Theosophy Trust - H.P. Blavatsky - Washing The Disciples' Feet

Washing The Disciples' Feet

Atthe ceremony of "feet-washing" which occurred at Limwood Camp-ground, August 8th, and is described in The Sun of to-day, Elder Jones, of Mechanicsburg, Pa., professed to give the history of this ancient custom. The report says:

He claimed that its origin did not date anterior to the coming of Christ; neither was the matter of cleanliness to be thought of in this connection. Its observance was due exclusively to the fact that it was a scriptural injunction; it originated in Christ’s example, and it devolved upon his hearers to follow this example. Numerous scriptural passages were quoted in support of this argument.

The reverend gentleman is in error. The ceremony was first performed by the Hindû Christna (or Krishna) who washed the feet of his Brâhmans as an example of humility, many thousand years anterior to the Christian era. Chapter and verse will be given, if required, from the Brâhmanical books. Meanwhile, the reader is referred to the Rev. John P. Lundy’s Monumental Christianity, p. 154.

[From the New York Sun, August 16th, 1877.
H. P. Blavatsky