Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tl00426)

The issue of politics and involvement of the Adepts in them.

It is very obvious that Adepts did not keep aloof from major changes that
took place in the political front. Cases in point was the mention about the
role played by Comte St. Germain in the French Revolution and how it got out
of hand and led to large scale violence. After all French Revolution was the
start of the philosophy of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity and the
implementation of these are still at work today, IMHO. Looking at India and
US Independence movements, fundamentally colonialism is something that
cannot be condoned for any reason. Freedom and self-determination are the
key to the growth and flowering of countries. So if the Adepts are on the
side of elimination of colonialism and furthering freedom and
self-determination, it looks like they knew what they were trying to
achieve. I think that in the long run elimination of colonialism and
implementation of freedom and democracy did indeed help the growth of the
countries and the citizens of the countries involved.

mkr

PS: In colonial rule, the citizens were treated as second class citizens by
the colonialists and no one can justify such a state of affairs.

At 03:55 PM 10/30/97 EST, K. Paul Johnson wrote:
>It is evident in the Theosophical literature that neither HPB
>nor her Masterrs were the pristine non-partisan beings that
>some listmembers and several other Theosophists claim them to
>have been.  These passages from various Mahatma letters make
>that clear:  "The whole future of the `brightest (!) jewel'--
>oh, what a dark satire in that name!-- in the crown of England
>is at stake, and I am bound to devote the whole of my powers as
>far as the Chohan will permit me to help my country t this
>eleventh hour of her misery."(ML XXXII, 6pp. from K.H. to
>Sinnett devoted almost entirely to Indian politics.)  "Seel not
>to secure help from those whose hearts are not patriotic enough
>to unselfishly work for the good of their
>countrymen...Luke-warm patriots, verily, are they.  In the
>presence of his country perishing in its nationality for want
>of vitality, and the infusion of fresh forces, the patriot
>catches at a straw.  But are there any true patriots in
>Bengal?"(LMW I, p. 34, K.H. to unnamed recipient) "You have
>worked unselfishly and with great profit to both your country
>and the good cause."(LMW II:100, M. to Ramaswamier) "There was
>a time when a man of large fortune and influential family would
>have considered it a duty to work for his country regardless of
>consequences.  And until that feeling once more prevails, you
>must not expect to be looked upon with confidence and respect,
>by those who-- think what you may-- still watch over the
>destinies of India though themselves unseen and unsuspected."
>(LMW II:115-15, unsigned, presumably from K.H. to Pillai) "Do
>as you are bid.  Save your nation-- my blessings upon you."
>(Ibid, 119, K.H. to Pillai)
>
>One could provide more quotes from HPB showing similar support
>for Indian nationalist aspirations, but there's a more general
>point to be made.  She very clearly pointed to Saint-Germain
>and Cagliostro as involved in a work to which her own was
>historically linked, and there is no doubt in her writings or
>others that these two were profoundly entangled in the
>international politics of their time.  HPB and Judge are both
>on record as seeing adept involvement in early American
>politics.  In the present, would wee say that the Dalai Lama
>can't possible be a spiritually evolved being because he's
>involved in nationalist politics?  I wouldn't.  The keynote of
>adept invovlement in history would appear to be that their
>energies are focused where needed and where they can have
>maximum effect.  In late 19th century India, that was the
>emergent Freedom Movement.  If we say there's no 20th century
>Messengerr and a prior reject anyone who is active on the
>political scene, no wonder we can't see any candidates.  
>
>I must challenge the accusation that I have *impose* a
>political interpretatioon on HPB's life and ties to her
>Masters.  Taking the clues in her own writings and those of her
>acquaintances, I sought her spiritual teachers and occult
>sponsors and found her linked to Russian Rosicrucians,
>"Oriental" Masons, Carbonari, Arya Samaj, Singh Sabha members,
>and Indian rajas and maharajas, to name the highlights.  In
>every case there was a profound and sincere spirituality
>*intermingled with* subversive political agendas.  I didn't
>invent this consistent theme in her associates, I discovered
>it; and didn't invent the passages in the Mahatma letters
>appealing to patriotic motives, I noticed them after making the
>abovementioned discoveries.  The accusation of reductionism is
>being made by the very people who are themselves
>reductionists.  I see spirituality and politics consistently
>intertwined in HPB's life and never have suggested that she can
>be reduced to a purely political being.  But my critics on this
>point see her as a purely spiritual being and deny that she or
>her teachers/sponsros had any partisan political motivations
>whatever, despite abundant evidence to the contrary.  That's
>spiritual reductionism.
>
>PS-- I know Dara's piece was not a review, which was precisely
>my complaint.  Surely the title and timing were no accident,
>and it was an oblique comment on my book.  Whatever her intent,
>mine was the first book endorsing the existence of HPB's
>Masters to be published by a university press, and the flagship
>periodical of the Theosophical movement chose to notice it only
>in this oblique and dismissive way.  Squelching on Radha's part
>of not Dara's, and not the first such behavior.  Fortunately
>Indian readers have not been prevented from learning about the
>book, as an Indian edition has recently been released by a
>major academic publisher in Delhi.
>