Theos-Talk Archives (April 2006 Message tt00085)

carlosaveline cardoso aveline <carlosaveline@hotmail.com> wrote:=20


oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

C. W. LEADBEATER=EF=BF=BDS  FIRST SCANDAL
AND THE FUTURE OF THE MOVEMENT

oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Dear Friends,


One hundred years ago, in April 1906, a scandal exploded like a bomb in the=
=20
Adyar Theosophical Society.

It was the first  of the sex scandals involving children, created by C. W.=
=20
Leadbeater.

Henry Olcott was alive and presided the Society. The Adyar T.S.  Historian=
=20
Josephine Ransom reports in her book =EF=BF=BDA Short History of  the Theos=
ophical=20
Society=EF=BF=BD that the process  started in February, when the director o=
f  the=20
Adyar  Esoteric Shool in the USA, Mrs. Dennis, wrote a letter to Annie=20
Besant, the head of the School denouncing Leadbeater for immorality.

In the letter, Mrs. Dennis said:

1) Leadbeater was =EF=BF=BDteaching boys given into his care demoralizing p=
ersonal=20
practices=EF=BF=BD.

2) Leadbeater was =EF=BF=BDdoing this with deliberate intent and under the =
guise of=20=20
occult training or with  the promise of an increase of physical manhood=EF=
=BF=BD.

3) Leadbeater =EF=BF=BDhad demanded, at least in one case, promise of utmos=
t=20
secrecy=EF=BF=BD. (1)

In April 1906 the issue came to the hands of Olcott and the investigation=20
started. Confronted with the facts, Leadbeater confessed : the=20
pseudo-clairvoyant was =EF=BF=BDteaching masturbation=EF=BF=BD to young boy=
s.

Annie Besant then said she entirely disagreed  with Leadbeater=EF=BF=BDs  =
=EF=BF=BDadvices=EF=BF=BD=20
and =EF=BF=BDteachings=EF=BF=BD to the boys. Preparatory steps were taken f=
or the expelling=20
of Leadbeater from the Society. The  process would start from his own=20
theosophical Lodge. The presidential delegate in charge of the issue,  Mr.=
=20
R.A. Burnett, took a clear position, as  Josephine Ransom reports:

=EF=BF=BDIf  Mr. Leadbeater agreed to resign all connection with the Adyar =
Society=20
and its work, it was understood the prosecution  before his Lodge would not=
=20
be pressed: if not, his expulsion from the Society was called for.=EF=BF=BD=
  (2)

The false clairvoyant resigned from the Theosophical Society. C.=20
Jinarajadasa, who defended Leadbeater=EF=BF=BDs innocence, was led to resig=
n too.

Mr. Henry Olcott started to deliver public  talks about =EF=BF=BDThe Danger=
s of=20
Psychism=EF=BF=BD, an obvious warning  about what had happened to C. W. Lea=
dbeater.=20=20
  But for some reason,  weeks later,  H. Olcott  got gravely ill and  the=20
karmic tide changed.

As soon as Olcott died, in February 1907, Leadbeater disciples invented som=
e=20
messages from the Mahatmas suggesting his innocence, and he came back  to=20
the Theosophical Society. With him, came back the sex scandals.

Several influential members then abandoned the Society. But Besant depended=
=20
on Leadbeater=EF=BF=BDs =EF=BF=BDclairvoyance=EF=BF=BD to stimulate her own=
 fancies that  she was an=20
initiate and  that Adyar was in contact with the Masters. She needed him,=20
and soon Leadbeater was visiting physical plane houses and cities in Mercur=
y=20
and Mars;  examining Martian extensive agriculture; and describing its=20
politics and culture.

Here on earth, Leadbeater started preparing the young boy Jiddu Krishnamurt=
i=20
to be =EF=BF=BDLord Christ=EF=BF=BD. He announced that this new Messiah wou=
ld end all wars=20
in the 20th century. Every armed  forces would be dissolved, since Julius=20
Caesar would reappear together with the Christ to create a world government=
.=20
Leadbeater said this was absolutely sure =EF=BF=BD after all he had full co=
ntact=20
with, and  frequently talked to,  =EF=BF=BDLord Christ=EF=BF=BD in person.

Most of  such  absurdities are in Leadbeater=EF=BF=BDs  books. This is the =
reason=20
why many of his books have been silently disappearing from bookstores since=
=20
the 1950s.

What do the present-day Adyar authorities think about this? Anyone who talk=
s=20
about C.W.  Leadbeater to Mrs. Radha Burnier will observe the president of=
=20
the Adyar TS  does not actively defend him as a person, nor as an author, =
=20
and much less as a =EF=BF=BDclairvoyant=EF=BF=BD. Ms. Radha does not defend=
 Leadbeater=20
publically or in private. She only recomends to the questioners =EF=BF=BD  =
=EF=BF=BDnot to=20
make too much noise about this=EF=BF=BD.


Such has been the policy since the 1930s. This =EF=BF=BDselective silence=
=EF=BF=BD in fact=20
expresses a subtle denial of reality and a disrespect for actual facts whic=
h=20
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.=
=20=20
There are better things to do.

Both the Adyar TS and the theosophical movement as a whole have a lot to=20
gain from the acceptance of  true facts.  Key, positive lessons will be=20
learned when people calmly examine the incredible mistakes of the=20
Besant/Leadbeater period.  There is no reason to keep on with a policy of=20
denial. After all, we all know that there is no religion, or corporate=20
interest,  higher than Truth.

Far from being =EF=BF=BDdefeated=EF=BF=BD, by accepting  the facts of Histo=
ry  the Adyar=20
Society will only expand its horizons and rediscover the importance of=20
Truthfulness. It will  get rid of rituals, rites and the false clairvoyance=
=20
that led to them. It will be able once more to study and live the real=20
Theosophy of H.P.B. and the Masters.  This may happen in a few decades,=20
perhaps.

What about the rest of the movement? As Adyar improves, many of  the=20
difficulties of the non-Adyar groups and institutions will disappear. The=20
reason for this is that  the movement is only one,  and its inner magnetic=
=20
field is the same.  No =EF=BF=BDseparation=EF=BF=BD is possible at the occu=
lt level.

On the other hand, Adyar must not be seen as a  scapegoat. Common sense say=
s=20
that Adyar is far from having the monopoly of mistakes in the movement. =
=20
Everyone must improve. No one owns truth.

An active co-responsibility for the future of the movement belongs to each=
=20
and to all of us, whether we are independent theosophists or members and=20
associates of this or that organization.

Best regards,  Carlos Cardoso Aveline.

O o o O o o O o o O o o O

NOTES:

(1) =EF=BF=BDA Short History of  the Theosophical Society=EF=BF=BD, by Jose=
phine Ransom,=20
TPH, first  edition 1938, first   reprint 1989,  589 pp., see p. 356.

(2) =EF=BF=BDA Short History of  the Theosophical Society=EF=BF=BD, p. 358.

O o o O o o O o o O o o O

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