Theos-Talk Archives (April 2011 Message tt00025)

Dear Govert, Erika, Konstantin, Sufilight, friends,

Thanks Govert.

You are right, the Judge Case it's very important, and you give
pertinent suggestions.

Also I must draw attention to you all for a fact.

Katinka Hesselink came to some conclusions about the Judge Case in her
review of the important book written by Pelletier.

I think we should carefully read the "Addressing the Critics of The
Judge Case

" by Ernest Pelletier, published in FOHAT, Vol.X, nº1, 2006, pp.
10-14 and 23.

This article it is online at
http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_AddressCriticsTJC.htm
<http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_AddressCriticsTJC.htm>  .

I think the reply by Pelletier is quite enlightening as to the value of
some conclusions made by Katinka.

Regarding to hypothetical concerns about the true motives behind those
who have request the re-open of Judge Case, I think its enough to remind
the motto of the theosophical movement:

  "There is no religion higher than truth".

We think the theosophical movement can't be based on falsehoods.

To those who are interested in know more facts about the "Justice to
Judge", I leave here a list of texts published on our website:

"Justice to Judge in 2011" - A Student of Theosophy , at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=220
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=220>  ;

"The Truth About William Judge" - Carlos Cardoso Aveline, at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=29
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=29>  ;

"Should One Defend William Judge?" - A Student of Theosophy, at 
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=28
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=28>  ;

"From Mexico To India, on W. Judge" - José Ramón Sordo, at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=27
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=27>  ;

"An Open Letter to India" - Will Windham, at 
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=26
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=26>  ;

"From Germany To India, on Justice" - Sieglinde Plocki, at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=25
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=25>  ;

"Corresponding With India On Ethics" - Carlos Cardoso Aveline,
at http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=24
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=24>

"FOHAT And An Appeal for Justice" - A Canadian Theosophist, at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=23
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=23>  ;

"Call To Reopen Judge Case" - Leslie Price, at
http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=8
<http://www.theosophyonline.com/ler.php?id=8>  .



Best regards, Joaquim



--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, "Govert Schuller" <schuller@...>
wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Leslie Price should be commended for laying out the issue in a clear
and even-handed manner in his article "Call to Reopen Judge Case".
>
> What caught my eye is the following, imo, very important paragraph:
>
> "However, I would not want to single out Adyar in this situation. It
is but one of a number of relevant Theosophical archives. In the
pro-Judge TS Pasadena may be found letters of Olcott and Besant to
Judge, the diaries of Judge, and the letters of the Mahatmas to Judge
which featured in the Case. Someone might suggest the TS Pasadena was
suppressing evidence of Judge's guilt."
>
> Probably most Theosophists either don't know about the Judge Case or
are indifferent about it, or leave it alone because it is so complex,
but for some it's a very important issue. Personnally I'm interested,
but not to the extent to purchase the $95 book The Judge Case - A
Conspiracy Which Ruined the Theosophical Cause by Pelletier and go
through its 984 pages. Katinka Hesselink did and came to the following
conclusions in her review of the book:
>
> "Was W.Q. Judge conspired against? Did Annie Besant become magnetized
to trust in Brahmin-hinduism too much? Did Olcott lose touch with the
Mahatmas? I don't know. Unfortunately The Judge Case ignores much of the
material that has been gathered in the magazine Theosophical History
over the years, making it necessary for the present reviewer to look
them up personally. The letter by Blavatsky, the article by Spierenburg
and the testimony of Wachtmeister taken together pull the rug under most
of Pelletier's thesis and minor points. I have only gone into the main
issues here. The result of the Judge case was in all events the split up
of the Theosophical Society and with that starting point, the movement
shattered ultimately into far more fragments. Whatever his mistakes, the
literature Judge produced stands as a monument to his theosophical
insight even now. As this case is still a dividing point between the
various theosophical groups, it is unfortunate that a more impartial
hearing wasn't produced. Still, TJC pulls together pieces of evidence
and details from Judge's life that have been hard to find otherwise. The
serious student of theosophical history can't do without this book."
> http://blavatskyarchives.com/judgecasereviewbykatinka.htm
>
> Given all of the above and Price's observation that both Ernest
Pelletier, who compiled The Judge Case, and Carlos Aveline, who wrote
the open letter "A Call to Action" to Adyar, could be considered
"hostile" critics of Adyar, I think the move towards resolution and
reconciliation of and around the Judge Case might be helped by the
following actions:
>
> 1) A new, truly neutral letter with the request to open any and all
relevant archives should be composed. Mr. Aveline's letter already takes
the position that Judge was innocent and Besant guilty and basically
demands Adyar to admit that.
> http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm
>
> 2) The letter should be addressed to all the relevant archives and
organizations.
>
> 3) The "Justice for Judge" initiative at the Edmonton Theosophical
Society could be structured as a committee with representatives of the
different organizations, preferrably scholars, and chaired by a neutral
scholar like James Santucci, the editor of Theosophical History, in
which findings and documents could be published.
>
> Don't know if this helps, but it makes sense to me.
>
> Govert Schuller
>
> cc: carlosaveline@...
>
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: jdmsoares
>   To: theos-talk@yahoogroups.com
>   Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 9:17 AM
>   Subject: theos-talk Re: Justice to Judge in 2011
>
>
>
>
>   Dear Erica, MKR, friends,
>
>   Thanks Erica. You are right.
>
>   For those who haven't read yet I will take the liberty to share here
>   an important text by Leslie Price, entitled "Call to Reopen Judge
>   Case".
>
>   Best regards,
>
>   Joaquim
>
>   0000000000000000000000000
>   Call To Reopen Judge Case
>
>   Notes by the Way
>
>   Leslie Price
>
>   00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 Reproduced from
PSYPIONEER
>   bulletin,Volume 2, No 4; April 2006, pp. 91-92. Mr.Leslie Price is a
>   well-known British historianof the Theosophical Movement. In the
>   1980s, hefounded the magazine "Theosophical History".
>   00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000
>   Let's summarise, and then comment on a recent Theosophical
development.
>
>   A Brazilian Theosophist has called on the Adyar-based Theosophical
>   Society to reopen the case of one of its founders, later its
American
>   leader, William Quan Judge (1851-1896). In 1894, Judge was accused
of
>   misusing the name of and handwriting of the Mahatmas, the advanced
men
>   believed to have inspired the formation of the Society. This led to
a
>   schism among Theosophists which persists to this day. The United
Lodge
>   of Theosophists, the T.S. Pasadena, and the independent Edmonton
>   Theosophical Society (Alberta, Canada) are among groups supporting
>   Judge.
>   In a letter published in the Edmonton journal Fohat (Spring 2006)
Carlos
>   Cardoso Aveline suggests that "independent students could write
>   annual, open letters to the Adyar Theosophical Society asking it to
>   re-examine its 'process' moved against William Q. Judge in 1894-5
and
>   suggesting that its leaders should either show proofs of his guilt
or
>   declare him innocent of any charges whatsoever." This letter also
>   appears on the Edmonton web site
>   http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm
>   <http://www.theosophycanada.com/fohat_justice.htm> In June 2004 the
>   Edmonton Society published a 1000 page book "The Judge Case: a
>   conspiracy which ruined the Theosophical Cause" by Ernest Pelletier
>   which printed much relevant documentation. However in an Addendum to
the
>   "Supplement" to this book, Pelletier charged that the Adyar
>   Society was withholding relevant documentation, in order to preserve
the
>   impression that Judge was guilty.In his letter, Aveline draws
attention
>   to the 1885 case of H.P.Blavatsky who was also accused as a fraud -
in
>   this case by the SPR. In April 1986, however, the SPR (which has no
>   collective views) published in its Journal a paper by a senior
member,
>   Dr Vernon Harrison, which was highly critical of the previous
findings.
>   An SPR press release made Dr Harrison's new investigation widely
known.
>   0000000 Now, does the Blavatsky /SPR case offer lessons for the
Judge
>   Case? I believe it does. The SPR had been asked to make available
its
>   surviving documentation about the Blavatsky investigation by Walter
>   Carrithers ( pseudonym Adlai Waterman ) and it did so about 1960.
>   Carrithers could be regarded as a hostile critic, in much the same
way
>   as Aveline or Pelletier could be regarded as hostile, but the
material
>   was made available anyway, and it circulated in photocopied or
microfilm
>   form among theosophical historians, before bearing fruit. (It
revealed,
>   incidentally, that Blavatsky had produced bell phenomena in the
presence
>   of members of the investigating committee, but this had been deleted
at
>   proof stage of a report. The written decision to delete had
survived.)
>   91 Later the SPR, after putting Dr Harrison's paper through its
normal
>   review procedure, published it and publicised it. Not all members of
the
>   SPR agreed with Dr Harrison, just as not all agreed with the
original
>   Blavatsky report. But the sting of the mutual antipathy which had
>   sometimes characterised SPR/TS relations since 1885 was drawn. Does
the
>   TS Adyar have any documents which would assist the defenders, or for
>   that matter, the critics, of Judge? In the same issue of Fohat,
>   Pelletier points to at least one relevant letter (Judge to
Khandalavala
>   Sept. 17 1884) of which he has a photocopy, but which he suspects
may
>   have been tampered with in the original. And he has been told by
Adyar
>   people of other relevant material at Adyar. Any new material could
be
>   published in a suitable place, like the quarterly journal
>   "Theosophical History." In due course, "The Theosophist"
>   (Adyar's main journal) could carry one of more articles by senior
>   Theosophists of various views and organisations, drawing lessons
from
>   the case, in the light of what we now know. This might go some way
to
>   healing the wounds of the schism. However, I would not want to
single
>   out Adyar in this situation. It is but one of a number of relevant
>   Theosophical archives. In the pro-Judge TS Pasadena may be found
letters
>   of Olcott and Besant to Judge, the diaries of Judge, and the letters
of
>   the Mahatmas to Judge which featured in the Case. Someone might
suggest
>   the TS Pasadena was suppressing evidence of Judge's guilt. In fact
all
>   archives, by preserving documentation, are performing a vital
service.
>   It would be useful now to move beyond charges and for all parties to
>   work together to get all relevant documentation into the scholarly
>   domain. Beyond this Case, Judge was not only a profound Theosophical
>   thinker, whose writings merit study, but also a witness to a variety
of
>   HPB phenomena - and a severe critic of the American psychic scene of
his
>   time. LESLIE PRICE
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>



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