Theos-Talk Archives (December 2002 Message tt00221)

--- In 21stCenturyLight@y..., "kpauljohnson" <kpauljohnson@y...> wrote:
Folks,

"The Theosophical Masters are entirely mythical" is precisely the proposition that my books on HPB set out to demolish. They appear to have been surprisingly successful at this in the literary and academic worlds, hence my astonishment that anyone could possibly interpret them as asserting the very proposition they deny.

The thesis is not buried deep in a footnote somewhere. In The Masters Revealed, apart from the title itself, you have 
1) back cover: "He has marshalled an impressive body of evidence to show that the Theosophical Masters are neither disembodied spirits nor are they fictions but are specific historical personages whose identities were disguised for various reasons" and "This book profiles 32 of Blavatsky's hidden sponsors" and
"basic profiles of historical personalities behind Morya and Koot Hoomi"
2. Foreword: "The theme of this book is that HPB's Masters were not the Himalayan sages she invented to distract her co-workers, but a large group of men and a few women who helped, encouraged, or collaborated with her, in a life's work that was not only spiritual but socially idealistic and fiercely political."
3. Introduction: "HPB's life provided continual encounters with spiritual teachers of various traditions and natonalities...From early childhood to the end of her life, she was constantly adding to her store of occult learning...But she mythologized her search for the Masters in such a way that her real quest remained secret."
4. First chapter: "As will be shown, her life was filled with encounters with teachers who merit the appelation `Sages of the Orient'...Her encounters with genuine spiritual teachers of myriad traditions were interpreted according to a mythology of Unknown Superiors in Tibet derived from the library of Prince Pavel."
5. End: "HPB's adept sponsors were a succession of human mentors rather than a cosmic hierarchy of supermen."
and on and on throughout...

For the record,

Paul