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Vol. 12 No. 9 Boulder, Colorado September, 1997

AMONG THE ADEPTSCONFIDENTIAL COMMUNICATIONS FROM

THE HINDU ADEPTS AND CHRISTIANMYSTICS.

By FRANZ HARTMAN, M. D.A POSTCRIPT TO HIS REMINISCENCES

-TRANSLATED BY FRITZ HAHN

I myself have seen such apparitions several times. I waspresent more than once when a Master spoke to Blavatsky in herroom. I could not see him and had to be enlightened byBlavatsky. On other occasions in the absence of Blavatsky Ireceived such visits, which I saw distinctly and clearly, andnobody could make me believe them to be self-induceddream-visions. Besides, I do not lack; natural proofs, which arein my possession to this day. It is nothing extraordinary to see anunknown person in a day-dream, or when half awake, and tomeet this identical person in real life afterwards. Some of myexperiences with “ Occult Phenomena” were published in 1884in the monthly Theosophist in Madras. I prefer, though, inregard to Adepts to use the testimony of others rather than tomention my own.

To the president of the Theosophical Society, H. S. Olcott,appeared one of these Masters in New York, though this sameMaster was in Asia (Tibet) at the same time. The apparition ofthe Adept spoke to Olcott, took off his turban and presented himwith it for a keepsake. To this day Olcott carries this same

Contents

Among The Adepts ............. 1

C.A. Bartzokas, Letter ....... 6

HCT Editor comments ....... 9

Theosophy - Inner Wisdom 9

Modifications of

Consciousness ..................... 10

Building on what HPB wrote

J. Hejka-Ekins ......................... 11

S.D. Proem - J. Greschner .. 15

Poem: Man!by R. Archer ... 19

Reflections - D. Tenbroeck . 20

Book Review -- Initiates of

Theosophical Masters ............. 22

Intuition ............................... 23

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turban on his travels with him and shows it inhis lectures. Whether he can convince anysceptic with this of the existence of Adepts, Iwill not maintain.

Damodar K. Mavalankar, a young Hindu,living in Adyar, at the headquarters of theTheosophical Society, could leave his body andmake visits in his astral body. This was doneduring my stay there. One day he was allowedto visit the home of the Master, Kut Humi, inthis manner, and he narrates the following:

While in Lahore I received threevisits of the Master in his physical body.Every visit lasted about three hours. I wasperfectly conscious, and once I met himoutside the house. He was exactly thesame in his physical body at Lahore, as Ihad seen in Adyar in his astral body, andalso the identical one I had visited in mydreams and visions in his homethousands of miles away. On these astralvisits I could only see him in a somewhatnebular form, recognizing his featuresvery plainly, my psychical powers thenbeing only partly developed. But thistime in Lahore it was different. When Ihad touched his astral form my handpassed through it, but now I touchedmaterial cloth and living flesh. Here Ihad a living being in front of me,recognizing his well-known features,whose portrait I had often seen inMadame Blavatsky’s possession. Whilein Jumna I had the good fortune to beasked to visit him, and spent several daysin the company of different Mahatmasfrom the Himalaya and their disciples.Of course these facts do not prove any

thing to the sceptic. There is no experience,even when known to thousands of witnesses,which will not be denied by those who have notexperienced it, and a theory of fraudsubstituted in explanation. We live in a world

where much is perverted. A good deal takenfor fraud or illusion is misunderstood truth,and a good deal accepted in general as real isdelusion and fraud.

Nobody can recognize a truth withcertainty until one has experienced that truth.Even our own powers we cannot recognize tillwe have acquired the faculty to use them.When I speak about Adepts and occultphenomena it is for no other purpose than topoint out facts but slightly known, but whichare apt to draw attention to different andhigher kinds, of less known natural laws. Oneof these phenomena that surprised meparticularly was the following:

On the 20th of February, 1884,Blavatsky left for Europe. I accompanied her toBombay, and after her departure I returnedfrom the port to the city. Through her I hadacquired a certain Tibetan relic with aninscription in the Tibetan language which Ivalued very highly. I resolved to carry itcontinually with me.

To do this I needed a chain, so I visitedseveral jewelry stores, but could not find asuitable gold chain, as a silver one would notdo on account of the air near the coastcontaining so much salt, causing chloride ofsilver to settle on it.

Going back to my quarters, consisting ofa large hall-like drawing-room, in walking upand down the idea came to me that in want ofa chain a silk cord might do.

At this moment I saw something vibratein the air before me. The object fell at my feet,and picking it up I found it to be apink-coloured silk ribbon, brand new and theexact length. The ends were twisted, and all Ihad to do was to fasten it. This ribbon was inmy possession for years.

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It would not be difficult to fill volumeswith stories of “occult phenomena” whichhappened either in my presence or wereexperienced by others.

Not only would such stories not proveanything, but on the contrary they would causea certain class of people to believe that aMahatma had nothing else to do but to produceoccult phenomena and pass his time withHocus Pocus, to find lost garters, to mendbroken coffee cups, etc.

It would be about as reasonable to believethat the lifework of a Secretary of State consistedin drinking champagne, or that the aim of aconductor was to swing his baton in the air toastonish the public with gymnastic exercises.

The world is such that human kind,especially the smart ones, only see thesuperficial. Trifles they take for the importantthings and overlook essentials.

Nothing made the Theosophical Societyso ridiculous in the eyes of the public as the bigcry the Theosophists made about “occultphenomena.” I cannot blame the magician,Hermann, that he had a doll which he called“Mahatma Kut Humi,” performing tricks for100 evenings in Philadelphia on the stage justto ridicule the Theosophists.

Of course, this did not make the Adeptsridiculous, but for the harm done to theirnames. We have to thank the unintelligentcritics and also the malicious slanderers of H.P. Blavatsky for the healthy unbelief whichwas created amongst those who could notunderstand these phenomena and otherwisewould have fallen easy victims on account oftheir passion for the miraculous to a morbidmysticism and scepticism.

Even in this I believe I can recognize thework of the Masters, who knew very well that

doubt is a necessary means in arriving at selfknowledge by one’s own effort and to curb theerratic leaps of an unbridled fancy.

The great genius, which was revealedthrough the person of Blavatsky, could not betouched by foolish slander. Although Blav-atsky suffered personally from their folly, herenemies turned out to be involuntaryco-workers, as they helped to draw the world’sattention to the very ancient teachings of truth,and neither Blavatsky nor her followersexpected more than that.

Great is the folly of those who castsuspicion on the faith of a teacher, who neverexpects blind faith, but insists that thoseinterested in the teaching of the sages mustinvestigate them and arrive at their ownconclusions. It is the old story—the battle ofself-knowledge against the arrogance ofprofessors and established authority.

It is of little advantage to believe in theexistence of the Almighty, just because someone we can have faith in asserts that there is aGod; but everyone should try himself andrecognize with his own person the Almighty,thus becoming a living testimony for theexistence of God (the truth).

The point is not to be enthusiastic inone’s fancy over the physical side of theMasters in Tibet or anywhere else, or to expectparticular favours from them: the main thing isthat the wisdom of the Master should revealitself in one’s own person.

This does not mean, as in certainquarters, “to accept the teachings and ignorethe teachers.” The reverence of a pupil towardshis teacher results from the understanding ofhis teachings. Whoever announces a truth,merits the highest esteem of all mankind. Butthe respectability of a teacher rests on his

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knowledge of the truth, and not the truth on therespectability of the teacher.

As long as she lived, Blavatsky foughtagainst this arrogance of authority and tried tohelp her pupils to overcome it and to lead themto Theosophy, that is, to self knowledge.

She never expected a blind acceptance ofher teachings nor of the doctrines of theMasters, but simply made them available asproblems for self-investigation andself-development.

Few understood her, as most people,especially the professors, possess no otherknowledge except what they derive from hearsayand authority. The word “self-knowledge” iswithout a meaning to them, as they do not possessself-knowledge themselves.

They also worried themselves unneces-sarily about the “genuineness” of these occultphenomena, inasmuch as nobody requiredtheir genuineness as a matter of scientificproof, and no one expected blind faith in them.The purpose was to point out the possibility ofthe existence of unknown forces and tostimulate original research This was accom-plished even if they were “ not genuine. “

Practically there are two kinds ofphenomena,

firstly, what occurred when whoeverasked for it received counsel or advice,including occult letters;

second, physical manifestations, such asbell-ringing in the air, raps, locomotion ofobjects by unseen forces, etc.

In regard to the first mentioned one wouldassume that an intelligent person would judgethe value or origin of a letter according to thecontents and not the manner of its delivery.

About the other phenomena there wasnothing to prove, and whoever knew the

profound reverence, even adoration, showntoward the Masters, would hardly think itpossible for their names to be misused for anypurpose. That would be equal to blasphemyand eternal damnation.

Without these occult phenomena Blav-atsky’s mission could hardly have beenaccomplished. It is difficult to introduce newideas without drawing attention to them byexternal means.

It took 80 years to acquaint Germanywith the Philosophy of Schopenhauer and theworks of the best mystics Jacob Boehme,Eckhart, Paracelsus, Eckhartshausen, JaneLead, etc., are only known to a few.

Had Blavatsky as an ordinary authorissued her philosophical writings, and perhapsfound a publisher, it would have taken a longtime for them to become known.

These occult phenomena startled theworld. They meant for Theosophy about thesame as the bells to gather the faithful toworship meant for religion. Nobody would beso stupid as to mistake the bells for religion orto make his faith in religion dependent toproving that the sound of the bells was causedby supernatural means.

Many of these phenomena originatedfrom Blavatsky’s own psychic and physicalpowers; others had their origin apparently in theexistence of unseen beings invisible to most.

The most wonderful phenomenon of thatkind was undoubtedly her sudden recoveryfrom a very severe silliness, after having beengiven up by the best medical authorities.

This happened in two instances;the first occurred at Adyar when I was

present myself. Blavatsky was dying. Mrs.Cooper-Oakley and I kept watch over her atnight by turns.

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After a consultation of professors anddoctors, their verdict was that she could not liveanother twelve hours. The next morning afterthis verdict of death she was perfectly well.

This happened at the end of March,1885. The first of April she departed with mefor Europe. She stated that on that particularnight the Master appeared before andcommunicated new life force to her.

This repeated itself in Ostend in thepresence of Constance Wachtmeister and others.

The Countess writes about it as followsin her “Reminiscences of H. P. Blavatsky,”who was being attended by a Belgianphysician at the time referred to in Ostend:

“H. P. B. was in a heavy lethargicstate, she seemed to be unconscious forhours together, and nothing could rouseor interest her. Finally, a brightinspiration came to me. In the LondonGroup I knew there was a Doctor AshtonEllis, so I telegraphed to him, describedthe state that H. P. B. was in, andentreated him to come without delay....The next day there was a consultationbetween the two doctors.

The Belgian doctor said that he hadnever known a case of a person with thekidneys attacked as H. P. B.’s were livingas long as she had done, and that he wasconvinced that nothing could save her. Mr.Ellis replied that it was exceedingly rare foranyone to survive so long in such a state.”Mr. Ellis massaged her until he was quite

exhausted. H. P. B. made her will, and theCountess recounts the sorrowful feelingscaused by the anticipated loss of her teacher.Tired out, she fell asleep. She continues:

“When I opened my eyes, the earlymorning light was stealing in, and a direapprehension came over me that I had

slept, and that perhaps H. P. B. had diedduring my sleep - died whilst I was untrueto my vigil.

I turned round towards the bed inhorror, and there I saw H. P. B. looking atme calmly with her clear grey eyes, as shesaid, ‘Countess, come here.’

I flew to her side, ‘What hashappened, H. P. B.— you look sodifferent to what you did last night?’

She replied, ‘Yes, Master has beenhere; He gave me my choices that I mightdie and be free if I would, or I might liveand finish The Secret Doctrine.

He told me how great would be mysufferings and what a terrible time I wouldhave before me in England (for I am to gothere); but when I thought of those studentsto whom I shall be permitted to teach a fewthings, and of The Theosophical Society ingeneral, to which I have already given myheart’s blood, I accepted the sacrifice, andnow to make it complete, fetch me somecoffee and something to eat, and give memy tobacco box.’ . . .

The doctor was beside himself. Hesaid, ‘Mais, c’est inoui; Madame, auraitdu mourir.’ [‘Why, it is unprecedented,Madam, you ought to have died.’]”Often she was served by unseen hands,

which occasionally became visible. But it isuseless to explain further, as these things areknown sufficiently from the records of occultscience.

The stories of the Seeress of Prevorst,the holy Crescentia of Kaufbeuren and ahundred others tell about such facts, whichhappen every day in our time and are wellknown to those interested.

(TO BE CONTINUED )From The Canadian Theosophist

Vol 1 No. 8 October 15, 1920

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Mr Richard SlusserThe High Country Theosophist140 S. 33rd StreetBoulder, CO 80303-3426USA 16 August 1997

Dear Mr Slusser,Please accept my apologies for such an

inordinate delay in acknowledging your letterof 14th June 1997 that was received togetherwith back issues of the High CountryTheosophist (HCT), February to June 1997. Wehave since received the July issue by air, underseparate cover.

To date, we have also received reactionsto our ‘reach-out’ letter of May 1997 fromRichard Weeks, Dara Eklund, Richard Robb,Eldon B Tucker, and Ernest E Pelletier.

Before I proceed further, let me first conveygreetings from President Hugh Agnew, SecretaryJoyce Agnew, and all members of the MerseysideLodge to your goodself and to your associates.

Your HCT is probably the best periodicalI have ever come across, it is pure Theosophythrough and through, without the scholarlyremoteness — nor the superficiality, orirrelevance, — evident in many of the officialtheosophical publications. Its informality,however, is deceptive, the HCT is a young,dynamic, and truly universal forum for “…theworking out of clear unequivocal conceptionsof ethic ideas and duties…1

Having read every single issue cover tocover I learnt a lot, and also gained valuableinsights, that I wouldn’t have had occasion toacquire otherwise. We are so impressed withHCT that we have devised a system ofcirculation amongst members of the MerseysideLodge, so that everyone will have anopportunity to study its contents regularly.Lastly, we are very touched with yourgenerosity to offer us a subscription gratis. We

are thankful and appreciative of your efforts MrSlusser.

Now, let me brief you on progress to date.The Voice of the SilenceMost correspondents were antipathetic to a

contemporary edition of the Voice. Neverthe-less, each and every time the Voice is translatedfrom English to another language, as manycontemporary editions are being launched!

We never intended to deprive mankindfrom the quaint pulchritude of the Voice,2 aprivilege available only to educated, ‘head-learned,’ English-speaking aspirants, but to run aversion in plain English side-by-side, for thebenefit of those who maybe less educated — butwhose heart may be still ‘illumined by soul-wisdom’ and, therefore, receptive.

Since I last wrote to you we have receivedthe manuscript of the Voice from the academicwe mentioned. In the words of Mr Ernest EPelletier, of the Edmonton TS, ‘he did notpossess insight into the wisdom tradition.’

His rendering, however, is an excellent firstdraft for review and refinement perhaps to beincorporated into a definitive edition of the Voice,long overdue. As a matter of fact, our ideasregarding such an edition of the Voice, along thestyle of the Brahmins, are identical with those ofMr Pelletier.

Let me sketch out an outline of a proposalfor a definitive edition of the Voice, that I amforwarding today to Richard Weeks, Dara Eklundand Ernest Pelletier:

Each stanza of HPB’s text kept in theoriginal English, but with corrections ofEnglish,3 Tibetan,4 and Sanskrit5 words built-in— as well as rectifying a number of obviousprinting errors; and any such alterationsmarked, and explained in specialised endnotes;

followed by a rendering of each stanza — ora group of sequential, but conceptually relatedstanzas — in today’s English,6 so that readers can

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grasp immediately its import without the tediumof constantly having to look up old-fashionedEnglish words in a dictionary, or trace the multi-lingual occult jargon in the glossaries;

adding the original annotations of HPB,updated from established scholarly sources, andenriched by supplementary notes from othereditions of the Voice,7 and her Collected Writings;

continuing with a comparative evaluationof the precepts of the Voice with similar onesfrom HPB’s writings and other spiritual books;8

and ending with a discussion of theunderlying concepts and practical implicationsof the Golden Precepts in every day life.

Such a Voice should be heard as widely aspossible, even if few may be inclined to takeheed of its ethics. It should, therefore, bepublished by a major ‘house’ rather that aspecialist off-stream publisher.

Connecting the Bhagavad Gita (BG) withthe Voice, and demonstrating that whilst theformer talks about It, a sales brochure so tospeak, the latter tells you precisely as to how toget there, offering a detailed map for the greattreasure hunt ahead — should demonstrate anintrinsic relationship between these epics, andshow that the Voice is a more advanced versionof the BG. so to speak.

After all, whilst the BG is overdone withwell over 300 different editions by now, never-mind the translations, the Voice of Theosophyhas been rarely heard outside (and even inside!)the theosophical organisations, now in acceler-ated decline. The idea of discovering a littleknown, not widely appreciated mystical poem,precepts that can offer renewed hope and newdirection to the many intuitive readers of theBG, is a romantic idea that few commissioningeditors will fail to take up.

Dara Eklund, in her letter of 27th May 1997has confided to us that she is not totally pleasedwith the 1991 Quest Miniature edition of the

Voice, as it did not include all the alterations thatBoris de Zirkoff had studiously worked out: manyfactual corrections of B de Z were ignored in theGlossary parts, and his scholarly index has neverseen the light of the day. Even his introduction hasbeen tampered by JA.

If we all get together, to establish anEditorial Board, we can get the ball rolling fast,and should be in a position to launch a trulyexquisite production of the Voice in time for thenew millennium.

Mr Eldon B Tucker recommended to us toget in touch with a John Drais (drais@mail.telis.org),as he has apparently “researched the Voice on theinternet.” Do you know of him? We are certainlymost impressed with a letter by David Reigle thatwe came across in the HCT (see footnote). Do youknow who is he, and how can we get in touch withhim?

We would be very interested to learn ofyour unreserved opinions and views regardingsuch a project.

Theosophy inner wisdom (TIW), Modi-fications of consciousness (MOC)

Richard Weeks [am455@lafn.org] andDara Eklund [ah430@lafn.org] have made anumber of useful suggestions on the earlierversions and, as a result, we just finalisedupdated versions.

On Monday, I shall be mailing a diskcontaining the above updates in MS Word 7 andWordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, plus hard copies of thesame. Whether you wish to mention our projectsin the HCT, or to publish as much or as littleextracts from our study guides, we would leavesuch editorial decisions entirely to yourdiscretion and initiative.

We do not know whether collations, orstudy guides, is a descriptive noun for suchexercises. Perhaps anthology may best describethem and, paraphrasing Montaigne,9 they may

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be viewed as “nosegays of culled flowers withnothing of own, but the captions that ties them”— a transient glimpse of the panorama ofTheosophy, seen with our eyes.

A diligent tracing of the abstracts back totheir source, so that they can be studied in theirappropriate context, will allow readers toperceive deeper and, therefore, gain far moreinformative perspectives of the true splendourof mankind’s most sacred teachings.

We also hope that, as more and morepeople are being ‘computerised,’ they mightwant to install such anthologies10 in their PCs:accessing them at the ‘click of a mouse,’ andstudying them, they can keep the ‘flowers’ aliveand fresh, by adding, abstracting, and re-arranging text and captions — to reflect theircontinuing development and expanding con-sciousness.

I am currently working on a meta-analysisof the three fundamental propositions, where thesignificance of the three esoteric aspects of theONE LAW; i.e. action (karma), cycles (yuga),and compassion (yagna), will be relatedmeaningfully amongst themselves, and also tothe 1st proposition of the SD. I shall be sendingyou a draft, in due course, and would be mostinterested to learn of your reaction.

Geoffrey Farthing has been in touch withus with the view of publishing the TIW onbehalf of the Blavatsky Trust, perhapselectronically on a web site he is in the processof establishing: he will be receiving, shortly,the latest version.

Early versions of the MOC have beenhanded privately by Geoffrey, and by myself atdifferent times, to a few members of theMedical & Scientific Network.

Have you received a copy of Geoffrey’ssupplement to his 1997 manifesto?

Tonight, Saturday, I will attempt to mailthis letter electronically.

With our best wishes.Yours sincerely and fraternally,Chris A Bartzokas (Dr,)

PS Some correspondents from the USAcould not reach me electronically. When Ienquired from CompuServe as to the cause, wasadvised that the most probable cause is errorwhen entering the address (please note theunderscore _ between my initials and surname,i.e. CA_Bartzokas@CompuServe.com); I wasalso advised that, sometimes, by omitting tospecify the country of destination, mail cantravel better through the internet. I have nowdropped UK from my address.

NOTES:1 Blavatsky Collected Writings, VII 175.2 actually it was more Blavatsky’s sui

generis English and style, rather than that of hercontemporaries.

3 eg, Chinese rather than Chinaman.4 eg, according to research by David

Reigle, vs 305 “OM! I believe that the Nirvâna-Dharma is entered not by all the Buddhas.”should read instead “Om! I entreat [I beg] allthe Buddhas not to enter Nirvana.” [Reigle D.Letter. The High Country Theosophist 12 (5),13-14.

5 In vs 159 and elsewhere, srotâpatti,meaning entrance into a river (leading toNirvâna), should read instead as srotâpanna,one who has entered the above river.

6 The draft to hand I mentioned abovecould form the basis for such a ‘translation.’

7 eg, the Chinese/Buddhist edition (1927),the Golden Jubilee edition (1939), and the Borisde Zirkoff edition (1991), incorporating on thisoccasion the (unpublished) index of the latter.

8 ie, The Bhagavad Gita.9 Secret Doctrine, xlvi.10 Perhaps in their personal organisers/

personal development support files.

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HCT Editor comments:We shall try to live up to the role that our

readers, “... free volunteer workers on the

fields of Truth” [B.C.W. VII 175], have

assigned to the HCT.

In the last year we have emplaced a number

of upgrades: HP 4C Flatbed Scanner,

Windows 95 replaced version 3.1; Adobe

PageMaker replaced WP6.2 in publishing

the HCT, OmniPage Pro upgrade to

Windows 95, WordPerfect 6.2 upgraded to

WP7.0.

And now, finally, removing the final obstacle

to printing Sanskrit diacriticals and to

publishing the HCT on Internet -- we have

upgraded to the HP 6MP printer with

postscript software. Even at 300 dots per

inch, the discerning reader will notice

sharper printed characters.

Having just received Theosophy, Inner

Wisdom and Modifications of Consciousness

from Dr. Bartzokas, we wish we had the

space available to publish both verbatim.

Lacking the space, we must be content with

a few selected excerpts. Full text of both on

a 3-1/2 inch floppy is available to readers,

on request.

dslusser, ed.

TheosophyInner Wisdom

Theosophy believes in no miracle,whether divine or devilish --

[Theosophy] recognises nothing assupernatural; believes only in facts andscience; studies the laws of nature, bothoccult and patent; and gives attentionparticularly to the former, just because exactscience will have nothing to do with them.

and in no anthropomorphic conception -god.

Though Theosophy means divinewisdom, it implies nothing resembling beliefin a personal god. It is not “the wisdom ofgod,” but divine wisdom. The theosophists ofthe Alexandrian NeoPlatonic School be-lieved in “gods” and “demons” and in oneimpersonal absolute deity.’3

[Theosophy] refuses to accept any ofthe gods of the so-called monotheisticreligions, gods created by man in his ownimage and likeness, a blasphemous and sorrycaricature of the ever unknowable.4

Theosophy fights everyanthropomorphicb conception of the greatunknowable, and would impress upon thegrowing world, that its days of babyhood andeven adolescence are over and gone by toreturn no more. Theosophy would teach itsadherents that animal man, the finite, havingbeen studied for ages and found wanting ineverything but animalisms—he being themoral as well as physical synthesis of all theforms and beings through which he has

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evoluted, hence beyond correction andsomething that must be left to time and thework of evolution—it is more profitable toturn our attention to the spiritual or innerman, the infinite and the immortal. In itshigher aspect, Theosophy pities and wouldhelp every living sentient creature, not manalone.15

For Theosophy is belief in the deity asthe all, the source of all existence, the infinitethat cannot be either comprehended orknown, the universe alone revealing It, or, assome prefer it, Him, thus giving a sex to that,to anthropomophize which is blasphemy

~ Belief in a single god, Gr.b Conception, or representation, of a

god as having the form, personality, orattributes of man, Gr.

c Exercise, or enjoyment of animal life,as distinct from intellectual: the state of beingactuated by mere animal appetites: brutish-ness, sensuality: the theory that man is a mereanimal being, L.

Modificationsof Consciousness

and Cosmic ultimates

Consciousness perConsciousness perConsciousness perConsciousness perConsciousness pervades the entirvades the entirvades the entirvades the entirvades the entire universee universee universee universee universe

Everything is endowed with a con-sciousness of its own kind, and on its ownplane of perception. We men must rememberthat because we do not perceive any signs—which we can recognize—of consciousness,say, in stones, we have no right to say that noconsciousness exists there... The noumenalessences have more reality than their

objective counterparts.~5a kind we do not always understand,Nature, taken in its abstract sense,

cannot be Unconscious,’ as it is theemanation from, and thus an aspect [on themanifested plane] of, the absolute conscious-ness. Where is that daring man who wouldpresume to deny to vegetation and even tominerals a consciousness of their own. All hecan say is that this consciousness is beyondhis comprehension. 16

Since no single atom in the entirekosmos is without life and consciousness,how much more then its mighty globes?

—though they remain sealed books tous men who can hardly enter even into theconsciousness of the forms of life near us? 17

What is consciousness?Our consciousness is a modification of the

One Consciousness;

There is but One indivisible andabsolute omniscience and intelligence in theuniverse— and this thrills throughout everyatom and infinitesimal point of the wholefinite kosmos— which hath no bounds, andwhich people call space, considered indepen-dently of anything contained in it ---

the One and only capacity of perception --

Whether we count the principles inkosmos and man as seven or only as four, theforces of, and in, physical nature are seven;and it is stated by the same authority that“prajna, or the capacity of perception, existsin seven different aspects corresponding the

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From Internet

BUILDING UPON WHAT HPBWROTE

by Jerry Hejka-Ekins

[Based upon a January 24, 1997posting to theos-l@vnet.net. The followingarticle was revised by the author, but wasstill felt to lack the detailed backgroundinformation needed by an uninformedreader. Such background information, hesays, would require a whole book. Anhistorically informed reader, however willbe able to follow what was written.]

I’ve heard it said that TPH ispublishing a lot of fine books by creativeauthors, but the authors aren’t Theosophists,don’t write about Theosophy, nor do theyreally know much about the subject. Thismay be so, yet the books may havetheosophy (note the small “t”) of some sortwithin them. For instance one can argue thata book like MARY’S VINEYARD is“theosophical” in some sense of the word.

After all, many Theosophers of the pastwere mystics and/or Christians. Surely,most any book can be argued to betheosophical in some sense -- whether it is abook of Christian mysticism or the lateststudy in chaos theory, it will in one way oranother touch upon some Theosophicalissue.

But I think that a Theosophicalpublisher with limited resources cannot beall things to all people. Rather, theTheosophical Society was originally built

seven conditions of matter.” For, “just as ahuman being is composed of sevenprinciples, differentiated matter in the solarsystem exists in seven different conditions.”20

reflecting consciously upon Itself,

The chief [metaphysical cause ofexistence], the desire to exist, is an outcomeof nidana and maya. This desire for sentientlife shows itself in everything, from atom to asun, and is a reflection of the divine thoughtpropelled into objective existence, into a lawthat the universe should exist.

its three aspects being made a whole byconsciousness itself.

Esoteric philosophy teaches that every-thing lives and is conscious, but not that alllife and consciousness are similar to those ofhuman or even animal beings. Life we lookupon as ‘the One form of existence,’manifesting in what is called matter; or, as inman, what, incorrectly separating them, wename spirit, soul and matter. Matter is thevehicle for the manifestation of the soul inthis plane of existence, and soul is the vehicleon a higher plane for the manifestation ofspirit, and these three are a trinity synthesizedby life, which pervades them all. The idea ofuniversal life is one of those ancientconceptions which are returning to thehuman mind in this century as a consequenceof its liberation from anthropomorphictheology.

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upon the teachings of HPB’s teachers andcommunicated primarily through HPB’swritings.

Therefore, I believe that the priority ofthe Theosophical publishers should be tomake the core Theosophical text available,and to publish those classical theosophicaltexts upon which the Theosophical teach-ings stand. I am thinking here of the classicalreligious and philosophical texts of theworlds great cultures.

I’m not suggesting that HPB should becanonized as holy writ. Rather, HPB herselfmade it clear that she did not present herwritings as infallible nor did she want themto be regarded as such. Rather, she hopedthat later generations of Theosophists wouldstudy her works and follow up on its leads inorder to expand upon what she began. Herwritings are so rich with hints and suggestivestatements begging to be researched in lightof present knowledge.

I think this kind of work, if it had beenpursued by students of Theosophy couldhave led to the publication of thousands ofvolumes of fresh and interesting material,that would have led to innovations ofpractical application for all of humanity. Butalas, the Adyar TS abandoned this kind offollow up after 1908.

In a promising beginning of scholar-ship, TPH made an initial commitment tothe translation and publication of goodtranslations of the world scriptures. Thiswas a first step in the fulfillment of HPB’sprogram of making available sourcetheosophical texts. Scholars at Adyarbrought to the world translations of Indiantexts never before seen by the Western

world.These theosophical texts and others

like them are necessary in order to evaluateHPB’s Theosophical texts. But by 1908 theAdyar TS became preoccupied withKrishnamurti as the returned Christ, and theTS began to abandon the translation oftheosophical writings as well as tode-emphasize the core modern Theosophi-cal writings that were designed to lead torealization.

In their place, the new generation ofleaders produced a new breed of discoursebased upon revelation. References to theMAHABHARATA were replaced withrevelations from the Mahachohan.

In contrast, students in the Point LomaTS during this same period producedstudies that were spun off of hints in HPB’swritings and based in current science. Theyproduced some very interesting researchpapers on anthropology, physics, geology,meso-American and Biblical history. Butmuch more could have been done if thePoint Loma TS remained stable, and thatresearch continued after 1951. But thePoint Loma TS became withdrawn forabout thirty years and the research of itsearlier quality came to an end.

U.L.T. has a long history of keeping theoriginal Theosophical texts in print, andTheosophy magazine used to be full of fineexamples of Theosophical scholarship incurrent fields. Even today, the editors ofTheosophy magazine continue a section onTheosophy and current issues.

They have done what they can, butU.L.T. does not have the human resources ofthe other organizations, and like the

13

Pasadena TS, ULT by virtue of its use of theword Theosophy, was doomed to sufferfrom the public rejection to Theosophygenerated by events in the Adyar TS.

The Anthroposophical Society alsotook HPB’s cue and developed theories andapplications in education and agriculture.Most of their agricultural applications wereappropriated by Rodale and are widelypracticed under the label “organic garden-ing,” but much of this came from theAnthroposophical “Biodynamic Garden-ing.”

I think there is still much for theTheosophical Organizations to do, if onlythey would be able to put their efforts in thisdirection once again. But innovativeresearch and writing that considers Easternparadigms is now being done in academicand scientific circles which would neverassociate itself with Theosophy because ofits reputation for cultism and revelationist.

How often I find academic orindependently written works which drawfrom HPB’s ideas without any acknowledg-ment whatsoever. I’m not suggestingplagiarism, but rather, that so many ofHPB’s ideas are more timely than ever andare permeating the thought atmosphere --these ideas are “in the air.” ~

HPB made a prediction in the S.D. thatby the end of this century her secret doctrineteachings would be vindicated by science. Ithink that to a small extent her prediction iscoming to fruition.

HPB’s hints are already being pursuedin physics, anthropology, astronomy, Bibli-cal studies etc. Likely, most of theseresearchers know nothing about HPB or her

writings, but it is interesting that they arepursuing the very questions that HPB raisedand they are moving in directions that shepointed. It is therefore ironic that so manyacademic circles which condemn HPB andTheosophy are more in touch with her ideasthan most Theosophists.

What would have happened if theoriginal program was followed -if the TS didnot become an organization based upon arevelation that eventually met publicdiscreditation? What would have happenedif generations of Theosophical scholars hadcontinued to work ceaselessly for the lasthundred years researching HPB’s leads andpublishing the results?

For instance, HPB’s then absurdstatement concerning the divisibility of theatom when pursued by Rutherford andMilliken yielded the atomic age. How greatit would have been for the TheosophicalMovement if these scientists were among“the greatest minds” that the Mahatmaswanted to attract.

More currently, HPB’s hints anddating of the age of physical humanity is farcloser to current science than in her time.But the no Theosophical Organization cantake credit for the Louis, Mary and RichardLeakey’s very Theosophical outlook either.

Yet there is still far more to be done byfuture researchers. In the early days, HPBtried to accommodate the researchers of hertime by offering a special classification ofmembership to them. This is no longer done,and the TS no longer attracts the great mindsthat it once did.

Though the Quest book line occa-sionally publishes some interesting books

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(interesting to me), they are drawing fromindependent authors most of whom areinvolved in traditions very different fromthe one established by Blavatsky or theother established by Besant andLeadbeater.

I believe that if the TS had followed upon the original writings, rather thanpublishing books like Mary’s Vineyard, theymight have been the ones to publish moreinfluential works like THE TAO OFPHYSICS and THE DANCING WU LIMASTERS.

The quest book line would be full ofcutting edge theoretical and practicaldiscourses on subjects like naturopathy,astrophysics, biblical archeology, chaostheory, and yes, spiritual development,written by students of Theosophy.

Though I have nothing againstpublishing appropriate works from othertraditions, it is sad that we have to seekwriters from outside of the Theosophicaltradition because of the lack of writerswithin it.

What is to be done to bring the TS andits publishing policies back to the originalprogram?

I suggest three steps:

First, I believe that the Adyar TSneeds to recognize and acknowledge thatwith the advent of Krishnamurti, they hadchanged direction and cut their lines to theoriginal impulse begun by HPB, Judge andOlcott.

When Krishnamurti bailed out in 1930,the Adyar TS was left with a tradition ofrevelation without a revealer.

After Besant’s death in 1933, GeorgeArundale took the Presidency, ignoredKrishnamurti, and tried to make Theosophyall things to all people. But he failed torealize that if Theosophy is everything, it isnothing. Though the TS membership wasnear an all time high when Arundale took thePresidency in 1934, it was at an all time lowwhen he left the Presidency in 1945.

Second, I think the Adyar TS needs tocarefully re-evaluate the traditions thatwere adopted during and after theKrishnamurti era and still held to this day.The ‘’Theosophy is everything” philoso-phy is still held by many members, whilethe inner group holds to more rigiddefinitions developed during the Besantperiod.

This inherent contradiction weakens theTS because it creates an unintentionalhypocrisy. An organization can have strengthwhen devoted to an ideal, or it can be strongwhen it is all embracing, but it cannot be bothand remain strong. I believe that if nothingelse, the history of the TS has demonstratedthis.

This same contradiction is the sourceof a major weakness of the Quest magazine:it tries to appeal to the new age crowd (bybeing all things to all people), whileattempting to promote a very specificphilosophy. It cannot do both.

Either Theosophy is all things to allpeople (in which case it becomes nothing),or it is a particular definable thing thatpeople can accept or reject. If it is the latter,then it must be defined for the sake ofhonesty and for the benefit of the public and

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July 15, 1997

Greetings Pilgrims,

I hope this finds you both well in health,spirits, centered in the inner light and that yourmeditations\sadhanas are very good for youboth.

Okay, Theosophy asserts: (S.D. Vol Iproem page 15)

Parabrahm, (the One AbsoluteReality, the Absolute) is the field of AbsoluteConsciousness i.e., that Essence which is out ofall relation to conditioned existence and ofwhich conscious existence is a conditionedsymbol. But once we pass in thought from this(to us) absolute Negation, duality supervenes inthe contrast of Spirit (or consciousness) andMatter - subject and object.

Spirit (or consciousness) and matter are,however, to be regarded, not as independentrealities, but as the two aspects of the Absolute(Parabrahaman), which constitute the basis ofconditioned Being, whether subjective orobjective.

Considering this metaphysical triad asthe Root from which proceeds all manifesta-tion “the great breath assumes the character ofprecosmic Ideation. It is the fons et origo offorce and of all individual consciousness, andsupplies the guiding intelligence in the vastscheme of cosmic Evolution. On the otherhand, precosmic root substance (Mulaprakriti)is that aspect of the Absolute which underliesall the objective planes of Nature.”

the membership.

Third, the TS needs to re-evaluate theoriginal program from which it abandonedin 1908. If the program established by thefounders is still suitable for the times, weought to consider returning to it. I personallybelieve that the original program is stillsuitable for today’s world.

But does the TS have the will, theresolve, and the strength to reclaim its placeas a source for relevant theoretical andpractical discourse in current thought?

If so, the TS will have to take the abovethree steps before they can attract and findexpression through students, researchers,writers and workers united by the ideals ofthe original program.

Many people dedicated to the originalprogram have come to the TS in the past fiftyyears. But because of the kind of changesthat have taken place in the TS over the lasteighty, they find themselves marching to adifferent drummer. The potential supportersof Theosophy were seeking realization, notrevelation.

Because they do not march to the tuneplayed by the TS leadership, they have beenagain and again marginalized or driven outof the TS altogether.

In other words, for those who wish tobuild upon HPB’s original program throughrealization, (i.e. though critical discourseand discrimination), they are not welcome inher organization. A pity.

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So very simply put, the essence ofeverything is Consciousness or Parabrahman.You are Parabrahman, right here, rightnow. You have never been anything otherthan that, in all the bodies, all the forms,throughout all the rounds of manifestation,through all eternities. Both active andpassive, you have never been anything butthe One Eternal Self, the indweller of all thatis Parabrahman\Consciousness. This is thesupreme teaching of the supreme Truth.There is nothing higher nor nothing purer.

In the passive state, consciousness simplyexists and in the active state, consciousnessmoves as it becomes. The process of moving isshakti. It is called by many names, fohat,spanda etc., but it is simply the one force, shaktiin diversification. It is the one great waterfallcascading down from a great height, diversifinginto many waterfalls, streams, rivers, pondsand etc.. Yet, it is still the one source waterfall.Just as the waterfall, so this shakti isconsciousness in motion, an illuminating forceof intelligence, becoming “stuff.”

Consciousness through its power ofbecoming the shakti contracts into energythen form, and this form begins anexpansion process back to its source ofconsciousness through the many rounds,globes, cycles and etc. The appearance ofexternal form is simply the vibration ofconsciousness into crystallized form. Thismanifestation of ideation is nothing butConsciousness in form, as a shining, livingidea, although it appears different orseparate from Consciousness itself, There isnothing that is not THAT. Everywhere youlook, all you witness, all your experiences, is

Consciousness as ideas in manifested form.Everything is you, and you are everything.There is only the One Self, the OneConsciousness which becomes the manyand yet, it remains always only the One. It isthe expressed ideas in form, which haveforgotten their true nature as the One Self.These ideas think they are real ideas andnothing more.

This is the cause of the rise of the “AnavaMala,” [see Chapter 10, page 74 ShambhavaUpaya, Secret of the Siddhas M.L] which is thesense of imperfection and limitation. ThisAnava Mala causes the living conscious idea tofeel limited and imperfect and gives rise tokarma and desires. It has three forms: tamas,rajas and sattivas. These forms cause the ideato move and search for Perfection orCompleteness.

The Anava Mala is the cause of thesecond mala which is Mayiya Mala or the senseof differentiation and separateness. It is theheart and cloak of Maya. The Anava Malacauses the idea to feel imperfect and to desirePerfection, thus beginning its motion andsearch among the differentiated objects andother manifested ideas desiring completion.

This motion, due to its desires gives rise tothe third Mala which is Karma Mala. This livingidea is based on its desire movement to embraceor reject this or that, over and over, creatingsamskaric karmic imprints within itself.

It lives its existence and dies, enters KamaLoka\Plane of Desires and experiences its grosserdesires there. After it dies, it will either enterDevachan\heaven and experience its higherdesire imprints or immediately remanifest on the

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earth plane. When in Devachan, it exhausts thehigher desire samskaras then it remanifestsaccording to its karmic imprints over and overthroughout cycles, globes and etc..

This is the process and yet, all along, theidea was nothing but Parabrahman, the PureConsciousness. There is never anything that isnot THAT. No matter how high, low, good orevil, it is all Parabrahman wearing all the karmiccloaks of Self, woven by the living idea due tothe contraction into idea forms, the malas, andthe desire based motion. All the roles in thisCosmic Play, all the karmic costumes in theCosmic Drama are played and worn byParabrahman - the one eternal, shining, perfect,stainless consciousness.

There are no exceptions, they are the lightand the dark sides, the gods and devils, themahatmas and the dugpas, the highest saintsand lowest rogues. It is all THAT.

The human level is the first level where“Self Recognition” is possible. Human = Hu(god) and man (manas) therefore god’s mind.

The Jiva or individual soul, experiencesits karma within the field of UniversalConsciousness, through the vehicles of themind, which flickers and dances from imprint toimprint within the subtle body from the Jiva,giving rise to sensations and emotions inaccordance with the nature of the imprint thathas become stimulated. It manifests forth as aconstructed reality.

This imprint\samskara is like a seed thatflowers into the experience of a reality. Hence,as you think so you experience. The shaktishines forth as the reality of this particularseed in accordance with its nature, but it is justthe force and movement of consciousness

itself, which is the Shakti.

This Jiva becomes incapacitated orparalyzed by its own stains or seeds andsamskaric karmic imprints and it will remain so,until it consciously begins the journey back tothe Truth, its True Self.

The Jiva is bound by its own samskaricimprints because it thinks it is the imprints, butis nothing more. It remains this imprint until iteither turns within or begins the process of SelfRecognition as it continues going in and out ofcountless bodies through the many cycles,globes, rounds and etc.. When the cycles,globes and etc., are exhausted then the Jiva willnaturally evolve back to its original state ofParabrahman.

This Jiva is nothing but Parabrahman, inall its different forms and states. Even in itsforgetfulness when thinking it as the manifestedidea of human, grasshopper and etc., it issimply a vehicle of Consciousness in a Cosmicdrama and play.

So, strive for Self Recognition and not justintellectual understanding: KNOW YOU ARETHAT.

Know that through the immersion of thelower self into union with the Higher Self thatParamashiva is the pristine dancing Flame ofConsciousness, the first emanated ray ofParabrahman in the active state of Brahman.

With each degree of inner growth anddevelopment, you are effecting your outsidekarmic activities exponentially, meaningwhatever you are doing, you will do that much

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better due to your clearer vision andunderstanding.

SO DO YOUR SADHANA ANDNEVER STOP!

SATCHITANANDAJohn Greschner

Muktananda, Swami. “ ShambhavaUpaya Secret of the Siddhas. Syda Founda-tion. page 74

247. When a person is seekingknowledge or the origin of life and begins tounderstand its reality, he occasionally losesinterest in mundane matters. Sometimes hethinks that worldly knowledge may be animpediment to the realization of Truth. Thiskind of thinking occurs because of his partial orlimited knowledge of the Truth.

If one does not have complete knowledgeof the Truth and performs actions without properunderstanding, attachment and aversion arise.This happens because of ignorance of one’s ownSelf and of the true nature of the world, as well asthe because of the wild, destructive dance ofone’s inner fantasies. The Shiva Sutras describethis condition in the aphorism jnanam bandhah“(limited) knowledge is bondage.”

248. Parmashiva or Paramivit, whocontains various powers and whose nature isConsciousness, is the Supreme Principle. It isdescribed in the first of the Shiva Sutras:chaitanyam atna - “The Self is Conscious-ness.” In truth, there is nothing other than thatconscious light, which is the Ultimate Reality.This world is the play of that Principle, the

Universal Consciousness.

249. Parmashiva Himself, by con-tracting according to His own will, has broughtabout the effects of the three impurities - anavamala, mayiya mala, and karma mala. This isHis game, drama, entertainment, journey,picnic, and sport. It is neither real nor unreal.

Purucker. Occult Glossary. Theosophi-cal University Press. page 121,

Jiva (Sanskrit) This is a word meaningessentially a living being per se, apart fromany attributes or qualities that such livingbeing may have or possess. It therefore isthe exactly proper equivalent of thetheosophical term monad. ...

Parabrahman (Sanskrit) Para is aSanskrit word meaning beyond. Brahman(neuter) is sometimes used as the UniversalSelf or Spirit; also called Paramatman(q.v.). Beyond Brahman is the Para-Brahman. ... Parabrahman is intimatelyconnected with Mulaprakriti (q.v.). Theirinteraction and intermingling cause the firstnebulous thrilling, if the words will pass, ofthe Universal Life when spiritual desire firstarose in it in the beginning of things. ...

Muktananda, Swami. “Glossary .Secretof the Siddhas. Syda Foundation. pages 210,212, 213, 217

Anava mala: One of the impurities oflimitations that brings about bondage of theuniversal Self and reduces it to a limited,individual being the individuals’s innateignorance of his true nature.

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Karma mala: One of the threeimpurities; limitation to a finite power of theuniversal power of action; impurity caused bythe impression left in the mind by one’s karma,or motivated action.

Mala: Impurity; taint; a limitation thathampers the freedom of Consciousness.

Mayiya Mala: The limitation caused bymaya that gives the rise to the individualsoul, along with its gross and subtle bodies,and brings about a sense of differentiation.

Shakti: (Chiti, Kundalini, Shakti):The divine cosmic power which projects,maintains, and dissolves the universe.

Man!by Rich Archer

Like a ripple in a pondMan is always searching outward.

To the horizons,the stars and beyond,

Leaving the spiritual homefor the physical one

Never realizingthat the journey lies within

rather than without.For there lie worlds, stars andmore than the physical mind

can explain.

He always reachesoutward for his answers

To problems

that for centuriesothers have found within.

How can he KNOWuntil he knows his own SELF?

That divine sparkthat drives him on both levels

spiritual and material.

What is this fearthat keeps so many

from their own inner journey?

Is it a stone on their pathBlocking their way

until they�re karmically ready?

Or only the mindfearful

Of losing its material hold.

Some feel this inner needTo reach down

extending a handto the brother

who is one step below.

To this brotherwho gazes up with fear in his eyes.

A smile of understandingcrosses his face.

A sparkle of truth A shadow of hope!

For just above the two of them,there is yet another

reaching down.

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Dallas TenBroeck writes on Internet:

Glad to hear from you “RAMADOSS” --while age, in this incarnation, may have given ussome flexibility, like all true students, we are whatany student can make of ourselves by ourparticular focus, interest and subsequent disci-pline. All such refinement is a personal endeavor.

Are you familiar with the TRANSACTIONS

OF THE BLAVATSKY LODGE ? After HPBpublished The Secret Doctrine in 1888, anumber of students around her, includingprofessors like Crooks, etc., desired moredetails, and accordingly they met week afterweek (and they had a court stenographer torecord the actual proceedings).

HPB then used those reports to furtherelaborate the explanations in the written word,and as a result in the issues of Lucifer of1890-91 a series under this title was published.

It is now put up in book form by severalpublishers, including the THEOSOPHYCOMPANY, Los Angeles (the version I use).There, between pp 66 and 76, HPB givesinteresting details about the nature of our innerconsciousness.

I also encountered in Mr. Judge’s NotesOn The Bhagavad Gita, pp. 99-101, thefollowing:

“Our consciousness is one and notmany, nor different from otherconsciousnesses. It is not waking con-sciousness or sleeping consciousness, orany other but consciousness itself...

...the one consciousness pierces upand down through all the states or planesof Being, and serves to uphold thememory -- whether complete or incom-plete -- of each state’s experiences...

...the one consciousness of eachperson is the Witness or Spectator of theactions and experiences of every state we

are in or pass through. It therefore followsthat the waking consciousness of the mindis not separate consciousness...

...the way to the ultimate goal mustbe entered. To take the first step raises thepossibility of success...

...the first step is giving up badassociations, and securing a love ofwisdom...

the second is joining good com-pany, listening, practicing...

the third is strengthening the firsttwo, developing confidence and faith andcontinuing in it.

Whosoever dies thus, lays thefoundation for ascent to adeptship, or truewisdom.”I think that our, or any era in time, has

little to do with the desire to know. Wherethere is a will, there is a way. But I have foundno easy path to esoteric or occult, or even toself-knowledge.

I would add that most of what can belearned (in my estimation) about the doctrinesand metaphysics of THEOSOPHY lie inHPB’s writings, her books and articles.

As I have studied them over the years it ismore and more, impressed on my conscious-ness that we are dealing with a coherentwhole, and that we are in fact dealing with asynopsis, of the great record kept by theancient Lodge.

I have found this referred to in SD I272-3, and elsewhere, as for instance in ISIS II95-105. Both references make for veryinteresting reading and reflection.

I find it somewhat comforting to see thatI/we are not swimming alone in a shorelessssea at midnight, and are running out of energyand hope. It is comforting to me to find that Iam able to access the work of earlier seekersfor wisdom and students of the perennial

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philosophy. I am glad to try to review theirwork, and see if their findings are still valid.

The little experience that I have in thisbody has added to some aspects of thatresearch, and being quite sure of Egoicimmortality, I am content with the idea thatwhen this body ceases, in the future the actualwork done will be resumed. It would be quitepointless to work so hard and get so little for it.

If reincarnation is a fact, then, as EGOS,we have all been “back” in many previous agesand times, (and look forward to continuedusefullness and a continuity of our search),and have adapted to ancient and differentlanguages, cultures and situations.

By this I mean that those are the outwardclothing only of the TRUE AND IMMOR-TAL EGO within each of us. That does notchange, but serves as the RECORDER of allour experiences in so many personalities past,also, of many more to come.

That this HIGHER EGO (some use thedesignation: HIGHER SELF -- ATMA-BUDDHI)is innate, is easily checked by quietly seeking forIT and appealing to IT.

There can be no reservations for -- as anexample, if you are familiar with EdwardBellamy’s essay TO WHOM THIS MAY COME,the reflections made there by one who is NOT amind-reader, when placed in an environment ofcompassionate mind-readers (but voiceless people)are most appropriate [The current issue ofTHEOSOPHY magazine is in the process ofreprinting this marvelous essay of Bellamy.]

But enough -- we need not make a partyof two or more, only that we can share what wehave learned with others who might profitfrom that.

Allow me one more comment: “Theo-sophical Organizations” as HPB put it

succinctly, are:“forms or bodies where individual

students can come together to enlargetheir views of what Theosophical prin-ciples are, and how they may be applied.No T.Organization, according to her hadany right to try to mold the thinking, ordirect the study of any of its “members.”Therefore the “Leaders” of such T.

Organizations had only one duty: to serve ascolorless sustainers and maintainers of a freeforum-at which all could be invited to comeand share in a common feast: the search forknowledge and wisdom.

The submission to a “leader” has impliedthe danger of NOT employing one’s ownfree-will, and developing one’s independentdiscrimination.

If we are IMMORTALS, then, resident ineach one of us is an IMMORTAL who retains amemory of all experience [see HPB KEY TOTHEOSOPHY p. 107] that is the essence of eachpersonality. Of course we owe reverence andgratitude to all who have served us by openingour eyes to perennial truth, but not to the extent ofallowing ourselves to be led or channeled inareas where we have to exert our ownindependent will and decision making faculty.

[ If you are interested in HPB’s viewsconcerning the difference between Theoso-phy, and the “Theosophical Societies” thenread again her articles: WHAT IS THEOSO-PHY ? Theosophist, Vol 1 # 1 WHAT ARETHE THEOSOPHISTS? -- idem. -WHY I DONOT RETURN TO INDIA, Theosophist July1929 A PUZZLE FROM ADYAR, LuciferVol. 4, p. 506 These have been reprinted inpamphlets and are available from THEOSPHYCOMPANY, Los Angeles.]

Best wishes to you and all,Dallas

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INITIATES OF THEOSOPHICALMASTERS,

K. Paul Johnson,State University of New York Press,

1995, xv, 255 pages.

Paul Johnson describes this book as asequel to his THE MASTERS REVEALED,in which he attempted to answer thefascinating question of just who were theMasters described by Blavatsky and just whatwas her relation to them.

In his earlier book Johnson comes to amiddle position between those who believethat the Masters were fabrications and thosewho saw them as Unknown Superiors.

Johnson’s thesis is that the Masters werecomposites based upon historical personagesthat Blavatsky had met during her extensivetravels.

Reactions to this book were mixed;Academics tended to accept his general thesiswhile Theosophists tended to reject hisconclusions.

I felt that the general research for theearlier book was more than impressive andthat Johnson had opened up a number of areaswhere further research was indicated. How-ever I did feel that he had not proved his case.

The volume under review attempts tofocus on the disciples around Blavatsky andon how they were influenced by their ownbeliefs in the existence of the Masters.

Johnson quickly points out one of theproblems facing the Theosophical Movement;that of the contradiction between faith in theMasters and their message of Theosophy andthe claimed lack of any authority in theTheosophical Society.

The tension between these two positionscan be valuable as it can lead to a lack ofdogmatism on the one hand and to a broad basefor study. On the other hand this tension canresult in disharmony- a factor that has all toooften led to dissension.

Part one of the volume under reviewdeals with the Indian chelas of the masters;Mohini, Babajee, Damodar, Subba Row andthe eccentric Godolphin Mitford who wentmad. This section is full of fascinating, andlargely forgotten, information of_ the troubledtimes of the early Theosophical Society.

Part two is titled, “The Secret World ofJamal ad- Din,” who, according to Johnson,was often in the same locale as Blavatsky. Inhis earlier work Johnson devotes five pages toJamad al-Din. In this volume he is allocatedover 40 pages, allowing Johnson to moreadequately place him within the context ofSufism and the Islamic revival.

The third section is one of the mostinteresting in this volume and deals withBlavatsky’s dharma heirs- Dharmapala,Ukhtomskii, Dorzhiev and Gurdjieff.

The Sri Lankan Buddhist AnagarikaDharmapala is well known as the disciple whoBlavatsky instructed to study Pali andTheravada Buddhism.

Shortly after her death he founded thefamous Maha Bodhi Society, which wasmainly instrumental in bringing the sacredIndian sites of Buddhism back into Buddhisthands.

Ukhtomskii is less well known to currentstudents. He was a Russian Buddhist who wasappointed Chief of the Department of ForeignCreeds and who accompanied the RussianCzarevitch on his Asian journey, whichincluded a visit to Adyar.

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Dorzhiev was a Mongol who establishedclose links with the Dalai Lama. Thisassociation led to the British believing thatTibet would become a satellite of the Russianempire., leading to the ill-fated Younghusbandexpedition of 1904. Gurdjieff is too wellknown to need an introduction in a shortreview.

The fourth section deals with the GreatWhite Sisterhood- those women who made thejourney to the East.

After writing of English women whowere converted to Islam, Johnson deals withAlexandra David-Neel and Alice Cleather(rhymes with leather).

David-Neel is also a well known figurewith at least two biographies in English and anumber in French. She made contact withTheosophy in Paris and was in London in the1880’s. Whether she met Blavatsky is notknown. Later, inspired by Buddhist andTheosophical beliefs, she journeyed to Lhasain disguise.

Alice Cleather deserves a full lengthbiography. A member of Blavatsky’s InnerGroup within the Esoteric Section shefollowed Judge and then became an indepen-dent Theosophist, spending the last decades ofher life in the East and becoming a student ofthe Panchen Lama.

Here I regret to note that Johnson doesnot mention her visit to Sydney, whichcaptured the daily press and was instrumentalin the parting of the ways between old SydneyLodge and the Theosophical Society. He alsofails to mention her links with the infamousTrebitsch Lincoln in Beijing. The last of thesisterhood is Annie Besant.

Apart from a few minor errors (the deathdate for Ramakrishna on p. 67 and the date for

the Leadbeater troubles in Sydney on p.196,which should be 1886 and the early 1920’srespectively) this volume is a compilationresulting from intense research. It deserves tobe read by all students of Blavatsky and of thehistory of religious ideas.

John Cooper

How can you know the real fromthe unreal, the true from the

false?

Only by self-development. How getthat?

By first carefully guarding yourselfagainst the causes of self-deception.

And this you can do by spending acertain fixed hour or hours each dayall alone in self contemplation, writing,reading, the purification of yourmotives, the study and correction ofyour faults, the planning of your workin the external life..

Little by little your sight will clear,and you will find the mists pass away,your interior faculties strengthen,your attraction toward us gain force,and certainty replace doubts.

K.H.L.M.W. I - 149

Intuition

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THE HIGH COUNTRY THEOSOPHIST,ISSN 1060-4766 is published monthlyfor $9.00 per year by Richard Slusser,

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Address all communications to:Richard Slusser140 S. 33rd St, Boulder, CO U.S.A.80303-3426Phone (303) 494-5482E-Mail: dslusser@indra.net

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THE HIGH COUNTRY THEOSOPHISTis an independent Journal and has thefollowing editorial objectives:

(1) To serve the greater TheosophicalMovement as a forum for the free interchangeof ideas and commentary in the pursuit ofTruth and to facilitate various projects infurtherance of Theosophical principles.

(2) To present articles and essaysconsistent with source theosophy, otherwiseknown as the Ancient Wisdom as given by TheMasters and H.P. Blavatsky, and othertheosophical writers consistent with thistradition.

(3) To examine contemporary ethical,religious, metaphysical, scientific and philo-sophical issues from the viewpoint of thesource theosophical teachings.

(4) To impartially examine significantevents and issues in the history of thetheosophical movement which have affectedand shaped its present-day realities.

EDITORIAL OBJECTIVES