Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00324)

Books presenting the doctrines of theosophy are, with few exceptions, 
apologetic. The overwhelming majority of these works present 
theosophy as a fixed set of coherent doctrines, largely eschew 
discussions of historical changes, the true sources of the theosophical 
teachings, and aim to present modern theosophical doctrines in an 
easily understandable format for potential converts. The lack of scholarly 
attention is most clearly felt when one turns to the post-theosophical 
schools. 
Brian

--- In theos-talk@y..., "Daniel H. Caldwell" <comments@b...> wrote:
> One should compare the text below (written by Brian/Brigitte ???)
> about the "Occult Hierarchy" with the actual testimonies of witnesses 
> who said they saw and encountered HPB's Teachers.
> 
> See:
> 
> "A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas"
> http://www.blavatskyarchives.com/mastersencounterswith.htm
> 
> Daniel H. Caldwell
> BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
> http://hpb.cc
> 
> Brian/Brigitte (???) wrote:
> 
> > The Mahatma Letters introduced and exhibited to the world a small 
> > company of persons variously called "The Universal Brotherhood", 
> > the "Masters of the Wisdom" and the "Occult Hierarchy". Whether 
or 
> not 
> > there are such orders of beings; it is sufficient to say that if 
> Blavatsky 
> > had on her own authority compel the world to believe her, by 
> attempting 
> > to create an objective demonstration of the existence and work of 
> > certain Mahatmas, and to cast a glamour over her contemporaries 
by 
> a 
> > series of marvels which many were unable to resist. Thus the occult 
> > hierarchy was organized and revealed with a wealth of personal 
> detail, 
> > until it became fixed in the imagination of believers. The two 
> Masters of 
> > 1880 were soon multiplied to ten, and later to sixteen; they 
> > included "Hilarion" the Greek (identified with lamblichus, the 
> > Neoplatonist) and the "Count" (identified with the Comte de St. 
> Germain 
> > of the eighteenth century). As a concession to Christians, "the 
> Master 
> > Jesus", after due trial and probation, was admitted into the 
> company of 
> > the elect.
> > 
> > As soon as the Indian belief in Reincarnation had been definitely 
> > accepted by Mr. Sinnett and his successors, Madame Blavatsky's 
> > Masters were provided by Mr. Leadbeater with an occult genealogy 
of 
> > their previous lives, which embedded her inventions more deeply in 
> > reality. K.H. was declared to be a reincarnation of the Chinese 
> > Philosopher Lao-tze, while, by the bounty of fortune, he appeared 
> in 
> > Europe in the flesh of Pythagoras of Samos. Thus we had the 
> surprising 
> > spectacle of a Mahatma's ancestral "double" gracing two continents 
> at 
> > once, as soon as historians were able to show that the Chinese 
sage 
> > and the Greek philosopher had been contemporaries in the sixth 
> century 
> > B.C.
> > 
> > Above the Tibetan Masters-who, after all, with their earthly 
> jollity, their 
> > swearing and smoking, were very human creatures-Madame 
Blavatsky 
> > had given us faint glimpses of other and greater beings. In the 
> course of 
> > time, through Mr. Sinnett and the smaller literary fry of his day, 
> we have 
> > been told the names and functions of the occult officials who 
> govern the 
> > world.
> > 
> > H. P. Blavatsky's "Chohans" and the "MahaChohan" are still in 
> being, but 
> > we have also been allowed to hear of The Lord Vaivasvata Manu 
> > (extracted from Vedic legend), The Bodhisattva, The Lord Maitreya 
> (both 
> > adopted from Mdhaya-na Buddhism), "The Director of Evolution", 
and 
> > even of "the Great King" of the Universe Himself. 
> > 
> > The Pauline and Gnostic hierarchies were similarly patronized and 
> > incorporated into the Theosophical Superstructure., to secure the 
> > adherence of both orthodox and heretical Christians.
> > 
> > Blavatsky must have smiled* to see poor Mr. Sinnett patiently 
> building 
> > up, storey by storey, the pagodas of The Occult World and Esoteric 
> > Buddhism-with nothing more substantial than a pack of cards out of 
> her 
> > own cabinet of magic. And what will the Theosophists think and 
say-
> -
> > who have made Mr. Sinnett's two books the Leviticus and 
Deuteronomy 
> > of their Bible-when they see these paper edifices collapse before 
> the 
> > first breath of truth?
> > 
> > The ethnologists and anthropologists of Science, who were ever 
> doing 
> > their best to present a reasoned history of man, received scant 
> respect 
> > from Blavatsky, Sinnett, Besant and the hundreds of neo-
> Theosophical 
> > leaders since then . just as the Mahatmic theory about chains and 
> > rounds of planets has become the stuff out of which thousands 
> > of "propaganda lectures" have been made, so the history of the 
> human 
> > race, on Blavatsky's initiative, has been dislocated from the 
> beginning. 
> > Yet H.P.B. made her Mahatmas reproach Mr. Sinnett for rushing 
into 
> > print with his books. When critics found fault with Esoteric 
> Buddhism she 
> > and Subba Row defended it in The Theosophist. But when she 
> published 
> > The Secret Doctrine she threw him over, and wrote to the critics 
> > (Maitland and Kingsford): "We were obliged to support him then 
> > because he represented us, but when the secret doctrine was 
> > concerned it was necessary to tell the truth" (Life of AX, Vol. n, 
> p. 16o).
> > 
> > 
> http://mailbox.univie.ac.at/~muehleb9