Chapter II: Part 2

And it is these lower visions, more frequently experienced
because of _their affinity to elements in the vehicles of the
investigator not yet purified, that will be presented as the
most sublime images of the higher worlds_. For such a
clairvoyant is deprived of the high morality which is the force
leading our "bodies" by affinity towards truly spiritual Beings
[_e.g._, the Masters in Their Mahatmic "bodies".--A. L. C.]
Deprived of the standard of comparison that these provide, _he
will be the_ _victim of all the illusions of a world that is
the veritable motherland of illusions, for human errors are but
the faint reflection of these_. Since the sense of
responsibility, which is essentially moral in origin [H. P.
Blavatsky says; "_The sense of Responsibility is the beginning
of Wisdom._" A. L. C.] will equally fail him, _he will have no
scruple in sharing his illusions with all in making known his
misleading experiences_--the less since the forces, whose sport
he is, push him irresistibly to this. Are they not in truth the
adversaries of the divine scheme of evolution, _the servants
and sowers of error and immorality the world over_?

In these clear and logical arguments M. Lévy expresses, even in a translation, so much better than I could have done, the dangers of the way leading to the path of "error" which Mrs. Besant is now treading, that I have quoted at greater length than I originally intended. Although written nine years ago, they are more than ever true to-day. M. Lévy then continues:--

We have thus sketched in their broad hypothetical outlines _the
incalculable reactions that the defect in the Leadbeater method
brings into the inner life, into the words and actions of those
who yield their souls to him_.

In demonstrating the fatal effects of this method we have shown
the real meaning of the faults and failings of all kinds as
exhibited by Mrs. Besant, who is its most fervent adherent. The
right interpretation of the known facts seems to us so entirely
in conformity with the consequences, as implied in our
hypothesis, as to make it possible to some extent to foresee
these facts with scientific certainty--which is precisely what
has happened....

We recall the "Leadbeater Case," which in 1906 [this was the
Committee of Inquiry in London, above referred to.--A. L. C]
called forth within the Theosophical Society, no less than
outside, unanimous moral censure.... Resigning from the
Theosophical Society in consequence of this affair, Mr.
Leadbeater has since returned, at the invitation of Mrs.
Besant.... Have the principles and methods of Mr. Leadbeater
changed since he has returned to his place amongst us? He
himself informs us on this point in a letter written after the
"affair," at the express desire of Mrs. Besant that he should
"define his position" at the time she started the well-known
campaign in favour of his re-admission (_Theosophist_, February
1908.)

"You ask me," says Mr. Leadbeater, "to write you a clear letter
that you may show at need, expressing my real views on the
advice I gave some time ago to certain young boys. I need
hardly say that I keep my promise not to repeat the advice, for
I defer to your opinion that it is dangerous. I also recognise,
as fully as yourself, that it would be if it were promiscuously
given, but I have never thought of so giving it."

In this declaration Mr. Leadbeater first recognises the danger
of his advice, then immediately retracts this confession by
reservations which imply its harmlessness in just those cases
for which he is blamed. He has not, as we see from this letter,
then, changed his views; but the important fact is that he only
speaks of "danger," and never of "immorality." _His moral
standpoint remains, then, unaltered--is precisely the same as
before the exposé._

And what is this point of view? Mrs. Besant thus gives it in a
letter dated July, 1906 (_Theosophic Voice_, May, 1908):--

"Mr. Leadbeater appeared before the Council of the British
Section, representatives from the French and the American
Sections being present and voting. Colonel Olcott in the chair.
_He denied none of the charges_, but in answer to questions,
very much strengthened them, for he alleged.... _So that the
advice ... became advice putting foul ideas into the minds of
boys innocent of all sex impulses.... It was conceivable that
the advice, as supposed to have been given, had been given with
pure intent, and the presumption was so in a teacher of
theosophical morality; anything else seemed incredible. But
such advice as was given in fact, such dealing with boys_
_before sex passion had awakened, could only be given with pure
intent if the giver were, on this point, insane._" [Italics
mine. The details omitted cannot be put in print.--A. L. C.]

"Let me here place on record my opinion that such teaching as
this, given to men, let alone to innocent boys, is worthy of
the sternest reprobation. It distorts and perverts the sex
impulse ... degrades the ideas of marriage, fatherhood and
motherhood ... befouls the imagination, pollutes the emotions,
and undermines the health. Worst of all that it should be
taught under the name of Divine Wisdom, being essentially
'earthly', 'sensual', 'devilish.'"

Mrs. Besant's last sentence contains the whole _raison d'être_ of this my Protest. She has expressed precisely the views I hold; but in this fervid condemnation she herself must now be included, since she condones and thus supports this horror. M. Lévy graphically portrays for us on what road it is that this once apparently sane and normal woman, with all her great gifts, is descending--a road that, as H. P. Blavatsky puts it in the concluding paragraph of _Occultism_ versus _the Occult Arts_, "can lead only to Dugpa-ship." (see _post_ p. 33.) He continues:--

Mrs. Besant then deemed Mr. Leadbeater's morality so defective
as to be accounted for only by mental derangement.
Nevertheless, the promise contained in the letter just quoted
and which expresses no shadow of moral repentance whatsoever,
nor anything approaching it, was sufficient, in Mrs. Besant's
eyes, to justify her in bringing back into the Theosophical
Society a teacher she has judged thus. Could one ask a clearer
proof of the anarchy produced by such occultism?

A recent suit, instituted by the parent of the young
Krishnamurti, re-claiming the custody of his child, brings
forward again this question of morality ... reminding us of the
exposé. In fact, the present case clearly formulates the
accusation of immoral conduct testified to by witnesses ... In
such a discussion, this attempt [by Mrs. Besant] to play upon
the political interests of the judges is unexpected,
amazing,--and, alas! significant. We see clearly that a mind
that shows itself capable of throwing into the balance
political (and racial) appeals in a matter of conduct, is
utterly blind to the question of human consideration [a Brahmin
father re-claiming his young sons] that overshadows this whole
case.

Clear and unmistakable through all these actions shows the
consistent distortion of the moral outlook, more serious since
the esoteric ethics should be an extension, a purification, an
exaltation of exoteric morality, and in no circumstances its
decline, its degradation, its negation. And if we would realise
to what extent this moral outlook can be warped under certain
influences, we need but to hear Mrs. Besant say of Mr.
Leadbeater:--"By hard, patient work he has won rewards ...
until he stands perhaps the most trusted of his Master's
disciples on the threshold of Divinity." (_Theosophist_,
November, 1911, p. 308.)

This conception of the "Divinity" that should be the the final
expression of morality has no need of comment other than that
same "deification" by his colleague--who five years earlier
regarded his teaching as so utterly immoral as to suggest
mental derangement as the only explanation.... Perhaps we shall
understand these things a little better if we remember that
this occultist, if he contradicts the Buddha, on the other hand
almost deifies Mrs. Besant. Possibly taking into consideration
this exchange of admiration, the meaning of the "deifications"
will become sufficiently clear.

H. P. Blavatsky on true Occultism.

Before giving some fine passages from M. Lévy's concluding chapters I will quote from H. P. Blavatsky's _Practical Occultism: Occultism_ versus _the Occult Arts_, mentioned a few pages back. In its original form it is a booklet containing a reprint of two articles which she wrote for _Lucifer_ in 1888, shortly before she founded the Esoteric Section. These extracts will show the "true" teaching in this matter of Occultism, as contrasted with the "false," or Mrs. Besant's and Mr. Leadbeater's. H. P. B. begins by declaring that: "There are not in the West half-a-dozen among the fervent hundreds who call themselves 'Occultists' who have even an approximately correct idea of the nature of the Science they seek to master. With a few exceptions, they are all on the highway to sorcery.... Let them first learn the true relation in which the Occult Sciences stand to Occultism.... [It] differs from Magic and other secret sciences as the glorious sun does from a rush-light, as the immutable and immortal Spirit of Man--the reflection of the absolute, causeless and unknowable ALL--differs from the mortal clay--the human body.... [The word] OCCULTISM is certainly misleading, translated as it stands from the compound word _Gupta-Vidya_ (Secret. Knowledge.) But the knowledge of what? Some of the Sanskrit terms may help us.

"There are four (out of the many other) names of the various kinds of Esoteric Knowledge or Sciences given, even in the exoteric Purânas. There is (1) _Yajna-Vidya_, knowledge of the occult powers awakened in Nature by the performance of certain religious ceremonies and rites. (2) _Mahavidya_, the 'great knowledge,' the magic of the Kabalists and of the _Tantrika_ worship, often Sorcery of the worst description. (3) _Guhya-Vidya_, knowledge of the mystic powers residing in Sound (Ether), hence in the Mantras (chanted prayers or incantations), and depending on the rhythm and melody used; in other words, a magical performance based on knowledge of the Forces of Nature and their correlation; and (4) _Atma-Vidya_, a term which is translated simply 'Knowledge of the Soul,' _true Wisdom_ by the Orientalists, but which means far more.

"This last is the only kind of Occultism that any Theosophist who admires 'Light on the Path,' and who would be wise and unselfish, ought to strive after. All the rest is some branch of the 'Occult Sciences,' _i.e._, arts based on the knowledge of the ultimate essence of all things in the kingdoms of Nature--such as minerals, plants and animals--hence of things pertaining to the realm of _material_ nature, however invisible that essence may be, and howsoever much it has hitherto eluded the grasp of Science.... _Siddhis_ (or the Arhat powers) are only for those who are able to 'lead the life,' and to comply with the terrible sacrifices required for such a training, and to comply with them _to the very letter_. Let them know at once and remember always, that true Occultism or Theosophy is the 'Great Renunciation of SELF,' unconditionally and absolutely, in thought as in action. It is ALTRUISM, and it throws him who practises it out of the ranks of the living altogether. 'Not for himself, but for the world he lives,' as soon as he has pledged himself to the work. Much is forgiven during the first years of probation. But, no sooner is he 'accepted' than his personality must disappear, and he has to become a _mere beneficent force in Nature_. There are two poles for him after that, two paths, and no midway place of rest. He has either to ascend laboriously step by step, often through numerous incarnations and _no Devachanic break_, the golden ladder leading to Mahatmaship (the _Arhat_ or _Bodhisattva_ condition), or--he will let himself slide down the ladder at the first false step, and roll down into _Dugpa-ship_....[8]

"All this is either unknown or left out of sight altogether. Indeed, one who is able to follow the silent evolution of the preliminary aspirations of the candidates often find strange ideas quietly taking possession of their minds. There are those whose reasoning powers have been so distorted by foreign influences that they imagine that animal passions can be so sublimated and elevated that their fury, force and fire can, so to speak, be turned inwards ... _until their collective and unexpanded strength enables their possessor to enter the true Sanctuary of the Soul_, and stand therein in the presence of the _Master_--the HIGHER SELF.... Oh, poor blind visionaries!... Strange aberration of the human mind. Can it be so? Let us argue.

"The 'Master' in the Sanctuary of our souls is 'the Higher Self'--the divine spirit whose consciousness is based upon and derived solely (at any rate during the mortal life of the man in whom it is captive) from the mind, which we have agreed to call the _Human Soul_ (the 'Spiritual Soul' being the vehicle of the Spirit.) In its turn the former (the _personal_ or human soul) is a compound, in its highest form of spiritual aspirations, volitions and divine love; and in its lower aspect, of animal desires and terrestrial passions imparted to it by its association with its vehicle, the seat of all these ... the _inner animal_. [It] is the instinctual 'animal soul,' and is the hotbed of those passions which ... are lulled instead of being killed, ... And where, on what neutral ground, can they be imprisoned so as not to affect man?

"The fierce passions of love and lust are still alive, and they are allowed to still remain in the place of their birth--_that same animal soul_.... It is thus the mind alone--the sole link and medium between the man of earth and the Higher Self--that is the only sufferer, and which is in incessant danger of being dragged down by those passions, that may be re-awakened at any moment and perish in the abyss of matter.... How can harmony prevail and conquer, when the soul is stained and distracted with the turmoil of passions and the terrestrial desires of the bodily senses, or even of the 'Astral man'?

"For this 'Astral'--the shadowy 'double' (in the animal as in man) is not the companion of the _divine Ego_ but of the _earthly body_. It is the link between the personal self, the lower consciousness of _Manas_, and the Body, and is the vehicle of _transitory, not of immortal life_.... It is only when the power of the passions is dead altogether, and when they have been crushed and annihilated in the retort of an unflinching will; when not only all the lusts and longings of the flesh are dead, but also the recognition of the personal Self is killed out and the 'Astral' has been reduced in consequence to a cipher, that the Union with the 'Higher Self' can take place. Then when the 'Astral' reflects only the conquered man, the still living but no more the longing, selfish personality, then the brilliant _Auoeides_, the divine SELF, can vibrate in conscious harmony with both the poles of the human Entity--the man of matter purified, and the ever pure Spiritual Soul--and stand in the presence of the MASTER SELF, the Christos of the mystic Gnostic, blended, merged into, and one with IT for ever.[9]

"How, then, can it be thought possible for a man to enter the 'strait gate' of occultism when his daily and hourly thoughts are bound up with worldly things, desires of possession and power, with lust, ambition, and duties which, however honourable, are still of the earth, earthy? Even the love for wife and family--the purest as the most unselfish of human affections--is a barrier to _real_ occultism.... While the heart is full of thoughts for a little group of _selves_, near and dear to us, how shall the rest of mankind fare in our souls? What percentage of love and care will there remain to bestow on the 'great orphan' [Humanity]? And how shall the 'still small voice' make itself heard in a soul entirely occupied with its own privileged tenants?... yet, he who would profit by the wisdom of the universal mind, has to reach it through _the whole of Humanity_, without distinction of race, complexion, religion, or social status. It is _altruism,_ not _ego_-ism even in its most legal and noble conception, that can lead the unit to merge its little Self in the Universal Selves. It is to _these_ needs and to this work that the true disciple of true Occultism has to devote himself if he would obtain _theo_-sophy, divine Wisdom and Knowledge.

"The aspirant has to choose absolutely between the life of the world and the life of Occultism.... It would be a ceaseless, a maddening struggle for almost any married man, who would pursue _true_ practical Occultism, instead of its _theoretical_ philosophy. For he would find himself ever hesitating between the voice of the impersonal divine love of Humanity, and that of the personal, terrestrial love.... Worse than this. For, _whoever indulges, after having pledged himself to_ OCCULTISM, _in the gratification of a terrestrial love or lust_, must feel an almost immediate result--that of being irresistibly dragged from the impersonal divine state down to the lower plane of matter. Sensual, or even mental, self-gratification involves the immediate loss of the powers of spiritual discernment; the voice of the MASTER can no longer be distinguished from that of one's passions, or _even that of a Dugpa_; the right from wrong; sound morality from mere casuistry. The Dead Sea fruit assumes the most glorious mystic appearance ... although it is the intention that decides primarily whether _white_ or _black_ magic is exercised, yet the results even of involuntary sorcery cannot fail to be productive of bad Karma.... _Sorcery is any kind of evil influence exercised upon other persons, who suffer, or make other_ persons to suffer, in consequence ... such causes produced have to call forth effects, and these are evidenced in the just laws of Retribution.

"Much of this may be avoided if people will only abstain from rushing into practices neither the nature nor importance of which they understand.... We are in the Kali-Yuga and its fatal influence is a thousand-fold more powerful in the West than it is in the East; _hence the easy preys made by the Powers of the Age of Darkness in this cyclic struggle, and the many delusions under which the world is now labouring_." (Italics mine--A. L. C.)

Applying this high and absolutely uncompromising moral standard, these grand and stern words, to the two pseudo-occultists under discussion, it is not difficult--even in the light of the little I have already given--to see that they themselves, and their actions, bear _no sort of relation_ to real "Occultism" as here briefly outlined by H. P. Blavatsky. Their teaching concerning sex is indeed its antithesis, which inevitably leads to Dugpa-ship, as H. P. B. definitely states. The issue is clear, and cannot be evaded or explained away.

It is true that Mrs. Besant started well, even splendidly, in H. P. B.'s 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.

We now come to the examination of two articles in the _Theosophist_ for March, 1922, in which the President of the T. S. makes some attempt to deal with recent criticism. One is a Supplement, or Manifesto, addressed "To all Members of the Theosophical Society," and couched in Mrs. Besant's present style--flamboyant, a trifle bombastic, often Biblical in phraseology, and running throughout it, her usual fervid and disingenuous appeal to sentimental emotionalism, instead of the instinctive sense of justice latent in all beings. This latter, a feature of her best days, she has entirely abandoned; it no longer serves her ends. What those "ends" are one almost hesitates to formulate, so impious and almost insane do they appear. Even taking into consideration the tangled mass of evasions, misstatements and hypocritical equivocations presented in this manifesto, these "ends" emerge with sufficient clearness. But, in the first place, and before going further, one must ask on what basis this amazing claim to almost deific powers and knowledge rests. Let me here call M. Lévy into the witness box once more; for he also had put the same question to himself nine years ago, and will provide the answer. It occurs in his chapter on "Mrs. Besant's 'Return of the Christ,'" where he is dealing with her position and actions in regard to Dr. Steiner, the German occultist and Christian Theosophist--with whose ideas, I should add, I am not in personal agreement. My teacher is H. P. Blavatsky and she alone: I follow no lesser light. M. Lévy says:--

Our reason forces us to confess that all goes to suggest that
Mrs. Besant, having herself ceased to believe in the identity
of her Jesus with the Christ [of the Gospels.--A. L. C.], would
still continue to make others believe it.... Her pride ... her
dominating mind, have driven her on this crusade of
extermination of Dr. Steiner's teachings; it has induced her to
collect, _without the least regard for truth, justice, or
theosophic principles, no matter what weapons if they do but
serve against her opponent; calumny, abuse of power,
misstatement of facts, all combined in a subtle strategy_.

Italics are mine; for we find Mrs. Besant using precisely the same methods to-day, only in a form fortunately neither so "subtle" nor so Jesuitically plausible. Her powers are failing, as the manifesto under consideration clearly proves. M. Lévy proceeds:--

And when she falls victim of some error in the course of her
occult investigations--of which in theory she is always
proclaiming the fallibility--it is again her pride that bars
the way to admission, and makes her the slave of the most
pitiful machinations ... which ... will shatter to fragments in
all directions the confidence she had formerly inspired. For if
she is not consciously defending her mistake, then what kind of
a break-up of all her faculties are we witnessing?... The more
deeply we study this [_i.e._, the "neo-theosophy" already
described by M. Lévy and Pandit Bhagavan Das.--A. L. C.], the
more terrible appear the responsibilities of Adyar in this
deplorable scheme; for we would still seek the origin of such
fearless confidence [in Mrs. Besant's followers.--A. L. C.]
refusing, as it does, to be shaken by the eloquent appeal of
the facts here set forth, and of which some, if not all, have
been within the reach and open to examination of those members
who profess such an enthusiastic confidence in Mrs. Besant. The
result of our search is a yet further culpability, as
overwhelming as it is unexpected.

For this confidence is not in the case of all the victims the
result of the free use of their own inner faculties. It is in
the case of the greater number, due to the influence of a
strong suggestion _deliberately organised and cleverly carried
out by the authors of this mystification themselves; by Mr.
Leadbeater who wrote, and by Mrs. Besant who published_, the
following lines in the _Adyar Album_, p. 45: "What can I say to
you of your President that you do not know already? Her
colossal [_sic_] intellect, her unfailing wisdom, her
unrivalled eloquence, her splendid forgetfulness of self, her
untiring devotion to work for others--all these are familiar to
you. Yet these qualities, these powers, are but a small part of
her greatness; they are on the surface, they may be seen by
all, they leap to the eyes. But there are other qualities,
other powers, of which you cannot know, because they pertain to
the secrets of Initiation. She is a pupil of our Masters; from
the fount of Their archaic wisdom she derives her own, the
plans which she is carrying out are Their plans for the welfare
of the world. Think, therefore, how great an honour it is for
you that you should be permitted to work under her, for in
doing so you are virtually working under Them. Think how
watchful you should be to miss no hint which falls from her
lips, to carry out exactly whatever instructions she may give
you. Remember that because of her position as an Initiate she
knows far more than you do; and precisely because her knowledge
is occult, given under the seal of Initiation, she cannot share
it with you. Therefore her actions must certainly be governed
by considerations of which you have no conception. There will
be times when you cannot understand her motives, for she is
taking into account many things which you cannot see and of
which she must not tell you. But whether you understand or not,
you will be wise to follow her implicitly, just because she
knows. This is no mere supposition on my part, no mere flight
of the imagination; I have stood beside your President in the
presence of the Supreme Director of evolution on this globe,
and I know whereof I speak. Let the wise hear my words, and act
accordingly."

It is easy to see how minds not gifted with a highly developed
critical faculty, or the instinctive sense that discriminates
the true from the false, would yield hopelessly to such a
formidable assault. They cannot see that he who thus guarantees
the infallibility of Mrs. Besant has himself need of
guarantee.... _I do not think that any religion or man-made
cult, even in the earliest ages, has ever promulgated
superstition in its grossest form so openly and boldly as this
..._ [Italics mine.--A.L.C.]. Mr. Leadbeater ... demands
_deliberate_ suppression of thought.... And having extolled
such a deliberately induced mental torpor for Mrs. Besant's
benefit, he immediately demands it for himself when he speaks
of the "Supreme Director of evolution on this globe." Who is
this administrative person? With whom is he to be identified in
the scheme of evolution as it has been given to us by Mrs.
Besant and Mr. Leadbeater themselves?... What avenging God will
come to confound this impious prophet who seeks to reduce
humanity to the level of a troop of obedient automata!... A
gentle and winning voice, infinitely reassuring, rises out of
the depths of my being ... a great light breaks forth,
triumphant. Mr. Leadbeater hears the words of a judgment
immediate and without appeal, pronounced by the Buddha
himself:--

"Believe not what you have heard said; believe not in
traditions merely because they have been transmitted through
many generations; believe not merely because a thing is
repeated by many persons; ... believe not conjectures ...
_believe not solely upon the authority of your Masters and
elders_. WHEN UPON OBSERVATION AND ANALYSIS A PRINCIPLE
CONFORMS TO REASON AND LEADS TO THE BENEFIT AND WELFARE OF ALL,
ACCEPT IT AND HOLD IT."--(Buddha, _Anguttura Nikaya_.)

What a royal refuge, what a noble support are the words of
those who are the truly great! They are the perpetual safeguard
of humanity.

We have seen that upon "observation and analysis" the
"unfailing" wisdom of Mrs. Besant is no more than a mass of
inconsistencies, injustices, sectarian tactics in
administration, error and mystification in esoteric
announcements. Far from leading to "the benefit and welfare of
all," this "unfailing" wisdom is leading to the ... most
miserable slavery of souls, the emasculation of minds, the
creation of a terrible heresy. And at the present time we are
all feeling that we shall not be living up to the wise
exhortations of that great Being who was the Buddha, unless we
clearly denounce the lamentable aberrations of these two
occultists in the hope of drawing all the souls we possibly can
away from their pernicious influence. With this end in view,
and faithful to this duty, we shall calmly and firmly continue
our investigation of facts.

Fortunately, the assertions of Mrs. Besant and Mr. Leadbeater
have lately reached to such a pitch of extravagance and have so
utterly defied common sense that they will rouse even the least
critical minds and the most compliant hearts.

Then follows the section of M. Lévy's book in which he quotes from _Man; Whence, How, and Whither_; much of this I have given earlier in this pamphlet. And M. Lévy, one must remember, wrote all this _nine years ago_!

At this point it may serve a useful purpose if I specifically define my own position in regard to Mrs. Besant's claims. _I entirely and most emphatically reject them all._ Mr. Leadbeater's I was not even aware of, until I came to collect and examine the material for this pamphlet. They are so monstrous as not even to merit a specific "rejection"--it goes without saying. I practically lost all faith in Mrs. Besant when she dissimulated and tried to mislead the Inner Group Council on her return from her first visit to India in 1894. She then informed us that she had been "ordered by the Master to accuse Judge." On being closely cross-examined, however, she finally admitted that she had not received this "Order" _direct_, as she would have had us believe, but _through_ the Brahmin whom she then followed blindly[11], exactly as she now follows Leadbeater. But later, when taxed with this in public, she pretended that he had had nothing whatever to do with it! This is a typical example of Mrs. Besant's idea of a 'truthful' statement in a matter of the most vital importance involving the fate of a leader and many thousands of members. What confidence can be placed in such a woman--one whose mental processes are so warped, and whose ideas of 'truth' and 'honesty' are so peculiar? To inspire confidence a leader must be the very soul of truth and uprightness. Mrs. Besant has always been remarkable for asserting herself to be this, and people have believed her. But a truly upright and honest person (even if aware of it, as in Occultism he has to be) would never draw attention to it--and that publicly and in print.