Theos-Talk Archives (January 2005 Message tt00055)

In his book "Theosophy: A Modern Revival of Ancient 
Wisdom" (published 1930), Dr. Alvin Boyd Kuhn wrote the
following about the teachings of C.W. Leadbeater and
Annie Besant: 

"Certain schools of his critics assert flatly that he 
[C. W. Leadbeater] has only succeeded in vitiating 
her [H.P. Blavatsky's] original presentation [of Theosophy]. . . . . . . 
[Starting in the March 15, 1928 issue] The Canadian 
Theosophist, a magazine published . . . at Toronto, published 
a series of articles [excerpted from Margaret Thomas' 
Theosophy or NeoTheosophy] in which parallel passages 
from the writings of Madame Blavatsky and the Mahatma 
Letters on one side, and from the books of Mrs. Besant, 
Mr. Leadbeater, Mr. C. Jinarajadasa, on the other, give 
specific evidence bearing on the claims of perversion of 
the original theories by those whom they call Neo-Theosophists. 
The articles indicate wide deviations, in some cases 
complete reversal, made by the later interpreters [Besant, 
Leadbeater, Jinarajadasa] from the fundamental statements 
of the Russian Messenger [Blavatsky] and her Overlords 
[the Mahatmas]." 

"The differences concern such matters as the personality of 
God, the historicity of Jesus, his identity as an individual or a 
principle, the desirability of churches, priestcraft and religious 
ceremonial, the genuineness of an apostolic succession, and a 
vicarious atonement, the authority of Sacraments, the nature 
and nomenclature of the seven planes of man's constitution, 
the planetary chains, the monad, the course of evolution, and 
many other important phases of Theosophic doctrine. This exhaustive 
research has made it apparent that the later exponents have allowed 
themselves to depart in many important points from the 
teachings of H.P.B." (pp. 330-331) 

For more on this subject, see:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/thomas/index.htm
http://blavatskyarchives.com/morganafterdeath.htm
http://blavatskyarchives.com/leadbeatermars.htm
http://blavatskyarchives.com/latermessengers.htm

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY STUDY CENTER
http://hpb.cc




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