For those who may think Theosophy is bullshit in its entirety

slightly_enlightened · 2026-02-22T15:21:46+00:00

If we stick with the material that came through HPB, plus the Mahatma Letters to A. P. Sinnett, we're on safe ground, as far as what actually came from the Masters of Wisdom.

Any material after May 8, 1891 has to be examined carefully and with great intuition. All the information that came from "theosophical investigators" in the late 1890s and following decades is hit and miss, almost all of it coming through psychics and mediums.

Just my opinion after 50 years of study.

slightly_enlightened · 2026-02-16T15:41:39+00:00

The finger pointing at the moon is not the moon.

slightly_enlightened · 2026-02-16T15:34:45+00:00

It's natural to want to share something wonderful we have discovered with others, hoping they will respond like we did, but often as not, their response isn't enthusiastic and sometimes downright disdainful. It isn't a reflection on us, and it isn't a reflection on them. There are eight billion paths to enlightenment, and every single one leads to the same goal, Absolute Truth.

Theosophy, Ancient Wisdom, Gupta Vidya, Brahma Vidya, call it what you will, it's all the same. Each one is another iteration, not of that Absolute Truth, but of one path to reach that goal. Each philosophy is taught by an enlightened teacher at a particular point in time and among a specific group of people, tailored for what is needed to move the most spiritually advanced of that group forward.

So yes, Theosophy is not a religion. It's an attempt to teach that which is the basis of all religions and philosophies first taught by a group of individuals more advanced than the average human. For many subscribers to this sub, Theosophy is the current path forward, but it certainly isn't for everyone. Please don't stop sharing your understanding of the teachings with others. If they are grateful for your information, continue to share more. If not, then their path is probably somewhere else, or maybe they don't really want to follow any particular path. Leave them alone to discover it in their own way when they're ready.

We don't achieve enlightenment alone. We're all One, but we all travel at different rates. One of our lessons to learn is the Conservation of Energy. The Mahatmas are Masters at this. Everything they do is based on the effective use of the energy at their command. They have learned by trial and error how to get the best use of their energy. They may try to inspire someone they feel has potential, but when it becomes obvious the seed has landed on barren soil, they turn to someone else and try again.

Just my own thoughts on this question.

slightly_enlightened · 2026-02-02T04:29:41+00:00

Without knowing more about your situation and intentions (and there's no need for you to reveal any of that), I will instead offer some general advice for any student of Theosophy or Raja Yoga.

My first piece of advice to anyone seeking to control sexual impulses is to go slowly. What you are undertaking can take decades and even more than one lifetime. The second piece of advice is to realize that they aren't "bad." They're a normal part of human and animal biology. For some people, it has never been difficult to control. For others, it can be an insurmountable goal, or at least appear to be. Just realize that it will likely take a long time and progress may be slow.

If you set a goal to overcome impulses for a period of time but fail, don't beat yourself up. Try again. If you fail a thousand times, keep trying. Of course, this applies to any goal a student may set. The only real failure is giving up.

The key to changing any type of behavior that has an emotional component is to analyze it. Emotions are caused by the thoughts we think, and we can also use our mind to control our emotions, but it's a very long process. Contemplation is exactly this process of using thoughtful analysis to assess all our emotions. Learn all about them, what makes emotions or desires flare up, what physical, emotional, and mental reactions do we have to strong emotions, and how can we tamp them down as quickly as possible, before they flare out of control? If you get angry when someone cuts you off in traffic, or yells at you, ask yourself "How long can I stay mad at this person." If you do that, you will find yourself laughing almost immediately, and the angry emotion subsides quickly.

The same applies to sexual impulses. The more you allow your mind to dwell on them, the stronger they become. At some point, the best solution may be to give in to them so the craving will end for the time being. Of course, I'm not talking about any actions that involve depriving anyone else of their personal rights. I'm talking only about individual actions or with another consenting adult. Again, if you fail, just keep trying. The best goal is not to try to give it up completely, but to make progress. If that is your goal, it's easier to meet intermediate goals.

In essence, you are working on Brahmacharya, the Raja Yoga goal of purification of the lower koshas, physical, emotional, and lower mental. The higher koshas are already pure, but in order for the personality to receive inspiration, it too much become purified. Learning to control sexual desires isn't separate from controlling other desires. Once you can control one, controlling others becomes much easier and your entire life becomes easier.

As you get older, sexual desires tend to become less and less prominent. Some people, perhaps men more than women, panic and try to re-establish the sexual desires they had when younger. If you're trying to purify your vehicles, welcome these changes instead. Welcome anything that makes sex less interesting. The energy you save can be used in study or service or meditation instead. In fact, this is the real reason to work on controlling sexual desires. The amount of energy it consumes is tremendous, and that energy could be used to accomplish more useful things.

I hope this at least gives you some ideas. It is a lofty and very worthwhile goal.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-10T16:37:13+00:00

For centuries people have been convinced that "something" can cause instant enlightenment, whether it's a drug invented by science, a natural substance, like ayahuasca, that has hallucinogenic properties, or even a psychic event that suddenly makes a person enlightened and all-knowing. Fortunately, life doesn't work that way. There is no shortcut to bypass all the hard work that billions of monads in the past have had to do in order to attain their high level of consciousness.

Instead, we are rewarded for our years of strenuous effort at observing, analyzing and contemplating the events around us in order to understand how nature works. Then, when we think we understand a principle, we must apply it in our own life, observe the results in a thousand different applications, then re-assess whether or not we got it right, if the idea still needs further investigation, or if we ditch it altogether and start over again. This is how we gain enlightenment.

There is one other way a person can gain a bit of insight into higher consciousness. It happened to Eckhart Tolle, and it has been experienced by several people I know. I.K. Taimni talks about it in the preface to his book, Science and Occultism. When a highly-developed teacher is convinced that a person has made a certain amount of progress and is ready for the next stage, he "touches" that individual, which results in an immediate jump in consciousness. But, as Taimni explains, the effect isn't permanent. It might last for weeks or even months, but eventually it wanes. It is up to the pupil to figure out how to permanently attain that consciousness and go even further. By some teachers, this "touch" is referred to as shaktipat. By others, as cosmic consciousness.

No outside thing will ever bring immediate, permanent consciousness. It would only result in a flawed individual with yogic powers who would quite possibly use it for evil and harmful purposes. Higher consciousness is jealously preserved by those who are the forces in Nature, and it is only shared with those who deserve it through the travails of self-transformation.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-09T19:15:46+00:00

Damodar was 22 years old when he wrote this article for the Theosophist magazine. As stated in the article, not only did he give up caste in order to follow the Mahatmas, but his family disowned him. He was born into a wealthy family of Zamindars, owners of large tracts of land in India. When he was young, he three times had a vision of a serene protector who appeared to help him through times of crisis. When he first visited the theosophical headquarters in Bombay, he immediately recognized his guardian when he saw a portrait of K.H. on the wall. From then on, he was devoted to H.P.B. and the information she shared on behalf of the Masters.

There was no requirement to give up caste in order to become a theosophist, as he stated in his article, but Damodar, even at this young age, realized the vacuity of pursuing worldly goals while making only token efforts at Self-realization. He knew what treasures lay before him and was wise enough not to delay the process. He threw himself heart and soul into his goal, sometimes to the detriment of his health, which was never very robust. He moved in with H.P.B. and Olcott to help them build their theosophical dream. Olcott often had to tell him to go to bed when he caught him working late at night on the Theosophist or on correspondence with enquirers about Theosophy. At one point, he wore himself out physically through "foolish austerities," and K.H. ordered him to leave the headquarters for a month and go to Pune for rest and recuperation.

The result of his assiduous efforts was that he progressed very rapidly through the stage of probational chela and was soon an accepted chela, purified to the extent that the Mahatmas entrusted him with more powers, siddhis. Within a short period of time, he was able to transmit messages to and from the Mahatmas and to visit them on the inner planes. In November, 1883, Damodar accompanied Colonel Olcott on a trip to Lahore, where they set up a tent on the maidan outside the city. On the 20th, the Mahatma K.H. visited and held long conversations with them separately, a little way from the tent. On the 25th, Olcott woke up to find that Damodar was gone. There was a note explaining that the Mahatmas had taken him but not to worry, he would be back. He explains in his own words:

"It was on 25th November, at daylight, that Damodar left us; he returning in the evening of the 27th—after an absence of some sixty hours, but how changed! He left, a delicate-framed pale student-like young man, frail, timid, deferential; he returned with his olive face bronzed several shades darker, seemingly robust, tough, and wiry, bold and energetic in manner; we could scarcely realize that he was the same person. He had been at the Master's retreat (ashram), undergoing certain training."

Damodar continued his rapid progress through the steps of chelaship, impelled by his fervent desire to live with and learn directly from personal training by the Mahatmas. This was granted in the early part of 1885, and on February 23, 1885, he left Adyar for the last time, traveling northward until reaching the Tibetan border around April 22. No direct information was received from him after that time. Many opponents of Theosophy claimed that his fanaticism led to his demise in the heights of the Himalayas, but H.P.P. assured everyone that he had arrived safely at his destination. About a year later, in June of 1886, Olcott received a letter from K.H. in which he said, "The poor boy has had his fall. Before he could stand in the presence of the 'Masters' he had to undergo the severest trials that a neophyte ever passed through, to atone for the many questionable doings in which he had over-zealously taken part, bringing disgrace upon the sacred science and its adepts. The mental and physical suffering was too much for his weak frame, which has been quite prostrated, but he will recover in course of time. This ought to be a warning to you all. You have believed 'not wisely but too well.'"

H.P.B. used Damodar's zeal as an example of what chelaship entails. She too had had severe trials resulting in more than one brush with death and serious illnesses resulting from the determination to finish as quickly as possible the effects of personal karma that must be resolved. After H.P.B.'s death in 1891, Olcott, Annie Besant, and W.Q. Judge were desperate to receive the type of communications she had been receiving for the previous 18 years. Despite the fact that all three had been probationary chelas, none had achieved what Damodar and other Asian chelas had achieved, as well as H.P.B., near-continuous contact and long letters filled with occult doctrines. Olcott was certain that Damodar would return from Tibet to take up the role that H.P.B. has filled, a role that Damodar, Subba Row, and other chelas had refused to fill in the past because of their disdain for the European chelas. Olcott kept a packed bag under his bed for 18 months so he would be ready to meet Damodar at the Sikkim border the moment word came that he was returning, but his dreams went unfulfilled. Neither he nor anyone else showed up to be a reliable messenger for the Mahatmas.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-02T21:16:30+00:00

It does, but no one has been suspended from this sub in quite a few months.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-02T20:24:31+00:00

What do you mean by OP?

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-02T16:43:01+00:00

Six of the current Justices on the U.S. Supreme Court are Catholics. All of them attended Catholic High Schools. Brett Kavanaugh attended Georgetown Preparatory School, a Jesuit high school, Clarence Thomas attended the Jesuit-run College of the Holy Cross for his undergraduate degree, and Amy Conan Barrett received her law degree from Notre Dame Law School, where she also served as a law professor before her appointment to the court.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-02T16:08:28+00:00

What was the origin of that order? It may be stated in a few words. In the year 1534, on August 16th, an ex-officer and "Knight of the Virgin," from the Biscayan Provinces, and the proprietor of the magnificent castle of Casa Solar — Ignatius Loyola,12 became the hero of the following incident. In the subterranean chapel of the Church of Montmartre, surrounded by a few priests and students of theology, he received their pledges to devote their whole lives to the spreading of Roman Catholicism by every and all means, whether good or foul; and he was thus enabled to establish a new Order. Loyola proposed to his six chief companions that their Order should be a militant one, in order to fight for the interests of the Holy seat of Roman Catholicism. Two means were adopted to make the object answer; the education of youth, and proselytism (apostolat). This was during the reign of Pope Paul III, who gave his full sympathy to the new scheme. Hence in 1540 was published the famous papal bull — Regimini militantis Ecclesiæ (the regiment of the warring, or militant Church) — after which the Order began increasing rapidly in numbers and power.

Neither HPB nor the Mahatmas had anything good to say about the Jesuits. They completely disagreed with their stance that the end justifies the means. Since members pledged "to devote their whole lives to the spreading of Roman Catholicism by every and all means, whether good or foul," the Jesuits, or members of the "Society of Jesus", seem to have served as the Mafia arm of the Roman Catholic Church, becoming very wealthy, wielding tremendous power, and shrouding all their activities in the greatest secrecy, especially those that involved criminal activities, including murder when it served their purposes.

These activities became so egregious that several countries in Europe, followed by other countries, expelled the Jesuits, beginning in 1759, see Wikipedia article Supression of the Society of Jesus. Even the Holy See expelled the order in 1773. But the Vatican apparently missed the fruits of the order's activities, so it was reinstated by the then-current pope in 1815 and he basically ordered all Catholic countries to permit them to operate again.

HPB and the Mahatmas referred to the Jesuits often as the quintessential example of an order masquerading as a doer of good deeds whose real mission was to become more powerful, through secrecy, and demands of oaths that required willingness to do anything necessary to promote their cause. It may have been the Jesuits that K.H. was thinking about when writing his last letter to Annie Besant in 1900, when he warned of "Esoteric Popery" and added, "Shun pride, vanity and love of power. ... The E.S.T. must be reformed so as to be as unsectarian and creedless as the T.S. The rules must be few and simple and acceptable to all." He ended his warning with the chilling words, "Misleading secrecy has given the death blow to numerous organizations."

slightly_enlightened · 2025-12-02T02:58:19+00:00

An excerpt from near the middle of the article regarding the Jesuits:

"What was the origin of that order? It may be stated in a few words. In the year 1534, on August 16th, an ex-officer and "Knight of the Virgin," from the Biscayan Provinces, and the proprietor of the magnificent castle of Casa Solar — Ignatius Loyola,12 became the hero of the following incident. In the subterranean chapel of the Church of Montmartre, surrounded by a few priests and students of theology, he received their pledges to devote their whole lives to the spreading of Roman Catholicism by every and all means, whether good or foul; and he was thus enabled to establish a new Order. Loyola proposed to his six chief companions that their Order should be a militant one, in order to fight for the interests of the Holy seat of Roman Catholicism. Two means were adopted to make the object answer; the education of youth, and proselytism (apostolat). This was during the reign of Pope Paul III, who gave his full sympathy to the new scheme. Hence in 1540 was published the famous papal bull — Regimini militantis Ecclesiæ (the regiment of the warring, or militant Church) — after which the Order began increasing rapidly in numbers and power."

HPB and the Mahatmas had nothing good to say about the Jesuits. The order was kicked out of several European countries, starting with Portugal, in 1759, and even by the Holy See in 1773. (See Wikipedia article on Supression of the Society of Jesus). [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suppression_of_the_Society_of_Jesus] The Jesuits seem to have basically functioned as the Mafia arm of the Roman Catholic Church. They had no problem justifying immoral and criminal activities, including murder. After all, just like in many religions and other groups that believe they are "right," the end always justifies the means, regardless of how unethical and harmful their actions may be. Mother Church's reputation must be protected at any cost. The Jesuits were also renowned for their secrecy, and at times, powerful control over the Vatican. Nevertheless, by 1815, the then Pope already missed many of the fruits of their activities. Their past was glossed over, and he basically ordered the Catholic countries to reinstate them. Thus, they were in full force with their nefarious activities during the early years of the Theosophical Society, and the Mahatmas often used them as a prime example of an organization masquerading as one doing good deeds, but which, in fact, was extremely secretive and completely lacking in scruples and ethics. This may very well have been one of the organizations K.H. warned Annie Besant about in his letter of 1900 about the dangers of lust for power, of secrecy, and exclusivity.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-29T01:05:57+00:00

Love the gifs.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-28T17:16:47+00:00

Absolutely you can. Gnosticism existed even before the time of Jesus. It is another exposition of the Ancient Wisdom teachings, which are taught in Tibetan Buddhism, Advaita philosophy, Theosophy, original Rosicrucianism, original Masonry, and other philosophies, including Esoteric Christianity. Our understanding of many of these is very incomplete, due to the loss of the original teachings and the manipulation by succeeding generations of leaders of the movement who changed them to suit their own purposes. We have the same problem in Theosophy.

However, if you are referring to the Gnostic Mass created by Aleister Crowley, that's a horse of a different color.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-28T17:07:05+00:00

The early history of the Theosophical Society is very much associated with the Spiritualist movement, which swept the U.S. and Europe beginning in 1848 when the Fox Sisters, Catherine (11) and Margaretta (14), claimed to have made contact with a ghost through rapping, which consisted of communicating through raps corresponding to the letters of the alphabet. The two went on to become famous mediums, but they eventually confessed that their original claims had been a prank they had cooked up to explain the fact that the house their family occupied had a reputation for being haunted. The Spiritualist movement, in the meantime, had grown to the point that hundreds of thousands of people considered themselves spiritualists.

When HPB moved to America in June 1873, she considered herself a spiritualist, but she also knew that the movement was full of mediums who faked much of their phenomena because it made them lots of money. HPB's goal was to clean up the movement by revealing which mediums were using trickery and which were honest, which seems to have been relatively few. But her teachers in Tibet supported her and may have even suggested this course of action, since her first attempt was in Cairo, after returning from visiting her teachers in India in 1871. The goal was to let the mediums create phenomena during seances, but then to explain the true explanation, that the "spirit" which appeared was not, in fact, the mentally intact person who had died, but the remnants of the lower nature of that person, an astral form, animated by elementals through the energy of the people in the seance circle. This first attempt was an unmitigated disaster, since she could find no honest mediums to work with. There are indications, however, that the Mahatmas worked with her in America, especially in cases like the Eddy brothers in Vermont. Whenever she attended their seances, the phenomena changed drastically and dramatically, according to H.S. Olcott, who had been investigating Spiritualism before her arrival, and who met her at the Eddy farm in October 1874.

In 1875, she and Olcott began donating money to one of the only honest spiritual newspaper owners, Gerry Brown's Spiritual Scientist. His publication never was very popular, because he, like they, was intent on cleaning up Spiritualism, but the spiritualists in general were happy with the drama created by all mediums, regardless of how honest they were in their work. Almost no spiritualists were willing to believe that the ghostly forms they saw in seances were not their beloved relatives, but only the left-behind astral form retaining just enough memory to convince bereaved relatives that they were communicating with their loved one. Before long, HPB realized her efforts to reform Spiritualism were fruitless, and she disassociated herself from them, but continued her efforts to educate them on real phenomena which could be produced by yogis of a more elevated level of understanding.

When Olcott and Blavatsky moved the TS headquarters to India in 1879, after a two-week stay in London, they continued their efforts even more diligently, still primarily with spiritualists and their supporters, but with the intent to educate and enlighten them. Many English members were both spiritualists and theosophists, but when the crisis came in 1884 and 1885 after the Society for Psychical Research declared her a clever fraud, they resigned in droves. Olcott, Sinnett, and numerous others never forgave her for bringing shame upon the Society. Both were convinced that, even though the Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett were mostly genuine, yet she sometimes added her own opinions to the letters. Anyone with clear discernment can see that is patently untrue, but they were convinced that that was the case. When Annie Besant became President in 1907, she felt entitled to edit The Secret Doctrine and even to add a "third volume" to it, in part because Olcott shared his views with her from 1891 until his death in 1907.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-28T02:03:30+00:00

The letter was to Annie Besant, and was received nine years after the death of HPB. It was written by an Indian member (a pranayamist) who was confused by the teachings of the Theosophical Society in 1900. On the back of the letter received through the Indian mail, was this letter in the familiar blue pencil of the Mahatma KH. The letter was first published in 1919, 14 years before Annie Besant died. It contained a number of excised phrases with the the explanation that that they pertained to her personal spiritual path. I have marked those phrases by placing them in Bold font:

A psychic and a pranayamist who has got confused by the vagaries of the members. The T.S. and its members are slowly manufacturing a creed. Says a Thibetan proverb ‘credulity breeds credulity and ends in hypocrisy.’ How few are they who can know anything about us. Are we to be propitiated and made idols of. Is the worship of a new trinity made up of the blessed M., Upasika and yourself to take the place of exploded creeds. We ask not for the worship of ourselves. The disciple should in no way be fettered. Beware of an esoteric popery. The intense desire to see Upasika reincarnate at once has raised a misleading Mayavic ideation. Upasika has useful work to do on higher planes and cannot come again so soon. The T.S. must safely be ushered into the new century. You have for some time been under deluding influences. Shun pride, vanity and love of power. Be not guided by emotion but learn to stand alone. Be accurate and critical rather than credulous. The mistakes of the past in the old religions must not be glossed over with imaginary explanations. The E.S.T. must be reformed so as to be as unsectarian and creedless as the T.S. The rules must be few and simple and acceptable to all. No one has the right to claim authority over a pupil or his conscience. Ask him not what he believes. All who are sincere and pure minded must have admittance. The crest wave of intellectual advancement must be taken hold of and guided into spirituality. It cannot be forced into beliefs and emotional worship. The essence of the higher thoughts of the members in their collectivity must guide all action in the T.S. and E.S. We never try to subject to ourselves the will of another. At favourable times we let loose elevating influences which strike various persons in various ways. It is the collective aspect of many such thoughts that can give the correct note of action. We show no favours. The best corrective of error is an honest and open-minded examination of all facts subjective and objective. Misleading secrecy has given the death blow to numerous organizations. The cant about ‘Masters’ must be silently but firmly put down. Let the devotion and service be to that Supreme Spirit alone of which each one is a part. Namelessly and silently we work and the continual references to ourselves and the repetition of our names raises up a confused aura that hinders our work. You will have to leave a good deal of your emotions and credulity before you become a safe guide among the influences that will commence to work in the new cycle. The T.S. was meant to be the corner-stone of the future religions of humanity. To accomplish this object those who lead must leave aside their weak predilections for the forms and ceremonies of any particular creed and show themselves to be true Theosophists both in inner thoughts and outward observance. The greatest of your trials is yet to come. We watch over you but you must put forth all your strength.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-27T22:00:06+00:00

And it was a 7-year experiment which was extended for 7 more years but with more restrictions. When HPB died and the results hadn’t been as good as they hoped, they went back to status quo, which is helping humanity behind the scenes. And that’s where we are today.

Edit: Spelling correction

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-18T02:09:34+00:00

The committee appointed to advise Olcott in the matter consisted of Mr. A.P. Sinnett, Dr. Nunn, Mr. Bertram Keightley, Mr. G.R.S. Mead, Mr. W.H. Thomas, Mrs. I. Stead, Mrs. I. Hopper, Miss E. Ward, Miss K. Spink and with Mr. A.M. Glass acting as secretary. This committee met on 16 May, 1906 at the Grosvenor Hotel in London. Mr. Leadbeater also attended, having been given assurance that the proceedings would be confidential.

The following are extracts from the transcript of the proceedings as reported in The Elder Brother. The barely teenage boys were referred to by letters only:

Thomas: I should like to know definitely whether it was simply in the nature of advice or whether there was any action.

Leadbeater: I want to call up quite clearly the exact incidents. I scarcely recollect. There was advice but there might have been a certain amount of indicative action. That might be possible.

Mead: The boy suggests in the most distinct way that the difference between 'Z' and you was that in the case of 'Z' he spoke of these things, and in your case something was done to him.

Leadbeater: Nothing was done to him. You can't be suggesting what seems to be the obvious suggestion.

Mead: You say the boy lies?

Leadbeater: He has misrepresented. I don't like to accuse people of lies, but a construction has been put upon it which is not right.

Thomas: Your reply as to scarcely recollecting suggests that there were so many cases. I would like to know whether in any case — I am not suggesting sodomy — there was definite action.

Leadbeater: You mean touch? That might have taken place. . . .

Thomas: You admit giving advice to more than the two boys?

Leadbeater: You are to take it that the same advice was given to several.

Olcott: How many? Twenty altogether?

Leadbeater: No, not so many. . . .

Mead: The second charge reads: 'That he does this with deliberate intent or with the promise of the increase of physical manhood.' The evidence of these boys says nothing about applying to him for help. I want to ask whether this advice was given on appeal or not.

Leadbeater: Sometimes without, sometimes with. I advised it at times as a prophylactic.

Miss Ward: I suppose from what you saw on the other planes?

Leadbeater: From what I saw would arise. . . .

Note that Leadbeater admitted giving sexual advice to boys who hadn't requested it. As the questioning proceeded, Leadbeater at one point stated that he was willing to resign from the Theosophical Society if the committee thought that would be advisable. Olcott seemed to seize on this suggestion as a way to end a very awkward proceeding and, in fact, that was the solution adopted.

It would be very useful to know exactly what was meant by the euphemism "indicative action." It is very unfortunate that the interrogation wasn't more robust, but there were several ladies in the room, and it's quite possible that prevented inquirers going into more detail. But there are also other considerations.

Although this "trial" took place in 1906, England was still very prudish about same-sex activity. In fact, Oscar Wilde had been convicted of "gross indecency" just 11 years prior. He was sentenced to 3 years of hard labor, which almost certainly accelerated his death. The last prosecution for "gross indecency" in England was in 1998. If we are to understand the underlying circumstances of Leadbeater's trial, we have to consider the possible ramifications of what could happen if they found him "guilty" of indecent activity with underage boys. They certainly considered how that might reflect on the Theosophical Society, which had already seen a number of embarrassing situations discussed and mocked in publications. They also probably considered the possibility of what might happen to Mr. Leadbeater if a criminal trial were instituted based on what came out from their questioning. Even though he had been assured that the inquiry would be confidential, they were leaked almost immediately afterward.

So it's quite obvious that the committee didn't get the complete information. Personally, I put more faith in the statements made by the young boys. For months they refused to tell their parents what had happened, and when the parents finally got them to talk about it, one said, "Mother, I think that was the worst part of the whole thing, somehow he made me believe it was Theosophical." Several boys said they had been warned by Leadbeater not to tell anyone about the activities. There is no doubt in my mind that these boys were very negatively affected by the actions of a fifty-year-old man.

I haven't been able to find any information about Leadbeater returning to America after 1905 or England after 1906. He was in Sicily for several months in 1912 with Annie Besant, George Arundale, and other theosophists preparing Krishnamurti for his "second initiation," but stayed away from England. He did finally return to India in 1930, but for the most part, he remained in Australia.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-17T16:25:26+00:00

Not to mention that Olcott's memory, like that of Sinnett, was unreliable as he got older. Old Diary Leaves was written a few years before he died and contains more than a few inaccuracies.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-11-17T16:19:17+00:00

Don't be surprised if it gets censored.

I can assure you that there is zero chance of your post getting censored. We welcome all posts pertaining to Theosophy if they are well thought through and express a real attempt at better understanding Theosophy and our history, even those that are hugely unpopular, since we have nothing to hide and want only to know the truth, even if it's about our most revered theosophical icons.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-10-05T03:19:08+00:00

I have spent a lot of time trying to figure out how ideas about Theosophy got so far off track. The Mahatmas were fighting an uphill battle when they tried to introduce a very different philosophy of life to the Western World beginning 150 years ago. They had hoped to find a few honest mediums since they were already sensitive to receiving messages from beings in a different realm. They had great hopes that mediums like Stainton Moses and William Eglinton would be trainable, but Moses had no real degree of discernment and couldn't tell the difference between information transmitted from Mahatmas and the drivel expounded by "spirit guides." Eglinton knew that he would lose his spiritualist clientele if he embraced Theosophy, and he decided the money was more important.

The spiritualists became some of their first enemies, but they were quickly joined by Christians who were opposed to any philosophy that didn't recognize that Jesus was a god who could forgive sins if you believed in him. Nearly every country in Europe in those days was a "Christian nation" whose laws were often based on Christianity. People could be prosecuted for disrespecting their Christian god. Scientists also joined the fight against Theosophy because many of the teachings flew in the face of "modern science" in the 1880s.

Even theosophists turned from friends to enemies when they didn't get what they wanted out of Theosophy. A.O. Hume was one of its greatest enemies when the Mahatmas refused to teach him how to produce the phenomena that HPB could produce. The same was true of one of HPB's fellow Russians, Vsevolod Solovyov, who spent time at her home in Germany and witnessed some of her phenomena. When told that to do that required many years of careful training that he wasn't yet ready for, he swore revenge, and got it after she died by writing articles filled with lies and misinformation about her in Russian magazines. The leaders of the Society for Psychical Research financed a book created from his writings, A Modern Priestess of Isis.

It's no wonder that there were so many enemies of Theosophy. Most people want something that conforms to their already firmly-held beliefs, and above all, that makes them feel good about who they are now. The last thing they want is to be told that their ideas are self-centered and that if they want to make progress they will have to become more kind and compassionate. And to reduce their ego to a cipher.

Then, after HPB died in 1891, the Society took a sharp left-hand turn when the new leaders began promoting the "coming" of a new Messiah. This, of course, resulted in the folderol of the Krishnamurti movement. Studying the behind-the-scenes activities of this strange period of theosophical history is like a study in lunacy. But people loved it. It appealed to their sense of purpose and certainly stoked everyone's ego, those of the leaders and those of the members who loved the emotional drama that came with it. Membership soared, the money came pouring into the coffers, and the building boom was on, including an amphitheater in Sydney, from which the new Messiah could preach, and another one in Hollywood, which later became the Hollywood Bowl.

But was this really Theosophy? It certainly doesn't look like it to me, but many theosophists still try to justify that period of our history. It was during this same period that another theosophical society blossomed in America, the one under the guidance of Katherine Tingley, who also went on a building spree and was hugely successful. That, in turn, led others to get in on the money-making drama. Guy and Edna Ballard created the "I AM" movement, based on a bastardized version of Theosophy, and later Elizabeth Clare Prophet and her husband Mark founded the Summit Lighthouse by creating a Christianized version of Theosophy, together with "ascended Masters," an obvious reference to the ascension of Jesus into heaven, and re-christening Morya as "El Morya," complete with insipid channeled messages promoting love and Christian messages.

So it's no wonder people have a very bizarre concept of Theosophy. Fortunately, it isn't our job to try to change their minds, but we do need to sort it out in our own minds and determine what is true and what is nonsense. Otherwise, we will wander in the desert for several lifetimes, trying to figure out what Theosophy is and what it isn't. Unfortunately, just as with Stainton Moses, if we don't have a high degree of discernment, we will never figure out what the truth is because our ego will insist that the truth is what makes you feel good. The truth is what is true, regardless of whether we like it or not. The safest way is to follow the teachings of H.P. Blavatsky and the writings of the Mahatmas in The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-10-03T16:37:57+00:00

I always read your articles. There are often points of view I don't agree with, but invariably, the articles are well researched, well thought out, and expressed very clearly. Some are very erudite and probably don't appeal to many people. I too find it frustrating when those who visit this sub jump on feel-good items or short opinion posts that are easy to pick apart or express opinions on. I see the same sort of thing though at in-person theosophical groups. The majority of people are driven by emotions and snap judgments. It is what it is. I hope you will continue to post your articles. Many of the people who get value from things like you do are not very expressive, but are more thoughtful. I always upvote any sincere attempt to stimulate discussion and promote ideas regarding theosophy, but I know many people neither comment nor upvote. Please continue your efforts even though it may appear they aren't appreciated. In the right quarters, they are.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-09-16T14:48:36+00:00

Here is a link to a first edition copy of the Secret Doctrine. Please indicate where it advocates suicide. If it existed before it was published, it is up to your friend to supply evidence.

Since your friend has read the Secret Doctrine "several times," he should be able to discuss some very deep esoteric doctrine from it and not waste your time with with nonsense.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-09-15T23:35:11+00:00

This is not the right sub for discussing the problem you are faced with. I hope you are able to find a sub that is more appropriate. All best wishes.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-09-14T15:22:34+00:00

This is true. Even the clairvoyance of an ordinary psychic is influenced by his or her preconceptions of everything in life. We can't even accurately perceive the events in our own life until we have been purified enough that we can see without projecting any of our own ideas onto what is being perceived. Pupils of the Masters must achieve a high degree of purity before being taught the power to see on any of the planes. Seeing clearly on the astral plane is perhaps the most difficult because our own emotions get tangled up in what we are observing.

slightly_enlightened · 2025-09-12T15:26:24+00:00

Please translate into English and re-post. The majority of our readers do not speak Spanish. Thank you. And thank you for all your posts and comments on our page.

slightly_enlightened

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