THE TRIALS OF ALCYONE
In the affair we are going to discuss now, it is neither Pythagoras nor Koot Hoomi who was to manifest himself, doubtless as a 'precursor', but the Bodhisattva Maitreya himself; and the young man who was being raised to this end was not this time an Englishman, but a Hindu named Krishnamurti, of whom Mrs Besant appointed herself the guardian, as she did also of his brother Nityānanda, who was also to fulfill some secondary mission; [1] they were generally referred to by the astronomical pseudonyms Alcyone and Mizar. Both of them accompanied Mrs Besant on her trip to Paris in 1911 and appeared at her side at the lecture she gave at the Sorbonne on June 15th under the presidency of Mr Liard, the then Vice-Chancellor (it is important to note that he was a Protestant), the subject being 'Giordano Bruno's message to the world today'. [2] In order to understand this title, it has to be known that Mrs Besant claims to be the reincarnation of Giordano Bruno, just as she claims that previously she was the philosopher Hypatia, daughter of the mathematician Theon of Alexandria. Formerly, she gave an entirely different version of this subject, for she expressly affirmed-as did
Mme Blavatsky-'that she had been a Hindu in her former life'; [3] such variations hardly contribute to inspire confidence and this is yet another contradiction to add to all those we have had the occasion to note so far.
When he came to Paris for the first time (he would be seen there again in May 1914), [4] Alycone was sixteen years old. He had already written-or at least somebody had published under his name-a little book entitled At the Feet of the Master, for which the Theosophists displayed the keenest admiration, even though it was hardly more than a collection of moral precepts devoid of any great originality. [5] Gaston Revel ended an article on this book with these significant words: 'Tomorrow, the Announcer will be the Dispenser of new benefits; may they be in great numbers, may they be multiplethe hearts which will follow his Star!'6 Earlier there had appeared a most bizarre book, having the title Tears in the Veil of Time 'by the main Theosophical teachers: Annie Besant and C.W. Leadbeater, in collaboration with several others.' It was a kind of novel, worthy of the history of the ancient human races, and deriving from the same source, relating the thirty successive incarnations of Alcyone-at least the last thirty, for it was said that there had been many others before these. [7] As a general rule it must naturally be admitted that man retains no recollection of his former lives, but it seems that the 'main Theosophical teachers' are an exception thanks to their 'clairvoyance' which permits them to make investigations into the past; but we have just seen to what extent we can trust this. A kind of French adaptation of this work, or rather a summary accompanied by commentaries, was published in 1913 by Gaston Revel under the title De l'an 25000 avant Jésus-Christ à nos jours. What is noteworthy
about this is the care with which the episodes described have been chosen to provide the opportunity to recall various Theosophical teachings; also the predictions that have been cleverly insinuated regarding different dates in the role of the future Alcyone; and lastly, the way the same people are met again in one existence after another, among whom are the leaders of the Theosophical Society. Leadbeater (who appears there under the name Sirius) says:
Approximately five hundred of the current members of the Society figure among the principal characters of this drama that unfolds itself in the course of these lives (Hercules is Mrs Besant, Vajra Mme Blavatsky, Ulysses Olcott and so on). It is profoundly interesting to note how those who in the past were often united by blood relations-in spite of being born in faraway countries this time-are brought together once more by the common interest they feel for Theosophical studies and united in the same love for the Masters more closely than an earthly relationship. [8]
They have built up a whole theory about the 'meeting of Egos' on this in correlation with certain periods regarded as particularly important in the history of the human races; and they avail themselves of this to declare that 'the true foundation of the Theosophical Society goes back to the year 22662 BC, [9] an assertion that can be compared to those fantastic genealogies of the secret societies we alluded to earlier. [10]
As for the hero of this story, here are the details of the 'initiation' he is supposed to have recently attained after having been prepared gradually for it throughout his former lives:
From now on, Alcyone is ready to fulfill new duties, as a direct disciple of those [the 'Masters'] he served so well in the past. Thus in his present incarnation he has found the friends and parents of the past in the persons of our revered President and
C.W. Leadbeater. Soon after, he was admitted to the Path of Probation and hardly five months had gone by before he became an accepted disciple. A few days later, he became the 'Master's Son' and passed the first Portal of the first major Initiation, which allowed him to join the members of the Great White Lodge which governs mankind. All those who in the past knew, loved and served him are near him today as members of the Theosophical Society. [11]
Alcyone and those surrounding him belong to the heart of the world; moreover, they are the promises of the future; they form a special group of their own called the group of Servants. They are the ones who assist the great Teachers of humanity in their work. [12]
The expression 'to belong to the heart of the world' means that they are direct disciples of the Bodhisattva, whereas because of the ties that were supposed to bind them personally to the 'Mahătma' Morya, the founders of the Theosophical Society are to belong to the group of the Manu or to the 'brain of the world'; perhaps this distinction is meant to suggest a means for explaining and excusing certain differences.
However, a few protests were already being raised from various sides, and, especially in India, certain troublesome rumors were starting to spread. In this connection we think it necessary to deny most categorically the stupid legend that in India whole crowds prostrated themselves before Krishnamurti. It is certainly easy to understand why this legend should have been spread by the Theosophists to enhance the prestige of their future Messiah; but what is much more difficult to understand is that some of their adversaries should have deemed it appropriate to repeat such an outrage; it is hard to use any other term when one knows how Theosophism is valued by Hindus. [13] At the beginning of 1911, Dr M.C. Nanjunda
Rao, professor at the Medical School in Madras, whom Theosophists later accused of having inspired the whole campaign against them, wrote in the Arya-Bala Samaj Magazine of Mysore:
The current goings-on of the Theosophists call for a severe condemnation of the methods adopted to glorify this young Krishnamurti [Alcyone] as a second Christ come to save afflicted mankind.
For the sake of those who might be misled by a certain similarity of names, let us point out that the Arya-Bala Samaj, whose journal published these lines, should not be mistaken for the Arya Samaj mentioned above, nor for another organization called Arya-Bala Bodhini, which was only one of the Theosophical Society's many creations. [14] This Arya-Bala Bodhini is or was (for we do not know whether it still exists, and in any case it could not have been very successful) an 'Association of Hindu youth', a little too similar in certain respects to the 'YMCA' or 'Young Men's Christian Association' that Anglo-American Protestantism strives to spread in all countries and where its proselyte mentality hides behind the mask of an apparent neutrality.
On the other hand, also in 1911, Dr J.M. Nair had already published an extremely scathing article against Theosophy in the medical journal Antiseptic, and he did not hesitate to bluntly accuse Leadbeater of immorality. This article, entitled 'Psychopathia Sexualis chez un Mahātmā', was reprinted in the form of a pamphlet and reproduced by the large-circulation daily, The Hindu. Following these attacks and after a certain period of reflection three lawsuits were filed in December 1912 against Dr Nair, Dr Rama Rao, and the editor of The Hindu; all three were lost by the Society and its President, who contended that it was wrong to hold them responsible for Leadbeater's theories since they had always been of a purely private and personal nature. Preparing yet again to disavow Leadbeater, who had become too much of a liability, Mrs Besant forgot what she had written earlier: 'One night as I was going to the Master's residence, Mme Blavatsky informed me that Leadbeater's defense must
be organized against all the exaggerations he was accused of, [15] and that some time later she had even said: 'I must stand or fall with him.' This is what her enemies very conveniently reminded her of; and if Mrs Besant lost these lawsuits, Leadbeater doubtless gained by not being expelled from the Society a second time. But the scandal was great despite the sometimes clumsy efforts of the President's loyal friends; this is when Arundale, principal of the 'Central Hindu College' of Benares, [16] wrote the confidential letter full of an idolatrous servility toward Mrs Besant, of which we spoke elsewhere. When this letter was revealed by the Leader of Allahabad, a certain number of professors of this college, who were too ardently spreading Theosophist propaganda among their students, were forced-as was the Principal himself-to submit their resignations. A Hindu newspaper, The Behari, summed up very well the general impression in these terms:
If a movement must be judged by its coryphaeus and if Leadbeater is a coryphaeus of Theosophy, then for the layman, Theosophy is merely a mystery somewhere between scabrous indecencies and daring pretensions, between a repulsive teaching and an incredible presumption.
All this finally disturbed the father of Krishnamurti and Nityānanda, G. Narayaniah (or Narayan Iyer), who was nonetheless a staunch Theosophist who had belonged to the Society since 1882 and who had worked since 1908 without salary under the Theosophical name Antares as Assisting Correspondent-Secretary of the 'Esoteric Section' in Adyar. He determined to revoke the delegation of its rights of tutelage, which he had consented to on March 6, 1910, and asked the Madras High Court his sons be returned to him. [17] After a trial whose details were all printed in the April 18, 1913 Times, Judge Bakewell ordered that the youths be restored to their parents
before the 26th May, declaring that the father was still the natural guardian of his children. In the preamble to this judgment we read verbatim:
Mr Leadbeater admitted in his deposition that he held and continues to hold opinions that I cannot qualify otherwise than as being without contradiction immoral and of a nature that disqualifies him as a tutor of young boys, and which, added to his alleged power of perceiving oncoming impure thoughts, make him a highly dangerous companion for children. It is true that both he and the defendant have declared that he promised not to express and not to put his ideas into practice, but a father must not be expected to trust a promise of this kind. [18]
Mrs Besant immediately appealed this verdict, but as this was rejected in Madras on October 29, 1913, she decided to apply to the English Courts. Her two pupils were then at Oxford finishing their education (a peculiar preparation for a messianic mission!), [19] and, duly prepared by their entourage (Arundale had become their special tutor), they declared that they refused to return to India. [20] This time Mrs Besant's appeal was accepted on May 5, 1914 in London by the judicial committee of the Privy Council, [21] and things remained as they were. Naturally, this decision was celebrated as a victory by
Theosophists, and it may be believed that certain political influences were no strangers to this (we shall see elsewhere that they had already tried to use them in Madras), and one of their French journals wrote:
Mrs Besant has just won the action filed against her. This is good news and no surprise to us as we were expecting it. From now on, our movement will impose itself with still more irresistible force. [22]
However, from that time on much less was heard of Alcyone, and it seems that today nobody even speaks of him anymore; all these incidents were without a doubt far too unfavorable for achieving the mission intended for him, and moreover, he had been prudently presented only as a 'herald', but all the while quite clearly hinting at the more important role that was later to devolve upon him. In this way another exit was rather shrewdly kept open in case events should turn out badly. [23]
However, less caution was shown during the legal proceedings in Madras, and
certain declarations made under oath during the courtroom discussions are undoubtedly the most extraordinary ones ever made in court: Thus, for example, Mrs Besant declared under oath that she had been in the presence of the Supreme Head of the Earth's Evolution (the planetary Logos), that she was consciously present during Krishnamurti's 'Initiation' at a certain place in Tibet; that she had very good reasons for believing that Christ, or Lord Maitreya as He is called in the East, will make use of the disciple Krishnamurti's body-in a few years' time and for the sake of His work among men-in the same way as He made use of the disciple Jesus' body two thousand years ago. She also claimed that at a certain meeting in Benares, Christ had appeared, and, for a few minutes had 'overshadowed' His 'Elect One'. Leadbeater made similar statements under oath and even more, saying that he had conducted researches on Mars and Mercury, that he could read people's thoughts and many years ago certain Superhuman Beings had instructed him to look for young people suitable for spiritual work in the future. Several statements from these two depositions also indicated that Mrs Besant and Leadbeater were in constant contact with the 'Inner Heads' of the Theosophical Society, generally known as the Masters. [24]
One wonders whether one is dreaming on reading these lines, and it is understandable that a Hindu newspaper, the Poona Mail, should have written that Mrs Besant-who had gone as far as to tell Narayaniah that Leadbeater was 'an Arhat bordering on divinity'-was 'guilty of blasphemy' through the outrageous assertions she had dared to make under oath.
All these more or less scandalous incidents could not but create trouble within the very heart of the Theosophical Society; the most celebrated split was that of the 'Rosicrucian' Rudolf Steiner, who led away most of the groups from Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, as well as a certain number of others spread far and wide, and who formed with these elements a new, independent organization
which he named the 'Anthroposophical Society'. Following this split, which officially took place on January 14, 1913, Mrs Besant re-formed a new and much reduced German section, comprising the few branches that still remained loyal to Adyar, and on March 7 to replace Steiner she named as Secretary-General of this section Dr Hübbe-Schleiden, director of the review Sphinx. HübbeSchleiden had been involved with the Theosophical movement for a long time, and from 1884 had been favored with 'precipitated' communications from the 'Mahātmās', the first of which came to him on a train in the company of Olcott. [25] Apart from Steiner's schism, which we are going to speak of at more length-there were several others of less importance; thus, on October 30, 1913 the Spanish group 'Marcus Aurelius' of Pontevedra made itself an autonomous center, claiming 'to be no longer in sympathy with the ideas and doctrines of the current president, holding to Mme Blavatsky's teachings, [26] and expressly disapproving of the new tendency