Theos-Talk Archives (February 1994 Message tl00026)

The various discussions on Theos-l, especially
the dialogue between Jerry H-E and Arvind Kumar, have prompted the
writing of the following notes.  These notes have been compiled
from several sources and with the help of several friends and
acquaintances.

A.
In 1877, H.P. Blavatsky in Volume I of *Isis Unveiled* told her readers
about the Adepts and her role in giving out the fundamentals of the
Esoteric Science:

     ". . .we came into contact with certain men, endowed with such
mysterious powers and such profound knowledge that we may truly
designate them as the sages of the Orient.  To their instructions
we lent a ready ear." p. vi

     "The work now submitted to public judgment is the fruit of a
somewhat intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and study of their
science."  p. v

B.
In *The Key to Theosophy*, H.P.B. talked about the confusion among
students of the esoteric and occult.  Her words are as true today,
especially among many students of Theosophy:

     "Look around you and observe.  While two-thirds of *civilized*
society ridicule the mere notion that there is anything in
Theosophy, Occultism, Spiritualism, or in the Kabala, the other
third is composed of the most heterogeneous and opposite elements.
Some believe in the mystical, and even in the *supernatural* (!),
but each believes in his own way.  Others will rush single-handed
into the study of the Kabala, Psychism, Mesmerism, Spiritualism, or
some form or another of Mysticism.  Result:  no two men think
alike, not two are agreed upon any fundamental occult principles,
though many are those who claim for themselves the *ultima thule*
of knowledge, and would make outsiders believe that they are full-
blown adepts. . . . .Some limit ancient wisdom to the Kabala and the
Jewish Zohar. . . . .Others regard Swedenborg or Boehme as the
ultimate expressions of the highest wisdom; while others again see
in mesmerism the great secret of ancient magic.  One and all of
those who put their theory in practice are rapidly drifting,
through ignorance, into black magic.  Happy are those who escape
from it, as they have neither test nor criterion by which they can
distinguish between the true and the false."  original 1889 edition,
pp. 21-22

C.
And as early as 1889, H.P.B. mentioned the fact that other individuals
had made bogue claims to being in contact with her own Masters K.H.
and M.:

     "Great are the desecrations to which the names of two of the
Masters have been subjected.  There is hardly a medium who has not
cliamed to have seen them.  Every bogue swindling Society, for
commercial purposes, now claims to be guided and directed by
`Masters' often supposed to be far higher than ours!  Many and
heavy are the sins of those who advanced these claims, prompted
either by desire for lucre, vanity, or irresponsible mediumship . . . .
The sacred names of Occultism and the hold keepers thereof have
been dragged in this filthy mire, polluted by being associated with
sordid motives and immoral practices, while thousands of men and
have been held back from the path of truth and light through the
discredit and evil report which such shams, swindles, and frauds
have brought upon the whole subject."  *The Key to Theosophy*, p. 301

D.
During H.P.B.'s lifetime, even several Theosophists had
made claims to being in contact with the Masters K.H. & M.,
*independent* of H.P.B.'s intermediary.  A.P. Sinnett, who
was the major recepient of *The Mahatma Letters*, made such a claim
and Sinnett's claim was pronounced *false and untrue* by the Master
K.H. himself.  Sinnett wrote in *The Early Days of Theosophy*:

     "About this time [early July 1884] Mrs. Holloway, a
wonderfully gifted American psychic came to stay with us. . . . .She
used to get vivid clairvoyant visions of the Master, - could pass
on messages to me from K.H. and on one occasion he actually made
use of her to speak to me in the first person."  p. 27

     But the Master K.H. in a letter received July 18, 1884 told
Sinnett:

     "You ask me if you can tell Miss Arundale what I told you
thro' Mrs. H[olloway]. . . . . .[But] I have never . . . communicated
with you or any one else thro' her. . . . . She is an excellent but
quite undeveloped clairvoyante. . . . ."  *The Mahatma Letters*, Second
edition, p. 355

     Despite this emphatic denial by K.H., Sinnett persisted
in searching for another "channel" independent of H.P.B.  In *The
Autobiography of Alfred Percy Sinnett*, he wrote:

     "On the 26th of April 1886. . . we went . . . to the Albemarle
Club . . . to meet a lady who was . . . desirous of making my
acquaintance . . . . . I will give her a fictitious name and call her
Mary. . . . shortly afterwards I tried a mesmeric experiment with her
(in accordance with her wish) and obtained remarkable results - she
went very easily into a trance in which she became unequivocally
clairvoyant. . . .I became convinced that she clairvoyantly saw the
mountain region in Tibet where the Master K.H. resided. . . . . It
became obvious that Mary might become a link between myself and the
Master. . . . . Mary came to stay with us . . . in February 1888 and
our regular mesmeric sittings were resumed almost every evening ,
the Master [KH] talking to me through her in most cases.  In this
way I gathered a great deal of miscellaneous occult information. . . . .
Mary left us to go to her own home in May 1888 having had mesmeric
sitting almost every evening while she was with us, at
most of which the Master spoke to me, - or rather dictated to her
what he wished to say.  She would pass into a higher condition in
which she could be in touch with him and be enabled to repeat his
words to her in reply to my questions or remarks." pp 33 & 38-39

     Yet Master KH in another letter (dated August 22, 1888) to
Colonel Henry S. Olcott again denied Sinnett's claim:

     "Since1885 I have not writt, nor caused to be written save
thro' her[HPB's] agency, direct or remote, a letter or line to
anybody in Europe or America, nor communicated orally *with*, or
*thro'* any third party.  Theosophists should learn it.  You will
understand later the significance of this declaration so keep it in
mind.  Her [HPB's] fidelity to our work being constant, and her
sufferings having come upon her thro' it, neither I nor either of
my Brother associates will desert or supplant her."  *Letters from
the Masters of the Wisdom*, Series I, 1973, p. 45

E.
Sinnett and other Theosophists had written various
expositions on the Theosophical teachings during the early and mid
1880s.  HPB in *The Secret Doctrine* stated quite forcefully
that they had indulged in "wild and fanciful speculation":

     "The publication of many of the facts herein stated has been
rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculation in which
many Theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during
the last few years, in their endeavour to, as they imagined, work
out a complete system of thought from the few facts previously
communicated to them."  S.D., original edition, Vol I, p. viii

     And Master K.H. in his August 1888 letter to Olcott had also
spoken on this very subject:

     "I have also noted, your thoughts about the `Secret Doctrine.'
Be assured that what she [HPB] has not *annotated* from scientific and
other works, we have given or *suggested* to her.  Every mistake or
erroneous notion, corrected and explained by her from the works of
other theosophists *was corrected by me, or under my instruction*.
It is a more valuable work than its predecessor, an epitome of
occult truths that will make it a source of information and
instruction for the earnest student for long years to come.:
*Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom*, Series I, p. 47

     In light of these "wild and fanciful speculations" during
H.P.B.'s own lifetime, how many more "wild and fanciful speculations"
have been published after H.P.B.'s death when she was not around to
correct or refute them?  See Ray Morgan's pamphlet *Misleading Mayavic
Ideations* for examples given in CW Leadbeater's and A Besant's
writings.

F.
Arvind Kumar in earlier communications on Theos-L
quoted the following passage from H.P.B. in discussing the claim
that Alice Bailey was the expected disciple of the Masters in the
20th century:

     "In Century the Twentieth some discipl more inford, and far
better fitte, may be sent by the Masters of Wisdom to give final
and irrefutable proofs that there exists a Science called *Gupta-
Vidya*; and that . . . the source of all religions and philosophies
. . . has been for many ages forgotten and lost to me, but is at
last found."  S.D., Vol I, p xxxviii (orig ed)

     This psaage was probably written in the first part of 1888
and the student should compare and correlate it with the following
two passages from HPB's pen.  The first one was written in Dec 1888
and the second one in the first part of 1889.  The three passages
*taken together* indicate that HPB was referring to an emissary of the
Masters coming in 1975 or later.  This would seem to rule out the
messenger being Alice Bailey, G. de Purucker or any of the other
claimants listed in Section G of this paper.

     Passage (1):

     "Let every member [of the Esoteric Section] know . . . that the
time for such priceless acquisition is limited.  The writer of the
present is old; her life is well-nigh worn out, and she may be
summoned `home' any day and almost any hour.  And if her place is
even filled up, perchance by another worthier and more learned than
herself, still *there remain but twelve years* to the last hour of
the term - namely, till December the 31st, 1899.  Those who will
not have profited by the opportunity (given to the world in every
last quarter of a century), those who will not have reached a
certain point of psychic and spiritual development, or that point
from which begins the cycle of adeptship, by that day - those will
advance no further than the knowledge already acquired.  No Master
of Wisdom from the East will appear or send any one to Europe or
America after that period, and the sluggards will have to renounce
every chance of advancement in their present incarnation - until
the year 1975.  Such is the LAW, for we are in *Kali Yuga* - the Black
Age - and the restrictions in this cycle, the first 5,000 years of which
will expire in 1897, are great and almost insuperable."  HPB's
*Collected Writings*, Vol XII, pp. 491-492

     Passage (2):

     ". . .during the last quarter of every hundred years an attempt
is made by those `Masters' . . . to help on the spiritual progress of
Humanity in a marked and definite way.  Towards the close of each
century you will invariably find that an outpouring or upheaval of
spirituality - or call it mysticism if you prefer - has taken
place.  Some one or more persons have appeared in the world as
their agents, and a greater or less amount of occult knowledge and
teaching has been given out . . . . .If the present attempt, in the
form of our Society, succeeds better than its predecessors have
done, then it will be in exitence as an organized, living and
healthy body when the time comes for the effort of the XXth
century.  The general condition of men's minds and hearts will have
been improved and purified by the spread of its teachings . . . . but
besides a large and accessible literature ready to men's hands, the
next impulse will find a numerous and *united* body of people ready
to welcome the new torch-bearer of Truth.  He will find the minds of
men prepared for his message, a language ready for him in which to
clothe the new truths he brings, an organization awaiting his arrival
. . . ."  *The Key to Theosophy*, pp. 306-7

G.
Keeping in mind HPB's 3 passages on the "new torch-bearer of Truth", we
find that after HPB's death in 1891, numerous individuals who have
claimed to be in contact with her Adept Teachers, have claimed to be
a "messenger" of the Masters and have conveyed new and more esoteric
Teachings.  As Dr. Gordon Melton has written:  "A number of individuals
have claimed contact with one of the Masters first described by
Blavatsky and have begun new organizations based upon the individual
revelation imparted."

     Here is a partial list of the claimants:

(1)  In the 1890s, W.Q. Judge said he was in contact with HPB's
Master Morya.  Judge precipitated letter in this Master's name and gave
out certain E.S. teachings;
(2)  Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater affirmed that they were
in communication with HPB's Masters and gave out volumious Theosophical
teachings.
(3)  Katherine Tingley, the occult successor of Judge, said she
was in contact with HPB's Masters and claimed to have met on at least
two occasions the Master Morya in his physical body.
(4)  G. de Purucker, Tingley's successor, testified that the Masters
M. & K.H. came to visit him in 1929 at T.S. headquarters, Point Loma,
SAn Diego, California.  GdP also gave out more esoteric teachings
than HPB, Judge or Tingley were allowed to give out.
(5)  Alice Bailey said she was in contact with K.H. and D.K and
transmitted more than 20 volumes of teachings said to be from D.K.  She
even gave out further installments from the Stanzas of Dzyan.
(6)  Mrs. Francia A. La Due (of the Temple of the People) gave out
messages from the Masters, especially from Hilarion.  She also published
more Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan.
(7)  Guy Ballard (of the "I Am" Movement) calimed to be in communication
with the Masters, especially St. Germain;
(8)  Helena Roerich (of the Agni Yoga Society) gave out about 13
volumes of communications from the Master Morya;
(9)  Mark Prophet and his wife Elizabeth Clare (of the Church
Universal and Triumphant) have affirmed to be the emissaries of the
Great Whitel Brotherhood and have channeled thousands of messages from
El Morya, Kut Humi, the Virgin Mary, Hercules, Chastity and a variety
of other Masters and entities;
(1)  Earlyne Chaney (of Astara) claimed communication with Kut-Hi-Mi
and Zoser and other Masters of the Great White Brotherhood.  She has
given out certain esoteric and occult teachings.
(11) Nada-Yolanda (of the Mark Age Metacenter in Florida) has channeled
numerous messages from M., K.H., and others Masters associated with
UFOs;
(12) Max Heindel, Rudolf Steiner and Geoffrey Hodson have claimed
to possess clairvoyant powers and to be in contact with various Masters,
whether Rosicrucian, Theosophical or otherwise.
(13) Other supposed communications from HPB's Masters have come
from Brother Phillip in his book titled *Secret of the Andes*, from
Cyril Scott in his series of books starting with *The Initiate*, from
David Andreas in his book *Through the Eyes of the Masters*, from ...

     And the list could go on.  But what person has the money, time
and effort to read and study the hundreds of books put out by all the
individuals listed above?  Or to try to sort through the morass of
contradictory claims and teachings given by all these latter-day
messengers of the Masters? How many of their claims would HPB label
"bogus" and how many of their teachings would she describe as "wild
and fanciful speculation"?

     Instead of trying to wade through even 1/10th of all this
latter-day teachings, why don't students of Theosophy turn to HPB's
own voluminous writings and seriously study them?

     If no other Theosophical writer had every written a book on
Theosophy after HPB died in 1891, we would still have more than 22
volumes of HPB's own writings to read, study, ponder and apply.  And we
would also have *The Mahatma Letters* and two volumes of *The Letters
from the Masters of the Wisdom*.  I would suggest that there is enough
metaphysics, occult informtion, practical advise, ethical counsel ,
devotional material, spiritual exercises, etc. in HPB's and the
Masters' writings to last most of us a lifetime!

     Furthermore, why did the Masters want HPB to write all of this
material if it was to be superseded and supplanted withing a relatively
short period of time by the writings of Judge, de Purucker, Besant,
Leadbeater, or Bailey, etc.?

     The Master KH wrote that "we have broken the silence of centuries"
in giving out the teachings of Theosophy (as found in HPB's writings
and the Masters' letters) and yet far too many students of Theosophy
down thorugh the decades and even today consider these writings not
important enough to read, let alone to study!

     Students of Theosophy can believe or disbelive in whatever they
want to; they can read and study whatever they choose to.  But why not
go to the *FOUNTAIN SOURCE* of the Theosophical Movement (i.e., HPB's
writings and the letters of the Masters) and read and study these
writings - *without* having these writings filtered through and
interpreted by later claimants whether Judge, de Purucker, Besant,
Leadbeater, Bailey, etc ?

     If you really believe HPB was in contact with Adepts and that she
gave out genuine and valuable teachings, why not study these teachings
instead of some latter-day claimant whose claims and teachings may or
may not be true?  And with so many individuals claiming to be a
messenger of the Masters, why not study HPB and use the criteria to be
found in her writings and teachings to test whether later claims are
true or false?


     THERE IS NO RELIGION (belief, opinion, conviction, etc.)

                          HIGHER THAN THE TRUTH

P.S.  This is a first rough draft with plenty of typos.  Please overlook
the outer shell of my presentation!

                                          Terry