A Note By a Co-Editor
of “The Aquarian Theosophist”
Carlos Cardoso Aveline
Radha Burnier (1923-2013), Pedro R. M. de Oliveira
and Geoffrey A.
Farthing (1909-2004). Respect for human beings is a basic tenet in
esoteric philosophy.
Since 2004, Geoffrey Farthing’s name has been widely used as if Farthing
had written a letter on 25 May
2004 to an “unidentified person” defending John Algeo’s publication of slanders
against H.P. Blavatsky, in the book “The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky -1”
(TPH-USA).
I have kept silent so far
about that. Being a friend of Farthing’s, I did not want to openly discuss
his positions on the issue during the first years of his post-mortem cycle -; especially
so since this was a polemical event which started precisely during the last few
weeks before his death.
But time enough has passed
by now. As to the alleged commentaries made by Geoffrey A. Farthing in defence
of Eleanor Sidgwick’s, Vsevolod Solovyof’s and John Algeo’s circulation of
slanders against HPB, it must be said:
1) Farthing never published
a word of commentary on Algeo’s volume.
2) No complete letter from
Farthing to anyone, on the topic, was published so far.
3) One quotation from an
unknown letter, written or dictated
by Farthing and reportedly dated 25 May 2004 - five days before his death - has
been published.
4) Ms. Erica Lauber, a
trusted friend of Farthing’s, wrote to me on June 2nd-3rd, 2004, giving me the
news of Geoffrey Farthing’s sudden death on May 30th. Erica’s letter included a
quotation from Farthing’s letter of 25 May, which Farthing had authorized her -
on 29th May - to quote to me.
5) Farthing’s position, in
this unknown letter to an unnamed person, is naive indeed. However, it was
written (perhaps by himself) only five
days before his death on May 30th, 2004. Its available contents must
therefore be seen with extreme caution.
6) An important point is
that by then, May 2004, we had but started making initial consultations about
the fake volume prepared by Mr. Algeo. Geoffrey Farthing left the scene before he
could see even 10 per cent of the evidences later gathered and published on the
inauthenticity of the Algeo-Solovyof letters. Farthing could not read, for
instance, Radha Burnier’s letter to me saying she had nothing to do with the
publication of that volume containing “obviously spurious” texts (her own words).
7) In order to have some
credit, those who have been using Farthing’s name since 2004 should fully
document what they say and publish a complete facsimile of his unseen letter to an unknown person. Readers deserve the truth.
(Facsimiles of Erica Lauber’s
letter to me are available to researchers. Requests can be sent to “The
Aquarian”.)
8) So far, it seems the
only well-known quotation from the letter apparently written by Farthing five days before his death is included in Pedro R. M. de Oliveira’s review of
Algeo’s volume, published in “Theosophy
in Australia”, November 2005 edition. Although the 2005 review by Pedro is favourable to Algeo, Pedro since then has had the opportunity to know more
about the methods followed by Dr. John Algeo when Ethics is concerned. The
slanders against HPB are not an isolated fact. Pedro Oliveira himself wrote and
published a revealing article, now entitled “The 2007-2008 Events in Adyar”, which includes his open
letter to Algeo. It can be easily found in our associated websites. An
experienced theosophist, Mr. Oliveira was International Secretary of the Adyar
Society in the 1990s. His frank and well-documented testimony examines John
Algeo’s defeat in his attempted coup
d’etat against Radha Burnier, in 2007-2008. His electoral fraud was
based on false rumours regarding Radha Burnier’s health.
Karma takes its time, but Truth
and Justice prevail.
It is not fair or correct
to use Geoffrey Farthing’s name in an undocumented way, as if he had defended
the circulation of slanders against H. P. Blavatsky, or had done that after
having access to enough evidence, or while in good health.
Respect for human beings is
a basic tenet in theosophy.
Brazil, 8th May 2013.
Carlos Cardoso Aveline,
Co-editor of
The Aquarian Theosophist
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On the volume with
fake letters edited by John Algeo as if they were true, see in our associated
websites the article “Defending the Old
Lady”.
000
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.
000
