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The Fountain Source
of Modern Theosophy
Our knowledge of modern Theosophy
sprang from two sources: from the letters of the Masters
Koot Hoomi, Morya and several other Adepts and from the writings
of H.P. Blavatsky.
From the letters of the Masters, A.P. Sinnett wrote two books: The
Occult World and Esoteric Buddhism. From the knowledge
gained directly from these Mahatmas, Madame Blavatsky penned more than 10,000 pages of
writing including her major works Isis Unveiled,
The Secret Doctrine, The
Key to Theosophy and The Voice of the Silence.
The Mahatma Koot Hoomi wrote the following on the origin of modern
Theosophy:
"Theosophy is no new candidate for the world's
attention, but only the restatement of principles which have been recognised from
the very infancy of mankind."
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But the Master also emphasized:
". . . Our [esoteric and theosophical] doctrine . . . is now being partially
taught to Europeans for the first time."
". . . We have broken the silence of centuries . . . . "
". . . Let it be known that your Society['s] . . . chief aim is to extirpate
current superstitions and skepticism, and, from long sealed ancient fountains
to draw the proof that man may shape his own future destiny, and know for a certainty that
he can live hereafter, if he only wills; and that all 'phenomena' are but manifestations
of natural law, to try to comprehend which is the duty of every intelligent being. "
H.P. Blavatsky wrote of her own role in the "restatement" of Theosophy to the
modern world:
". . .We came into contact with certain men, endowed
with such mysterious powers and such profound knowledge that we may truly designate them
as the sages of the Orient. To their instructions we lent a ready ear."
"The work now submitted to public judgment is the
fruit of a somewhat intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and study of their
science."
" . . . I was the first in the United States to bring the existence of our
Masters into publicity; and . . . exposed the holy names of two members of a Brotherhood
hitherto unknown to Europe and America (save to a few mystics and Initiates of every age),
yet sacred and revered throughout the East, and especially India . . . ."
And the Mahatmas provided these insights about Madame Blavatsky's mission:
"[H.P.Blavatsky is] . . . 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...."
"This state of hers [H.P.B.'s] is intimately
connected with her occult training in Tibet, and due to her being sent out alone into the
world to gradually prepare the way for others. After nearly a century of fruitless
search, our chiefs had to avail themselves of the only opportunity to send out a
European body. . . ."
". . . We employ agents - the best available. Of these for the past thirty years the
chief has been the personality known as H.P.B. to the world (but otherwise to us).
Imperfect and very troublesome, no doubt, she proves to some, nevertheless, there is
no likelihood of our finding a better one for years to come. . . . With occult
matters she has everything to do. . . . She is our direct agent. . . .
"
For more on the origin and source of Modern Theosophy as given in the words of Madame
Blavatsky and the Mahatmas, see:
• From Long-Sealed Ancient Fountains
• Great Adepts and Trained Seers.
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Since Blavatsky's death in 1891, numerous individuals have claimed contact
with her Masters, stating that they were new "messengers" conveying further
esoteric teachings. See a partial list of claimants.
The end result has been a confusing morass of claims, counterclaims and
various contradictory and conflicting teachings.
Even during her lifetime, Mme. Blavatsky told her Theosophical students:
"Great are the desecrations to which the names of two of the Masters have been
subjected. There is hardly a medium who has not claimed to have seen them."
H.P.B. and the Mahatmas also warned about "imitations of Occultism and
Theosophy" and "disfigured" expositions of Theosophy.
They even corrected "wild and fanciful speculation" and "erroneous
notions" about Theosophy that were distorting the original teachings that
they had given. See one example of a correction.
Anna Kennedy Winner has graphically described the situation:
"For most students, the first difficulty lies in knowing what and how to study,
and how to find the right clues. The word 'occultism' is badly misused, and the student
who has no trustworthy guide may easily lose himself in a morass of superstition and
pseudo-occultism. . . . Many pseudo-occult organizations utilize the ideas obtained from
the works of Madame Blavatsky, without giving her (or her teachers) any credit for them,
but adding all kinds of nonsense and misinterpretations. . . . "
Concerning certain "false ideas" grafted onto Theosophy, Madame Blavatsky
penned the following:
"Nothing is more dangerous to Esoteric Truth than the garbled and distorted
versions disfigured to suit the prejudices and tastes of men in general."
For more background on the above, see:
• Various Theosophical Traditions
& New Students of Theosophy
• Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and
the Claims of Latter-Day Messengers of the Masters.
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In light of the above confusion and conflicting claims, interested inquirers and
new students would do well to go directly to the fountain source of Modern
Theosophy: the original writings of H.P. Blavatsky and the Mahatmas.
We have available H.P.B.'s major books, more than 1000 of her articles, hundreds of her
personal letters to correspondents, more than a hundred Mahatma letters received during
H.P.B.'s lifetime, and voluminous historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B.
and her Teachers.
These source writings contain a wealth of valuable material on Theosophy, metaphysics,
esoteric lore and knowledge, occult laws and processes in nature, ethical, spiritual and
devotional material, and much more.
Some of the historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B. and her Teachers have
been compiled in the book The Esoteric World of Madame
Blavatsky. See also A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas.
The Blavatsky and Mahatma source material is now available on CD-ROM.
Also much of this material is online.
Inquirers and students are encouraged to read and also study this original material.
But no one should blindly believe or disbelieve what is written. But a worthy
endeavor is to try to gain an understanding of what is being conveyed by H.P.B.
and the Masters in this wealth of material.
The Mahatmas gave the following advice:
"Knowledge for the mind, like food for the body, is intended to feed and help to
growth, but it requires to be well digested and the more thoroughly and slowly the process
is carried out the better both for body and mind."
"For a clearer comprehension of the extremely abstruse and at first
incomprehensible theories of our occult doctrine never allow the serenity of your mind to
be disturbed during your hours of literary labour, nor before you set to work. It is upon
the serene and placid surface of the unruffled mind that the visions gathered from the
invisible find a representation in the visible world. Otherwise you would vainly seek
those visions, those flashes of sudden light . . . which alone can bring the truth before
the eye of the soul. It is with jealous care that we have to guard our mind-plane from all
the adverse influences which daily arise in our passage through earth-life."
"On close observation, you will find that it was never the intention of the
Occultists really to conceal what they had been writing from the earnest determined
students, but rather to lock up their information for safety-sake, in a secure safe-box,
the key to which is - intuition. The degree of diligence and zeal with which the hidden
meaning is sought by the student, is generally the test - how far he is entitled to the
possession of the so buried treasure."
Unfortunately, far too many readers don't take the necessary time and effort to try to
understand what H.P.B. is attempting to convey in her many writings.
And far too often, students interject their own thoughts and understanding into the
subject matter. Nothing is inherently wrong with that approach but it is suggested
that a student might try to ascertain first of all what H.P.B.'s and the
Mahatmas' views actually are on various subjects.
As a reader studies the material, he might constantly ask himself: "Do I really
understand what H.P.B. and the Mahatmas are trying to convey?"
The advice of one student is as follows: Give H.P.B. and the Mahatmas the lectern and
allow them to speak. The initial goal should be to try to "listen" to them and
to try to understand their view and their take on the subject.
None of the above should lead one to assume that H.P.B. and the Masters are always
right or anything like that. H.P.B. and her Teachers never claimed they were infallible.
But at the same time many serious students of these original writings have reasonably
concluded that H.P.B. and her Teachers were very knowledgeable on a wide range of subjects
and also had wise and insightful comments on many of the mysteries and problems of life.
William Doss McDavid in his book An Introduction to Esoteric
Principles: A Study Course writes:
"Should we take H.P.B. as an infallible authority? . . . Absolutely not. . . . But
there is another side to the question. We have to remember that the modern
Theosophical movement owes its very existence to H.P.B. and the Masters, whose faithful
agent she claimed to be. It would be extremely unwise to reject the teachings given
through her without understanding what those teachings really were in the first place. And
how can we acquire this understanding if we do not study her writings? We don't have to
blindly accept what she says or take her views as the last word, but at least we should
become familiar with those views firsthand. Then we can reject or accept intelligently.
When the works of other and later writers who claim to be continuing the work begun by
H.P.B. present viewpoints and 'revelations' which are at direct variance with the original
lines of teaching, we may feel justified in questioning the source of the newer
pronouncements. A familiarity with the original writings, therefore, provides a criterion
for intelligent judgment." p. 37
One might also ponder on the following words of H.P.B.:
"Every reader will inevitably judge the statements made from the stand-point of
his own knowledge, experience, and consciousness, based on what he has already
learnt."
Readers might also keep foremost in mind the possibility that their own
knowledge, experience and consciousness may be limited and incomplete.
For more background information, see:
• Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and
the Claims of Latter-Day Messengers of the Masters
• Various Theosophical Traditions
& New Students of Theosophy
• On Pseudo-Theosophy and Pseudo-Adepts
• Psychic VERSUS Initiate Visions
& Knowledge
• Theosophical Claims After H.P.B.'s Death
For more information on H.P. Blavatsky and Theosophy, see:
• Introduction to H.P. Blavatsky &
Theosophy
• Who Is H.P. Blavatsky?
• H.P.B. Speaks
• A Brief Overview of Theosophy
• Basic Ideas of Theosophy
• Overviews of the Classics of Theosophy
• Recommended Titles about H.P.B. &
Theosophy
• In the Blavatsky
Tradition: Major Online Books, Pamphlets & Other Material on H.P. Blavatsky, the
Mahatmas & Theosophy
Endnote 1:
Partial List of Claimants
Dr. Gordon Melton, an expert on modern cults and minority
religions, has written:
"A number of individuals have claimed contact with
one of the Masters first described by Blavatsky and have begun new organizations based
upon the individual revelation imparted."
Below is a partial list of the claimants:
(1) In the 1890s, William Q. Judge said he was in contact
with HPB's Master Morya as well as the deceased HPB. Judge claimed he precipitated
letters from Master M. and gave out further esoteric teachings.
(2) Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater affirmed that they were in direct communication
with HPB's Masters and the deceased HPB. They gave out various Theosophical
teachings in their voluminous writings.
(3) Katherine Tingley, the occult successor of Judge, said
she was in contact with HPB's Masters and claimed to have met on at least two occasions
the Master Morya in his physical body.
(4) G. de Purucker, Tingley's successor, testified that the Masters M. & K.H. came to
visit him in 1929 at Theosophical Society headquarters, Point Loma, San Diego,
California. Purucker claimed that he was allowed to give out deeper esoteric
teachings than HPB, Judge or Tingley had given.
(5) Alice Bailey said she was in contact with Masters K.H. and D.K and wrote more than 20
volumes of teachings said to be from D.K. She even gave out further installments of the
Stanzas of Dzyan.
(6) Mrs. Francia A. La Due (of the Temple of the People)
gave out messages from the Masters, especially from Hilarion. She also published more
Stanzas from the Book of Dzyan.
(7) Guy Ballard (of the "I Am" Movement) claimed to be in communication with the
Masters, especially St. Germain.
(8) Helena Roerich (of the Agni Yoga Society) published some 13 volumes of communications
supposedly from the Master Morya.
(9) Mark Prophet and his wife Elizabeth Clare (of the Church Universal and Triumphant)
claimed to be the emissaries of the Great White Brotherhood and have channeled thousands
of messages from El Morya, Kut Humi, the Virgin Mary, Hercules, Chastity and a variety of
other Masters and entities.
(10) Earlyne Chaney (of Astara) believed she was in communication with Kut-Hi-Mi and Zoser
and other Masters of the Great White Brotherhood. She has given out various so-called
esoteric and occult teachings.
(11) Nada-Yolanda (of Mark-Age, Inc) has channeled numerous messages from M., K.H., and
others Masters associated with UFOs.
(12) Max Heindel, Rudolf Steiner and Geoffrey Hodson have claimed clairvoyant powers and
to be in contact with various Masters - Rosicrucian, Theosophical or otherwise.
(13) Other supposed communications from HPB's Masters have come from Brother Philip in his
book titled Secret of the Andes, from Cyril Scott in his series of books starting
with The Initiate, and from David Anrias in his book Through the Eyes of the
Masters.
And the list goes on . . . .
For more claims, see:
"The
Masters and Their Emissaries: From H.P.B. to Guru Ma and Beyond" by Govert
Schuller
For more background information on these numerous and conflicting claims as well as
related material, see:
• Madame Blavatsky's Occult Status and
the Claims of Latter-Day Messengers of the Masters
• Various Theosophical Traditions
& New Students of Theosophy
• On Pseudo-Theosophy and Pseudo-Adepts
• Psychic VERSUS Initiate Visions
& Knowledge
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Endnote 2:
"Mistakes have now to be checked
by the original teachings and corrected."
In her magnum opus The Secret Doctrine, H.P. Blavatsky wrote that "mistakes
have now to be checked by the original teachings and corrected. . . ."
Italics added.
Madame Blavatsky explained:
"Esoteric Buddhism" [by A.P. Sinnett] . . . is an excellent book [on
Theosophy], and has done still more excellent work. But this does not alter the fact that
it contains some mistaken notions. . . .
The time has arrived for the explanation of some matters in this direction. Mistakes
have now to be checked by the original teachings and corrected. . . .
As the author [A.P. Sinnett] . . . was himself, as he says, "an untrained
mind" in Occultism, his own inferences, and his better knowledge of modern
astronomical speculations than of archaic doctrines led him quite naturally, and as
unconsciously to himself, to commit a few mistakes of detail rather than of any
"broad rule." One such will now be noticed. It is a trifling one, still it is
calculated to lead many a beginner into erroneous conceptions. But as the mistaken notions
of the earlier editions were corrected in the annotations of the fifth edition, so the
sixth may be revised and perfected. . . .
Among such . . . [was] the erroneous statement that two of the superior Globes of the
terrestrial chain were two of our well-known planets:
"besides the Earth . . . there are only two other worlds of our chain which are
visible. . . . Mars and Mercury. . . ." (Esoteric Buddhism; p. 136.)
This was a great mistake. . . .
Let it now be distinctly stated, then, that the theory broached is impossible, with or
without the additional evidence furnished by modern Astronomy. Physical Science can supply
corroborative, though still very uncertain, evidence, but only as regards heavenly bodies
on the same plane of materiality as our objective Universe. Mars and Mercury, Venus and
Jupiter, like every hitherto discovered planet (or those still to be discovered), are all,
per se, the representatives on our plane of such chains. As distinctly stated in one of
the numerous letters of Mr. Sinnett's "Teacher," "there are other and
innumerable Manvantaric chains of globes which bear intelligent Beings both in and outside
our solar system." But neither Mars nor Mercury belong to our chain. They are, along
with the other planets, septenary Units in the great host of "chains" of our
system, and all are as visible as their upper globes are invisible. . . .
When the present work was commenced, the writer [H.P. Blavatsky herself] , feeling sure
that the speculation about Mars and Mercury was a mistake, applied to the Teachers [the
Mahatmas] by letter for explanation and an authoritative version. Both came in due time,
and verbatim extracts from these are now given.
". . . . . both (Mars and Mercury) are septenary chains, as independent of the
Earth's sidereal lords and superiors as you are independent of the 'principles' of
Daumling (Tom Thumb) -- which were perhaps his six brothers, with or without night-caps. .
. . "
. . . Again, here are more extracts from another letter written by the same authority.
This time it is in answer to some objections laid before the Teachers. They are based upon
extremely scientific, and as futile, reasonings about the advisability of trying to
reconcile the Esoteric theories with the speculations of Modern Science, and were written
by a young Theosophist as a warning against the "Secret Doctrine" and in
reference to the same subject. He had declared that if there were such companion Earths
"they must be only a wee bit less material than our globe." How then was it that
they could not be seen? The answer [from Master Koot Hoomi] was: --
". . . . Were psychic and spiritual teachings more fully understood, it would
become next to impossible to even imagine such an incongruity. Unless less trouble is
taken to reconcile the irreconcilable -- that is to say, the metaphysical and spiritual
sciences with physical or natural philosophy, 'natural' being a synonym to them (men of
science) of that matter which falls under the perception of their corporeal senses -- no
progress can be really achieved. Our Globe, as taught from the first, is at the bottom of
the arc of descent, where the matter of our perceptions exhibits itself in its grossest
form. . . . . . . Hence it only stands to reason that the globes which overshadow our
Earth must be on different and superior planes. In short, as Globes, they are in
CO-ADUNITION but not IN CONSUBSTANTIALITY WITH OUR EARTH and thus pertain to quite another
state of consciousness. Our planet (like all those we see) is adapted to the peculiar
state of its human stock, that state which enables us to see with our naked eye the
sidereal bodies which are co-essential with our terrene plane and substance, just as their
respective inhabitants, the Jovians, Martians and others can perceive our little world:
because our planes of consciousness, differing as they do in degree but being the same in
kind, are on the same layer of differentiated matter. . . . . What I wrote was 'The minor
Pralaya concerns only our little STRINGS OF GLOBES.' (We called chains 'Strings' in those
days of lip- confusion.) . . . 'To such a string our Earth belongs.' This ought to have
shown plainly that the other planets were also 'strings' or CHAINS. . . If he (meaning the
objector) would perceive even the dim silhouette of one of such 'planets' on the higher
planes, he has to first throw off even the thin clouds of the astral matter that stands
between him and the next plane. . . . ."
It becomes patent why we could not perceive, even with the help of the best earthly
telescopes, that which is outside our world of matter. Those alone, whom we call adepts,
who know how to direct their mental vision and to transfer their consciousness -- physical
and psychic both -- to other planes of being, are able to speak with authority on such
subjects. And they tell us plainly: -- . . .
". . . . . . Be prudent, we say, prudent and wise, and above all take care what
those who learn from you believe in; lest by deceiving themselves they deceive others . .
. . . for such is the fate of every truth with which men are, as yet, unfamiliar. . . .
Let rather the planetary chains and other super- and sub-cosmic mysteries remain a
dreamland for those who can neither see, nor yet believe that others can. . . ."
It is to be regretted that few of us have followed the wise advice; and that many a
priceless pearl, many a jewel of wisdom, has been cast to an enemy unable to understand
its value and who has turned round and rent us. . . .
Abridged from H.P. Blavatsky's The Secret Doctrine, 1888, Volume I, pp.
160-167.