Theos-Talk Archives (March 2007 Message tt00120)

Hi Marie,

A great post of yours!

I would say that if we do "judge" them we should never do it harshly 
and with bitterness.

We should try to gain further insights that might help ourselves and 
possibly others.

We might even contemplate on how the Masters would view their work, 
their actions, etc.

We should always ask ourselves:  Do I really know the full story 
about them? Am I jumping to conclusions?

Notice how in HPB's own case, she has been condemned for this, that 
and the other by various writers, outside critics and even 
Theosophical students. If she has been misjudged, then that should 
make us pause and consider whether we are possibly misjudging Besant 
and Leadbeater.

And if we had been in their shoes, would we have done any better?

It is so easy to pass judgment... people do it all the time....

If they (Besant, Leadbeater, Olcott) made mistakes and had failures, 
we 
should at least remember that they had contacts with the Masters thru 
H.P.B.  And no doubt were on "probation".  We simply have to read in 
the Mahatmas Letters about the difficult trials and tribulations of 
the probationary path.  

Again if we could put ourselves in their places, would we have done 
any better?  We might have done even worse!

And even tho I have certain reservations about Mrs. Besant's and Mr. 
Leadbeater's teachings and claims, I always keep in mind that it was 
thru their books:  THE ANCIENT WISDOM and a TEXTBOOK OF THEOSOPHY 
that I first discovered Theosophy.

I am thankful that they wrote those two books and that certain  
Theosophists had donated the books to the college library where I 
discovered them.

Enough of my rambling off the top of my head.

Daniel