A Facsimile of a Letter from Master Koot Hoomi to Franz Hartmann

A Facsimile of a Letter
from Master Koot Hoomi to Franz Hartmann

Franz Hartmann, a German Theosophist residing at the Adyar Theosophical Society Headquarters in 1884, wrote:

". . . I will state that the occurrence of these [occult] phenomena has not ceased since the departure of Madame Blavatsky for Europe. She left Bombay on February 20, 1884, and since that time I have personally received three of the well-known occult letters in the familiar handwriting of the Masters, and one of them (from K.H.) enclosed in an envelope with Tibetan characters. One of these letters was received on March 22nd through the astral form of a high Chela. . . ." (Theosophist, Supplement, Vol. V, July 1884, p. 99)

Elsewhere, Hartmann wrote about this K.H. letter received on March 22, 1884:

"Affidavits sent in by several members went to show, that the Coulombs were guilty of gross misconduct, of lying about the Society, slandering its officers, wasting the funds of the Society, &c. We therefore concluded to impeach them in a formal manner, and were engaged in drawing up the charges in my room when the astral body of a Chela appeared, and handed the following letter to Damodar. . . .This was rather like throwing cold water on the fire we had kindled to purify the Society. . . .The letter was in the well-known hand writing of K.H. It was enclosed in a Chinese envelope, addressed to me, and the Chela who handed it to Damodar was recognized by him. There could be no longer any doubt as to its being genuine, and there was nothing to be done, but to obey. I therefore rather reluctantly obeyed, and an armistice was concluded with the Coulombs by treating them with greater consideration. Madame Coulomb had some of her glory and power restored to her, and we all attempted to get rid of her by persuasion and kindness. . . . " (Hartmann's Report of Observations, etc., 1884, p. 33)

First I give a transcription of K.H.'s message and then a facsimile of the letter. (1)

"So long as one has not developed a perfect sense of justice he should prefer to err rather on the side of mercy than commit the slightest act of injustice. Mad. Coulomb is a medium & as such irresponsible for many things she may say or do. At the same time she is kind and charitable. One must know how to act towards her to make of her a very good friend. She has her own weaknesses but their bad effects can be minimised by exercising on her mind a moral influence by a friendly & kindly feeling. Her mediumistic nature is a help in this direction, if proper advantage be taken of the same. It is my wish therefore that she shall continue in charge of the household business, the Board of Control of course exercising a proper supervisory control & seeing in consultation with her, that no unnecessary expenditure is incurred. A good deal of reform is necessary and can be made rather with the help than the antagonism of Mme. Coulomb. Damodar would have told you this but his mind was purposely obscured, without his knowledge, to test your intuitions. Show this to Mad. C. so that she may co-operate with you.

K.H."

(1) This letter was transcribed and published as Letter No. 73 in Letters from the Masters of Wisdom, Second Series. A facsimile was first published in Who Wrote the Mahatma Letters? by William Loftus Hare and Harold Edward Hare (London: Williams & Norgate, 1936).