Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00514)

Statement by C.W. Leadbeater concerning what T. Subba Row said about 
Blavatsky

"June 14th, 1885: Subba Row related to us recently more
concerning Madame's remarkable complex character than I, at
least, 
had previously known; and it shows us plainly how foolish it would be 
to blame her for what in anyone else would be called a want of common 
moral qualities. We were right in believing that the original H. P. 
Blavatsky, who was by nature clairvoyant and who had some knowledge 
of occultism, disappeared from earth life some twenty years ago, and 
that a certain Adept, who in some way had failed to reach his goal, 
voluntarily took possession of her body, or was placed there --- 
partly as a punishment, in order to do all in his power to promulgate 
the truth through her. We likewise understood rightly that when 
engaged on other business he was frequently absent from this body. 
But now I come to a point about which I was completely in error. I 
thought that during the absence of the Adept, the body was in a state 
similar to that of Margrave in Bulwer Lytton's "Strange Story,"
only animated by its original lower constituents. But it seems this 
was not the case. At her death, all the usual constituents of the 
body left it as with that of others, and the present inhabitant had 
to supply the whole want from his own organisation. For this purpose 
two Chelas, but little versed in occultism, were selected to take the 
Adept's place when necessary; and as no Adept or Chela can enter
into a woman's body during times of illness, at such times it had
to
be taken possession of by a terrible ill-tempered, ignorant old Tibet 
woman, in place of the Adept or Chelas, as she was the only female 
available for this purpose. It seems that when either of the four 
replaced one of the others, he or she had no idea of what had been 
said or done by the predecessor, and thus endless confusion occurred. 
This explains the fact that Madame so often contradicts what she had 
said a few hours previously, which fact naturally greatly excited 
Hodgson's suspicions. It likewise accounts for the fact that 
sometimes she seems to know less about occultism than we ourselves 
do, while at others she speaks with the power and authority of a 
Rishi. For months together, in consequence of her various illnesses, 
the terrible old woman alone has inhabited her almost all the time, 
and all around her have suffered from her ill-temper. Still the Adept 
maintains his connection, in the hope, as we think, to be able to 
complete his promulgation of the "secret doctrine" through her. 
Whether this poor diseased body will hold together long enough for 
this purpose no one at present can predict. Of course this true 
explanation is useless for outsiders. But I think I can give even to 
them a satisfactory explanation of Madame's contradictions
without attributing intentional untruth to her, when I inform them 
that, as a Russian, she was prone to exaggeration, coupled with an 
unretentive memory and an excitable style of speaking; and especially 
when we consider that English is not her mother tongue --- [Olcott 
boasts of her that her English is classic --- Professor Sellin] --- 
and therefore she often makes mistakes. Poor old lady! her life has 
truly been a wonderful one, and who can say what will still come of 
it!"

Leadbeater's statement quoted from:
http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/anoncomplex.htm

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://hpb.cc