Theos-Talk Archives (April 2006 Message tt00073)

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C. W. LEADBEATER’S  FIRST SCANDAL
AND THE FUTURE OF THE MOVEMENT

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Dear Friends,


One hundred years ago, in April 1906, a scandal exploded like a bomb in the 
Adyar Theosophical Society.

It was the first  of the sex scandals involving children, created by C. W. 
Leadbeater.

Henry Olcott was alive and presided the Society. The Adyar T.S.  Historian 
Josephine Ransom reports in her book “A Short History of  the Theosophical 
Society” that the process  started in February, when the director of  the 
Adyar  Esoteric Shool in the USA, Mrs. Dennis, wrote a letter to Annie 
Besant, the head of the School denouncing Leadbeater for immorality.

In the letter, Mrs. Dennis said:

1) Leadbeater was “teaching boys given into his care demoralizing personal 
practices”.

2) Leadbeater was “doing this with deliberate intent and under the guise of  
occult training or with  the promise of an increase of physical manhood”.

3) Leadbeater “had demanded, at least in one case, promise of utmost 
secrecy”. (1)

In April 1906 the issue came to the hands of Olcott and the investigation 
started. Confronted with the facts, Leadbeater confessed : the 
pseudo-clairvoyant was “teaching masturbation” to young boys.

Annie Besant then said she entirely disagreed  with Leadbeater’s  “advices” 
and “teachings” to the boys. Preparatory steps were taken for the expelling 
of Leadbeater from the Society. The  process would start from his own 
theosophical Lodge. The presidential delegate in charge of the issue,  Mr. 
R.A. Burnett, took a clear position, as  Josephine Ransom reports:

“If  Mr. Leadbeater agreed to resign all connection with the Adyar Society 
and its work, it was understood the prosecution  before his Lodge would not 
be pressed: if not, his expulsion from the Society was called for.”  (2)

The false clairvoyant resigned from the Theosophical Society. C. 
Jinarajadasa, who defended Leadbeater’s innocence, was led to resign too.

Mr. Henry Olcott started to deliver public  talks about “The Dangers of 
Psychism”, an obvious warning  about what had happened to C. W. Leadbeater.  
 But for some reason,  weeks later,  H. Olcott  got gravely ill and  the 
karmic tide changed.

As soon as Olcott died, in February 1907, Leadbeater disciples invented some 
messages from the Mahatmas suggesting his innocence, and he came back  to 
the Theosophical Society. With him, came back the sex scandals.

Several influential members then abandoned the Society. But Besant depended 
on Leadbeater’s “clairvoyance” to stimulate her own fancies that  she was an 
initiate and  that Adyar was in contact with the Masters. She needed him, 
and soon Leadbeater was visiting physical plane houses and cities in Mercury 
and Mars;  examining Martian extensive agriculture; and describing its 
politics and culture.

Here on earth, Leadbeater started preparing the young boy Jiddu Krishnamurti 
to be “Lord Christ”. He announced that this new Messiah would end all wars 
in the 20th century. Every armed  forces would be dissolved, since Julius 
Caesar would reappear together with the Christ to create a world government. 
Leadbeater said this was absolutely sure – after all he had full contact 
with, and  frequently talked to,  “Lord Christ” in person.

Most of  such  absurdities are in Leadbeater’s  books. This is the reason 
why many of his books have been silently disappearing from bookstores since 
the 1950s.

What do the present-day Adyar authorities think about this? Anyone who talks 
about C.W.  Leadbeater to Mrs. Radha Burnier will observe the president of 
the Adyar TS  does not actively defend him as a person, nor as an author,  
and much less as a “clairvoyant”. Ms. Radha does not defend Leadbeater 
publically or in private. She only recomends to the questioners –  “not to 
make too much noise about this”.


Such has been the policy since the 1930s. This “selective silence” in fact 
expresses a subtle denial of reality and a disrespect for actual facts which 
but conceals a lack of courage to face them in an open way.

In the first decade of the 21st century, it is too late to go on with this.  
There are better things to do.

Both the Adyar TS and the theosophical movement as a whole have a lot to 
gain from the acceptance of  true facts.  Key, positive lessons will be 
learned when people calmly examine the incredible mistakes of the 
Besant/Leadbeater period.  There is no reason to keep on with a policy of 
denial. After all, we all know that there is no religion, or corporate 
interest,  higher than Truth.

Far from being “defeated”, by accepting  the facts of History  the Adyar 
Society will only expand its horizons and rediscover the importance of 
Truthfulness. It will  get rid of rituals, rites and the false clairvoyance 
that led to them. It will be able once more to study and live the real 
Theosophy of H.P.B. and the Masters.  This may happen in a few decades, 
perhaps.

What about the rest of the movement? As Adyar improves, many of  the 
difficulties of the non-Adyar groups and institutions will disappear. The 
reason for this is that  the movement is only one,  and its inner magnetic 
field is the same.  No “separation” is possible at the occult level.

On the other hand, Adyar must not be seen as a  scapegoat. Common sense says 
that Adyar is far from having the monopoly of mistakes in the movement.  
Everyone must improve. No one owns truth.

An active co-responsibility for the future of the movement belongs to each 
and to all of us, whether we are independent theosophists or members and 
associates of this or that organization.

Best regards,  Carlos Cardoso Aveline.

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NOTES:

(1) “A Short History of  the Theosophical Society”, by Josephine Ransom, 
TPH, first  edition 1938, first   reprint 1989,  589 pp., see p. 356.

(2) “A Short History of  the Theosophical Society”, p. 358.

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