Theos-Talk Archives (May 2000 Message tt00078)

WHITE LOTUS DAY 2000	Part II


1

    Some phrases used by HPB, and others in regard to Theosophy
are:


"The Cause of Sublime Perfection.   " A Republic of Conscience."
"A body of Learners."

"The Accumulated Wisdom of the Ages."   "A philosophy of those
who think or who drive themselves to think."

"Theosophy is for those who want it, and for no others."
"Theosophy is the Theory of Everything."

"The selfish devotee lives to no purpose."  "It is the philosophy
of the rational explanation of things."

"The Universal Law of Correspondence and Analogy."

===============================

2

   Some statements concerning HPB and her Work by contemporaries:


1889 --  The New York Times, Jan 6 1889.  --  From a Reporter:
 HPB at Work in England. ]
"She scarcely ever leaves the house and from 6:30 o'clock in the
morning until evening is constantly engaged in writing articles
for her magazine "Lucifer", or other  theosophic publications,
replying to correspondence, and preparing the matter for further
forthcoming volumes of her gigantic work, "The Secret Doctrine."
(720)


Bonggren, J. -- "How H.P.B. Taught Us." The Beacon, (N.Y.) June
1922.  [ How HPB Taught ]:
"In her teaching H.P.B. used the method by which she herself had
been taught:  the method of the Masters.   She gave us problems
to solve, always with some hints of solution;  in fact, that
there were seven different keys to use, each of them leading to a
different result, the results being actual facts on their own
plane, all of them." (726)


Buck, J. D. -- "H.P.B. as seen through her Work."  "Lucifer,"
Vol. 8,  p. 46,  June 15, 1891.:
"I found her in the face of her immense knowledge never egoistic,
and not only from every sign and all reliable information, free
from all personal pride or ambition, but rejecting everything
offered to herself in the way of adulation or revenue." (737)


Burrows, H.  --  "What She is to Me."  Lucifer 8, p. 46,  June 15
1891.  (In the spring of 1889):
"She whom we were there to see was a stout unwieldy lady, playing
Russian 'Patience,' and keeping up a stream of conversation on
nearly every subject except the one which was just then nearest
our minds...I went to her a materialist, she left me a
Theosophist, and between these two there is a great gulf fixed.
Over that gulf she bridged the way."  (741)


Clark, O. I.  --  "HPB and World-Wide Thought."  "T. Forum,"
June 1949:
"To know what influence H.P.B. had it is necessary to know the
state of public opinion when she began her work...Due to her
writings, words which were rarely, if ever, heard of before her
time are now in every sphere of public thought, such words as
intuition, karma, reincarnation, mahatmas, cosmic-consciousness,
the electrical constitution of matter, and many other things."
(739)


Hall, M. P.  --   "H.P.B.  The Russian Sphinx."	"The Phoenix."
1931-2:
"Madame Blavatsky's greatest miracles are her books and by her
writings she is elevated far beyond the reach of her
calumniators.  Her literary accomplishments and not materialized
teacups are the hall marks of her genius...Remove H.P.Blavatsky,
and the structure of modern occultism falls like a house of
cards.  "The Secret Doctrine" contains practically all that is
known on the subject of occultism that it is possible to print,
and every page is a veritable treasure house of esoteric lore."
(857)


Hubbe-Schleiden,  Dr. W. --  "Reminiscences " - C. Wachmeister --
Oct 1885, Jan 1886:
"I do not estimate the value of H.P.B. from the phenomena she
produced (and I saw many of them) but from her teachings, and
these I consider to be of the greatest importance, almost
inestimable."  (885)


Jaggannath, R --  Dec 1882  --  "HPB As I Saw Her."   [He states
that he questioned her for 3 days on problems that the
National Secular Society of England considered insoluble.  "To my
great astonishment she took up question after question, and
answered each most elaborately and satisfactorily...In three days
she shattered my seven years knowledge of atheistic theories."
(892)


Johnston, C. --  "Lucifer," Vol. 8,  p. 46,  June 15 1891
"She was a personality of such magnitude as to divide the world
into her adherents and her opponents, leaving none indifferent
between;  the test of the force of her nature is as much the
fierce animosity of her enemies as the loving devotion of her
friends."  (915)


Judge, W. Q.  --  "Path," June 1891 p. 65-8,   "HPB -- A Lion
Hearted Colleague Passes." :
"Her aim was to elevate the race.  Her method was to deal with
the mind of the century as she found it, by trying to lead it on
step by step;  to seek out and educate a few who, appreciating
the majesty of the Sacred Science and devoted to 'the great
orphan Humanity,' would carry on her work with zeal
and wisdom;  to found a Society whose efforts--however small
itself might be-- would inject into the thought of the day the
ideas, the doctrines, the nomenclature of the Wisdom Religion."
(925)


Keightley,  Dr. A. --  "Account of the Writing of the S. D. "
(1893)  "Reminiscences of H.P.B.":
"What struck me most in the part I was able to read during my
short stay was the enormous number of quotations from various
authors.  I knew that there was no library to consult and I could
see that H.P.B.'s own books did not amount to thirty in all, of
which several were dictionaries and several works counted two or
more volumes."  (941)


Keightley, B. --  "What HPB did for Me." --  "Lucifer,"  Vol. 8,
p. 48,  1891:
"She would take the clothes off her back, the bread from her
mouth, to help her worst, her most malicious foe in distress or
suffering.   Had the Coulombs ever turned up in London between
1887 and 1891 in distress and misery, she would have taken them
in, clothed and fed them."  (945)


Neimand, J. --  "Madame Blavatsky at a Distance."  "Lucifer,"
Vol. 8,  p. 47,  July 1891:
"Although in the flesh she remained unknown to me, she alone of
all the world's Leaders gave me Truth, taught me how to find it,
and to hold it 'against the world.'  The soul that can work such
a miracle at a distance is no minor ray;  it is one of the great
Solar Centres that die not, even though for a time we miscall it
Helena Blavatsky."  (948)


Lane-Fox,  St G.  --  quotes Dr. A. B. Kingsford on HPB  (April
1895):
"[ Dr. Kingsford:]  We must not condemn her, she is engaged upon
a great work, and already she has been an immense service to
mankind;  her life may be far from perfect, but she is honestly
seeking the way, and the way must be found before the life can be
lived."   (969)


Lahiri, Rai Bahadur, B. K. --  "Lucifer," Vol. 8,  p. 46,  June
15 1891:
"She has succeeded in getting the key of the true Hindu and
therefore of the subsequent Buddhist Sacred Philosophy, there can
be no question, no doubt and no hesitation about it...Is it not
sufficient for the Westerns to know that a proud Brahmin, who
knows not how to bend his body before any mortal being in this
world, except his superiors in relation or religion, joins his
hands like a submissive child before the white Yogini of the
West."   (968)


The TRIBUNE,  New York,   --  {From an Interview by a Reporter
with HPB}  (May 10, 1891,
p. 6):
"Few women in our time have been more persistently
misrepresented, slandered, and defamed than Madame Blavatsky, but
though malice and ignorance did their worst upon her there are
abundant indications that her life-work will vindicate itself;
that it will endure;  and that is will operate for good."
(998)


Maeterlinck, M.  --   "The Great Secret"  (1922):
"ISIS UNVEILED, THE SECRET DOCTRINE and the rest of Madame
Blavatsky's very numerous works form a stupendous and
ill-balanced monument, or rather a sort of colossal builder's
yard, into which the highest wisdom, the widest and most
exceptional scholarship, the most dubious odds and ends of
science, legend and history, the most impressive and most
unfounded hypotheses, the most precise and improbable statements
of fact, the most plausible and most chimerical ideas, the
noblest dreams, and the most incoherent fancies are poured
pell-mell by inexhaustible truck-loads."  (1007)


Mead, G. R. S.  --   ( May 1891 -- Speech at Woking, London.)
"Theosophist,"  Aug. 1931.:
"The one great purpose of our teacher's life in this her present
incarnation, a purpose which she pursued with such complete
unselfishness and singleness of motive, was to restore to mankind
the knowledge of those great spiritual truths we to-day call
Theosophy.  Her unvarying fidelity to her great mission, from
which neither contumely nor misrepresentation ever made her
swerve, was the keynote of her strong and fearless nature."
(1016)


Merchant, F.  --   "Messenger of the Mahatmas: H. P. Blavatsky"
"Great Images" (1967):
"Mme. Blavatsky proposed to restore man to a place of dignity and
responsibility in the universe in opposition to efforts of
authoritarian theology and materialist science.  She ascribed
meaning to the human experience...Beyond man, she declared,
stands superman, that is, the person who has resolved the
conflict of contending forces within himself and achieved
wisdom."  (1024)


"Pall Mall Gazette"  --   Report of an Interview with HPB,
printed April 26, 1884.  [ Supplement to "Theosophist" for July
1884]:
"Whatever may be thought of her philosophy or Theosophy, whatever
credence may be attached to the account of the mysterious powers
she claims to possess--powers upon which, it is fair to say, she
lays no stress, nay, appears to regard with the supremest
unconcern--she is a woman, who regarded from the purely
intellectual standpoint, deserves more attention than she has
hitherto received." (1032)


Neufeldt, R.  --  "In Search of Utopia:  Karma and Rebirth in the
Theosophical Movement." (1986):
"Throughout her writings one finds constant criticism of
spiritists, Christians, and materialists who are regarded as
spreaders of doom and gloom and blasphemers of the sacred.
Against these she places theosophists who are preachers of truth,
hope, and responsibility through their doctrines of karma and
rebirth."   (1056)


Oderberg, I. M.  --   "H. P. Blavatsky's Influence in
Literature."  (Jan. 1992):
"Dr. Saurat made the mistake-- as others before him have done--of
regarding the quotations and references in THE SECRET DOCTRINE as
indications of source material instead of being, or providing
evidence for her claim to the universality of the concepts."
(1059)


Old, W. R. -- "Mme. Blavatsky:  A Personal Reminiscence."
"Occult Review," Mar 1914.:
"She was ever an early riser. Frequently commencing work before
daylight.  Indeed one would suspect her of sometimes having
worked the whole night through, for I have myself often enough
put in an appearance at seven o'clock, to find, to my
astonishment, that she was hard at work and still adding to the
pile of manuscript which appeared to have risen during the
night."  (1079)


"Pall Mall Gazette,"  --  "The Prophetess of the Buried Tea-Cup."
( May 9th 1891)
"It is not possible to doubt that the strange, mysterious woman
who has now found, let us hope, the blessed Nirvana of the creed
she preached, was one of the most remarkable women of our
generation...She started an impulse that was felt from West to
East by beginning a new miracle-religion at the end of the
nineteenth century."  (1096)


Ransom, J.  --  "H.P.Blavatsky:  A Sketch of her Life."  TPH
1938:
"She was a true iconoclast--tearing to pieces the wrappings which
hid the Real from view.  But since the majority were attached to
the conventional wrappings, and were unfamiliar with the Real,
they attacked and reviled H.P.B. for her daring and courage in
unveiling what it seemed blasphemy to reveal."  (1118)


Saxon, E. L.  --  "Madame Blavatsky,  Her Opinions and her
Books."  "The Daily Picayunne" New Orleans,  Nov. 4, 1877.:
"I shall long remember with pleasure the cordial geniality of
this woman.  Here is a grand, brave nature, a mighty identity,
and feeling its own power, scorns the bonds of the little,
indifferent to the yelping curs."  (1145)


Stead, W. T.  --  "The Review of Reviews," London June 1891.
"Madame Blavatsky.":
"She widened the horizon of the mind, and she brought something
of the infinite sense of vast, illimitable mystery which
characterizes some of the Eastern religions into the very heart
of Europe in the nineteenth century.  To have done all this, and
to have done it almost single-handed, in the face of the almost
insuperable obstacles interposed by her own defect, renders
comprehensible the theory that Madame Blavatsky had help the
world could neither see nor take away."  (1160)


"The World," New York.  --  "Theosophy in New York. Facts About
Mme. Blavatsky,  Her Powers and Religion."  (Sept. 12 1886):
"She explicitly disavowed any belief in Spiritualism in the
common sense, or any claims to mediumistic power.  'It is my own
spirit and not the spirits of those who have gone from earth,'
she declared, 'that does these things.  Whatever powers I possess
are simply the result of the complete power of my will that I
have acquired."  (1175)


Vest, P. M. --  "Madame Blavatsky--The First Theosophist."
"Fate" (Evanston,  Oct. 1951):
"No less an authority than the Dalai Lama has attested in writing
that 'Madame Blavatsky spent at least four years at Shigatse, the
Lamasery of the Teshu Lama of Tibet.' "  (1189)


Wachmeister, C. --  "At Wurzburg and Ostende."  "Lucifer,"  June
15, 1891:
"At times such a bright childish nature seemed to beam around
her, and a spirit of joyous fun would sparkle in her whole
countenance, and cause the most winning expression that I have
ever seen on a human face."  (1194)


Wilder,  Dr. A.  --  "How ISIS UNVEILED was Written."  "The
Word,"  N. Y.,  May 1908. :
"I stated [to J. W. Bouton] that the manuscript was the product
of great research, and that so far as related to current thinking
there was a revolution in it, but I added that I deemed it too
long for remunerative publishing...Anybody who was familiar with
her, would upon reading the first volume of ISIS UNVEILED, not
have any difficulty in recognizing her as the author."   (1208)


Witte,  Count S. Y. de  --   "Memoirs of Count Witte," Page &
Co., 1921.:
"Katkov, famous in the annals of Russian journalism spoke to me
in the highest praise about her literary gifts, as evidenced in
the tales entitled 'From the Jungles of Hindoostan' which she
contributed to his magazine, "The Russian Messenger."  (1214)


Xifre, J. --  "H.P.B."  "Lucifer,"  Aug 15 1891.:
"She gave me hope for the future;  she inspired me with her own
noble and devoted principles, and transformed my everyday
existence by holding up a high ideal of life for attainment;  the
ideal being the chief object of the T. S., i.e., to work for the
good and well-being of humanity."  (1222)


Yarker, J. --  "Madame Blavatsky and Masonry."  Letter to
"Light," London,  Oct. 10, 1891:
"I gave to Madame Blavatsky no degree beyond what she was
entitled to receive by all the international rules and
regulations of what is called high-grade Masonry.  At the same
time I am quite well aware that from older sources she was in
possession of much that was not given her by myself."
[In addition to bestowing the highest rank of Adoptive Masonry to
H.P.B., that of a Crowned Princess 12#, Yarker, who was Grand
Master of the ancient and Primitive Rite of Memphis and Mizraim,
reveals that he had also sent her in 1877 a "Certificate of the
female branch of the Sat Bhai," a fringe-Masonic order organized
at Benares."]   (1223, 1224)


[ With thanks and appreciation of the use of these source
bio-quotes to M. Gomes: THEOSOPHY IN THE 19TH CENTURY,  Garland
Reference, N. Y., 1944 ]



D T B


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