Theos-Talk Archives (April 1998 Message tt00370)

In reference to my statement about Madame Tingley's dubious mediumship, I base
my opinion on information supplied by THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT 1875-1950.
Madame Tingley and her Universal Brotherhood organization is dealt with from
pages 267 to 289. The FOLLOWING are some extracts regarding her claims of
successorship.

Not "moral worth", but "claims" were now to be recognized as settling all
questions of Theosophical leadership. It was indeed an insult to the memory of
Judge that, soon after his death, a procedure of "successorship" was
established which violated everything he stood for in life...the Society was
thrown into confusion and another split occurred. (P.266)

(AT an E.S.T. meeting held in New York), Hargrove read...some extracts
....from Judge's diary. He read further from a message alleged to be from
H.P.B. to Mr. Judge in which "Promise"(Tingley), the "chela" (was) now offered
as Mr. Judge's successor. (pp.266-7)

Mr. E.A. Neresheimer read "a communication from the Masters" which he said he
had received through "Promise"(Tingley) in March, 1985. The last sentence of
this message, "Under no circumstances must Mr. Judge know of this," does not
speak well for its authenticity. (p.267)

My comment: The authors of the THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT say Tingley's injunction
about not revealing the contents of her mediumistic message from Judge is an
indication that something is seriously amiss in her "channeled transmissions"
and casts doubt on their authenticity. I agree with those conclusions. It was
not uncommon in those early days for theosophical leaders to lay claim to
positions of authority based on alleged communications from the Trans-
Himalayan Brotherhood. Now in more sober and realistic times, theosophists
elect their officers via membership vote (ADYAR), don't elect "leaders" at all
(ULT), or select their leadership from a Board of Directors or Council by
consensus (Pasadena TS). If today John Algeo or Grace Knoche laid the claim to
their positions of leadership based on Mahatmic authorization and approval,
mediumistically transmitted, they would probably be laughed out of office!

If Madame Tingley had renounced claims of successorship and had simply stated
that she and similarly-minded theosophists were starting a new theosophical
organization with certain stated objectives, there would have been no
controversy and no hocus pocus about any supernatural intervention from
Kuthumi & Company. Everything would have been above board and, who knows,
maybe even Robert Crosby might have stayed on.

Lmhem111