Theos-Talk Archives (July 2001 Message tt00360)

In response to Frank Reitemeyer's posting (29/7/01):

1. Was Leadbeater an Adept? I can only say, again, that I have no idea. 
He certainly did not himself claim to be such. Just how I could make a 
supposedly objective assessment is, frankly, beyond me. That he claimed 
to have visited Shamballah (and Mars and various other exciting places), 
and was the OH of the (Adyar) ES may or may not indicate something about 
his occult status (whatever that phrase may mean) - or his psychological 
status. I know of no requirement that the OH of the (Adyar) ES be an 
Adept, and I can't imagine Leadbeater's successors in that position 
making any such claims. Since I can neither read the souls nor the minds 
of other people, I make no claim to be able to define their spiritual - 
or, if you wish, occult - status.

2. Biography. I have not read Peter Michel's biography of Leadbeater, but 
had some brief communication with him when he was undertaking the 
research for it. I have the extreme disadvantage of being an historian, 
and therefore follow the scholarly standards and methods of the historian 
with regard to things like biography. I certainly will not bore readers 
with (yet another!) account of the historical position with regard to 
Leadbeater's birthdate!! The fact that Besant was born in 1847 proves 
that Leadbeater was too??? This claim is so devoid of scholarly evidence 
or logic that it cannot - surely - be even seriously considered. It 
reminds of the "false logic" exercise used with students to "prove" that 
all cats are dogs. Although I am always eager to make corrections of 
historical claims, I cannot even imagine (and I have tried!) what 
evidence could now be found to support Leadbeater's fraudulent claims 
about his birth. The evidentiary chain (to use a phrase from my other 
discipline, law) is so complete that finding breaks in any link would be 
almost unimagineable. Not, I note, impossible ..... but with what degree 
of probability? I might wonder why, given all the research I had done and 
published, Mr Michel's own research could not have produced evidence to 
refute my claims. I look forwrad to reading, and reviewing, Mr Michel's 
biography. Is it available in English? If so, where? And where is the 
German edition to be found?

Thank you for your comments. Dr Gregory Tillett