Theos-Talk Archives (August 2004 Message tt00153)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Katinka Hesselink" <mail@k...> 
wrote:

> Interesting quote. Sure seems to suggest what you say it does. The
> Mahatma Letters make it pretty clear HPB was one of a kind, and
> according to The Key to Theosophy Only at the end of the 20th 
century
> would her equal come...
> 
> Katinka

> --- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, samblo@c... wrote:
> > Katinka, Daniel and all,

> > In reading the thread discussions in regard to Leadbeater and 
the
> LCC i 
> > had gone to the posted URL for the LCC and read the Article which
> was indicated 
> > by the poster of same, but I also have then read several of the
> others listed 
> > on the Home page of the LCC. One of them:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > http://liberalcatholic.org/Pub/CWL_Textbook_of_theosophy.asp
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > "A Textbook of Theosophy" Leadbeater 1912, makes the following 
unique 
> > characterization:
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > "One of these apprentices was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky â€" a 
great
> soul who 
> > was sent out to offer knowledge to the world some forty years 
ago."
> > 
> > ( Chapter II, para 17)
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > This rather singular usage in terming Madam Blavatsky as an
> "apprentice" with 
> > a small "a" caught my mind and I wondered if this reflected an 
overtly 
> > intentional desire to diminish the Prior Agent of Theosophy, 
H.P.B.
> in the eyes of 
> > the then current readers in 1912? I wonder what the Mahatma's 
might
> have had as 
> > a response to this characterization in light that they Letters 
made
> reference 
> > to Blavatsky having been a Developed Adept that had residency as
> H.P.B. ? 
> > 
> > 
> > 
> > John


Below are the paragraphs that place John's quotation into 
perspective:


"This august body is often called the Great White Brotherhood, but 
its members are not a community all living together. Each of Them, 
to a large extent, draws Himself apart from the world, and They are 
in constant communication with one another and with Their Head; but 
Their knowledge of higher forces (Page 14 ) is so great that this is 
achieved without any necessity for meeting in the physical world. In 
many cases They continue to live each in His own country, and Their 
power remains unsuspected among those who live near Them. Any man 
who will may attract their attention, but he can do it only by 
showing himself worthy of Their notice. None need fear that his 
efforts will pass unnoticed; such oversight is impossible, for the 
man who is devoting himself to service such as this, stands out from 
the rest of humanity like a great flame in a dark night. A few of 
these great Adepts, who are thus working for the good of the world, 
are willing to take on apprentices those who have resolved to devote 
themselves utterly to the services of mankind; such Adepts are 
called Masters.

One of these apprentices was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky – a great 
soul who was sent out to offer knowledge to the world some forty 
years ago [1875]. With Colonel Henry Steele Olcott she founded the 
Theosophical Society for the spread of this knowledge which she had 
to give. Among those who came into contact with her in those early 
days was Mr. A. P. Sinnett, the editor of The Pioneer, and his keen 
intellect at once grasped the magnitude and the importance of the 
teaching which she put before him. Although Madame Blavatsky herself 
had previously written Isis Unveiled, it had attracted but little 
attention, and it was Mr. Sinnett who first made the teaching really 
available for western readers in his two books, The Occult World and 
Esoteric Buddhism.

It was through these works that I myself first came to know their 
author, and afterwards Madame Blavatsky (Page 15) herself; from both 
of them I learned much. When I asked Madame Blavatsky how one could 
learn still more, how one could make definite progress along the 
Path which she pointed out to us, she told me of the possibility 
that other students might be accepted as apprentices by the great 
Masters, even as she herself had been accepted, and that the only 
way to gain such acceptance was to show oneself worthy of it by 
earnest and altruistic work. She told me that to reach that goal a 
man must be absolutely one-pointed in his determination; that no one 
who tried to serve both God and Mammon could ever hope to succeed. 
One of these Masters Himself has said: "In order to succeed, a pupil 
must leave his own world and come into ours"."

(http://www.theosophical.ca/TextBookTheos.htm)



In her Preface to a series of Theosophical Manuals, first published 
in 1896, Annie Besant wrote:

"Some have complained that our literature is at once too abstruse, 
too technical, and too expensive for the ordinary reader, and it is 
our hope that the present series may succeed in supplying what is a 
very real want. Theosophy is not only for the learned; it is for 
all. It may be that among those who in these little books catch 
their first glimpse of its teachings, there may be a few who will be 
led by them to penetrate more deeply into its philosophy, its 
science, and its religion, facing its abstruser problems with the 
student's zeal and the neophyte's ardour. But these manuals are not 
written for the eager student, whom no initial difficulty can daunt; 
they are written for the busy men and women of the work-a-day world, 
and seek to make plain some of the great truths that render life 
easier to bear and death easier to face." 


Their decision to present Theosophy in a more accessible manner was 
inspired by a communication from the Maha-Chohan, the Masters' 
Teacher (1881):


"For our doctrines to practically react on the so called moral code 
or the ideas of truthfulness, purity, self-denial, charity, etc., we 
have to preach and popularise a knowledge of theosophy. It is not 
the individual and determined purpose of attaining oneself Nirvana 
(the culmination of all knowledge and absolute wisdom) which is, 
after all only an exalted and glorious selfishness, but the self-
sacrificing pursuit of the best means to lead on the right path our 
neighbour, to cause as many of our fellow creatures as we possibly 
can to benefit by it, which constitutes the true Theosophist."

(http://www.theosociety.org/pasadena/mahatma/ml-choh.htm) 


Pedro


P.S. No, Daniel, I have not yet received the comparative study of 
CWL's dates of birth. My friend has a somewhat elastic sense of 
time, so it may take a while.