John
B S Coats
John B S Coats
1906 - 1979
John B. S.
Coats or JBS Coats was born on July 8th 1906 in Ayr,
South Ayrshire,
He was a
Theosophist and bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. He became International
President of the Theosophical Society Adyar in 1973 and held the post until his
death in 1979.
In 1932 he
became a member of the T.S. in
He died on December 26 1979
__________________________________
John B S Coats
Autobiographical Notes
Pubished in The Theosophist
1980
I was born in
After this, my family sent me to
I was then taken into the family
business of J. & P. Coats, and worked in our Glasgow office for about two
years after which I was sent to the Eastern European office in Vienna, where I
worked for about three years. Here I learned German which also helped me very
much in subsequent Theosophical work.
Thus I have been able to give talks in
both - French and German – and I have made mistakes in both languages!
When
I asked for a transfer to
So I left the firm and I returned to
Having had an experience with a bird I
had shot and wounded earlier, I had already decided to become vegetarian and I
was already one before this meeting. I had also worked with Moral Rearmament
(then called the Oxford Group Movement) and through this had given up smoking
and alcohol.
So when I came back to
Betsan
and I were married in October 1933 and them began our family-cum theosophical
interest that has dominated our lives ever since. We used to go very often to Stanford
House where H.L Gardner lived
with a large – I sometimes think a bit nostalgically home – group
of members. He gave very stimulating and illuminating talks and we met
interesting people there – Mrs. Alice Bailey, for instance. One day we were invited
to meet C. Jinarajadasa and that was a great occasion; a year later we meet Dr.
Arundale and Rukmini.
That was the beginning of four busy and specially happy years rather close contact with G.S.A. I
suppose that I learned more from him and though him
felt more the deep reality of Theosophy and of the Elder Brothers, than in any
other period of my theosophical life.
1935 saw us going around the world, and
then we spent some six years in Adyar. After this, there was a work in
In 1935 I was involved in the
reformation of the World Federation of Young Theosophists in which Dr. Arundale
interested himself deeply. For a number of years, I was its President-Chairman
and am pleased to say it is now going even stronger than ever – not due to my
efforts, but to its own.
1937/38 saw us again in Adyar with two
children and we were very busy there. Betsan helped Rukmini to arrange an art exhibition and I worked in the
President’s office, which was a great experience. It was at the time of the
writing of the Lotus Fire and an atmosphere of what we might call ‘Yoga in
Depth’ ruled Adyar. 1938 brought other happenings, of which the most telling
for us were a farewell in October to the Arundales (I
was never to see G.S.A. alive again in this life, although we had much
correspondence), the death of my father in August and the fatal accident to my
son Christipher on 13th December.
Then came the
war that was to change the lives of so many of us so radically. I went into the
Army in
There was an election for General
Secretary of the English Section in 1941 and I was elected; I remained in the
post until 1946. They were difficult years because of the war, but also full of
opportunities in very unusual circumstances. We just did the best we could with
the blackout, the bombings, the restrictions necessary
for a country besieged, as
In
I manage to go over to
In 1946, just after I stepped down from
the General Secretary’s job, we were invited to go to the
Three or three and half years in the
In 1949, Betsan
and the family returned to
1951 was a year of moving house and much
change in our living-patterns. Betsan went off on a
tour of
In 1953 I became Secretary to Mr. Van Dissel, at that time in charge of the European Federation
with its more than twenty countries. There was much traveling – attending and
arranging summer – schools, visiting Lodges all over the continent. My
languages came in useful in that I was able to visit a number of Lodges that
had hardly ever been visited before.
It was already a year or more since Betsan had started ‘Wings of Friendship’ to bring help to
the unfortunates in the refugee camps of
In 1957 Betsan
went off to
In 1959 I was elected President of the
European Federation and continued to do the same kind of work until I stepped
down in 1968. Nine years seemed long enough to hold a job; I believe in change,
wherever feasible. During this time, and on account of a number of invitations
received, I managed to visit India a number of times and there were three
visits to South America, the United States and Australia, with shorter visits
to other pplaces, e.g. Israel and Africa en route to and from India. Tice we
organized air charter-flights to
In 1966 Sri Ram asked me to arrange the
World Congress – the first since 1936 when it was in
In 1968, my children having married and
gone away, I sold my house in
Well, I am a Cancerian…!
While I was active in
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Theosophy and the Number Seven
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The Spiritual Home of Urban Theosophy
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What is Theosophy
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Three Fundamental Propositions Key Concepts of Theosophy
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THE PHYSICAL
PLANE THE ASTRAL PLANE
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THE THREE KINDS OF KARMA COLLECTIVE KARMA
THE LAW OF
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An Outline of Theosophy
Charles Webster Leadbeater
Theosophy - What it is How is it Known?
The Method of Observation General Principles
Advantage Gained from this
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The Deity The Divine Scheme The Constitution of Man
The True Man Reincarnation The Wider Outlook
Death Man’s Past and Future Cause and Effect
Reincarnation
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From A Textbook
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How We Remember our Past Lives
Life after Death & Reincarnation
The Slaughter of the
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Classic Introductory Theosophy Text
A Text Book of Theosophy By C
What Theosophy Is From the Absolute to Man
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The Occult World
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H P Blavatsky’s Secret Doctrine
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A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom
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The Secret Doctrine – Volume 3
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Esoteric Christianity or the Lesser Mysteries
The Early Teachings of The Masters
A Collection of Fugitive Fragments
Fundamentals of the Esoteric
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Mystical,
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From Talks on the Path of Occultism - Vol. II
In the Twilight”
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The In the
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1898 in The Theosophical Review and
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Letters and
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Theosophische Schriften Auf Deutsch
Karma Fundamental Principles Laws: Natural and Man-Made
The Law of Laws
The Eternal Now Succession
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Apply This Law
Man in The Three Worlds Understand The Truth
Man and His Surroundings The Three Fates The Pair of Triplets
Thought, The Builder Practical Meditation Will and Desire
The Mastery of Desire Two Other Points The Third Thread
Perfect Justice
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The Light for a Good Man Knowledge of Law The Opposing Schools
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Annotated Edition
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