Theos-Talk Archives (July 2001 Message tt00293)

John:
He was clairvoyant. That's nowhere close to claiming adeptship. If I were
clairvoyant, I'd probably do much the same as he did - write books and
lecture about what I could see.

Frank:
"Perhaps he was sometimes a little bit clairvoyant. Anyway, to be skilled in
practical occultism, not matter which, high or low, makes an adept of this
science. Perhaps you intermix adept with master."

John:
Dora Kunz, herself clairvoyant, at a lecture here in Denver about 5 years
ago, said he was clairvoyant. But we (Adyar) don't believe that
clairvoyance makes one an adept. I also now realize we have a difference in
terminology. For us, a Master is an Adept who accepts chelas.



Frank:
"Leadbeater claimed that the 12 apostles of Jesus came together in Huizen,
The Netherlands to participate this ceremony."

John:
I am looking at Gregory Tillett's "The Elder Brother", a Leadbeater
biography . It was George Arundale who believed himself clairvoyant, and
began making a number of pronouncements, including that when the Christ
returned, using the body of J Krishnamurti, he would be surrounded by 12
apostles. He named some of these, including himself, Besant, Leadbeater
and others. Leadbeater was in Sidney, Australia at the time.

Quotes from the book:
"Arundale, against Mrs Besant's direction, was ordained a priest in the
Liberal Catholic Church in Huizen ... One of Arundale's messages from the
Masters instructed that all occult advancements and Initiations were to be
confirmed on the physical plane by Leadbeater, but this was apparently
ignored. ...
"Leadbeater's permission had been sought both because of his occult
authority and also because as Presiding Bishop of the Liberal Catholic
Church he was constitutionally responsible for such matters. No reply was
received on the appointed day (08/04/1924) so Arundale contacted Leadbeater
on the astral plane and conveyed his 'cordial consent' to the consecration -
at which, according to Arundale, "The Lord Himself consecrated and all the
Masters were present" - the party found a cable from Leadbeater expressing
his disapproval. Mrs Besant, recalled Lady Emily, looked very grave as she
read the cable. ....
"When he (Leadbeater) received the news of the Apostles and other
revelations he was very unhappy and, Ernest Wood recalled, 'visibly
distressed' 'he did not believe in it, and he said to me 'Oh, I do hope she
will not wreck the Society' ...
"Dick Balfour Clarke, ... enquired whether he was going to refute it,
and Leadbeater responded angrily, 'Do you want me to split the Society?'
But to his closest friends and associates, including Wood and Clarke,
Leadbeater made his position clear; the announcements of the Apostles and
subsequent developments were wrong..."
In late 1925, a number of Theosophists, including Besant and Leadbeater,
went to Adyar.
"After their arrival at the TS Headquarters Leadbeater's disapproval of
the activities of Arundale and his followers became more apparent." ...
"An open fight was developing between the Wedgewood-Arundale faction and
Leadbeater, and this was kept out of the public arena only out of respect
for Mrs Besant" ... "Leadbeater was most concerned not to engage in open
argument ... and was worried about the effect of the simmering conflict on
Mrs Besant." ... "At one meeting a long message was read out by Arundale
supposedly originating from the Lord Maitreya. Leadbeater listened to it
carefully and then said, 'May I ask who wrote down this message as it is
not, of course, at all the style in which the Lord speaks.' " ... "By the
end of 1926 the party at Adyar had broken up. Leadbeater returned to Sydney
at the end of January taking Arundale and Rukmini with him. Lady Emily
suggested this was 'to knock some sense into him' since Leadbeater had 'an
even more forceful personality than George.' "

Frank:
"Mary Luytens, 1981, p. 250, states that George Arundale and Wedgwood saw
themselves as direct pupils of the Maha-Chohan, Wegdwood as the
coming Mahachohan of the 7th root race, Annie Besant was regarded as the
Manu and CWL as the Bodhisattva."

John:
I didn't find this reference, but I think was Arundale's work. I
wouldn't take it too seriously. He was clearly self-deluded during this
time.


PS to Gregory Tillett, if you are reading this. I can promise you one sale
when you finish your adept books. I'd buy it today if it was available. I
refer quite a bit to "The Elder Brother" A definite anti-Leadbeater slant
at times, but also a wealth of information. Thank you.