Theos-Talk Archives (October 2000 Message tt00276)

Yes, it is good to be tolerant towards the views of others. It is also good
to discriminate.
Below is a passage from E.L. Gardners little pamphlet, "There is no Religion
Higher than Truth" (T.P.H. 1963). It highlights some of the problems
concerned with conflicting teachings meant to be from the same source and
the genuine need to be aware of them and reflect deeply upon the
implications. The booklet itself is a very thoughtful treatise by someone
who showed no interest in 'bashing' others in his writings.

kind regards

... Peter


Extract from "There is no Religion Higher than Truth"

A number of letters sent by C.W. Leadbeater, then living in Sydney, to
Annie Besant, President of The Theosophical Society, at Adyar, between 1916
and 1920 are concerned with the 'Lord Maitreya' and the Liberal Catholic
Church, which was then being founded... The claim of the Liberal Catholic
Church for support from Fellows of the Theosophical Society was based on the
belief, expressed in this correspondence, that the World Teacher, the Lord
Maitreya, had 'brought it into being' and 'approved' its liturgy. Mrs
Besant accepted the information in good faith and announced the founding. A
letter dated April 7 1920 contains the following:

"He (the Lord Maitreya) told us to ask questions from the Master K.H. upon
points as to which we
were uncertain and the information which we gained in this way was of the
very greatest value to us."

The questions put by Bishop Leadbeater to the Master K.H. and said to have
been answered by him, run to several thousand words. They relate to the
celebration of Mass, the effect of consecration and of priesthood, and to
numerous details of ecclesiastical procedure. The answers to these and many
questions all support and endorse the clerical views of Bishop Leadbeater
himself.

EVIDENTLY THE 'LORD MAITREYA' KNEW NOTHING OF THE MASTER K.H'S STRONG VIEWS
ON RELIGION AND SACERDOTALISM. "The Mahatma Letters to A.P.Sinnett" had not
at the time been published. [caps added]

Letter No. 10 signed by the Master K.H. states:

"The chief cause of nearly two thirds of the evils that pursue humanity...
is religion under whatever form and in whatever nation. It is the sacerdotal
the priesthood and the churches; it is in those illusions that man looks
upon as sacred that he has to search out the source of that multitude of
evils which is the great curse of humanity.... The sum of human misery will
never be diminished unto that day when the better portion of humanity
destroys in the name of Truth, morality and
universal charity the altars of their false gods."

And in Letter No. 134, the Master M. speaks of:

"...invisible results proceeding from erroneous and sincere beliefs. Faith
in the Gods and God and other superstitions attract millions of foreign
influences, living entities and powerful agents ... who delight in
personifying gods ... These are the gods that Hindus and Christians and all
others
of bigoted religions and sects worship."

These extracts from letters written by the Masters K.H. and M. furnish
convincing evidence of 'unconscious Kriyashakti' projections by Bishop
Leadbeater.

E. L. Gardner, 1963

(from pages 6 to 8 in ELG's booklet "There is no Religion Higher than
Truth")
===========================================

Peter comments: The above contains some serious conflicting evidence for the
student to consider. On the one hand we have what Leadbeater says 'The
Lord Maitreya' and 'the Master KH' told him. On the other hand we have the
earlier records of what the Master KH wrote and signed himself. The claims
of Bishop Leadbeater are completely at odds with the earlier statements on
God and the priesthood written by both Mahatmas. However, the earlier
statements by the Mahatmas *are* consistent with what we find written in The
Secret Doctrine, ISIS, The Key to Theosophy & so on. They are also
consistent with what other Chelas of the Mahatmas wrote at the time eg Subba
Row, Damodar, Bhavani Shankar. They are also consistent with the two
philosophies drawn upon by the Occult Brotherhood to give out some of the
fundamental tenets of Theosophy to the world at large ie Buddhism and
Advaitee Vedanta - these being considered the closest to the Ancient Wisdom.

For another example, compare the above extracts (especially Leadbeater's
sincere belief that the Master KH was helping him set up the Liberal
Catholic Church) with the following passage, written some years earlier by
the Mahatma KH to A.P.Sinnett:

"The God of the Theologians is simply an imaginary power... Our chief aim is
to deliver humanity of this nightmare, to teach man virtue for its own sake,
and to walk in life relying on himself instead
of leaning on a theological crutch that for countless ages was the direct
cause of nearly all human misery... The best Adepts have searched the
Universe during millenniums and found nowhere the slightest trace of [God],
but throughout, the same immutable, inexorable law."
(The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett 2nd. ed., TUP, 53, 142- 43)


PM.