Robert Crosbie

Robert Crosbie (born January 10, 1849 in Montréal , Canada , † June 25, 1919 in Monterey, Cal. USA ) was a Canadian / American theosophist and founder of the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT).

Live and act

Childhood and youth

Crosbie was born on January 10, 1849 in Montréal. His father was an inspector with the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) and traveled most of the year. The mother, who thereby largely took over the upbringing of Crosbie's, was a partner in the wife of the director of the HBC. In his later teenage years he occupied himself with mesmerism , clairvoyance , hypnosis and telepathy , but did not take much pleasure in them.

Marriage, children and work

In 1869, Crosbie opened a shoe and leather goods store in Montréal with an older partner. Together they sold the company in 1886, moved to Boston in the US state of Massachusetts , and used the proceeds to set up a new company in the same industry.

Shortly after opening his first shop, he married the daughter of his business partner in Montréal, and this connection resulted in several daughters. The marriage was not a happy one, however, and after moving to Boston, the relationship deteriorated even further. In 1892 Crosbie moved out of the common house, from then on they lived separately, a few years later the marriage was divorced. During this time he sold his share in the business, as the collaboration with his partner, who was his father-in-law, had suffered as a result of the separation. With part of the sales proceeds he now provided for the ex-wife and children, and he also signed over the house to them. The house later burned down, killing both ex-wife and children.

With the remaining sum from the sale of shares, Crosbie again acquired a leather goods store, which he now ran alone and gradually expanded. On April 10, 1900 he married a second time, this marriage with Josephine Parsons had 2 children. Both his second wife and two children later joined the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT) and worked actively in building the organization.

In the Theosophical Society

President of the Lodge in Boston

After moving to Boston, Crosbie came into contact with the local lodge of the Theosophical Society (TG), took a liking to Theosophy and joined the TG on June 5, 1888. In the same year he was accepted into the esoteric section of the TG, in 1889 secretary of the Boston Lodge and in 1892 its president. When the TG split on April 28, 1895 into the Adyar-TG under Henry Steel Olcott and the Theosophical Society in America (TGinA) under William Quan Judge , Crosbie, and with it the Boston Lodge, was on Judge's side with the he also had a personal friendship. In 1900 the headquarters of the TGinA moved from New York to Point Loma in California under its new President Katherine Tingley , where a world theosophical center was being built around Lomaland .

Move to Lomaland

In response to a request from Tingley, Crosbie and his family moved to Lomaland around 1902 to help build the local community. To do this, he gave up the presidency of the Boston Lodge and sold his business. He invested the proceeds from the sale as well as all his assets in the development of Lomaland. But as early as 1904 there was a break with Tingley and the TGinA, the reasons for this are not known, written material is not accessible to the public, and up to now (2006) no parties involved have been prepared to provide information on this, but differences of opinion are likely to be found on the development of theosophy under Tingley. He then left the community with his family, without money, as he did not get the capital back.

The United Lodge of Theosophists

prehistory

Crosbie, now destitute, went to South Pasadena with his family , where he found work and a livelihood as an accountant. Here he founded a theosophical study group with some interested neighbors in 1906, which read works by Helena Blavatsky and William Quan Judge together . Shortly afterwards he received from Ernest T. Hargrove and his Theosophical Society in America (Hargrove) (TGinA-Hargrove) a deed of foundation for the establishment of a lodge in Los Angeles . The small Crosbie group was now an official member of a Theosophical Society. When in 1907 the thought arose in the TGinA-Hargrove to change the name to The Theosophical Society , this aroused the displeasure of Crosbie and other members. After all, they did not see the TGinA-Hargrove as the rightful successor and keeper of the theosophical tradition. Although the name change had not yet been completed, he drafted a Declaration of the United Lodge of Theosophists with 7 other members . This envisaged the establishment of the United Lodge of Theosophists (ULT), which was to build exclusively and precisely on the ideas of Blavatsky and Judge.

Foundation of the ULT

On November 17, 1908, Crosbie published his thoughts in a circular To all open-mindet Theosophists, and on February 18, 1909, the ULT was founded in Los Angeles . The only basis of the new organization was the declaration . In contrast to other Theosophical Societies, there was no president or leader at the top of the ULT, rather all members, including Crosbie, had equal rights. The only purpose and cohesion of the group was the devotion to theosophy.

In November 1912 he started the magazine Theosophy , the publication organ of the ULT, and also acted as editor. In that year he also founded the first (ULT) theosophical school , this roughly corresponded to the esoteric section of the other TGs. In 1916 he was able to open two new lodges with an attached school, one in San Francisco and one in Berkeley .

Death and succession

Robert Crosbie died in the United States on June 25, 1919. According to the declaration , he himself was only a simple member of the ULT, in this sense there was no “official” successor. De facto, however, his word and opinion were considered to be trend-setting during his lifetime. Bahman Pestonji Wadia had a similar meaning and thus set the tone after his death .

Works

• The friendly philosopher, letters and talks on theosophy and the theosophical life . The Theosophy company, Los Angeles 1934

Web links

• Short biography and picture (English)
• Biography Crosbie's (English)
• Some letters Crosbie's image and (English)