Theosophy A Modern Revival of Ancient Wisdom by Alvin Boyd Kuhn

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by him, and Madame essayed to have it painted through the hand of a French
artist, M. Herisse. The artist's only instructions were that his subject was a
Hindu. Madame concentrated, and he painted. The features, finished in an hour,
were afterwards vouched for by Col. Olcott as being the likeness of his Guru,
whom he met years later.
The Colonel testified to having seen Madame Blavatsky's astral form in a New
York street while she was in Philadelphia; also that of a friend of his then in
the South; again that of one of the Adepts, then in Asia, in an American railway
train and on a steamboat. He stated that he took from the hand of another
Mahatma at Jummu a telegram from H.P.B.31 who was in Madras, the messenger
vanishing a moment later; and that he, H.P.B. and Damodar, a young Hindu devotee
of hers, were greeted by one of these Teachers one evening in India. But the
occurrence of this kind which he regarded as the most striking, affecting as it
did his whole future career, happened at the close of one of his busy days, when
his evening's toil with the composition of Isis was finished. He had retired to
his own room and was reading, the room door locked. Suddenly he perceived a
white radiance at his side and turning saw towering above him the great stature
of an Oriental, clad in white garments and wearing a head-cloth of amber-striped
fabric, hand-embroidered in yellow floss silk.
"Long raven hair hung from under his turban to the shoulders; his black beard,
parted vertically on the chin in the Rajput fashion, was twisted up at the ends
and carried over the ears; his eyes were alive with soul-fire; eyes which were
at once benignant and piercing in glance; the eyes of a mentor and judge, but
softened by the love of a father who gazes on a son needing counsel and
guidance. He was so grand a man, so imbued with the majesty of moral strength,
so luminously spiritual, so evidently above average humanity, that I felt
abashed in his presence, and bowed my head and bent my knee as one does before a
god or a god-like personage. A hand was laid lightly on my head, a sweet though
strong voice bade me be seated, and when I raised my eyes the Presence was
seated in the other chair beyond the table. He told me that he had come at the
crisis when I needed him; that my actions had brought me to this point; that it
lay with me alone whether he and I should meet often in this life as coworkers
for the good of mankind; that a great work was to be done for humanity and I had
the right to share in it if I wished; that a mysterious tie, not now to be
explained to me, had drawn my colleague and myself together; a tie which could
not be broken, however strained it might be at times."32
Then he arose and reading the Colonel's sudden but unexpressed wish that he
might leave behind him some token of his visit, he untwisted the fehta from his
head, laid it on the table, saluted benignantly and was gone.
Many a time, according to the Colonel's version, they were regaled with most
exquisite music, or single bell sounds, coming from anywhere in the room and
softly dying away.
45
Olcott tells of the deposit of one thousand dollars to his bank account by a
person described by the bank clerk as a Hindu, while he (Olcott) was absent from
the city for two months on business which he had undertaken at the behest of the
Master through H.P.B. He had told her that his errand would cost him about five
hundred dollars per month through his neglect of his business for the time.
In 1878 the Countess Paschkoff brought to light an adventure which she had had
years before while traveling with Madame Blavatsky in the Libanus. The two women
encountered each other in the desert and camped together one night near the
river Orontes. Nearby stood a great monument on the border of the village. The
Countess asked Madame to tell her the history of the monument. At night the
thaumaturgist built a fire, drew a circle about it and repeated several
"spells." Soon balls of white flame appeared on the monument, then from a cloud
of vapor emerged the spirit of the person to whom it had been dedicated. "Who
are you?" asked the woman. "I am Hiero, one of the priests of the temple," said
the voice of the spirit.
He then showed them the temple in the midst of a vast city. Then the image
vanished and the priest with it.
To round out the story of her phenomena it is necessary to relate with the
utmost brevity the incidents of the kind that transpired from the time of the
departure from America to India at the end of 1878 until the latter days of her
life. This narrative will include occurrences taking place in India, France,
Germany, and England.
It was in India that the so-called Mahatma Letters were precipitated, upon which
the basic structure of Theosophy is seen to rest. Mr. A. P. Sinnett, British
journalist, editor of "The Pioneer," living in India, is the main authority for
the events of the Indian period in Madame Blavatsky's life.
During the first visit of six weeks to Mr. Sinnett's home at Allahabad there
were comparatively few incidents, apart from raps. A convincing exploit of her
power was granted, however, for one evening while the party was sitting in the
large hall of the house of the Maharajah of Vizianagaram at Benares, three or
four large cut roses fell from the ceiling. The ceiling was bare and the room
well lighted.
About the beginning of September 1880 she visited the Sinnetts at their home in
Simla. Here some more striking incidents took place. During an evening walk with
Mrs. Sinnett to a neighboring hilltop, Madame, in response to a suddenly-
expressed wish of her companion, obtained for her a little note from one of the
"Brothers." Madame had torn off a blank corner of a sheet of a letter received
that day and held it in her hand for the Master's use. It disappeared. Then Mrs.
Sinnett was asked where she would like the paper to reappear. She whimsically
pointed up into a tree a little to one side. Clambering up into the branches she
found the same little corner of pink paper sticking on a sharp twig, now
containing a brief message and signed by some Tibetan characters.
A little later the most spectacular of the marvels said to have been performed
by the "Messenger of the Great White Brotherhood" took place. A picnic party to
the woods some miles distant was planned one morning and six persons prepared to
set off. Lunches were packed for six, but a seventh person unexpectedly joined [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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