Charles Webster Leadbeater

   (1854-1934)
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C. W. Leadbeater, born in England, was visible member of the Theosophical Society, author of occult and co-founder of the Liberal Catholic Church. Originally he was a priest, but then his interest in spiritualism led to the fact that he abandoned the Church in favor of the Theosophical Society, in which he quickly took the top positions.
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As a priest he was very active and opened and ran a club for young people. He was also interested in astronomy and spiritualism. Through it, he took note of the work of H. P. Blavatsky and the Theosophical Society, which he also joined in November 1883. A year later, he without specific predictions and explanations traveled through Marseill in Alexandria and in Cairo he joined H. P. Blavatsky on the way to Madras. In India he has been visited and trained by some of the Masters of H. P. Blavatsky and this was the beginning of his long career in the Theosophical Society. At the headquarters of the Theosophical Society in Adyar, he became editor of The Theosophist and after his own narration he went in 1885 through special training, and developed there clairvoyance, whiche later successfully used to explore higher levels of existence.
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In 1885 the first president of the Theosophical Society, Henry S. Ocoltt, traveled to Burma and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka ), where they founded the English Buddhist Academy, where Leadbeater was first director. This school was later flourished in Ananda College, which today has about 6,000 students. He wrote books that were associated with his psychic research and he has established itself as a successful lecturer and teacher, so that many parents entrusted their children to be raised in the spirit of the principles of spirituality and occultism. Between 1900 and 1905 he had two lecturers tour in the United States, Canada and Australia, where he took some of his students.
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In 1906 he suddenly resigned amid accusations that he was involved in mutual masturbation with teenagers who were in his care. With the support of Annie Besant he again approached the Society, but by similar rumors monitored throughout the career. Thus, in 1909, he returned to Adyar, where the same year met J. Krishnamurti and devoted to his upbringing. In India he remained for some time, but eventually felt a urge to go to Australia, so in 1915 he moved to Sydney.
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There he was a year later ordained in the Liberal Catholic Church and became its Presiding Bishop. The public interest in theosophy in Australia and New Zealand, as a result of the presence of Leadbeater in these places, greatly increased. Sydney still today can be compared with Adyaroas the center of theosophical activity.
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Next years he dedicated to the exploration of energy in the background of Christian and Masonic rites and the creation of the Liberal Catholic Church, which has led to new conflicts within the Theosophical Society and reheating of old accusations against Leadbeater. In 1930 he returned to Adyar to spend his last years, but he died in 1934 in Australia, when he went on a visit to Sydney.
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Leadbeater has proven to be a prolific author, especially in occult subjects, and therefore the Theosophical movement maintained him at the forefront until his death. C. W. Leadbeater is considered as the most contradictory representative of the theosophical movement. His many books and articles even now attract many readers and most Theosophists entered the world of Theosophy also through his written works based on the development of large psychic abilities, but on the other hand, were criticized by those who believe that his teachings deviate from the original messages of Madame Blavatsky.