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Re: Theos-World Ernest Wood at Adyar

Jun 12, 2005 02:20 AM
by prmoliveira


--- In theos-talk@yahoogroups.com, MKR<ramadoss@g...> wrote:

> Ernest Wood was CWL's secretary for several years and had lived in 
Adyar 
> for several years and he should have known about any problems with 
the 
> allegations. I do not recall he making any statements in his rare 
book "Is 
> This Theosophy" about the allegations. He would have no doubt would 
have 
> also made statements in his lectures, conversations and writings if 
he was 
> aware of any facts in the case. I think this is an angle I have not 
seen 
> brought up in many of the messages here. If anyone has info on this 
aspect, 
> it is welcome.


I also have never seen any statement or comment by
Wood regarding the allegations. But while at Adyar, I
did come accross an old pamphlet entitled "Of Interest
to T.S. Members" which was issued by a group of
American theosophists who called themselves
"Lightbearers", containing questions and answers at a
TS members meeting in Washington, D.C., when Ernest Wood was
lecturing there, probably in the early 1920s (the date
is not mentioned, but Wood said at that meeting that
he had not seen Leadbeater after he had gone to
Australia in 1914). It mentions, for example, how the
"Lives" were investigated. It is rather too long to
reproduce here in full but, for whatever it is worth,
I'll quote some passages in which Wood comments about
his work with CWL and about his interaction with
Krishnamurti at Adyar. (PO)


"Questions - Can you tell us something about Mr.
Leadbeater when you knew him? Can you give us some of
your experiences while with Mr. Leadbeater?

Answers - I shall have to make a personal statement
first of all with regard to this. You see I was in
England working there for our T.S. and I went to Adyar
in 1908. Mr. Leadbeater came there about the end of
January, 1909, and a very short time later I became
his private secretary, and worked for him until he
went away to Australia in 1914. During that time he
went away once or twice on tours to Italy and to the
Dutch East Indies for a short time, but while at Adyar
I was with him nearly all the time and saw his
investigations. In fact, nearly all of those books
written during that period were dictated to me. I took
them down in shorthand and had them typed out by
various people, some of whom had learned to read my
shorthand writing; but some of them also were the
results of questions and answers, so you will see I
had very intimate touch with Mr. Leadbeater, when you
take into account that he is a man that works very
hard, and it was his custom to start his work about
6:30 every morning and continue it till very late at
night. He would be up at half past six ready for work.
Then he would take a little coffee or a couple of
bananas just to begin the day, and then begin his work
with correspondence or letters or a book that he was
writing, or something of the kind, and generally he
would sit there at his table or desk until about five
o'clock in the afternoon. We used to clear the papers
away in order to bring him his lunch in the middle of
the day and he would stay there and eat his simple
food and then go on with his work. 

At five o'clock it was his custom to take his physical
exercise, a bath in the sea generally, and then have a
little soup, which was his evening meal, and then we
had our little meeting from 7:15 to 8:15 and then a
quarter of an hour more for meditation. I used to be
with Mr. Leadbeater all this time and he would do a
great deal of answering of letters and looking up
things for people who wanted to know about the dead or
about obssession, a great variety of things. And then
at night he would begin again after the meditation was
over at half-past eight and go on with some work until
11, 12, 1 or 2, or whatever time it was finished.
Every moment was filled up with work. I have not met a
more energetic man.

(...)

Many people use to write about their friends or
relations who had died, whether the Invisible Helpers
could take care of them in some way. Mr. Leadbeater
would always go to work patiently and just investigate
the matter and either dictate a reply or tell me to
write such and such a thing. There was a case in which
he gave instructions for the use of that mantra which
you will find in my book on Concentration. There was a
bad case of fire elementals that was occurring in the
north of India. Wherever a certain person went things
used to catch fire. Mr. Leadbeater got me to write
down the mantra, sent it up there and explained how it
should be used, and our friend in the north of India
used the mantra and the fire elementals were cleaned
out entirely. People would sometimes send lockets to
be magnetized and afterwards would say that they had
been relieved of the voices that were annoying them or
the fears that were oppressing them. 

I did not at first go to Mr. Leadbeater with a great
admiration or liking for him before I met him myself
because I did not feel that I was on his line, but
circumstances drifted me into his service and I
learned to admire him immensely for his splendid work
and also for his character. I worked for him from 1909
to 1913, inclusive. He was a man of immense physical
strength. He is almost a giant and has a tremendously
strong arm. And to his character, I would sum it up
along two lines - extremely loving and affectionate
and extremely scientific. In all his investigations he
is always very cautious and careful. He is without any
speculative tendencies whatever.

In his scientific work we would say, "Now let's have
facts. Let me be careful that I see as clearly as I
can and then put it on record." And when people used
to say "How would you reconcile so and so?" He would
say, "It is not my business to reconcile anything at
all; it is my business simply to see, understand, and
describe; that is the post for which I have been
trained." People would say, "You cannot expect people
to believe these things." He said, "I do not expect
anybody to believe them. I see these things and it is
my duty to publish them, and I do not expect people to
believe in what I say. I am convinced of the accuracy
of my own work, and I am as careful as I can be." 

(...)

I mentioned that he is man without any diplomatic
characteristics, a very simple man who has not mixed
much with the world at all, a very retired and quiet
sort of a man, and just the other day I came across a
quite striking sort of example of the absence of
diplomacy in his character and that was regarding
Christian Festivals, and when he was writing about
Christmas and the Christ he tells us that Christ was
in a previous life Shri Krishna of India and also that
Jesus was Shri Ramanuja of India in the twelfth
century. If we was simply trying to build a Christian
Church and he wanted to draw Christians to his
standard, I should say that that was just about the
best way to defeat his own ends. And it just
illustrates his position which he has always held that
it is his duty just to put down what he sees. He is
very devoted to Mrs. Besant, whom he regards with the
profoundest respect.

Question - Did Mr. Leadbeater train Krishnamurti and what were the 
methods?

Answer - I was there when Krishnamurti appeared with his father at 
Adyar and I knew him before Mr. Leadbeater did. He was a school boy. 
When we first knew Krishnamurti he was a very frail little boy, 
extremely weak, all his bones sticking out, and his father said more 
than once that he thought probably he would die, and he was having a 
bad time at school because he did not pay any attention to what his 
teachers said. He was bullied and beaten to such an extent that it 
seemed the boy might fade away from this life and die, and the father 
came to Leadbeater and said: "What shall we do?" Mr. Leadbeater 
said, "Take him from school and I will inform Mrs. Besant." Mrs. 
Besant had done much for Hindu boys. She had the Central Indian (sic) 
College, in which many of the boys were entirely maintained by her - 
food, shelter, education, everything. So it was nothing unusual for 
her to look after boys. Mrs. Besant was in America at the time. She 
replied that she would be very pleased to see to their welfare, so 
the two boys were taken from the school; Krishnamurti's younger 
brother was all right, but they didn't want to be separated; and some 
of us agreed to teach them a little each day so that they might be 
prepared to go to England for their further education. Seven or eight 
of us taught them a little each day. The boys used to sit in Mr. 
Leadbeater's or one of the adjacent rooms with their teacher. I do 
not know that it could be said that Leadbeater trained him in any 
sort of particular way. To be anywhere near Mr. Leadbeater was a 
training for anybody. He made him drink milk and eat fruits. 
Krishnamurti did not like this. He attended to his health. He did not 
much like this eating fruits and milk, but did it. He also arranged 
for swimming and exercises in the way of cycling and other things, 
and they played tennis in the evening, so that very soon Krishnamurti 
was quite a healthy and strong boy and he began to take more interest 
in the world. I think that he must have been always more or less 
psychic and therefore did not pay attention to his teacher. I noticed 
very soon that Krishnamurti used to collect people's thoughts, and I 
have seen him do some quite remarkable feats of conversation with 
dead people while still a little boy, and that developed quite 
naturally. I do not know of any special and deliberate training in 
that way. In Mr. Leadbeater's room and in his company, of course, he 
really received the best of training in courtesy, etc." 






 

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