Theos-Talk Archives (July 2005 Message tt00217)

Dear Anand,

Did you read Tillett's book? It appears that you haven't. The book is 
a biography which covers CWL's entire life from birth, childhood to 
death. It discusses CWL's important influence upon the new age 
movement, his tremendous influence in the TS; his early career as a 
cleric in the Anglican church; his early interest in spiritualism; his 
association with A.P. Sinnett; his work with Blavatsky; his 
contributions to Buddhism while in Sri Lanka; His occult researches with 
Besant in the London Lodge; his work with the LCC and several secret and 
semi-secret organizations (i.e. ES, ER etc.); his discovery and 
relationship with Krishnamurti; his relocation to the Manor in Australia 
and work there; and much more. 
I do find it interesting that critics of Tillett's book seem to always 
discuss it as if it was about the 1906 Chicago incident and nothing 
else. Yes, that and other material germane to that incident is in there 
too. However, this is the only part of the book that people (like you) 
who criticize the book seem to notice. Frankly, this rhetoric raises 
questions about the critics--not the author. 
> In Adyar TS there are large number 
> of members who have Ph.D. or master's degree. Most of these scholars 
> rejected this biography considering it completely misleading as it 
> focused on small part of his life and was published by Gregory as 
> full biography of Mr. Leadbeater.
If this is their criticism, then it is obvious that they never read the 
book either.

> and 
> many outside TS also considered this biography as most unscholarly 
> biography.
I have never heard of this. Please name these scholars. 
Anand, as I said earlier, I enjoy reading CWL's writings. However, I 
think criticism that is done fairly ought to be heard and respected. 
Your criticism here, not only suggests that you never read the book, but 
it is filled with generalities: "most of these scholars..." "many 
outside TS..." 
If you are going to criticize a book, I suggest that you read it first. 
If you argue that the book was rejected by the academic community (an 
absurd charge), then at least name names and quote their comments. 
Best wishes,
Jerry





Anand Gholap wrote:

> It is well known fact that students for Ph.D. do research and write 
> thesis mostly to get Ph.D. degree and to prove their ability to do 
> scholarly research. Gregory also did some research and wrote thesis. 
> He earned doctorate because he did some research mostly related to 
> rumors in Leadbeater's life. Till this point what Gregory did was 
> logical and sensible from viewpoint of the candidate for Ph.D.
>
> But Gregory made big mistake later. His research on rumors - which 
> formed very small part of the life of Mr. Leadbeater - was published 
> by Gregory as his full biography. In Adyar TS there are large number 
> of members who have Ph.D. or master's degree. Most of these scholars 
> rejected this biography considering it completely misleading as it 
> focused on small part of his life and was published by Gregory as 
> full biography of Mr. Leadbeater. These scholars in Adyar TS and 
> many outside TS also considered this biography as most unscholarly 
> biography. It formed opinion that Gregory does not have capacity to 
> do any objective, scholarly research and his character is not pure 
> enough to place before world accurate facts in balanced manner. 
> So whatever credit Gregory had earned by getting Ph.D. was lost by 
> printing thesis as biography. 
> If he was wise enough, after taking Ph.D. he could have said " thesis 
> is written to get Ph.D, I wrote it and earned doctoral degree. Matter 
> is over, I don't want to discuss that subject" If he had said so, 
> nobody would have ridiculed Gregory or questioned his capacity to do 
> research. But after getting doctoral degree also he published that 
> small part of Leadbeater's life as biography. Result was hundreds of 
> scholars in Theosophical circles and outside ridiculed Gregory, 
> considered his work as unscholarly and came to conclusion that 
> Gregory lacks capacity to do research and he can't present correct 
> picture. So what Gregory earned by getting Ph.D. was lost by 
> publishing thesis as biography. 
> Anand Gholap
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