Theos-Talk Archives (November 2002 Message tt00470)

Brian contends that:

"'Koot Hoomi' wasn't on the scene yet (invented yet) when Blavatsky 
wrote Isis."

But readers on this forum might be interested in comparing the above 
contention with what I wrote in my critique titled "K. Paul Johnson's 
House of Cards?":

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There are a number of primary source documents which show that K.H. 
was known as "Cashmere" ("Kashmir" or other variant spellings) 
especially during the years 1875-1878 when H.P.B. and Olcott were 
living in New York City.

In an 1881 letter, Olcott tells Mr. Hume: 

"I have also personally known ---- since 1875. He is of quite a 
different, a gentler, type, yet the bosom friend of the other [i.e. 
Master Morya]." (Quoted from Hints On Esoteric Theosophy, No. 1, 
1882, p. 83.) 

Unfortunately, the name is deleted in the printed version of the 
letter, but from references in this letter and other documents, it 
can be reasonably concluded that ---- is Koot Hoomi. Olcott's 
statement indicates that the Colonel had known K.H. since 1875. 

In a letter dated January 12, 1881, William Q. Judge in New York, 
writing to "H.P.B. and Co. . ." in Bombay, says:

"Now I would be very much pleased could I know from whom it [the 
note] came, whether Kashmir or M. or who of all the long list of 
great ones. . . .I was highly favored with a picture of the 
latter. . . ." 

Annie Besant adds a footnote to clarify Judge's reference 
to "Kashmir" and "M." Her footnote reads: "The Masters K.H. and M." 
In other words, "Kashmir" is the Master K.H. while "M." is the Master 
Morya. (Quoted in Annie Besant's The Case Against W.Q. Judge,
1895, pp. 37-38.)

In refuting a critic of Madame Blavatsky's, W.Q. Judge (in his
1892 article "Madame Blavatsky in India") brings up the following 
point:

". . . I may be allowed to say that it [i.e., the name `Koot
Hoomi'] was not originally `Cotthume,' but was one [i.e.,
another name `Kashmir'] that I and others in New York were
perfectly familiar with. . . ." (See W.Q. Judge's Echoes Of The 
Orient, Vol. III, p. 203.) 

In a January, 1882 letter to Olcott, the Master Morya tells the 
Colonel:

"K.H.'s conditions are changed, you must remember, he is no more 
the `Kasmiri' of old." (Letters From The Masters Of The
Wisdom, Second Series, Letter 35.) 

In a January 6, 1886 letter, Madame Blavatsky, writing to Olcott, 
informs him :

". . . Countess [Wachtmeister is] here, and she sees I have almost no 
books. Master and Kashmiri [are] dictating in turn [portions of the 
Secret Doctrine manuscript]. . . ." (Quoted in Boris de Zirkoff's 
Rebirth Of The Occult Tradition, 1977, p. 23.) 

Also during this same month (January, 1886), Dr. William Hubbe-
Schleiden received a note from the Master M., which reads in part:

". . .the `Secret Doctrine' is dictated to Upasika [H.P.B.]
partly by myself & partly by my Brother K.H." (Quoted in Boris de 
Zirkoff's Rebirth Of The Occult Tradition, 1977, p. 16.) 

Collating information from these two letters, H.P.B.'s reference 
to "Master" is to "M." (Morya) and her reference to "Kashmiri" is 
to "K.H." (Koot Hoomi).

Even William Emmette Coleman, one of H.P.B.'s most hostile
critics, knew that:

"Towards the latter part of her stay in America, H.P.B. introduced to 
Messrs. Olcott and Judge an adept called `The Kashmiri
Brother.'" A few lines later, Coleman adds that ". . . he
(K.H.)was known in America as `The Kashmiri Brother." (Quoted in 
Theosophy Exposed Or Mrs. Besant And Her Guru, 1893, p. 26.) 

Extracted from:
http://www.blavatsky.net/gen/refute/caldwell/johnson5.htm
----------------------------------------------------

Daniel H. Caldwell
BLAVATSKY ARCHIVES
http://hpb.cc