Theos-Talk Archives (October 1997 Message tt00208)

David Pratt in his writeup response to Paul Johnson's book states
the following in the introductory para:

(Ref: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dp5/johnson.htm)

According to HPB, Master Koot Hoomi was a Kashmiri Brahmin by
birth, and Master Morya was a Rajput by birth.  She first met M
in his physical body in London in 1850/51, and she first met KH
in 1868.  The two masters generally lived in Tibet, though KH in
particular travelled widely.  They possessed highly developed
occult powers, and were members of an adept Brotherhood that had
existed for countless millennia.  According to Paul Johnson, on
the other hand, the Trans-Himalayan Brotherhood is a myth, and
HPB's portrayal of the mahatmas is largely fiction.  He does not
deny that beings like the masters of the theosophical tradition
could exist, but he denies that HPB was ever in contact with, or
the agent of, a brotherhood of spiritually advanced adepts.  He
contends that "Morya", "Koot Hoomi", etc., were the names of
characters created by HPB, who drew their attributes partly from
actual historical figures she had met, and partly from her
imagination.

While I am not a scholar in these historical matters, one issue
that I would like to be explored is how the claims of Sri.
Ramalingam fit into the overall picture relating to the Mahatmas
and the Brotherhood.

Sri Ramalingam's statement about 10 years before the inauguration
to TS and his emphatic statement that people from Russia and
America will be sent by Mahatmas beyond Himalayas is a very
compelling fact that need to be addressed.  The statement was
made at a time when even HPB did not know of the plans of
inauguration of TS which was to take place in 1875.