Theos-Talk Archives (January 1997 Message tt00007)

Re: Personal survival: A QUESTION TO MICHAEL ROGG ABOUT THE
THEOSOPHICAL MASTERS

In a recent posting on Theos-l, Michael Rogg wrote in part:

"I have devoted quite a few pages on my site to the personal
survival problem and more in my book "Dood geen Einde" (Death no
End) , particularly the Spiritualists' point of view.  It is my
opinion that Theosophists should acquaint themselves far more
with mediumistic phenomena because from that stable came the
movement but severed its connections for various reasons,
although HPB continued to act as a medium.  For me the clue to
the communications of the Masters lies in similar inspired
writings (Old Testament).  Communicators born out of fantasy may
take on quite a solid appearance.  I have given an example in my
summary of the "Philip" experiments by Canadian parapsycholgists
(see my page on the "presence phenomenon") of a product of
fantasy being evoked which made itself physically known."

On Michael's WWW homepage, he says that "proof of their [the
Masters'] existence has never been found."

I have a question, Michael.  Have you had a chance to read K.
Paul Johnson's THE MASTERS REVEALED and my critique [HOUSE OF
CARDS] of his thesis on the Masters M.  and K.H? In both his book
and my critique you will find testimony by Henry Olcott and
others on their encounters with these two Masters.  How do you
explain these experiences especially in light of your statement
that "communicators born out of fantasy may take on quite a solid
appearance"? I have studied the history of spiritualism for more
than twenty years and I have never found accounts in the
spiritualistic literature that would parallel the testimonies
concerning the Theosophical Masters.  K.  Paul Johnson and I do
not see eye to eye on many things, but we do, I believe, agree
that there is evidence indicating that at least the Master "Koot
Hoomi" was a living flesh and blood person and not some
ectoplasmic manifestation materialized through Blavatsky's
"mediumship."

Have you read these accounts by Olcott and others? And how do you
explain these accounts? You raise good questions but your
narratives on Theos-l and on your homepage about HPB, mediumship,
the Masters and spiritualism are couched in very vague,
non-specific language and do not grapple with the detailed
accounts as given by Olcott and other witnesses to HPB's
phenomena and the encounters with the Mahatmas.  Some of this
rich, detailed testimony has been published in my 1991 book
titled THE OCCULT WORLD OF MADAME BLAVATSKY.

In the last year I have been studying the remarkable mediumship
of the Reverend Francis Monck, a contemporary of Blavatsky's.  I
may try to post on Theos-l some of the accounts of his
materializations in full light.  I do agree that most
Theosophists and even Blavatsky students appear to be uninformed
about the history of spiritualism and its interrelationship with
the history of Theosophy and Blavatsky.  Much of what is written
on mediumship and life after death in THE MAHATMAS LETTERS is not
apparently fully appreciated by students of these letters; I
believe one of the reasons is the fact that most students and
readers of these letters do not have a good background
understanding of spiritualism, its phenomena and teachings.  For
example, a careful reading of LIGHT magazine during the years
1881-1895 is very informative for the student of Blavatsky and
Theosophy.

What books on spiritualism would you (Michael) recommend for
interested Theos-l readers? I will try to post in the near future
a number of "reference books" which give good overviews and a
great deal of detail on spiritualism, its phenomena, its
teachings, and its history.

Michael, I agree that the book CONJURING UP PHILIP: An Adventure
in Psychokinesis by Iris M.  Owen and Margaret Sparrow is a very
important book.  I would suggest any interested Blavatsky student
should read CONJURING UP PHILIP in conjunction with THE OCCULT
WORLD (1881) written by A.P.  Sinnett.  A comparison of these two
books and some of the ideas enunciated in both works will lead to
some interesting insights and conclusions.

Writing this posting reminded me of a work I did in 1989 titled
KRIYASHAKTI CONSCIOUS AND UNCONSCIOUS: The Psychology of the
Visionary Experience which gives the Theosophical perspective as
given in the writings of Blavatsky and the Mahatmas.  I think I
will prepare it for publication on the World Wide Web.