Madame Blavatsky
Page 71
101. LMW, vol. 2, pp. 30-33.
102. Ibid.
103. ODL, vol. 1, p. 114.
104. The Liberal Christian, September 4, 1875.
105. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, July 18, 1875, Solovyov, p. 253.
106. INC, p. 146. According to Judge, the prophecy to his friend turned out exactly as predicted.
107. Lillie, p. 44-45.
108. ODL, vol. 1, p. 186.
109. Ibid., p. 202.
110. New York Tribune, August 30, 1875.
111. Ibid., September 17, 1875.
112. ODL, vol. 1, pp. 117-118.
113. Lucifer, April, 1895.
114. ODL, vol. l,p. 132.
115. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, September 20, 1875, Solovyov, p. 256.
116. Olcott to Hiram Corson, September 14, 1875, Corson, p. 24
117. Hiram Corson to Eugene Corson, undated, Corson, p. 27.
118. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, September 20, 1875, Solovyov, p. 257.
119. Hiram Corson to Eugene Corson, October 2, 1875, Corson, p. 118.
120. Corson, p. 37.
121. Olcott to H.P.B., September 25, 1875, Corson, p. 50.
122. H.P.B. to Hiram Corson, circa October-November, 1875, Corson, pp. 170-171.
123. James Robinson to Frederick W. Hinrichs, November 2, 1875, Flint, p. 128.
124. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, December 6, 1875, Solovyov, p. 265.
125. Quoted in Ransom, p. 83.
126. ODL, vol. 1, p. 137.
127. Ibid., p. 138.
128. Louisa Andrews to Hiram Corson, December 1, 1875, Department of Manuscripts & University Archives, Cornell University libraries.
129. H.P.B. to Hiram Corson, circa October or early November, 1875, Corson, p. 170.
130. ODL, vol. 1, p. 203.
131. H.P.B. to Hiram Corson, January 8, 1876, Corson, p. 175.
132. CW, vol. l,p. 160.
133. H.P.B. to Hiram Corson, January 8, 1876, pp. 173-174.
134. Rawson, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, February, 1892.
135. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1876, The Path, December, 1894.
136. ODL, vol. 1, p. 203.
137. Solovyov, p. 354.
138. ODL, vol. 1, p. 207.
139. Ibid., p. 206.
140. Ibid., p. 208.
141. Ibid., p. 209.
142. Ibid., p. 211.
143. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, undated, 1876, The Path, January, 1895.
144. Ibid.
145. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1876, The Path, December, 1894. The medium, Mrs. Willett, who worked with the Society for Psychical Research, gave a similar description: "When all went well and I was deeply in trance, I became partly identified with the communicator. It seemed as if somebody else was me, as if a stranger was occupying my body, as if another's mind was in me . . . Lifted up on wings, I was in a state in which I understood all things."
146. Ibid.
147. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, circa 1876, The Path, December, 1894.
148. Ibid.
149. Ibid.
150. Rawson, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, February, 1892.
151. The tests conducted by Eleanor Sidgwick with Gladys Osborne Leonard and her trance personality "Feda" were characterized by vagueness. For example, "Feda" might tell the sitter to go to a bookcase in his study, remove the seventh book from the left on the third shelf, open to page 48, and one third of the way down the page the sitter would find a meaningful passage. While "Feda" could give an accurate physical description of a book, he did not supply book titles nor did he quote from the works. (Society for Psychical Research, Proceedings, vol. 31, April, 1921, "An Examination of Book-Tests Obtained in Sittings with Mrs. Leonard.")
Others who possessed clairvoyance for printed matter were Stainton Moses, William Eglinton, and Eileen Garrett. Again, none of them actually quoted from books.
152. Religio-Philosophical Journal, April 29, 1876.
153. Boston Herald, March 5, 1876.
154. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, Spring, 1876, Solovyov, p. 268.
155. ODL, vol. 1, pp. 151-158.
156. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, July, 1876, Solovyov, p. 269.
157. ODL, vol. 1, p. 161.
158. Ibid., p. 452.
159. Ibid., p. 410.
160. Rawson, Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, February, 1892.
161. Religio-Philosophical Journal, September 14, 1889.
162. ODL, vol. 1, p. 461.
163. Ibid., p. 459.
164. Ibid., pp. 16-17.
165. Ibid., pp. 425-426.
166. Ibid., p. 429.
167. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1877, The Path, January, 1895.
168. Blavatsky, I sis Unveiled, vol. 2, p. 621.
169. Ibid., p. 71.
170. ODL, vol. 3, p. 316.
171. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, vol. 1, p. vi.
172. Ibid.
173. Ibid., vol. 2, p. 584 footnote.
174. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1876-1877, The Path, January, 1895.
175. ODL, vol. 1, pp. 377-381. The turban is in the archives of the Theosophical Society at Adyar.
176. David-Neel, pp. 313-315.
177. ODL, vol. 1, p. 18.
178. The Word, May-June, 1908.
179. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, circa September, 1876, Solovyov, p. 275.
180. Religio-Philosophical Journal, September 14, 1889.
181. H.P.B. to Alexander Wilder, December, 1876, The Word, June, 1908.
182. Ibid.
183. J. W. Bouton to Henry Olcott, May 17, 1877, ODL, vol. l,p. 216.
184. Michael Betanelly to H.P.B., May 7, 1877, The Theosophist, August, 1959.
185. Ibid.
186. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, June 15, 1877, Solovyov, p. 276.
187. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, circa 1877, The Path, January, 1895. "Astral body" is also termed "etheric body." Spiritualists believe it to be the vehicle for the spirit in the first stages after death when it separates from the physical body. Supposedly it is the astral body that is sometimes faintly perceived as apparitions or ghosts.
188. LMW, vol. 1, p. 94.
189. Religio-Philosophical Journal, January 12, 1878.
190. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, October 2, 1877, Solovyov, p. 276. As far as is known, the manuscript of Isis Unveiled was destroyed after publication.
191. ODL, vol. l,p. 296.
192. Home, p. 308.
193. Ibid., p. 326.
194. H.P.B. to A. N. Aksakov, November 6, 1877, Solovyov, p. 278.
195. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, fall, 1877, The Path, January, 1895.
196. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, 1877, The Path, January, 1895.
197. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 19, 1877, HPBSP, vol. 1, pp. 165-166.
198. Ibid., pp. 180, 188, 209.
199. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, undated, The Path, January, 1895.
200. ODL, vol. 1, p. 395.
201. Ibid., p. 397.
202. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 3, 1877, HPBSP, vol. 1, p. 202.
203. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, May, 1878, The Path, March, 1895.
204. Ibid.
205. Henry Olcott to Charles Massey, 1878, Besterman, p. 149.
206. Ibid., p. 148.
207. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, July 8, 1878, The Path, February, 1895.
208. New York Daily Graphic, July 9, 1878.
209. New York Star, June 28, 1878.
210. Nadyezhda Fadeyev to H.P.B., October 1/13, 1877, CW, vol. 1, p.xxxvi, note.
211. H.P.B. to Caroline Corson, August 28, 1878, Corson, p. 199.
212. ODL, vol. 1, p. 454.
213. CW, vol. l,p. 409.
214. Ibid., p. 433.
215. He kept a diary at least from 1875 to the time of his death in 1907. The diaries for 1875-1877, however, mysteriously disappeared and the colonel had no idea what became of them.
216. The grocer refused to extend further credit, pres
umably because an unpaid account of one hundred dollars represented a sizable sum in 1878 (the equivalent of eight hundred to nine hundred dollars in today's terms). In view of Olcott's last-minute scramble for money, there is little likelihood that this bill was paid.
217. New York Sun, October 13, 1878.
218. New York Sun, October 18, 1878.
219. CW, vol. 1, pp. 415-420.
220. Ibid., p. 417.
221. Ibid., p. 419.
222. Ibid., p. 420.
223. Ibid., p. 423.
224. Ibid., p. 428.
225. Ibid., p. 429.
226. New York Daily Graphic, December 10, 1878.
227. Ibid.
228. These tinfoil recordings were kept at Adyar until 1895 when Olcott tried to have the sound transferred to more modern wax cylinders. By that time, however, the grooves had flattened out.
229. New York Times, January 2, 1885.
230. CW, vol. 1, p. 431.
231. Ibid.
INDIA
1. ODL, vol. 2, pp. 1-4.
2. Ibid., p. 1.
3. Ibid., p. 9.
4. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, February, 1879, The Path, March, 1895. Describing her arrival in Bombay to Alexander Dondoukoff-Korsakoff in a letter of December 5, 1881, H.P.B. wrote that "after a deputation of 200 Hindus had gone on board to fetch us, we were received by a crowd of 50,000 people."
5. ODL, vol. 2, p. 16.
6. Ibid., p. 18
7. CW, vol. 2, p. 25.
8. Ibid., p. 26.
9. Henry Olcott to William Judge, February 24, 1879, 'Theosophist, January, 1931.
10. William Judge to Henry Ol- cott, April 2, 1879, Theosophist, January, 1931.
11. William Judge to Henry Olcott, April 9, 1879, Theosophist, January, 1931.
12. Ibid.
13. The overwhelming probability is that H.P.B. induced an hallucination in Thackersey by means of post-hypnotic suggestion. Normally this consists of the hypnotizer making a statement to the hypnotized subject that at a given time the subject will have a specified experience. For example, the hypnotizer may say, "Next Friday morning at ten a.m., an Eskimo will enter your room, shake your hand and leap out the window." At the hour specified, the subject will in fact have precisely that experience. This type of induced hallucination, common in hypnotic practice, can be performed on any suitable subject.
14. ODL, vol. 2, p. 45.
15. Ibid., p. 47.
16. Ibid., p. 48.
17. Ibid., p. 57.
18. Ibid., p. 59.
19. Ibid., p. 60.
20. Ibid., p. 61
21. Ibid., p. 63.
22. Ibid., p. 65.
23. Ibid., p. 69.
24. H.P.B. to Alexander Wilder, April 28, 1879, The Word, July, 1908.
25. Ibid.
26. Ibid.
27. ODL, vol. 2, p. 71.
28. Ibid., p. 82.
29. CW, vol. 2, p. 82.
30. LMW, vol. 2, p. 68.
31. Ibid., p. 69.
32. Coulomb, pp. 4-7.
33. ODL, vol. 2, p. 91.
34. There were virtually none during H.P.B.'s lifetime. The exception was Mrs. Anandabay Joshi, who graduated an M.D. from Women's Medical College, Philadelphia, but died a year later of tuberculosis in Poona. Not until 1893, during Annie Besant's first tour of India, did women veiled in purdah attend her lectures.
35. ODL, vol. 2, pp. 95-96.
36. Barborka, The Mahatmas and Their Letters, p. 262.
37. Eek, Damodar and the Pioneers of the Theosophical Movement, p. 5.
38. ODL, vol. 2, p. 212.
39. H.P.B. to Abner Doubleday, July 16, 1879, Theosophical Forum, September, 1933.
40. Theosophist, October, 1879.
41. Damodar Mavalankar to William Judge, October 5, 1879, Theosophical Forum, November, 1934.
42. LMW, vol. 2, p. 71.
43. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, November, 1879, The Path, March, 1895.
44. INC, p. 172.
45. De Steiger, pp. 157-158.
46. Linton and Hanson, p. 251.
47. Ibid., p. 252, quoting Sinnett's unpublished memoirs.
48. INC, p. 173.
49. Ibid.
50. LBS, p. 17.
51. ODL, vol. 2, p. 118.
52. Sinnett, Occult World, p. 42.
53. Ibid., p. 51.
54. Symonds, p. 11.
55. Coulomb, p. 8.
56. ODL, vol. 2, p. 145.
57. Coulomb, p. 8.
58. ODL, vol. 2, p. 151.
59. H.P.B. to Alexander Dondoukoff-Korsakoff, December 5, 1881, HPBSP, vol. 2, pp. 29- 30.
60. Ibid.
61. ODL, vol. 2, p. 207.
62. CW, vol. 2, p. xxxii.
63. H.P.B. to Emma Coulomb, June 16, 1880, Christian College Magazine, September, 1884. H.P.B.disownedauthor- ship of letters to Emma Coulomb but in my opinion they are genuine. Heireafter they are quoted as sources.
64. ODL, vol. 2, p. 110.
65. CW, vol. 2, p. xxxii.
66. ODL, vol. 2, p. 209.
67. CW, vol. 2, p. 208.
68. Ibid., p. 479.
69. ODL, vol. 2, p. 213.
70. Coulomb, p. 9.
71. CW, vol. 2, pp. 479-480.
72. Ibid.
73. Coulomb, p. 16.
74. Ibid., p. 15.
75. Kipling, p. 124.
76. Sinnett, Occult World, p. 38.
77. ODL, vol. 2, p. 226.
78. Ibid., p. 227.
79. Coulomb, p. 14.
80. According to Emma Coulomb, the sound was produced by a small music box that H.P.B. hid under her dress, slightly above the waist. A slight pressure of her arm against her side set the bell ringing. (S.P.R., Proceedings, p. 263.)
81. ODL, vol. 2, p. 227.
82. Sinnett, Occult World, p. 48.
83. Ibid., p. 49.
84. Ibid., p. 92.
85. ODL, vol. 2, p. 242.
86. Sinnett, Occult World, pp. 61-63. The "pink note," the first Mahatmic message received in India, can now be seen in the manuscripts department of the British Library. Puncture holes visible in the paper show that the note had been pierced when fastened to the twig. Interestingly, the calligraphy of the message is different from all other specimens of Mahatma Koot Hoomi's writing.
H.P.B. did this trick, said Emma Coulomb, with the aid of Babula, who had been sent ahead with instructions to plant the note in a particular tree. In Patience's presence, Helena took an identical slip of paper from her pocket, folded it into a triangle, and threw it over the edge of the hill. Then she directed Patience to the tree where Babula had pinned the message.
87. Ibid.
88. Ibid., pp. 65-66.
89. Sinnett, Occult World, pp. 66-74; ODL, vol. 2, pp. 233- 236.
90. H.P.B. to Nadyezhda Fadeyev, February 21, 1880, HPBSP, vol. I, p. 226.
91. Sinnett, Occult World, pp. 78-79; ODL, vol. 2, pp. 238- 239. Even in H.P.B.'s time, it was known that people could be hypnotized at a distance without their being aware of it. In 1884, Dr. Pierre Janet, well-known French psychiatrist, was able to hypnotize Leonie, a peasant woman and clairvoyant, at a distance in the same room without saying or doing anything perceptible, but merely willing the entrancement.
92. Coulomb, pp. 18-19.
93. ML, 1-5. This first letter contains two glaring factual errors, one stating that Mary Magdalene had witnessed the resurrection of Christ, the other that Sir Francis Bacon helped found the Royal Society in 1662 (although he died in 1626). Sinnett did not, evidently, wonder why an omniscient Mahatma was so misinformed, or perhaps he simply did not catch the errors.
94. Ibid.
95. Ibid., p. 7.
96. Ibid., p. 9.
97. CW, vol. 2, p. 489.
98. ML, p. 19.
99. Conger, p. 38.
100. Ransom, p. 151.
101. Coulomb, p. 30.
102. Ibid.
103. CW, vol. 3, p. 120.
/> 104. CW, vol. 2, p. 78.
105. ODL, vol. 2, p. 294.
106. Ibid.
107. Ibid., p. 135.
108. Coulomb, pp. 30-31.
109. H.P.B. to Vera Zhelihovsky, early 1881, The Path, April, 1895.
110. Saturday Review, June 25, 1881.
111. Ibid.
112. ML, pp. 38-39. In a volume of memoirs published posthumously, The Early Days of Theosophy in Europe, Sinnett acknowledged his belief that this letter was delivered by trickery: "On my return to India, after having published Occult World—after she knew that I was rooted in a personal conviction not only that she possessed magic powers, but that I was in touch with the Masters and devoted to the theosophical cause, she employed M. Coloumb to drop a letter from the Master… through a crack in the rafters above, trying to make me believe that it had been dropped by the Master himself—materialized then and there after transmission from Tibet."
113. Ibid., p. 39.
114. Ibid.
115. Theosophist, August, 1881.
116. Ibid.
117. Sinnett, The Early Days of Theosophy in Europe, p. 27.
118. Sinnett was by no means the only recipient of Mahatma letters. Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi wrote to countless other individuals, including Madame Blavatsky, who received three. The reason she got so few, according to C. Jinarajadasa, compiler of Letters from the Masters of Wisdom, was "because her consciousness was so linked to the minds of both the Masters M. and K.H. that she heard Their voices with occult hearing at once, and there was no need for written communications."
119. Evans-Wentz, Tibet's Great Yogi Milarepa, p. 20.
120. Ibid., p. 22.
121. Later, two European visitors to Tibet questioned lamas about H.P.B.'s Mahatmas. Alexandra David-Neel reported that "communications from mystic masters to their disciples through gross material means, such as letters falling from the ceiling or epistles one finds under one's pillow, are unknown in lamaist mystic circles. When questions regarding such facts are put to contemplative hermits, erudite lamas or high lamaist dignitaries, they can hardly believe that the inquirer is in earnest and not an irreverent joker" (David- Neel, p. 234). A similar reaction was reported by William Rockville: "When told of our esoteric Buddhists, the Mahatmas, and of the wonderful doctrines they claimed to have obtained from Tibet, they (the lamas) were immensely amused." (Rockville, p. 102.)
Beginning in 1912, a young Californian named Edwin G. Schary made three attempts to find H.P.B.'s Masters in order to become their disciple. His account of these Tibetan travels, In Search of the Mahatmas of Tibet, amounts to a chronicle of nightmarish physical hardship: snow blindness, difficulty in breathing at high altitudes, thirst, hunger so intense that he ate field daisies, and general inhospitableness of the Tibetans who set their dogs on him. Schary's quest ended in failure.