Theos-Talk Archives (November 2004 Message tt00344)

Pedro,

Thanks very much for your insightful comments 
below.

Let me quote one of your comments and then add
my own thoughts.

You write:

"What continues to seem remarkable to me is 
that his books have helped a hell of lot of 
people for the past 100 years, including myself. 
Many, in many countries, have proceeded to 
study the original literature, may not quote 
him anymore in their books and articles, 
but in their hearts are grateful for the 
contribution of a man that helped to bring 
the light of Theosophy to dozens of thousands 
in this world."

Yes, I too must be grateful to Mr. Leadbeater for
it was through one of his books A TEXTBOOK OF
THEOSOPHY that I was first introduced to
Theosophy. This book and Mrs. Besant's THE
ANCIENT WISDOM were my first introductions
to Theosophy. I can still recall the 
exhilaration in 1968-1969 on reading
his TEXTBOOK and thinking about these somehow
"familiar" ideas. Mingled with those thoughts are
the scenes of springtime in East Texas as
I would take walks thru the woods and ponder
on these things....

Again thanks for sharing your thoughts with Theos-Talk readers.

More later.

Daniel


> Daniel:
> 
> This is my tentative view: Leadbeater's writings are based on the 
> fundamental principles of Theosophy as presented by HPB, i.e., the 
> unity of all existence, the cyclicity and lawfulness of the 
universe 
> and the essential identity between the human consciousness and the 
> universal Spirit.
> 
> But CWL was not just a writer, he was also an investigator of the 
> unseen dimensions of existence. Like every clairvoyant, whatever 
> he "saw" he did it through the filter of his own cultural and 
> intellectual background. He said numerous times that he did not 
> expect his readers to believe him, but that he only reported what 
he 
> had "saw".
> 
> Some of the things he "saw" apparently were corroborated later on: 
he 
> did see a great spiritual teacher in Krishnamurti, although he was 
> probably mistaken as to the form in which he expected the "teacher" 
> would express himself later on. He did describe, in 1910, something 
> similar to the European Union taking place at the end of the 
> twentieth century and of people reading their newspapers in 
a "small 
> box" at home, connected to a central "box" in the city, which 
> probably was a very rudimentary description of the Internet! He 
even 
> said that one of the popular programmes of that "box" system was 
> called "The Community Chat Show"!
> 
> Of course, many of his clairvoyant descriptions were not 
> corroborated, like the existence of a humanity in Mars, the lives 
of 
> Alcyone, Mars and Mercury as belonguing to the earth chain, etc, 
etc.
> 
> There are very clear and striking differences between Theosophy as 
> presented in HPB's writings and in the Mahatma Letters and CWL's 
> presentation. If I may say so with bated breath, the original 
> presentation is utterly impersonal and profoundly metaphysical. It 
> is, as the Mahatmas and HPB again and again mentioned, a SYSTEM, 
> which is logical, consistent and based on fundamental premises.
> 
> In CWL's case, his presentation was bound to be personal since most 
> of it consists of descriptions of clairvoyant investigations which 
he 
> undertook. He was bound to differ in some instances from the 
original 
> teaching because he was describing things that HE HIMSELF HAD SEEN 
as 
> an independent researcher, and he recognised, more than once, that 
> there were many pitfalls on the path of the investigator. But he 
> always, in his writings, recognised "The Secret Doctrine", as the 
> source of the theosophical teaching.
> 
> What continues to seem remarkable to me is that his books have 
helped 
> a hell of lot of people for the past 100 years, including myself. 
> Many, in many countries, have proceeded to study the original 
> literature, may not quote him anymore in their books and articles, 
> but in their hearts are grateful for the contribution of a man that 
> helped to bring the light of Theosophy to dozens of thousands in 
this 
> world.
> 
> His writings may contradict a number of ideas of the original 
> literature, but I feel they are imbued with the same altruistic 
> spirit which was inculcated by the Founders of the Theosophical 
> Movement.
> 
> Birthdate later. It is too late in Sydney.
> 
> 
> Pedro