Theos-Talk Archives (February 2006 Message tt00698)

--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, gregory@... wrote:

> Why was Leadbeater a member of the rival London Lodge
> under Sinnett of which Blavatsky did not approve?

He joined it in 1883 when there was no other lodge. Blavatsky
herself never thought in the terms of "rivalry" and had no need to
"approve" any lodge which already existed and was quite
legitimate. In 1884 she herself took measures to eliminate any rival
relations in the London Lodge and encouraged the formation of
another, Hermetic Lodge.

> Why was Leadbeater – supposedly close to, if not a disciple of
> Blavatsky - never a member of the ES

It doesn't matter much.
ES probably had not much success and maybe even failed.
Besant was the member of ES and it was she who was
responsible for the most of the subsequent events, for she was at
power. She promoted Leadbeater's doctrine and wrote prefaces to
his books in which she vouched that it's all really so.
So, if Leadbeater were in the ES, it wouldn't change matters
significantly.

> It seems clear that Blavatsky's view of Leadbeater changed
> significantly upon his return to London,

It is not so, for her friendly inscriptions "to beloved friend" and 
like that are dated by ~1889 and 1891.
There passed 7 years since his application to the Master, so it was
quite enough time to make a final decision about him.

> perhaps a result of Leadbeater's letters to Olcott during
> his time in India and Ceylon in which Leadbeater explained his
> desire to return to England in somewhat racist terms.

And where are these letters?