H. P. Blavatsky Part 7

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 Const.i.tution 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-Himalayan 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 doc.u.mentary 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. pa.s.sed 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 const.i.tuted 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, cla.s.sing it with "pa.s.sages 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-establis.h.i.+ng 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 _regime_ is following strange G.o.ds; 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 a.s.sistance 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 partners.h.i.+p" 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-s.h.i.+p, 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 citta 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 pa.s.sing 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 gla.s.s, 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 publis.h.i.+ng 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 princ.i.p.al 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 INSt.i.tUTED.

The Government has now inst.i.tuted 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.