Theos-Talk Archives (July 2005 Message tt00139)

The following is what Leadbeater said in his talk about
The Future of the Theosophical Society, probably in 1930.


"There was no question of revelation to us in those early days,
for Madame Blavatsky always said: "Don't accept it because I
say so, but think it out for yourself." We had good reason to
see the wisdom of that advice only a very little later, because
I knew some estimable ladies who had accepted Theosophy rather
rapidly because Madame Blavatsky said so.

Then came the report of the Society for Psychical Research, of
which no doubt you have heard because it is ancient history now,
and which stated that Madame Blavatsky was unreliable and a
charlatan! So all the people who had accepted Theosophy merely
because of Madame Blavatsky reasoned - it was the first time they
did reason! - if she is unreliable in these other points, the
teaching may be unreliable also.

Of course, that is not logical, it is non sequitur, but they
dropped the whole thing. I know a good deal about that Report
because I was at Adyar when Mr. Hodgson came there, and I have my
own opinion of his unscientific methods.

At any rate, those who accepted Theosophy merely because H. P. B.
said so were terribly upset at his Report and dropped the whole
business. We did not. Why? Only because we had listened to what
she said, and thought the thing over, reasoned it out, and said;
"Well, I can't tell whether this is so or not, but I think it
must be so because it answers the questions, because it is the
only reasonable hypothesis to account for life as we see it"."


These considerations suggest one more theory, this time about
the "conspiracy" from the side of the Masters themselves. We know
that they have done nothing to vindicate HPB, and most probably
she had no permission to do it herself. Couldn't it be so that
it was deliberately designed so that the most prominent theosophists
shouldn't be respectable persons, in order that those who are still
not ready to accept theosophy, or would use occult knowledge for
selfish purposes, were kept away from it?