Appendices

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Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854-1934
A Biographical Study
by Gregory John Tillett Table of Contents
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Appendices

Introductory Note
Appendix 1: The Evolution of Life
Appendix 2: The Planes
Appendix 3: The Occult Hierarchy and the Masters
Appendix 4: Membership of the Theosophical Society: Statistical Summary

Introductory Note

          Leadbeater's teachings have never been brought together into a unified system. The only substantial attempt to do so is found in the works of A.E. Powell (see Powell, 1925, 1927a, 1927b, 1928, 1930) which, although claiming to incorporate the teachings of Blavatsky, essentially present Leadbeater's Theosophy. Jinarajadasa's First Principles of Theosophy (1928) presents a general survey of Theosophy according to Leadbeater's teachings, although Jinarajadasa incorporates a large amount of scientific and anthropological material which he attempts to link with Theosophical doctrines. Leadbeater's own A Textbook of Theosophy (1st edition 1912) and An Outline of Theosophy (1st edition 1902) give general overviews of his Theosophical teachings, but do not provide a detailed or unified account.

          It would require a very substantial and detailed analysis of Leadbeater's writings to produce a cohesive and unified version of his Theosophy and theology. It has, therefore, not been possible in this present work to do more than provide brief details of some of his teachings where an understanding of these is essential to the historical context.

          There are several areas of his teachings, however, which underly his Theosophy and theology. These basic principles are summarized in the three appendices which follow. The diagramatic presentations, based on diagrams included in the works of Leadbeater and his disciple, Jinarajadasa, are supported by quotations from Leadbeater's writings.

          The fourth appendix summarizes statistical information about membership of the Theosophical Society.

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Appendix I: The Evolution of Life

          Leadbeater's Theosophy placed great emphasis on the concept of evolution; his focus was on the evolution of "life" or "spirit'", rather than physical body or "form". All life - mineral, vegetable, animal and human, as well as manifestations of life beyond those kingdoms - was believed to be evolving, moving from the simple to the complex, from the "material" to the "spiritual".

          "It should be remembered that from the First Logos, which stands next to the Absolute, emanates the Second or Dual Logos, from which in turn comes the Third. From that Third Logos comes forth the Seven Great Logoi, called sometimes the Seven Spirits before the throne of God; and as the divine outbreathing pours itself ever further and further outward and downward, from each of these we have upon the next plane seven Logoi also, together making up on that next plane forty-nine. It will be observed that we have already passed through many stages on the great downward sweep towards matter; yet, emitting the detail of intermediate hierarchies, it is said that to each of these forty-nine belong millions of solar systems, each energized and controlled by its own solar Logos." - The Christian Creed, 1920: 34-5

          "Theosophy recognizes seven kingdoms of Nature, because it regards man as separate from the animal kingdom and it takes into account several stages of evolution which are unseen by the physical eye, and gives to them the medieval name of 'elemental kingdom'. The divine Life pours itself into matter from above and its whole course may be thought of in two stages - the gradual assumption of grosser and grosser matter, and then the gradual casting off again of the vehicles which have been assumed." - A Textbook of Theosophy, 1971: 28-9

          "The whole process is one of steady evolution from lower forms to higher, from the simpler to the more complex. But what is evolving is not primarily the form, but the life within it. These forms also evolve and grow better as time passes; but this is in order that they may be appropriate vehicles for more and more advanced forms waves of life." - ibid:32

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1. The Descent Into Matter



          "It will be seen that on the seventh or highest plane of our system the triple manifestation of our logos is imaged by three circles, representing His three aspects. Each of these aspects appears to have its own quality and power. To the First Aspect He does not manifest Himself on any plane below the highest, but in the second He descends to the sixth plane, and draws round Himself a garment of its matter, this making a quite separate and lower expression of Himself. In the Third Aspect He descends to the upper portion of the fifth plane, and draws round Himself matter of that level, thus making a third manifestation. - Man Visible and Invisible, 1902:29

          "It is from this Third Aspect that the first movement towards the formation of the system comes. Previous to this movement we have in existence nothing but the atomic state of matter in each of the planes of nature, none of the aggregations or combinations which make up the lower sub-planes of each having yet been formed. But into this sea of virgin matter (the true Virgin Maria) pours down the Holy Spirit, the Lifegiver, as He is called in the Nicene Creed; and by the action of His glorious vitality the atoms are awakened to new powers and possibilities of attraction and repulsion, and thus the lower subdivisions of each plane come into existence." - ibid:36

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2. The Evolution of Life



          Based on C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1922:19

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3. The Evolutionary Status of Men



          Based on C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1922:35, 37

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Appendix 2: The Planes

          In Leadbeater's Theosophy, the world in which man lives is made up of seven "planes". Although man's waking consciousness is generally limited to the lower physical plane, he can, and does, function on other planes for which he also possesses "bodies". Thus he might travel in his astral body on the astral plane, or in his mental body on the mental plane. For most people such experienced occurred during sleep and were not remembered; for the clairvoyant and the occultist they could occur at any time and be recalled.

          "Man is therefore in essence a Spark of the divine Fire, belonging to the monadic world... For the purposes of human evolution the Monad manifests itself in lower worlds. When it descends one stage and enters the spiritual world, it shows itself there as the triple Spirit having itself three aspects..... Thus man as we know him, though in reality a Monad residing in the monadic world, shows himself as an ego in the higher mental world, manifesting these three aspects of himself (spirit, intuition and intelligence) through that vehicle of higher mental matter which we name the causal body." - A Textbook of Theosophy, 1971:41-2

          "Before he, the ego in the higher mental world, can take a vehicle belonging to the physical world, he must make a connection with it through the lower mental and astral worlds..... Only after having assumed the intermediate vehicles can he come into touch with a baby physical body, and be born into the world, which we know." - ibid:43.

          "There are seven 'planes' or worlds which have special relations to man, and each individual has some phase of his life in them. He is represented in the three lower of them by a vehicle or body of matter of each of those planes, and each body serves him as a means if knowledge and communication with that plane. Thus, each of us has a physical body, made up of the seven sub-states of physical matter, and through that body we gain experience of the physical world." - Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1928:87

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1. The Planes

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2. The Structure of Man on the Planes

          Based on C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1922:109

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Appendix 3: The Occult Hierarchy and the Masters

          In Leadbeater's Theosophy the existence of an unseen "occult bureaucracy", known as the Hierarchy, was of great importance. Leadbeater claimed personal acquaintance with all members of it, and declared that the authority of the Theosophical Society and its subsidiary bodies derived from this hierarchy.

          The diagrams are based on Leadbeater's The Masters and the Path, and Jinarajadasa's First Principles of Theosophy.

          "The existence of perfected men, and the possibility of coming into touch with them, and being taught by them, are prominent among the great new truths which Theosophy brings to the western world. Another of them is the stupendous fact that the world is not drifting blindly into anarchy, but that its progress is under the control of a perfectly organized hierarchy, so that final failure even for the tiniest of its units is of all impossibilities the most impossible. A glimpse of the working of that hierarchy inevitably engenders the desire to co-operate with it, to serve under it, in however humble a capacity, and some time in the far-distant future to be worthy to join the outer fringes of its ranks. - A Textbook of Theosophy, 1971:5

          "The world is guided and directed to a large extent by a Brotherhood of Adepts to which our Masters belong." - The Masters and the Path, 1953:25

          "Among the many startling ideas which confront the inquirer into Theosophy; one of the most significant is that there is an inner Government of the World..... Here on this globe of ours which spins round the sun, Mighty Beings guide every event; and the crimes, follies and misfortunes of mankind, as, too, their heroisms, sacrifices and dreams, are used by Them to achieve that particular part of the Plan of the LOGOS which is intended for fulfilment as the days and months pass, one by one. The facts as to an inner Government of the World have been long kept as the most precious secrets in the ancient Mysteries...." - C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1928:204-5

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1. The Occult Hierarchy

          Based on The Masters and the Path, 1925:285-336 and C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1928:204-227

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2. The Path of Discipleship



          Based on Masters and the Path, 1925, and C. Jinarajadasa, First Principles of Theosophy, 1928:204-27

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Appendix 4: Membership of the Theosophical Society

Table I: World Membership of the Society

          For years prior to 1907 there are no official membership figures available. However, there are figures for the total number of charters issued for lodges of the Society up to each year after 1878:

          [1] 1895 was the year of the "Judge schism" in the United States of America in which 101 lodges out of the 115 lodges in America left the Society based at Adyar.

          From General Report of the Thirty-sixth Anniversary and Convention of the Theosophical Society Held at Benares December 26th to 31st, 1911, TS, Adyar, 1912.

          It is important to note that not all the lodges for which charters were issued would continue to exist.

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          * No figures published.

          [1] Estimate by Josephine Ransom, "75 Years of Growth, in The Theosophist, November, 1950:111

          [2] No accurate statistics were compiled between 1875 and 1906 - Jinarajadasa, 1925a:264. But to February 17, 1907, 32,132 people had joined the TS (although not all were then still members) and 913 lodges had been chartered 9although not all were then active.)

          [3] United State Bureau of Census figure for the 1916 census was 5097.

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          [1] For the period 1923 to 1932, see also Table II.

          [2] Between 1908 and 1925, 81,436 people joined the TS, but this produced a net gain of only 25,562 - Henry, 1979:162.

          [3] United States Bureau of Census figure, for the 1926 Census was 7448.

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          * Figures not available due to wartime conditions

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          Derived from annual reports of the Theosophical Society, Jinarajadasa, 1925a:263-4, International Theosophical Year Books, and figures given in reports of sections published in The Theosophist. There is often some variation in statistics between sources.

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Table 11: Membership 1923 to 1932

          Between 1923 and 1932, 47,800 people entered the TS, and 54,000 people left it.

          Based on General Report of the Theosophical Society for 1932, TS, Adyar, 1932:7-8

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Table III: Theosophists in the Australian Census

          In the first censuses held for the Commonwealth of Australia - 1901, 1911, 1921, 1933 - answers to the question on religion were divided into a number of categories, including "Theosophist" and "Spiritualist". After the 1933 census the number of divisions into which statistics for the religion question were classified substantially decreased, and Theosophists were not separately identified thereafter. Those who responded "Theosophist", or "Theosophical Society" in a subsequent census were counted in the "Other non-Christian" category. The following statistics, taken from the census reports, provide interesting background information for Leadbeater's time in Australia. The statistics for Spiritualists are given for comparison.

          Some Theosophists would not have responded "Theosophist" in response to a question on religion because they did not regard Theosophy as a religion, or because they were members of a church or other religious body.

        In the 1933 census a detailed breakdown of the statistics is provided.

1933 Census

Theosophists by State

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Table of Contents
Previous Chapter
Charles Webster Leadbeater 1854-1934
A Biographical Study
by Gregory John Tillett Table of Contents
Notes