Theos-Talk Archives (May 2002 Message tt00038)

Monday, May 06, 2002

Dear Friends:


A further inquiry about H P B came in. Here are some views to
consider:

Are students of theosophy daffy? Are they die-hard hopefuls who
believe without reasoning in the immortality of the Spirit/Soul of
each human being? Do they maintain without evidence that there are
wise and advanced human Minds capable of embracing the Universe in all
its many aspects?

Is H.P.Blavatsky actually alive? Is there a reason why she was chosen
to be a "messenger" from the Lodge of Adepts and "Masters of wisdom"
to our present world and civilization? What if anything is there right
or wrong with Theosophy ?

Is there a "real world" inside or outside the one we know and live
in? Can it be found? Can it be demonstrated?

Let us look together at some statements on these matters:

Lets choose as a preliminary:



H P B and the MASTERS

========================


There have always been some queries and controversy concerning H P
--

Is she alive or is she dead?

Perhaps some of these quotations about her and her work given from the
perspective of the MASTERS OF WISDOM -- the ELDER BROTHERS -- will be
of help.

Theosophy has been called a history, and a record of the development
of the spiritual nature of mankind.


Patanjali, an ancient sage wrote:

"The Universe, including the visible and the invisible, the essential
nature of which is compounded of purity, action, and rest, and which
consists of the elements and the organs of action, exists for the sake
of the soul's experience and emancipation....

The soul is the Perceiver; is assuredly vision itself pure and
simple; unmodified; and looks directly upon ideas.

For the sake of the soul alone, the Universe exists.

Although the Universe in its objective state has ceased to be, in
respect to that man who has attained to the perfection of spiritual
cultivation, it has not ceased in respect to all others, because it is
common to others besides him.

The conjuncture of the soul with the organ of thought, and thus with
nature, is the cause of its apprehension of the actual condition of
the nature of the universe and of the soul itself.

The cause of this conjuncture is what is what is to be quitted, and
that cause is ignorance."
PATANJALI'S YOGA SUTRAS, pp. 25-27 rendition by W. Q. Judge


More importantly, the contention has been that Theosophy as a body of
information and historical facts is inaccurate, even deceptive.
Detractors have raised old calumnies and slanders that were put
quashed, and put to rest, decades back, but they, the modern
detractors, depend on the ignorance and apathy of the public in the
matter of determining the truth by reference to the documents that
embody the history of events concerning Theosophy, and its significant
effect on Science, and world thought.

Each reader or investigator has to make their own decisions. They have
to do the investigation themselves, or, they place unverified trust on
the dicta of others.

There are some, today, who claim legitimacy for repeating slanders,
calumnies and adverse speculations concerning this modern Sphinx -- H.
P. Blavatsky -- because the person concerned is physically dead. They
say that they have a right to claim anything they please, now that the
individual is unable to refute, or offer a defense.

These accusations lack the decency of fairness -- a "level field" --
where calumnies already refuted are carefully placed today, in
juxtaposition with the proofs offered of their inaccuracy. To me this
has the appearance of cowardice. I cannot see any fair-thinking
individual who would subscribe to the defense for such actions, as
they offer -- it being supposedly legitimized by the sophistry that
the death of the individual concerned, opens the field for slander
without fear of protest, retaliation, or the need for presenting the
"opposite side."

The Masters have offered the necessary criteria for us to consider in
regard to Theosophical methods of work and personal duty:

"A band of students of the Esoteric Doctrines, who would reap any
profit spiritually must be in perfect harmony and unity of thought.
Each one individually and collectively has to be utterly unselfish,
kind and full of good-will towards each other at least--leaving
humanity out of the question; there must be no party spirit among the
band, no backbiting, no ill-will, or envy or jealousy, contempt or
anger." LETTERS from the MASTERS OF WISDOM, ( Series I) p. 16-7


Others believe that the SPIRIT which incarnated in that body, known to
all as Mme. H. P. Blavatsky, continues, alive and powerful --
depending on her wisdom -- Deathless, they claim the immortal Spirit
continues its majestic progress, ever onward to higher and wider
spheres of wisdom and assistance to the Human Race. And as the
THEOSOPHICAL MOVEMENT was founded to provide this, this is still
supported

Such Beings, and, that bright Spirit known to us as H P B, once
ordinary humans, like we are, determined that they would know all that
this world and Universe offered. They decided to investigate the
hidden laws and powers of interactive Nature.

Theosophy is the record of their endeavour.

The SECRET DOCTRINE give an outline of its breadth and depth. [ see
SECRET DOCTRINE I 272-3 ]

The fundamental doctrines of Theosophy are:

1.) the immortality of all Spiritual Souls;

2.) the common bond of Karma which serves as a basis for interaction,
as it unites the causal motive for action with the exact results
returning to the individual that generated them;

3.) a process of evolution that is continuous and extends from the
smallest part of the vast UNIVERSE to its utmost limits, the least has
the same potentials of the most advanced; and

4.) a common goal named SPIRITUAL PERFECTION, which is open to all,
and embraces all that can be known of the Universe and its uncountable
components. That is Universal WISDOM.

It is hoped that some of the information given below will tend to make
clear an understanding of the respect given to H P B by some of her
contemporaries, and by Those whom she named her "Masters."

We could consider this as a portion of those areas of thought that
arise when we remember that on may 8th 2002 we will be celebrating the
111th death anniversary of she who wore the earthly garb known as
H.P.Blavatsky .

Dallas TenBroeck

=============================================



H P B -- Her Mission and "Position"


As we look back at the life and work of H. P. Blavatsky, we her
students, recall with gratitude the debt that we owe to her. Except
for her work and devotion we would possibly never have had the
opportunity that has been ours to know about Theosophy, and to be able
to study it.

A number of her students have left on record their appreciation.


We offer some of these for consideration:

"...the [Theosophical] movement has grown most in consequence of the
effort of those who are devoted to an ideal, inspired by enthusiasm,
filled with a lasting gratitude to H.P.Blavatsky. Their ideal is the
service of Humanity, the ultimate potential perfectibility of man as
exemplified by the Masters and Adepts of all ages, including the
present...if it had not been for her the T.S. with its literature
would not have come into existence." (W Q Judge, Articles (U L T)
Vol. II 20-1)


One may well ask if there is a possibility of our contacting the
Masters and HPB, and the answer is that we have their philosophy and
teachings as they were originally recorded. Anyone who studies those
puts themselves into contact with HPB and the Masters. A close
student once wrote:


"...for those who have studied in the right way plenty of proof has
been offered; for others that proof exists within themselves The
former class has had tangible evidence in the way of letters and
appearances of the Adepts before their eyes; the latter concluded
long ago that the Masters are necessities of evolution...in the West
the idea of the existence of the Adepts and of Their connection with
our movement was first brought forward in this century [the 19th] and
in our Society by H.P.Blavatsky, who, consistently throughout her
career, has declared that the Adepts--whom she was pleased to call her
Masters--directed her to engage in this work and have always helped
and directed her throughout...


They have adopted the TS as one of Their agents in this century for
disseminating the truth about man and nature...Their motive is to help
the moral--and hence external -- progress of humanity, and their
methods to work from behind the scenes by means of agents suited for
the work...the agency is not restricted to one person, but that all
sincere lovers of truth are used to that end, whether they know it or
not...the personal effort put forth by the members will not account
for the spreading of the movement...As the Masters exist, so They help
us; and as we deserve, so will They repay."
(WQJ ARTICLES (ULT) Vol. II pp. 79-80)


"...while the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY movement of today was distinctly
under the care of the Adepts, it was not the only one through which
effect was sought to be made on the race-thought and ethics, but that
in many different ways efforts were constantly put forward ...she
insisted that the T S wears the badge...of the Eastern and Ancient
Schools...the old and united Lodge of Adepts ...[It would be
reasonable to say]...that Brotherhood has the knowledge and power...
to use every agency which is in touch with humanity." WQJ ARTICLES
(ULT) Vol. , Vol. I, pp. 244


Mr. W. Q. Judge, who collaborated closely with HPB and Col. Olcott,
and was one of the three Founders of the THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY who
supported it until their death, wrote:


"I think that the way for all western theosophists is through H.P.B.
I mean that as she is the T.S. incarnate--its mother and guardian, its
creator--the Karmic laws would naturally provide that all who drew
this life through her belonged to her, and if they denied her, they
need not hope to reach [Masters], for how can they deny her who gave
this doctrine to the western world? They share her Karma to little
purpose if they think they can get round this identification and
benefit, and [Masters] want no better proof that a man does not
comprehend their philosophy. This would, of course, bar him from
[Masters] by natural laws (of growth)...[those] who undervalue her
gift and her creation, have not imbibed the teaching and cannot
assimilate its benefits. She must be understood as being what she is
to the T.S., or Karma...is not understood, nor the first laws of
occultism."
LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME , p. 110


After the physical death of Mme. Blavatsky on May 8th 1891, in answer
to a friend, he wrote:


"...we believe that H.P.B. will be for some time occupied in training
a new instrument, and one not so young as to be useless at the present
cyclic crisis...she left everything in order. All things were planned
out, and evidence was abundantly had to the effect that she knew her
departure was near... looking upon her as an Adept, whose chief work
was done outside of the objective body, it was reasonable to suppose
that she is now enabled to use, upon higher (or inner) planes of
being, the power previously expended in the maintenance of that body."
LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME, p. 155 [U L T Edition]


HPB had written in this regard:


"That for several years I will not be able to help it [the T S] on,
and steer its course, because I will have to act in a body which will
have to be assimilated to the Nirmanakaya, because even in occultism
there are such things as a failure and a retardment and a misfit..."
HPB -
LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME , p. 281


In another article, Mr. Judge wrote:


"...but H.P.Blavatsky, who then as afterwards was really the central
figure, has for the present left this life. The first great change,
then, between seventeen years ago and now is the removal from the
scene of the personage who, for so long was the pivot of the whole
movement...[in 1879] upon the advent of the two pioneers in Asia
HPB and Col. Olcott, who went to India as a Committee for the
THEOSOPHICAL SOCIETY based in New York ] ...in order that the
influence of the mysterious and distant East might react upon the West
and enable us to bring to light again important religious and
philosophical truths. This reaction came, and manifesting in America
with full force, a host of Branches began to arise...all with one
accord must draw their chief inspiration from the life, the labors,
and the words of that wonderful and still faintly understood woman,
Helena, P. Blavatsky."
WQJ Art. II 148 "SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO," Path, Nov. 1892


Regarding HPB, the Adepts wrote:


"...They say that the Ego of that body she uses was and is a great and
brave servant of the Lodge, sent to the West with a mission with full
knowledge of the insult and obloquy to be surely heaped upon that
devoted head; and they add: 'Those who cannot understand her had
best not try to explain her; those who do not find themselves strong
enough for the task she outlined from the very first had best not
attempt it.'"
WQJ ART II 18)


And Mr. Judge added:


"[As to H. P. B.]... those who cannot understand her had best not try
to explain her...she knew...that high and wise servants of the Lodge
have remained with the West since many centuries for the purpose of
helping it on its mission and destiny. That work it would be well for
members of the T. Mvt. to continue without deviating, without
excitement, without running to extremes...the truth of the soul's life
is in no special quarter of the compass..."
(LETTERS THAT HAVE HELPED ME , p. 76)


According to HPB:


"...there are certain persons on this earth, living and working as
ordinary human beings and members of society, whose informing divine
part is so immeasurably high in development that they as such high
beings have a definite status and function in the "supersensuous
regions."


To this Mr Judge added:


"...she herself was such a case, and that "H P B" whether hourly in
the day or at night when all around was still, had a "status and
function" in other spheres where she consciously carried on the work
of that high station, whatever it was...[She wrote in one place] " I
am conscious day and night, and have much to do and to endure in both
these existences from which you, being half-conscious, are happily
saved."
WQJ ART I 616


What then was the nature of HPB's Mission? The following is one
person's view:


"...when the great leader is H.P.Blavatsky, a whole host of
principles and postulates as to certain laws of nature cluster around
her name. For not only was she one who brought to us from the wiser
brothers of the human family a consistent philosophy of the solar
system, but in herself she illustrated practically the existence of
the supersensuous world and of the powers of the inner and astral
man...and theory or assertion touching on her relations with the
unseen and with the Masters she spoke for inevitably opens up the
discussion of some law or principle. Many things were said about
H.P.B. in her lifetime by those who tried to understand her, some of
them being silly and some positively pernicious. The most pernicious
was that made by [A.P.S.] in London in the lifetime of H.P.B. and
before the writing of the Secret Doctrine, that she was deserted by
the Masters and was the prey of elementals and elemental forces...if
true, then anything she might say as from the Masters which did not
agree with the opinion of the one addressed could be disposed of as
being only the vaporing of some elementals."	WQJ ARTICLES (ULT) Vol.
II 13


"H.P.Blavatsky was the head, front, bottom, top, outskirts, past and
future of the theosophical society...Not only was H.P.B. predominant
with us in 1875, but she is yet."
WQJ Art II 161 "A Reminiscence," PATH, Feb. 1893 / Mar. 1895



HOW DO THE MASTERS LOOK AT H.P.B.?


"...imperfect as may be our visible agent...yet, she [HPB] is the best
available at present, and her phenomena have for about half a century
astounded and baffled some of the cleverest minds of the age."	MAHATMA
LETTERS , p. 9-10


"After nearly a century of fruitless search, our chiefs had to avail
themselves of the only opportunity to send out a European body upon
European soil to serve as a connecting link between that country and
our own...my brother M. made to you through her a certain offer...you
had but to accept it, and at any time you liked, you would have had
for an hour or more, the real baitchooly to converse with, instead of
the psychological cripple you generally have to deal with now."
M L 203-4


"On the 17th of November next [1882] the septenary term of trial given
the Society at its foundation in which to discreetly "preach us" will
expire. One or two of us hoped that the world had so far advanced
intellectually, if not intuitionally, that the Occult doctrine might
gain an intellectual acceptance, and the impulse given for a new cycle
of occult research...consent was given for the trial. It was
stipulated, however, that the experiment should be made independently
of our personal management; that there should be no abnormal
interference by ourselves. So casting about we found in America the
man to stand as leader--a man of great moral courage, unselfish, and
having other good qualities. He was far from being the best, but...he
was the best available. With him we associated a woman of most
exceptional and wonderful endowments. Combined with them she had
strong personal defects, but just as she was, there was no second to
her living fit for this work. We sent her to America, brought them
together--and the trial began. From the first both he and she were
given to clearly understand that the issue lay entirely with
themselves. And both offered themselves for the trial...For 6 1/2
years they have been struggling against such odds as would have driven
off any one who was not working with the desperation of one who stakes
life and all he prizes on some desperate supreme effort. Their
success has not equaled the hopes of their original backers,
phenomenal as it has been in certain directions. In a few more months
the term of probation will end. If by that time the status of the
Society as regards ourselves --the question of the "Brothers" be not
definitely settled (either dropped out of the Society's programme or
accepted on our own terms) that will be the last of the "Brothers" of
all shapes and colors, sizes or degrees. We will subside out of
public view like a vapour into the ocean. Only those who have proved
faithful to themselves and to Truth through everything, will be
allowed further intercourse with us..."	M L 263-4


"You can never know her [HPB] as we do, therefore--none of you will
ever be able to judge her impartially or correctly. You see the
surface of things; and what you would term "virtue," holding but to
appearances, we--judge but after having fathomed the object to its
profoundest depth, and generally leave the appearances to take care of
themselves. In your opinion H.P.B. is...a quaint, strange woman, a
psychological riddle...We on the other hand, under the garb of
eccentricity and folly--we find a profounder wisdom in her inner Self
than you will ever find yourselves able to perceive...we...light daily
upon traits of her inner nature the most delicate and refined, and
which would cost an uninitiated psychologist years of constant and
keen observation, and many an hour of close analysis and efforts to
draw out of the depth of that most subtle of mysteries--human
mind--and one of the most complicated machines,---H.P.B.'s mind--and
thus learn to know her true inner Self."	M L 314


"The Lhas or adept alone possesses the real, his mind being en rapport
with the Universal Mind. The Lhas has made a perfect junction of his
soul with the Universal Mind in its fullness, which makes him for the
time a divine being existing in the region of absolute intelligence,
knowledge of natural laws or Dgyu..."	HPB to APS 376




H.P.B. ON HERSELF


"I never gave myself out for a full-blown occultist, but only for a
student of Occultism for the last thirty or forty years. Yet I am
enough of an occultist to know that before we find the Master within
our own hearts and seventh principle--we need an outside Master...I
got my drop from my Master (the living one)...He is a Saviour, he who
leads you to finding the Master within yourself. It is ten years
already that I preach the inner Master and God and never represented
our Masters as Saviours in the Christian sense."	[ HPB to Dr.
Hartmann ] PATH, Vol. X, p. 367


"...as I venerate the Master, and worship MY MASTER--the sole creator
of my inner Self which but for His calling it out, awakening it from
its slumber, would never have come to conscious being--not in this
life, at all events..."	Letters of HPB to APS, p. 104




ON THE SECRET DOCTRINE


"The Secret Doctrine was the universally diffused religion of the
ancient and prehistoric world."
[ SD I xxxiv ]

"These truths are in no sense put forward as a revelation, nor does
the author claim the position of a revealer of mystic lore now made
public for the first time in the world's history."
[ SD I vii ]

"We give facts and show land-marks: let the wayfarer follow them.
What is given here is amply sufficient for this century." [ SD II
742 ]

"There are more secrets of Initiation given out in the Introductory
Chapter than in all Isis...Fancy Masters giving out the secret of the
"Divine Hermaphrodite" even ! and so on."
[ HPB Letters to A.P.Sinnett, p. 172-3 ]




HOW OTHERS LOOK ON H.P.B.?


"H.P.B. was the Messenger from the Great Lodge to the western world.
W.Q.J. was a co-founder and co-worker with H.P.B. from the beginning.
It will be well to remember that HPB and WQJ were not accorded the
positions They held through any authority, but through recognition of
Their knowledge and power. They were sui generis; all others are but
students. Those who belittle Judge will also be found belittling
HPB." F P 5


"HPB was the Direct Agent of the Lodge--and this is explicitly stated
to be the fact by the Master K.H. ...then we must go to the records
left by Her and Her Colleague, W.Q.J., for direction in all matters
pertaining to the Theosophical Movement."	F P 34


"In the introduction to the SECRET DOCTRINE, H.P.Blavatsky boldly
affirms the existence of a great Fraternity of Men, Adepts, who
preserve the true philosophy through all changes, now revealing it,
and again, at certain eras, withdrawing it from a degraded age; and
emphatically she says that the doctrine is never a new one, but only a
handing on again of what was always the system... [Further she adds]
in the twentieth century of our era scholars will begin to recognize
that the S.D. has neither been invented nor exaggerated, but, on the
contrary, simply outlined; and finally, that its teachings antedate
the Vedas."

"...the Messenger from the great Fraternity--she herself being the one
for this Century--she observes significantly: that "In Century the
20th some disciple more informed, and far better fitted, may be sent
by the Masters of Wisdom to give final and irrefutable proof that
there exists a science called Gupta-Vidya; and that, [it] the source
of all religions and philosophies now known to the world...is at last
found."	WQJ ART II 81-2


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Best wishes,



Dallas