yet the attitude of simply
ignoring that such things exist seems indefensible when these
persons pretend to the highest morality and represent
themselves as guides towards spiritual development ... claiming
to stand "on the threshold of divinity.".. The danger that such
persons may continue to extend their empire over the souls of
others is an increasing one....
In view of these "facts" M. Lévy's restraint of language is remarkable,
his condemnation hardly sufficiently scathing. His concluding words,
however, explain much; he has evidently greatly admired Mrs. Besant in
earlier years, and the last paragraph of his book eloquently attests his
personal grief:--"The feeling which here arrests my pen, and prevents me
from saying more on the matter, will be understood by those who have
followed me so far, and they may hear across my silence the voice of
their own sorrow." I deeply respect M. Lévy's feelings; but for me--who
have never had any illusions regarding Mrs. Besant from the time of the
disruption of the Society in 1894-5--the matter assumes a more sinister
aspect. His pages have rendered me most invaluable help in putting
before the general public matter not personally known to my own
experience. I left Colonel Olcott's Society in 1895, M. Lévy left Mrs.
Besant's in 1913; and when we remember that this was its condition nine
years ago, my previous remarks (see p. 14) may be better appreciated now
that more evidence has been adduced
The Central Hindu College. An Indian Criticism.
In a pamphlet published at Benares about the same date (1913) by Pandit
Bhagavan Das, "a former General Secretary of the Indian Section T. S."
we possess still further evidence of Mrs. Besant's extraordinary
aberrations under C. W. Leadbeater's guidance and control. Mr. Das's
pamphlet is addressed to the editor of the London _Christian
Commonwealth_, and is entitled "The Central Hindu College and Mrs.
Besant." It is a reply to some "remarks" by her on this College, which
appeared in that paper in June, 1913. Mr. Das writes:--
[Mrs. Besant's] remarks on the Central Hindu College [Benares]
in your paper are illustrations of this sad change in her. This
Institution, for which she has done more than anyone else
perhaps, she now openly and obviously tries to injure most
deeply in the minds of the public by wild suggestions that it
and the Hindu University, into which it is proposed to be
expanded, are mixed up with political seditionists and
extremists ... that such an educational movement is in any way
mixed up with seditionism and extremism is an idea ...
fatuously ludicrous.... The reckless, incoherent,
self-contradictory, incorrect and misleading statements that
Mrs. Besant has been freely making latterly in the public
press, have only injured her own reputation.... The C. H. C.
was founded in July, 1898, in order to do for the numerous
sects and sub-divisions of Hinduism what the T. S. was
endeavouring to do for all views and religions.... The College
grew and prospered year by year, under the Presidentship of
Mrs. Besant, and won the confidence ... of Hindus of almost all
shades of opinion.... But with the transfer of Mrs. Besant
from Benares to Adyar in 1907, as President of the T. S.,
elected _under very peculiar circumstances_ [as I learnt
recently from a very old member present in Adyar when Colonel
Olcott was on his deathbed. Italics mine.--A. L. C.]
foreshadowing the coming policies, a change began to come over
the spirit of all her work and surroundings. Despite the
suggestions, advice, entreaties, expostulations, and warnings
of her old colleagues and counsellors _who had made her work in
India possible_ [Italics mine.--A. L. C.], she developed more
and more and beyond all due bounds, the germ of person-worship
so long held in restraint. Entirely proofless claims to
superphysical powers and experiences, to being an Initiate, an
Arhat, a Mukta and what not; claims to read Mars and Mercury
and the whole Solar System, past, present and future (but with
careful avoidance of even the most easy test, such as reading a
given page of a closed book) claims to be the authorised agent
of "the Great White Brotherhood which guides Evolution on
earth" and to be in communication with the Supreme Director of
the world and with "the World-Teacher," etc., in short, all the
elements of sensationalism and emotionalism--which were
subdominant and private (confined mostly to the "inner" E. S.
T. organisation within the T. S.) now began to be predominant
and public.... In the spring of 1909, a "brother Initiate" of
Mrs. Besant's "discovered" the boy, now nicknamed Alcyone, as
the future vehicle of the Coming Christ ... _"neo-theosophy"
was started more or less definitely_ [Italics mine.--A. L.
C.]....
In January 1911 was started publicly by the then Principal of
the C. H. C., as the chief member of the "Group" an "Order"
called The Order of the Rising Sun, with the idea of "preparing
for a coming World-Teacher "as its publicly avowed central
idea, and the creed that the boy J. K. (Alcyone) would be the
"vehicle" of the "Coming Christ--Maitreya-Bodhisattva," etc.,
as its privately understood creed, to spread which amongst the
students was the duty of the inner "pledged group.' ... [See
_ante_ p. 21.
In short, Mrs. Besant cleverly utilised an already existing
organisation, founded for quite other objects and aims, to spread this
crazy and pernicious "neo-theosophy," under cover of secrecy, pledges,
etc., which she and C. W. Leadbeater--the real inspirer--well knew to be
almost irresistible baits for sensitive and imaginative youths at a
highly impressionable age.
In April, 1911, on remonstrance by the older members of the Managing
Committee, Mrs. Besant arranged that the Order of the Rising Sun should
be disbanded. But this was mere show. When the disbandment was announced
to the managers, it had already been arranged to replace the O. R. S. on
a larger scale by _The Order of the Star in the East_ with the
Principal, Head Master, and various Professors of the C. H. C. as the
Private and other secretaries, of the boy J. K. as Head of the Order,
and Mrs. Besant as Protectress of the whole....
In the summer of 1911, side by side with this public activity, there was
started by Mrs. Besant _within_ the E. S. T. ... A WRITTEN PLEDGE OF
ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO HERSELF. This fact, "private and confidential" at
the time, is now public property since the Madras law suits....
In August, 1911, the Trustees of the C. H. C., to allay the apprehension
in the public mind that the C. H. C. was being diverted from its
constitutional broad and liberal Hinduism into a bizarre and unhealthy
personal-cult and bigoted Second-Adventism, passed formal resolutions to
the effect that the Institution had nothing to do with any such Orders
as those of the _Rising Sun_ or the _Star in the East_.
On December 24th, 1911, resolutions were passed by the Trustees,
agreeing that the C. H. C. should become part of the Hindu
University.... The neo-theosophic propagandism within (as without) the
C. H. C. continued ... in a score of evasive and elusive forms. Inner
"Groups" and "Esoteric Section Groups" of persons formally pledged to
obedience to Mrs. Besant, "Leagues of Service" of various kinds,
"Orders of S. E." and "S. I." and "I. L.," "Co-Masonry Lodges," "Temple
of the R. C.," and corresponding badges, bands, "regalia," "jewels,"and
"pink," and "blue," and "yellow" scarves; "magnetized ribbons," and
"stars" in pin, brooch, and button forms, etc. [for all the world like
the Kindergarten games for developing infant intelligences!--A. L. C.]
multiplied and replaced one another in interest like mushrooms in the
rain time, a very fever of restless sound and movement hiding lack of
substance and of wise purpose. Fuss of the most absurd and mischievous
kind became rampant. Lectures, meetings, night classes, outside the
college rooms and buildings, took place perpetually in the neighbouring
T. S. premises and private residences, for expounding the doctrines of
neo-theosophy and especially the book called _At the Feet of the Master_
alleged to have been written down by Alcyone (J. Krishnamurti), as the
embryonic scriptures and revelation of "the Embryo of a New Religion,"
as Mrs. Besant declares the O. S. E. to be. Resident students were
advised, and a number of them began to keep photos of Alcyone, as the
"vehicle" of the "Coming Christ" and himself an "Initiate of the Great
White Brotherhood" (and Mrs. Besant and one or two other living persons)
"on the threshold of divinity," and to worship them with flowers,
incense, etc. Old and young believers prostrating and genuflecting,
literally, at the feet of the living original when within reach.... The
then Principal of the College (who had founded the O. R. S.) proclaimed
in his lectures in the neighbouring T. S. Hall, and elsewhere, that he
was a "High Disciple of the Master"; and that the C. H. C. was "founded
to prepare for the Advent of the World-Teacher"....
[Mrs. Besant] has publicly stated [that] all of the members of the
General Council of the T. S. now belong, with one or two exceptions
perhaps, to the "Esoteric Section," prime condition of membership of
which is, THE FORMAL WRITTEN PLEDGE OF ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO MRS.
BESANT; and so while the loud profession is freedom of thought "for all"
the practice is sedulously "for herself," and her pledged votaries
only; while the theory is that the O. S. E. "must not be identified with
the T. S.," the practice is that the T. S. must be merged in the O. S.
E.
Let us turn to the C. H. C. to bring the narrative up to date. In March
and April 1913 there came into the hands of another Manager and Trustee,
a printed "letter," covering some three foolscap pages, bearing the
signature of the gentleman who was then Principal of the C. H. C., the
date October 25th, 1912, and the imprint of Mrs. Besant's _Vasanta
Press_, Adyar, Madras, and not bearing any word like "private" or
"personal," or "confidential." In this "letter" amazingly extravagant
and fantastic statements are made as regards Mrs. Besant; she is hailed
repeatedly as one who is "_to become one of the greatest Rulers of the
World of Gods and men_" [This is sheer insanity.--A. L. C.]; mention is
made of the "recognition of the God without us, which made us members of
this Group from which we draw our life to-day"; it is said "that her
light to ours was and is as the rays of the sun at noon-time to the rays
of a lamp at night, and we did not desire to examine the Sun to see
under what conditions it might possibly ray forth a more dazzling
brilliance." The members of the Group are reminded that "we pledged
ourselves in our hearts that we should strive to become _her true and
loyal servants ...,_" etc.
Thus complete was the hypnosis and surrender of reason which was sought
to be effected amongst the votaries. It was a case of emotionalism run
amuck...."
It is, unfortunately, "a case" of something infinitely more mischievous;
of evil "magic" and "sorcery" (cf. H. P. B.'s definition, _ante_ p. 36.)
Whether Mrs. Besant knows it or not, Mr. Leadbeater undoubtedly must be
well aware that life and strength can be drawn, on inner planes of
being, from the blind devotion of a solid body of fanatical votaries.
"Magicians" of a certain school--I need hardly specify which--thus
prolong their lives through the magnetic and vita emanations of their
nearest and most devoted followers. In a word, it is _Vampirism_, pure
and simple, on the psychic plane. (I found that Mrs. Tingley well
understood this form of Sorcery.) This, if true in Mrs. Besant's case is
probably unconscious; but in Mr. Leadbeater's it is done consciously and
with knowledge. That the secret acts and teachings of this man are far
worse than most people have ever suspected is confirmed in a "Letter in
reply to Mrs. Besant" by "Dreamer" which appeared in _The Theosophic
Voice_ (Chicago), November, 1908, under the title "India Speaks." This
scholarly Hindu Theosophist writes:--
If we are to believe the stenographic report of the Inquiry in
1906, then instead of holding that Mr. Leadbeater denied the
charges, we must come to the conclusion that not only did he
teach the solitary vice, but further he did things which would
have brought him within the pale of the criminal laws for the
foulest and most indecent offence which brute man may commit.
This is our latter day saint who must be re-admitted, nay,
invited back, into the Theosophical Society.
Note that this was written fourteen years ago! The subject is a
revolting one, but in the interests of that public whom these people are
still misleading and deceiving, and who have no idea of the extreme
gravity of the menace, it is necessary to be explicit.
To return to the "Letter" mentioned by Mr. Das; he continues:--
The Trustee and Manager into whose hands a copy of the
astonishing document came, with the information that _it had
been circulated_ amongst a number of the C. H. C. students,
informed the secretaries of the College, and sent the letter
with the comments on the same for publication in a daily paper,
in order to show the public how the person-worship-creeds of
Mrs. Besant's "neo-theosophy" were being sown and grown within
the C. H. C. despite the resolutions of the Trustees.
On publication of the rhapsody, a great outcry in the name of
"injured innocence" was raised.... As to the
"dishonourableness" of the publication, competent judges of
such matters have pronounced that it was dishonourable only if
it be dishonourable to expose what cannot be called other than
_gross treason_ to the Constitution and ideals of the C. H. C.,
and to bring to light, and the bar of public opinion, underhand
or half-concealed or openly defiant efforts to convert students
to a grotesque person-worship and demoralizing and
soul-stunting blind obedience to Mrs. Besant.... The asking
for, and the receiving of the pledges of obedience to herself,
etc., is an act of over-weening presumption against the God in
every man.... Ever since she encouraged and started them, her
mind has worked less and less correctly and confusion has
fallen ever worse and worse upon her work, losing to the T. S.
many thousands of old members, alienating from her all her old
co-workers and co-founders of the C. H. C. and destroying the
confidence in her of the Indian public.
Towards the end of his most illuminating pamphlet Mr. Das has occasion
to speak of Mrs. Besant's "wildly reckless statements," some of which he
quotes. They relate to the C. H. C. and he stigmatises them as "_all
simply and utterly untrue_." "Her mind," he says a little further on, is
working "incoherently." Finally, he writes:--
Let us conclude; when a person like Mrs. Besant, with a
biography full of remarkable changes, full of fine work as well
as bad blunders, having established herself, in her own belief,
and that of her pledged band, as the present chief Spiritual
Teacher and Saviour of Mankind, as "the God within us" now, and
as the future "greatest Ruler of the World of Gods and men,"
suddenly adds on the role of political saviour of India in
particular, and pre-determined martyr in constant danger of
assassination [strangely enough, this was also one of Mrs.
Tingley's obsessions] by anarchist miscreants ... and proclaims
that those who differ from her are in league with those
miscreants--when this happens, what explanation can be offered
to their own minds by her old friends ...?
The only sad explanation that they can postulate is that she is
suffering from mental delusions.
Alas! this lenient and charitable judgment by no means covers the ground
as a complete explanation of Mrs. Besant's mischievous and almost
irresponsible activities. Mr. Das fails to see as clearly as MM. Lévy
and Schuré the sinister influence behind all these manifestations; the
source and inspiration of all this evil.
Mrs. Besant's latest Assertions and claims examined.
We now come to the examination of two articles in the _Theosophist_ for
March, 1922, in which the President of the T. S. makes some attempt to
deal with recent criticism. One is a Supplement, or Manifesto, addressed
"To all Members of the Theosophical Society," and couched in Mrs.
Besant's present style--flamboyant, a trifle bombastic, often Biblical
in phraseology, and running throughout it, her usual fervid and
disingenuous appeal to sentimental emotionalism, instead of the
instinctive sense of justice latent in all beings. This latter, a
feature of her best days, she has entirely abandoned; it no longer
serves her ends. What those "ends" are one almost hesitates to
formulate, so impious and almost insane do they appear. Even taking into
consideration the tangled mass of evasions, misstatements and
hypocritical equivocations presented in this manifesto, these "ends"
emerge with sufficient clearness. But, in the first place, and before
going further, one must ask on what basis this amazing claim to almost
deific powers and knowledge rests. Let me here call M. Lévy into the
witness box once more; for he also had put the same question to himself
nine years ago, and will provide the answer. It occurs in his chapter on
"Mrs. Besant's 'Return of the Christ,'" where he is dealing with her
position and actions in regard to Dr. Steiner, the German occultist and
Christian Theosophist--with whose ideas, I should add, I am not in
personal agreement. My teacher is H. P. Blavatsky and she alone: I
follow no lesser light. M. Lévy says:--
Our reason forces us to confess that all goes to suggest that
Mrs. Besant, having herself ceased to believe in the identity
of her Jesus with the Christ [of the Gospels.--A. L. C.], would
still continue to make others believe it.... Her pride ... her
dominating mind, have driven her on this crusade of
extermination of Dr. Steiner's teachings; it has induced her to
collect, _without the least regard for truth, justice, or
theosophic principles, no matter what weapons if they do but
serve against her opponent; calumny, abuse of power,
misstatement of facts, all combined in a subtle strategy_.
Italics are mine; for we find Mrs. Besant using precisely the same
methods to-day, only in a form fortunately neither so "subtle" nor so
Jesuitically plausible. Her powers are failing, as the manifesto under
consideration clearly proves. M. Lévy proceeds:--
And when she falls victim of some error in the course of her
occult investigations--of which in theory she is always
proclaiming the fallibility--it is again her pride that bars
the way to admission, and makes her the slave of the most
pitiful machinations ... which ... will shatter to fragments in
all directions the confidence she had formerly inspired. For if
she is not consciously defending her mistake, then what kind of
a break-up of all her faculties are we witnessing?... The more
deeply we study this [_i.e._, the "neo-theosophy" already
described by M. Lévy and Pandit Bhagavan Das.--A. L. C.], the
more terrible appear the responsibilities of Adyar in this
deplorable scheme; for we would still seek the origin of such
fearless confidence [in Mrs. Besant's followers.--A. L. C.]
refusing, as it does, to be shaken by the eloquent appeal of
the facts here set forth, and of which some, if not all, have
been within the reach and open to examination of those members
who profess such an enthusiastic confidence in Mrs. Besant. The
result of our search is a yet further culpability, as
overwhelming as it is unexpected.
For this confidence is not in the case of all the victims the
result of the free use of their own inner faculties. It is in
the case of the greater number, due to the influence of a
strong suggestion _deliberately organised and cleverly carried
out by the authors of this mystification themselves; by Mr.
Leadbeater who wrote, and by Mrs. Besant who published_, the
following lines in the _Adyar Album_, p. 45: "What can I say to
you of your President that you do not know already? Her
colossal [_sic_] intellect, her unfailing wisdom, her
unrivalled eloquence, her splendid forgetfulness of self, her
untiring devotion to work for others--all these are familiar to
you. Yet these qualities, these powers, are but a small part of
her greatness; they are on the surface, they may be seen by
all, they leap to the eyes. But there are other qualities,
other powers, of which you cannot know, because they pertain to
the secrets of Initiation. She is a pupil of our Masters; from
the fount of Their archaic wisdom she derives her own, the
plans which she is carrying out are Their plans for the welfare
of the world. Think, therefore, how great an honour it is for
you that you should be permitted to work under her, for in
doing so you are virtually working under Them. Think how
watchful you should be to miss no hint which falls from her
lips, to carry out exactly whatever instructions she may give
you. Remember that because of her position as an Initiate she
knows far more than you do; and precisely because her knowledge
is occult, given under the seal of Initiation, she cannot share
it with you. Therefore her actions must certainly be governed
by considerations of which you have no conception. There will
be times when you cannot understand her motives, for she is
taking into account many things which you cannot see and of
which she must not tell you. But whether you understand or not,
you will be wise to follow her implicitly, just because she
knows. This is no mere supposition on my part, no mere flight
of the imagination; I have stood beside your President in the
presence of the Supreme Director of evolution on this globe,
and I know whereof I speak. Let the wise hear my words, and act
accordingly."
It is easy to see how minds not gifted with a highly developed
critical faculty, or the instinctive sense that discriminates
the true from the false, would yield hopelessly to such a
formidable assault. They cannot see that he who thus guarantees
the infallibility of Mrs. Besant has himself need of
guarantee.... _I do not think that any religion or man-made
cult, even in the earliest ages, has ever promulgated
superstition in its grossest form so openly and boldly as this
..._ [Italics mine.--A.L.C.]. Mr. Leadbeater ... demands
_deliberate_ suppression of thought.... And having extolled
such a deliberately induced mental torpor for Mrs. Besant's
benefit, he immediately demands it for himself when he speaks
of the "Supreme Director of evolution on this globe." Who is
this administrative person? With whom is he to be identified in
the scheme of evolution as it has been given to us by Mrs.
Besant and Mr. Leadbeater themselves?... What avenging God will
come to confound this impious prophet who seeks to reduce
humanity to the level of a troop of obedient automata!... A
gentle and winning voice, infinitely reassuring, rises out of
the depths of my being ... a great light breaks forth,
triumphant. Mr. Leadbeater hears the words of a judgment
immediate and without appeal, pronounced by the Buddha
himself:--
"Believe not what you have heard said; believe not in
traditions merely because they have been transmitted through
many generations; believe not merely because a thing is
repeated by many persons; ... believe not conjectures ...
_believe not solely upon the authority of your Masters and
elders_. WHEN UPON OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS A PRINCIPLE
CONFORMS TO REASON AND LEADS TO THE BENEFIT AND WELFARE OF ALL,
ACCEPT IT AND HOLD IT."--(Buddha, _Anguttura Nikaya_.)
What a royal refuge, what a noble support are the words of
those who are the truly great! They are the perpetual safeguard
of humanity.
We have seen that upon "observation and analysis" the
"unfailing" wisdom of Mrs. Besant is no more than a mass of
inconsistencies, injustices, sectarian tactics in
administration, error and mystification in esoteric
announcements. Far from leading to "the benefit and welfare of
all," this "unfailing" wisdom is leading to the ... most
miserable slavery of souls, the emasculation of minds, the
creation of a terrible heresy. And at the present time we are
all feeling that we shall not be living up to the wise
exhortations of that great Being who was the Buddha, unless we
clearly denounce the lamentable aberrations of these two
occultists in the hope of drawing all the souls we possibly can
away from their pernicious influence. With this end in view,
and faithful to this duty, we shall calmly and firmly continue
our investigation of facts.
Fortunately, the assertions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater
have lately reached to such a pitch of extravagance and have so
utterly defied common sense that they will rouse even the least
critical minds and the most compliant hearts.
Then follows the section of M. Lévy's book in which he quotes from _Man;
Whence, How, and Whither_; much of this I have given earlier in this
pamphlet. And M. Lévy, one must remember, wrote all this _nine years
ago_!
At this point it may serve a useful purpose if I specifically define my
own position in regard to Mrs. Besant's claims. _I entirely and most
emphatically reject them all._ Mr. Leadbeater's I was not even aware of,
until I came to collect and examine the material for this pamphlet. They
are so monstrous as not even to merit a specific "rejection"--it goes
without saying. I practically lost all faith in Mrs. Besant when she
dissimulated and tried to mislead the Inner Group Council on her return
from her first visit to India in 1894. She then informed us that she had
been "ordered by the Master to accuse Judge." On being closely
cross-examined, however, she finally admitted that she had not received
this "Order" _direct_, as she would have had us believe, but _through_
the Brahmin whom she then followed blindly[11], exactly as she now
follows Leadbeater. But later, when taxed with this in public, she
pretended that he had had nothing whatever to do with it! This is a
typical example of Mrs. Besant's idea of a 'truthful' statement in a
matter of the most vital importance involving the fate of a leader and
many thousands of members. What confidence can be placed in such a
woman--one whose mental processes are so warped, and whose ideas of
'truth' and 'honesty' are so peculiar? To inspire confidence a leader
must be the very soul of truth and uprightness. Mrs. Besant has always
been remarkable for asserting herself to be this, and people have
believed her. But a truly upright and honest person (even if aware of
it, as in Occultism he has to be) would never draw attention to it--and
that publicly and in print.
Because, for Mrs. Besant, Mr. ---- was _at this period_ her mouthpiece
for the Master, she expected her colleagues to take the same view
without question. This attitude is typical, and can be applied to all
that she now says about Leadbeater (see _ante_ p. 19.) From this time I
found it impossible to believe in her or her statements; such, for
instance, as that H. P. B. had reincarnated in Mr. ----'s little
daughter!![12]--or in anyone else for that matter. H. P. B. herself,
when someone asked her about reincarnating, jokingly replied--"Yes, in
some mild Hindu youth with half a lobe to his brain!" _H. P. B. has not
reincarnated._ On the ridiculous belief above mentioned Mrs. Besant
based her "authority" for doing things in H. P. B.'s name after her
death (see _post_ p. 71 for examples). It follows also that I absolutely
reject her claim to be an "agent" of the Masters (_i.e._, the
Trans-Himâlayan Brotherhood), neither do I believe that she has had any
communication whatsoever with Them since H. P. B.'s death.[13] Finally,
I reject her most presumptuous claim that she is able, or in anyway
fitted, to "expand," "verify," or "check" by psychic faculties H. P.
B.'s statements and teachings; still less to carry on independent occult
investigations on the same, or any similar plane of consciousness.
Whether Mrs. Besant, in making these claims, is acting under the glamour
of Mr. Leadbeater's "clairvoyant" delusions, as MM. Lévy and Schuré
suggest, or is fully conscious and responsible, is not my part to judge,
nor does it really matter. For me, her life may be summed up in some
words she applied recently to Mr. Gandhi (_Theosophist_, April, 1922).
It is "the tragedy of a soul." Her criticisms on what she calls his
"failure" apply fully and literally to _her own_.
There is really very little in the Manifesto (_Theosophist_, March,
1922), that is not sufficiently answered by the various extracts I have
quoted from previous critics. Mrs. Besant opens with the usual
disingenuous statements about the "Liberal Catholic Church." Her
argument that all religions are on an equal footing in the T. S.
carries no weight when it is widely known that L. C. C. agents are
everywhere at work pushing its interests.
Coming next to Mr. Leadbeater, Mrs. Besant states that he was "cleared
by a Committee in England"! But it is really a little too much, and
altogether too brazen,[14] when she dares to compare his case with that
of H. P. B. in the matter of slander. _There can be no possible
comparison._ The worst ever suggested against H. P. B. was what has been
said of many other women, including Mrs. Besant herself, who have had to
work in the glare of publicity and champion an unpopular cause. No
evidence was ever brought forward, and the New York _Sun_ promptly
apologised for publishing such statements on being shown that they were
unfounded.[15] The grave charges against Mr. Leadbeater were supported
by documentary evidence _which has never been rebutted_, and they have
to do with something far worse than personal moral laxity, as we have
seen. Mrs. Besant knows she cannot meet these charges, and so seeks to
brush them aside by voluble talk about "hatred," "defamation," and
"vilification." The only _justification_ she offers for having
reinstated him in 1907 is that she had discovered that it was "a cruel
lie that he had confessed to wrongdoing"! This is to argue that the
"accused" should be "acquitted" because he refused to confess--in the
face of evidence of no matter how damning a nature! Did Mrs. Besant
follow this procedure in her "Case against W. Q. Judge"? Not at all; far
from "acquitting" him when he refused to "confess to wrongdoing" and
asked for production of the incriminating documents, she calmly
confessed that she had destroyed them! But _now_ that it is a case of
her own guide and "intermediary" in the dock, her attitude is entirely
different, and it is quite enough for her that the "accused" did not
"confess" his crime!
As Dr. Stokes, Editor of the _O. E. Critic_ (Washington, D.C.) has been
fearlessly stating the facts and encouraging the "Back to Blavatsky"
movement for some time past, she next devotes a paragraph to an attempt
to discredit him by suggesting his connection with an old enemy of H. P.
B.'s. Dr. Stokes's championship of H. P. B., and relentless exposure of
the Besant-Leadbeater imposture is the more effective since he persists
in retaining his membership in the T. S.
The next to be dealt with is Pandit Bhagavan Das, and his criticisms
about the Central Hindu College. Here again, all I have quoted from his
pamphlet about the secret sections, underhand work, pledges, etc., are
entirely ignored.
Mr. T. H. Martyn's letter, which has caused such a sensation in the
Society (Holland alone asking for 500 copies) is dismissed as full of
"untrue" statements. Truly a very simple method of dealing with matter
which Mrs. Besant finds compromising or unpleasant (see _ante_ p. 18);
but she can hardly believe it to be convincing.
It is when this profoundly disingenuous woman comes to an explanation of
the motive behind her political work in India, that we find a typical
specimen of the peculiar form of megalomania already so ably
demonstrated by M. Lévy. What must be the mental condition of a person
who can sit down and solemnly write the following?
The work entrusted to me directly by the great Rishi who is--as
one may say [_sic_]--the spiritual Viceroy[16] for India of the
King of Kings of our world--is the bringing about of Home Rule
in India, in close union with Great Britain, as part of a great
Federation of Free Nations, a model of the future World
Commonwealth...."
Why such a very mundane and political idea should need an order from a
Rishi is not explained. The patent appeal both to the Government and
the Indian people in this portentous announcement is not very happily
conceived.
It is unfortunate for Mrs. Besant that her indignant denial that another
of the notorious "Bishops" (Wedgwood) is "wanted" by the police was
immediately followed by a priest's confession and the Bishop's
resignation from the L. C. C., the T. S., and the Co-masons![17]
Finally we come to the most ominous part of the whole document, where
Mrs. Besant refers to the present condition of the sex problem, and
indicates that Mr. Leadbeater's vile teachings to, and practices with
boys--trying "to wean lads from evil practices" is her version of
it--are part of a process necessary "to save mankind in the near
future." The "lessening of the sex impulse" on the "line of higher
mental evolution" is "too slow." "Early marriage and
birth-control"--preceded, one must assume, by Leadbeaterism--are now
Mrs. Besant's inspired panaceas.
The appalling menace to _the evolution of the spiritual nature in man_,
of the secret Leadbeater teaching known as the "X-system," is shown by
the evidence of Dr. Eleanor M. Hiestand-Moore (M.D.), Editor of the
_Theosophic Voice_ (Chicago), in which all the Leadbeater proceedings of
1906 were reported and discussed. In the August number, 1908, Dr.
Hiestand-Moore writes:--
During the winter of 1906-7 the Editor [herself] was in Chicago
and in order to combat the widespread tendency to uphold
self-abuse on the lines indicated by Mr. Leadbeater, a series
of lectures on the psychology of sex was given. There were
members in the E. S., and out of it who upheld the X-system.
One person declared ... that _this system would, before many
years, be taught in our public schools_. Still another insisted
that _by self-abuse humanity was to return to the
hermaphroditic type_ and that _this practice would be universal
among Fifth Round Humanity_. A number declared that, while they
did not pretend to know anything about such matters, they had
understood this was _a highly occult teaching given to would-be
disciples_! We could lay hands on a letter setting forth the
claim that this teaching is purely "esoteric" and not to be
estimated by exoteric standards--this, too, from a Branch
president! [Italics mine.--A. L. C.].
These instances are sufficiently appalling in themselves. But
what can we say now that _The Voice_ has elicited a
correspondence which is simply a brazen defence of these
"teachings"?[18]
What, then, must be the moral condition of this horrible travesty of the
old T.S. _now_, fourteen years after Dr. Hiestand-Moore wrote the
foregoing? Mrs. Besant is thus seen to have now returned practically to
the Neo-Malthusianism of her earlier, pre-theosophic association with
the late Charles Bradlaugh. It may not be generally known that H. P. B.
_refused to accept her as a pupil_ until she had published a recantation
of all she and Bradlaugh had advocated in _The Fruits of Philosophy_. It
is a sinister omen that under C. W. Leadbeater, the sex pervert, Mrs.
Besant has abandoned H. P. Blavatsky's imperative requirement for
becoming a student of _White_ Occultism, and has returned to the
essentially materialistic doctrine of "birth-control," in direct
contravention of the true Occult teaching. In other words, her assertion
amounts to this:--_Self_-control is not possible (or is "too slow "),
therefore we must control _results_. How different is the Occult
teaching is well-known to all who have taken the trouble to read H. P.
B.'s articles from which I have already quoted (see _ante_ p. 31) and
the splendid chapter in Vol. II of _The Secret Doctrine_ entitled "The
Curse from a Philosophical Point of View." And H. P. B. told me herself
that she included the following verse in _The Voice of the Silence_ with
the express object of combating such teachings and placing the Occult
doctrine beyond possibility of misinterpretation:--
"Do not believe that lust can ever be killed out if gratified or
satiated, for this is an abomination inspired by Mâra. It is by feeding
vice that it expands and waxes strong, like to the worm that fattens on
the blossom's heart."
In a note H. P. B. explains that Mâra is "personified temptation through
men's vices, and translated literally means 'that which kills' the
Soul." Far from "saving" mankind, therefore, these professed 'expanders'
and 'expounders' of H. P. B.'s doctrines are in reality doing their best
to hasten its end. Better far, from the Occult standpoint, that a race
should be wiped out by "outraged Nature," as were the Atlanteans for the
same sins, than that it should be kept alive only to sink lower and
lower until "Mâra" kills its Soul.
In the "Watch-Tower" (_Theosophist_, March, 1922,) Editorial mention is
made of a display at Adyar of "treasures of the most varied kinds,"
which have just been unearthed from "all the old locked-up boxes" at the
headquarters. Why, one may not unreasonably enquire, has Mrs. Besant
waited until 1922 to disinter, for instance, a long and valuable letter
from H. P. B. herself? Why have such "treasures" been _kept back for
over thirty years_; just as "Letters" from the Masters (the
Trans-Himâlayan Brotherhood) were kept hidden away for an even longer
period--nearly forty years? The reasons are so ridiculously transparent
that they would hardly deceive an intelligent child. Mrs. Besant is
becoming seriously discomposed, even alarmed, by the growing strength of
the "Back to Blavatsky" movement, which is in itself a reaction against
her own neglect. Hence all this "burrowing" (her own word) in order to
make a brave show of these "treasures" for which she had no sort of use
until, disturbed by alarming rumours, she hastily resorts to them for
purposes of camouflage and disguise. For she is a skilful opportunist
and clever actress, assuming successive parts with as convincing an air
as any "star"; neither does she scruple to employ every device of the
party politician.
Does Mrs. Besant seriously believe that this attempt to drag the red
herring of an unexplained and suddenly awakened interest in these
"treasures" across the trail of Mr. Leadbeater's infamies will deceive
anyone save their blind and infatuated followers? Has she forgotten that
when, _only two years_ after H. P. Blavatsky's death, she came under the
direct hypnotic control of Brahmin influence, she threw doubts upon her
old Teacher's _bona fides_ and her occult knowledge; and, in the course
of formulating her charges against her fellow-disciple (a _chela_ of
many years' standing before she ever even heard of Theosophy) suggested
to Mr. Judge that, "_misled by a high example_" (H. P. B.), he had
fallen "a victim." For, as she then told him, her "theory was _first_,
that H. P. B. had committed several frauds for good ends and made bogus
messages; _second_, that [he] was misled by her example; and _third_,
that H. P. B. had given [him] permission to do such acts. She then,"
continues Mr. Judge, "asked me to confess thus, and that would clear up
all. I peremptorily denied such a horrible lie, and warned her that
everywhere I would resist such attack on H. P. B. These are the facts,
and the real issue is around H. P. B." (_The Path_, March, 1895.)
With the complete disruption of the Society the Brahmin period of
dominance over Mrs. Besant came to an end. Then followed the Leadbeater
_régime_, the first phase of which culminated in the crisis of 1906. But
on Colonel Olcott's death in the following year, she contrived the
realisation of her great ambition, and became President of the Society.
At this point in her career, however, there were two serious
difficulties which she had to meet:--_first_, the Leadbeater scandal
which raised a storm of horror and protest from those old and tried
members who had remained in the Society up to that time, but who then
practically withdrew in a body Deprived of their support, and having
reinstated the infamous Leadbeater, Mrs. Besant realised that, as
President, she could no longer risk appearing half-hearted over H. P.
Blavatsky; nay more, she _needed_ the support of her venerated name;
_second_, as President of the Society created by H. P. B., she must, for
the sake of her own prestige, take some definite action which would
remove all possibility of suspicion that she was no longer the follower
of the Teacher whom she had, _in fact_, already "denied" and "betrayed"
only two years after her death. Mrs. Besant realised, in short, that she
had gone too far, and must now retrieve the position. Accordingly, in
1907, she issued a pamphlet entitled _H. P. Blavatsky and the Masters of
the [sic] Wisdom_, in which, with all her accustomed ability, she dealt
once more with the famous (or rather infamous) Report of the Society for
Psychical Research, published in 1885. But the concluding eulogy strikes
a false note, coming from one who, as I have shown, was capable of being
persuaded that H. P. B. had concocted messages from those Masters Whom
she so faithfully served for two-thirds of her life.
It was at this time also (1907), so Mrs. Besant later declared, that
"the T. S. fully regained its original position, with the Masters of the
[_sic_] Wisdom as once more the 'First Section' of the Society." This
bold assertion was made in 1919, when, under pressure of some fresh
scare connected with Mr. Leadbeater, Mrs. Besant published a small
volume of the Masters' Letters (most of which had presumably been lying
in the archives of the Society at Adyar for nearly forty years!),
obviously for no other reason than because among them are two alleged to
have been received by Mr. Leadbeater. This she did in order to bolster
up the extravagant claims she now makes for him as a "Great Teacher."
But there were many who received Letters in the early days, and there is
no reason why similar claims should not be made for all the recipients!
In the article entitled "Whom will ye Serve?" (_Theosophist_, March,
1922,) Mrs. Besant says that H. P. B. "formed an inner circle of her
pupils, that it might bear witness to the truth and reality of the inner
side of life." This was the "Inner Group" of which she and I were two of
the six women members. But as, unfortunately Mr. Leadbeater was not
included, although he had become a member of the T. S. some years
before, she adds:--"And behold! ere she passed away, she had led others
to the Light, and bade them bear witness to it...." Considering that she
"passed away" _less than a year_ after forming the Inner Group in the
summer of 1890, and that we were constantly with her and never heard of
these "others," this statement is manifestly untrue. Mrs. Besant also
refers to Mr. Leadbeater as "one of H. P. B.'s nearest and most trusted
pupils [Absolutely untrue.--A. L. C.] whom she had led to his Master of
many lives, and in whom she had awakened the powers since so splendidly
used in the service of the Society that he might become a great
Teacher...."
I challenge Mrs. Besant to produce anything in writing by H. P. B. to
warrant this audacious assertion. I was a pupil of H. P. B. (and
through her was accepted as "a _chela_ on probation," in 1889) before
Mrs. Besant joined the T. S., and saw her expel one of her most gifted
and valued workers from the Esoteric Section for offences against the
occult and moral law similar to those with which Mr. Leadbeater's name
has now been associated for nearly twenty years. H. P. B. was always
extremely strict on this particular point, and many would-be aspirants
for _chelaship_ were refused on this one ground alone, while others who
had been accepted "on probation" failed almost immediately afterwards.
When I joined the T. S. in 1885 my diploma was signed by Colonel Olcott
as President and C.W. Leadbeater as Secretary (he was then at Adyar),
but I never heard him mentioned by H. P. B. or anyone else at the London
Headquarters, as a person of any importance whatever, in the occult
sense. Mrs. Besant goes on to say that H. P. B. left "the twain of us
[Leadbeater and herself] to bear personal witness to the truth when she
had gone"! Where is her _evidence_ that Mr. Leadbeater was ever one of
H. P. B.'s pupils? There is none, save this bare, unsupported assertion
of a highly interested party. How could these two, to the exclusion of
all H. P. B.'s pupils--some of them "regularly accepted _chelas_ on
probation"--be specially selected, taught, and prepared, (and above all,
to promulgate the sort of "teachings" of which I have given a few
specimens), without any of us hearing even a hint of it! Moreover, I
never saw, or even heard of Mr. Leadbeater at the London Headquarters
while H. P. B. was alive. I might just as well claim such a mission for
myself, or Mr. Mead, or Dr. Keightley, or any other member of the Inner
Group who has remained true to the pledge and the Teacher; and with
greater justice, for Mrs. Besant has _not_. The truth is that Mr.
Leadbeater was never heard of in connection with occult teaching until
he was taken up and foisted on the unfortunate T. S. and E. S. as a
"Great Teacher" by Mrs. Besant who was herself never more than a
"_chela_ on probation"--_during H. P. B.'s lifetime_.
Let me refer again to H. P. B.'s article "The Theosophical Mahatmas"
from which I have already quoted (_ante_ p. 3), in which she deals with
the members of the T. S. who were "regularly accepted _chelas_ on
probation," and the subsequent failure of nearly all of them. If this
was true at that time, it can certainly now be applied to the case of
Mrs. Besant, who, in my judgment and that of many others, conspicuously
failed under two great tests. The first failure occurred when she went
to India in 1893, became an orthodox Hindu, and was induced to entertain
those doubts of her Teacher that I have already alluded to. (_ante_ p.
66.) Bound up with this failure--the doubt of the Teacher--was her
attack on her fellow _chela_, Mr. Judge.
The second failure was a far worse one when, in 1906, after having
publicly endorsed the finding of the Advisory Committee on Leadbeater's
crimes (see footnote _ante_ p. 59), she suddenly turned round and
secured his reinstatement. In thus condoning and even endorsing
immorality of the vilest description, she denied one of the strictest
occult laws binding upon a _chela_.
This double failure had far more serious results in her case than in
those of which H. P. B. wrote in 1886, because, owing to her commanding
position as a leader, the fate of the many thousands of earnest souls in
the Society who believed in and followed her implicitly, was involved.
FOOTNOTES:
[11] This Brahmin is the person referred to in the following passage
from Mr. T. H. Martyn's letter to Mrs. Besant of May 20th, 1921 (see
_ante_ p. 18):--"Like many of the older members I have known how you and
others for quite a long time regarded ---- as _a Master in the flesh_ and
later had to repudiate him when certain facts indicated the mistake."
Italics mine. This is absolutely new to me. In 1894 none of us (so far
as I was then aware) regarded Mr. ---- as anything more than a _chela_,
so what Mr. Martyn here states must have been a later development, and
explains much.
I suppress the gentleman's name out of regard for his present official
position in India and his dissociation from Mrs. Besant.
[12] I did not learn the actual facts of this foolish fable until I came
to India in 1918, and found they were common knowledge among leading
members of that time. Naturally, when Mrs. Besant transferred her
allegiance to Mr. Leadbeater, she had to find another "body" for H. P.
B. So, in the _Theosophist_ for January, 1922. she writes the following
typical effusion for the benefit of the faithful:--" ... alas! she
passed away, and took rebirth in the north of India, and though we have
lived for twenty-eight years in the same land so dear to beth of us, we
have never met physically face to face. Yet close ties bind us to each
other, and may be we shall yet greet each other in the flesh." Observe
the suggestion that she has always been in close touch with H. P. B.
_out of the body_, and that later they may meet "in the flesh." This
prepares the ground for producing this new "incarnation" when the
suitable moment comes; just as the boy Krishnamurti was brought forward
as the "body" for the coming "World-Teacher." Mrs. Besant's new version
must be amusing reading for those familiar with the earlier theory, as
she was certainly "face to face" with the "little daughter" constantly,
and even persuaded Countess Wachtmeister to resume her former care of H.
P. B. in her new body. Needless to say the poor Countess was sadly
disillusioned, and died not long afterwards bitterly bewailing the ruin
of the T. S.
[13] As showing the absurdity of such a claim, I may mention that Mrs.
Besant actually visited mediums through whom H. P. B. was supposed to
communicate. In 1892, only a year after her death, my colleague Mr.
Basil Crump, Barrister-at-Law, was investigating the phenomena of a
certain trance medium shortly before he joined the T. S. He was present
at a private sitting with this medium in the studio of an artist friend,
to which Mrs. Besant came with another member of H. P. B.'s Inner Group,
Miss Emily Kislingbury, in order to speak with her deceased teacher. An
intelligence calling itself "Madame Blavatsky" controlled the medium,
and Mrs. Besant held a conversation with it. Later, when Mr. Crump
became acquainted with H. P. B.'s explanation of Spiritualistic
phenomena, and her express denial that the true immortal Ego ever
communicated in this manner, he was naturally astonished that one of her
most learned pupils should for a moment entertain such a possibility and
waste her valuable time in attending a séance. But now he sees that it
was only an early symptom of the astounding credulity and ignorance of
occult science she has since exhibited, as shown in these pages. H. P.
B.'s explanations of psychic phenomena are rapidly being endorsed and
followed by the modern scientific school of investigation, which has
succeeded not only in proving the genuineness of the phenomena, but also
the important part played by the _will and imagination_ both of the
medium and the sitters in their production.
[14] Her latest move, is to draw a distinction between the "Advisory
Committee of 1906" which she accuses of "unjust action," and what she
calls "the prolonged investigation of 1907-08," which of course was
engineered by her after she became President, in order to white-wash Mr.
Leadbeater and secure his reinstatement. (See _Theosophist_, July,
1922). See Addendum for the Australian views on this.
[15] The importance of this case lies in the fact that it constituted an
absolute vindication of H. P. B., for every slander ever circulated
directly or indirectly was covered by it. Although the libel action came
to an end with her death, the paper was so impressed by the evidence
produced, in rebuttal, by Mr. Judge, that it not only retracted all that
it had published, but also invited Mr. Judge to write a long article
entitled "The Esoteric She" which they said "disposes of all questions
relating to Madame Blavatsky." That Mrs. Asquith and Count Witte should
both have seen fit to revive some of these old slanders in their books
of reminiscences does not redound to their credit.
[16] Mrs. Besant's "Spiritual Viceroy" has certainly nothing to do with
Those who were directing H. P. B. when she founded the Indian T. S. OR
U. B. in 1879; for a special clause was included in the Constitution
stating that "The Society repudiates all interference on its behalf with
the Governmental relations of any nation or community, confining its
attention exclusively to the matters set forth in the present
document...." H. P. B. also wrote in the _Theosophist_, for October,
1879--"Unconcerned about politics; hostile to the insane dreams of
Socialism and Communism, which it abhors--as both are but disguised
conspiracies of brutal force and sluggishness against honest labour; the
Society cares but little about the outward human management of the
material world. The whole of its aspirations are directed toward the
occult truths of the visible and invisible worlds. Whether the physical
man be under the rule of an empire or a republic, concerns only the man
of matter. His body may be enslaved; as to his Soul, he has the right to
give to his rulers the proud answer of Socrates to his Judges. They have
no sway over the _inner_ man." There speaks the true Mystic whose
"Kingdom is not of this world." Three years later H. P. B. and Colonel
Olcott published a further disclaimer, in which they said--"Before we
came to India, the word Politics had never been pronounced in connection
with our names; for the idea was too absurd to be even entertained, much
less expressed...."
[17] The original documents appear in the _O. E. Critic_ for June 21st,
1922, and include a confession signed by a priest of the L. C. C. who
states that he was "led astray by those whom I considered to be my
superiors both morally and spiritually" adding "Wedgwood absolutely
declines to give up the mal-practice." Wedgwood fled to Algeria at the
end of March. A cable from Sydney dated May 30th states that "Mrs.
Besant refused to answer any enquiry in reference to Wedgwood. Police
now holding an enquiry into the charges against Leadbeater." Dr. Stokes
concludes his comments on the documents as follows:--"And Annie Besant,
having repeatedly been informed of the facts, not only refused to look
into them, but launched her anathemas against those who criticised, even
threatening them with expulsion from the E. S., and even very recently
cabling to Wedgwood that he made a mistake in resigning!--It is on Annie
Besant, more than on any other one person, that the responsibility for
the present scandalous condition in the T. S. rests. The best of
societies may have its black sheep and it is not to be blamed if it does
its best to purge itself. But it is Annie Besant, with her tools and
sycophants, who has ever concealed and denied the palpable facts, or,
where they could not be denied, has palliated, excused and even defended
them, throwing over them a veil of esoteric glamour, supporting such
scoundrels as Leadbeater and Wedgwood, apparently in order the better to
serve her ambitions. A vote of confidence in Annie Besant to-day either
betrays total ignorance of the facts, or associates those who give it
with the grossest forms of moral rottenness." See Addendum for Mr.
Piddington, K. C's opinion on Mrs Besant's conduct in Australia last
May; also Mr. Hugh Gillespie's evidence of her use of the Esoteric
School as a "_political machine_" to secure her "ascendancy in the
various bodies to which E. S. members have gained access."
[18] As to the methods employed to suppress criticism, Dr.
Hiestand-Moore says in the same issue:--"Slander, falsehood, deceit,
treachery, all have been summoned to the support of Mr. Leadbeater's
cause. Anonymous communications have been written to confound the
prosecution, letters have been stolen and threats made. The Editor of
_The Voice_ has been compelled to call upon the Secret Service to
protect her mails." [An entire issue in proof with copy and unset matter
disappeared, and had to be rewritten!] Again, the Editor of the _O. E.
Critic_ writes:--"It is understood, and I have the direct testimony of
the publisher to the fact, that the entire edition of the Brooks' books
[_Esoteric Bogeydom_ and _Neo-Theosophy Exposed_] was corralled by Mrs.
Besant in order to suppress their circulation. They tell too much about
her."
Tampering with H. P. Blavatsky's writings.
The result of Mrs. Besant's first failure, through harbouring doubts of
her Teacher's _bona fides_ and esoteric knowledge, was soon manifested
when she began to publish new editions of H. P. B.'s works. The first
noteworthy example was her excision from _The Voice of the Silence_ of
passages and notes, presumably out of deference to Brahmin sentiment,
which then governed her actions. One of the last verses in "The Two
Paths" (the second of the "Three Fragments" forming the little book) in
the original edition (1889) begins thus:--"He who becomes Pratyeka
Buddha, makes his obeisance but to his Self." In a footnote H. P. B.
explains that "Pratyeka Buddhas are those Bodhisattvas who strive after
and often reach the Dharmakaya robe after a series of lives. Caring
nothing for the woes of mankind or to help it, but only for their own
_bliss_, they enter Nirvana and--disappear from the sight and the hearts
of men. In Northern Buddhism a 'Pratyeka Buddha' is a synonym of
spiritual Selfishness."
In Mrs. Besant's edition both the passage and the footnote I have quoted
are omitted. Her reason for this unscrupulous proceeding is given in a
footnote on p. 416 of the so-called "third volume" of _The Secret
Doctrine_. In this note Mrs. Besant, from the heights of her then
newly-acquired Brahmanical wisdom, adopts the following dictatorial and
censorious tone towards her late Teacher:--
The Pratyeka Buddha stands on the level of the Buddha [!], but
His work for the world has nothing to do with its teaching,
and His office has always been surrounded with mystery. The
preposterous [_sic_] view that He, at such superhuman height of
power, wisdom and love could be selfish, is found in the
exoteric books, though it is hard to see how it can have
arisen. H. P. B. _charged me to correct the mistake, as she
had, in a careless moment, copied such a statement
elsewhere_.--A. B.
Observe the assumption of superior knowledge to H. P. B.'s, and the use
of the words "preposterous" and "careless." To any real Oriental _chela_
such an attitude towards his _Guru_ would be simply unthinkable; but we
have seen how very quickly Mrs. Besant believed herself to have soared
far above the "chela on probation" state of her H. P. B. days into that
of an "Initiate" and future "Supreme Ruler of the World of Gods and
men." To such vanity and self-delusion everything is possible. How
different was the attitude of the _real_ Occultist who was spoken of by
the Masters as "Our Brother H. P. B.," yet called herself "a Chela of
one of Them"!
The passage I have italicised in the above footnote by Mrs. Besant is
untrue on the face of it to anyone who knew, as I did, the loving care
with which H. P. B. prepared this unique little book of "Golden
Precepts." Moreover, she states in her Preface that the verses given are
selected from a much larger number which she "learnt by heart." Further,
H. P. B. _not only repeated but greatly amplified_ this statement about
the Pratyeka Buddha in her _Theosophical Glossary_, a fact which Mrs.
Besant had evidently forgotten when she concocted the footnote quoted
above.[19] The Pratyeka Buddha is doubtless much that Mrs. Besant claims
for him, but she does not seem to know, or has probably forgotten, that
there are _two_ classes of Masters, _two_ "Paths" (as this very section
of _The Voice of the Silence_ shows); that the "Pairs of Opposites"
obtain on all planes of Manifestation and Being, right up to the
threshold of the _Un_manifested--the ONE; that, while there are _Masters
of_ COMPASSION, there must of necessity exist also the opposite
pole--the wearers of the "Dharmakâya robe," with all the power and
knowledge which that state implies, but without that _Compassion_ which
alone makes a Master of the "Right Hand Path."[20]
It was a great and valuable feature of H. P. B.'s, method that she
taught us to reason on these lines, checking everything by the Law of
Correspondences. But Mrs. Besant has evidently long since abandoned
this, and prefers the sacerdotal plan of accepting everything on
"authority," which in her present phase means Leadbeater or her own
psychic delusions. The "World Teacher" dogma is a case in point. She
asserts it as a fact to be accepted because she says it; whereas, as I
have shown, it is untenable in the light of _The Secret Doctrine_ (see
_ante_ p. 2), which endorses Oriental tradition and cyclic law.
Mrs. Besant's partiality for the Pratyeka Buddha, however, may possibly
be explained by some words that H. P. B. once wrote of her to Mr.
Judge:--"She is not psychic or spiritual in the least--all intellect."
For H. P. B. opens her paragraph in the _Theosophical Glossary_ on the
Pratyeka Buddha with these words:-- "The Pratyeka Buddha is a degree
which belongs exclusively to the Yogâchârya school ... one of _high
intellectual development with no true spirituality_". (Italics mine.)
Moreover, we have the authority of the Maha Chohan Himself (the Head of
the Trans-Himâlayan Brotherhood) for the statement that even Nirvâna is,
"after all, but an exalted and glorious selfishness."
In the _Theosophist_ for March, 1922, Mrs. Besant says, in her
"Watch-Tower" notes:--
A wild theory has just been started in the U. S. A. that _The
Secret Doctrine_, brought out by the London T. P. H. after H.
P. B.'s death, was not as H. P. B. wanted it. The _insinuation_
is made that _H. P. B._ was "edited" by those in charge of _the
second edition_. The _trustees_ to whom she left _the
safeguarding of her printed books and unpublished manuscripts_
were all her own pupils who had _lived with her for years_, and
they made only _such changes as she had herself directed_,
which consist mainly in the correction of verbal and
grammatical errors, and the _arrangement of the material of
Vol._ III.
I have italicised the statements requiring explanation or correction.
The "second edition," as Mrs. Besant must be well aware, was merely a
re-print to meet an unexpected demand, and bears the same date as the
original edition, _viz._, 1888. But as Mrs. Besant only joined the T. S.
early in 1889, and was led to seek an interview with H. P. Blavatsky
_after_ reviewing _The Secret Doctrine_ for the late Mr. W. T. Stead,
then Editor of the _Pall Mall Gazette_, clearly she can know absolutely
nothing of the preparation of its first _or_ of its "second edition"! As
to the alleged "trustees," I can only say that I never heard of their
existence. _Mrs. Besant_ only "lived with" H. P. B. for rather more than
eighteen months. H. P. B. left 17, Lansdowne Road, London, W., in the
summer of 1889, the Headquarters being moved to Mrs. Besant's house in
Avenue Road, N.W., where she died in May 1891, _while Mrs. Besant was on
her way back from a lecture tour in America_.
Take next the alleged "safeguarding" of H. P. B.'s "unpublished
manuscripts." Those who were responsible for the so-called Volume III,
had a strange and unusual conception of the meaning of the word
"safeguarding." It so happens that while it was being set up I was able
actually to peruse one or two of the familiar long foolscap sheets which
H. P. B. always covered with her small fine handwriting. They were
mutilated almost beyond recognition, few of her sentences remaining
intact; and there were "corrections" not only in the handwritings of the
editors, Mrs. Besant and Mr. Mead, but also in that of others which I
was able to identify. More than this I cannot say without abusing
confidence; but the wrong done to my Teacher compels me to say this
much.
Those who were H. P. B.'s untiring and unfailing helpers in the
preparation of _The Secret Doctrine_ for the press in 1887-88, Dr.
Archibald and Mr. Bertram Keightley, have, fortunately for posterity,
put on record their experiences of those days. They have made statements
of the utmost value in connection with the facts I am here dealing with,
which they wrote specially for Countess Wachtmeister's _Reminiscences of
H. P. Blavatsky and "The Secret Doctrine,"_ published in 1893. Moreover,
Dr. Keightley wrote an account of H. P. B.'s manifold literary
activities at this time, which appeared in the _Theosophist_ for July
1889, in which he states that "_the Third Volume of The Secret Doctrine
is in MS. ready to be given to the printers_. [Italics mine.--A. L. C.]
It will consist mainly of a series of sketches of the great Occultists
of all ages, and is a most wonderful and fascinating work."
In the face of this clear and definite statement, made by one whose word
I know to be unimpeachable, and who lived and worked with H. P. B. at
that time, what becomes of H. P. B.'s alleged "directions" for the
"arrangement of the material of Vol. III" which Mrs. Besant speaks of
above, and the statement in the Preface to _her_ version of Vol.
III:--"The task of preparing this volume for the press has been a
difficult and anxious one.... The papers given to me by H. P. B. were
quite unarranged, and had no obvious order...."? This volume, given by
Mrs. Besant to the world in 1897, is most certainly _not_ the one Dr.
Keightley speaks of as "ready" for "the printers" in 1889, as I will
prove. WHAT THEN BECAME OF THAT VOLUME?
But first I will quote Dr. Stokes, Editor of the _O. E. Critic_, whose
most specific charges and plain statements of fact hardly come under the
purposely misleading term "insinuations," used by Mrs. Besant! Dr.
Stokes "_insinuates_" nothing; he heads his most damaging accusation as
follows:--
"ANNIE BESANT'S CORRUPTION OF THE SECRET DOCTRINE."
In all probability Annie Besant's "revision" of H. P.
Blavatsky's original edition of _The Secret Doctrine_
constitutes the most colossal case of corruption of an original
text to be found in history. A group of students is comparing
the original edition with the "third and revised edition,"
edited by Annie Besant and G. R. S. Mead, after the author's
death.... I am informed by those making the comparison [that]
... the actual changes will be far more than twenty thousand.
Many of these changes are trivial and one wonders at the
impertinence or conceit which inspired them. Some of the
changes--those which might have put students on their guard
against the so-called Third Volume--can only be construed as
deliberate and intentional suppressions and corruptions of the
original text. And this in a work of which the Master K. H.
wrote: "Every mistake or erroneous notion corrected and
explained by her from the works of other Theosophists was
corrected by me or under my instruction." The true title of the
"third and revised edition" should be "_The Secret Doctrine_,
written by H. P. Blavatsky, corrected and approved by the
Master K. H., and corrupted by Annie Besant." It is almost
impossible to comprehend the colossal conceit, the limitless
contempt for common literary decency which could have inspired
such an act of vandalism, to say nothing of such disrespect for
the Master whom she professes to venerate. And all of this is
put forth as the work of H. P. Blavatsky herself, with the mere
apology in the preface that "Had H. P. Blavatsky lived to issue
the new edition, she would doubtless have corrected and
enlarged it to a very considerable extent." What a specious
excuse? [Repeated in the preface to the alleged Vol. III.--A.
L. C.] Had H. P. B. "corrected and enlarged it" it would
without doubt have been done under the same guidance and
authority which directed and corrected the first edition. It is
enough to cast suspicion on each and every quotation of
original sources made by Mrs. Besant, and her emendation of the
Theosophy of H. P. B. as well. (October 12th, 1921.)
As for the third volume, edited and published after the death
of H. P. B. from manuscripts left by her, nobody knows, in the
absence of a previous edition issued by her, how much of it is
H. P. B.'s and how much is not, but there is good evidence that
much of it is not, which is the more likely in view of the
vandalisms the same editors perpetrated in the first two
volumes. In no sense can the "third and revised edition" be
said to be a re-print of the original _Secret Doctrine_ of H.
P. Blavatsky. (December 21st, 1921.)
I most fully endorse all that Dr. Stokes so ably demonstrates, and I can
quite believe that, in regard to Vol. III, some of the contents are not
by H. P. B.-- the style in places is not hers at all. But I can
enlighten him as to those portions of the contents of which I have
actual knowledge. I may here add that, when my own group of students
were checking the "third and revised edition" of the first and second
volumes of _The Secret Doctrine_ by the original edition of 1888, they
came across no less than four specific references by H. P. B. to Vols.
III and IV as being practically completed, _viz._, Vol. I, Preface, and
p. 11; Vol. II, pp. 437, 798, 1st Ed., 1888. Mrs. Besant coolly deleted
all these without a word of explanation!
How unnecessary nearly all of this so-called "revision" was, can be
realised in the Keightleys' accounts (see Countess Wachtmeister's book)
of the care taken over the proofs of the first edition. Mr. Bertram
Keightley says they first "read the whole mass of MSS.--a pile over
three feet high--most carefully through, correcting the English and
punctuation where absolutely indispensable." (Contrast this modesty and
respect for the author with the spirit that perpetrated the thirty
thousand corrections in the "third edition"!) It was then arranged under
H. P. B.'s supervision in Sections, etc., and professionally
typewritten. This first copy was again revised and any obscurities
explained. It should be noted here that Mr. Keightley says they laid
before H. P. B. "a plan, suggested by the character of the matter
itself, _viz._, to make the work consist of four volumes ... to follow
the natural order of exposition and begin with the Evolution of Cosmos,
to pass from that to the Evolution of Man, then to deal with the
historical part in a third volume treating of the lives of some great
Occultists, and of 'Practical Occultism' in a fourth." This proves that
at least the whole of the material for Vol. III was actually there (Dr.
Keightley elsewhere states that it was _ready for the printer_.)
Finally the Keightleys themselves set to work to type out a fair copy
of Vols. I and II for the printer. "H. P. B. read and corrected two sets
of galley proofs, then a page proof, and finally a revise in sheet,
correcting, adding, and altering up to the very last moment."
Dr. A. Keightley says:--" ... no work and no trouble, no suffering or
pain could daunt her from her task. Crippled with rheumatism, suffering
from a disease which had several times nearly proved fatal, she still
worked on unflaggingly, writing at her desk the moment her eyes and
fingers could guide the pen.... We had to carry on the general scheme
... to act as watch-dogs and help her to make the meaning as clear as
possible. But all the work was hers ... it went through three or four
other hands besides H. P. B.'s in galley proof, as well as in revise.
She was her own most severe corrector...."
Another able helper was Mr. E. Douglas Fawcett, the well-known author of
_The Riddle of the Universe_, of whom both the Keightleys speak in terms
of high praise. His profound knowledge of science, philosophy, and
metaphysics was invaluable. "He supplied many of the quotations from
scientific works, as well as many confirmations of the occult doctrines
derived from similar sources."
And this monumental work, produced with such meticulous care and
precautions against errors, is subjected to some thirty thousand
corrections by its subsequent "editors"! In all my study of the original
edition I have never found more than a few errors that matter in the
least, and these are mostly typographical and quite obvious to any
person of average intelligence. The marvel is that there are so few in a
work of such magnitude and scope. Those of my students who possess only
the "third and revised edition" (the first and second now being
scarce), have re-corrected it to agree with the first; and to look at
the pages covered with these re-corrections brings home to one, as
nothing else can, the force and justice of Dr. Stokes's indictment. Let
us hope that when H. P. B.'s great work is understood and accepted
seriously at its true worth, an indignant posterity will pass judgment
on one of the worst examples of literary vandalism in the nineteenth
century.
In her Preface to Vol. III, Mrs. Besant boldly states that, in regard to
the Sections entitled "The Mystery of Buddha," there are "very numerous
errors of fact, and many statements based on exoteric writings, not on
esoteric knowledge"! If her own statement with which I have dealt,
regarding the Pratyeka Buddha is to be taken as the measure of her
capacity to judge of the merit or demerit of H. P. B.'s work, all that
Mrs. Besant says, or skilfully suggests, in this Preface can be
dismissed as absolutely worthless. But in view of the fact that she then
believed herself to be acting under the direction of "a Master in the
flesh" (see Mr. Martyn's letter, _ante_ pp. 18-19 and footnote p. 56),
who happened to be _an orthodox Brahmin_, these unfounded pronouncements
which I quote with regard to the Sections on the Lord Buddha are perhaps
not so surprising. I use the word "unfounded" advisedly, for she makes
two separate statements as to the way in which she obtained the material
for this so-called Vol. III. She opens the Preface with the first
one:--"The task of preparing this volume for the press has been a
difficult and anxious one, and it is necessary to state clearly what has
been done." This is one of her usual formulas, after which she proceeds
to do the exact opposite. She thus continues, in fact:--"The papers
given to me by H. P. B...." But Mrs. Besant was not in England when H.
P. B. died, _quite unexpectedly_, and with only three of her pupils
present, namely, Mr. Claude Wright, Mr. Walter Old and Miss Laura Cooper
(now Mrs. G. R. S. Mead.) We were all summoned by telegram, and I was at
Avenue Road within a few hours. I never heard of any evidence that she
gave Mrs. Besant papers, or directions about papers, before the latter
left for America on a lecture tour; and most certainly H. P. B. never
formally "appointed" her, or anyone else, as her "successor," for the
very good reason that I have given elsewhere--that the movement had
definitely failed, and she was "recalled." (see _ante_ p. 2.)
To return to Mrs. Besant's Preface. Her second statement is that the
papers for the Sections on "The Mystery of the Buddha" were "given into
my hands to publish, as part of the Third Volume of _The Secret
Doctrine_...." _By whom_ were they "given"? Certainly not by H. P. B.;
and why does Mrs. Besant speak of these Sections on the Buddha as if
they were something apart from the "papers" she alleges she received
_from H. P. B._? Clearly any further analysis is useless, for in all
probability the truth about what really happened to all H. P. B.'s MSS.
after her death _will never be known_, since the few who do know will,
naturally, never speak.
Brushing aside, therefore, Mrs. Besant's "explanatory" Preface, Volume
III, as given to the public in 1897, appears to be simply a collection
of fugitive articles which, as I have shown, were obviously freely
edited. To pad out the volume (the MSS. spoken of by H. P. B. in Vols. I
and II, as already existing, having mysteriously vanished) Mrs. Besant
prints both the _E. S. T._ and the _Inner Group Instructions_, despite
the pledge of secrecy taken by her and all other recipients of these
teachings. In justification of this she states--_six years after H. P.
B.'s death_--that H. P. B. instructed her to do so! The worthlessness of
such "instructions" is palpable in the light of her naïve belief in the
alleged reincarnation of her Teacher in Mr. ----'s little daughter.
(Needless to add that, under Leadbeater, she has another version of this
idea!) We have the usual misleading and disingenuous statement in a
"Note" which is prefixed to these Instructions. Mrs. Besant
says:--"Papers I, II and III ... were written by H. P. B. and were
circulated privately during her lifetime"
_These "Papers" are the E. S. Instructions._ She calls those given to
the Inner Group "Notes of some Oral Teaching." But, with two exceptions,
almost _every word of both E. S. and I. G. Instructions are given
intact_, just as we received them; I possess them all. The two
exceptions are, first, the practical teachings, given at the first
meeting of the _I. G._, for Yoga development, which even Mrs. Besant had
not the hardihood to publish; and, second, a very long "Preliminary
Memorandum" to Instructions III.
FOOTNOTES:
[19] See also _An Introduction to Mahayâna Buddhism_, by W. M. McGovern,
1922. Kegan Paul. He confirms H. P. B.'s definition.
[20] It was ... during the highest point of civilisation and knowledge,
as also of human intellectuality, of ... the Atlantean Race that ...
humanity branched off into its two diametrically opposite paths; the
Right and the Left-hand paths of knowledge or of Vidya. "_Thus were the
germs of the White and the Black Magic sown in those days. The seeds lay
latent for some time, to sprout only during the early period of the
Fifth (our Race)._" (_Commentary_).--_The Secret Doctrine._ First
Edition, Vol. I, p. 192.
The Truth about the E. S. Council, and the Inner Group.
The E. S. Instructions were written by H. P. B. during the winter of
1888-89. The I. G. Teachings were given orally by H. P. B. at its
meetings in 1890-91. It was the duty of the two secretaries, Mrs. Besant
and Mr. Mead, to write these Teachings up, from notes sent in by _all of
us_, after each meeting, and record them in a book. This record was
dealt with at each succeeding meeting, corrected and often amplified by
H. P. B. All these _might_, therefore, have been included in Vol. IV of
_The Secret Doctrine_, according to the general plan of the work adopted
by H. P. B., if she had lived and had permitted it. Mrs. Besant's
statement that they were written with that in view is incorrect, and was
obviously made to justify her action in using them for her version of
Vol. III.
In the _Theosophist_ for March, 1922, Mrs. Besant published an article
in which several false statements are made concerning the history of the
E. S. The writer, a Mr. Fritz Kunz, quotes Colonel Olcott's _Old Diary
Leaves_ as authority for saying that "the first move towards founding
the E. S. was made in 1881," that it was "organised steadily through the
trials of 1884-85," and merely "announced" in 1888. The actual facts
(see _Theosophist_, April, 1880) are, that when H. P. B. established the
real THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY OR UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD at Benares in 1879
(the T. S. founded at New York in 1875 was only a "Miracle Club," as
Colonel Olcott says, with no "brotherhood plank"), it was on a purely
esoteric basis. It was under the direct guidance of the Trans-Himâlayan
Brotherhood, Who formed the First Section; the second and third being
for "accepted" and "probationary" _chelas_ respectively. When I joined
the T. S. in 1885, these rules were still in force in the London Lodge.
But Colonel Olcott insisted on an exoteric organisation with "the
occultism more in the background"; and the crisis of 1884-85, which
drove H. P. B. from India (see her letter of 1890, _ante_ p. 2), was the
natural result of this policy. Far from the E. S. being "organised
steadily" at that time, as Mr. Kunz asserts, H. P. B. makes it clear in
her letter that the Master's influence was "virtually banished" from
Adyar through lack of faith in Them, and failure to support her, and
that she had been ordered to "establish the Esoteric Section," at
London, which she did in 1888, because the necessary faith in the
Masters still existed there and in America.
Mr. Kunz then makes the astonishing assertion that the E. S. was
"transferred to Mrs. Annie Besant in due course by H. P. B. in 1891." As
I was a member of H. P. B.'s Inner Council which was responsible for
what was done after her death, I am in a position to state the true
facts as known to me, and as they appear in the E. S. documents in my
possession. These _facts_ are:--When H. P. B. died--suddenly and
unexpectedly, on May 8th, 1891[21]., Mr. Judge at once came over from
New York, and after much consultation and informal meetings of the E. S.
Council (composed of the I. G. members) and two others, Mr. Wm.
Kingsland and Dr. W. Wynn Westcott), a formal and "full meeting of the
Council" was held at Headquarters on May 27th, 1891, when "Bro. Wm. Q.
Judge attended _as the representative of H. P. B._ under a general power
given as below." (Italics mine.--A. L. C.)
"As Head of the Esoteric Section of the Theosophical Society, I hereby
declare that William Q. Judge, of New York, U.S., in virtue of his
character as a _chela_ of thirteen years' standing, and of the trust and
confidence reposed in him, is my only representative for said Section in
America, and he is the sole channel through whom will be sent and
received all communications between the members of said Section and
myself, and to him full faith, confidence and credit in that regard are
to be given, ⁂ Done at London this fourteenth day of December, 1888,
and in the fourteenth year of the Theosophical Society.
[Seal] H. P. Blavatsky,
" ... The Council passed the following minute....
That it was resolved and recorded that the highest officials in the
School for the present are Annie Besant and William Q. Judge, in
accordance with the above-quoted order to William Q. Judge of December,
1888, and with the order of April 1st, 1891, to Annie Besant, as well as
with the written declaration of H. P. B. in a letter to William Q. Judge
dated March 27th, 1891, which we now here have read, in which she wrote
that Annie Besant should be so considered. The order of April 1st, 1891,
is as follows:--
I hereby appoint, in the name of the Master, Annie Besant Chief
Secretary of the Inner Group of the Esoteric Section and
Recorder of the Teachings.[22]
H. P. B., ∴
Finally, we--the Council--declared over our signatures that "from
henceforth with Annie Besant and William Q. Judge rest the full charge
and management of the School."
Thus did _the Council_ establish the "Dual Headship," and until her
meeting with Mr. ----, two years later, and her subsequent visit to
India, Mrs. Besant continued to work harmoniously with Mr. Judge in the
management of the School.
A full report of this Council meeting was immediately sent out to the
whole E. S., bearing the date May 27th, 1891. Attached to it was an
"Address" signed by Mrs. Besant and Mr. Judge as joint "Outer Heads,"
declaring that these "changes in the Constitution of the School" having
been "made _by the joint Councils of the_ E. S. T." (Italics mine.--A.
L. C.), they considered it their "duty" to issue this address to each
member.
_The one error_, and the foundation of all subsequent ones, as I
subsequently realised, was that of speaking of themselves as H. P. B.'s
"agents and representatives after her departure"; for there is nothing
whatever in the wording of the abovementioned official appointments
which even suggests such a contingency. _Both_ obviously could refer to
the holders of them only _during_ H. P. B.'s _life-time_. Indeed, Mr.
Judge's was made when the School was founded, and had been operative
ever since; while Mrs. Besant's was merely an official confirmation of a
secretarial office she had filled since the formation of the I. G.
scarcely nine months previously (thus giving her the precedence of Mr.
Mead.) It will be seen, however, that Mr. Judge's appointment was a far
more important one than Mrs. Besant's, and was conferred on him "in
virtue of his character as _a chela of thirteen years' standing_";
whereas Mrs. Besant had been "on probation" _only_, for barely a year.
Moreover, when Mr. Judge became the object of attacks in 1889, H. P. B.
issued the following very significant notice:--
"LONDON,
_October 23rd, 1889_.
"The Esoteric Section and its life in the U. S. A. depends upon
W. Q. J. remaining its agent and what he is now. The day W. Q.
J. resigns H. P. B. will be virtually dead for the Americans.
W. Q. J. is the Antaskarana between the two _Manas(es)_, the
American thought and the Indian--or rather the trans-Himâlayan
esoteric knowledge. _Dixi._
H. P. B. ∴
"_P. S._--W. Q. J. had better show and impress _this_ on the
mind of _all those it may concern_."
This notice appeared in an E. S. paper issued by Mrs. Besant and Mr.
Judge, dated July 18th, 1894, when Mrs. Besant was already implicated in
the plot against Mr. Judge.
Mrs. Besant's appointment, given above, was the only official one she
ever received from H. P. B. in either the E. S. or T. S. Certainly I
never heard of anything else. The absolutely Jesuitical nature of her
methods is patent, in that she _completely ignores_ the documentary
facts set forth above. To read the present statements it might be
imagined that Mr. Judge hardly existed at that time, except as an
obscure person who, as Mr. Kunz tactfully (!) puts it, made an
"unfortunate blunder." As I have shown elsewhere (see _ante_ pp 5, 70);
it is the fact that "blunders"--and worse than blunders--were made after
H. P. B.'s death (see _ante_ p. 86); but Mrs. Besant's "blunders" were
far more serious than Mr. Judge's; though both of them were, in the
first instance, misled by others, whose real aim was to disrupt the
Society and defeat H. P. B.'s work.
I possess a copy of the previously mentioned most valuable "Preliminary
Memorandum" to Instructions III, as issued by H. P. B. to her students;
and a prefatory note states:--
The following "Preliminary Memorandum" was written by H. P. B.
at the time of a grave crisis, or rather series of crises,
through which the T. S. passed in 1889-90. Treachery within the
E. S. itself, and persistent and relentless attacks on the T.
S. from without, especially in America necessitated the
striking of a fresh keynote and giving directions for the
closing up of the ranks of the E. S. At the time of reprinting
the Instructions in London in 1890-91, certain portions of this
"Preliminary Memorandum" dealing with the details of the matter
were purposely omitted by those of H. P. B.'s pupils who were
constituted the editors [Mrs. Besant and Mr. Mead], these
portions being deemed by them of too personal a character to
remain. This was done when H. P. B. was too ill to supervise,
without her sanction, and, as she afterwards said, much against
her wishes. [Some of the details omitted related to attacks on
Mr. Judge, and the duty of defending him "when the time
comes."]
Similarly, Mr. Mead omitted from his "third and revised edition" of H.
P. B.'s _Key to Theosophy_, published in 1893, most of the part in
which the author deals with the Report of the Society for Psychical
Research, classing it with "passages of a controversial nature, which
are no longer of general interest." Yet the public at large still accept
this Report as a proof that H. P. B. was a fraud, a charlatan, and a
Russian spy!
Another feature of this edition, as of others of her works produced after
her death, is what he calls "a systematic use of italics and capitals."
This means that he abandons H. P. B.'s extremely effective use of large
and small capitals and italics to emphasise the importance of words like
MYSTERIES, OCCULTISM, WISDOM-RELIGION, etc., or SELF, ~Self~, and _Self_
to indicate the three different selves in man, and so robs her text of
much of its emphasis and meaning. One has to compare her editions with
these posthumos ounes to realise the extent to which this has been done.
It is particularly noticeable in _The Voice of the Silence_, where the
exact meaning often depends on the distinctions H. P. B. thus makes. (See
her article on Occultism quoted _ante_ p. 31).
CONCLUSION.
If the "Back to Blavatsky" movement accomplishes nothing else, let us
hope it may succeed in getting rid of all this vandalism and
re-establishing H. P. B.'s works on their original basis, that she may
go down to posterity on her own merits and not altered and distorted by
the brain-mind notions of her followers. Some of this work is already
being done by organisations or private enterprise, but it needs to be
systematised and co-ordinated.[23] Although the "door" had to be "shut"
at the end of 1899, H. P. B. in her last paragraph of the _Key to
Theosophy_ expressed the hope that, "when the time comes for the effort
of the twentieth century [_i.e._, in 1975], besides a large and
accessible literature ready to men's hands, the next impulse will find a
numerous and _united_ body of people ready to welcome the new
Torch-bearer of Truth."
It has been my painful task to show how lamentably we have failed to
realise her hopes. The "_united_ body" she sacrificed so much to create
and hold together, was disrupted barely four years after her death; the
main body under the Besant-Leadbeater _régime_ is following strange
gods; while the great literary legacy left by H. P. B. has not only been
seriously tampered with, but even largely superseded and obscured by
books which will certainly not be of any assistance to the next
"Torch-Bearer."
Some years ago I founded an H. P. B. Lending Library with my original
editions of her works, and others that are reliable and in line with her
teaching. It has already done much good, especially among those who have
been misled and kept in ignorance of them. If others would do the same
we can in time hope to stem the tide of evil and error, and preserve H.
P. B.'s message untainted until 1975. It is now within the life-span of
our younger students, many of whom, as the children of Theosophists,
have been brought up on the teachings and will bridge the gap for us.
The bridging of this gap, however, has been rendered more difficult than
it should have been; first, by the failure of the T. S. as _a living
spiritual force in the world_; and second, by the sinister activities of
this "ill-omened partnership" which almost immediately followed. The
whole tragic and dreadful history, fragments only of which I have been
able to give in this brief examination, proves what incalculable harm
"Leadbeaterism" is working on the minds of the rising generation. Not
only is he the virtual director of Mrs. Besant's Society, but he has
completely infected _her_ mind with his soul-destroying teachings. Hers
is the real responsibility, therefore[24]; and hers the _karma_ of
ruining H. P. B.'s life-work, and carrying with her in her fall
thousands upon thousands of honest, but too credulous and easily
deceived souls along the broad and flowery road "leading to
destruction."
As H. P. B. says in concluding her "Occultism _versus_ the Occult
Arts":--"If, while turning their backs on the narrow gate, they are
dragged by their desire for the Occult one step in the direction of the
broad and more inviting Gates of that golden mystery which glitters in
the light of illusion, woe to them! It can lead only to Dugpa-ship, and
they will be sure to find themselves very soon landed on that _Via
Fatale_ of the _Inferno_, over whose portal Dante read the words:--
"_Per me si va nella cittá dolente
Per me si va nell'eterno dolore
Per me si va tra la perduta gente._"
FOOTNOTES:
[21] _How_ "unexpected" was the manner of her passing may be gathered
from the fact that she was, at that very time, building a little
"occult" room next to her own, of a particular shape and structure, in
which each of her pupils was to "sit"--alone--"for development," under
special conditions and "under observation." The tiny roof was to be of
dark blue glass, of which I still possess a small piece of the colour H.
P. B. had finally selected.
[22] These orders are here reproduced exactly as printed in the E. S.
paper. It should be noted that the one relating to Mr. Judge is in
larger type than the other. The triangle formed of asterisks ⁂ after
the words "regard are to be given" indicates that H. P. B. is there
endorsed by an Initiate of a higher grade. It will also be noticed that
the dots forming the triangle after her signature differ in size in the
two orders. In a note in the _Voice of the Silence_ to the words
"Thyself and mind, like twins upon a line, the star which is thy goal
burns overhead" H. P. B. says "Every stage of development in _Raja-Yoga_
is symbolised by a geometrical figure. This one is the sacred _Triangle_
[_i.e._, ∴] and precedes Dharana. The ∆ is the sign of the high _chelas_,
while another kind of triangle is that of high Initiates." The
∴ is also used in Freemasonry to denote certain high degrees.
[23] It is only fair to give Mrs. Tingley's Organisation credit for the
good work it is doing in publishing accurate reprints of H. P. B.'s
works with all the references carefully checked, but none of her own
writing tampered with. Now that the 1888 edition of _The Secret
Doctrine_ is so scarce, students will be glad to know that an unaltered
reprint can now be had instead of the Besant corruption. The reprint of
_Isis Unveiled_, with the addition of an excellent Index, has long been
wanted; and the original paging has been preserved, so that the Index
also serves for the original edition. It is to be regretted that these
reprints are prefaced by an account of the Theosophical Movement from
Mrs. Tingley's point of view, which is inaccurate and misleading.
However, this is easily removed.
[24] In a letter from a Master to a friend occur these words:--"You are
responsible for the influence that you permit others to exert over you."
_ADDENDUM._
=The Australian Crisis.=
The official account of the events in Australia last spring reached me
too late to include in its proper place (_ante_, p. 4), but its
importance as the latest phase of the Leadbeater scandal demands
quotation of the principal details. Australia has been the scene of Mr.
Leadbeater's activities since the Madras lawsuits (_ante_, p. 39) made
India too hot for him in 1913. Needless to say, the same scandals were
repeated there, and finally brought about a crisis at the T. S.
Convention last Easter in Sydney. Two of Mr. Leadbeater's Indian
"pupils," Krishnamurti (see _ante_, p. 12) and Jinarajadasa, secured a
vote of confidence in Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater which roused strong
opposition. I quote from a long circular letter issued to the members by
one of the opposition, Mr. J. M. Prentice, of Hobart, who is evidently a
leading officer. It is dated May 28, 1922.
MRS. BESANT REFUSES AN ENQUIRY.
Soon after Convention Mrs. Besant arrived in Sydney [from
India] a very worried and angry woman. At the Sydney Lodge she
spoke on the lines of "Judge not that ye be not judged," and
made it thoroughly apparent that she was not in favour of
anything in the nature of an Enquiry. During the Convention
Leadbeater had issued a special statement to the E. S. T. which
led to its expulsion from the Sydney Lodge building. It was
this that had finally angered Mrs. Besant to boiling point....
She expressed a wish to meet the Lodge Committee and talk over
the difficulties. There was a three-hour conference that led
nowhere. I am told that she was helpless to a point of pathos.
She denied everything as far as Leadbeater and Wedgwood [see
_ante_, p. 62] were, concerned, and refused to consider
anything in the nature of an Enquiry. She read from old files
of the _Theosophist_ how Leadbeater had been rehabilitated, but
a member of the Executive challenged her with more recent
happenings, to which she could only reply that she did "not
believe them."
A TERRIFIC PRESS CRITICISM.
Two days later the _Daily Telegraph_ came out with a tremendous
attack on the "Liberal Catholic Church." The result was
terrific. At the members' meeting that night feeling ran very
high. The _Telegraph_ had a reporter present and came out with
six or seven columns under heavily leaded headlines. Moreover
this information was disseminated to all the papers the
_Telegraph_ is correspondent for. The result is that
irreparable damage has been done to Theosophy and the Society;
although the ablest papers are willing to admit that there is
still a minority genuinely fighting for sanity and cleanness in
the T. S.
GOVERNMENT ENQUIRY INSTITUTED.
The Government has now instituted an Enquiry, but so far I do
not know the scope of its intention. I have been told by
telegram that the Leadbeater boys have been examined or
interrogated.... One of the latest developments was when Mr. A.
B. Piddington, a leading barrister and K. C. of Sydney,
resigned from the Presidency of the Public Questions Society of
Sydney University rather than meet Mrs. Besant at a public
address which she proposed to give to the members. He has
addressed a scathing letter to the _Telegraph_, or rather
released for publication his letter of resignation, which is a
remarkable summing-up of the position.
MR. PIDDINGTON, K. C.'S OPINION.
The following are the chief points made by this gentleman, who is not a
member of the T. S., and therefore represents an impartial legal and
public view of the moral issue at stake:--
My resignation is based on the ground that the Society ought to
withdraw its invitation to Mrs. Besant until the matters
involved in her defence of Mr. C. W. Leadbeater have been
settled by a trustworthy tribunal.
Grave allegations were recently made against Mr. Leadbeater by
Mr. Martyn [see _ante_, p. 18,] for his letter to Mrs. Besant,
and Mr. Leadbeater's precept and practice in the training of
boys have been quoted. Mr. Martyn is supported by other
reputable Australians.
Before landing here, and since, Mrs. Besant has refused any
inquiry into these matters, and taken up positions which, in a
teacher of morals disentitle her to be heard by an
undergraduate society which exists for the pursuit of truth.
These positions are:--
1. That there is a class of beings so high in the religious
order that to accuse them is presumption on the part of the
common people. Indeed accusations are 'persecution,' which
proves the sanctity of these higher beings, and is (in Mrs.
Besant's words) the "seal of their apostolate."
2. Mrs. Besant refers Mr. Leadbeater's challengers to the
courts, though to propagate in private the abominable tenet
held by him does not constitute an offence against any law, but
only against common decency as understood by ordinary men.
3. She writes that she does not believe, and will not discuss
Mr. Martyn's allegations, though she writes from India of what
Mr. Martyn says happened in his own home in Sydney.
If these are good reasons for refusing to hold an inquiry, then
immorality can be safely taught and practised in high places so
long as the teacher belongs to Mrs. Besant's way of thinking.
From the public point of view such a claim cuts the ground from
all morals.
In her letter to the _Daily Telegraph_ [of Sydney] for May 18,
Mrs. Besant asks the public to believe that Mr. Leadbeater has
to meet charges relating to 1906 [see _ante_, p. 27], and
disposed of [?] by some private investigation in 1908. The fact
is ignored that Mr. Martyn's accusations relate to conduct
since 1914, Worse than this, the fact is suppressed that Mrs.
Besant in 1913 was herself ordered by the Madras High Court to
return to their father two boys whom she insisted in placing in
Mr. Leadbeater's care, in spite of the father's protest. [See
_ante_, p. 40] ... Mr. Justice Bakewell said that, from
Leadbeater's evidence, he was "certainly an immoral person, and
highly unfit to be in charge of the boys." He also found that
Mrs. Besant had violated her stipulation made with the father
before parting with the boys, that they should have nothing to
do with Mr. Leadbeater. (London _Times_, March 8, 1913.)
In the following year Mr. Leadbeater came to Australia and now
"trains" Australian boys.
Mrs. Besant lent herself and her oratory to the acquittal,
without evidence, of Mr. Leadbeater at a public meeting ... In
my view it is as bad to rescue a man from public justice (which
is a wider term than criminal law) by the exercise of a
dominating personal veto, as it is to do it by money or social
or any other 'influence'--'influence' which is the bane of any
system of justice.... She may effect a master-stroke of
salvage, but she offends every canon of fairplay, let alone of
that ordinary morality by which all men, high or humble, must
be content to be judged. These sombre facts stand out:--
1. Mrs. Besant's chief colleague has stated as late as 1913 in
open court that he still believed in teaching a detestable vice
to boys, which he had previously taught them.
2. An English Judge for this reason declared him to be an
immoral person.
3. Mr. Martyn accused Mr. Leadbeater of being still what the
English judge said of him, and alleged fact upon fact in
support of this.
4. Mrs. Besant has shielded Mr. Leadbeater from inquiry.
5. Mr. Leadbeater says nothing.
AN INDICTMENT OF MRS. BESANT BY A RESIGNING MEMBER OF HER E. S.
Further very recent testimony and criticism is furnished by a letter of
resignation from Mrs. Besant's Esoteric School by Mr. Hugh R. Gillespie,
of Krotona, California, one of the strongholds of the "Liberal Catholic
Church." The letter, dated May 29, is printed in the _O. E. Critic_ of
August 16, and the Editor in a prefatory note says:--
The writer ... is well-known to Theosophists of three
continents as a lecturer and as a fearless, persistent and
uncompromising fighter for honesty and cleanness in the T. S.
For almost three years he was attached to Adyar as architect
and sanitary engineer.... He was at Adyar during the trial of
the "Cases" in the Madras courts and saw the whole sordid drama
in action. During this period he had abundant opportunity for
getting light, as well as sidelights, on the working of the
Adyar machine and on the personal peculiarities of the gods and
demigods of the Theosophical Olympus. Later he was resident
three years at Krotona, where similar opportunities were not
lacking.
Mr. Gillespie writes that he resigns as a protest against the actions
and utterances of Mrs. Besant as "Outer Head" of the E. S. and President
of the T. S., and continues:--
These actions and utterances have, since her assumption of the
above mentioned positions, been of such a character that, to
use the words of H. P. B., the Theosophical Society is
" ... being made a spectacle to the world through the
exaggerations of some fanatics, and the attempt of various
charlatans to profit by a ready-made programme. These, by
disfiguring and adapting Occultism to their own filthy and
immoral ends bring disgrace on the whole movement."
As a result of Mrs. Besant's methods we learn that the T. S.
and E. S. in almost every section is seething with dissension.
England, Australia and America are racked and torn; Germany is
split; Finland is shattered, and the closing of the E. S. for
some four years in Switzerland indicates the conditions there.
Mrs. Besant's arrogance and vanity in office and her lack of
dignity, as exemplified in her ridiculous "Whom will ye serve?"
tirade, and her letter of March, 1922, have drawn the attention
of the great London weekly _Truth_, and in its pages the T. S.
is held up to the scorn and ridicule of the world. [I have
dealt with these under the heading of "Mrs Besant's Latest
Assertions and Claims Examined."--A. L. C.]
So far as the E. S. is concerned, my experience of its working
under Mrs. Besant in Australia, Adyar, England, and America
enable me to assert that it is nothing but a political machine
used for the purpose of securing the ascendancy of Mrs. Besant
in the various bodies to which E. S. members have gained
access. [I would draw particular attention to this important
statement. It is especially true of India, which is the
principal scene of her political activities.--A. L. C.]
... Mrs. Besant's parade of thrusting the L. C. C. out of the
T. S. door while bringing it in by the E. S. window, added to
her condonement of the vile practices of the L. C. C. bishops
and priests, fall little short of a betrayal of the T S. and
could only be adequately met by her resignation from all
office....
BIBLIOGRAPHY.
_The Secret Doctrine._ London, 1888. _The Key to Theosophy and The Voice
of the Silence._ London 1889. _The Theosophical Glossary._ London, 1892.
_Practical Occultism_ Reprint, London, 1921.--H. P. Blavatsky.
_Mrs. Besant and the Present Crisis in the Theosophical Society._ With a
Prefatory Letter by M. Edouard Schuré. London, 1913.--Eugène Lévy.
_The Central Hindu College and Mrs. Besant. (The Rise of the Alcyone
Cult.)_ Chicago, 1913.--Bhagavan Das.
_Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky and "The Secret Doctrine."_ London,
1893--Countess Constance Wachtmeister.
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