RE: RE: [bn-study] B.P. Wadia
Sep 20, 2003 08:23 PM
by W. Dallas TenBroeck
Sept 20
Dear Larry:
I think you got most of what I am trying to convey.
Let me say it once more.
Put forward THEOSOPHY, all the rest is unimportant. Also it does not
need answering or explaining.
If anyone wants to know more about the U L T and its work, then, join it
-- not for ones' self, but to spread the message of the Masters:
THEOSOPHY to all those who might need and use it.
It is a lifetime of work, study first, then application and testing, and
then promulgation by telling others WHERE THEY CAN FIND IT DIRECTLY
WITHOUT ANY INTERMEDIARIES.
Having done that, we need to "get out of the way."
Best wishes,
Dal
=========================
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From: "W. Dallas TenBroeck" <dalval14@earthlink.net>
To: <study@blavatsky.net>
Subject: RE: [bn-study] B.P. Wadia
Date: Sat, 20 Sep 2003 12:15:01 -0700
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Sept 20 2003
Re: B.P.Wadia
Dear Reed:
As one who spent the best part of 33 years close to Mr. B. P, Wadia I
can state that to my perception, he was not "bland." =20
Like all of us he most definitely had a "personality." But it was under
full control. Often, we do not control our personality. And by
personality I mean the operational and directive "Lower Manas," which we
call our mind=20
If anything, he was a living example of the Higher Mind -- Buddhi-Manas
-- in control and operating. But this was not the kind of individuality
that sought domination and control. He lived his life to point always
to the living truths of original THEOSOPHY. The SECRET DOCTRINE was his
constant companion. [Have you read the biographical notes on his Life I
sent you some time back? I include them again.]=20
The reason why he established the U L T Lodges (along with others of
course) was that when he left the Adyar THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, a number
of members, who wanted to study HPB and the original Theosophy she
taught, desired to form local centers where they could meet, study and
discuss.
The U L T started in Los Angeles in 1909, and already in existence, met
this criteria and was therefore used as a basis for such establishments.
To my knowledge he encouraged the starting of new U L T Lodges -- to be
supported by local students -- in New York (and he worked several
years there), also in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., London U.K., Paris,
Amsterdam, The Hague, Bombay (now Mumbai), Bangalore, and Matunga (near
Bombay).
I think this business of "personality" can be cleared. "Persona" means
a MASK in Latin as H P B explains in The KEY TO THEOSOPHY (pp. 33-4).
The human ;personality that each of us live in and direct masks the
INDIVIDUALITY (or the immortal Monad: ATMA-BUDDHI-MANAS). It is
essential for us to grasp well the 7 principles of man and see them in
use in ourselves.
The OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY gives one of the best explanations and I send
this separately.=20
Our "personal" evolution, using our freedom to choose, and, the process
of reincarnation as designed by Nature's laws (Karma), transforms our
selfish personality (and Lower Manas) into the compassionate
Individuality (the Higher Manas) -- and restores to the HIGHER SELF the
ruling and management of the personality. In this way the "personality"
becomes itself an immortal, if successful in this task of self-reform
and transformation, as I understand it.
Best wishes,
Dallas
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Sept 20 2003
Re: Wadia - Bio-notes
Dear Reed:
Here are bio notes on the life and work of Mr. B. P. Wadia . =20
I was close to him for most of my life (33 years)-- from 5 up to the
time of his death in 1958.
I would like to say how much I appreciate your work with B N. Keep this
on file or reprint it for your readership if you think it valuable for
them. It is long.
May we all live with Karma and the Great Ones.
Best wishes,=20
Dal=20
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
B. P. WADIA =20
A LIFE OF SERVICE TO MANKIND
__________________________________________________________
=09
1881 - 1903
BAHMAN PESTONJI WADIA was born on October 8th 1881, the eldest son of
Pestonji Cursetji Wadia and his wife Mithabai. The Wadia family were
originally from Siganpore, near Surat, some 230 miles north of Bombay.
They were famed as shipbuilders, the frigate TRINCOMALEE, renamed
"FOUDROYANT" which they built, is still preserved in Portsmouth harbor.
The British government, in part payment and recognition of their
services, deeded large tracts of coastal lands north of Juhu on Salsette
Island immediately north of Bombay, to the Wadia family.
It was not a large family by the standards of those years and consisted,
in addition to a younger brother named Jehanghir, of two sisters:
Manijeh ( married Sir Rustum Masani) and Jerbai who remained a spinster.
Bahman went to the "New High School" conducted by J. D. Bharda and K. B.
Marzban in Bombay and took the matriculation examination, but never
entered College. Instead, his father arranged for him to learn and have
experience in the textile business in a large British textile firm.
This relation begun in the year 1900 was short lived as the young Bahman
refused, in the course of business to tell any untruth, and this had
been demanded of him. He resigned, and joined his father's firm, only
four weeks before the latter's sudden death.
BPW's father, Pestonji, engaged in the sale of textiles and was highly
thought of in Bombay markets. His premature death when Bahman was only
19 years old placed this young, seemingly inexperienced man, in charge
of his father's business. He was now responsible for the maintenance of
his widowed mother and his brother and sisters. With the help of a
close family friend experienced in textiles he promptly learned to
manage it, and prospered at it.
He had earlier made the acquaintance of Mme. Blavatsky through her
writings to which an old family friend, J. D. Mahaluxmiwala, a member of
the Bombay Theosophical Society had introduced him. Every day he would
travel from the family home in Parel (North Bombay) by tram, to work in
the "Fort" district, in South Bombay. Finding Bahman (hereafter BPW)
sincerely interested in philosophy and other serious subjects,
Mahaluxmiwala "gave" him a 2 volume set of Mme. H.P. Blavatsky's THE
SECRET DOCTRINE (and a bill for forty rupees.) BPW was then 18.
Reading THE SECRET DOCTRINE, he said, was like "coming home." =20
H.P.B. opened the doors in this life for him to the innate knowledge
from what must have been already acquired in past lives. Like the
opening of the flood gates of memory, that past wisdom was awakened by
her book. He secured confirmation of the moral sense that was his
intrinsically. He resolved that as soon as he could, he would devote
his life to sharing Theosophy with all whom he met.
1904 - 1908
By 1904 BPW had made a great success of the textile firm, and, then sold
it to free himself from further business engagements, so that he could
devote himself fully to Theosophy thereafter. The capital so acquired
was carefully invested so as to take care of his mother, sisters and
brother.
He had joined the Bombay Lodge of the Theosophical Society in 1903, and
Mr. Mahaluxmiwala initiated him into the secrets of editing, as he was
made sub-editor for the periodicals: THE THEOSOPHIC GLEANER and
THEOSOPHY AND NEW THOUGHT, edited by him from the Bombay Lodge of the T
S.
On April 15th 1904 he offered his services to Col. Olcott, the
President-Founder of the T.S., and they were accepted. After the death
of Col. Olcott, on February 17th 1907, he made the same offer to Mrs.
Annie Besant, who succeeded Olcott in the responsibilities of the
Presidency of the T S, and she accepted him. Wadia offered to come to
work at Adyar. This was also agreed on.
In 1907 BPW mentioned sailing out 7 miles into the harbor of Bombay to
see Elephanta, the famed ancient temple, said to be over 450,000 years
old constructed from the living rock of the island when Rama was then
the King of India. Ages ago, a gigantic stone statue of the Trimurthi:
Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva, had been carved out of the rock of the island and
around it a cavern had been chiseled so that a space of about an acre
under stone formed the monument, that the Portuguese named Elephanta,
probably because of the huge stone elephants that decorated the
approaches to the cave. He spoke of this to several friends assembled
around his death-bed, saying that it was there that he had a "vision,"
and held a dialog with the Master at the "Brahma-Vishnu-Shiva Cave."
1908 - 1919
He left on February 3rd 1908 from Bombay for Adyar. There Mrs. Besant
appointed him manager of the Theosophical Publishing House; and later,
assistant editor under her, of the daily NEW INDIA. At the headquarters
of the Theosophical Society in Adyar he was soon recognized as a
powerful and constructive worker. His responsibilities widened to
include being the assistant editor of THE THEOSOPHIST under Mrs. Besant.
Under her direction he began to work in the Home Rule Movement, and soon
was renowned in the political circles of the day, and among the members
and leaders of the Indian National Congress (this had been earlier
started by Mr. A.O.Hume, a retired Secretary to the Government of India,
an early Theosophist of 1880 and a pupil of H.P.B. Later, under
Gandhiji, Nehru, and many others, it eventually served to win political
independence for India in 1947). =20
BPW spoke of being asked, soon after his arrival at Adyar, to speak on
May 8th 1909 at the "White Lotus Day" Meeting, commemorating the death
anniversary of Mme. Blavatsky. He said that he had written and
memorized his talk, but, on the platform he forgot it completely. He
spoke, but did not recall what he said afterwards, yet, the audience was
most enthusiastic. He said he had been wearing a new silk kurta (long
formal shirt) for the occasion. When he took it off he noticed that it
smelt strongly of sandalwood, and retained that odor for many weeks
thereafter. He concluded he had been "used" by the Master on that
occasion and had spoken "under his influence," so to say.
BPW knew personally all the great figures of India, of his time, both
literary and political, and was often visited by them when they came to
Bombay. Among these were Dr. Sarvapalli=20
Radhakrishnan the first President of Free India, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu,
Dr. Bhagwan Das, Pundit Bhawani Shankar. =20
When visiting Bombay, they would often stay with him as guests and
friends. Valuing his enormous integrity and the instinctive love of the
masses for him, which they knew he commanded, they would, from time to
time urge him to return to politics, saying that a person of his worth
was much needed, especially after Gandhi's murder. He gently but firmly
refused, saying that aspect of his life was over, and that he was
working on something far wider and deeper reaching: Theosophy, which he
urged them to investigate and learn about. (1936 - 1957) Sadly, few
took this advice.
His early activities of a political nature, in Madras in the Indian Home
Rule Movement, promoted by Mrs. Besant and George Arundale earned all
three of them an internment order from the Government of Madras, and
accordingly they were deported from Madras city to Ootacamund (a "Hill
Station," some 300 miles West of Madras city) and interned (a kind of
house arrest) together from June 16th 1917. [ "Gulmarg"(Rose-garden)
was the name of a cottage that Col. Olcott had built on land bought in
1888, in the Nilgiri (Blue Mountains) Hills -- he intended it as a place
where HPB and he could retire to in their "old age".] This cottage is
located near Snowdon peak reservoir, about 4 miles from Ootacamund, at
an altitude of nearly 7,000 feet. The internment lasted till September
7th 1917
It is in and on these great rounded hills that the mysterious Toda tribe
consisting of a group of 550 persons, men and women, (no children) for
as long as history records, dwelt for uncounted millennia, served by the
equally mysterious tribe called the Badagas--secure and aloof from
intrusions by the Indians of the plains--until the British explored and
settled there, treating it as a "Summer Capital" away from the stifling
heat and humidity of Madras. [ See HPB's "THE PEOPLE OF THE BLUE
MOUNTAINS" for further information on the Todas and the other mysterious
tribes of those mountains. =20
In "THE DREAM OF RAVAN" will be found another hint: it speaks there of
the self-sacrifice of the pure and saintly tribe of the Todas who gave
up their freedom and liberty when Lanka was conquered by King Rama c.
350,000 B.C., to protect the world by closely controlling the evil that
incarnated from generation to generation in the vicious and dwarfish
Mula-Kurumba tribes-people who were then banished by King Rama to the
Nilgiris in their care.]
Mr. Wadia knew more about those mysterious personages than many. He
stated one time that the "real Todas" had retired to secluded and secure
places shortly after the British started coming there. They had "had
themselves replaced" with others who looked like them, but were not
Todas. An incident in 1939-40, when walking in the afternoon (as was
usual) between tea-time and dinner, with Mr. Wadia and others of his
household, comes to mind. We saw on one of the rough access forest
roads on the high hill backing Gurumandir, some distance ahead, a person
dressed in the customary white wool, toga-like attire of a Toda. He was
apparently waiting for Mr. Wadia. BPW asked us to wait for him and he
walked alone up to this personage who was a few hundred yards away.
They exchanged some words. The "Toda" turned and left, walking up into
the jungle of the mountain above. Mr. Wadia then waved us up, but he
did not explain the encounter, nor allay our curiosity until several
years had passed.
THE T.S. PRESENTATION OF THEOSOPHY CHANGED
BPW, after some time spent working in Adyar had realized from his study
of HPB's writings in THE SECRET DOCTRINE, ISIS UNVEILED, and the many
articles found in early issues of THE THEOSOPHIST, and LUCIFER that the
T S was no longer promulgating pure H.P.B. Theosophy. He discussed this
with Mrs. Besant, Mr. Leadbeater, and with other friends and co-workers
at Adyar, who appreciated his fundamental devotion to H.P.B. and the
Masters' teachings. =20
Many a discussion was held on what could be done to bring the Society
out of the then dominance of the psychic proclivities (the 3rd Object)
that held the attention of so many members, with a view to encourage the
kind of study and work which the Original Impulse of the Movement, (the
1st and 2nd Objects) as defined by the doctrines promulgated by HPB and
the MASTERS since 1875 implied.
=09
Later, in conversing with some friends, BPW mentioned that he had a
vision in Adyar on November 21st 1918 of H.P.B. He said that vision,
and the earlier one in 1907 of the Master ( at Elephanta ) had inspired
and energized his whole life with the certainty of Their reality and
continued existence, and the power and worth of Theosophy as a living
and practical philosophy of daily life.=20
It must be remembered that the T S had been inaugurated to help mankind
at the juncture of this cycle of its existence, to bring the materialism
of the age to an end, and to give as much knowledge as might help bring
mankind to a knowledge of and practice of ideals. For this reason The
Universal Unity of all Beings, and the brotherhood of Man, Karma and
Reincarnation were shown to be provable doctrines and to have an extreme
antiquity in the literature of the Ancients. The "Eternal Philosophy,"
Sanatana Dharma, was to be restored. Universality, Immortality, Law and
Brotherhood were to become the standards for the general membership of
the T S to know, understand, and aspire to practically. But the modern
membership of those days had quite forgotten those objectives. =20
The value of the Theosophical Movement as refigured, had been found to
be almost totally lost for men of those years. These friends of HPB
questioned deeply the methods that could be used to institute an
internal reform -- back to the Original Lines. Then, if this could not
be done internally, could it, or would it have to be done from outside?
Many plans were formulated, reviewed and revised. These included:
1. the founding of an international magazine where writers would
have entire freedom of expression and where Theosophical principles
could be expounded. =20
2. Since HPB had stated in her article (WHY THE VAHAN) that it
was the duty of the T.S. to keep in touch with its members, and through
this journal of a few pages it was originally done on a free basis; a
magazine devoted to pure Theosophy would have to be started, where the
older article writings of HPB could be reprinted for modern readers. =20
3. 3. An Institute of an international cultural type could
be started so that the traditions, philosophies, arts and sciences of
various parts of the world, and India, could be compared and made
available to the general public. =20
4. For youths who were away from home and studying at local
colleges, an inexpensive residential hostel could be established, with
strict discipline along the lines of practical Theosophy. =20
5. Every effort to be made to present to the membership
of existing Theosophical Societies what pure Theosophy was, in the
words of HPB. Study classes were to begin.
6. HPB's original writings were to be reprinted for use by
students and all new-comers.
To have a permanent home for this six pronged plan in India, he began to
negotiate for the purchase near Ootacamund, in the Nilgiri mountains of
an old estate of 100 acres of eucalyptus, fruit orchards and potato
fields, some distance away on the "Old Mysore Road." It was then named
"Brookhampton" -- and it was renowned for its library, which he also
bought. The property was renamed by him later: "Gurumandir," (Temple
of the Guru). This is situated 4 miles out of Ooty, municipal
electricity was only brought out to it in 1956. =20
This is quoted from: T. L. CROMBIE, Friend of India, by Ethel Beswick,
pp 2 - 4)
"Mr. Wadia stated that as time passed and he and his friends tried to
bring about some reforms in the TS in Adyar, but the minds and actions
of the chief officers and members seemed to become directed more towards
psychism and sensationalism. They tried to direct the mind of the
leaders of the Society "back to Blavatsky, and her Theosophy, and that
of the Masters." It was a continuous gentle pressure, firmly unrelaxed,
that was used. In the meantime other events had matured and an
alternative opened."
1919 - INDIA'S FIRST LABOR UNION
In the course of his political work under Mrs. Besant, BPW became
acquainted in 1917 with the plight of the textile workers in the local
Madras textile mills, some of those who labored there came to him at the
offices of NEW INDIA. He investigated their working conditions and
found them to be oppressive and inhumane: extremely long hours with no
reasonable rest periods, low pay, and other conditions of duress.
Preliminary meetings were held in the fall of 1917, and in the spring of
1918. The first Labor Union to be started in India: the Madras Textile
Workers' Union was then organized on April 27th 1918 and Mr. Wadia was
asked to be President and represent the laborers. =20
The building in which the Madras Labor Union is housed is known as
"Wadia House;" it faces "Wadia Park." On the parapet at the top of the
two storied building, over the front door, a bust of BPW has been
installed. On entering the front door one is greeted by a large
photograph of BPW as a young man -- as he was when he was President of
the Union in 1918. His desk and the stationery he used at work are
still carefully preserved there, and shown to visitors with great
affection and reverence.
The British Parliament had been aware of labor unrest in India, but
unable to understand the conditions that had brought this about. In
1919 it summoned Mr. Wadia, as President of the MADRAS TEXTILE WORKERS
UNION, and others, to London, to give testimony and answer the questions
before a PARLIAMENTARY COMMISSION. This Commission was to consider not
only the Labor situation, but also various other matters which were to
be addressed a year later and embodied in the "Montford Reform Act of
1919." =20
Wadia left India May 8th 1919, sailing in the company of Mrs. Besant,
Mr. P.K. Telang and Mr. Jamnadas Dwarkadas, who were to tour the T.S.
Lodges in Europe. This project was to be partly political and partly
Theosophical.
BPW's visit to England, and the testimony he gave to the Parliamentary
Commission was well received and listened to with attention. A pamphlet
embodying his statements was printed and circulated. A White Paper
issued officially by Parliament at that time, includes a transcript of
his cross-examination and answers.
BPW's visit to England and his well known capacities as a writer and
speaker resulted in his being invited to visit and speak at a number of
the T S branches in England and on the European Continent. =20
The Indian Government then appointed him a delegate to attend the FIRST
INTERNATIONAL LABOR CONFERENCE under the LEAGUE OF NATIONS to be held at
Washington D.C., November - December 1919. After finishing his tour of
the European Lodges he sailed for autumnal New York. His position was a
technical advisor to the India delegation.=20
Having discharged his responsibilities in Washington, he was asked to
tour American and Canadian Branches of the T S, lecturing on THE SECRET
DOCTRINE, on H.P.Blavatsky and her message, and on the need for every
FTS, as an individual, to acquire for himself knowledge, and then study
and apply Theosophy individually.
When in Washington D.C. he paid a visit with Eugene Debbs to the tomb of
Abraham Lincoln, one of his heroes, and laid a formal wreath upon it.
He then found that his itinerary involved a trip to California where he
stayed at Krotona in Hollywood. =20
The T S in America was then undergoing some difficulties in connection
with the establishing of Krotona as a headquarters for the T.S. and
there was a change of Presidents. Mr. Wadia recommended a "Back to
Blavatsky" effort stressing that in his opinion the T.S. was no longer
following the lines laid down by H.P.B. and was in danger of failing in
its mission. =20
He interested himself in the outlook of the "Towards Democracy League."
Mr. Rogers, the new president of the TS Section in America was disturbed
and sent a cable of protest to Mrs. Besant on May 21st 1920. At that
time Mr. & Mrs. Bailey, who occupied positions of trust ( as
respectively, National Secretary, and Editor for the American Section )
were removed from office by Mr. Rogers, on the grounds that they were
out of harmony with his administration. On July 12th, 1920 at the
National Convention changes in the administration took place, Mr. Wadia
was thanked for his work on the platform, but the protest sent to Mrs.
Besant was also endorsed.
While in Los Angeles he came upon a Los Angeles Times news paper
advertisement of lectures on Theosophical subjects conducted by THE
UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS.
1919 - BPW MEETS MEMBERS of the UNITED LODGE=20
He was then visiting the Krotona Lodge of the T S in Hollywood, a suburb
of Los Angeles. He paid a visit to the ULT and listened with attention
to the talk given at the Metropolitan Bldg. in Los Angeles. Earlier,
his fame had attracted members of the ULT to visit and attend his talks
under the T S auspices. =20
They appreciated his point of view in regard to H. P. Blavatsky, and as
a result he held a number of talks with these persons and learned at
first hand of the aims and objectives of the ULT -- that they had been
reprinting in THEOSOPHY magazine Mme. Blavatsky's articles, and, those
of Mr. W.Q.Judge--with whom he was unfamiliar. He accepted an
assignment to speak from the platform of the ULT on the subject of Mme.
Blavatsky and The Secret Doctrine.=20
He obtained copies of Judge's books: THE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY, THE
EPITOME OF THEOSOPHY, ECHOES FROM THE ORIENT, and read them. He then
realized what a gap had been created in the minds and knowledge of those
in the T S by not having access to Mr. Judge's writings for nearly 25
years, and in being given a false picture of Mr. Judge as a renegade.=20
He attended more meetings of the ULT, then held at the Metropolitan
Building, in downtown Los Angeles. There he met with, and held long
talks with Mr. John Garrigues, Mr. Westcott and Mrs. Grace Clough, and a
number of active ULT associates who had known and worked with Mr. Robert
Crosbie, founder and energizer of the "pure Theosophy" program of the
impersonal U.L.T.
Mr. Wadia said he was thrilled to read the Declaration of THE UNITED
LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS, and to realize that a group of students already
existed, who had banded together without any political or official
structure on the basis of the practical application of HPB's Theosophy.
He found that the principles of practical brotherly work and unity
survived, and those were being applied impersonally. All ideas of
"successorship," of "leadership," of "politics" and "personal" authority
had been excluded from this energetic association. =20
Here, he found established in practice the operations of a group of
impersonal students - a basis which he and his friends had so deeply and
long discussed in Adyar--a reform of the T S. It now remained to see
whether he could bring about an agreement with the present T.S.
"leaders," Mrs. Besant in particular, to such a program of internal
readjustment, back to the Original Objects and the Original Program of
the MASTERS.
It was November 1919 in Los Angeles. Mr. Crosbie had died only five
months earlier: June 25th 1919. His loss, BPW observed, seemed to have
left some despondency among the workers at the ULT. They felt they were
too few, and some had been thinking of perhaps rejoining an existing T S
reorganized by Mr. Hargrove out of fragments of the "Point Loma T.S." in
New York. Mr. Wadia dissuaded them from this, in view of his intimate
knowledge of what the problems of the T.S. were.
He affirmed his belief in the need for the ULT, and the practical
application of those principles its DECLARATION stood for. It was
known that Mr. Crosbie had told some of his closest associates just
before his death when they spoke of their discouragement, that "they
would not have too long to wait" for some help to arrive. From all that
was said and understood between them, it seemed clear that this "help"
was at hand. Certainly there was a great meeting of the minds. =20
They began to plan what ought to be done, in all fairness to Mrs.
Besant, to the T S in Adyar and elsewhere, and to the defining of Mr.
Wadia's future position and the discharge of his continued
responsibilities to all of those before he would be free to join the
ULT. He promised those at ULT that if he was not successful in
instituting a change and a reform in Adyar, he would return in a short
while. His duty required that he continue his tour, complete his work
in the T S, then return to India and Adyar.=20
He would in addition work on what he had found and learned; study Judge
and Crosbie; and, when in Adyar, he would fight for true Theosophy. He
would try to secure from Annie Besant a public reversal of the false
attitude maintained against Mr. Judge for so many years. He did try
this, as will be seen from Professor A. H. Nethercot's biography of
Annie Besant, [Vol. II, p. 328, THE EIGHT LIVES OF ANNIE BESANT,
Publisher: University of Chicago Press]; but was unsuccessful in
securing a public reversal from her. To him, privately she admitted
that Judge had been wronged, just as earlier Col. Olcott had admitted
the same to Laura Holloway, but he would not make this public.]=20
In going through some of the older magazines published in Bombay and
Adyar, during the period when he was with Col. Olcott and Mrs. Besant
(1906-1921) one will come across a number of statements of support made
by BPW for the policies of those in charge of the T.S.: Mrs. Besant,
Mr. Leadbeater, Mr. Krishnamurthi, etc... These appear to be at
variance with his later words and actions after his resignation from the
T.S. As he explained this, they were sincere statements made by him at
the time and within the framework of his knowledge at that time.=20
BPW now knew that Mr. Judge, one of the original founders, was no longer
well known to the general membership of the T.S. and in Adyar between
1897 and 1919. He along with HPB and Col. Olcott had remained faithful
to their pledge and to the Masters' Cause. BPW felt compelled to
inquire into the reason why such an important and valuable asset to the
T.S. had been lost and its memory virtually buried and obliterated so
far as the membership at large was then concerned. =20
=09
BPW saw in the nature of the work that Mr. Judge did for Theosophy in
America, a fiery devotion which brought an enormous increase of public
interest in, and respect for, Theosophical principles and doctrines for
the ten year period between 1886 and 1896, when Judge died. [ The
membership grew from about 350 to over 4,000, and the number of Branches
from about 20 to over 400.] It was similar to the devotion and energy
of Col. Olcott, when he and HPB had first came to India; and Theosophy
from 1879 had burgeoned and spread over the land, and then to Ceylon,
Burma, Japan and other Eastern countries. =20
But there was a difference between Judge and Olcott. Col. Olcott was
healthy and became famous in India as a magnetic healer, until warned by
the Master to stop. Judge, on the other hand had contracted Chagres
fever (back-water fever which attacks the liver) in Columbia or Mexico
where he went between 1876 and 1883, as a young man, for some of his New
York clients who had mining interests there, and he was frail physically
ever afterwards. The lingering disease was known to carry off the
person in the course of some 14 years. The last three years of his life
were noticeably those of a very sick man.
1919 - 1922
ON THE WORK OF W.Q.JUDGE, A FOUNDER OF THE T.S. =20
( An "aside" by D T B )
As an aside to this narration of the work and life of BPW it becomes
necessary to write of the events in 1894-1896 involving Mr. Judge, Mrs.
Besant and Col. Olcott after the death of HPB, so that the perspective
is clear and some understanding of what Mr. Wadia found out is had as of
1919-1922.
BPW determined that in 1894-6 Mrs. Besant, and Col. Olcott, were the
prime cause of a serious problem caused by their misunderstanding of Mr.
Judge's stand and function for Theosophy. He was accused by them ( Mrs.
Besant taking the position of a "prosecutor)" of fraudulently imitating
or copying the Masters' handwriting when providing them with certain
"messages" which came from Them. Mrs. Besant and other recipients
admitted that the content of the messages was not being questioned, only
the fact that they seemed to be written in scripts that were used before
H.P.B. died. She, of course, was no longer there to use them. This was
a puzzle. How did Judge figure in this ?
Mr. Judge stated openly at that time, that he was in frequent touch with
the Masters and that the said messages were Theirs and not his; nor had
he written them. He offered to prove this, but none of the accusers
took him up on this offer to demonstrate, as history reveals. [ Both
HPB, WQJ and others had, earlier, published a number of articles in
LUCIFER and THE PATH concerning the rationale of letter
"precipitation"--how a "matrix" impressed and long established in the
electro-magnetic substance of the astral light could be repeatedly used
to save psychic energy--in sending new communications.=20
Such a matrix did not extinguish with the "death" of any one person, but
could continue to be used, as in these cases, where another person might
be used as the focus for that work to be done, as, apparently, Judge was
so used. =20
It was the context and the content, as well as an interior code
impressed in the "message" by the sender which certified to its
authenticity. No "seal" or other external physical appearance could be
used by unconcerned parties to make a determination of its authenticity.
These criteria alone would not serve an inquirer in verifying the
genuineness of the letters, or other artifacts, precipitated from the
astral light. It may be recalled that earlier, suspicions had been
entertained in HPB' life time of the genuineness of certain letters from
the Mahatmas, like the "Prayag letter." She, and Damodar K. Mavlankar
had been the targets of such suspicions by Sinnett and Olcott.]
Judge warned Col. Olcott in advance that an attempt in the T S to make a
ruling on such a question would establish a "belief in Masters" as a
dogma of the T. S. -- which specifically disavowed any dogmatism. On
this point the "Judicial Committee" convened by Col. Olcott in London in
July 1894 agreed; the "charges" were dropped, and amity was ostensibly
restored. The membership of the T S were sent a report by Col. Olcott
entitled "On the Neutrality of the T S." For some unfortunate reason
this setback rankled with those who had become accusers of Mr. Judge,
and these accusations were renewed in the beginning of the next year,
1895. [End of DTB "aside"]
(Return to B P W Bio.)
BPW attempted during over two years (1920-21) to bring about, a change
in the "leaders" of the T S at Adyar and elsewhere, pointing to the true
Theosophy of HPB, and the S D; working with Annie Besant, and other
leaders of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, trying to secure their
understanding of the wrong that had been done to Mr. Judge and to the
whole of the Theosophical Society in America, as well as to members
everywhere within the T S, between 1894 and 1896. =20
BPW's innate sense of duty, his honesty and courage compelled in taking
this up directly with Mrs. Besant. He asked her about the splitting up
of the T.S. in that period, 25 years ago. =20
Excommunication of the "The Theosophical Society in America,"
Col. Olcott had on Sept. 7th 1894 excommunicated, in effect, the whole
American Section of the T.S., which had, under his, Col. Olcott's
earlier suggestion, [see his letter written in 1893 addressed to W. Q.
Judge--quoted in CANADIAN THEOSOPHIST, 1923, Vol. 4, p. 1, and March
15th p. 11.] reconstituted itself at its Annual Convention held in April
1894, "The Theosophical Society in America," in full fraternal
association with all Theosophical Societies anywhere. This
excommunication goes against the first object of the Society:
brotherhood. Documents supporting these facts were provided to BPW, and
these same documents are available for independent verification today.
BPW determined to find out if the breach could be repaired, and if the
unity of the Theosophical Movement could be restored by Mrs. Besant,
joining with him, and others, to mend the misunderstandings that had
caused the unbrotherly break of 1894. =20
After several heart to heart conversations in 1920-21 with Mrs. Annie
Besant on his return to India and Adyar, BPW found that while she
admitted to him in private that what had then been done against Mr.
Judge and the "Theosophical Society in America," 25 years back, was
wrong, she refused to make a public retraction and restore Judge's fair
name in Theosophical publications and elsewhere.
Wadia Determined His Resignation Was Necessary
Wadia determined that the only path that remained to him, personally,
was to resign from the T.S. When he left, he sent a pamphlet of
information, in July 1922, to those with whom he had become acquainted.
He stated there that he would be working thenceforth for Theosophy
through the UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS, which of all existing
Theosophical bodies in the world, was the one that he had found to be
closest in ideal and practice to the original programme of the
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY as started by the Masters, with, Mme. Blavatsky
as Their Agent, Col. H.S.Olcott as President for Life, and with Mr.
W.Q.Judge as Counsel to the Society, and later as General Secretary of
the American Section T.S. [ More details below.]
The thirteen other founders, or, original members of the T.S. in 1875,
being more interested in spiritualism, rather than in philosophical and
religious investigation; soon dropped away from membership in the T.S.
Only the three named remained steadfast until their death to the work of
the Masters and to Their Cause.
In terms of time it should be remembered that Mrs. Besant had contacted
HPB and Theosophy late in 1888, or 13 years after the T.S. was
established. This occurred because after she had been asked to review
THE SECRET DOCTRINE she was so struck by the wisdom to be found therein,
that she determined to meet Mme. Blavatsky. Shortly thereafter she
joined the T.S. in London (May 1889). As she was an accomplished
thinker and writer, and as her sincerity in adopting the Theosophical
outlook and life was evident, Mme. Blavatsky asked her to assist in
editing her magazine LUCIFER as co-editor. =20
Mrs. Besant had only had about two and a half years experience in the
T.S. in this incarnation, before HPB, her teacher, "died." Whereas Mr.
Judge, and Col. Olcott had been in it, and with HPB since the outset, or
19 years earlier, by 1894, when the accusations against Mr. Judge were
made public by Mrs. Besant and Col. Olcott.
BPW, stated that he did not "look back," nor did he mention or apologize
for what he had written earlier in support of the policies of Mrs.
Besant, and others of the leaders of the Theosophical Society in the
period when he was a member between 1903 and 1922. That door was
closed. =20
He thereafter directed the whole thrust of his energy and work into that
body, the UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS, which was effectively using the
methods of work and exemplifying the principles outlined in the original
programme of the Masters. These are found embodied in the Declaration
of the UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS.=20
1920
In July 1920 BPW attended the CONVENTION OF THE AMERICAN SECTION T.S. in
Chicago. By this time he had also become a member of the American
Section of the T.S. =20
A question arose and resolutions were framed to permit the
Administration of the Section to expel members who criticized its
officers for "autocratic and underhand methods of administration." =20
Mr. Wadia opposed such a measure which would muzzle free speech. The
President of the American Section T S, at that time desired to apply
this to suppress and quell criticism of certain actions he had earlier
taken without the prior approval of the American Council. [ see
O.E.LIBRARY CRITIC issues 1919-23 for more details about the thrusting
on the T S membership of the LIBERAL [OLD] CATHOLIC CHURCH, STAR OF THE
EAST, etc.]
Mr. Wadia's opposition to the apparent high-handed methods of the
President of the American Section T S galvanized a great measure of
opposition to this objective, and the thwarted President then wrote to
Mrs. Besant (as the International President T.S., at Adyar) complaining
of Mr. Wadia's "interference" in local affairs. =20
Mrs. Besant replied, upholding Mr. Wadia's stand on principles, while
deploring his possible "interference" in local affairs. She said that
her acquaintance with Mr. Wadia for many years had confirmed her entire
trust and respect for him. But, she added, they did not always agree.
>From Adyar on Sept. 20th 1920, Mr. Wadia wrote a letter and published
copies of it to the membership of the T S in America, clearly setting
out his views on this matter. =20
He wrote, in summary :
Criticism should never be grounds for expulsion of any member. Majority
vote should rule all matters of administration. While in America and
staying at KROTONA, Hollywood (now moved to Ojai), he encountered
evidence of wrong principles and wrong methods apparently used by
certain administrators in the American Section. He was then slandered
by those officials, and a complaint had been lodged in Adyar with Mrs.
Besant, International President T S. Mr. Wadia proceeded to expose
publicly what was going on. He stood for the principles of clear speech
and an exposure of such matters, as it concerned all members who were
free to vote.
He returned in 1920 to Europe, and traveled to Paris to attend the WORLD
CONGRESS OF THE T S there. Thereafter he was asked to visit a number of
countries where T S Branches were active; he visited Belgium, lecturing
in Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Liege, Charleroi, Marianwelz. 19
lectures delivered, two at the Universite Internationale. He was
enthusiastically received and listened to by those engaged in labour
reform and by their members, the workers themselves.
=09
He received, then, an invitation to attend the FIRST WORLD CONGRESS OF
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, to meet in Copenhagen; and another from the THIRD
WORLD BROTHERHOOD CONGRESS, to meet in Prague. As he was not able to go
to either of them he sent papers, which were received with satisfaction.
Following Belgium, he visited Holland, where he worked for 2 weeks, 56
meetings were held. Copenhagen was next visited where 4 talks were
given to various groups. Then, on to Sweden, Malmo, Goteborg, Gefle,
Stockholm; then to Oslo, Norway, where the Annual Convention of the
Norwegian=20
T S was held. Next to Helsinki, Finland. A tour which began in
Marseilles in the South of France on February 20th ended October 20th
1920 in Finland. He then sailed back to India.
1921
Meanwhile, the Government of India in 1921 appointed Mr. Wadia a member
of the Indian Delegation to the SECOND INTERNATIONAL LABOUR CONFERENCE
under the LEAGUE OF NATIONS, which was to meet in Geneva, Switzerland,
October 25th, 1921 and this was to be continued for a month. This
necessitated a second trip to Europe, and In November 1921, after the
conference, Mr. Wadia again sailed for America and thereafter he
returned to make his final efforts in Adyar--and these being
unsuccessful he resigned in mid-1922.
1922
B.P.Wadia resigned from the Theosophical Society on the 18th of July
1922. =20
He broadcast the nature and reasons for his resignation widely to
members of the TS. He also advised them of his joining the UNITED LODGE
OF THEOSOPHISTS because of their policy and work. He further spoke of
his finding that W.Q.Judge had been wronged in the period of 1894-96 by
those in the T.S. who had attacked him on flimsy and insufficient
evidence.
After his resignation he returned to Los Angeles. As an associate of
the ULT, he worked thereafter for Theosophy in company with that body
of students dedicated to the promulgation of original Theosophy as it
was to be found in the writings of H. P. Blavatsky and W. Q. Judge.
He issued an 18 page pamphlet entitled:--
TO ALL MY FELLOW THEOSOPHISTS AND=20
MEMBERS OF THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
A statement by
B. P. WADIA
________________________________
This included: =20
1. His letter of July 18th 1922 to Mrs. Annie Besant as President of
the TS, and the General Council. =20
2. A letter of explanation about the divergence from HPB's Theosophy
and the Original Programme by the TS; how he had found the ULT which
was dedicated to that. =20
3. His letter of resignation dated 18th July 1922 addressed to the
General Secretary of the Indian Section TS resigning from the Indian
Council and the T S.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
In response, the T S, Adyar, issued : "AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. WADIA" by
J. Nityananda and J. Krishnamurthi. This was reprinted by KROTONA,
Hollywood in America, Oct. 1st 1922 and circulated to the American T S
membership.
It is to be noted that Mr. Wadia had received enthusiastic reviews for
his lectures and work in all T S magazines and periodicals. After this
date he ceased to be mentioned.
1923-28
Many members of the T S all over the world who were interested in HPB's
Theosophy as she taught it, separated themselves from the T S and became
individual associates of the ULT. =20
This influx of new associates necessitated the formation of a number of
new ULT's in the Eastern seaboard of America: New York; Philadelphia,
Pa.; Washington, D.C.; and several Study Groups were formed in other
towns : Reading, Pa.; Chicago, Ill., some of which later became
Lodges. =20
A period of intensive education into the principles and fundamentals of
Theosophy ensued. The impersonal practical work of teaching and
spreading pure Theosophy, using the ULT methods, began for these new
lodges and new associates. Mr. Wadia and other older students of the
Los Angles Lodge threw themselves in to this work, and spent long months
in various new centers that had been formed, so the work flourished.
But the need for Lodges, so associates could meet for mutual study and
work went beyond America and soon Lodges were formed in London, England
(1925); Paris, France (1928); Amsterdam and The Hague, Holland;
Antwerp, Belgium, and elsewhere.
1922 - 1928
Those who have known him in those early days felt the power and thrust
of his will to work for the Great Lodge through the ULT. =20
As it was essential to make a clean break with "Adyar Theosophy," he
adopted an almost rigid attitude of exclusion to their works and
writings. He advised students to concentrate on what Theosophy was, in
terms of the actual wording used by HPB, WQJ and the Masters. He used
to say that we ought to devote all our energies to that, the rest was
unessential and was of interest to "just the present incarnation" and as
such it would be "lost" when this personality "died." The other,
THEOSOPHY, was for "all time." And, that was where we ought to be
placing our efforts.
His work was to consolidate those old students of Judge and of the TS
who desired to get back to the study of original THEOSOPHY, and meld
them with the new students who desired to learn, and had no background
in Theosophy. A series of intensive study classes was started.
Exercise and criticism for those who wanted to learn to do platform-work
was instituted. He prepared and used for the GUIDANCE OF ULT PLATFORM
WORKERS a number of points they had to apply if they wish to work in
that way for ULT." =20
In New York, the U.L.T. used a large auditorium on the ground floor of
the HOTEL DES ARTISTES, at 1 West 67th ST., just off the Central Park,
and near to Columbia University campus. Meetings were held on Sunday:
Theosophy School before noon, and a public lecture in the evening.
Wednesday evening Study Class, Question and Answer Meeting; Friday:
OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY Study Class and then a Practice Class for new
students and those who desired to do platform work. Other meetings were
held during the week.
Mr. Wadia conducted one of the Theosophy School Classes. Transcripts of
5 years of work in such NY T. School classes exist. =20
Students would meet in the evening, informally, several times a week at
individual homes, to discuss Theosophy and various aspects of the work.
This developed a large-hearted camaraderie and was an active
manifestation of brotherhood in action, gathering all ULT associates
together.
Mr. Wadia, working at the New York Lodge had an office in the building
and a large volume of correspondence was handled. Students from England
came over to familiarize themselves with the program ULT had evolved of
methods of work in New York, so that they could then take them back for
use in the London Lodge that had been planned. =20
Associates from various European countries visited New York for the same
reasons so methods were learned that could be used in their own ULT
Lodges being soon were opened in France, Holland and Belgium. It was a
whirlwind time when everything seemed to be happening at once, and the
great influence spread over all those who served as the "seeds" of
future ULT Lodges and ULT work for the next 50 years. =20
SECRET DOCTRINE reprinted
One associate contributed $ 25,000.00 for the photographic plates needed
to reprint THE SECRET DOCTRINE. This was one of the most important
things done, as it permitted HPB's major work to be studied in its
unedited original. =20
The ULT in London was opened November 17th 1925. Its Bulletin was
started in 1930.
Mr. Wadia always said that it was dangerous to approach the study of THE
SECRET DOCTRINE through the use of an "abridgment." Any such "filter,"
however impersonal and good, inevitably held up "barriers" between HPB
and the student. =20
He held that ISIS UNVEILED ought to be first studied and read. Its
contents formed a valuable introduction to Theosophy and to The Secret
Doctrine. He also recommended a through study of Mr. Judge's The OCEAN
OF Theosophy, as it covered the main teachings exposed in great detail
in the SECRET DOCTRINE=20
The Secret Doctrine then, ought to be approached slowly and following a
steadily held determination to read and take the time to comprehend
gradually what was read, it ought to be read a few pages a day, notes
should be taken of the subjects covered, and gradually one should build
up one's own reference book on the subjects covered in various places.
=20
The enthusiasm and the intensity of study and of learning and practicing
Theosophy, inspired by Mr. Wadia in the period between 1922 and 1928,
probably paralleled equaled those of the time of Judge during the years
1886-1896 in New York and the rest of the USA. =20
THEOSOPHY or NEO-THEOSOPHY =20
Margaret Thomas, for instance, was inspired to prepare and publish her
THEOSOPHY or NEO-THEOSOPHY so students could compare the differences
made to Theosophy by writers for the T S, like Mrs. Besant and Mr.
Leadbeater, after the death of Mme. Blavatsky. Parallel statements were
placed in juxtaposition.=20
THEOSOPHY Magazine
Many articles for THEOSOPHY magazine were written by BPW, and he used to
say that Mr. John Garrigues and he were like two brothers, one could
write the first part of an article and the other finish it and no
discernible change was noticeable. Or they would share the burden of
writing a series of articles, each writing alternating articles.
Certainly he had a unique rapport with those in Los Angeles who bore the
responsibilities Mr. Crosbie had passed on to them. It is there and in
consultation with the Los Angeles students that the plan to return HPB
Theosophy to India, and to open a Lodge of the ULT in Bombay was worked
out. =20
In New York most of the Sunday lectures were taken by Mr. Wadia, or by
visitors from Los Angeles. He also handled the "Answering of Questions"
meetings on Wednesday. As students developed knowledge and capacity,
they took over the burden of handling many aspects of the ULT Lodge
work, and sound principles were given a secure practical foundation.
A Library was started, and the lending of the more expensive books to
students was also undertaken. The conduct of Theosophy School was at
first a training ground for those who would be teachers there, and
weekly reviews of the work was done by all teachers, co-teachers and
reporters in turn. A meticulous and constant attention to all details
of the work was supervised and carried out by him, so that within the
brief space of 4 years a cadre of capable and knowledgeable volunteer
students arose. =20
The other Lodges started in the East Coast of the US: Washington,
Philadelphia, Reading, and several Study Classes were all attended to;
they adopted and used the same patterns of intensive study and
application and drew the attention of individuals who were interested in
Theosophy to the focus of joint and purposive, constructive work. =20
Periodically Mr. Wadia used to take trips, visiting Lodges on the East
coast and then swing back to the Los Angeles area, visiting San Diego,
San Francisco and Lodges clustered in between those. =20
U L T to be taken to India
When Mr. Wadia let some of his more intimate friends know that it was
intention to bring the ULT work and method to India and establish in
Bombay a basis from which to spread HPB's pure Theosophy, several
students became enthusiastic about this. Preparations were made each on
their own, but in collaboration with each other to arrange to get to
India towards the end of l928. There they planned to spend the next few
months locating a suitable place to hold meetings, and also make
residential arrangements for themselves and another group of student
workers that was to come with Mr. Wadia early in 1929. Along with BPW,
Miss Virginia Beadle and Miss Sophia Camacho, both of New York intended
to come. Later on, Mr. T. L. Crombie of London planned to come and help
in the editing when the magazines were to be started. Mr. and Mrs.
TenBroeck of Los Angles and Mr. Donald Townsend also decided to go.
The two young, unmarried ladies (Miss Virginia Beadle and Miss Sophia
Camacho) who had decided to help in the effort for the revival of HPB's
original Theosophy in India, planned to travel and live together;
chaperoning each other, so to say. Mr. Wadia laid stress on the need
for the most correct of personal demeanors by those who would support
Theosophical work and work closely with him in India for the ULT effort
of bringing HPB's Theosophy there. =20
He made it clear that there would have to be a molding of the private
life of the visitors to fit and agree with the cultural mores and
customs of the Indians, rather than with those of the "ruling British"
and other "whites," including Americans, in business or as missionaries,
who, when living in India had adopted an aloofness from the Indians,
borrowed from the attitude adopted by the British when in India, as a
kind of "privileged group."=20
1928
A group of students active in Paris wanted to take advantage of Mr.
Wadia's presence to establish their own ULT in Paris. Their Lodge was
founded and the first meeting held on September 21st 1928.=20
Since 1925, under the inspiration of Mr. Wadia, two members of the T S
in France who had left it, feeling dissatisfied, started a monthly
magazine named THEOSOPHIE. Mr. Louis Revel took on the duties of
editing the monthly, and later on, of books also published -
translations of HPB and WQJ writings. Mr. M. Girardet assumed and
arranged for the necessary financial support. A COMPAGNIE THEOSOPHIQUE
SA was started at that time. Mrs. Sophia Wadia was one of the original
directors. [Mrs. Sophia Wadia was fluent in French, Spanish and
English, she had a marvelous, almost photographic memory and was a fine
speaker. Mr. Wadia used to say that he would write an article or a
speech, she would read it, and then could reproduce it almost exactly as
prepared.]
London saw the inauguration of the ULT Lodge there on November 17th,
1925. Seven of his friends from the Adyar days had resolved on this and
established study classes, a library, and a regular monthly BULLETIN of
the London ULT began publication (in 1930).=20
In London some of those prominent in Theosophical work were met,
including Mr. Trevor Barker, who had at that time had already published
THE MAHATMA LETTERS TO A.P.SINNETT was actively engaged in editing
H.P.BLAVATSKY's LETTERS TO A.P.SINNETT. He and Miss Virginia Beadle
fell in love and were married. =20
This brought about a change in the plans of Miss Sophia Camacho, who was
determined to go to India as she had promised. Mr. Wadia and she
discussed this matter, and they decided that a "marriage of convenience"
would be the best method to employ, it being understood from the outset
that working for Theosophy was the sole bond between them, and that Mr.
Wadia lent her the protection of his name so that the original plan
would go forward, and her valuable help could still be made available in
India. On this basis they were married in London in 1928.
In regard to the publishing of THE MAHATMA LETTERS: Mr. Trevor Barker
had earlier written Mr. Wadia and told him of his intention to print
those letters. Mr. Wadia replied that he did not think it was advisable
to do that. Mr. Barker went ahead anyway, and had them published.
Later when he met Mr. Wadia in London, he is said to have again asked:
"Did I do right in publishing them ?" To this BPW answered: "You should
not have published them, but I am glad that you did it."
1928 found Mr. and Mrs. Wadia on their way from London to India, and
together with Mr. T. L. Crombie they visited in October the Netherlands
staying at the home of Mr. T. F. Vreede near The Hague. He had been
instrumental in bringing back pure Theosophy as presented by the ULT to
that town and to Amsterdam. BPW gave a number of talks and conducted
study classes. =20
1929
Between January and the end of April 1929, Mr. Wadia lectured for the
London ULT at the Victoria Hall, Bloomsbury, to packed audiences ( 2,300
+) The London Lodge was then housed in rented premises in a building a
couple of blocks from Marble Arch. [During the 2nd World War, that
building was bombed, a large number of books were destroyed, and while
temporary repairs enabled meetings to be continued, it was apparent that
the London Lodge would have to seek for new premises. When a building
was purchased at 62 Queen's Gardens, near Paddington Station, the Lodge
made its move.] The London Branch of the Aryan Path magazine (started
in 1930) worked out of the building; and in the floor devoted to the
Library, meetings were held for the London Branch of INDIAN INSTITUTE OF
WORLD CULTURE (started in 1944 in Bangalore, India by Mr. Wadia).
In March 1929, Mr. and Mrs. Wadia were in London, they also were visited
by many students from the European continent. They, in turn, visited a
number of the ULT Lodges there before beginning their trip to India. A
ULT Study Group was started in Amsterdam under the inspiration received
by some of its residents from their visits and talks with him. The
Antwerp Lodge was inaugurated on November 17th 1956. Lodges were also
started in Amsterdam and The Hague.
1929
Bringing original and pure Theosophy back to India, was next. Those
students who had gone ahead, had established themselves there, and had
found a suitable hall for meetings in the "Fort" of Bombay at 51
Esplanade Rd., Flora Fountain (now the center of the business district).
They had located a fine residential complex at 17 Bomanji Petit Rd. in
Malabar Hill 4 miles away, where apartments were available for all. The
Wadias had a small detached bungalow in the same compound. Mr. and Mrs.
Wadia landed in Bombay on May 31st, 1929 just before the monsoon rains
arrived.
The Bombay branch of the ULT was opened on November 17th 1929. The
inaugural meeting found the ULT hall full and overflowing. Mr. Wadia
was well known and soon Sophia Wadia's oratory was appreciated.
Speaking engagements from various social and communal groups poured in,
asking them to lecture on Theosophy or on some aspect or other of the
ancient tenets of that faith. As the reputation of the ULT grew, so did
the regular membership, and Study Classes, Question and Answer Meetings,
a Theosophy School for children on Saturday afternoon kept everyone busy
most of the week. The Library was kept open for the public every day
except Sunday from 10.00 a.m. to 5.30 p.m.
1930 - THE ARYAN PATH
January 1930 saw the first issue of THE ARYAN PATH (the Noble Path)
magazine, supported by articles and editorials, by Mr. Wadia and Mr. T.
L. Crombie, who acted as sub-editor. Mme. Wadia allowed her name to
used as "Editor." Mr. Wadia was of the opinion that the future of
Theosophy in its presentation to the world would be, in one way, through
the writers and poets of the world. Accordingly he and Sophia became
members of the INTERNATIONAL P.E.N. CLUB. They served the P.E.N. in
organizing its Indian chapter and maintaining its offices and a monthly
magazine called THE INDIAN P.E.N.=20
1930 -- THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT
November 17th 1930 saw the issuing of the first number of THE
THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT. All articles were unsigned therein, except those
that had been written by H.P.B., W.Q.J. or others who had made signed
contributions in the older Theosophical magazines.
Dr. Eleanor M. Hough, a ULT student from the Washington D.C., Lodge came
to Bombay in March 1931. [She was the author of THE HISTORY OF THE
COOPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN INDIA, published by Oxford University Press.]
She became active as its sub-editor, under Mr. Wadia. After Mr. Wadia's
death, Miss Dastoor took on the full responsibility of Editor, and since
1957 has been solely responsible for continuing this work up until the
present (2003).
An active publishing program was started in Bombay, and reprints of
articles and the shorter texts written by HPB and WQJ, in both book and
pamphlet form, have been issued.
=09
1934
A large, older house had been purchased for the Wadias and several other
active families to live in. It was located right on the shore of the
\Arabian Sea. facing the west at the foot of Malabar Hill. Some 20
ULTers in various families lived in "Aryasangha" for nearly 25 years in
great harmony and friendliness. The Wadias occupied the upper floor of
the main building, and whenever some visitor came, or some event of
theosophical significance presented itself, associates from all over the
area were always invited to come and to meet them. Many important
persons were thus met, and important events occurred in which Mr. Wadia
arranged that we could participate. The ARYASANGHA property was
eventually sold in 1957 to partly defray the cost of erecting THEOSOPHY
HALL, (designed for ULT activities and providing some residential
arrangements for active members). A seven storied building in the
"Fort" at 40 New Marine Lines was erected
1938
In 1938 a sister Lodge of the Bombay ULT was opened in Matunga, about 11
miles to the north of the original Bombay ULT. The reason for this was
that a number of students living there desired a permanent Study Class
and meeting hall. Mr. Wadia gave the inaugural talk there. Two weekly
meetings and a public library were maintained there.
After the death of Mr. Crombie, the original co-editor of THE ARYAN
PATH, Dr. Eleanor M. Hough and others assisted Mr. Wadia in his editing
task for this magazine. Mme. Wadia continued to lend her name to it as
its "Editor" until it ceased publication, soon after Mr. Wadia's death.
[ See THEODORE L. CROMBIE - Friend of India by Ethel Beswick, publisher:
INTERNATIONAL BOOK HOUSE PVT. LTD., Bombay, Nov. 1958. ]
In 1941 equipment was bought to set up a printing press for the Bombay
U.L.T. One of the students, an experienced printer, who lived in
Baroda, some 260 miles North of Bombay, offered to equip the "SADHANA
(responsibility) PRESS" there, so that the three magazines and other
theosophical books could be printed reliably and without strain. =20
Miss Mabel Lithander, one of the senior associates of the Bombay ULT
established herself in Baroda to assist in this work. From the month of
May 1941 the magazines were published from that address. The Baroda
Study Group of the ULT began its work at that time. Work continued
there until February 1954 when the W. Q. JUDGE PRESS was opened in
Bangalore. The magazines were published from the new address
thereafter. Sadhana Press in Baroda was ultimately sold to Baroda
University to become the base for Baroda University Press. Miss
Lithander, retired to the Nilgiri summer home of the Wadias:
GURUMANDIR, in Ootacamund. She died there May 5th 1958.=20
1942
1942 was the time of the second World War. Students of ULT suddenly
found themselves transferred by their offices to new locations. A
number of them drew to themselves others who became in their turn
students of Theosophy, and Study Groups were formed in their homes in
New Delhi (which in l960 became a Lodge ), Calcutta, Poona, Baroda, and
Madras.
On the 12th of August 1942, the Bangalore Lodge of ULT was opened in
response to the needs of students there. A building was purchased for
this purpose: "Maitri Bhavan" (Abode of Friends) at 15, Sir Krishna
Rao Rd., Basavangudi, Bangalore 4. It houses a central hall for regular
meetings, lectures, and study classes; a library devoted to
Theosophical reference books; and also residential quarters for
visiting students. It conducts a publishing program that is
complementary to, and in harmony with that which the Bombay Lodge runs.
In this work it has reprinted the many pamphlets that make the articles
of HPB and WQJ available to students at low cost following the pattern
adopted earlier by the Los Angeles Lodge.
1945
In 1945 on August 11th, the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURE was started by
Mr. Wadia, with Dr. L. S. Doraiswamy as its first Secretary. This was
to be an extension of Theosophical work, in line with the 2nd Object of
the modern Theosophical Movement. This brought to Bangalore to lecture
persons from many countries who were visiting India; and it also served
as a forum for prominent Indian specialists to lecture on their
investigations and findings. Later the name of this institution was
changed to THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE. It houses a large
library, sponsors many regular programs of talks, musical recitals,
seminars. And, it has a substantial publishing program of books,
transactions and pamphlets in addition to its regular monthly BULLETIN.
The inaugural meeting and many subsequent meetings were held at No. 1,
North Public Square Rd. which Mr. TenBroeck had bought as his home and
to be used for that purpose. This building later became used as the
home of the Montessori classes of the EAST-WEST SCHOOL -- a school that
Mrs. E. P. TenBroeck and Miss Sophia TenBroeck started in 1961. The
school, with an enrollment of over 700 pupils in classes spanning 12
years, from the Montessori to Matriculation classes, has flourished
since then.
Some years later over an acre of land was acquired at No. 6, North
Public Square Rd. for the IIWC [Indian Institute of World Culture], and
buildings were erected. These include a lecture hall, the Wm. Q. JUDGE
HOSTEL for students, a LIBRARY, and other buildings. All activities of
the I.I.W.C. were thereafter conducted from there. In 1959, following
Mr. Wadia's death ( Aug. 20th, l958 ), North Public Square Road was
renamed by the Bangalore Municipality and citizenry: B. P. WADIA
ROAD.=20
The WILLIAM QUAN JUDGE COSMOPOLITAN HOME was opened -- a place where
students could live inexpensively while studying at local educational
institutions. The chief aim in this regard, was to promote
intercultural exchange and universal brotherhood with no distinctions of
any kind being made. Every evening in the main hall of the Hostel a
devotional meeting was held with readings from the texts of the great
world philosophers and prophets.
1955
On the 18th of February 1955 Mr. Wadia laid the corner stone for the
present home ( THEOSOPHY HALL ) of the ULT in Bombay at 40 New Marine
Lines. 328 persons were in attendance. In doing this, he used this
invocation:
"We lay this Foundation Stone to the Glory of the Great Architect
of the Universe, Vishwa-Karman, whose Hidden Light is vibrant in every
speck of Matter making each a shining spark. May His Blessings be upon
it.
"We invoke the Power of His Wise Master Builders, Their Cunning
Craftsmen, and Their Obedient Servants.
"May the Blessing of the Holy Ones and of Their Servant H. P.
Blavatsky, her colleague William Q. Judge and his devotee Robert
Crosbie, Founder of the U.L.T., be upon it and upon the Temple to rise
above it.
"We declare this Foundation Stone well and truly laid."
1957
November 9th 1957, in Bangalore, saw the opening of the New Hall of the
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURE by the Maharajah of Mysore, (he was also
Mysore State's first Governor in Independent India) at 6 North Pubic
Square Rd. in the Basavangudi quarter of Bangalore. At that time Mr.
Wadia, who welcomed the Maharajah, renamed the INSTITUTE so that it now
included the word: "WORLD" : --- "THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD
CULTURE."
On November 17th 1957 THEOSOPHY HALL in Bombay was inaugurated at 6.15
p.m. by Mr. Wadia. The auditorium and balcony built to accommodate 500
was overflowing and people stood in the aisles. Over 700 were counted.
ULT associates from all over India and several foreign countries came
for the event.
The building houses on two floors the main auditorium, above are two
floors devoted to the ULT offices and the Reference Library -- ( over
100,000 books and pamphlets available ). The INDIAN P.E.N. had a floor
devoted to its offices. On the top two floors are apartments for active
students who work constantly at the Lodge. =20
1958
August 11th 1958 was to be the Foundation Day lecture at the IIWC. It
was to be given by Mr. Wadia, who had been ill for some days. He had
prepared a magnificent talk under the title: OUR SOUL'S NEED (later
reprinted). He began reading it, but his voice grew weaker, and he
turned the reading over to Mrs. Sophia Wadia, who finished reading it,
while he waited in a chair at the back of the auditorium. A typed copy
of this had earlier been mailed to Bombay, where on the same day at 4.30
p.m. a number of students gathered in the Library to read it. (The
Library room at the Bombay Lodge is used for meetings of the Bombay
Branch of the IIWC.)
August 20th 1958
August 20th 1958 early in the pre-dawn of Bangalore, the intimate
friends of Mr. Wadia were called to an emergency meeting with him. The
time was 2.20 a.m. He knew that he was approaching death and desired to
speak to them of the future. [Present: Mrs. Sophia Wadia, Dr. Eleanor
Hough, Mr. Mrs. Mirabai Doraiswamy, Wm. Davis TenBroeck, Mis Sophia
TenBroeck, Mr. Anand Kundaji, and others]
He spoke of the changes that the cycles had brought to him. He reviewed
some past incidents in his life. His first meeting with the Master in
the "Brahma-Vishnu-Siva Cave" in 1907; his vision of HPB early during
his stay in Adyar (November 18th 1918), which two events he said had
inspired his life. He indicated that there would be changes now, and
that responsibility had henceforth to be shared among those who had been
near to him, and who would survive him. After this meeting, a number of
students left reports on what they remembered hearing, differing
somewhat as to actual content. The main ideas are reported here.
It was not until that evening, that he actually passed away. The time
of the death of his body was 7.17 p.m. His friends met immediately
after the event and read from the devotional books he loved: the
BHAGAVAD GITA, VOICE OF THE SILENCE, and LIGHT OF ASIA.
Cremation was the next morning at Chamrajpet, a suburb of Bangalore. =20
As is customary, in the early dawn of the morning following a cremation,
two ULT students (one was Mr. TenBroeck) went to the cremation ground to
collect the ashes in earthen jars so that they could be scattered in the
Cauvery river, some 80 miles away. They both stated, that they had
noticed on arrival, that there was a very distinct and penetrating odor
of sandalwood in and around the ashes of Mr. Wadia's pyre. These ashes
were taken by car to the banks of the Cauvery river, some 80 miles west
of Bangalore. There at the southern tip of the island of Seringapatnam
those ashes were poured into the great river.=20
August 28th 1958 there was a Memorial Meeting at the IIWC at which a
number of his friends and admirers made speeches in his honor. His
death was noticed in all the major newspapers of the country.
The Indian Institute of World Culture in Bangalore, and its branches in
Bombay and elsewhere, hold Memorial Meetings each year in honor of Mr.
B.P.Wadia, at which his work is recalled and reviewed.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D
=09
Attached:
Bibliography of works by B.P.Wadia. =20
Addendum.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Addendum
B. P. WADIA ADDITIONAL NOTES
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
MEMORANDUM from W. Dallas TenBroeck:=09
(EXTRACTS from a letter sent to an inquirer 1992) :
"B.P.Wadia was a friend of my parents when I was born (Dec. 1922). I
have lived near Mr. Wadia, and worked with, and for him, directly and
indirectly, until his death in 1958. I hold him in the highest respect,
and have studied his life and his works for all these years; also,
comparing them with the writings of HPB and WQJ on THEOSOPHY. Here was
a man who lived to help others. In the sense that Tom Paine wrote: "His
country was the World, and "to do good" was his religion."
"Among Mr. Wadia's papers, I came across some mention of his visiting
KROTONA T S in Hollywood (1919), and also of the stir that he made among
the membership of the TS in the US, when, in 1919/1920, he publicly
upheld the right of the TS members to democratically run their elections
and resist any pressures (from their E S or whatever source), that might
impair their individual right to decide how they would vote, or what
they would investigate. He was a member of the American Section of the
T S and spoke and wrote as such, not as a visitor, or an "import" from
Adyar. His opposition was complained of to Mrs. A. Besant in Adyar. He
did write a lengthy letter of explanation circulated generally to the
American membership in which he explained his position in the light of
Theosophical principles and again stated that he was actually a member
of the American Section of the TS and had a right to his opinion, and to
expressing it to other American members.
Common-sense and decency demand that no one person, or cabal dominate
others for whatever pretext through coercive means, especially in the TS
where Brotherhood is the only object that all members have subscribed
to. Also, if one cannot tolerate emergent abuse of principle, the first
and only recourse of a "pledged" person is resignation. This can only
be done individually, not as a group. A "group" is not essential for
the kind of help and support that the world needs, but there is no
reason why any student who is devoted to Masters, to HPB, and to Their
Theosophy, cannot start where he is and organize a study center with
whatever persons Karma may bring him. It is all in the will, the
motive, and a matter of sincerity, of an inner devotion to HPB, to the
Masters, and to THEOSOPHY, and above all, a grand, embracing and
all-inclusive love for Humanity as a whole. =20
If reference is made to H.P.B.'s original papers it will be found that
it, the "esoteric body" cannot and may not influence or have anything to
do with the exoteric T.S. This principle has been violated many times
after Her death, by those who chose to elevate themselves and made claim
to be Her "successor." If, they were, in turn, accepted as such by the
membership who were unprepared to assume the responsibility of
independent decision, which HPB had indicated they should exercise in
this regard, the results proved disastrous in time to the exoteric=20
T S .
Mr. Judge, in the expansion of Theosophy in America, after 1886, took
advantage of the wave of interest that arose, and which, in many places,
he stated was the result of Adept influence felt all over the country by
those individuals whose karma made them sensitive to it.
Recently a fine biography of "H.P.Blavatsky" bearing the title "H P B --
Elena Blavatsky: Her Extraordinary Influence," by Sylvia Cranston, has
been issued, the first printing sold out in 6 weeks time, with little
advertisement. [By November 1993 over 20,000 copies had been sold.
Over 1800 were distributed to University Libraries in the USA. A 6th
printing is being made and 1994 will find that a paper-back edition is
to be issued in 1995. French, German, Dutch, Italian, and Russian
translations are being arranged for.] It is now in a paper-back
edition.
Students of Theosophy could take advantage of this. The participation
of Theosophical bodies at the Centenary commemoration of the Parliament
of Religions in Chicago ( Aug/Sept. 1993 ) underlines the significance
of Theosophy, now, as it was in 1893. =20
I enclose a "bio-chronology" on Mr. Judge, showing the enormous value of
his contribution to the Movement, if you will review the synopsis of
annual REPORTS he reported on as "General Secretary, Amer. Sec. T. S.,"
which is included therein, you will see how he caused the work to
expand, employing many fine ideas, and the energies of many volunteers.
There is early evidence of a type of misunderstanding in T S history in
Adyar, that which relates to "authority," to an expectation that
individual members and Branches of the T.S. would accept and comply
with, in docile conformity and acceptance, to such "orders" as the
President, Col. Olcott, PTS might issue from "Adyar." =20
HPB will be found to have been one of the first to protest and resist
this authoritarianism. In her article: A PUZZLE FROM ADYAR, (HPB
ARTICLES, Vol. II, p 217; U.L.T.) she points to the ethical and personal
principles of Theosophical application every member should employ. =20
These she declares are transcendent to any "orders" issued from Adyar,
whether by the president, or any other person or body that claimed
authority to direct the activities and thought of the membership. She
claimed that the essence of Theosophical application was the
self-induced and self-devised decisions made by individual members. It
was a putting into effect the ethics of Theosophy based on the
independent understanding and choice of each member. This is how Karma
operates. This is how all mankind and every being in the Universe
progresses: on their own independent decisions at whatever their level
of intelligence or consciousness. =20
Along with this article: A PUZZLE FROM ADYAR, two more articles by HPB
could be read with great profit, if one desires to understand the
extreme importance of this principle: WHY I DO NOT RETURN TO INDIA (a
letter sent with Bertram Keightley in 1890 to the Indian members, and
not published until January 1922 and July 1929 in THE THEOSOPHIST.) HPB
ARTICLES, Vol. I, p 106, ULT; CWB XII, 156, and SHE BEING DEAD YET
SPEAKETH - extracts from private letters of HPB read to members by
Jasper Niemand; THE PATH VII, p. 121; ULT, HPB ARTICLES, Vol. I, p.
115).
=20
The first "sin against Brotherhood" openly done after HPB's death was
Olcott's precipitous action in declaring the American Section as a whole
had seceded, when, in April 1895, it elected to become an affiliated,
but independently administered T.S. IN AMERICA. In seeming retaliation
for his loss of direct control he refused to have any consideration for
the further actions of the T.S. in AMERICA, which, had registered its
desire to remain in fraternal affiliation with the T.S. Sections,
Branches and Fellows in Adyar and elsewhere. =20
He then presented at a General Meeting of the European Section T.S.
resolutions (in 1895) excommunicating the membership of the T.S.IN A,
naming Mr. Judge, its President, and all other members seceders. The
principle of local autonomy had been agreed to years earlier by him.
First, Mr. Sinnett insisted since 1883 that the LONDON LODGE of the T.S.
should remain entirely independent of his control, to which he agreed.
Later, he wrote to Mr. Judge and to HPB that he had no objection to the
formation of independent Sections. The implementation of local
independence had been arranged by the formation, in turn of the
"American Section," the "British Section," and the "European Section" of
the T.S. =20
The reason for the creation of these several "sections" was the rapid
expansion of the membership of the T S, and, so as to avoid the delays
and the slowness in administrative matters of detail, when those were
concentrated in the President's office in Adyar, India - also, because
he was frequently absent on tours of duty. Mail was slow and thus
detail suffered, as correspondence with Judge and HPB reveals. Certain
problems had also arisen in Adyar among the staff there which led to
inaccuracy and delays.
Legally, it could be treated as a secession of the T.S. outside of
America, as a whole, led by its President: Col. Olcott, from its
original and legal source and center, which had never changed: in New
York. This is a fact in History ! To explain:
When, in 1878 December, Col. Olcott and HPB left New York for England
first, then on to India, they did so as a COMMITTEE on behalf of the
Parent T.S., that remained in New York. Resolutions in the original
Minute Book of the TS ( now in the archives of the T S in Pasadena )
show this. From later notes (not Resolutions), Col. Olcott attempted to
show (in 1895) that legally there were Resolutions framed (but not
formally passed) which gave him, as P.T.S. (President of the T.S.) the
right to create or do anything for the T S that he pleased, no matter
where he was. Thereafter, the rules of the T. S. were from time to time
changed by him, in India, to suit emerging problems of administration.
So long as these claims and rules were not made onerous or
"authoritative" the various Branches and later, the Sections, went along
with them. They were accepted de facto not de jure.
In New York, the Parent T S continued under the management of Gen. Abner
Doubleday, who was appointed in 1879 its President pro tem, and Mr.
W.Q.Judge, its Recording Secretary. Later still, Gen. A. Doubleday
resigned and Judge as General Secretary suggested a "Board of Control"
be established to speed up administrative matters, review applications
for membership, admissions, etc. This was implemented.
Later, (1889-90) Mr. Harte, temporarily assistant Editor of THE
THEOSOPHIST, while Col. Olcott was absent on tour in Japan, made the
claim that the "Headquarters of the T.S. were, wherever he, the PTS,
happened to be located !" And further, stated that all members and
Branches owed "loyalty" to Adyar. (A similar action seems to have also
occurred, after the death of Mr. Judge. Mrs. Katherine Tingley, in
1896, had been elected Judge's "successor." She had gradually acquired
ascendancy over the membership of American Theosophists, both exoteric
and esoteric. In 1898 she "ordered" certain changes. This was
protested by several of the prominent members, Hargrove, the Keightleys
and others, who had been working under Mr. Judge and who had then
elected her to be "leader," and "succeed" him. This protest resulted in
a split between her UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND THEOSOPHY Society--which
the T.S. IN AMERICA had renamed itself--and a new body, which resumed
the old appellation. THE THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY IN AMERICA, was brought
into being. This new T. S. IN A. continued in existence under the
presidentship of Mr. E. T. Hargrove until the mid 1930s.)
In every case, the imposition of "authoritarian" rule coupled with the
failure to apply fair ethical principles in administration has led to
ill feelings among members, and a failure in the moral/ethical integrity
of those involved became apparent. Both the enforcers and those who
accepted enforcement, without insisting that common-sense ethical
principles be rigidly upheld, have caused the debasing of the esoteric
and the exoteric bodies. Most struggles have revolved around money and
power, which True Theosophy has nothing to do with. The Masters, and
both HPB and WQJ made this clear.
The matter became further complicated by the unexpected, and wholly
illegal, imposition of force from the so-called "Outer Head" of an
"Esoteric Section" that operated within the ranks of the T S membership.
A "pledge" said to be made by members of the E S who entered this
"esoteric" body, to "obey" the "orders" of an "O.H." related solely to
occult study and work, and to self-control and self-reform, and not to
exoteric matters, such as administration and finances. This is
demonstrable from existing records during the time when HPB, WQJ and
Col. Olcott were alive, and had also some say as simple members in the
administration of the "exoteric" body the T S.
=20
The political maneuvers of the exoteric T. Mvt. have nothing to do with
the promulgating and the exemplifying of THEOSOPHY as a philosophy or
the practice of those tenets as a self-adopted discipline. They waste
time and energy, and they detract from the important work of spreading
the message of Theosophy, or BROTHERHOOD in the world.
Clear speech on sound principles is the only way that any TS
"organization/association/group, etc." can run. The "conference method"
is the only one in which a reasonable consensus can be gained. We are
long past the era of authoritarianism, or rule by right of royal, or of
"apostolic succession," the laying on of hands, etc. All those things
open the doors to some form of sectarianism, and generally an abuse of
power for personal benefit. Pity the future of those people who follow
blindly self-seekers and claimants of various stripes. We need to apply
our knowledge of Karma, reincarnation and derive from Theosophy such
moral and ethical bases for our decisions as will revolutionize the
world in a true sense. Brotherhood in practice will alone do this.
Essentially, administration in a truly Theosophical body, ought to be a
form of practical, cooperative "anarchy." Local units establish a bond
of mutual trust, based on common-sense principles that are universal and
impartial. It is a total elimination of any personal or "partisan"
interest. If such a situation is not possible, then the eventual
spiritual and material failure of any T S organization can be predicted
with invariable accuracy. =20
It is for this reason that Mr. Wadia in 1919-20, after finding how Judge
had been treated by the conspirators (Olcott, A. Besant, B. Keightley,
Olds, Edge, and others ) of 1893-6, on his return to India and Adyar,
first protested directly to Mrs. Annie Besant (who privately agreed that
he was right. But, she said to him that although Mr. Judge had been
unfairly treated she was unwilling at that time to make any further
public redress beyond what she had already written in her article
THEOSOPHICAL WORTHIES in 1909 in the THEOSOPHIST. If one refers to the
book entitled THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT (1875-1925), and 25 years later,
an updated edition. covering the period (1875-1950), all the documents
issued, and the sequence of events will be found given. There are no
mysteries left. Most of what has been written pro- and con- the doings
of the individuals involved in the TS can be independently reviewed
using documents. It now becomes the responsibility of those who read
these statements to verify them for themselves and then to decide how to
act individually.
One might be led to conclude that when individuals abandon the
impersonal application of the philosophy of THEOSOPHY for the sake of an
ORGANIZATION, they get nothing but a seared and dried-up shell.
Thereafter, they may be assuming the dangerous Karma of misguiding their
contemporaries and misleading millions of people still unborn. A heavy
Karma rests on even minor decisions made by any student of Theosophy at
a time such as this. If we take it to be true, as the Great Master
stated, that the "TS was chosen to be the corner-stone for the future
religions of humanity." We are now living hardly 125 years since the
repromulgation of Theosophy and therefore are privileged to be involved
in this formative, foundational work. We may assume that the tests and
the decisions that rest on us are of great magnitude and we should be
most careful. Whatever we are, and however we may rate ourselves, it is
a Karmic opportunity for us.
Loyal adherence to a "power group" is like backing the Church Fathers of
the early centuries of Christianity, as they went cutting, paring,
twisting, interpolating and adjusting their selections from current, and
from ancient scriptures, and the Gospels, to fashion a Credo, and a
Church that would serve the needs of black magic to enslave the masses
for many centuries into the future, right up to about 300 years ago,
when the Reformation began in various centers of Europe. They were so
clever that they succeeded in almost entirely concealing their work. In
preventing their descendants by taboos, from discovering the traces of
their malefactions, they condemned millions of faithful but ignorant
adherents to be duped by impossible and absurd explanations, rites,
ceremonies and promises which are entirely illogical and certainly not
verifiable - the creeds and beliefs (so called rites and sacraments) of
the Christian Churches.
The publication, in 1896 of the "THIRD AND REVISED EDITION OF THE SECRET
DOCTRINE," [with over 40,000 alterations from the "Original Edition" of
1888 - which, needless to say HPB had not authorized or supervised], and
the addition to that of an entirely spurious "THIRD VOLUME," [ this 3rd
Vol. contrary to HPB statements made in THE SECRET DOCTRINE, Vols. 1
and 11, gives adequate indication of the seriousness of the disease.]
A careful reading of the 2nd Vol. of ISIS UNVEILED will show so many
parallels, historically, to this creedal trend, that one should not be
surprised, but only feel deep sorrow, that so many have failed to abide
by their pledged "word of honor." How can anyone who breaks that, be
thereafter trusted ?
If one desires to write a biographical apercu of Mr. Wadia' life and
work, with emphasis on his work in the U S and Canada, the CANADIAN
THEOSOPHIST for the months of 1919/20 carried the most detailed reports
of his lectures. When in America, the AMERICAN THEOSOPHIST did the
same. As soon as his resignation from the T S became known, they dropped
further mention of him. =20
Miss Jeanne Sims of Los Angeles might know more of Mr. Wadia's life and
work. She was helpful in providing copies of her work compiled from Mr.
Wadia's writings. I would say, by and large, that the record left us,
in writing, is the most reliable of those of individual worth. We have,
fortunately had some great personages who have supported and worked for
THEOSOPHY in those remnants of the T S that ought to be vigorously
pursuing the work that HPB died to give to us. In the ranks of the
anonymous ULT students who have patiently and perseveringly carried on
the work of preservation, of study, and of promulgation of the original
teachings of Theosophy very little is known or referred to. Emphasis is
given to those teachings, not to the people who have made U.L.T.
successful, so far.
If you have not seriously studied the work of the ULT, you ought to do
that. It gives no eminence to anyone. It responds to the need of those
who wish to study and to work for THEOSOPHY. Those who seek no
recompense or personal stature, and who are moved only by a sense of the
debt they owe to HPB, to WQJ, and, behind them, stand the Masters, and
to their brother men--humanity. They are especially grateful to all the
Great Ones who have kept the grand ideals alive. And, understanding
Their love for Humanity as a whole, are those who support and work for
it. They abandon ( while not being ignorant of ) any "official"
considerations such as those offered by organizations like the various
T.S.'s or their offshoots. =20
In that impersonal principle and its strict application lies ULT's
inherent strength. Its DECLARATION, and the implication of
self-discipline and of cooperation with ones' fellows as embodied there,
preclude any personal aggrandizement. It enshrines a self-cleansing
nature which combs out those who prove to be unfit to keep its vitality
alive. If this is applied successfully by our descendants, then it will
continue constructively for a while. But I can anticipate that
eventually it may fail. From 1909 up to now (1995) is 86 years. The
greatest barrier to those who might desire to "join" the ULT is the lack
of recognition of a personal nature that they will receive. They will
have all the responsibilities and none of the advertising ! But
consider the fact that we are all immortals - they will have to pick up
from where they left off in the next life -- we always do.
There is a real power in a strenuous life for THEOSOPHY. But this
cannot be bottled up by anyone. It has to be diffused, and the wider,
the better. So long as the ULT retains its independent-dependence it
will serve as the "Voice of Conscience" for Theosophists in the world.
The hot flame of truth in action burns away all useless chaff from the
"golden grain" of duty. Its main purpose is to see that the original
teachings of Theosophy are faithfully made available to inquirers. When
this task was first entrusted to the other "societies," it was soon
noticed that "Editorial changes, emendations, deletions and alterations"
crept in, so as to obscure those originals, and make more difficult to
find those instructions which those who are innately esotericists seek.
This is a great danger. It is, in effect, the arrogation to ones' self
a knowledge that pretends to transcend that of HPB and the Masters.
Even the ULT has, and will undergo "shocks." There are constant
attempts to cause minor and major disruptions. Only the DECLARATION
(and its constant use and study) provides a "shield" for these to glance
off of relatively harmlessly. Now consider with me the action that Mr.
Wadia chose to take, and make of his capacities a part of the supportive
understructure of this "shield," and add to the penetrating work of
"true Theosophy." =20
This does not mean that an independent T S -- as all Branches were
deemed to be, and as, for instance, the Edmonton Lodge in Canada is --
cannot use and apply identical principles. It was originally intended
that the individual T S es would be exactly like the free and
independent but confederated states that entered into the same Union as
the USA did. No one state could rule another and the Federation was
intended as administrative expediency and coordination, not rule. This
has been the source of abuse of all democratic states. where the central
federation has made of itself, and of some of its more powerfully
conniving units (persons) rulers. Unfortunately Olcott in his zeal to
administer problems fairly, made it autocratic.
It is said that the Mission, the work of HPB was to "change the Manas
and the Buddhi of the Race." [W.Q.J. LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME, p. 72]
This is a peculiar phrase, but one which is vibrant with the effort of
the spiritual will--how best to move millions of minds and psyches to a
consciousness of their own worth, to the sense of the independence that
an immortal, eternal Being has inherently? That, destroys ignorance and
"blind servitude" to any personal authority. We are now watching the
unfolding of this process all around us, and all over the world.=20
How can we best help? Precept and example do this. Keeping the purity
of THEOSOPHY alive and active in the world is the most essential thing
that anyone can do. Reviving old corpses, is an exercise in wasting
good energy. In effect it is an attempt to reverse the past; whereas a
fresh beginning usually, under Karma, attracts those minds and hearts
that are searching for THEOSOPHY. The old group, if they wanted
THEOSOPHY would not have let the organization founder! The failure to
apply brotherhood is that which has caused all the failures in the
recent revival of the Theosophical Movement. It is time now for
self-healing, if possible. Establishing new bodies for work takes time,
but if the old cannot be brought back to the original lines, then that
is what has to be done. Hence the establishment and support of the ULT
activity, where such delays ought to be precluded.
Mr. Wadia made a personal change to devoting his life-work and energy to
the ULT method - for those strong reasons. Did he submerge himself in
it? Yes he did, and he always kept himself behind the ULT, pushing it,
its purposes (THEOSOPHY, BROTHERHOOD, PROMULGATION), and the wider work
in the world that the Theosophical Movement entails: The P.E.N., The
INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE, and The ARYAN (noble) PATH magazine.
[You could well ask why he did so. If you consider the various T S
organizations around the world, then, and today (1994) you will realize
that the ULT affords a totally free and responsible environment where
independent study, cooperation, and non-authoritarian interdependence
flourishes. So long as the ULT remains true to its DECLARATION it will
offer a safe harbor to all who desire to truly work for humanity in
brotherhood without any selfish motives of their own. The masthead of
the monthly Program of Activities published by the ULT says it in brief:
TO SPREAD BROADCAST THE TEACHINGS OF THEOSOPHY AS RECORDED IN THE
WRITINGS OF H.P.BLAVATSKY AND WILLIAM Q. JUDGE.]
In America, as another example of this kind of strenuous, impersonal,
and wholly devoted work for the betterment of humanity, you have had:
MANAS magazine, edited up to the time of his death by Henry Geiger -
another ULT student for whom THEOSOPHY represented the beacon-light of
the Supreme Goal. He was its anonymous editor for over 40 years of
devoted, disinterested but intensely practical service [1948-1988].
This magazine complemented and supplemented the work of the older
already established magazine THE ARYAN (noble) PATH, which was started
by Wadiaji and edited from Bombay from 1929, till his death in 1958 for
30 years.]
For a moment, let me ask you to suppose that an Adept, or "HPB,"
returned, (and Mr. Judge wrote that She would, as soon as it was
possible--see WQJ ARTICLES II 214), and desired to work for THEOSOPHY
through the existing Theosophical SOCIETIES, bodies or groups -- do you
think THEY (around 1920), would struggle with all the "political"
posturing, and all the "contorted mind-sets" that currently exist, are
partisan, and have the least to do with real THEOSOPHY ? Or would they
try to work through some body which was non-political, non-structured,
and which insisted on perpetuating the work, in original, of both HPB
and WQJ ? And, at the same time, held the personal nature of each
individual student to the lowest possible point of interference in
actual work. [ Read, for instance, Mr. Judge's article: ON FUNDS AND
PROPERTY, PATH, Vol. 8, p. 354. ] =20
In THEOSOPHY, work is always available for those who want to work.
Many hear the call, and in their hearts they respond, but when it comes
to doing they find reasons why they should refrain or abstain. It is
this inner barrier that each has to study, because our success or
failure for the present incarnation is there. Do we work for it, or do
we hinder it by rejection, by distortion, or through tamasic
indifference and inaction ? Each answers this to himself. =20
The personality that we are, is placed by our karma directly into the
Hall of the Two Truths. This is to be found in ancient Egyptian
symbology of the after-death state of Amenti, where it is judged, by the
"heart" of the defunct being placed in the pan of the scales opposite
the "feather" of TRUTH. Here, we judge ourselves: the Lower Self is
that personal self. It is now judging itself in the LIGHT that streams
from the ATMAN our HIGHER PERMANENT SELF. Mr. Judge in "LETTERS" uses
the symbology of a glove, as representing that Lower Self. Some
meditation about that word and idea produce interesting results.
The cycle that begins around 1975 has come and is almost passed, as this
is written at the very end of 2003, the evidence of a power and a change
for the better surrounds us. How could the political, Theosophical, and
human changes in Russia and Eastern Europe have come about - virtually
bloodlessly - the great revolution in physics towards a use of mysticism
and philosophy in describing inter-related disciplines such as
chemistry, astronomy, physics and mathematics? =20
Do we need new and sweeping religious brooms? We have Theosophy. But,
are we making the best use of it ? It is the duty of the "companions,"
Judge said, to rediscover and to employ it. Both HPB and Judge
prophesied that she might return. Are we sure she hasn't ? She as EGO
SUM is just as immortal as we are in our inner essence, so why presume
She is dead, or has abandoned those who work in the movement that she
and The Masters commenced ? We are all under Her (and the Masters'
eye), whether we know it or not, or like it or not.
You ask about Mr. Wadia and his function. Do you not think that it was
one of sustaining and lending strength in the only area (1919-29) where
THEOSOPHY could be still broadcast? The reprinting of the original
texts: SECRET DOCTRINE, ISIS UNVEILED, KEY, VOICE, THEOS. GLOSSARY,
MODERN PANARION, 5 YEARS OF THEOSOPHY, HPB and JUDGE'S magazine articles
-- this was a responsibility assumed by the ULT as those pioneer texts
went out-of-print, and when the light of original effort seemed to have
waned and paled to a great low for the original T S. =20
ULT thus served to keep that "beacon light"--the "phare de l'inconnu"--
alive and vibrant with some of the original energy. Since then, others,
active in the T Ses have picked up their torches. lit them, and are
carrying on as best they can. It is always and for ever the self-effort
that counts.
This work of reprinting the "original teachings" was started under
Robert Crosbie in THEOSOPHY MAGAZINE, which began its publication in
November 1912. It was dedicated to reprint the articles of HPB and
Judge that were, by then, out-of-print and unknown to the majority of
those that formed the new generation of Theosophists. =20
Another of its functions was to clear away the confusion and vagueness
as to what had happened in Theosophical chronology, and make the history
of the Theosophical Society and its chief actors a matter of public and
visible record to students and all other inquirers, and thus to strip
away false secrecy, innuendo, hearsay, calumny and other confusions,
such as false "authority," by quoting from original documents available
to all inquirers.
When Mr. Wadia broadcast his resignation from the T S and gave there his
reasons, he combed a large number of sincere students and devotees of
HPB and WQJ out of the T.S. into centers where the ULT and its "straight
HPB THEOSOPHY" would be used and studied by them. It was determined by
him and those others who had responsibility for the guidance of the ULT
work, that an intensive study of what Theosophy actually was, would be
the first and most valuable tool to be used by all students. =20
The promulgation and publishing work of the ULT was then tailored to
that objective, and continues to be. The study of the "Three
Fundamentals" (Secret Doctrine, Vol. I, pp. 13-19), of the "Ancient
Source of Theosophy" (Secret Doctrine, I, p. 272-3) and of the "Ten
Propositions of Oriental Psychology" (Isis Unveiled, Vol. II, pp. 587-8)
was done at all study-class meetings as a preliminary. The intensive
study of THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY by HPB, and of THE OCEAN OF THEOSOPHY by
WQJ was then pursued; and the special study of the BHAGAVAD GITA was
undertaken.=20
The republishing in photographic format of HPB's larger books was then
taken up. The rest of the T.Ses have since then tagged along,
eventually, when they found that what they were then serving was not
nourishing the deeper aspirations of their membership; and, further,
they were accused of distortion and obscuration of HPB's teachings, when
their offerings were compared with the originals. Eventually they again
have reprinted the originals themselves. =20
This has proved a real blessing to inquirers, as everyone now has easy
access to those important books and facts through their wider diffusion.
A further indication of Theosophy having "arrived" in the circles of
Academia is the fact that a number of "graduate students" are found to
be studying various aspects of theosophical history and the development
of the applications of theosophical principles through the literature
available, such as work with and for children. In the departments of
Religious Studies in a number of Universities a Professorial Chair has
been set up for the study and preservation of Theosophical material, and
this has been done all around the world.
It is amazing how many minds and hands try to "improve" on HPB. Or say,
casually, "Well, if HPB were here now, she would say ----this, or
-----that," and seek to modernize and up-date her, while unconsciously,
perhaps, putting themselves forward. Fortunately, science and good
scientists know the value of the S.D., and use it. Those who are in the
forefront of mathematics, physics, astronomy and philosophy (not to
mention the social sciences, and the sciences that involve the mind,
psychology and consciousness) are using it, and are familiar with its
teachings and ideas.
Unfortunately, there are still many who cannot distinguish Leadbeater
and Besant, De Puruker and de Zirkov "changes" from the Esoteric
Philosophy of the Ages. But that is another story. Do you have a copy
of Margaret Thomas' THEOSOPHY OR NEO-THEOSOPHY ? If you can get a copy
you will soon see how much Leadbeater and Annie Besant have departed
from the sources of pure Theosophy. =09
-- DTB
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FURTHER NOTE (from DTB):
In regard to your question about instituting the practice of providing
a "Summer retreat for students of Theosophy." =20
I can only think of the instance of Mr. Wadia, who owned, before he
joined the ULT, a property in Ootacamund in the Nilgiri Mountains of
South India. =20
I think that the history of this place is adequately given in my
bio-chronological notes on Mr. Wadia.
The summer climate in Madras, of daily over 100 degrees and almost 100
per cent humidity, and little or no air-conditioning available, makes
this a most punitive climate. The Nilgiris are over 7,000 feet high and
the climate there is "an eternal Spring" -- average 55/75 degrees. This
explains why the property was bought by him. Earlier, HPB and Olcott
had purchased near the "Snowdon" mountain a small cottage. Olcott named
it "Gulmarg," and he said he would eventually retire to it, but, he
never did. [During World War I, when Mrs. A. Besant, Mr. G. Arundale
and Mr. Wadia were interned by the Govt. of Madras for about 3 months,
they were confined to the use of this cottage.]
When the active season of the ULT in Bombay came to a close (usually
after May 8th) and the pre-monsoon heat and humidity was heavy there,
Mr. Wadia would go to Ooty and stay there for several months, and from
time to time he would invite other students to visit and stay for a
while. He used to say that he could do twice as much writing in Ooty
than in Bombay--articles, letters, poured out under his hands. All the
correspondence of the Bombay U.L.T. and the I.I.W.C (other than routine)
was sent to him daily. This he returned daily, with instructions on
handling, or with fully written answers). In other words, his
self-assumed burdens did not lessen when he went there.
After the opening of the Bangalore Lodge, which was only about 190 miles
away from Ooty, he generally cut short his stay in Ooty to come and work
intensively with the Bangalore Lodge until the active season brought him
back to Bombay again around mid August. Bombay is about 800 miles North
West of Bangalore.=20
Even then, there was no such thing as a general invitation to associates
to come for a joint vacation, joint study, etc...as the TS seems to do
in America (Krotona, Ojai; England. and other countries.)
So I have had some doubts about the practice, as it is seems to me to be
physically and psychically "pleasing" to the personality, but lacks a
certain feeling that the combined and intensive work and discipline
directs to the individual perfecting of the personality connected with
it. =20
If you read WQJ's PRACTICAL THEOSOPHY (JUDGE ARTICLES, Vol. II, p.
395...) you will see that Mr. Judge recommends the promulgation of Karma
and Reincarnation as being our primary tasks. That is active, not
passive. If you study Mr. Judge's work, he was constantly encouraging
his friends to work, to promulgate, to seek for those souls who might be
interested in the message of Theosophy.
All of Mr. Judge's time and all the money that came to him for
Theosophical use was employed in this.
The funds that came to the T S in America were not stored away, but were
spent right away in this work of promulgation, and they provided great
results. In letters written to Col. Olcott, Judge states that the money
received ought to be immediately translated into active work for
Theosophy, and not "laid up" in a "fund" for some future use. [see WQJ
- "ON FUNDS AND PROPERTY," THE PATH, Vol. 8, p. 354 ]
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ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION: =20
Was Mr. Wadia beginning a revolution in Adyar in the period around
1918/20 ? This you say has been rumored and where there is a fire there
is smoke, etc... ?
ANSWER by DTB :
In November 1958, Miss Ethel Beswick, who had been working with Mr.
Wadia and Mr. T. L. Crombie in Adyar during the period around 1918-1920
wrote a short biographical sketch of the late Mr. T. L. Crombie's life.
>From this we read:--=20
"...as the years passed he (Crombie) became increasingly dissatisfied
with the part played by the T.S. in the world, for he realized more and
more that Theosophy pure and simple was not being taught and the great
mission of the Theosophical Movement of our century was being lost sight
of. The psychic pronouncement of Mr Leadbeater were ousting the works
of Madame Blavatsky, and the great ideal of the Masters of Wisdom was
being degraded. Living in Adyar itself he continued his friendship with
B.P.Wadia and his respect grew. He recognized Shri Wadia's integrity of
character and devotion to H.P.Blavatsky and Theosophy, and they
discussed what could be done to bring the Society once again in line
with the Original Impulse of the Movement..
Could a change be brought about within the Society? If not, then it
would have to be done from outside. Plans began to be made so that if
all efforts to bring the change from within the Society failed another
effort could be made which would bring Theosophy pure and simple back
into the world. =20
These plans included the founding of an international magazine in which
writers of the world would be free to express the their views, in which
Theosophical principles could be expounded, and where writers who were
struggling to pierce through the ordinary levels of thought into the
universal could find expression.
Further, H.P.Blavatsky had said that it was the duty of the Society to
see that its members were kept in touch with the organization, and a
magazine THE VAHAN had been started in her time and sent free, at first,
to members. Something along this line would be needed for those
Theosophical students who wished to study Theosophy, and though it would
not be sent free to all, the cost would be kept down to the minimum.
One other very important thing had to be done. One of the Founders of
the Theosophical Society in 1875, Mr. William Quan Judge, the faithful
pupil and co-worker with H.P.B., who had died in 1896, had to be brought
from the disgrace into which he had been thrust to his true position in
the Theosophic world. If, as H.P.B. had stated in her first book ISIS
UNVEILED it is the duty of a Theosophist to remove the slur on
"calumniated reputations," then it was surely a Theosophic duty to clear
up the position as regards Mr. Judge. If this could not be done, after
strenuous efforts, within the Society, then it would have to be done
outside.
To have a permanent home in India the present house [originally named
"Brookhampton," renamed: "Guru Mandir" by Mr. Wadia] in Ootacamund was
bought.
Possibilities of a change in India looked poor in 1921 when Shri
B.P.Wadia left India for Europe and America--his second visit. By July
1922 he had lost all hope of any such change and resigned his
membership...Some months later Mr. Crombie left Adyar and resigned from
the Society...
>From 1922 to 1928 Shri B.P.Wadia was in the United States working with
the United Lodge of Theosophists, a body of students of Theosophy
devoted to studying the works of Madame Blavatsky and Mr. Judge, without
officials, dues or regulations. =20
In collaboration with the parent Lodge at Los Angeles, founded by Mr.
Robert Crosbie in 1909, he founded Lodges in New York, Washington D.C.,
and Philadelphia. Plans were made for republishing the writings of
H.P.B. and W.Q.J., and in 1925, the 50th anniversary of the birth of the
Theosophical Movement of this century, an edition was published of THE
SECRET DOCTRINE ...unaltered in any way...
Mr. Crombie visited Mr. Wadia in New York and the plans already
formulated took firmer shape...
In 1928 Shri Wadia's work in the U.S.A. being finished he left for India
via London...the U.L.T. was founded in Paris and plans were made for one
in Amsterdam..."
[ This is quoted from pp 2-4 of THEODORE LESLIE CROMBIE, Friend of
India, by Ethel Beswick -- Nov. 1958, Published by INTERNATIONAL BOOK
HOUSE LTD., 9 Ash Lane, Bombay 1, India ]
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FURTHER EXTRACTS FROM A PRIVATE LETTER - DTB -
"...similarly, the work of Mr. Wadia. His faithfulness to HPB, WQJ, and
to the ideals and function of the ULT are all reflected in his writings.
Originally, when he knew only of the TS and made himself into a student
of HPB through his study of THE SECRET DOCTRINE, of ISIS UNVEILED, he
followed faithfully the policies of the TS, so long as he was in it and
had responsibility to it.
When he entered Adyar to work there, Col. Olcott was still alive. He
gave his pledge then to that venerable (though often mistaken) man to
work for Theosophy under him. Olcott accepted this offer. After
Olcott's death, he gave the same pledge to Annie Besant, believing her
to be the one primarily responsible for carrying on the work of HPB. [
He knew nothing at that time of W. Q. Judge, or of the history of the
split in the TS in America after HPB's death. Those matters had been,
by then, covered over and largely forgotten in the TS in Adyar, in
India. ]
When, in 1919, he went to America and learned of the work and the
principles of WQJ through associates of the ULT, and of the true history
of the modern Theosophical Movement, he realized that a change was to be
made by him to be true to his primary vow: to HPB, and to the support
of her work and of the Objects of THE WORK IN THE WORLD that the Masters
had instituted through Her.
It had been made clear to him how the TS had failed. He knew that the
TS ought to be restored to its original objectives and work, but he did
not know if Annie Besant would agree to do that. In any case he was
faced with a trial: whether to stay on with the TS, which he now knew
to be false to its origins, or whether he should try to redress it, by
going directly to Annie Besant, and asking her to publicly redress the
wrongs done to Mr. Judge, and thus begin the hard process of swinging
the whole TS back into the channels that HPB and the Masters had
originally designed it should follow.
When he returned to India in 1921-22, after his work in Europe and
America, he told Annie Besant what he had discovered about Judge, and
about the band of students in the ULT who were following the Original
Programme. He asked her to make it public that the wrong done to Judge
was to be redressed--as she agreed had been done, to him, privately.
But, Annie Besant refused to do this publicly, or to start altering the
course of the TS. He then resigned, and, getting out of the TS, wrote a
magnificent open letter to all Theosophists where he exposed the
situation, his own decision, and advised them of his joining the ULT and
his reasons for that: to "spread broadcast the writings of HPB and WQJ."
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W. E. WHITEMAN on BPW
[ The following is from the pen of Mr. Wadia's long time friend
and devoted companion: Winifred E. Whiteman of the London, U.K., U.L.T.
Miss Whiteman served as his literary "agent" in Europe, securing
articles for THE ARYAN PATH magazine (1930-1960); and also serving as
European representative for THE INDIAN INSTITUTE OF WORLD CULTURE, which
he had launched in Bangalore, India, in 1945, and for which she
organized a London branch. ]
B. P. WADIA AND THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT
=20
"The mighty Theosophical Movement" was a phrase that 'B.P.' often used,
and the adjective seems to match him also--even to his sense of humor.
We owe the creative and inspiring guidelines, that reinforce and augment
those of Robert Crosbie, the founder of the United Lodge of Theosophists
[U.L.T.], to the breadth as well as the depth of his outlook.
In the opening Editorial of Volume I of The Theosophical Movement, 17th
November 1930, (exactly a year after the Bombay Lodge had started up the
U.L.T. work in India) appeared the following, that echoed the idea that
'B.P.' had himself expressed.
There are two aspects to the Theosophical Movement, the abstract and the
concrete. =20
The first is diffused and expansive. Wherever thought has struggled to
be free, wherever spiritual ideas, as opposed to forms and dogmatism,
have been promulgated, there the great Movement is to be discerned.
This aspect can rightly be named the Republic of Conscience; for,
wherever human conscience is active, in honesty and sincerity, there the
potency of Theosophy is present. The Aryan Path (founded January 1930)
is the vehicle of this aspect of the Movement, while it also presents
teachings of practical value to the aspirant for the Higher Life and to
the students of the esoteric science.
The other, the concrete and visible aspect of the Movement revolves
round the Teachings of H.P.B. known to the world as H. P. Blavatsky.
Accepting the cooperation of others she founded the Theosophical Society
in 1875 in the city of New York, under the direct guidance and
inspiration of the Masters, who by birth and affiliation are Indians.
The U.L.T. activities, and the magazine Theosophy (started November
1912) and The Theosophical Movement were founded to serve the needs of
student-servers of 'Theosophy pure and simple.' The Aryan Path brought
in contributors, many of them prominent in their own fields, whose
writings and general outlook were significantly part of the more
diffused aspect of the Movement, so much so that The Theosophical
Movement, in its section 'Theosophical Activities' gave it equal mention
with those of more specific Theosophical import.
The same ideal and purpose were behind the founding of the Indian
Institute of Culture (as it was named at first) at Bangalore on 11th
August 1945 (H.P.B.'s birthday) thus affirming again the link between
the two aspects of the Movement. The word "World" was included later in
its title to emphasize the breadth of the ideal.
The need to recognize the relationship between the two fields of
Theosophical service continued to be referred to periodically in The
Theosophical Movement. An article published in its 17th of December
1935 issue. entitled "The Aryan Path" emphasized its dual purpose. It
was to make the East and the West aware of the beauty and value of each
other's culture, and also to give help to the "very large body of
aspirants to the higher life outside of Theosophical circles" in
avoiding the dangers of sectarianism and psychism. Secondly, that
purpose included Theosophists also, for, as a Master wrote:
The sun of Theosophy must shine for all, not for a part. There is more
of this movement than you have had an inkling of, and the work of the
T.S. is linked in with similar work that is secretly going on in all
parts of the world."
The article further warned:
"The Theosophical student of this generation has to guard himself
against two extremes: one is to limit the freedom of thought and to
live like a frog who looks upon his pond as the world, with nothing
outside; the other is to expand and embrace indiscriminately--in the
name of brotherhood and fraternization--falsehood, ignorance and
humbug."
The Aryan [ Noble ] Path, enables the Theosophical student to learn what
able minds in East and West alike are thinking and how many among them
understand propositions of the philosophy of Theosophy n\better than
himself and his companions. It will also show him how the race-mind is
unfolding and in what ways humanity is getting ready for the cycle of
1975. If The Aryan path takes Theosophy to the thinking public, it
brings in a compact form to the Theosophical student from the world of
science, philosophy and art, ideas and views and even inspiration which
he sorely needs and so helps him to live and to labor for his Cause in a
better fashion.
A further article "Local Theosophists" (The Theosophical Movement, 17th
Nov. 1938) quoted from H.P.B.'s FIVE MESSAGES that "although there must
be local Branches...there can be no local Theosophists."
The world is wider than any Theosophical organization, and if we would
be universal in character, we must fight against narrowness and keep our
interest in what is going on in the outside world. And we shall find
that there we have our friends and allies...is the "local Theosophist"
going to pass by unheeded a book like Mr. Aldous Huxley's ENDS AND
MEANS, simply because H.P.B. is not quoted from or mentioned, therein ?
Is the power of the Spirit in man to be limited to "Theosophical
organizations" only ? Perish the thought ! We have to look for
Theosophical ideas, ideas which, largely owing to the life of sacrifice
of H.P.B. have percolated (albeit unconsciously to themselves) into the
minds of our great thinkers--and welcome them whenever and wherever we
find them.
The magazine, however, was only the starting point, for, once the last
World War was over, the same aim and purpose was further developed,
spreading out into the broader field of the Indian Institute of World
Culture. This, in addition to its publications, offers a wide range of
talks, exhibitions, drama, dance, film shows and other demonstrations,
in furtherance of its objectives. In his Inaugural Address at the
opening of the William Quan Judge Hostel for students (the Institute's
first unit) B.P. declared that "in the great and immemorial records of
the thoughts of Sages and Seers certain definite principles of
fundamental value are to be found."
Poets are better social builders than politicians, and the thoughts of
philosophers make a deeper impress and last longer in influence than
deeds of social reformers. Ideas rule the world and they primarily
emanate from poets and philosophers, from mystics and occultists. These
great ideas make most suitable foundations. Once their efficacy is
experienced in application by an individual he leaves behind the world
of chaos and strife and begins to glimpse a world of order,
understanding and peace...the Hostel is part of a larger plan, through
which the Ancient Culture which is neither of the East nor of the West
but is universal, will, it is hope, become manifest. In the spirit of
fraternity and brotherhood men and women must learn to live in freedom
and liberty.
But the heart of BPS efforts was his 'concern' (in the Quaker sense of
the word) for those student-strivers who sought more ardently for
greater power to help the Movement. Only those who know fully the range
of his personal contacts and widespread correspondence could evaluate
the measure of the effects on these of his advice, encouragement and
profound heart wisdom. The bringing together of some of his articles
from The Theosophical Movement in the little book LIVING THE LIFE can
be summed up in a sentence from the ending of the first article, a
mantram that B.P.'s own life embodied:
The living Power of Theosophy must become the
power by which we live.
=09
W. E. Whiteman
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ADDITIONAL OBSERVATIONS, copied from DTB's letters
B. P. Wadia information is unique to me, my sister Sophia and a few
others, like Mr. Anand Kundaji, mainly in India, who lived near him.
There are now few of these as he died in 1957 and it is now 2003. My
sister: (Sophia TenBroeck, now deceased, lived in Bangalore, Mysore
State, South India, at 1, Sri B. P. Wadia Rd. She, and my mother, Mrs.
Elizabeth P. TenBroeck, funded, started and managed the EAST-WEST SCHOOL
in Basavangudi, Bangalore from 1961 onward. =20
EAST-WEST SCHOOL is fairly close to the ULT Lodge in Basavangudi,
Bangalore. It has a yearly enrollment of over 700 pupils for the last
25 years or so. She is also the Vice-President of the INDIAN INSTITUTE
OF WORLD CULTURE, which Mr. Wadia started in 1945 so as to bring the
larger sphere of Theosophical influence in the World to the attention of
Bangalorians, and vice versa. =20
Sophia has been in Theosophy, like I have, working with and through the
ULT, since our early years in this incarnation. Mr. Wadia was a friend
of my parents for as long as I can remember, and we lived in an
apartment located immediately below his own residence in "Aryasangha,"
22 Narayan Dabholkar Rd., Malabar Hill, Bombay for over 20 years. =20
So I had every opportunity to participate in, and observe events as they
unrolled: with him, the ULT in Bombay, Matunga (Bombay North), and
Bangalore; also, in the rest of India, as ULT Theosophy Study Classes
were established from Calcutta in the East, and Delhi in the North, to
Madras in the South. =20
[ Other members of the TenBroeck family in India were: Mrs. Elizabeth
P. TenBroeck--my mother, who went to Bombay, India with my father
[William Davis TenBroeck] and myself in 1927, was very active in the
Lodge work and the editing of the magazines, and died in Bangalore in
1982, age 87. Mr father: William Davis TenBroeck (better known to all
friends as "Bill TenBroeck") died in Bangalore in 1958 March almost 6
months after Mr. Wadia died. He came in 1927 to Bombay as the first
American sub-manager in India for the National City Bank of New York
(now CITICORP). Later he established and managed the DENABANK for his
friend: Sri Pranlal Devkaran Nanjee. He owned and ran the Henry Davis
Company Ltd. named after his mother's father, who had been Governor of
Massachusetts. Concurrently, he was Far-Eastern Agent for the Western
Union Telegraph Company in India, Burma, and Ceylon. I am William
Dallas TenBroeck, and use the name "Dallas" to distinguish myself from
my father, while he was alive, as we both have the same first name:
William, and have continued to do so. My wife is Valerie TenBroeck. I
was the managing director of the International Book House Ltd., Bombay
since 1944. Since 1960-70, I acted as Asia representative for the Van
Nostrand Publishing House, Princeton, N.J.]
The "back to Blavatsky" urge in the TS of the 1918/1922 period in Adyar
and elsewhere, was not resented by "the powers that be" then, as I was
given to understand by Mr. Wadia. This was because it was handled quite
openly and naturally, Secret Doctrine in hand. This can be seen from
the articles by Wadia that are published in those years in THE
THEOSOPHIST. He did not hide his admiration of HPB, or of the S D, but
that study and one pointedness lent to his work and writing a depth
which Mrs. Besant recognized and appreciated. =20
His conversations with Crombie, and others who felt that this was
valuable, and who were present in Adyar and elsewhere in India, were
sure that restoring increased prominence to HPB's teachings was valuable
if the T S was to be continued, and was to do the original work set out
for it. This could not be opposed or objected to, as the members and
leaders of the T S, Annie Besant, Leadbeater, Jinarajadasa and others at
Adyar, constantly referred to her, although they no longer studied them,
or taught them in their pristine purity. =20
Mr. Wadia always dealt with Besant openly and fairly. He did not set
himself up overtly or covertly as competition for her, since he had
given her his fealty upon the death of Col. Olcott. He was trying to
see how it would be possible to swing the whole TS back to a closer, a
more vital alignment with HPB's pure and original teachings of
Theosophy, as they were transmitted to her for FTS by the Masters.
No, I did not know that the Baileys attributed some of their support to
Wadia. In 1921, I believe, Alice Bailey wrote several articles for THE
THEOSOPHIST. I never heard him speak of them or their writings in
complimentary terms. Wadia was not political. He was for HPB's
THEOSOPHY. He remained steadfastly a devotee of HPB all his life.
Having found the ULT, and rediscovered for himself the value of Judge as
the link (antaskarana) to HPB, and having carefully observed, analyzed
it, and studied its policy, he adopted it as offering him the widest
field, established on the original programme of the Masters, in which he
could work. =20
He never put himself forward as an individual or a person, but stayed in
the background as a kind of 'reserve energy,' as the great hidden motor,
a power that encouraged others to grow, fit themselves to the work and
proceed. He served as a "safety net" for such as might need assistance
when their own short-sightedness got them into difficulties. =20
He approved of ULT's policy and method, and lending his shoulder to the
"wheel of the cart" of U.L.T. and Theosophy, proceeded to help move them
along. And he encouraged all his friends and the friends of HPB to do
likewise I narrate in the Wadia Bio-Chronology the work that was then
done under his constant enthusiastic leadership of spirit, energy and
inspiration, as he fitted right in with the principles of the ULT
Declaration and the pattern already set by R. Crosbie (which he had
adopted from the writings of HPB and WQJ) and adopted by those who
remained active in ULT, Los Angeles, after Mr. Robert Crosbie's death on
July 25th, 1919. =20
It was interesting for me to note in conversations I have had with
"old-timers" from the days of Crosbie, and shortly thereafter at the Los
Angeles ULT, that some of them were apprehensive of the ability of the
ULT to survive the passing of Crosbie, who must have known of his
approaching death as he foretold it to several of his friends. When
they expressed this anxiety, he consoled them saying that they would
receive "help"--"soon." Mr. Wadia arrived in Los Angeles some 4 months
later! Seeing an advertisement of the ULT Sunday lecture to be held in
down-town Los Angeles at the Metropolitan Building, near the Biltmore
Hotel, he attended. There was almost immediate recognition of congruent
ideals and motives between him and Mr. John Garrigues, and Mrs. and Mr.
Clough, and others who had been closest to Mr. Crosbie and the ULT work.
Now, writing in 1994, (and reviewing this in 2003) and looking backward,
the ULT has worked, following the principles of its "DECLARATION" for
some 96 years. The work, stresses, and tests felt by students now, are
of levels which seem to be different from those in the beginning years,
although, analogous. At least some are, and for those of the past that
recur, there is a record of precedent that is valuable to use in
conference and consultation, and the decision making process. The ULT
method of consultation and conference excludes all autocrats.
D T B=20
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EXTRACTS FROM A TALK GIVEN AT THE I.I.W.C. IN 1981 by
JEHANGHIR M. TIJORIWALLA, Bar-at-Law, of Bombay &
Bangalore. Oct. 16th., 1981
This day marks the birth-centenary of Bahman Pestonji Wadia.
He worked in the cause of labour and the Home Rule Movement of
India, leaving plain Theosophical traces on all causes he espoused.
This he did through the Theosophical Society, then for thirty years
thereafter he lived and laboured for the Cause of Those whom
Theosophists call The MASTERS, and in whom they recognize the successors
of the ancient and far-distant Rishis.
B.P.'s student days took him up to the "matriculation
examination." Thereafter, for a short time the young B.P. worked for an
English firm, but resigned when he found that service in its business
house meant at times a deliberate departure from the Truth, on occasions
when business interest demanded it.
Sometime, during the ninety of the last century, he received a
present of the two volumes of THE SECRET DOCTRINE written by Mme.
H.P.Blavatsky. The fates act sometimes thus. This birthday present
gave his life a fresh and more profound orientation. As he read and
studied his soul awakened to deeper purposes for living. He
deliberately chose H.P.B. as his guru. His daily contact with THE
SECRET DOCTRINE remained unbroken throughout his life. Did She not
speak to him, guide and admonish him through the pages of her book? Her
body had died in 1891, but to him, She lived, She was a Living Force.
Looking around for a suitable organization through which he
might channel his efforts he could find none better than the
Theosophical Society. To its venerable President Founder: Col. H. S.
Olcott he made application, was accepted and worked thereafter in the
Bombay Branch of the T.S. Shortly after Col. Olcott's death he went to
work at Adyar.
The plight of the laborers in the Buckingham and Karnatic Mills
textile mills came to his attention when a delegation of these called
upon Mrs. Annie Besant, asking for assistance. She asked him to attend
to that for her, as her delegate. Having espoused with success the
cause of the laborer, B.P. observed India now found itself involved in
the fortunes of Britain engaged in World War I. India had been promised
a gradual increment in political responsibility by the English rulers.
When this was shelved, Mrs. Besant indignantly launched the Theosophical
Society behind the Home Rule Movement in an effort to secure the
implementation of those promises. B.P. now stepped forward to pour the
force and fervor of his zeal into a movement for the betterment and
freedom of a whole nation.
For almost eighteen years B.P. was a member of the T.S. --
lecturing, writing, editing, managing the Theosophical Publishing House
and serving as sub-editor to Annie Besant for Young India newspaper.
The soul of B.P. was unsatisfied. He began to realize that those with
whom he had forged bonds of love and loyalty were themselves no longer
true to the Cause and the Message of H.P.Blavatsky. A craze for
psychism and a pandering to the glorification of the personality of
individuals had taken root. However, his own sense of loyalty and
justice demanded that he verify the accuracy of his own estimate by
comparison with that formed by others. Opportunity arose, when in 1919
he undertook a lecture tour to some of the foreign centers of the T.S.
This was done in conjunction with a request from the British parliament
that he make a deposition to them on labour conditions in India, as
President of the Labour Union of Madras.
To his dismay he discovered that in the several centers of the
T.S. which he visited the power of the Original Impulse was ebbing and
the force of Brotherhood was fast becoming lip-service.
He searched for ways in which to emerge from this impasse. His
desire to be of real service to humanity -- to all men of whatever race
or creed -- gnawed at his heart and mind. He longed to find that avenue
where it would be possible to work without personal recognition, and to
efface himself in true work: that of effecting a change in the thinking
and motivation of the race. To achieve this it had to be weaned from
credulity and blind belief in leaders who offered partial truths, and
the slowly creeping up of an overwhelming materialism that closed minds
and eyes to the value of the soul-satisfying philosophy of the ancient
Aryans, the Nobles of the Soul of ancient India. He realized that the
time for the sowing of a harvest for the future had come.
It was in America that B.P.W. found an answer. While visiting
Los Angeles he became acquainted with the work and conduct of THE UNITED
LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS. There he met like-minded souls and rejoiced in
their company. In discharge of his responsibilities to Mrs. Besant, and
the positions he occupied in Adyar, he returned to seek from her a
public redress of the life, work and character of Mr. Wm. Q. Judge, who
was one of the original founders of the T.S., but whose work and efforts
had been first calumnied, and latterly deliberately obscured and
forgotten. This not being forthcoming, he resigned on July 18th 1922
from the T.S. This resignation was made public to the membership of the
T.S.=20
B.P. felt that the Cause of Theosophy and of the Masters had a
paramount claim upon him, his time and work. This resignation brought
about a rent in long-established friendships and associations extending
back to those days in which we worked for justice for labour and for
country. He returned to America to work with the UNITED LODGE OF
THEOSOPHISTS as an "associate" for seven years. He adopted those bonds
of "similarity of aim, purpose and teaching" which form the basis for U
L T activities. This consists in "spreading broadcast the teachings of
Theosophy as recorded in the writings of H.P.Blavatsky and William Q.
Judge." It suited him that the fundamental principle of impersonality
which unites all true students of Theosophy into a whole gave that
strength to all doctrines and teachings offered by the anonymity of its
presentation. Let the statement stand on it own merit, and not on any
authority which a name or a source may give to it.
1929 brought about the return of B.P. to India. Embodying the
ideals of impersonality, loyalty to the Message, and service, he
translated them openly through a new center: the Bombay ULT. The 17th
of November 1929 saw the founding of this Lodge at 51 Esplanade Rd.
(later: Mahatma Gandhi Rd.). A year later THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT
magazine was launched. (It is now in its 64th volume.) It is dedicated
to "the living of the higher life." Again, anonymity was observed in
its publishing policy, a principle not fully grasped by contemporary
readers. Similarly at the ULT, the names of lecturers were never
published. Emphasis was laid on the value of the doctrines offered.
1930 January saw the issue of the first number of THE ARYAN
PATH. This monthly magazine was designed to carry to a wider public the
influence of the Theosophical philosophy, and to present to students the
views of the world which represented the best developments of modern
thinking. With the help of Mr. Theodore L. Crombie, his companion and
co-worker for many years serving as sub-editor, this project was
launched. Mme. Sophia Wadia lent her name as the Editor. Contributors
to the ARYAN PATH included such names as John Middleton Murray,
R.A.V.Morris, Wm. Jackson, Kazutomo Takehashi, Lionel Hawthorn, Dr.
Haddi Hassan Saheb, H.H.Raja K.P.Bahadur Singh, A.R.Wadia, and many
others.
Later, to further serve the area of South India, in the city of
Bangalore the INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURE was established. The
objective of this Institute was to bring thinkers of importance to the
world together and to have them present to the Bangalorians their views
and dreams. Here spoke such as the Panchen Lama, Martin Luther King
Jr., Sir C.P.Ramaswami, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan, Professor Haldane, and Dr.
Ralph Bunche, Sir C.V.Raman, the Maharaja of Mysore, Dr. Masti Venkatesh
Iyengar, Dr. V. Raghavan, and H.R.Bhabha. Through all these activities
ran a single string of purpose: to awaken in the Soul of man an
awareness of their divine potential, and of their responsibility for
assisting others.
Numerous unsigned articles poured from the pen of B.P.: in the
Editorials of THE ARYAN PATH, signed Shravaka (Student); in lead
articles in THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT, and elsewhere in press of the
country. His correspondence with luminaries of the world was constant
and voluminous. His management of the many affairs at hand and
elsewhere was constant, consistent and prompt. He was always responsive
to the call of the humblest person who asked for his help. He gave
unstintingly of his time and effort to those who deserved his regard and
who helped in the furthering of the Cause of the Great Masters, the
Elder Brothers of Humanity, the Rishis of Old. The true spiritual
devotion of B.P.WADIA has brightened and heightened many a life during
the many years of his selfless and unassuming service.
-- Jehanghir Tijoriwalla, Bar-at-Law
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1904 - 1907 BHAWANI SHANKAR --=20
Pandit Bhawani Shankar was a direct pupil of HPB, became a
friend of BPW in his early Adyar days.
Not long after HPB landed in Bombay in February 1879, Bhawani
Shankar, then 20 years old, put himself under her guidance. On several
occasions he was among those who recorded they had seen the Masters
visiting her at the T S Headquarters, at "Crow's Nest," Cumballa Hill,
in Bombay.
When, later, doubts arose concerning the existence of the
Masters, he declared openly that he had seen them numerous times at the
Bombay Headquarters of the T S, speaking or delivering messages of
instruction to HPB in connection with its work. "They are not
disembodied spirits, as the Spiritualists would force us to believe, but
living men. I was on seeing them neither hallucinated nor entranced...I
as a Theosophist and Hindu Brahmin give to disbelievers...that these
Brothers are not mere fictions of our respectable Madame Blavatsky's
imagination, but real personages, whose existence to us, is not a matter
of mere belief, but of actual knowledge." THE
THEOSOPHIST=20
Bhawani Shankar -- one of H.P.B.'s direct pupils from the early
days, 1879-84, was living temporarily at Versova (north of Bombay, near
Juhu beach, (where the Wadias had been given land in part payment for
their services as ship-builders many years before, by the British East
India Company). BPW was invited to come and to attend the Pandit's
"morning puja" -- a period which he spent in meditation and devotion
with thought centered on HPB and the Masters.
This, BPW said, began at 4.00 a.m. and would continue for a
period of 4 to 5 hours. Bhawani Shankar used at that time a special
bell. It had a "peculiar, a curious ring to it" which "produced a deep
psychological effect on those who heard it." [ Mr.B. R. Shenoy, a U L T
associate, who in his youth had been a direct pupil of Bhawani Shankar
also spoke of this. He lived in New Delhi in the 1960s, and was at that
time one of the Governors of the Reserve Bank of India. Earlier, he had
spent several years in Washington, D.C., as one of the Directors of the
World Bank. He had been professor of Economics for many years at
Gujerat University in Ahmedabad.]=20
1936
At the time of his death, Bhawani Shankar urgently asked Mr.
B.P.Wadia to come and visit him. He apparently delayed that event until
his arrival. They had a private talk, after which he expired. The date
was the Full Moon of the month of Ashadha--the 4th of July 1936. Born
in 1859, Bhawani Shankar was 77 years old, and, active to the last, was
ever ready to help and instruct his fellows. =20
=20
1885
After the departure of HPB and Damodar from India in 1885 he
took earnestly to the study of the Bhagavad Gita which became his
text-book for Theosophical exposition. Up and down the vast peninsula
he traveled from 1891 to 1909. In 1907 Col. Olcott, the President
Founder of the T S died. He was succeeded as President by Mrs. Annie
Besant. During that time, on visits to Adyar, Bhawani Shankar had
become friends with BPW.
Serious differences developed (after the death of Col. Olcott)
between him and the new group of Adyar "leaders." This resulted in his
limiting his services to small groups of independent students who needed
and welcomed him. =20
After the formation of the ULT in Bombay he quickly recognized
that the real Theosophical work was being carried on there. Under its
auspices he gave a series of talks on the Gita in October 1931,
September 1933 and September 1934.
THE THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT Vol. VI, p. 146
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=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
(From an answer by DTB)
Regarding Dion Fortune, I simply have no recollection of Mr.
Wadia mentioning that name. I note that she is said to have written:--
"The following two extracts from her [Dion Fortune] sundry
papers may be of assistance."
"When Mr. Wadia, once a worker at Adyar and later founder of the
United Lodge of Theosophists, was in England shortly after the War [1st
World War], trying to make a start with his scheme, he gathered together
a small group of people of whom I was one, and put us in touch with the
Himalayan Masters. For what my testimony is worth, I can vouch for the
genuineness of those contacts..."
"I remember, many years ago, when I did not know as much about
occultism as I do now, that I met a certain Indian Theosophist, and he
offered to put me in touch with the Master K.H. I am quite satisfied
that he did what he undertook to do, and that the Master KH was of the
Right-Hand Path and of a high grade..."
Mr. Buxton's letter of
3/7/94
Of course the ULT was founded in 1909 by Mr. Crosbie and the
others of his friends who had become students. In 1919, Mr. Wadia
encountered it, as I narrate in the bio-notes. He had apparently,
earlier, in Adyar, with Ettie Beswick, T.L.Crombie, and others,
discussed the question of how to get the T S back on to the track of
real Theosophy. =20
I imagine that the Karma of his making a trip in 1919 to Europe,
then to the U S, was so that he might come into contact with the ULT --
and so he did. It also gave him a base from which he could attempt to
bring on the reform he envisaged, if possible inside the T S with Mrs.
Besant's approval, and if that were refused, then he decided to resign
and work in the same direction through the ULT now that he could see
that there was already established a base through which this could be
done. That is why it took 3 more years for him to make this attempt and
when it failed, and Mrs. Besant refused, he resigned and joined the
U.L.T.
I recall him saying fairly often how important was HPB's plea,
found If one reads the last 2 or 3 pages of THE KEY TO THEOSOPHY; there
one may see how she hoped that when the "next Messenger" from the Lodge
of Adepts came, he would receive a cordial welcome. =20
The T S had changed drastically in direction and in teachings
since her "death," and since that in 1896 of Mr. Judge in America.
HPB'S writings had been changed by editing, and were going
"out-of-print." Mr. Judge was unknown to the T S membership in
general..
ULT offered those conditions which she had hoped would be
available. I would say that the increase in ULT work and centers is a
result of that.
DTB
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=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
Attached:
BIBLIOGRAPHY --=20
Works written or edited by Mr. Wadia.
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
B. P. W A D I A
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BOOKS AND ARTICLES
___________________
NOTE: A list of publishers is given at the end:--
B : book; A : article; P : pamphlet.
This is only a partial list of Mr. Wadia's writings.=20
=20
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=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
B(ook)
TITLE YEAR PUBLISHER Art. PP
[ Arranged chronologically) P(aper)
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
=3D=
=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
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PILGRIMAGE OF THE SOUL, THE . 1902 (?)
P 24
THE RELIGION OF TRUTH . . 1908 A BUL A 3
HOW WE LIVE AT ADYAR . . 1908 A BUL A
2
OUR WORK WITHIN THE SOCIETY . 1908 A BUL A 4
WHAT WE DO AT ADYAR . . 1908 A BUL A 3
OUR PUBLIC WORK . . . 1908 A BUL A 4
OCCULT BOOKS . . . 1908 A BUL A 4
SOME THOUGHTS ON THE SEX PROBLEM 1909 A BUL A 11
CREED AND CONDUCT . . . 1909 A BUL A
5
SVADESH AND SVARAJ . . . 1910 A BUL A
5
UNNECESSARY ANXIETIES . . 1910 A BUL A 5
THE T. S. - A RETROSPECT AND A PROSPECT=09
1915 A BUL A
6
PROBLEMS OF NATIONAL & INTERNATIONAL POLITICS 1917=20
(Essay presented at the CALCUTTA CONVENTION
OF THE T.S., December 1917) TA NY
P 34
SCEPTER OF A WORLD EMPIRE, THE 1917 C Of P 10
(NEW INDIA, Madras June 3, 1916)
[ Includes A WORLD EMPIRE, Sept. 1906 ]
FOR THE EDITOR [ Release from Internment ]=09
1917 A BUL A
4
FOR THE EDITOR [42ND CONVENT.TS-I.N.CONGRESS 1918 BUL A 4
SEARCH FOR THE MASTER, THE TA NY =09
STATEMENT SUBMITTED TO THE JOINT COMMITTEE ON 1919 I P C=20
INDIAN REFORMS, A by B.P.Wadia, President,
Madras Labor Union
ON SERVICE [ BPW TRIP IN USA - WASHINGTON ] 1920 A BUL A 5
ON SERVICE [ IN WASHINGTON - LECTURE ] . 1920 A BUL A 4
ON SERVICE [ USA - BALTIMORE, PHILADELPHIA, NEW
YORK, PITTSBURGH, CHICAGO ] 1920 A BUL A 5
ON SERVICE [LOS ANGELES, KROTONA ] . 1920 A BUL A 2
ON SERVICE [ CHICAGO, MINNEAPOLIS, OMAHA, KANSAS CITY,
ST. LOUIS, DENVER, PORTLAND, SEATTLE,=20
OAKLAND, SAN FRAN., KROTONA ] 1920 A BUL A 6
ON SERVICE [ KROTONA, ULT INVITES TO TALK ] A BUL A 6
AIMS OF THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN INDIA 1920 Shama'a P
11
BROTHERHOOD AS VIEWED BY AN INDIAN 1920 Shama'a A
6
(Paper submitted to the WORLD BROTHERHOOD
CONGRESS, Prague, Czecho-Slovakia, Aug. 27)
DISCIPLESHIP 1920
THST A 3
OCCULTISM IN RECONSTRUCTION 1920 (?) A
7
OUR WORK IN THE WORLD 1920 THST
A 8
SVADESH AND SVARAJ 1920 T P H
P 8
TO SOUTH INDIAN CONVENTION [from Marseilles] 1921 A BUL A 5
ON SERVICE [ MARSEILLES, TOULON, NICE, MONACO, ANTIBES,
CANNES, MENTON ] . 1921. A BUL A
4
WILL THE SOUL OF EUROPE RETURN ? 1921 TPH L
P 47
(Essay presented at the FIRST WORLD CONFER-
ENCE OF THE T.S., MARCH 1921)
CULTURAL UNITS 1921 H
P P 12
(Paper offered at the FIRST WORLD CONGRESS=20
OF THE T.S. -- 1922 )
CULTURAL UNITS [ WILL SOUL OF EUROPE RETURN] 1921 A BUL A 4
PSYCHICAL RESEARCHER IN ANCIENT INDIA, THE 1921 Adyar, Bul A 8
(Paper submitted to the CONGRESS FOR=20
PSYCHICAL RESEARCH, Copenhagen, 25 Aug.-
2nd Sept. 1921)
OCCULTISM IN RECONSTRUCTION 1921 THST A 7
INDIVIDUAL PROGRESS 1921 THST A 16
WORLD SERVICE 1921
THST A 9
SOME OBSERVATIONS ON THE STUDY OF=20
THE SECRET DOCTRINE 1922
TA NY P 21
ALL FELLOW THEOSOPHISTS AND MEMBERS 1922 C T S P 18
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY, TO -- (Resignation and =20
reasons by B.P.Wadia. July 18, 1922)
(Pub. by Edmonton T S, Canada )
INNER RULER, THE 1924
TA NY P 28
THEOSOPHY AND UNTOUCHABILITY 1932 B PR B
P 15
(Essay of B.P.Wadia, spoken by S. Wadia)
LIGHT OF SHEKINAH IN DAILY LIVING, THE 1933 Is.Bro.
P 17
WAY OF THE SUPERIOR MIND, THE 1933 G Socy
P 15
(Essay by B.P.Wadia, spoken by S.WADIA)
TEMPLE OF SOLOMON, THE 1935
Is.Bro P 14
(Essay by B.P.Wadia, spoken by S. Wadia)
SPIRITUAL BASIS OF SOCIAL SERVICE, THE 1936 SSLeag. P 10
(Essay by B.P.Wadia, spoken by S. Wadia)
BROTHERHOOD OF RELIGIONS, THE 1938 IBH Ltd
B 260
(Based on essays by B. P. Wadia, =20
spoken by Sophia Wadia, with an Index)
STUDIES IN THE SECRET DOCTRINE, =20
(1939-40 THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT) SER I 1939 T Co. B 161
(1934-36 THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT) SER II 1939 T Co. B 69
PREPARATION FOR CITIZENSHIP 1939 IBH Ltd
P 60
(Three essays by B. P. Wadia,
spoken by Sophia Wadia) =20
BUILDING OF THE HOME, THE 1942
IIWC B 56
OUR SOUL'S NEED (14th Foundation Day Address) 1958 IIWC P 10
PHILOSOPHICAL ANARCHISM, ON (Last essay) 1958 Th. Mvt. A 11
"THUS HAVE I HEARD" by "Shravaka" (Wadia) 1959 IIWC
B 422
(Editorials from THE ARYAN PATH)
LIVING THE LIFE
1962 T Co. B 156
incl.: ZOROASTRIAN PHILOSOPHY =20
=20
B. P. WADIA -- (Oct. 8th 1881 - Aug. 20th 1958)
BIRTH CENT. COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE 1981 T Co. My
P 27
("B.P.Wadia and the Theosophical Movement"
-- by W.E.Whiteman
Inaugural Address - W.Q.JUDGE HOSTEL
Inaugural Address - INDIAN INSTITUTE OF CULTURE
"A Colleague Passes" - THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT
"Our Indian Brother" - THEOSOPHY
"The Passing Away of Shri B.P.Wadia"
-- by "Phren" (Miss Ethel Beswick)
__________________________________=20
NOTE : -- in addition to these essays and articles which have been
identified, there are literally thousands of pages written during Mr.
Wadia's life time, of essays, articles, and letters, to a very large
circle of friends who have profited from companionship with this truly
great and self-sacrificing Man. =20
For more information address the Archivist,
Bangalore UNITED LODGE OF THEOSOPHISTS=20
4, Sir Krishna Rao Rd.,
Basavangudi Bangalore, 560004, India.
______________________________________________
DTB 2003
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-----Original Message-----
From: Reed Carson [mailto:reed3@blavatsky.net]=20
Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2003 7:03 AM
To: study@blavatsky.net
Subject: [bn-study] B.P. Wadia
Eighteen years ago something happened. Let me explain.
At that time, and for the first time, I had the opportunity to see a=20
picture of B.P. Wadia. I remember the setting. In my mind I did a
double=20
take. He was handsome. His countenance was striking. It seemed to
be=20
full simultaneously of intelligence and wisdom. I wanted to linger to
take=20
it in and perhaps understand him a little better but the situation did
not=20
permit that.
For those who don't know - Wadia founded multiple ULT lodges - including
the NY ULT lodge where I was. (Does anyone know how many lodges?)
Very soon after that I had another opportunity to comment on that
picture=20
to an elder of the lodge. I remember the circumstance still. My question
was something like this. Wadia seemed to me to have personality. But
ULT=20
was opposed to personality. It thought personality was the cause of the
problems in the movement. But Wadia had obviously used his personality
to=20
help establish lodges for ULT. And as far as I knew from his writings,
he=20
directed people's attention to the writings of Blavatsky. (That was
part=20
of the reason he came to ULT from the TS.)
So I asked how this was to be reconciled and what did people think of=20
this. The answer was definitely unmemorable.
So I have some questions now that people on the list may know the answer
to=20
better than I do.
1. Did B.P. Wadia have personality or was he bland?
2. How is the above problem I asked long ago to be answered?
There appear to be two main lines of answer:
a. He established multiple lodges but was bland.
b. He had personality but he pointed people to the original
teachings=20
rather than placing himself in front of them.
A third question seems to follow naturally.
3. Is it today the consensus of the associates of ULT that: Since=20
personality is condemned, when it comes to spreading the word, "only
bland=20
people need apply?"
Since I have waited eighteen years to ask this question again about B.P.
Wadia, could people please help me understand this?
Reed
---
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