Daniel Caldwell – USA
H.P. Blavatsky (1831-1891) was the first person in modern times to claim contact with the Theosophical Adepts, especially the Masters Morya and Koot Hoomi. She affirmed that in her writings she was giving out the teachings of the Adept Brotherhood.
In 1877 in Volume I of Isis Unveiled, Madame Blavatsky told her readers about these Adepts and her role in giving out the fundamentals of the Esoteric Science:
". . .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." p. vi
"The work now submitted to public judgment is the fruit of a somewhat intimate acquaintance with Eastern adepts and study of their science." p. v
But in The Key to Theosophy published in 1889, H.P.B. pointed out that various people had made bogus claims to being in contact with her own Masters K.H. and M.:
"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. Every bogus swindling Society, for commercial purposes, now claims to be guided and directed by 'Masters' often supposed to be far higher than ours! Many and heavy are the sins of those who advanced these claims, prompted either by desire for lucre, vanity, or irresponsible mediumship . . . . The sacred names of Occultism and the holy keepers thereof have been dragged in this filthy mire, polluted by being associated with sordid motives and immoral practices, while thousands of men and women have been held back from the path of truth and light through the discredit and evil report which such shams, swindles, and frauds have brought upon the whole subject." The Key to Theosophy, p. 301
HPB in The Secret Doctrine stated quite forcefully that certain students had indulged in "wild and fanciful speculation":
"The publication of many of the facts herein stated has been rendered necessary by the wild and fanciful speculation in which many Theosophists and students of mysticism have indulged, during the last few years, in their endeavor to, as they imagined, work out a complete system of thought from the few facts previously communicated to them." S.D., original edition, Vol I, p. viii
And Master K.H. in his August 1888 letter to Olcott had also written on this same subject:
"I have also noted, your thoughts about the 'Secret Doctrine.' Be assured that what she [H. P. B.] has not annotated from scientific and other works, we have given or suggested to her. Every mistake or erroneous notion, corrected and explained by her from the works of other theosophists was corrected by me, or under my instruction. It is a more valuable work than its predecessor, an epitome of occult truths that will make it a source of information and instruction for the
earnest student for long years to come. . . ." Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom, Series I, p. 47
But after H. P. B.'s death in 1891, numerous individuals started claiming to be in contact with her Adept Teachers and stated that they were new "messengers" of the Masters conveying even more esoteric teachings.
As Dr. Gordon Melton has written:
"A number of individuals have claimed contact with one of the Masters first described by Blavatsky and [some of them] have begun new organizations based upon the individual revelation imparted."
Here is a partial list of the claimants:
(1) In the 1890s, William Q. Judge said he was in contact with H. P. B.'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 H. P. B.'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 H. P. B.'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 H. P. B., 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, Geoffrey Hodson and George King have claimed clairvoyant powers and to be in contact with various Masters - Rosicrucian, Theosophical or otherwise.
(13) Other supposed communications from H. P. B'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 could go on. . . .
But who would have the inclination, time and energy to study the hundreds of books put out by these various individuals and to try to sort through the morass of claims, counterclaims and various contradictory teachings given out by these numerous latter-day messengers of the Masters?
Instead of trying to wade through even 1/10th of all these latter-day teachings, it is suggested that inquirers and students of Theosophy should turn to H. P. B.'s own voluminous writings and seriously study them.
If no other Theosophical writer had ever written a book on Theosophy after H. P. B. died in 1891, we would still have more than twenty volumes of H. P. B.'s own writings to read, study, ponder and apply. And we also have The Mahatma Letters and The Letters from the Masters of the Wisdom (Series 1 and Series 2) to read and study.
There is enough metaphysics, occult information, practical advise, ethical counsel, devotional material, spiritual exercises, etc. in H. P. B.'s and the Masters' writings to last most of us a lifetime or two!
In 1884, Master KH wrote that "we have broken the silence of centuries" in giving out the teachings of Theosophy (as found in H. P. B.'s writings and the Masters' letters). Yet far too many students of Theosophy down through the decades and even today consider these original writings not important enough to read, let alone to study.
Students of Theosophy can believe or disbelieve in whatever they want; they can read and study whatever they choose. But why not go to the FOUNTAIN SOURCE of the modern Theosophical Movement (i.e., H. P. B.'s writings and the letters of the Masters) and study these writings - without having these writings filtered through and interpreted by later claimants?
Check out Daniel’s outstanding site:
Blavatsky Study Center
www.blavatskyarchives.com
