Review by "C.W.L." (C.W. Leadbeater)
This is the third of a series of books which began some
years ago with a volume called The Initiate, by His
Pupil. This third volume seems to me to have more story
in it than its predecessors, and there is a distinct Theosophical
flavour in many of the conversations. It is evident that
the writer is well acquainted with the magnificent system
which we usually label as Theosophy; but in saying that,
I do not at all mean to insinuate that he has merely borrowed
the teaching from older books. Madame Blavatsky introduced
the system to the Western world, and showed us the way in
which her statements might be verified. Some of us, following
her directions, have verified for ourselves an enormous
number of those statements, and have thus proved to ourselves
that the system is truly described-that the great facts
of nature are as therein stated. That is, of course, no
actual proof to anyone else; but it is a piece of
evidence which any impartial critic ought to take into account.
But those facts of nature exist for the investigation,
examination and study of anyone who will qualify himself
for that arduous work; they may be seen, and undoubtedly
have been seen, by many who for various reasons have not
enrolled themselves among her pupils or joined her Society.
We must beware of the illusion that we alone possess the
key of the Mysteries, that none can have access to the great
Masters of the Wisdom except through this one Theosophical
channel. There are many pitfalls in the way of the investigator,
many possibilities of deception or delusion; we may perhaps
venture to claim for ourselves that those who have devoted
half a century to the close study of these subjects, and
have been specially trained to avoid those pitfalls, are
on the whole less likely to stumble into them than the less
experienced inquirers; but that, I think, is the most that
can be said.
[114] Regarding the book for the moment merely as a novel,
one would say that it is clever and brightly written; some
of the characters are very lifelike and well-portrayed.
Many interesting remarks are made, some of which one would
unreservedly endorse, while others one would receive with
considerable caution; but they often express a new and striking
point of view. I am glad to notice that our author mentions
both Madame Blavatsky and our President (Dr. Besant) in
a respectful and appreciative manner.
A point which is arousing some controversy is that he has
a good deal to say about Krishnaji also, with much of which
I cannot quite agree, though there is some truth in it.
He seems to think that Krishnaji has failed in his mission,
has been largely left to himself, and will soon be superseded
by a female teacher, who is to draw the whole world into
her train. I do not know anything about this lady, but I
do not consider that Krishnaji is a failure. I admit that
some of his statements have been inaccurate, a little fanatical,
and not always tactfully put; but he is doing a difficult
and important piece of work to the best of his ability.
(I should recommend all our members who are interested
in this part of the subject to read with great care a remarkable
article in the earlier part of this magazine, headed: "
Krishnamurti's World of the Intuition.")
I do not know the name of the author of this book; there
was a persistent rumour that Bishop Wedgwood was the Initiate,
and Mr. Cyril Scott the pupil; the first part of that story,
however, is explicitly denied in this volume. It is clear
that the author belongs to a certain group of students,
one of whom has recently written a book which he has entitled
Through the Eyes of the Masters, which will probably
also attract some attention. It contains several chapters,
each of which is supposed to have been written or dictated
by one of the Masters. There is nothing harmful in them,
though somehow they do not quite "ring true,"
and are hardly up to the level one would expect. They are
accompanied by nine illustrations, intended to be portraits
of our Masters; some of them are quite good faces, but they
emphatically do not resemble those Great Ones whom
we know so well. I cannot recommend that book, because
the portraits are all inaccurate, and I cannot but doubt
the alleged authorship, though I feel sure that the writer
fully believes in his own impressions and visions.
It must also always be borne in mind that all attempted
portraits of the Great Adepts are necessarily drawn from
memory, and must [115] therefore represent the seer's impression
of the Face; and the impression of one man may differ quite
widely from that of his brother student. All attempts
to reproduce on this lower plane those wonderful Faces are
foredoomed to failure, though one may come nearer to success
than another. One portrait alone we have which was painted
with ordinary physical colours in the house of, and in the
actual presence of, the Master whom it represents; but even
so His pupils are by no means satisfied with it!
But The Initiate in the Dark Cycle is different
from this; it reminds me in some ways of Mr. Sinnett's novel
Karma; there are many nice passages in it, and I
think on the whole it will do more good than harm.
Source
The Theosophist 55/1 (October, 1933): 113-115
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