Theos-Talk Archives (August 2005 Message tt00267)

Our modern knowledge of Theosophy sprang from two sources: The 
Mahatma Letters and the writings of H.P. Blavatsky. 

>From the letters of the Masters Koot Hoomi and Morya, A.P. Sinnett 
wrote two books: The Occult World and Esoteric Buddhism. From the 
knowledge gained directly from these Mahatmas, Madame Blavatsky 
penned more than 10,000 pages of writing including her major works 
Isis Unveiled, The Secret Doctrine, The Key to Theosophy and The 
Voice of the Silence.

Since Blavatsky's death in 1891, numerous individuals have claimed 
contact with her Masters, stating that they were new "messengers" 
conveying further esoteric teachings. See a partial list of 
claimants at:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/moderntheosophy.htm#Endnote

The end result has been a confusing morass of claims, counterclaims 
and various contradictory and conflicting teachings. 

Even during her lifetime, Mme. Blavatsky told her Theosophical 
students: 

"Great are the desecrations to which the names of two of the Masters 
have been subjected. There is hardly a medium who has not claimed to 
have seen them." 

H.P.B. and the Mahatmas also warned about "imitations of Occultism 
and Theosophy" and "disfigured" expositions of Theosophy. They even 
corrected "wild and fanciful speculation" and "erroneous notions" 
about Theosophy that were distorting the original teachings that 
they had given. See one example of a correction at:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/moderntheosophy.htm#2

Anna Kennedy Winner has graphically described the situation:

"For most students, the first difficulty lies in knowing what and 
how to study, and how to find the right clues. The word 'occultism' 
is badly misused, and the student who has no trustworthy guide may 
easily lose himself in a morass of superstition and pseudo-
occultism. . . . Many pseudo-occult organizations utilize the ideas 
obtained from the works of Madame Blavatsky, without giving her (or 
her teachers) any credit for them, but adding all kinds of nonsense 
and misinterpretations. . . . "

Concerning certain "false ideas" grafted onto Theosophy, Madame 
Blavatsky penned the following: 

"Nothing is more dangerous to Esoteric Truth than the garbled and 
distorted versions disfigured to suit the prejudices and tastes of 
men in general." 

In light of the above confusion and conflicting claims, interested 
inquirers and new students would do well to go directly to the 
fountain source of Modern Theosophy: the original writings of H.P. 
Blavatsky and the Mahatmas.

We have available H.P.B.'s major books, more than 1000 of her 
articles, hundreds of her personal letters to correspondents, more 
than a hundred Mahatma letters received during H.P.B.'s lifetime, 
and voluminous historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B. 
and her Teachers.

These source writings contain a wealth of valuable material on 
Theosophy, metaphysics, esoteric lore and knowledge, occult laws and 
processes in nature, ethical, spiritual and devotional material, and 
much more. 

Some of the historical accounts of people who met and knew H.P.B. 
and her Teachers have been compiled in the book The Esoteric World 
of Madame Blavatsky at:

http://theosophical.org/theosophy/books/esotericworld/index.html

See also A Casebook of Encounters with the Theosophical Mahatmas at:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/mastersencounterswith.htm

The Blavatsky and Mahatma source material is now available on CD-
ROM. See:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/tsclassics2.htm

Also much of this material is online. See:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/hpbwritings.htm

Inquirers and students are encouraged to read and also study this 
original material. But no one should blindly believe or disbelieve 
what is written. But a worthy endeavor is to try to gain an 
understanding of what is being conveyed by H.P.B. and the Masters in 
this wealth of material.

For more background on the above, see Madame Blavatsky's Occult 
Status and the Claims of Latter-Day Messengers of the Masters at:

http://blavatskyarchives.com/latermessengers.htm

Daniel
http://hpb.cc