Theos-Talk Archives (December 2001 Message tt00507)

Some weeks ago I urged Brigitte and other interested readers to 
COMPARE what Hartmann wrote in his 1890 novel with what Hartmann 
wrote LATER in an autobiographical, non-fictional account --- in this 
case in 1908. 

Thanks Dallas for reproducing Hartmann's words [below]. I hope some 
of us will compare and think through the issues raised.

Daniel
http:/hpb.cc

Dallas wrote:
> Dear Friends:
> 
> At this time it might be worthwhile reading Dr. Hartman's article
> on H P B -- his evaluation
> 
> 
> COPY
> 
> 
> HPB
> Dr. Franz Hartmann on H.P.B.
> 
> 
> Source: Occult Review, January 1908
> 
> 
> "...I left California on board of the S.S. Coptic, bound for
> Hong Kong...On December 4, 1883, we arrived at Madras, and I went
> to Adyar, where I was welcomed by Madame Blavatsky "to my future
> home," as she expressed it. The headquarters of the
> "Theosophical Society," where she lived, were beautifully located
> near the Adyar River and only a short distance from the sea...
> 
> A great deal has already been written about H.P.Blavatsky, 
and I
> might, perhaps, be excused from now adding something to it,
> especially as I am quite certain that no one will ever be able to
> judge her extraordinary character correctly, unless he has been
> intimately acquainted with her. To an occultist, capable of
> seeing "beyond the veil," her personality was extremely
> interesting.
> 
> To me she always appeared as a great spirit, a sage and 
initiate
> inhabiting the body of a grown-up capricious child, very amiable
> on the whole...and caring nothing for conventionalities of any
> kind.
> 
> In her higher aspect she seemed to be in possession of the
> highest occult wisdom and of a knowledge obtained not by the
> reading of books or ratiocination, but an interior illumination
> and direct perception of truth. She seemed to know everything
> without having ever read anything, and as if the whole universe
> was to her like an open book.
> 
> She seemed to be at home on the astral plane as much as on the
> physical plane. Nevertheless she did not claim to be an adept,
> but only a conscious instrument of an intelligent power higher
> than her own personality.
> 
> She used to say: "My learning is my Master's. I am nothing 
but
> a reflector of some one else's luminous light."
> 
> To me it seems that this, "Master" was her own higher self and
> that everybody has such a light hidden within his own soul but
> not everybody is conscious of it. Men and women may be compared
> to lanterns in which such a light exists; in some it is only a
> spark that has not yet been discovered, in others the wick sheds
> but a dim glow, while in rare cases it gives a bright light that
> shines through the crystal.
> 
> Many of those who presumed to judge the character of
> H.P.Blavatsky could only see the polish of the "lantern," but
> were blind to the light contained in it. Thus Madame Blavatsky
> appeared to be two or even more different persons manifesting
> themselves in one body, and I have no doubt that her inner real
> or permanent self was in communication with other higher
> intelligences existing on the same plane, and that they were able
> to communicate their knowledge through her instrumentality or
> agency to the outside world.
> 
> These intelligences,, or "Masters," she claimed were certain
> adepts still living in Tibet and in possession of great occult
> powers, such as impressing suitable minds at a distance by what
> is now called "telepathy," going out in their astral forms or
> "thought bodies" and materializing themselves, using the organism
> of H.P.Blavatsky and other "disciples" for the production of
> "occult phenomena," etc.
> 
> All such things, which some years ago appeared incredible, now
> appear quite possible in the light which recent investigations in
> occult science have thrown upon that subject. My own experience
> in this line has convinced me that such Masters exist.
> 
> I have been present on certain occasions when "the Master"
> appeared to her and she spoke with him. I could not see him with
> my eyes, but I felt his presence. His influence pervaded my
> whole being and filled me with a sensation of indescribable bliss
> which lasted for several days. This power, awakening within me a
> higher state of consciousness made me feel on such occasions as
> if it were my own and I the Master myself.
> 
> A great deal of nonsense has been written about the "occult
> phenomena" produced by Madame Blavatsky, by her enemies and
> others giving undue importance to them.
> 
> She was not a "spiritual medium," producing phenomena under 
test
> conditions for the purpose of proving their reality, neither did
> she receive any money for it. All the phenomena which I
> witnessed in her presence were undoubtedly genuine...her only
> purpose was to induce the people to study the higher laws of
> life, to raise them up to a higher conception of eternal truth,
> and teach them to do their own thinking.
> 
> She wanted to call the attention of the world by all means to
> the higher teachings which originated from the adepts, and the
> phenomena were to her nothing else but the sweets, which with one
> coaxes the children to come to school and to learn.
> 
> It may be noted that the demands made upon her by ignorant and
> unspiritual people were often of an incredible absurdity and
> extremely selfish...
> 
> Already on the first day after my arrival at Adyar I received
> through Madame Blavatsky an unsought and unexpected test. I went
> to her room and found her writing. Not wishing to disturb her, I
> sat down near the window and thought of a lady friend of mine who
> had died at Galveston some years ago, wondering what had become
> of her "principles."
> 
> I noticed that Madame Blavatsky turned her paper and seemed to
> play with her pencil in a state of absentmindedness with a
> faraway look. She then handed me the paper. It contained the
> answer to my question in a drawing, representing the corpse of my
> friend extended upon the ground and an elemental standing by its
> side watching for the escape of the astral soul, while the
> passage of her spirit to higher spheres was indicated by a
> rainbow.
> 
> Similar evidences of occult power I often received through
> H.P.Blavatsky. Sometimes it was direct writing produced by some
> invisible entity; whole letters written in that way were found
> in my closed desk; but these phenomena were nothing new to me,
> as I had seen them often in America. I did not look at them with
> suspicion of trickery...I was interested only in the contents of
> the letters and not in the way in which they were written and
> forwarded to me...
> 
> This was the time of "occult letters" supposed to have been
> written or sent by the "Mahatmas" of the Himalayas. Such letters
> were seen to form themselves suddenly in the air, or they were
> found unexpectedly upon the table or in closed drawers, and they
> contained orders and directions for the management of affairs.
> I, as well as others, received numerous letters of that kind,
> some written in red ink, others in blue, and some in green. They
> usually appeared when some advice was needed.
> 
> From Dr. Franz Hartmann's 
Autobiography
> Occult Review, 
January 1908.