Theos-Talk Archives (May 1996 Message tl01368)

At 04:04 PM 5/24/96 -0400, you wrote:
>Alexis: > Now Mahatma means the same thing but it is a
>>Brahmanical and/or Mahayana Buddhist version.
>
>	I believe that Mahatma is purely Brahman. I have
>never seen it used in Mahayan Buddhism, which prefers
>Guru, Teacher, or Master.  If "cohan" is Tibetan, it is likely
>an HPB corruption of something.  I have never seen it used.
>
>	Jerry S.
>	Member, TI
>
>
>Jerry: "Chohan" or "Cohan" is probably something HPB "invented" or "coined"
because she wanted a word that defined the function, and there was no word.
I think it's like "Senzar", a language she needed to be able to say the
Stanzas were written in it. I am not saying, or implying that these were
lies, or frauds, I think they were simply subterfuges to conceal her real
sources, which were not nearly so exotic. It is my belief that a lot of what
she wrote about, she, personally, just "got". I also believe that she felt
she needed authority other than herself to  get people to have confidence in
the philosophy she was expounding. To return to "Chohan"; I would tend to
believe that the major usage of the word comes along with CWL"s tenure
because He is the primary source for the Mahatma Mythology.

alexis