Nonfiction Books

"And now it is your province to decide which will you have: the highest philosophy or simple exhibitions of occult powers. Of course this is by far not the last word between us and—you will have time to think it over. The Chiefs want a Brotherhood of Humanity," a real Universal Fraternity started; an institution which would make itself known throughout the world and arrest the attention of the highest minds."

"Good friend, I will not, in sending forth the letter, reiterate again the many remarks that might be made respecting the various objections which we have the right to raise against Spiritual phenomena and its mediums. We have done our duty; and, because the voice of truth came through a channel which few liked, it was pronounced as false, and along with it—Occultism. The time has gone by to argue, and the hour when it will be proved to the world that Occult Science instead of being... a superstition itself, as they may be disposed to think it, will be found the explanation and the extinguisher of all superstitions—is nearby."

"Fasting, meditation, chastity of thought, word, and deed; silence for certain periods of time to enable nature herself to speak to him who comes to her for information; government of the animal passions and impulses; utter unselfishness of intention, the use of certain incense and fumigations for physiological purposes, have been published as the means since the days of Plato and lamblichus in the West, and since the far earlier times of our Indian Rishis..."

"There is a tone of complaint in your question whether there will ever be a renewal of the vision you had, the night before the picnic day. Methinks, were you to have a vision nightly, you would soon cease to treasure them at all. But there is a far weightier reason why you should not have a surfeit—it would be a waste of our strength. As often as I, or any of us can communicate with you, whether by dreams, waking impressions, letters (in or out of pillows) or personal visits in astral form—it will be done. But remember that Simla is 7,000 feet higher than Allahabad, and the difficulties to be surmounted at the latter are tremendous. I abstain from encouraging you to expect too much, for, like yourself, I am loathe to promise what, for various reasons, I may not be able to perform."

"While the facilities of observation secured to some of us by our condition certainly give a greater breadth of view, a more pronounced and impartial, as a more widely spread humaneness... we might justly maintain that it is . . . the business of magic to humanise our natures with compassion for the whole mankind as all living beings, instead of concentrating and limiting our affections to one predilected race — yet few of us (except such as have attained the final negation of Moksha) can so far enfranchise ourselves from the influence of our earthly connection as to be insusceptible in various degrees to the higher pleasures, emotions, and interests of the common run of humanity. p. 32-33"

"For centuries we have had in Tibet a moral, pure hearted, simple people, unblest with civilization, hence—untainted by its vices. For ages has been Tiibet the last corner of the globe not so entirely corrupted as to preclude the mingling together of the two atmospheres—the physical and the spiritual. And he would have us exchange this for his ideal of civilization and Govt.! This is pure self peroration, an intense passion for hearing himself discuss, and for imposing his ideas upon every one."

"The term "Universal Brotherhood" is no idle phrase. Humanity in the mass has a paramount claim upon us, as I tried to explain in my letter to Mr. Hume, which you had better ask the loan of. It is the only secure foundation for universal morality... it is the aspiration of the true adept."

"Until final emancipation reabsorbs the Ego it must be conscious of the purest sympathies called out by the esthetic effects of high art, its tenderest cords to respond to the call of the holier and nobler human attachments. Of course, the greater the progress towards deliverance, the less this will be the case, until, to crown all, human and purely individual personal feelings—blood-ties and friendship, patriotism and race predilection—all will give way, to become blended into one universal feeling, the only true and holy, the only unselfish and eternal one—Love, an Immense Love for humanity—as a Whole! For it is humanity which is the great Orphan, the only disinherited one upon this earth, my friend. And it is the duty of every man who is capable of an unselfish impulse to do something, however little, for its welfare. Poor, poor humanity! it reminds me of the old fable of the war between the Body and its members: here, too, each limb of this huge "orphan"—fatherless and motherless—selfishly cares but for itself. The body uncared for suffers internally, whether the limbs are at war or at rest. Its suffering and agony never ceases. . . . And who can blame it — as your materialistic philosophers do— if, in this everlasting isolation and neglect it has evolved gods, unto whom "it ever cries for help but is not heard! p. 33"

"The first and chief consideration in determining us to accept or reject your offer lies in the inner motive which propels you to seek our instructions, and in a certain sense—our guidance."

"Now, what are your motives? I may try to define them in their general aspect, leaving details for further consideration. They are : (i) The desire to receive positive and unimpeachable proofs that there really are forces in nature of which science knows nothing; (2) The hope to appropriate them some day—the sooner the better, for you do not like to wait—so as to enable yourself—(a) to demonstrate their existence to a few chosen western minds; (b) to contemplate future life as an objective reality built upon the rock of Knowledge —not of faith; and (c) to finally learn—most important this, among all your motives, perhaps, though the most occult and the best guarded—the whole truth about our Lodges and ourselves; to get, in short, the positive assurance that the Brothers —of whom everyone hears so much and sees so little—are real entities—not fictions of a disordered hallucinated brain."

"He who would lift up high the banner of mysticism and proclaim its reign near at hand, must give the example to others. He must be the first to change his modes of life; and, regarding the study of the occult mysteries as the upper step in the ladder of Knowledge must loudly proclaim it such" despite exact science and the opposition of society. '"

"Having then expressed.. my opinion that the world in general was unripe for any too staggering proof of occult power, there but remains to deal with the isolated individuals, who seek like yourself to penetrate behind the veil of matter into the world of primal causes, i.e., we need only consider now the cases of yourself and Mr. Hume."

"To our minds then, these motives, sincere and worthy of every serious consideration from the worldly standpoint, appear—selfish... They are selfish because you must be aware that the chief object of the T.S. is not so much to gratify individual aspirations as to serve our fellow men..."

"The mysteries never were, never can be, put within the reach of the general public, not, at least, until that longed for day when our religious philosophy becomes universal. At no time have more than a scarcely appreciable minority of men possessed nature's secret, though multitudes have witnessed the practical evidences of the possibility of their possession."

"We will be at cross purposes in our correspondence until it has been made entirely plain that occult science has its own methods of research as fixed and arbitrary as the methods of its antithesis physical science are in their way. If the latter has its dicta so also has the former; and he who would cross the boundary of the unseen world can no more prescribe how he will proceed than the traveller who tries to penetrate to the inner subterranean recesses of L'Hassa—the blessed, could show the way to his guide."

"The adept is the rare efflorescence of a generation of enquirers; and to become one, he must obey the inward impulse of his soul irrespective of the prudential considerations of worldly science or sagacity."

"Perhaps you will better appreciate our meaning when told that in our view the highest aspirations for the welfare of humanity become tainted with selfishness if, in the mind of the philanthropist there lurks the shadow of desire for self benefit or a tendency to do injustice, even when these exist unconsciously to himself. Yet, you have ever discussed but to put down the idea of a universal Brotherhood, questioned its usefulness, and advised to remodel the T.S. on the principle of a college for the special study of occultism. This my respected and esteemed friend and Brother—will never do!"

"Your desire is to be brought to communicate with one of us directly, without the agency of either Mad. B. or any medium. Your idea would be, as I understand it, to obtain such communications either by letters —as the present one—or by audible words so as to be guided by one of us in the management and principally in the instruction of the society. You seek all this, and yet, as you say yourself, hitherto you have not found "sufficient reasons " to even give up your "modes of life"—directly hostile to such modes of communications. This is hardly reasonable."

"Olcott is doubtless out of time with the feelings of English people of both classes; but nevertheless more in time with us than either. Him we can trust under all circumstances, and his faithful service is pledged to us come well—come ill. My Dear Brother, my voice is the echo of impartial justice. Where can we find an equal devotion? He is one who never questions, but obeys; who may make innumerable mistakes out of excessive zeal but never is unwilling to repair his fault even at the cost of the greatest self-humiliation ; who esteems the sacrifice of comfort and even life something to be cheerfully risked whenever necessary; who will eat any food, or even go without ; sleep on any bed, work in any place..."

"We doubt not but the men of your science are open to conviction; yet facts must be first demonstrated to them, they must first become their own property, have proved amenable to their own modes of investigation, before you find them ready to admit them as facts. If you but look into the Preface to the "Micrographia" you will find in Hooke's suggestions that the intimate relations of objects were of less account in his eyes than their external operation on the senses —and Newton's fine discoveries found in him their greatest opponent. The modern Hookeses are many. Like this learned but ignorant man of old your modern men of science are less anxious to suggest a physical connexion of facts which might unlock for them many an occult force in nature, as to provide a convenient 'classification of scientific experiments' so that the most essential quality of an hypothesis is not that it should be true but only plausible—in their opinion."

"And, as the very existence of those gigantic ancestors of ours is now questioned — though in the Hiniavats, on the very territory belonging to you we have a cave full of the skeletons of these giants — and their huge frames when found are invariably regarded as isolated freaks of nature, so the vril or Akds — as we call it — is looked upon as an impossibility, a myth."

"As for human nature in general, it is the same now as it was a million of years ago: Prejudice based upon selfishness; a general unwillingness to give up an established order of things for new modes of life and thought—and occult study requires all that and much more—; pride and stubborn resistance to Truth if it but upsets their previous notions of things,—such are the characteristics of your age, and especially of the middle and lower classes."

"In common with many, you blame us for our great secrecy. Yet we know something of human nature for the experience of long centuries—aye, ages—has taught us. And, we know, that so long as science has anything to learn, and a shadow of religious dogmatism lingers in the hearts of the multitudes, the world's prejudices have to be conquered step by step, not at a rush."

"Roma ante Romulum fuit — is an axiom taught to us in your English schools. Abstract enquiries into the most puzzling problems did not arise in the brain of Archimedes as a spontaneous and hitherto untouched subject, but rather as a reflection of prior enquiries in the same direction and by men separated from his days by as long a period—and far longer—than the one which separates you from the great Syracusian. The vril of the "Coming Age" was the common property of races now extinct. (Note: Roma ante Romulum fuit is Latin for "Rome existed before Romulus/the founder of Rome)."

"As hoary antiquity had more than one Socrates so the dim Future will give birth to more than one martyr. Enfranchised science contemptuously turned away her face from the Copernian opinion renewing the theories of Aristarchus Samius—who "affirmeth that the earth moveth circularly about her own centre" years before the Church sought to sacrifice Galileo as a holocaust to the Bible."

"Let us take the most prominent... misconceptions one by one, and endeavour to expose their fallacies. Some of them may be described as religious misconceptions, and their prevalence may be directly traced to the corruption of original Christian doctrine which has crept into our churches and destroyed so much of their vitality and usefulness."

"Yet I confess that I, individually, am not yet exempt from some of the terrestrial attachments. I am still attracted towards some men more than toward others, and philanthropy as preached by our Great Patron— the Saviour of the World—the Teacher of Nirvana and the Law ... has never killed in me either individual preferences of friendship, love—for my next of kin— or the ardent feeling of patriotism for the country—in which I was last materially individualized."

"You must have understood by this time my friend, that the continual attempt made by us to open the eyes of the blind world — has nearly failed: in India — partially, in Europe — with a few exceptions—absolutely."

"It is remarkable, more than thirty years after her death, how Madame Blavatsky is justified at almost every point in these letters. Few people have been more unjustly reviled, and even some of those who knew her intimately preferred to believe that she had committed every kind of error rather than admit for an instant that they themselves could be in the wrong."

"How far she was ever the deceiver depicted by Mr. Sinnett in his posthumous publication "The Early Days of Theosophy in Europe," may be judged by the reader if he will study the letter from Master K.H. in which he gives his own opinion on her delinquencies. Those who love the memory of H. P. Blavatsky for her work and the gifts she gave them, cannot but feel after reading that letter that after all she was worthy of their high regard; and those who have tried to blacken that memory and minimise the value of the work she did, will rise to heights indeed if the prayer be granted — that they may never deserve worse condemnation."

"In nothing is Madame Blavatsky more completely vindicated than in the explanation and refutation she gave in The Secret Doctrine, of the misconceived theory in regard to Mars and Mercury, which was originally published in Esoteric Buddhism."

"The Master K. H. writes in very clear terms on this subject, and it may be well to quote his own words. "And now after making due allowance for evils that are natural and cannot be avoided . . . I will point out the greatest, the chief cause of nearly two-thirds of the evils that pursue humanity ever since that cause became a power. It is religion under whatever form and in whatsoever nation. It is the sacerdotal caste, the priesthood and the Churches; it is in those illusions that man looks upon as sacred, that he has to search out the source of that multitude of evils which is the great curse of humanity, and that almost overwhelms mankind. Ignorance created Gods, and cunning took advantage of the opportunity." (Letter No. X.) And again "Far from our thoughts may it ever be to erect a new hierarchy for the future oppression of a priest ridden world." (Letter No. LXXXVII.) The inference and the message of these words in our own times is sufficiently clear."

"The Masters are what they are; what they have written — they have written, and neither they nor their doctrines need the acclamation or apology of lesser minds. It is almost impossible to arrive at the facts, or even to form a trustworthy opinion upon a subject so far reaching, by studying an edited book of extracts. Therefore, that the members of the Theosophical Society and the world at large, should be enabled to study the truth for themselves concerning The Masters and their doctrines as set forth in these letters signed by their own hands, has been the aim of the compiler. To this end, the whole of the Mahatma Letters left by Mr. Sinnett have been transcribed verbatim from the originals and without omission."

"During the course of this correspondence which extended over the years 1880 to 1884 Mr. Sinnett received many letters from The Mahatmas M. and K.H., the Teachers in question, and it is these original communications which are published in the present volume under the title of " The Mahatma Letters." The circumstances attending their receipt were fully dealt with by Mr. Sinnett in his Occult World and they need not therefore be restated here."

"Many theories which have become the accepted dogmas of modern Theosophical doctrines, are clearly shown to be inaccurate and misleading, and it may therefore be profitable if the principal points of difference are indicated to the reader."

"If Master K.H. has said that, the Society can never perish, though Branches and individuals in it may," the words of that other Teacher must also be remembered, that new wine cannot be poured into old bottles and that he who would find his life must first lose it. Be on your guard against hypocrisy, for nothing is hidden that shall not be revealed, and nothing concealed that shall not be made known; and all that has been uttered in darkness shall be heard in the light, and what has been whispered in chambers shall be proclaimed from the house-tops... There are days that are coming when one stone shall not be left upon another without being torn down. Take care that you are not deceived, for many shall come in My Name saying, I am He, and the time is near "—but do not go after them. And when you hear of wars and disturbances, do not be scared. These have to come first, but the end is not yet. There will be signs in the Sun and Moon and Stars, while on Earth there will be dismay and bewilderment at the roar of the sea and the waves, men's hearts failing them for fear and foreboding of what is to befall the universe. For the orbs of the heavens will be shaken, and then they will see the Son of Man coming with power and great glory. When these things begin to happen, look up — for your release is not far distant."

"There has been an increasing tendency in the Society during the last twelve years, to place an undue reliance on ceremonial, orders, Churches, creeds and their equivalent, thereby sacrificing the virility of individual effort and freedom of thought, which was so noticeable in the early days of the movement."

"Esteemed Brother and Friend, Precisely because the test of the London newspaper would close the mouths of the skeptics — it is unthinkable. See it in what light you will — the world is yet in its first stage of disenthralment if not development, hence—unprepared. Very true, we work by natural not supernatural means and laws. But, as on the one hand Science would find itself unable (in its present state) to account for the wonders given in its name, and on the other the ignorant masses would still be left to view the phenomenon in the light of a miracle; everyone who would thus be made a witness to the occurrence would be thrown off his balance and the results would be deplorable. Believe me, it would be so—especially for yourself who originated the idea, and the devoted woman who so foolishly rushes into the wide open door leading to notoriety. This door, though opened by so friendly a hand as yours, would prove very soon a trap — and a fatal one indeed for her."

"It is well known, among students of Theosophy and Occultism, that the philosophical doctrines and ethics which were given to the world through the Theosophical Society during the 16 years immediately following its foundation in 1875, emanated from certain Eastern Teachers said to belong to an Occult Brotherhood living in the trans Himalayan fastnesses of Tibet. H. P. Blavatsky who, together with Colonel Olcott founded the Theosophical Society, acknowledged these Eastern Brothers as her Teachers, stating not only that They existed, but that she herself had received training and instruction at Their hands during her sojourn in Tibet, and was therefore able to speak from her own knowledge and personal experience. It was not until 1880... that... the late A. P. Sinnett, then living in India, was enabled through the agency of Madame Blavatsky, to enter into correspondence with her own Teachers, whom she referred to variously under the terms, The Brothers, The Mahatmas, and later The Masters of the Wisdom."

"You say — half London would be converted if you could deliver them a Pioneer on its day of publication. I beg to say that if the people believed the thing true they would kill you before you could make the round of Hyde Park; if it were not believed true, — the least that could happen would be the loss of your reputation and good name,—for propagating such ideas."

"People are sometimes inclined to think that after all it does not so very much matter if a man’s ideas about death are distorted; when he dies, they say, he will find out the facts for himself, and if he has been mistaken he will soon realize it. Such a contention is defective in two ways; (it takes no account of the awful terror of death which from ignorance overshadows the lives of so many, nor of all the unnecessary sorrow and anxiety felt by the survivors about the fate of departed friends; and it ignores the fact that man after death very often does not immediately realize his mistakes, and correct them by the light of the truth—and that in consequence of his inability to do this, much trouble frequently arises."

"Experimental knowledge does not quite date from 1662, when Bacon, Robert Boyle and the Bishop of Chester transformed under the royal charter their "Invisible College" into a Society for the promotion of experimental science. Ages before the Royal Society found itself becoming a reality upon the plan of the 'Prophetic Scheme' an innate longing for the hidden, a passionate love for and the study of nature had led men in every generation to try and fathom her secrets deeper than their neighbours did."

"The first and most fatal of all misconceptions about death is the idea that it is the end of all things; that there is nothing in man which survives it. Many people seem to be under the impression that this gross form of materialism has almost died out from among us; that it was a mental disease of the earlier part of the last, century, and that the race has now outgrown it. It is much to be wished that this view represented the facts of the case, but I fear a careful student of contemporary thought can hardly endorse it."

"One of the most curious cases of a man being saved from suicide... Mr. K-, she said , while sitting in his study one afternoon, fell, or fancied he fell, asleep. He thought that when in this condition he was abruptly awakened, and that while he was sitting wondering what it was that had awakened him, the door of his room very slowly opened and his friend B-, who lived in quite another part of the town, entered on tiptoe. He was about to speak to B-to ask him what he wanted, when B-put a finger to his lips as if to enjoin silence, and then, drawing a razor from his pocket, bared the blade of it, and raised it to his throat in the most horribly suggestive manner. Realizing that B-was about to· destroy himself, Mr. K... rushed to B-'s side. A furious struggle then ensued... The following day he met B-out of doors and was at once struck by his appearance. He looked pale and ill... "I say, old fellow," B-exclaimed, by way of greeting, "I've just had such an extraordinary experience. Things haven't gone very well with me lately, and yesterday afternoon I determined. to put an end to myself by cutting my throat. I was in my bedroom and I had my razor in my right hand, all ready to do the' deed, when, to my utter amazement... you suddenly came in at the door and tried to snatch it... p. 314"

"All taint of grief and mourning we firmly lay aside, Our seeming loss forgetting, since they are glorified. We know they stand before us and love us as of old; God grant we may not fail them, nor let our love grow cold. With heart and soul we trust Thee! Thy love no tongue can tell; Thou art the All-Commander, Who doest all things well..."

"Those who are functioning in full consciousness on the mental plane can clearly hear and thoroughly appreciate this magnificent outpouring, but even the disembodied entities of this level, each of whom is wrapped up in his own thought cloud, are also deeply affected by the elevating and ennobling influence of its resonant melody. The painter and the sculptor also, if they have followed their respective arts a always with a grand, unselfish aim, are here constantly making and sending forth a ll kinds of lovely forms for the delight and encouragement of their fellowmen, the forms being simply artificial elementals created by their thought."

"If you have been able to assimilate what I have already said, you will now understand that, however natural it may be for us to feel sorrow at the death of - our relatives, that sorrow is an error and an evil, and we ought to overcome it. There is no need to sorrow for them, for they have passed into a far wider and happier life. If we sorrow for our own fancied separation from them, we are, in the first place, weeping over an illusion, for in truth they are not separated from us; and, secondly, we are acting selfishly, because we are thinking more of our own apparent loss than of their great and real gain. We must strive to be utterly unselfish, as indeed all love should be. We must think of them and not of ourselves - not of what we wish or we feel, but solely of what is best for them and most helpful to their progress."

"Try to comprehend the unity of all; there is one God, and all are one in Him. If we can but bring home to ourselves the unity of that Eternal Love, there will be no more sorrow for us; for we shall realize, not for ourselves alone, but also for those whom we love, that whether we live or die, we are the Lord's, and that in Him we live and move and have our being, whether it be in this world or in the world to come. The attitude of mourning Is a faithless attitude an ignorant attitude. The more we know, the more fully we shall trust, for we shall feel with utter certainty that we and our dead alike are in the hands of perfect Power and perfect Wisdom, directed by perfect Love."

"We are often asked how suicide affects a man's position in the other world. First of all, it must be clearly understood that suicide is a wrong thing, and :no man should end his life before its natural time, unless it be in an act of heroism for the benefit of others. p. 168"

"Great as is the harm that often results from ignorance of these facts during life, it is perhaps even more serious after death. Hence the enormous advantage gained by one who has even only an intellectual appreciation of occult teaching on this subject."