Theos-Talk Archives (July 1995 Message tl00092)

Dear Brenda--

In keeping with majority opinion that historical discussion
belongs on theos-roots, let's move any further q & a on the book
there.  But I'll reply to these two here:

> "My Masters and the Masters are Yogis and Munis de facto, not
de jure; in their life not in appearance.  They are members of an
occult brotherhood, not of any particular school in India.  One
of their highest Mahachohans lived in Egypt and went to Tibet
only a year before we did (in 1878) and he is neither a Tibetan
nor a Hindu....its origin is of untold antiquity, and is as much
Masonic as present Masonry is little Masonic."

> You feel that when she says "we" she is referring to herself
and Olcott.  This struck me as an odd interpretation and so I did
a little research in regards to their whereabouts in 1879.  I
found a quote I think you might be interested in, but I also wish
to point out that she and Olcott are not subjects of this quote a
single time.  She does separate in a strange way her Masters from
The Masters, so "we" could easily be used to refer to "our side."
Her Masters are "we" as they are responsible for The Theosophical
Society in its early inception.  She also uses the term "its" to
refer to "the Brotherhood" and I think this is a little confusing
as she could easily be speaking of the Mahachohan.

Your reading of "we" is not out of the question, and it would be
helpful to see more of the letter, but I still think HPB and
Olcott are the intended "we." Just one example of how confusing
this material can be.  BTW, Hilarion is alleged to have gone to
Tibet, and definitely knew HPB in Egypt.  But there's no way to
reconcile the phrase "one of the highest Mahachohans" with her
portrayal of Hilarion as "no Mahatma" but a lowly adept.

> Of course your main point is to compare HPB's whereabouts with
Afghani's whereabouts and to prove that they were always winding
up in the same place at the same time.  Places being India,
Tbilisi and area, Cairo, Paris, and India again.  Is there any
reason why India isn't pinpointed to a city and its area as the
others are?

Afghani settled in Hyderabad and I find no record of his travels
within India, although he later referred his friend Wilfrid
Scawen Blunt to people in several parts of the country.

> I was wondering if you had any information regarding this
person or had included him in your search.  To be honest, this is
the first time that I heard of this Master in over 20 years of
membership in the T.S.

The only other likely reference to him is Olcott's description of
meeting an adept in Pondicherry, whom I think he describes as a
South Indian.  This is one of many cases where I think if I'd
been let in the Adyar archives I might have found something.

> Couldn't H.P.B.  be referring to this exodus from India when
speaking of an 1879 departure to Tibet? Were you aware of this?

I doubt it; the allege exodus occurred over a long period, and
the "we" going to Tibet was given a particular year.  But this is
one of the murkiest of all passages about the Masters, so it's
all guesswork.

Cheers