The Mahatma Letters To the Editor of the "Nonmi-Cuiwa Darwy News"
'Sim—May T be allowed to criticize the eritie—even it he be your worthy self? While giving you every credit for sincerity in your criticisms of the 'Theosophical Society in review. ing the Hares' book on "Who Wrote the Mahatma Letters" a like credit cannot be given for insight into the "motif" of} the writers. A' faint analogy would be that of Mr. Kensit criticising Bishop Gore: and you Know pretty well what justice the bishop would receive at such hands! As-a member for one year of the Council of the Theosophical Society Tseem to remember" Mr. William Loftus Hare a5 an agitator who received the support of no section of the Society although the freedom within' the Society allowed sections more critical than he himself to freely function, the only fundamental doctrine of the Society being "the Brotherhood of Humanity." What-fever may be the absolute value of the Hare criticisms Tam afraid that they must be regarded as the wilfully destructive utterances of disappointed and vindictive personalities, Read in the ght of this qualifeation, or rather" dis-qualifeation, T venture to suggest that a. somewhat -different interpretation than that presented in your columns 1s called for.
Your own references to Mr. Sinnett 4s very Interesting to me as some few months before he died 1 heard him Jecture and spent an evening with him. He spoke: enthusiastically of the splendid attendance at his lecture and then commented on the fact that fosday there were so many people who understood Madame Blavatsky while in-the past there had been so few and so much misapprehension. He certainly eft me with anything but the Impression that his attitude of gratitude towards Madame Blavatsky was in the Toast on the wan In this connection, by the way, you make 'a'mistako In' referring to Mr.
W, Leadbeater s another Indian disciple of Madame Blavatsky." Mr. Leadbeater was a Church of Eng Jand clergyman upon whose life and work T happen to be able speak with some authority for reas which I need not go into here, and 1 cannot but.regard him other than as man possessing altogether extrafardinary' psyehle powers who fol-Towed the light to the very best of his ability—sometimes to his marked personal disadvantage, you speak of the "theosophical cult" which hax been so much Giscredited by successive exposures of Mr, Leadbeater himself and Mrs. Besant, Tt was in the "nineties" that I first heard Mrs, Besant speak. The Rev, Rhondda Williams, "a well-Known Congregational minister, then of Bradford, now I believe of Brighon, was inthe chair and he opened the' meeting by disclaiming any con+ nection or sympathy with Mrs. Besant's outlook, but considered that she had established the right to be heard and. that that explained his Hon as chairman. After Mrs int had spoken Mr. Walllama arose most visibly affected, withdrew every word he had uttered in lukewarm comment on Mrs, Besant's work and ranged himself wholeheartedly alongside her in her great, work. T venture to state that it was Impossible for anyone having liste ned to the address to act otherwise 0 stirring to the very depth of one's being wes her appeal, "By. their foulls yo shall know them," and Mrs. Besant was at that date not very far from. the direct Influence of Madame. Blavatsky!
Then you speak of the Anti-ign. This was justo far as It existed, as it is Justl-In China. Only the other ins" and of "Catholics"; and 1 venture here to state my own ox perience that there is only one philo-Sophy which can in a. sense justify and explain those and other division in Christianity, and that is the philo. sophy put forth by the Theosophical Society. T have played many, Masses and Benediction services for the Haman Catholics and T can truly say that but for this philosophy T should either Agnosticism or Roman Catholic~ sin, But this philosophy hopefully explain and syithesises the apparent.
conflicting views.
Hares" alsace is best Mustrated from Perhaps. the vindictiveness of, the
your quotation on the present position 'St the 'Theosophical Society. Long ter the Hares' book has been con-Hgned to the wassie-paper basket the work of Mrs, Besant will live,, Even admitting much of the Hares" criticism the whole attack savours far too much of leking an opponent, who is down find out, "This fz the Hares? position fand this isa measure of" their Bishop Leadbeater are down ana Toner i Mrs. Besant, and with reference ta. Krishnamurti? Hero let us remember that Drs, Besant's and Bishop Leadbeaters* attitude towards Krishnamurtt was not unlike that "of the Haman Cafholle world towards the Pope when ha speaks "ex cathedra" or towards the revelation of Christ in the Sacrament of the Mass, In the recently published word "God is My Adventure" by Rom Landau it ts somewhat remarkable that the only personal dealt with (wice is Krishnamurti and in reading these accounts of his life and work tone cannot but be very sympathetic towards Mrs, Besant's and Bishop Leadbeater's action with reference to him, To elle one example only: he was recently asked if he believed in tree-will"" "Certainly not, he replied. For the right-minded "man who sees the path of righteousness stretching out straight before him what freedom can there be other than to follow the Light? "And this answer Mlustrates how in the future we are going to ask very different questions from those which have been asked the post. Perhaps the most telling examples of this are to be found in Sir Arthur Eddington's, latest work "New Pathways in Science." In your last paragraph you inevitably reveal your personal bias as I equally inevitably reveal mine throughout this letter, In charity we may plead that we see the opposite sides of the shield, But as one of those whom you would designate as being so readily gulled T would state that although T have never attended a seance" and know little or nothing of matters Psychic T am never-the-less, salisfled that the Theosophical Society has done and is doing a great work in helping to break down the gross materialism which is at present devastating the whole world and against which the orthodox religions are making too little headway. It was during the gloomy days of the Great War that the spiritual inspiration of Bishop Leadbeater came to me as a refreshing re-invigorating influence and it seems to me that the Theosophical Society has still a message for 'a world wandering in outer darkness, Whatever that message may be It will undoubtedly take the line of constructive criticism: it will help towards the revelation and realization of God's "plan" for Humanity and it will take equal cognizance of the God within and the God without.
Atom F. Banker.
Shanghai, July 17.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.