Theos-Talk Archives (March 1998 Message tt00100)

Part 2 of 3

KRISHNAMURTI

[P38.] Krishnamurti was 'discovered' by CWL in 1909. After many
difficulties, including law suits, he and his brother were brought up by
the Society.

[P39.] He was hailed as the future mouthpiece of the Lord Maitreya He was
even seen as a second coming of the Lord. He was unusually gifted but it
was CWL's 'insights' that initially established him in his role. The Lord
Maitreya himself is supposed to have instructed CWL in his upbringing and
training. He was brought up and groomed in the fashion of an English
gentleman, a far cry from a Hindu 'Avatar'.

[P40.] Those who had his upbringing and education in hand, notably CWL and
Dick Balfour-Clark, were very much second generation theosophists.
Krishnaji therefore probably never knew anything of the HPB/Masters=
 teachings.

[P41.] It is also very doubtful whether Krishnaji himself ever had a
first-hand 'Master' experience although he did describe once having seen
three Masters in a vision. Had he had a real experience, however, he could
neither have forgotten it nor thereafter have doubted their existence and
later have repudiated them.

[P42.] Furthermore, as Krishnaji's teachings of freedom, self-reliance,
non-dependence on authority and institutions and so on, are all virtually
in proper accord with the 'Master' Theosophy, there would not have been any
reason for him to repudiate it, nor his connection with the Society.

[P43.] His loss was that he never became acquainted with the sea of
theosophical knowledge which would to a large extent not only have
justified his views but provided him with relevant data for use in his
teaching, e.g. the difference between the personality and the
individuality, the essential idea of Unity, and had he been interested, the
proper nature of the Self, the total cosmic structure and processes.

[P44.] His 'launching' was a reversion again, as in the case of the Liberal
Catholic Church and the Co-Masons, to the traditional old dispensation of
an authoritarian regime.

[P45.] The second coming of the Christ was at that time (1920's) being
regarded as imminent whereas, according to the Masters and theosophical
teaching, such a 'second coming', i.e. the advent of an Avatar, was not
expected for millennia. In any case the severance of the Society from the
Masters made such a 'coming' into it  extraordinarily unlikely.

[P46.] The arrogance of those who professed to be able to elect Krishnaji's
twelve disciples was an example of the distorted view of themselves that
those leaders had. Surely an 'Avatar' would have been quite capable of
electing his own disciples.

[P47.] In any case in the nature of Karma his upbringing and earthly
surroundings would have all been in proper accord without the interference
of CWL. Many things are puzzling about Krishnaji's upbringing: one was
that from reports kitchen staff at Adyar were changed because they were of the
wrong caste. In a Society which specifically allows no such=AEMDNM=AF
distinctions this is hard to understand.

[P48.] The recognition of Krishnaji's spiritual development from a
clairvoyant examination of his aura when he was so young undoubtedly
demonstrated CWL's possession of that faculty but this does not corroborate
his claim to have received messages from the 'King of the World'.

[P49.] The 'finding' of Krishnaji, his upbringing and then adoption as a
vehicle for the Lord-Maitreya was virtually the culmination of the
'split' from Master Theosophy.

[P50.] Krishnaji's repudiation of this position was a serious blow to
Annie Besant who  obviously believed absolutely sincerely in her
announcement of the New Coming. CWL's reaction to this repudiation seems to
have been more limited and far less painful than Annie Besant's although he
suffered a loss of stature that he would otherwise have had as the finder,
sponsor and educator of this new divine vehicle.

[P51.] After Krishnaji's withdrawal from the Society, Annie Besant also
suffered a gradual diminution in stature and thereafter her health failed
progressively.

SECOND GENERATION THEOSOPHY

[P52.] The fact that neither Annie Besant nor CWL, after maybe one or two
initial incidents, was actually in touch with any Master although they may
have genuinely believed they were has serious implications when considering
what they said and did when they assumed positions of authority.

[P53.] The whole tenor of the Society thereafter was one of make-believe!
It became a pantomime, largely devised and orchestrated by CWL: a fairy
story, but with a thread of truth running through it.

[P54.] Except for passing references to HPB as 'our revered teacher', her
literature as such was seldom referred to or studied. There  was, however,
a flood  of literature purporting to be 'theosophical' from both Annie
Besant and CWL, and later from others.

[P55.] CWL's writings were largely colored by his own real or imaginary
clairvoyant insights and his interpretations of them.

[P56.] It is noteworthy here that, in the HPB/ Masters literature there is
very little reference to, and no diagrams of, the Chakras so much featured
by later writers. What little there is is in the papers to the Inner Group
(incorporated by Annie Besant into her Vol III of the S.D. )

[P57.] Whereas the Annie Besant and CWL literature can be criticized from a
purely theosophical point of view, much of what  Annie  Besant  wrote  was
significant spiritual instruction. It was, however, of the conventional,
classical religious type, derived largely from the Indian scriptures but
with a Christian and a 'theosophical' flavor.

[P58.] She had reviewed THE SECRET DOCTRINE at the time of its publication;
this must have made a lasting impression on her but apart from
acknowledging her debt to HPB, she seldom, if ever, specifically referred
back to its teaching, or to that in THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY.

[P59.] CWL seems never to have read either of these books. He puts himself
in a very false position as an 'occult' author in the Introduction to his
book THE ASTRAL PLANE where he says that his manuscript was considered  so
excellent as an exposition that the Masters wanted it for their archives.

[P60.] It is difficult to see why this should be; much of the information
given us in the book is at variance with their teaching and furthermore it
is not clear, for example, which 'astral' plane he is describing, the HPB
or the A.B./ CWL one, the former being the 2nd plane of Nature and the
latter being the 4th.

[P61.] There is also no mention of the 'etheric double' in the HPB/Masters
classification of the human principles. It is to this double that CWL
ascribes many of the qualities that HPB attributes to her astral body.

[P62.] The changes of numbering of the principles where Kama (emotion,
desire) was put 2nd instead of 4th is important. An aid to the
understanding of THE SECRET DOCTRINE is analogy and correspondences.

[P63.] In the Masters' literature Kama as the 4th principle is emphasized
in the evolutionary stages of development in the 4th Round, the 4th Race,
the 4th Substance, not the 2nd.

[P64.] One example of the extent to which the members of the Theosophical
Society, from senior members to the newest, were 'infected' by CWL is
exemplified by Jinarajadasa's acceptance of the fact that CWL's Astral
Plane manuscript had in fact been transmitted magically to the Masters.

[P65.] Obviously also Jinarajadasa's statement that he, in common with
others, had had several initiations about which he knew nothing except what
CWL told him, again raises the question of CWL's veracity.

[P66.] As the years progressed the divergence between the HPB/Masters
teachings and the second generation Theosophy widened; even basic
information was changed, e.g. the introduction of the 'etheric double'
(with four 'etheric' states of  physical matter),  the alterations  to the
classification of principles and planes, and the CWL account of the
after-death states which is quite different from that of the Masters, etc.

[P67.] The divergence of the two systems became clearly apparent with the
publication of the Mahatma Letters in 1924/5. It was unfortunate that, for
a number of reasons, their publication had been delayed till then.

[P68.] Apart from 'occult' material in them, these letters set a background
of specific purpose to the founding of the Society.  This was closely
related to the Masters being regarded as one tier of membership in the
Society, with their accepted Chelas as a second and the ordinary members a
third.

[P69.] To begin with this was the case but it obviously ceased to be so on
HPB's death (if not before). An attempt to reintroduce it by edict later
was obviously spurious.

[P70.] The Letters also describe in some detail  the conditions that were
essential for a relationship between the Masters and their Chelas. These
conditions were very stringent,   particularly   regarding   honesty  and
straightforwardness.

[P71.] In the period after HPB's death and with the withdrawal of the
Masters once again into obscurity, instead of direct guidance from or
association with the Master, even if it were visiting him in the Astral,
the practice grew up of this being done indirectly.

[P72.] For example, people were taken to the Masters in their astral bodies
for initiations etc., but about which next day they knew nothing apart from
what they were told. In one or two places the Masters do say that this can
happen in the matter of training but not by proxy. Further, initiations
are  matters  of  enhancement  of  waking consciousness and  this can
occur only  when certain conditions created necessarily by the pupil, not
someone on his behalf, have been met.

THE PRESENT

[P73.] Regardless of the state of the Society, thanks to the Masters'
insistence and help, and the sacrifices of HPB, the world and particularly
the Society have a voluminous and authentic Initiate-Master-inspired
literature.

[P74.] The Society itself is now a world-wide organization of an idealistic
and benevolent nature, inspired by the idea of universal brotherhood, but
the second and third objects are interpreted very loosely and widely to
include anything from  UFO's  to  what  is generally extraordinary and
sensational.

[P75.] All this, however, against a background of what might be termed
'religion' or spirituality, mostly by way of, for example, the Eastern
exoteric scriptures and various ideas on Theosophy, methods of yoga and
meditation. There is also in some places a strong adherence to the Liberal
Catholic Church and Co-Masonry as if they were indeed part of the
theosophical movement.

[P76.] In some places, notably Africa, the Theosophical Society is
identified with the Theosophical Order  of Service. Charity is impressed on
every member through the brotherhood idea; there are however hundreds of
charitable organizations to work for and there can be nothing special about
the 'theosophical' one to warrant its association with the Society.

[P77.]  Similarly  the  Round  Table  is an admirable organization but
again nothing in it is  specifically theosophical.

[P78.] Theosophical Science groups while keeping interested members
informed of current scientific matters have seldom if ever related science
to anything specifically associated therewith in the classical theosophical
literature. Because some  scientific  members  have  found  faults  and
inconsistencies in 'scientific' statements in the literature they have
abandoned the whole grand theosophical system, demonstrating at least a
lack of a sense of proportion.

[P79.] Where older Lodges have survived, and in Section central libraries,
books on Theosophy on display or listed in catalogues, are mostly those of
the second generation writers. Their contents on the whole are taken to be
Theosophy without question.

[P80.] A few individuals try to correct this situation but their influence
generally is very small. Only a scattered and  desultory  interest  is
paid  to  the classical 'theosophical literature of the HPB/ Masters era.
The idea is widespread that the jealously guarded freedom of thought of
members can mean that anyone's views or opinions about 'theosophy' can be
put out as such.

End of Part 2 of 3