Theos-Talk Archives (July 1996 Message tl00279)

On Wed, 10 Jul 1996, Jerry Hejka-Ekins wrote:

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> I can find endless examples of the later leaders issuing orders
> on "behalf of the Masters" and encouraging "unquestioning
> obedience," but where do you find this with HPB and HSO?  At
> least HSO before 1891.  My own inquiry suggests that this kind of
> nonsense began right after Olcott's death in 1907 and escalated
> until 1930 when everything began to fall into chaos.  After
> Arundale's death in 1945, this kind of speaking on behalf of the
> Masters and encouraging unquestioning obedience retreated back to
> the ES, where it still remains.  But even in the ES of HPB's day,
> members took a pledges to their "Higher Self,"  not to the outer
> head.  Under Besant, that all changed.  

Jerry,

I cannot provide much evidence right now--my impression is based on my 
reading during a long period of time. What first comes to my mind is how 
Olcott as a successor to Blavatsky has been chosen, and how Besant has 
been chosen next. 

As to the ES of HPB's days, I browsed through Compiler's Introduction to 
"Esoteric Instructions" (Blavatsky's Collected Writings, v.12, p. 
479-511), and found a lot of refernces to Masters, not all of them being 
in tune with what you had to say (e.g. p.488 ["The real Head of the 
Esoteric Section is a Master, of whom H.P.Blavatsky is the mouthpiece for 
this Section"]). 

Max