lifetime, and just after her death wrote a series of simple explanatory
manuals which were of great value to beginners and enquirers. But only
two years later she began, under Brahmin[10] inspiration, to make
serious alterations in H. P. B.'s own works, and even to throw doubt on
her occult knowledge (_e.g._, Mrs. Besant's Preface to the so-called
Vol. III of _The Secret Doctrine_.) Unfortunately larger and more
ambitious works which followed were vitiated by the same influences, and
I well remember marking many passages in _The Ancient Wisdom_ which were
not in accordance with H. P. B.'s teachings. But the radical departure
from them began when Mrs. Besant definitely threw in her lot with C. W.
Leadbeater, the sex pervert, and thereby alienated and caused such deep
sorrow to her former friends and supporters.
FOOTNOTES:
[8] DUGPAS. (_Tibetan_). Lit., "Red Caps," a sect in Tibet. Before the
advent of Tsong-ka-pa in the fourteenth century, the Tibetans, whose
Buddhism had deteriorated and been dreadfully adulterated with the
tenets of the old _Bhon_ religion--were all Dugpas. From that century,
however, and after the rigid laws imposed upon the _Gelukpas_ (Yellow
Caps) and the general reform and purification of Buddhism (or Lamaism),
the Dugpas have given themselves over more than ever to sorcery,
immorality, and drunkenness. Since then the word _Dugpa_ has become a
synonym of "sorcerer", "adept of black magic" and everything vile. There
are few, if any, Dugpas in Eastern Tibet, but they congregate in Bhutan,
Sikkim, and the borderlands generally.--_The Theosophical Glossary_, by
H. P. Blavatsky.
[9] Man is a trinity composed of Body, Soul, and Spirit; but _man_ is
nevertheless _one_, _and_ is surely not his body. The three 'Egos' are
MAN in his three aspects on the astral, intellectual or psychic, and
Spiritual planes, or states.
[10] In making use of the word "Brahmin" in this connection, I mean only
to indicate that "sacerdotal" spirit of the Brahmin caste which has
always resisted (and quite reasonably, _from their point of view_) any
revealing of esoteric teaching to the multitude, and especially to the
West. The particular Brahmin whom Mrs. Besant followed at that period
(see _post_ p. 56 Footnote) induced her to adopt a line of action which
disrupted the Society created by H. P. B., and diverted attention from
her works.
Mrs. Besant's responsibility and the Madras Law-suits.
M. Lévy's concluding chapter, from which I will now quote, is obviously
written from the heart. He says that it is his "imperative duty" to
resign his membership in Mrs. Besant's Society, referring to the pain
caused to her old friends by the opinion expressed by the police court
magistrate in the defamation cases ... for he considered that the facts
before him, and the documentary evidence, supported the view that Mrs.
Besant had known of and even countenanced the practices of Mr.
Leadbeater....
"In restoring to Mr. Leadbeater his influence over herself and
over the destinies of the Theosophical Society [she] has proved
her failure in moral vigilance and her lack of intellectual
discrimination as regards methods to which she thus fails the
first victim. And the sorry contradictions that this brings
into her spiritual message, the utter disregard of truth
resulting from this, impel her to words and actions that now
involve an incalculable number of victims, misled by their
devoted trust in her. Her responsibility is in truth a very
terrible one.... I have come to regard the actions of Mrs.
Besant--and of Mr. Leadbeater equally, of course--as the
_leaven of destruction, of disintegration in the Theosophical
Society_.
We cannot rid ourselves of a growing disquiet in seeing Mrs.
Besant, in her monthly articles in the _Theosophist_, entitled
"On the Watch-Tower," so tirelessly expressing such great and
manifest satisfaction in every smallest material increase,
improvement and enrichment of the Adyar Headquarters.
Mr. Leadbeater shares in this joy. Speaking of Mrs. Besant in
the _Adyar Album_, p. 7, he praises at great length the
material improvements of the Headquarters:--"In her reign have
been added to the estate no less than six valuable pieces of
property." Thus temporal power would clearly seem to be the
main concern of Adyar. And we involuntarily turn to the words
of Christ, who so well described the spiritual splendours:--"My
kingdom is not of this world." _Not thus does Mrs. Besant
understand spirituality_ since she "reigns" as a prince of this
world, over a kingdom that grows by her conquests.... A like
concern follows Mr. Leadbeater even into his occult
investigations into the twenty-eighth century, in which he sees
"a kind of gorgeous palace with an enormous dome, the central
part of which must be an imitation of the Taj Mahal at Agra,
but on a much larger scale. In this great building they mark as
memorials certain spots by pillars and inscriptions, such as
... here such and such a book was written ... they even have
statues of _some of us_ [_sic!!_] ...--_Man; Whence, How, and
Whither._
Truly may one here repeat the somewhat banal phrase "Comment is
needless"; indeed one might add, "impossible," in the face of such an
amazing manifestation of megalomania. But this is not the most serious
disease from which C. W. Leadbeater and his colleague are suffering. As
M. Lévy has already shown, there is much worse behind of which this
megalomania is only one symptom. In an "Addendum" given at, the end of
his book, M. Lévy says that since the publication of his brochure
judgment has been pronounced on the case he mentions (see p. 29), the
judge ruling that the children should be removed from the care of Mrs.
Besant and given back to the father within a fixed time." He then
continues:--
Further legal proceedings have confirmed, with yet more
precision, the infamous immorality of which Mr. Leadbeater
stands accused. (see report in _The Hindu_, Madras, May 9th,
1913.) A Madras medical review called _The Antiseptic_ had
pubished an article in which apprehension of the establishment
of a 'Temple of Onanism" ["unnatural sin." See Dr. Hartmann's
_Paracelsus_, p. 90] at Adyar was expressed. _The Hindu_
newspaper reprinted the scandal. Mrs. Besant took proceedings
aga nst the author of the article and the publisher of _The
Antiseptic_; and the Treasurer of the Theosophical Society was
moved at the same time to action against _The Hindu_. _All
three cases were dismissed._ The gravity of the position is
evident. Mr. Leadbeater's methods have been proved by his own
admissions as well as by documents before the Court to be
subversive of morality....
These facts [I omit the worst details that M. Lévy feels
obliged to quote] condemn Mr. Leadbeater without possibility of
appeal; they reveal to us, with regard to Mrs. Besant, a truly
degrading complaisance, by reason of her desire to hide a crime
as patent as it is abominable ... the members of the
Theosophical Society are not only kept in complete ignorance
regarding these facts, but the administration of Adyar, through
its extensive propaganda, has a great influence over new
members in all conditions, while concealing and perverting the
truth.... The existence of persons like Mr. Leadbeater, who
admit and practise the worst perversities, is a sad reminder of
the darker side of human nature; yet the attitude of simply
ignoring that such things exist seems indefensible when these
persons pretend to the highest morality and represent
themselves as guides towards spiritual development ... claiming
to stand "on the threshold of divinity.".. The danger that such
persons may continue to extend their empire over the souls of
others is an increasing one....
In view of these "facts" M. Lévy's restraint of language is remarkable,
his condemnation hardly sufficiently scathing. His concluding words,
however, explain much; he has evidently greatly admired Mrs. Besant in
earlier years, and the last paragraph of his book eloquently attests his
personal grief:--"The feeling which here arrests my pen, and prevents me
from saying more on the matter, will be understood by those who have
followed me so far, and they may hear across my silence the voice of
their own sorrow." I deeply respect M. Lévy's feelings; but for me--who
have never had any illusions regarding Mrs. Besant from the time of the
disruption of the Society in 1894-5--the matter assumes a more sinister
aspect. His pages have rendered me most invaluable help in putting
before the general public matter not personally known to my own
experience. I left Colonel Olcott's Society in 1895, M. Lévy left Mrs.
Besant's in 1913; and when we remember that this was its condition nine
years ago, my previous remarks (see p. 14) may be better appreciated now
that more evidence has been adduced
The Central Hindu College. An Indian Criticism.
In a pamphlet published at Benares about the same date (1913) by Pandit
Bhagavan Das, "a former General Secretary of the Indian Section T. S."
we possess still further evidence of Mrs. Besant's extraordinary
aberrations under C. W. Leadbeater's guidance and control. Mr. Das's
pamphlet is addressed to the editor of the London _Christian
Commonwealth_, and is entitled "The Central Hindu College and Mrs.
Besant." It is a reply to some "remarks" by her on this College, which
appeared in that paper in June, 1913. Mr. Das writes:--
[Mrs. Besant's] remarks on the Central Hindu College [Benares]
in your paper are illustrations of this sad change in her. This
Institution, for which she has done more than anyone else
perhaps, she now openly and obviously tries to injure most
deeply in the minds of the public by wild suggestions that it
and the Hindu University, into which it is proposed to be
expanded, are mixed up with political seditionists and
extremists ... that such an educational movement is in any way
mixed up with seditionism and extremism is an idea ...
fatuously ludicrous.... The reckless, incoherent,
self-contradictory, incorrect and misleading statements that
Mrs. Besant has been freely making latterly in the public
press, have only injured her own reputation.... The C. H. C.
was founded in July, 1898, in order to do for the numerous
sects and sub-divisions of Hinduism what the T. S. was
endeavouring to do for all views and religions.... The College
grew and prospered year by year, under the Presidentship of
Mrs. Besant, and won the confidence ... of Hindus of almost all
shades of opinion.... But with the transfer of Mrs. Besant
from Benares to Adyar in 1907, as President of the T. S.,
elected _under very peculiar circumstances_ [as I learnt
recently from a very old member present in Adyar when Colonel
Olcott was on his deathbed. Italics mine.--A. L. C.]
foreshadowing the coming policies, a change began to come over
the spirit of all her work and surroundings. Despite the
suggestions, advice, entreaties, expostulations, and warnings
of her old colleagues and counsellors _who had made her work in
India possible_ [Italics mine.--A. L. C.], she developed more
and more and beyond all due bounds, the germ of person-worship
so long held in restraint. Entirely proofless claims to
superphysical powers and experiences, to being an Initiate, an
Arhat, a Mukta and what not; claims to read Mars and Mercury
and the whole Solar System, past, present and future (but with
careful avoidance of even the most easy test, such as reading a
given page of a closed book) claims to be the authorised agent
of "the Great White Brotherhood which guides Evolution on
earth" and to be in communication with the Supreme Director of
the world and with "the World-Teacher," etc., in short, all the
elements of sensationalism and emotionalism--which were
subdominant and private (confined mostly to the "inner" E. S.
T. organisation within the T. S.) now began to be predominant
and public.... In the spring of 1909, a "brother Initiate" of
Mrs. Besant's "discovered" the boy, now nicknamed Alcyone, as
the future vehicle of the Coming Christ ... _"neo-theosophy"
was started more or less definitely_ [Italics mine.--A. L.
C.]....
In January 1911 was started publicly by the then Principal of
the C. H. C., as the chief member of the "Group" an "Order"
called The Order of the Rising Sun, with the idea of "preparing
for a coming World-Teacher "as its publicly avowed central
idea, and the creed that the boy J. K. (Alcyone) would be the
"vehicle" of the "Coming Christ--Maitreya-Bodhisattva," etc.,
as its privately understood creed, to spread which amongst the
students was the duty of the inner "pledged group.' ... [See
_ante_ p. 21.
In short, Mrs. Besant cleverly utilised an already existing
organisation, founded for quite other objects and aims, to spread this
crazy and pernicious "neo-theosophy," under cover of secrecy, pledges,
etc., which she and C. W. Leadbeater--the real inspirer--well knew to be
almost irresistible baits for sensitive and imaginative youths at a
highly impressionable age.
In April, 1911, on remonstrance by the older members of the Managing
Committee, Mrs. Besant arranged that the Order of the Rising Sun should
be disbanded. But this was mere show. When the disbandment was announced
to the managers, it had already been arranged to replace the O. R. S. on
a larger scale by _The Order of the Star in the East_ with the
Principal, Head Master, and various Professors of the C. H. C. as the
Private and other secretaries, of the boy J. K. as Head of the Order,
and Mrs. Besant as Protectress of the whole....
In the summer of 1911, side by side with this public activity, there was
started by Mrs. Besant _within_ the E. S. T. ... A WRITTEN PLEDGE OF
ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO HERSELF. This fact, "private and confidential" at
the time, is now public property since the Madras law suits....
In August, 1911, the Trustees of the C. H. C., to allay the apprehension
in the public mind that the C. H. C. was being diverted from its
constitutional broad and liberal Hinduism into a bizarre and unhealthy
personal-cult and bigoted Second-Adventism, passed formal resolutions to
the effect that the Institution had nothing to do with any such Orders
as those of the _Rising Sun_ or the _Star in the East_.
On December 24th, 1911, resolutions were passed by the Trustees,
agreeing that the C. H. C. should become part of the Hindu
University.... The neo-theosophic propagandism within (as without) the
C. H. C. continued ... in a score of evasive and elusive forms. Inner
"Groups" and "Esoteric Section Groups" of persons formally pledged to
obedience to Mrs. Besant, "Leagues of Service" of various kinds,
"Orders of S. E." and "S. I." and "I. L.," "Co-Masonry Lodges," "Temple
of the R. C.," and corresponding badges, bands, "regalia," "jewels,"and
"pink," and "blue," and "yellow" scarves; "magnetized ribbons," and
"stars" in pin, brooch, and button forms, etc. [for all the world like
the Kindergarten games for developing infant intelligences!--A. L. C.]
multiplied and replaced one another in interest like mushrooms in the
rain time, a very fever of restless sound and movement hiding lack of
substance and of wise purpose. Fuss of the most absurd and mischievous
kind became rampant. Lectures, meetings, night classes, outside the
college rooms and buildings, took place perpetually in the neighbouring
T. S. premises and private residences, for expounding the doctrines of
neo-theosophy and especially the book called _At the Feet of the Master_
alleged to have been written down by Alcyone (J. Krishnamurti), as the
embryonic scriptures and revelation of "the Embryo of a New Religion,"
as Mrs. Besant declares the O. S. E. to be. Resident students were
advised, and a number of them began to keep photos of Alcyone, as the
"vehicle" of the "Coming Christ" and himself an "Initiate of the Great
White Brotherhood" (and Mrs. Besant and one or two other living persons)
"on the threshold of divinity," and to worship them with flowers,
incense, etc. Old and young believers prostrating and genuflecting,
literally, at the feet of the living original when within reach.... The
then Principal of the College (who had founded the O. R. S.) proclaimed
in his lectures in the neighbouring T. S. Hall, and elsewhere, that he
was a "High Disciple of the Master"; and that the C. H. C. was "founded
to prepare for the Advent of the World-Teacher"....
[Mrs. Besant] has publicly stated [that] all of the members of the
General Council of the T. S. now belong, with one or two exceptions
perhaps, to the "Esoteric Section," prime condition of membership of
which is, THE FORMAL WRITTEN PLEDGE OF ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE TO MRS.
BESANT; and so while the loud profession is freedom of thought "for all"
the practice is sedulously "for herself," and her pledged votaries
only; while the theory is that the O. S. E. "must not be identified with
the T. S.," the practice is that the T. S. must be merged in the O. S.
E.
Let us turn to the C. H. C. to bring the narrative up to date. In March
and April 1913 there came into the hands of another Manager and Trustee,
a printed "letter," covering some three foolscap pages, bearing the
signature of the gentleman who was then Principal of the C. H. C., the
date October 25th, 1912, and the imprint of Mrs. Besant's _Vasanta
Press_, Adyar, Madras, and not bearing any word like "private" or
"personal," or "confidential." In this "letter" amazingly extravagant
and fantastic statements are made as regards Mrs. Besant; she is hailed
repeatedly as one who is "_to become one of the greatest Rulers of the
World of Gods and men_" [This is sheer insanity.--A. L. C.]; mention is
made of the "recognition of the God without us, which made us members of
this Group from which we draw our life to-day"; it is said "that her
light to ours was and is as the rays of the sun at noon-time to the rays
of a lamp at night, and we did not desire to examine the Sun to see
under what conditions it might possibly ray forth a more dazzling
brilliance." The members of the Group are reminded that "we pledged
ourselves in our hearts that we should strive to become _her true and
loyal servants ...,_" etc.
Thus complete was the hypnosis and surrender of reason which was sought
to be effected amongst the votaries. It was a case of emotionalism run
amuck...."
It is, unfortunately, "a case" of something infinitely more mischievous;
of evil "magic" and "sorcery" (cf. H. P. B.'s definition, _ante_ p. 36.)
Whether Mrs. Besant knows it or not, Mr. Leadbeater undoubtedly must be
well aware that life and strength can be drawn, on inner planes of
being, from the blind devotion of a solid body of fanatical votaries.
"Magicians" of a certain school--I need hardly specify which--thus
prolong their lives through the magnetic and vita emanations of their
nearest and most devoted followers. In a word, it is _Vampirism_, pure
and simple, on the psychic plane. (I found that Mrs. Tingley well
understood this form of Sorcery.) This, if true in Mrs. Besant's case is
probably unconscious; but in Mr. Leadbeater's it is done consciously and
with knowledge. That the secret acts and teachings of this man are far
worse than most people have ever suspected is confirmed in a "Letter in
reply to Mrs. Besant" by "Dreamer" which appeared in _The Theosophic
Voice_ (Chicago), November, 1908, under the title "India Speaks." This
scholarly Hindu Theosophist writes:--
If we are to believe the stenographic report of the Inquiry in
1906, then instead of holding that Mr. Leadbeater denied the
charges, we must come to the conclusion that not only did he
teach the solitary vice, but further he did things which would
have brought him within the pale of the criminal laws for the
foulest and most indecent offence which brute man may commit.
This is our latter day saint who must be re-admitted, nay,
invited back, into the Theosophical Society.
Note that this was written fourteen years ago! The subject is a
revolting one, but in the interests of that public whom these people are
still misleading and deceiving, and who have no idea of the extreme
gravity of the menace, it is necessary to be explicit.
To return to the "Letter" mentioned by Mr. Das; he continues:--
The Trustee and Manager into whose hands a copy of the
astonishing document came, with the information that _it had
been circulated_ amongst a number of the C. H. C. students,
informed the secretaries of the College, and sent the letter
with the comments on the same for publication in a daily paper,
in order to show the public how the person-worship-creeds of
Mrs. Besant's "neo-theosophy" were being sown and grown within
the C. H. C. despite the resolutions of the Trustees.
On publication of the rhapsody, a great outcry in the name of
"injured innocence" was raised.... As to the
"dishonourableness" of the publication, competent judges of
such matters have pronounced that it was dishonourable only if
it be dishonourable to expose what cannot be called other than
_gross treason_ to the Constitution and ideals of the C. H. C.,
and to bring to light, and the bar of public opinion, underhand
or half-concealed or openly defiant efforts to convert students
to a grotesque person-worship and demoralizing and
soul-stunting blind obedience to Mrs. Besant.... The asking
for, and the receiving of the pledges of obedience to herself,
etc., is an act of over-weening presumption against the God in
every man.... Ever since she encouraged and started them, her
mind has worked less and less correctly and confusion has
fallen ever worse and worse upon her work, losing to the T. S.
many thousands of old members, alienating from her all her old
co-workers and co-founders of the C. H. C. and destroying the
confidence in her of the Indian public.
Towards the end of his most illuminating pamphlet Mr. Das has occasion
to speak of Mrs. Besant's "wildly reckless statements," some of which he
quotes. They relate to the C. H. C. and he stigmatises them as "_all
simply and utterly untrue_." "Her mind," he says a little further on, is
working "incoherently." Finally, he writes:--
Let us conclude; when a person like Mrs. Besant, with a
biography full of remarkable changes, full of fine work as well
as bad blunders, having established herself, in her own belief,
and that of her pledged band, as the present chief Spiritual
Teacher and Saviour of Mankind, as "the God within us" now, and
as the future "greatest Ruler of the World of Gods and men,"
suddenly adds on the role of political saviour of India in
particular, and pre-determined martyr in constant danger of
assassination [strangely enough, this was also one of Mrs.
Tingley's obsessions] by anarchist miscreants ... and proclaims
that those who differ from her are in league with those
miscreants--when this happens, what explanation can be offered
to their own minds by her old friends ...?
The only sad explanation that they can postulate is that she is
suffering from mental delusions.
Alas! this lenient and charitable judgment by no means covers the ground
as a complete explanation of Mrs. Besant's mischievous and almost
irresponsible activities. Mr. Das fails to see as clearly as MM. Lévy
and Schuré the sinister influence behind all these manifestations; the
source and inspiration of all this evil.
Mrs. Besant's latest Assertions and claims examined.