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LEADBEATER THOUGHT BLAVATSKY WAS CRAZY

 
Charles Leadbeater spoke publicly very flatteringly of Blavatsky, but in private he had a very different opinion of her. And this is shown in a letter he wrote from Adyar, Madras, where he mentioned the following:
 
 
« June 14th, 1885:
 
Subba Row related to us recently more concerning Madame Blavatsky’s remarkable complex character than I, at least, had previously known; and it shows us plainly how foolish it would be to blame her for what in anyone else would be called a want of common moral qualities.
 
We were right in believing that the original H.P. Blavatsky, who was by nature clairvoyant and who had some knowledge of occultism, disappeared from earth life some twenty years ago, and that a certain Adept, who in some way had failed to reach his goal, voluntarily took possession of her body, or was placed there — partly as a punishment, in order to do all in his power to promulgate the truth through her. We likewise understood rightly that when engaged on other business he was frequently absent from this body.
 
But now I come to a point about which I was completely in error. I thought that during the absence of the Adept, the body was in a state similar to that of Margrave in Bulwer Lytton’s "Strange Story," only animated by its original lower constituents. But it seems this was not the case.
 
At her death, all the usual constituents of the body left it as with that of others, and the present inhabitant had to supply the whole want from his own organisation. For this purpose two Chelas [disciples], but little versed in occultism, were selected to take the Adept’s place when necessary; and as no Adept or Chela can enter into a woman’s body during times of illness, at such times it had to be taken possession of by a terrible ill-tempered, ignorant old Tibet woman, in place of the Adept or Chelas, as she was the only female available for this purpose. It seems that when either of the four replaced one of the others, he or she had no idea of what had been said or done by the predecessor, and thus endless confusion occurred.
 
This explains the fact that Madame so often contradicts what she had said a few hours previously, which fact naturally greatly excited Hodgson’s suspicions. It likewise accounts for the fact that sometimes she seems to know less about occultism than we ourselves do, while at others she speaks with the power and authority of a Rishi. For months together, in consequence of her various illnesses, the terrible old woman alone has inhabited her almost all the time, and all around her have suffered from her ill-temper. Still the Adept maintains his connection, in the hope, as we think, to be able to complete his promulgation of the "secret doctrine" through her.
 
Whether this poor diseased body will hold together long enough for this purpose no one at present can predict. Of course this true explanation is useless for outsiders. But I think I can give even to them a satisfactory explanation of Madame’s contradictions without attributing intentional untruth to her, when I inform them that, as a Russian, she was prone to exaggeration, coupled with an unretentive memory and an excitable style of speaking; and especially when we consider that English is not her mother tongue and therefore she often makes mistakes. Poor old lady! her life has truly been a wonderful one, and who can say what will still come of it! »
 
This letter was originally published by Professor C.W. Sellin in the German magazine Psychische Studien, January 1901, p.24-25. And later it was translated into English and published in the London spiritualist magazine Light, March 2, 1901, p.103.
 
 
 
Subba Row was a Brahmin scholar who initially showed great admiration and appreciation for Blavatsky, but later became her enemy because he did not want her to pass on to Westerners the occult knowledge that he considered was reserved solely for Easterners.
 
And that is why Subba Row began to spread the false idea among the members of Adyar that Blavatsky was "a deserted and abandoned shell by the masters which had been given to the chelas" with the aim of destroying the faith that many students had in her.
 
Leadbeater's letter shows that he did believe this, and this is because contrary to what Leadbeater later claimed, he knew Blavatsky very little. Just a few meetings in London, then he traveled with her to India, and once in Asia he spent most of the time in Ceylon.
 
Therefore, what he heard about Blavatsky from Subba Row left an indelible imprint on him that motivated him to think that what Blavatsky had taught was incorrect, and that prompted him to elaborate his own interpretation of theosophy, which is plagued of errors, falsehoods and misrepresentations.
 
But Leadbeater was not the only one who believed that lie, since even the president of the Theosophical Society, Colonel Olcott, was also subject to the influence of Subba Row; to the extent that Master Kuthumi later had to write to him to specify that Subba Row assertion was not true.
 
In a letter on August 22, 1888, the master said the following:
 
«  We employ agents — the best available. Of these for the past thirty years the chief has been the personality known as H.P.B. to the world (but otherwise to us). Imperfect and very troublesome, no doubt, she proves to some, nevertheless, there is no likelihood of our finding a better one for years to come — and your theosophists should be made to understand it.
. . .
Her fidelity to our work being constant, and her sufferings having come upon her thro’ it, neither I nor either of my Brother associates will desert or supplant her. As I once before remarked, ingratitude is not among our vices. . . . this you must tell to all: — With occult matters she has everything to do. We have not abandoned her; she is not ‘given over to chelas’. She is our direct agent»
(Letters from the Masters of Wisdom I, No. 19)
 
 
As you can see, Master Kuthumi clearly says in his letter when he referring to Blavatsky: "We have not abandoned her, we have not given her to the chelas," which is a direct answer to the malicious rumors launched by Subba Row and that later many people believed them including Leadbeater.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

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