Theos-Talk Archives (October 2008 Message tt00016)

Nigel Carey once wrote on Theos-Talk
about "the blindly, obedient mindset" to be found
among some Adyar TS members.

Now we find on Theos-Talk a great deal of discussion and
even complaining, etc. about how elected leaders and officials act or 
don't act in conducting the business of the Adyar T.S.

I ask:  Have the "mindsets" of these elected leaders
and officials been created and influenced by the "thought atmosphere" 
engendered by C.W. Leadbeater and Annie Besant?  

Or at least to some degree?

CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING OUTSTANDING EXAMPLES:

What kind of "mindset" was C.W. Leadbeater encouraging
when he declared the following???

-----------------------------------------------------
What can I say to you of your [T.S.] President [Annie
Besant] that you do not know already? Her colossal
intellect, her unfailing wisdom, her unrivalled
eloquence, her splendid forgetfulness of self,
her untiring devotion of work for others - all
these are but a small part of her greatness;
they are on the surface, they may be seen by all,
they leap to the eyes. But there are other qualities,
other powers, of which you cannot know, because they
pertain to the secrets of Initiation. She is a
pupil of our Masters; from the fount of Their
archaic wisdom she derives her own, the plans which
she is carrying out are Their plans for the welfare
of the world. THINK THEREFORE, HOW GREAT AN
HONOUR IT IS FOR YOU that you should be permitted
to work under her, for in doing so you are virtually
working under Them. THINK HOW WATCHFUL YOU SHOULD
BE TO MISS NO HINT WHICH FALLS FROM HER LIPS, to carry
out EXACTLY whatever instructions she may give to you.

Remember...there will be times when you cannot
understand her motives, for she is taking into account
many things which you cannot see and of which
she must not tell you. BUT WHETHER YOU UNDERSTAND
OR NOT, YOU WILL BE WISE TO FOLLOW HER IMPLICITLY, JUST
BECAUSE SHE KNOWS.

THIS IS NOT MERE SUPPOSITION ON MY PART, NO MERE
FLIGHT OF THE IMAGINATION; I HAVE STOOD BESIDE YOUR
PRESIDENT IN THE PRESENCE OF THE SUPREME DIRECTOR
OF EVOLUTION ON THIS GLOBE, AND I KNOW WHEREOF I
SPEAK. Let the wise hear my words, and act accordingly.
---------------------------------------------------------

[Caps added. Quoted from Adyar Album, p. 45.]

It might be noted here that one of the HINTS that fell from
Mrs. Besant's lips (or at least came from her pen!) was as follows:

"By hard, patient work he [C.W. Leadbeater] has won
rewards . . . until he stands perhaps the most trusted of his
Master's disciples ON THE THRESHOLD OF DIVINITY."
[The Theosophist, November 1911, p. 308 Caps added.]

And in 1925 Annie Besant herself said the following to the 
Theosophical world and members of the Adyar T.S.:

"And now I have to give you, by command of the King, His message,
and some of the messages of the Lord Maitreya and His great
Brothers. . . what I am saying, as to matter of announcement, is
definitely at the command of the King whom I serve.

His taking possession of His chosen vehicle . . . will be soon.
Then He will choose, as before, His twelve apostles . . . and their
chief, the Lord Himself. He has already chosen them, but I have only
the command to mention seven who have reached the stage of Arhatship,
Who were the 'Arhats'?

The first two, my brother Charles Leadbeater and myself, . . . C.
Jinarajadasa, . . . George Arundale, Oscar Kollerstrom, . . . Rukmini
Arundale....

I left out one and must leave out another. Naturally, our
Krishnaji [Jiddu Krishnamurti] was one, but he is to be the vehicle
of the Lord. And the other is one who is very dear to all of us, as
to the whole Brotherhood: Bishop James Wedgwood. He had borne his
crucifixion before the seal of Arhatship was set upon him by his King.
Those are the first seven of the twelve whom He has chosen, with
Himself as the thirteenth. 'Ye call me Master and Lord, and ye do
well, for so I am.'

Now the wonder may come into your mind: H.P.B. was the only one
who was really announced as the messenger of the Master. Since then
the world has grown a good deal, and it is possible that while the
few may be repelled, many thousands will be attracted to the
Christ. . . . Whatever the effect, since He has said it, it is
done. . ."

The Theosophist, November, 1925

Daniel
http://hpb.cc