Theos-Talk Archives (July 2004 Message tt00346)

In response to Franks comments:

1. "On the other hand many of the Adyar members in Germany believe CWL 
was the
greatest holy man."

I won't bore you with a list of alll the "holy men" acclaimed by crowds 
of devotees who were in fact frauds, charlatans, sex perverts and liars! 
You might refer to the opinion of Leadbeater held by the Greman members 
around 1906 ....

2. "The Adyar agent Dr Peter Michel has a German CWL biography out in 
which he
states that:"

Fascinating. Where is the biography? By whom, when and where published? I 
have been unable to find it via a web search. The only reference I've 
seen is to a tape recording of a lecture.

"a) courts proofed the accusations against CWL as false."

Which courts, where and when? The only court cases of which I am aware in 
which Leadbeater was involved (and then only indirectly) were (i) the 
Indian court case regarding the custody of Krishnamurti, and (ii) a 
defamation action brought by Gustav Kollerstrom in Sydney. In the former, 
a ridiculous allegation that Leadbeater had been found in a sexual 
relationship with Krishnamurti (made by Krishnamurti's father) was 
withdrawn. In the latter, Kollerstrom had to abandon his action because 
Leadbeater refused to give evidence. Kollerstrom was ordered to pay all 
the costs and the court made no finding as to Leadbeater's behaviour. 
Some Adyar histories claim that a "committee of eminent barristers and 
judges" re-investigated the 1905/6 allegations and found them to be 
untrue. This claim is simply a lie: the committee (which included not a 
single barrister or judge) was an internal committee of the TS in England.

"b) he gave his true birthday date"

Good. But which was the true birthdate he gave? The one given on the 
census returns and on his application for ordination in the Church of 
England, or the one given during his Theosophical career? If historical 
claims are to be made, the historial evidence must be available for 
scrutiny.

"c) the birth certificate with a different birth date given by Gregory 
Tillett is that of another CWL, not identical with the theosophical CWL"

Fascinating. Where is this alternate birth certificate? Where does it 
come from? It certainly doesn't come from the official Registrar 
General's records in England, since the only birth certificate recorded 
there is the one I reproduce in my biography. No other Charles Webster 
Leadbeaters appear in the official record. This fails to address the 
problems raised by the trail of census returns and Church of England 
documents. I won't bore you by reproducing my paper on the "Two 
Leadbeaters" theory unless you really want it. If historical claims are 
to be made, the historial evidence must be available for scrutiny.

"d) his life and work shows that he was a seer and regarded by many 
students as the greatest initiate of 20th century."

What aspect of his work shows that he was a seer of any sort? Perhaps 
some example of irrefutable evidence of psychic power would be 
convincing. The life on the moon and Mars is not exactly convincing.

"e) that all the false accusations were fabricated by Katherine Tingley 
and her secretary Joseph Fussell with a hate and envy motive"

Neither Tingley nor Fussell oculd be claimed to have fabricated the 1905 
accusations (except by someone who doesn't know much theosophical 
history). The Sydney allegations in the 1920's had nothing to do with 
Fussell or Tingley: they were made (the original documents are available) 
by local Adyar theosophists, and supported by a Police inquiry. Fussell 
certainly sent details of the 1906 allegations to Australian authorities, 
but that's the extent of his involvement.

"f) his respect in the German Adyar section is so great that CWL was 
honored at the 100th jubilee convention in 2002 in Berlin by showing his 
portrait in the portrait line of the P.T.S., after Radha Burnier."

And this proves exactly what? Again, look back at the position of the 
German section in 1906. That a group of people believes something does 
not make it true. The Flat Earth Society's faith doesn't change the shape 
of the planet, and the belief of millions of fundamentalist Christians 
doesn't reduce the age of the earth by a single year.

I'm really factinated by the reappearance of attempts to defend 
Leadbeater, but unimpressed that this seems to rely on assertions rather 
than real evidence presented for serious scrutiny. As I have said often 
before, I have no personal investment in Leadbeater's birth date or 
family history and will publish a total retraction of all my previous 
statements in this regard as soon as evidence is produced to show that I 
was wrong. I've been waiting for more than twenty years for this evidence 
to be provided ..... I'm still waiting.


Dr Gregory Tillett