The time has arrived when my position should be defined regarding Blavatsky and her
Theosophical Society --- and that in the interest of all earnest, spiritual
truth-seekers, whether known to the world As Spiritualists, Theosophists, or Rosicrucians.
In some respects I am a most remarkable man. The great Koot Hoomi has
placed his hand upon my head, and said, in writing, that his influence would be over
me! Even Sinnett has never been so privileged; and as, according to the doctrine of Karma,
it is declared that we never can obtain more or less than we deserve, it follows that I
must be an individual of unusual attainments to have merited the notice and benediction of
a great Adept of the Himalaya mountains.
If it be urged that I have been gullible, I reply that it is to my credit. Human
nature is not, on the whole, so wicked and heartless as to warrant the constant uneasiness
of suspicion and distrust; and the likelihood is that if I found people again whose motto
was, There is no religion higher than truth, I should again believe in them
and their professed philanthropy, until and unless the powers that be saw fit to undeceive
me.
On the principle that Evil and Good are relative terms, and that Evil is Good in
disguise, The Theosophical Society and literature have been most
beneficial. The Blavatsky literature has widened mens views, and prepared them
for thought and action in the realms of the occult. Viewed impersonally, Isis
Unveiled and Esoteric Buddhism have been good instruments of
iconoclasm. We need not believe, it is true, that we shall be called back again and
again, by reincarnation, to endure the bonds of matter upon this infinitesimal orb.
But where Blavatsky has lamentably, culpably and criminally failed, has been in all
pertaining to her personal claims. Her claims to be in communication with
Mahatmas or souls regenerate, have not been established. On
the contrary, she has been proved by myself to be an untruthful and unscrupulous deceiver
upon the ordinary earth plane; and, as we know that Good employs good and Evil evil, it
follows that the occult powers behind her cannot be of a different nature from that which
her daily character represents. Sufficient stress can hardly be placed upon the fact
that feats of magic may be scientific, in the sense of being true on occult
planes, and yet be morally worthless and false, and may proceed from any other than the
represented source. When Dr. Richard Hodgson, of the Society for Psychical Research,
declared that Madame Blavatsky was an arch-imposter; and when, at Madras, in India, Mr.
and Mrs. Coulomb revealed to myself and others the trap-doors and sliding-panels, which
they declared were prepared for the production of phenomena, under Madame
Blavatskys own directions, I felt and knew that the ground had not been covered, and
that there were psychical phenomena which neither Mr. Hodgson nor Mr. and Mrs. Coulomb
could in any way explain. Sufficient perseverance has enabled me to see, however,
that Madame Blavatskys impositions extend even far into the realms of the
occult. Like Goethes Faust, I find that she has sold herself, for a temporary
consideration, to the devil. Let us hope that she will see the error and folly of
her ways; that she will publish a volume of Confessions, and become a help to
mankind, instead of being, as heretofore, a snare.
The names, Kuthumi and Morya, are those of old Indian Rishis,
or spiritual teachers, and have been chosen on that account by the madame for her
adepts. But so far from the sons of India being captured by use of the venerable
names, a mere handful of East Indians favor the organization at all in any way, while the
responsible and educated Hindoos, as a class, have unhesitatingly characterized the madame
as a superb, daring fraud, which fact is very surprising to the visitor from England or
America in the face of the protestations of the founders, that they are
working unselfishly for the benefit of the children of old Aryavarta.
The Aryavartans dont seem to see that their salvation is in any way
dependent on a couple of sympathetic foreigners.
The fact is that the Theosophical movement owes its origin in this country directly to
Mrs. E. H. Brittens volumes, Art Magic, and Ghostland.
Before the publication of these valuable works, Madame Blavatsky was a wandering spirit
medium. When these works came out, she saw what seemed her opportunity, and her
powers instantly became transformed to those of great Eastern adepts. She had been,
it is proved, in this country many years before, under different names, and her story as
to having lived in Thibet, and being the widow of a deceased Russian general, is, to say
the least, highly improbable. Sinnett and Olcott have been her dupes; but there
comes a time, it is needless to point out to these gentlemen, when, unless a righteous
stand be taken, a dupe becomes a knave. In this country, Dr. Coues, it is well
known, is the embodiment of vanity, and is hunting for a place of power, which, of course,
will constantly elude him. So much for the Blavatsky movement.
Theosophy (not Blavatskyism) is benign and comprehensible. It is the story of the
soul --- its fall into matter and its salvation by re-generation. The same story has
been told in Buddhism, Israeliteism, Platonism, and Christianity. A comprehensive
title, therefore, is Theosophy. From the innocence of childhood in generation to the
harmlessness and wisdom of re-generation, this is the entire psychical drama. The
details of our experience on all the different planes are for our discipline, and every
soul must be allowed to follow its inner light in the fulness of its freedom.
The works of true Theosophy, which I would cordially recommend to others, are The
Perfect Way, by Dr. A. Kingsford and Edward Maitland, B.A.; Scribner and Welford,
New York. The Light of Asia, by Edwin Arnold; Theosophy, or the
Higher Life, by Dr. Wyld of London; The Spirit of the New Testament, by
Susan E. Gay; The Temple of the Rosy Cross, by F. B. Dowd; Esoteric
Christianity, by Dr. W. F. Evans; The Mystery of the Ages and other
works, by Lady Caithness and several others. And for Theosophical periodicals I
would name the Religio-Philosophical Journal, The Worlds Advance Thought,
Light, LAurore, The Esoteric, and the Sphinx.