The destiny of the majority of mystics who are at all significant is always unusual. Krishnamurti was not to become the exception in this line; rather, the fate of his establishment as a mystic was quite unique. He was born in 1895 into a family belonging to the Brahmin caste, where, besides him, there were another ten children. At about age ten, he lost his mother, and soon afterwards, Krishnamurti’s father, needing money after he went on his pension, found work at the headquarters of the Theosophical Society which was located in Adyar. The children went along with him, and this event determined Krishnamurti’s subsequent destiny. In 1909, when Krishnamurti was 14 years old, he came to the attention of Charles Leadbetter, who at that time was one of the leaders of the Theosophical Society.
The Theosophical Society was founded by Helena Blavatsky and pursued the goals of creating a worldwide brotherhood of people and a comparative study of religions and scientific disciplines, and was also involved in investigations of the hidden forces of the human being and various paranormal phenomena. Charles Leadbetter had a total mastery of paranormal abilities, in particular clairvoyance. At any rate, that was what he believed himself and instilled similar thoughts in others. Without developed extra-sense perception, it was practically impossible to get into the elite of the Theosophical Society, since all of it activity even since the times of Blavatsky was guided by the Brotherhood of Great Teachers, who sent the Theosophists telepathic messages somewhere from Tibet. Furthermore, the Theosophists, who were fascinated with Buddhism and Hinduism, were obsessed with the idea of the rebirth of souls, and Leadbetter, thanks to the super-perception he had, played the role of the chief “specialist” on this issue. He drew up long lists which described who the Theosophists were in past lives, and in what relationships they stood to one another. Of course, it was implied that their meeting in this incarnation was far from the first, and someone was already someone else’s mother, father, or lover. All of this wonderful nonsense was in great demand at the Theosophical Society.
It is known that the followers of any religious movement always need a goal – exalted to the maximum, to the extent possible. The messages of the Teachers by that time had ceased to be something new, and their content did not bear any serious revelations. Possibly, that is why Leadbetter began to prepare the new incarnation of Lord Maitreya, whose spirit was supposed to be used as a conduit by a well- and correctly-prepared body. For that purpose, Leadbetter searched for adolescents who, from his clairvoyant perspective, would have the necessary qualities to accept the spirit of Maitreya in themselves.
It must be said that Leadbetter himself supposed that this would be the spirit of Jesus Christ, although later they began to speak of the spirit of Buddha. In other words, despite Blavatsky’s prediction that “not a single Teacher of Wisdom from the East will appear in Europe or America and no one will be sent there…until 1975,” the Theosophists began to prepare for his appearance. And if we take into account that Leadbetter identified Maitreya with Jesus, then they were preparing for the second coming of Christ.
By the time he met with Krishnamurti, Leadbetter already had a candidate for the role of the new Messiah. He was Hubert van Hook, an American youth whose father was a member of the Theosophical Society (as was Krishnamurti’s father as well). He was already worshipped as a future Savior, but the appearance of a new candidate for the Messiah cut short his possible career in this field. In the spring of 1909, Leadbetter saw the Indian boy, surrounded by an unusual aura, and in whom, in his words, there wasn’t a particle of selfishness. From that moment, ordinary life ended for Krishnamurti and preparation for the great service for the welfare of humanity began. Van Hook ceased to be a candidate for the Messiah, and the Theosophists switched their attention to the new man of destiny, whose role at that moment was played by Charles Leadbetter.
People’s passion for the deification of their own kind has been well known to everyone for a long time, but history repeats itself again and again. People want to have idols, so that they embody in themselves what they themselves don’t have. By identifying themselves with the “great,” people seem to attach to their “greatness” and acquire a replacement for full value which they clearly lack. Losing oneself in worship is not equal to losing oneself in the higher, mystical sense, but it also for a time helps to free oneself from the burden of ego and the stresses related to it. To identify oneself with an idol is, of course, not the same as dissolving into God, but it also helps for a time. Moreover, the creation of an idol enables one to project on him all one’s dreams and in worship to enter a particular form of waking dream, when you yourself seemingly become the idol, acquiring all his imagined or real qualities. A transfer of this kind explicitly or implicitly is always present in worship, and it is precisely for this reason that people for a time are liberated from themselves, obtaining a true satisfaction. When people begin to worship spiritual teachers or political leaders, then another aspect appears in worship – removal of oneself of responsibility for what is happening. Express signs of respect and reverence to the Master – and let him in response somehow get you into paradise. Praise the mind, character and will of the president of the country – and hope that he will solve all problems for you. The yearning for worship emerges from the need to remove a burden from oneself – or due to fatigue from one’s own insignificance, or from the need to apply efforts and make decisions.