Annie Besant a woman from Victorian England. A compassionate and caring woman, that had the courage to leave an 'oppressive' marriage to a cleric and move to London. She was known for causing quite a stir during her lectures and talks and it is written that she was a brilliant orator. Annie supported contraception for women and the poor.
Her cleric husband took her to court in a custody battle, and he took her children from her. Those that loved her and knew her heart became even more devoted to her due to her defence of woman and children.
After that she met the more known HBB, that challenged the status quo, and the orthodox certainly felt challenged by her.
That documentary of Besant's life doesn't go into the match girls story, that was another turning point in the life of the activist. In which she found herself standing in integrity against the Church, in defence of women and children that were working in jobs for them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l08DLpHMYzY
When my son was a child, he had a fascination for lighting matches.
It was a constant reminder of the flame of Joseph and the story of the match girls.
It was also a reminder of the Son of Joseph, and how dad had taught his daughter to defend,
with the story of the match girls at school. Zion defends!
When my son was a child, he had a fascination for lighting matches.
It was a constant reminder of the flame of Joseph and the story of the match girls.
It was also a reminder of the Son of Joseph, and how dad had taught his daughter to defend,
with the story of the match girls at school. Zion defends!
After Annie met HBB, she went to India, and the English activist, a woman, defended the Indians and their right to independence. The first documentary above mentions how the English 'imprisoned' Annie for three months due to her activism in support of the Indians.
While she was in India, an Indian teenager was selected, and she adopted the Indian child as her own. Besant taught the child, educated the child, taught him perfect manners of an Englishman, that would be accepted by people in academia, the intellectuals, and high society.
Annie taught him, and he remembered what she she had shared with him about her life and its activism. She revered her child, the child that became a man, and she viewed him as her spiritual teacher in her search for truth. The time came when he lived up to what she had taught him while he was growing up.
He stood up in integrity. He turned away from the organisation of Theosophy, in the same way as Annie had turned away from her clerical husband. She told her adopted son that she would follow him, and he replied, NO! You are the president, you shall remain so.
Ultimately, and in hindsight, it is clear that the mother of the adopted child was his greatest teacher.
She had the greatest impact upon him. She nurtured him and in many ways, he had followed in her footsteps. He became an effective orator, like the mother that adopted him, when he began to follow his own heart. That was powerful, because by following his heart, that was a powerful message for his followers, to follow theirs.
It caused rifts and a crisis in Theosophy after he left it. Annie's search for truth was found in her son. As ultimately, he was a reflection of her love and compassionate actions that she had showered upon him. Even his mannerisms seem to emanate from her.
It is a known fact within Theosophy, that bereavement was a big turning point for Jiddu, it helped him to make a breakthrough, liberate his love that had been devoted to those that had financed his career.
I do think that it is more than possible that the actions that he took were in agreement with his mother, as he certainly put a spanner in the works of Theosophy and what they were planning. Besant was an educated woman, that understood the forces that she had been up against during her lifetime; whilst defending the human rights and social justice for the people and children.
She comes across as a humble woman, humble hearted, in the documentary, yet the inner power, the Spirit that created the activist was dauntless.
The English woman that sought her own freedom and the freedom of others, so it was natural that she would honour the freedom of her adopted son. Mother and Son comes through in this talk.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5kTObI2Y_s
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