Published by The Blavatsky Archives Online. Online Edition copyright 1999.
Dreams about Mahatmas Realized[Part I]
by C. Ramiah
[First published in Supplement to The Theosophist,
September, 1884, pp. 125-126.]My age is 51 years; and this circumstance I mention to show that I have not the enthusiasm of youth, nor its inseparable flights of imagination. I note down the incidents in the order of their occurrence to me, and the reader is at liberty to draw what conclusion he pleases.
I am a Brahmin of the orthodox faith, and I have been brought up by my parents in the belief of the existence of one great Personal God, and of numerous other minor gods whose powers over nature and elements are extensive, and who have gradually worked up their ways by a knowledge of occult philosophy.
In the year 1860 or 1861, I had occasion to visit the town of Trivellum in North Arcot District and halted in the chuttrum near the Pagoda. I liked the place much; and something about the aspect of the place struck me that it must have been sanctified by the presence of a Mahatma in its neighbourhood. If time had allowed, I would have stayed there much longer, but my business required me to leave it the same evening.
In the year 1864 I was working in another district when one night in a dream I saw a Mahatma seated high in the air with a very brilliant star for his ring, and he pointed me out to his Chela standing near, and beyond this, nothing further occurred.
In the year 1873 my father died and in his last moments he told me that "he had in his mind one or two particular things to communicate, but which he was powerless to do at that moment, and, if the Mahatmas wished, they would communicate with me in the course of time."
About the year 1880, one night, I was carried in my dream to a rural village at the foot of a great chain of mountains; and there I saw a Mahatma dressed in a Buddhist’s gown and hood, with bare feet. I at once prostrated myself at his feet, when he bade me rise, placed his two hands on my head, and directed me to persevere in the mode of life I have been following. A few months rolled away and nothing particular occurred.
In the year 1881, the newly established Theosophic Society attracted the attention of all people; and hearing that a Mahatma was favorably disposed to its successful working, I prayed that I may be favored with faith. I repeated this prayer every night; and it so happened that one night, in my dream, I was carried to the same chain of mountains, when I perceived the same Mahatma (who already appeared to me in the Buddhist’s gown) standing on an isolated rock; and there was a deep chasm between him and me. Not being able to go nearer, I prostrated on the ground, when I was ordered to rise and was asked what I wanted. I repeated the prayer that I wanted to know more of faith, when, to my surprise, a large volume of brilliant fire burst forth from his breast with several forked tongues, and a few particles of fire flew in my direction and they were absorbed in my person. The Mahatma disappeared after this, and here ended my second dream.
As time rolled on, I became less and less selfish, am disposed to look upon the whole humanity, animals and men, as part of myself, and am more and more anxious to learn and become useful to the world at large within my limited means and knowledge, of which there is not much.
In the middle part of the year 1883, one night, I was carried in my dream to a great chain of mountains when some one led me into their recesses. There I found a great rock temple in the form of a hall of oblong size, and I perceived the same Mahatma, who had shown himself to me on the two previous occasions, seated on a low stool with a shrine opposite to him, and there were two rows of Mahatmas, one on each side, all dressed in Buddhist’s gown except the Chief. I prostrated as usual and was ordered to rise. I was then told to go round the shrine, and some one led me round, and there I found two or three ladies in deep devotion. On the shrine I observed a very brilliant substance resembling phosphorus, in a dark place irregularly coiled like a serpent, and I expressed a wish to know what it was; and one of the ladies then opening her eyes told me that the shrine is earth, to which state all our physical bodies must be brought down sooner or later, and the brilliant substance is the spirit, or essence, or "Jyoti" which moves all universe. I came back to the Chief, and after prostrating before him once more, I left the place which was said to be "Harthayery", by one of the Mahatmas standing. (1)
I have had no dreams since then, but I perceive a change coming over me as if my inward man is trying to fly upwards; and I have now a very sincere desire to proceed to the Tibetan mountains in search of the Mahatmas.
I was thinking over these dreams, and at last my mind became so heavy with these thoughts that I prayed to the Mahatmas for relief. In my dream again about two months ago, I was told to go to Mr. T. Subba Row, the worthy President of the Madras Branch of the Theosophical Society, and to him I went after the voice repeated itself a second time. To him I explained my whole experience, and he kindly asked me to call at the Head-Quarters of the Theosophic Society in order to see if I could recognize the features of the Mahatma who appeared to me in my dream.
I went thither the same evening, and at about 4 P.M., the "Shrine" doors were opened, and to my surprise I identified in the photo of the Illustrious Mahatma K. H. the exact features of the Mahatma of my dreams. With my hands joined in a state of supplication, and with the words "O Mighty God" on my lips, I went down on my knees, and in an hour afterwards I became a fellow of the Theosophic Society.
C. RAMIAH.
MADRAS, 11th August, 1884.(1) The correspondent probably means an altar and not a shrine. But the details he gives of the Jyoti (flame) seem to correspond to what is alleged to exist in a certain temple in Thibet. The flame symbolises what the Hindu philosophers know as paramjyoti, which is sometimes represented by the Buddhists as the "yellow Sun in the lotus." -- (Ed.)