EPISTOLARY

Mr. Frederick Spenceley, F.T.S. had generously designed and engraved for the Krotona Library a most beautiful bookplate.

TODAY, Krotona is a center of Theosophy in Ojai, California, comprising 120 acres. The self-perpetuating Board of seven Trustees, supervises the activities of the Krotona Library, rents homes to the residents and meeting places for the center activities. Krotona provides a home for the administrative office of the American Esoteric Section (E.S.), lecture hall, classrooms, a guest house and residences are located there. The Outer Head of the Esoteric School is the President of the Board of Trustees. Krotona is operated as a nonprofit corporation and has no official connection with any Theosophical Society (T.S.). It exists as a home for the E.S., considered by some as the heart of the T.S., and as a center for the propagation of theosophy.
A.P. Warrington, (q.v.), first conceived the Krotona idea as early as 1896 and formulated a prospectus in 1906. The object was to found a community based on the lines of the Pythagoras’ school at Crotona in the 6th century B.C. During a 5-month lecture tour across the United States with Marie Russak (q.v.), Warrington looked at possible sites for Krotona. When they reached California, Warrington and others felt that the Los Angeles area, with its excellent climate, luxurious flowers and trees and the Pacific Ocean, would be the most ideal site.
In March 1912 he and a committee purchased ten acres of land in a sparsely settled area of Hollywood. Warrington, head of the E.S. in America since 1907, was soon called upon to assume leadership (General Secretary) of the T.S. in America. Thus, for a number of years Krotona was the headquarters of the American Section and of the E.S. under Warrington.
In March 1913, Articles of Incorporation were filed, with powers of ownership vested in a board consisting of the Outer Head of the E.S. -- Annie Besant, at that time -- as President, and fifteen appointed members, all of whom must be E.S. members in good standing. The Articles included in the statement of purposes “to teach the principles of universal brotherhood; to encouarge the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science; and to investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in man.”
Krotona attracted residents from all parts of the world. Members were engaged in deeper studies of the esoteric philosophy and in service in the outer work. Rituals, such as Co-Masonry, Temple of the Rosy Cross, the Liberal Catholic Church, and the Krotona Service contributed o the spiritual atmosphere. Krotona became the American headquarters of the Star Order founded when Krishnamurti was proclaimed to be the coming World-Teacher. Krotona operated a Book Concern and issued the Section magazine. A gift of rare books by Thomas Taylor formed the nucleus of a theosophical library. Classes and lectures, by qualified theosophic speakers were patterned after university courses. Drama and musical events were also presented for the public.
Hundreds attended the thirty-five spectacular performances of a play based on Sir Edwin Arnold’s The Light of Asia, featuring prominent artists Walter Hampden and Ruth St. Denis. To dramatize other World-Teachers’ lives in a more accessible place, the Hollywood Bowl organization was formed by theosophists and art patrons. Before the first performance, however, differences of ideals arose. The theosophists withdrew and for many years presented in a nearby site the Pilgrimage Play depicting “The Life of Christ.”
Warrington resigned as head f the T.S. in America in 1920, and L.W. Rogers (q.v.), was elected. Rogers then removed the T.S. headquarters to Chicago. Meanwhile, the motion picture industry had grown to the extent that Hollywood no longer provided the peaceful idyllic setting for Krotona. Scenes were often shot in the streets near Krotona. In 1924, the property was sold and Krotona moved to a small hill in the Ojai Valley. Many of the structures built in Hollywood by theosophists were purchased by movie personnel, such as Charlie Chaplin and Mary Astor. An effort is being made in Hollywood at the time of this writing to preserve these historic buildings, some embodying occult symbols in their architecture.
In Ojai, the Krotona community made its impact on the village. The Ojai Valley News was purchased by theosophists. The Krotona Nursery, selling fruit trees and garden plants was a short-lived venture. The Krotona Library was expanded under the leadership of Betty (Mrs. A.P.) Warrington. Classes and lectures continued to be presented. J. Krishnamurit’s Star Camps, drawing people from all over the world, were held on land adjacent to Krotona. In the same Oak Grove site Krishnamurti gave talks up until shortly before his death in 1986. Warrington remained head of the E.S. in American and of Krotona until 1928 when he became Vice-President of the Theosophical Society (Adyar). Marie Poutz succeeded him in the E.S. office.
In the 1960s, Laurence J. and Phoebe D. (Phoebe Payne) Bendit arrived at Krotona and poured new life into its educational function. They initiated discussion groups in addition to the traditional lectures. Also, they added impetus of financial support from the Kern Foundation enabled Krotona to bring renowned theosophic scholars to the faculty, such as Geoffrey Hodson, James S. Perkins, Ianthe Hoskins, Jeanine Miller and others. The Kern Foundation established scholarship funds to bring promising workers from the United States and abroad to study at Krotona.
Warrington’s vision of a broad spectrum of activities at Krotona -- schools for all ages, a university, arts and crafts, industries, agriculture, a health and healing center, scientific investigations -- have yet to be realized.
Krotona through the years has kept a steady flame of private and secret ritualistic work, maybe one should consider what J. Krishnamurti said on June 16, 1936 during an answer and question period, at the talks in Eddington, Pennsylvania.

Question: Are you still as uncompromising as ever in your attitude towards ceremonies and the Theosophical Society?

Krishnamurti: Once you see an act to be wholly foolish, you do not revert to it. If you perceive deeply, as I did, the utter folly of ceremonies, then it can never again have any sway over you. No opinion, though it be of the many, no authority, though it be of tradition or of circumstances, can persuade differently one who has discerned its valuelessness. But as long as one does not see it significance completely, there is a going back to it. It is the same with regard to the Theosophical Society. The idea of organized belief, with its authorities, with its propaganda, with its conversion and exploitation, is to me fundamentally evil.
It is not important what I think about the Theosophical Society. What is important is that you shall find out for yourself what is true, what is the actual, not what you want the actual to be; and to comprehend the actual, the real, the true, without any doubt, you must come to it completely denuded of all want, of all desire for security or comfort. Then only is there a possibility of discerning that which is. But as most people are conditioned by want, by craving for security, for comfort, here and in the hereafter, they are utterly incapable of true perception.
Before you can understand what is true, either in the teachings of the Theosophical Society or of any other organization, you must first consider whether you are free from want. if you are not, these organizations, with their beliefs, will become the means of exploiting you. If you merely consider their teachings, then you will be lost in opinions, in explanations. So first begin to discern for yourself the process of craving which distorts perception and maintains the “I” process, and nourishes fear. Then these systems, these organizations, with their beliefs, threat and ceremonies, will have no significance at all.
Unfortunately we do not begin fundamentally. We think that systems and organizations are going to aid us in getting rid of our prejudices, sorrows and conflicts. We think they will free us from our limitations, and so, through them, we hope to understand reality. This has never happened, nor ever will. No belief or organization can ever set man free from want, with its fears and agonies.

July 27, 1936 question and answer period at Ommen Camp, Holland.

Question: Is not the theosophical conception of the Masters of Wisdom and evolution of the soul as sound as the scientific conception of biological growth of life in organize matter?

Krishnamurti: That which is capable of growth is not eternal. The theosophic or the religious conception is one of the individual growth -- the process of the “I” becoming greater and greater by acquiring more and more virtue and comprehension. That is, the “I” is capable of indefinite growth, reaching greater and greater heights of perfection, and to hep it onwards Masters, disciplines and religious organizations are necessary.
So long as one does not understand what the “I” is, then Masters of some kind or other become an illusory necessity. It may not be a Master in the theosophical sense, it may be a saint of a church or a spiritual authority of an organization. What we have to understand is not whether the Masters exist or not, whether they are necessary or not, but whether the “I” in its growth, in its expansion, can become eternal or lead to the comprehension of truth. The problem is not wether Masterhood is a perfectly natural process but whether discernment of truth can come to a mind which is held in the “I” process. If you consider the “I” to be eternal, then it cannot grow, it must be timeless, spaceless. So the idea that the “I” becomes a Master through growth, experience, is an illusion. Or, the “I” process is transient. To bring this process to an end, no outside agency however great can ever be of help, for the “I” process is self-active, sustaining itself through its volitional activities. You have to consider whether the “I” is eternal or transient. Bt it is not a question of choice, for all choice is based on ignorance, prejudice, want.
Some of you may not be concerned with the belief in the Masters of the Theosophists, yet when sorrow comes to you, you may seek some other spiritual authority or guidance, and it is this dependence on another that perpetuates the “I” process, with its subtle exploitation and sorrow.

Share an intimate look at the leaders of this intriguing organization and read the actual letters they wrote with wonder about their achievements and their downfalls.

Meet the parade of famous people who in past years were touched by the Theosophical Society. Find out why Hollywood was chosen for building the Esoteric Center to spread the teachings of J. Krishnamurti! The world was getting ready for the wise guidance and great wisdom of this man; theosophy was to prepare the minds of men for his message. This man was not to be a teacher, but a whole man with wisdom and insight to show a new understanding of life.

You will meet the remarkable individuals who have guided Krotona in its quest for a Pythagorean Colony, situated in the foothills of Hollywood near the metropolis of Los Angeles, the great melting pot from which was destined to emerge, soon a new race. This would be the new American race, in whose hands will rest the problems now confronting the world.

Here is a true life story that will intrigue and entertain you. They are long since gone, but their spirit is very alive today!

Many attempts at community living have been made in the past with varying degrees of success. Some were begun under most propitious aspects. Some flourished for a time and finally capitulated for one reason or another. We may suppose that all of them were begun with highest ideals of life from the back-to-the-land and near-to-nature and slowly became degraded and lost their original character; they have become places of refuge for the indolent, idle, and superstitious; it is not the fault of the principle that first caused such community living to be organized, but it is the consequence of the knowledge of the true nature of man and his powers and destiny having been lost, and with the loss of that knowledge the means for the attainment, the original aim was naturally lost and forgotten. In any case, their failure lay with human frailties.

The famous ethical and mystical school of Pythagoras at Crotona, in southern Italy, flourished about 529 B.C. Students were chosen by rigorous intelligence and moral standards. Pythagoras aimed at the elevation of his disciples in spirit and in action. Studies included the sciences, the arts, particularly music, and religious and moral precepts intended to perfect human life and nature. The body was to be subject to the Spirit but kept beautiful and healthy. Food was simple bread, honey, vegetables, very little flesh meat and very little wine. Gymnastics were performed in open air. Students progressed in different degrees, and advanced students received esoteric teachings.

Pythagoras, born in Samos about 572 B.C. was the founder of the schools that bore his name and studied his teachings in Greece, Italy, Egypt and Asia Minor. “That the finest characters among women that ancient Greece presents us were formed in the school of Pythagoras, and the same is true of the men. The authors of antiquity are agreed that the Pythagoras teachings had succeeded in producing the highest examples not only of the purest chastity and sentiment, but also a simplicity of manners, a delicacy, and a taste of serious pursuits which was unparalled.” [Orpheus, pp.265-66, Mead, G.R.S., London, 1896.]

Pythagoras travelled through some of the countries of the Mediterranean basin, studying for many years in Egypt, were he learned the Egyptian language, and was initiated by the Priests into their ancient lore at Sais, and then traveling eastwards through Asia Minor and Persia into India. There he met Gautama, the Lord Buddha, and became one of His disciples, he returned, by His order, to Europe, to found his system of philosophy and of esoteric instruction.

The Pythagorean tradition survived all the disturbances which convulsed Southern Italy, and persisted through the Middle Age, giving birth in the sixteenth century to Giordano Bruno, surnamed “the second Pythagoras.”

The end of the community is purported to have been brought about by a disgruntled applicant who, when refused admission, stirred up a revolt against Pythagoras and his followers, persecuting and forcing them into exile. Pythagoras was banished. He finally settled at Metapontum where he left his body at the beginning of the fifth century. Though lasting only some 40 years, the strength of the esoteric truths taught by Pythagoras have persisted in a tradition lasting to modern times. [Gianola, Ablerts. The Pythagorean Sodality of Crotona, (Translated by E.K.) London, Theosophical Pub. Soc., 1906, p.17.]

A nineteenth century attempt, along the same lines as the Pythagorean community, was made by two contemporaries of Ralph Waldo Emerson, transcendentalists A. Bronson Aldcott and Charles Lane, who established in 1843 their Consociate Family on a farm near Harvard, Massachusetts, which they named Fruitlands. They began with ten individuals which included the children of the founders, but they intended to attract families to join and share in raising crops to be self-supporting and at the same time improve their spirituality by study and discussions of highest philosophies and religions. No animal food or product were to be used. Clothing was to be cotton or linen, even shoes were of linen. The founders said, “Outward abstinence is a sign of inward fulness; and the only source of progress is inwards.” [Alcott, Louisa May, Transcendental Wild Oats, Harvard Massachusetts, The Harvard Common Press, 1975, p.91.] Many such groups were started over the years.

In more recent times, the Krotona Institute, first called Crotona Center at its inception in 1910, was established in Hollywood, California, by members of the Theosophical Society (Adyar). It was moved in 1924 to Ojai, California, where it exists to the present day. History of this center forms the subject of the present work, based on letters exchanged between the principal movers and supporters of the idea.

The reader must remember, the author, by weaving portions of the letters together on threads of fictional narrative, has sought to make the ideas, events, concepts and actions more vital and easily comprehended. This gives all of us an opportunity to carefully observe and withhold judgement so that we may learn to discern the subtlest thread of Wisdom linking to the higher Wisdom. What may seem irrelevant can be of greatest significance as a link in the chain of events unfolding.

An Epistolary History of Krotona