Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tl00771)

        1925 was a key year in the history of TS. A lot of things happened,
much of it should be of great interest to anyone interested in the history
of TS. Here is an excerpt from Wood's book "Is This Theosophy?". There is a
certain amount of credibility to his view due to the fact that he had lived
at Adyar and had seen all that took place first hand. Enjoy the following
account.

MKR

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        The year 1925 was to be momentous in the history of the Theosophical
Society. In August, in Holland, Mrs. Besant made pronouncements of great
import.  She said that the coming of the Lord was very near at hand and that
he had chosen twelve apostles.  This followed the Palestine tradition, but
this time the apostles were to be prepared for him in advance.  Seven of
these apostles were already prepared and these were of the rank of arhats,
or initiates of the fourth degree.

        She and Bishop Leadbeater had already pronounced themselves to be
arhats.  Many others had reached the first degree and some few the second
degree on their lists.  Such an extensive group of initiates was declared to
be possible (it had not existed in the Society before nor, it was thought,
in the world, except perhaps in the time of Buddha) on account of the coming
of the World Teacher.  Not that the standard of the examination, so to
speak, had been lowered, but that the Lord would need many helpers, and so a
little "cramming" or "forcing" was permissible, though not generally advisable.

        The seven arhats who were then named as included among the apostles
were Mrs. Besant, Bishop Leadbeater, Mr. Jinarajadasa, Bishop Arundale and
his wife, Bishop Wedgwood and the Rev. 0. Kollestrom.  Three of the four men
had been "Mr. Leadbeater's boys" and the fourth a close friend in early
manhood.  Three of them by now pronounced themselves clairvoyant, and in
direct communication with the World Teacher.  It was announced that Bishop
Arundale only just managed to become an arhat by submitting himself to the
stimulating influence connected with his becoming a Bishop of the Liberal
Catholic Church, and his wife, an Indian lady, was outside the circle for a
little while, but was soon ready to be admitted.

        At the same time it was announced that the Liberal Catholic Church
Co-Masonry and a proposed World University had been officially accepted by
the Lord as special means by which he would help the world when he came.

        Mrs. Besant accepted all these predictions and became the mouthpiece
of them.  She had always been modest about her own psychic powers.  She
believed that she could have been superlative in this respect if she had
cared to practise the use of them frequently, but she adhered to the
principle of the division of labour and its logical complements - a loyal
co- operation with others and a willingness to bear the burden if mistakes
were made and trouble arose.  Her position was that she was on the "ruling
line," and therefore her chief part in the work was to decide policy,
organize campaigns and take the leading part in carrying them out.  In this
division of labour it was not her method to distinguish between the workers,
but to proceed collectively, so it was not her custom to say through whom
she received any statement she might give to the world.

        While this was going on in Europe Bishop Leadbeater, in Australia,
was significantly silent on the subject of the pronouncements.  He would not
make any statements openly about them, but said to me: "I hope she will not
wreck the Society." Really he did not like the idea of the twelve apostles,
and the speculations about a coming Judas also, which Mrs. Besant highly
dramatized in her speeches at that time.  The fact was, from his point of
view, the movement was getting a bit out of hand.  Many times he had said to
me and others that really the only fault of "our President" was that she
would catch at the least hint of the Masters' wishes and act upon it
impulsively, getting the principle of the thing right, but not what was
exactly intended to be worked out.  She used to say that she would rather
make mistakes than miss the slightest hint of the Masters' wishes.

        All through the years Bishop Leadbeater had been writing to her with
hints and suggestions, very delicately worded: he had had such and such
information; no doubt she also knew about this, etc.  Practically she always
rose to the suggestion.  But it now happened that among the group of
initiates who met in Europe during that fateful summer of 1925 there were
several who were "bringing through" information and messages on their own
account-particularly Bishop Wedgwood, Mr. Kollestrom and Mr. Arundale and
his wife.  Mrs. Besant felt that the whole situation was quite safely in the
Masters' grip, that for the sake of conservation of energy the Masters would
use the instruments easiest to work with, and that because of her dedication
to the ruling department it was only natural that much information should
come through these co-workers.

        Krishnamurti "remained quiet," to use a familiar Indian expression.

        There was tremendous enthusiasm in most of the sections of the
Theosophical Society.  The Society reached its peak of membership, as the
statistics showed, in the subsequent two years.  There was a great jubilee
Convention at Adyar between Christmas and New Year.  An electrical
expectation filled the air, that something decisive would occur with regard
to the coming Teacher.  It did occur.  Krishnamurti addressed a large
audience under the banyan tree.  He spoke of the great Teacher.  He comes,
he said, for those who are in need, etc.  Suddenly there was a pause for a
second and he spoke in the first person, repeating the "I" three or four
times - "I come for those who have need of sympathy.. . ." Afterwards Mrs.
Besant said the Lord had now definitely spoken through his disciple, and we
might expect Him to make use of the body occasionally, while Krishnamurti
would stand aside for the time being in his subtle body.

        I did not attend very many of the Convention meetings.  Bishop
Leadbeater and I were engaged in every spare moment on a book on Masonry
which he wished to hurry through the press.  He used this piece of work as a
means of avoiding intimate conversation with Mrs. Besant.  He was afraid to
talk with her at that time because he could not agree with her but did not
want to say so.  Besides, he was a little hurt at her taking important
information from others in Europe without even consulting him at all.  To
give an example - there was one young man, admitted to the inner circle,
whom Bishop Leadbeater regarded as quite outside the pale.  At the door
before entering a meeting the Bishop quietly said: "But surely it is not
right that So-and-so should be here?" Mrs. Besant walked over to one of the
European arhats, spoke with him, came back: " _____ says it is quite all right."

        Bishop Leadbeater became very quiet!  He would never contradict Mrs.
Besant. In fact, he would not contradict any lady.  This Victorian code of
manners of his necessitated avoiding as much as possible any contact with
ladies on the level.  His secluded life made him an anachronism in this and
some other respects.  While tremendously loyal to Queen Victoria, King
Edward and King George, in the belief that a divine afflatus pervaded the
kingly office, he was a determined Jacobite and would often speak of the
House of Stuart as rightfully entitled to the British throne.  But although
thus deferential to Mrs. Besant he nevertheless marked off from his own list
more than eighty occultly titled persons as not being really such, although
they had been informed by other arhats that they were.

        After the jubilee Convention of 1925 Bishop Leadbeater and his party
of some seventy people returned to Australia, but I stayed at Adyar for some
months to attend to literary work.  I had compiled a huge volume of
theosophical ethics from rough reports of hundreds of lectures (which must
have amounted to about two million words) given by Bishop Leadbeater and Dr.
Besant during thirty years.