G. R. S. Mead

[3] While still at Cambridge University Mead read Esoteric Buddhism (1883) by Alfred Percy Sinnett, which presumably prompted his initial interest in Theosophy and led him to join Helena Petrovna Blavatsky's Theosophical Society in 1884.

Mead met Laura Mary Cooper (later to become his wife) in the latter group, and attended all but one of the total of twenty meetings held for its members.

Leadbeater had been a prominent member of the Theosophical Society until he was accused in 1906 of teaching masturbation to, and sexually touching,[6] the sons of some American Theosophists under the guise of occult training.

While this prompted Mead's resignation, his frustration at the dogmatism of the Theosophical Society may also have been a major contributor to his break after 25 years.

Notable persons influenced by Mead include Ezra Pound, W. B. Yeats, Hermann Hesse, Kenneth Rexroth, and Robert Duncan.