Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00029)

--- In theos-talk@y..., "Daniel H. Caldwell" <comments@b...> wrote:
> Richard Hodgson spends dozens of pages in his 1885 SPR Report 
trying 
> to prove that H.P. Blavatsky wrote the majority of the Mahatma 
> Letters. Over the years various biographers and hostile critics 
have 
> used Hodgson's opinion to besmear the character of Madame Blavatsky.

The fact that Hodgson badgered his witnesses and in fact held up 
publiccation of his report until he got them to say what he wanted 
tells us how objective he was. Had they not paid for him to take 
that junket of his to India the SPR probably would have refused to 
publish his report.

That said, consider this:

(1) Blavatsky herself said the majority of the letters were written 
not by mahatmas but by "amanuensis chelas."

(2) Hodgson identified Blavatsky as one of the "amanuensis chelas" 
and Damodat as the other

(3) The author of the Shannon letter, presumable himself a mahatma, 
admits that this is true of Blavatsky, and says that there was at 
least oe other before but that since 1885 she was the only one.

(4) 1885 was the year Damodar disappeared, which implies that he was 
the other amanuensis chela, as Hodgson stated.

(5) In the case of the Prayag letter Blavatsky did not even attempt 
to disguise her handwriting, but sent the letter out in her own 
recognizable handwriting.

(6) Annie Besant admitted during the Judge Affair that Blavatsky 
disguised her handwriting to write the mahatma letters.

Fortunately in this case we have sufficient facts that it is not 
reasonable to doubt Blavatsky wrote the mahatma letters. What is kin 
doubt is whether they were her own thoughts or whether she was 
telling the truth when she said they were the thoughts of some 
distant Tibetan sage and that she merely held the pen? That is a 
difficult question and one which would require an analysis of all the 
letters. One thing that is certain is that whereas she disguised her 
handwriting when writing the mahatma letters, she did not disguise 
her writing style. Recognizable as a thumbprint it was, and her 
thumb print is all over all pof them.