arrival of the crusaders, the English Theosophists are a unit in the
expression of opinion that it illustrated, as did her speech in Queen's
Hall, merely 'unmeaning platitudes and prophecies.' But the American
members are quite as loud in their expressions that the English members
are trying to win the sympathies of the public, and that the words are
really understood by the initiate.
"The letter reads: 'In thanking you for the many kind letters addressed to
me as Katherine Tingley, as well as by other names that would not be
understood by the general public, I should like to say a few words as to
the future and its possibilities. Many of you are destined to take an
active part in the work that the future will make manifest, and it is well
to press onward with a clear knowledge of the path to be trodden and with
a clear vision of the goal to be reached.
"'The path to be trodden is both exterior and interior, and in order to
reach the goal it is necessary to tread these paths with strength,
courage, faith and the essence of them all, which is wisdom.
"'For these two paths, which fundamentally are one, like every duality in
nature, are winding paths, and now lead through sunlight, then through
deepest shade. During the last few years the large majority of students
have been rounding a curve in the paths of both inner and outer work, and
this wearied many. But those who persevered and faltered not will soon
reap their reward.
[Illustration: FIG. 39. PORTRAIT OF MRS. TINGLEY.
[Reproduced by courtesy of the _New York Herald_.]]
"'The present is pregnant with the promise of the near future, and that
future is brighter than could be believed by those who have so recently
been immersed in the shadows that are inevitable in cyclic progress. Can
words describe it? I think not. But if you will think of the past twenty
years of ploughing and sowing and will keep in your mind the tremendous
force that has been scattered broadcast throughout the world, you must
surely see that the hour for reaping is near at hand, if it has not
already come."
The invasion of English territory by the American crusaders was resented
by the British Theosophists. The advocates of universal brotherhood waged
bitter warfare against each other in the newspapers and periodicals. It
gradually resolved itself into a struggle for supremacy between the two
rival claimants for the mantle of Madame Blavatsky, Mrs. Annie Besant and
Mrs. Tingley. Each Pythoness ascended her sacred tripod and hysterically
denounced the other as an usurper, and false prophetess. Annie Besant
sought to disprove the idea of Madame Blavatsky having re-incarnated
herself in the body of Mrs. Tingley. She claimed that the late High
Priestess had taken up her earthly pilgrimage again in the person of a
little Hindoo boy, who lived somewhere on the banks of the Ganges. The
puzzling problem was this: If Mrs. Tingley was Mme. Blavatsky, where was
Mrs. Tingley? Oedipus would have gone mad trying to solve this Sphinx
riddle.
The crusade finished, Mrs. Tingley, with her purple banner returned to New
York, where she was royally welcomed by her followers. In the wake of the
American adept came the irrepressible Annie Besant, accompanied by a
sister Theosophist, the Countess Constance Wachmeister. Mrs. Besant,
garbed in a white linen robe of Hindoo pattern, lectured on occult
subjects to crowded houses in the principal cities of the East and West.
In the numerous interviews accorded her by the press, she ridiculed the
Blavatsky-Tingley re-incarnation theory. By kind permission of the _New
York Herald_, I reproduce a portrait of Mrs. Tingley. The reader will find
it interesting to compare this sketch with the photograph of Madame
Blavatsky given in this book. He will notice at once how much the two
occultists do resemble each other; both are grossly fat, puffy of face,
with heavy-lidded eyes and rather thick lips.
7. The Theosophical Temple.
If all the dreams of the Theosophical Society are fulfilled we shall see,
at no distant date, in the state of California, a sombre and mysterious
building, fashioned after an Egyptian temple, its pillars covered with
hieroglyphic symbols, and its ponderous pylons flanking the gloomy
entrance. Twin obelisks will stand guard at the gateway and huge bronze
sphinxes stare the tourist out of countenance. The Theosophical temple
will be constructed "upon certain mysterious principles, and the numbers 7
and 13 will play a prominent part in connection with the dimensions of the
rooms and the steps of the stairways." The Hierophants of occultism will
assemble here, weird initiations like those described in Moore's
"Epicurean" will take place, and the doctrines of Hindoo pantheism will be
expounded to the Faithful. The revival of the Egyptian mysteries seems to
be one of the objects aimed at in the establishment of this mystical
college. Just what the Egyptian Mysteries were is a mooted question among
Egyptologists. But this does not bother the modern adept.
Mr. Bucham Harding, the leading exponent of Theosophy mentioned above,
says that within the temple the neophyte will be brought face to face with
his own soul. "By what means cannot be revealed; but I may say that the
object of initiation will be to raise the consciousness of the pupil to a
plane where he will see and know his own divine soul and consciously
communicate with it. Once gained, this power is never lost. From this it
can be seen that occultism is not so unreal as many think, and that the
existence of soul is susceptible of actual demonstration. No one will be
received into the mysteries until, by means of a long and severe
probation, he has proved nobility of character. Only persons having
Theosophical training will be eligible, but as any believer in brotherhood
may become a Theosophist, all earnest truthseekers will have an
opportunity of admission.
"The probation will be sufficiently severe to deter persons seeking to
gratify curiosity from trying to enter. No trifler could stand the test.
There will be a number of degrees. Extremely few will be able to enter the
highest, as eligibility to it requires eradication of every human fault
and weakness. Those strong enough to pass through this become adepts."
The Masonic Fraternity, with its 33d degree and its elaborate initiations,
will have to look to its laurels, as soon as the Theosophical College of
Mystery is in good running order. Everyone loves mysteries, especially
when they are of the Egyptian kind. Cagliostro, the High Priest of Humbug,
knew this when he evolved the Egyptian Rite of Masonry, in the eighteenth
century. Speaking of Freemasonry, it is interesting to note the fact, as
stated by Colonel Olcott in "Old Diary Leaves," that Madame Blavatsky and
her coadjutors once seriously debated the question as to the advisability
of engrafting the Theosophical Society on the Masonic fraternity, as a
sort of higher degree,--Masonry representing the lesser mysteries, modern
Theosophy the greater mysteries. But little encouragement was given to the
Priestess of Isis by eminent Freemasons, for Masonry has always been the
advocate of theistic doctrines, and opposed to the pantheistic cult. At
another time, the leaders of Theosophy talked of imitating Masonry by
having degrees, an elaborate ritual, etc.; also pass words, signs and
grips, in order that "one _occult_ brother might know another in the
darkness as well as in the _astral_ light." This, however, was abandoned.
The founding of the Temple of Magic and Mystery in this country, with
ceremonies of initiation, etc., seems to me to be a palingenesis of Mme.
Blavatsky's ideas on the subject of occult Masonry.
8. Conclusions.
The temple of modern Theosophy, the foundation of which was laid by Madame
Blavatsky, rests upon the truth of the Mahatma stories. Disbelieve these,
and the entire structure falls to the ground like a house of cards. After
the numerous exposures, recorded in the preceding chapters, it is
difficult to place any reliance in the accounts of Mahatmic miracles.
There may, or may not, be sages in the East, acquainted with spiritual
laws of being, but that these masters, or adepts, used Madame Blavatsky as
a medium to announce certain esoteric doctrines to the Western world, is
exceedingly dubious.
The first work of any literary pretensions to call attention to Theosophy
was Sinnett's "Esoteric Buddhism." Of that production, William Emmette
Coleman says:
"'Esoteric Buddhism,' by A. P. Sinnett, was based upon statements
contained in letters received by Mr. Sinnett and Mr. A. O. Hume, through
Madame Blavatsky, purporting to be written by the Mahatmas Koot Hoomi and
Morya--principally the former. Mr. Richard Hodgson has kindly lent me a
considerable number of the original letters of the Mahatmas that leading
to the production of 'Esoteric Buddhism.' I find in them overwhelming
evidence that all of them were written by Madame Blavatsky. In these
letters are a number of extracts from Buddhist Books, alleged to be
translations from the originals by the Mahatmic writers themselves. These
letters claim for the adepts a knowledge of Sanskrit, Thibetan, Pali and
Chinese. I have traced to its source each quotation from the Buddhist
Scriptures in the letters, and they were all copied from current English
translations, including even the notes and explanations of the English
translators. They were principally copied from Beal's 'Catena of Buddhist
Scriptures from the Chinese.' In other places where the 'adept' is using
his own language in explanation of Buddhistic terms and ideas, I find that
his presumed original language was copied nearly word for word from Rhys
Davids' 'Buddhism,' and other books. I have traced every Buddhistic idea
in these letters and in 'Esoteric Buddhism,' and every Buddhistic term,
such as Devachan, Avitchi, etc., to the books whence Helena Petrovna
Blavatsky derived them. Although said to be proficient in the knowledge of
Thibetan and Sanskrit the words and terms in these languages in the
letters of the adepts were nearly all used in a ludicrously erroneous and
absurd manner. The writer of those letters was an ignoramus in Sanskrit
and Thibetan; and the mistakes and blunders in them, in these languages,
are in exact accordance with the known ignorance of Madame Blavatsky
concerning these languages. 'Esoteric Buddhism,' like all of Madame
Blavatsky's works, was based upon wholesale plagiarism and ignorance."
[Illustration: FIG. 40. MADAME BLAVATSKY'S AUTOGRAPH.]
Madame Blavatsky never succeeded in penetrating into Thibet, in whose
sacred "lamaseries" and temples dwell the wonderful Mahatmas of modern
Theosophy, but William Woodville Rockhill, the American traveller and
Oriental scholar, did, and we have a record of his adventures in "The Land
of the Laas," published in 1891. While at Serkok, he visited a famous
monastery inhabited by 700 lamas. He says (page 102): "They asked endless
questions concerning the state of Buddhism in foreign lands. They were
astonished that it no longer existed in India, and that the church of
Ceylon was so like the ancient Buddhist one. When told of our esoteric
Buddhists, the Mahatmas, and of the wonderful doctrines they claimed to
have obtained from Thibet, they were immensely amused. They declared that
though in ancient times there were, doubtless, saints and sages who could
perform some of the miracles now claimed by the Esoterists, none were
living at the present day; and they looked upon this new school as rankly
heretical, and as something approaching an imposition on our credulity."
"Isis Unveiled," and the "Secret Doctrine," by Madame Blavatsky, are
supposed to contain the completest exposition of Theosophy, or the inner
spiritual meaning of the great religious cults of the world, but, as we
have seen, they are full of plagiarisms and garbled statements, to say
nothing of "spurious quotations from Buddhist sacred books, manufactured
by the writer to embody her own peculiar views, under the fictitious guise
of genuine Buddhism." This last quotation from Coleman strikes the keynote
of the whole subject. Esoteric Buddhism is a product of Occidental
manufacture, a figment of Madame Blavatsky's romantic imagination, and by
no means represents the truth of Oriental philosophy.
As Max Mueller, one of the greatest living Oriental scholars, has
repeatedly stated, any attempt to read into Oriental thought our Western
science and philosophy or to reconcile them, is futile to a degree; the
two schools are as opposite to each other, as the negative and positive
poles of a magnet, Orientalism representing the former, Occidentalism, the
latter. Oriental philosophy with its Indeterminate Being (or pure nothing
as the Absolute) ends in the utter negation of everything and affords no
clue to the secret of the Universe. If to believe that all is _maya_,
(illusion), and that to be one with Brahma (absorbed like the rain drop in
the ocean) constitutes the _summum bonum_ of thinking, then there is no
explanation of, or use for, evolution or progress of any kind. The effect
of Hindoo philosophy has been stagnation, indifferentism, and, as a
result, the Hindoo has no recorded history, no science, no art worthy the
name. Compared to it see what Greek philosophy has done: it has
transformed the Western world: Starting with Self-Determined Being,
reason, self-activity, at the heart of the Universe, and the creation of
individual souls by a process of evolution in time and space, and the
unfolding of a splendid civilization are logical consequences. In the
East, it is the destruction of self-hood; in the West the destruction of
selfishness, and the preservation of self-hood.
Many noted Theosophists claim that modern Theosophy is not a religious
cult, but simply an exposition of the esoteric, or inner spiritual meaning
of the great religious teachers of the world. Let me quote what Solovyoff
says on this point:
"The Theosophical Society shockingly deceived those who joined it as
members, in reliance on the regulations. It gradually grew evident that it
was no universal scientific brotherhood, to which the followers of all
religions might with a clear conscience belong, but a group of persons who
had begun to preach in their organ, _The Theosophist_, and in their other
publications, a mixed religious doctrine. Finally, in the last years of
Madame Blavatsky's life, even this doctrine gave place to a direct and
open propaganda of the most orthodox exoteric Buddhism, under the motto of
'Our Lord Buddha,' combined with incessant attacks on Christianity. * * *
Now, in 1893, as the direct effect of this cause, we see an entire
religious movement, we see a prosperous and growing plantation of Buddhism
in Western Europe."
As a last word let me add that if, in my opinion, modern Theosophy has no
right to the high place it claims in the world of thought, it has
performed its share in the noble fight against the crass materialism of
our day, and, freed from the frauds that have too long darkened its
poetical aspects, it may yet help to diffuse through the world the pure
light of brotherly love and spiritual development.
List of Works Consulted in the Preparation of this Volume
AKSAKOFF, ALEXANDER N. =Animism and Spiritism=: an attempt at a critical
investigation of mediumistic phenomena, with special reference to the
hypotheses of hallucination and of the unconscious; an answer to Dr. E.
von Hartmann's work, "Der Spiritismus." 2 vols. Leipsic, 1890. 8vo. (A
profoundly interesting work by an impartial Russian savant. Judicial,
critical and scientific.)
AZAM, DR. =Hypnotisme et Altérations de la Personnalité.= Paris, 1887.
8vo.
BERNHEIM, HIPPOLYTE. =Suggestive Therapeutics=: A study of the nature and
use of hypnotism. Translated from the French. New York, 1889. 4to.
BINET, A. AND FÉRÉ, C. =Animal Magnetism.= Translated from the French. New
York, 1888.
BLAVATSKY, MADAME HÉLÈNE PETROVNA HAHN-HAHN. =Isis Unveiled=: A Master-key
to the mysteries of ancient and modern science and theology. 6th ed. New
York, 1891. 2 vols. 8vo. (A heterogeneous mass of poorly digested
quotations from writers living and dead, with running remarks by Mme.
Blavatsky. A hodge-podge of magic, masonry, and Oriental witchcraft.
Pseudo-scientific.)
------ =The Secret Doctrine=: The Synthesis of science, religion, and
philosophy. 2 vols. New York, 1888. 8vo. (Philosophical in character. A
reading of Western thought into Oriental religions and symbolisms.
So-called quotations from the "Book of Dzyan," manufactured by the
ingenious mind of the authoress.)
CROCQ FILS, DR. =L'hypnotisme.= Paris, 1896. 4to. (An exhaustive work on
hypnotism in all its phases.)
CROOKES, WILLIAM. =Researches in the Phenomena of Spiritualism.= London,
1876. 8vo, (pamphlet).
------ =Psychic Force and Modern Spiritualism.= London, 1875. 8vo,
(pamphlet). (Very interesting exposition of experiments made with D. D.
Home, the spirit medium.)
DAVENPORT, R. B. =Death Blow to Spiritualism=: True story of the Fox
sisters. New York, 1888. 8vo.
DESSOIR, MAX. =The Psychology of Legerdemain.= _Open Court_, vol. vii.
GARRETT, EDMUND. =Isis Very Much Unveiled=: Being the story of the great
Mahatma hoax. London, 1895. 8vo.
GASPARIN, COMTE AGÉNOR DE. =Des Tables Tournantes, du Surnaturel et des
Esprits.= Paris, 1854. 8vo.
GATCHELL, CHARLES. The methods of mind-readers. _Forum_, vol. xi, pp.
192-204.
GIBIER, DR. PAUL. =Le Spiritisme= (fakirisme occidental). Étude
historique, critique et expérimentale. Paris, 1889. 8vo.
GURNEY, E., MYERS, F. W., AND PODMORE, F. =Phantasms of the Living.= 2
vols. London, 1887. (Embodies the investigations of the Society for
Psychical Research into Spiritualism, Telepathy, Thought-transference,
etc.)
HAMMOND, DR. W. H. =Spiritualism and Nervous Derangement.= New York, 1876.
8vo.
HARDINGE-BRITTAN, EMMA. =History of Spiritualism.= New York. 4to.
HART, ERNEST. =Hypnotism, Mesmerism and the New Witchcraft.= London, 1893.
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HOME, D. D. =Lights and Shadows of Spiritualism.= New York, 1878. 8vo.
HUDSON, THOMAS JAY. =The Law of Psychic Phenomena.= New York, 1894. 8vo.
------ =A Scientific Demonstration of the Future Life.= Chicago, 1895.
8vo.
JAMES, WILLIAM. =Psychology.= New York, 1892. 8vo, 2 vols.
JASTROW, JOSEPH. =Involuntary Movements.= _Popular Science Monthly_, vol.
xl, pp. 743-750. (Interesting account of experiments made in a
Psychological Laboratory to demonstrate "the readiness with which normal
individuals may be made to yield evidence of unconscious and involuntary
processes." Throws considerable light on muscle-reading,
planchette-writing, etc.)
------ =The Psychology of Deception.= _Popular Science Monthly_, vol.
xxxiv, pp. 145-157.
------ =The Psychology of Spiritualism.= _Popular Science Monthly_, vol.
xxxiv, pp. 721-732.
(A series of articles of great value to students of psychical
research.)
KRAFFT-EBING, R. =Experimental Study in the Domain of Hypnotism.= New
York, 1889.
LEAF, WALTER. =A Modern Priestess of Isis=; abridged and translated on
behalf of the Society for Psychical Research, from the Russian of Vsevolod
S. Solovyoff. London, 1895. 8vo.
LILLIE, ARTHUR. =Madame Blavatsky and her Theosophy.= London, 1896. 8vo.
LIPPITT, F. J. =Physical Proofs of Another Life=: Letters to the Seybert
commission. Washington, D. C., 1888. 8vo.
MACAIRE, SID. =Mind-Reading, or Muscle-Reading?= London, 1889.
MOLL, ALBERT. =Hypnotism.= New York, 1892. 8vo.
MATTISON, REV. H. =Spirit-rapping Unveiled.= An Exposé of the origin,
history theology and philosophy of certain alleged communications from the
spiritual world by means of "spirit-rapping," "medium writing," "physical
demonstrations," etc. New York, 1855. 8vo.
MYERS, F. W. H. =Science and a Future Life=, and other essays. London,
1891. 8vo.
OCHOROWICZ, DR. J. =Mental Suggestion= (with a preface by Prof. Charles
Richet). From the French by J. Fitz-Gerald. New York, 1891. 8vo.
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improbable incidents in the career of Madame Blavatsky. Valuable on
account of its numerous quotations from American journals concerning the
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PODMORE, FRANK S. =Apparitions and Thought-Transference=: Examination of
the evidence of telepathy. New York, 1894. 8vo. (A thoughtful scientific
work on a profoundly interesting subject.)
REVELATIONS OF A SPIRIT MEDIUM; or, =Spiritualistic Mysteries Exposed=.
St. Paul, Minn., 1891. 8vo. (One of the best exposés of physical phenomena
published.)
ROBERT-HOUDIN, J. E. =The Secrets of Stage Conjuring.= From the French, by
Prof. Hoffmann. New York, 1881. 8vo. (A full account of the performances
of the Davenport Bros. in Paris, by the most famous of contemporary
conjurers.)
ROARK, RURICK N. =Psychology in Education.= New York, 1895. 8vo.
ROCKHILL, WM. W. =The Land of the Lamas.= New York, 1891. 8vo.
SEYBERT COMMISSION ON SPIRITUALISM. =Preliminary Report.= New York, 1888.
8vo. (Absolutely anti-spiritualistic. The psychical phases of the subject
not considered.)
SIDGWICK, MRS. H. =Article "Spiritualism" in "Encyclopædia Britannica,"=
vol. 22. (An excellent resumé of spiritualism, its history and phenomena.)
SINNETT, A. P. (_Ed._) =Incidents in the life of Mme. Blavatsky.= London,
1886. 8vo. (Interesting, but replete with wildly improbable incidents,
etc. Of little value as a life of the famous occultist.)
------ =The Occult World.= London, 1885. 8vo.
------ =Esoteric Buddhism.= London, 1888. 8vo.
SOCIETY FOR PSYCHICAL RESEARCH: =Proceedings.= Vols. 1-11. [1882-95.]
London, 1882-95. 8vo. (The most exhaustive researches yet set on foot by
impartial investigators. Scientific in character, and invaluable to the
student. Psychical phases of spiritualism mostly dealt with.)
TRUESDELL, JOHN W. =The Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of
Spiritualism=: Derived from careful investigations covering a period of
twenty-five years. New York, 1883. 8vo. (Anti-spiritualistic. Exposés of
physical phenomena: psychography, rope-tests, etc. Of its kind, a valuable
contribution to the literature of the subject.)
WEATHERLY, DR. L. A., AND MASKELYNE, J. N. =The Supernatural.= Bristol,
Eng., 1891. 8vo.
WILLMANN, CARL. =Moderne Wunder.= Leipsic, 1892. 8vo. (Contains
interesting accounts of Dr. Slade's Berlin and Leipsic experiences. It is
written by a professional conjurer. Anti-spiritualistic.)
WOODBURY, WALTER E. =Photographic Amusements.= New York, 1896. 8vo.
(Contains some interesting accounts of so-called spirit photography.)
FOOTNOTES:
[1] Introduction to Herrmann the Magician, his Life, his Secrets, (Laird &
Lee, Publishers.)
[2] Spiritualism and nervous derangement, New York, 1876. p. 115.
[3] The Bottom Facts Concerning the Science of Spiritualism, etc., New
York, 1883.
[4] Communication to _New York Sun_, 1892.
[5] NOTE--These letters were purchased from the _Christian College
Magazine_ by Dr. Elliot Coues, of Washington, D. C.
[6] "Old Diary Leaves"--_Olcott_.
Transcriber's Notes:
Passages in italics are indicated by _italics_.
Passages in bold are indicated by =bold=.