The Far-Reaching Effects of a False Assumption
Geoffrey A. Farthing
G. Farthing (1909-2004)
An Examination of Some of the
Differences in Data and Terminology
Between the Original Literature and Later Versions
Revised Edition, November 1996
“…There is not and cannot be such a thing as
an Etheric Body constituted as described by Leadbeater.”
(Geoffrey A. Farthing)
A 2017 Editorial Note:
While referring to the books by Annie Besant and C. W. Leadbeater, Geoffrey A. Farthing writes in the Introduction to “The Etheric Double?”:
“…This second generation literature (…) has become the commonly accepted one throughout the Adyar Society and generally in the world at large. Its classifications of the principles of man and the planes of Cosmos are now the commonly accepted ones”.
This was, no doubt, the unfortunate situation in the 1980s and 1990s. It is much better in 21st century.
The many initially best-selling works by such “seers” have been disappearing for lack of readers. The once famous book “The Lives of Alcyone”, by C. W. Leadbeater, is now difficult to obtain. The same must be said of “The Ancient Wisdom”, by A. Besant, and “Man: Whence, How and Whither”, by both of them. The adulterated version of H. P. B.’s “The Secret Doctrine”, produced by Annie Besant in the 1890s, was abandoned by the Adyar Society, in English language, in 1979.
Meanwhile the authentic teachings of theosophy inspire a growing number of persons around the word and in different languages.
The present text, written by a former president of the Adyar Society in England and one of the most influential theosophists of the 20th century, is one more important step in that direction.
(Carlos Cardoso Aveline)
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In September 2016, after a careful analysis of the state of the esoteric movement worldwide, a group of students decided to form the Independent Lodge of Theosophists, whose priorities include the building of a better future in the different dimensions of life.
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