Masonic, Occult and Esoteric Online Library
The Mahatma Letters to A.P. Sinnett - 1923
By A. T. Barker
Letter No XXVIII
K.H. to A.O. Hume written towards final break-off. (1881 ?)
My dear Sir,
If no other good ever came of our correspondence than that of showing us once more how essentially opposed are our two antagonistic elements—the English and the Hindu, our few letters will not have been exchanged in vain. Sooner can oil and water mingle their particles than an Englishman—however intelligent, noble-minded and sincere to be made to assimilateeven the exoteric Hindu thought, let alone its esoteric spirit. This will, of course provoke you to a smile. You will say—" I expected this." So-be-it. But if so, it shows no more than theperspicacity of a man of thought and observation who intuitivelyanticipated an event which his own attitude must precipitate.
You will pardon me if I have to speak frankly and sincerely ofyour long letter. However cogent its logic, noble some of its ideas, ardent its aspirations, it yet lies here before me a verymirror of that spirit of this age, against which we have foughtduring our whole lives ! At best it is the unsuccessful endeavourof an acute intellect trained in the ways of an exoteric world,to throw light on, and judge of the modes of life and thought inwhich it is unversed, for they belong to quite a different worldfrom that it deals with. You are no man of petty vanities. Toyou it is safe to say : " My dear friend, apart from all this, studyyour letter impartially ; weigh some of its sentences, and on thewhole you will not feel proud of it." Whether or not you willever fully appreciate my motives, or misconceive the true causeswhich make me decline for the present any further correspondence, I yet am confident that some day you will confess thatthis last letter of yours under the garb of a noble humility, ofconfessions of ** weaknesses and failings, shortcomings andfollies " was yet—no doubt quite unconsciously to yourself—amonument of pride, the loud echo of that haughty and imperativespirit which lurks at the bottom of every Englishman 's heart. In yourpresent state of mind, very likely even after reading this answer,you will hardly perceive, that not only have you entirely failed tounderstand the spirit in which my last letter was written to you,but even, in some instances to catch its evident sense. You werepreoccupied by one single, all-absorbing idea : and, failing todetect any direct reply to it in my answer, before taking time tothink it over, and see its general not personal applicability, yousat down and accused me right away of giving you a stone whenyou asked for bread ! ; no need of being ** a lawyer " in this orany previous existence to state simple facts. No need to " makethe bad appear the better cause " when truth is so very simpleand so easily told. My remark—" you take up the position thatunless a proficient in arcane knowledge will waste upon yourembryonic Society an energy," etc. —you applied to yourself,whereas it was never so meant. It related to the expectations ofall those who might desire to join the Society under certain conditions exacted before-hand and that were firmly insisted upon,by yourself and Mr. Sinnett. The letter as a whole was meantfor you two, and this special sentence applied to all in general.
You say that I have *' to a certain extent mistaken your posi- tion," and that I "clearly misunderstand" you. This is so evidently incorrect that it will suffice for me to quote a single paragraph from your letter to show that it is you who have entirely " mistaken my position *' and " clearly misunderstood me." What else do you do but labour under an erroneous impression, when, in your eagerness to repudiate the idea of having ever dreamt of originating a " school " you say of the proposed " Anglo-Indian Branch "—" it is no Society of mine. . . . I understood it to be the wish of yourself and chiefs that the Society should be started and that I should assume a leading position in it." To this I replied that if it has been constantly our wish to spread on the Western Continent among the foremost educated classes ** Branches " of the T.S. as the harbingers of a Universal Brotherhood it was not so in your case. We (the Chiefs and I) entirely repudiate the idea that such was our hope (however we might wish it) in regard to the projected A.I. Society. The aspiration for brotherhood between our races met no response—nay, it was pooh-poohed from the first—and so, was abandoned even before I had received Mr. Sinnett's first letter. On his part and from the start, the idea w^as solely to promote the formation of a kind of club or " school of magic." It was then no ** proposal " of ours, nor were we the ** designers of the scheme." Why then such efforts to show us in the wrong? It was Mad. B. —not we, who originated the idea ; and it was Mr. Sinnett who took it up. Notwithstanding his frank and honest admission to the effect that being unable to grasp the basic idea of Universal Brotherhood of the parent Society, his aim was but to cultivate the study of occult Sciences, an admission which ought to have stopped at once every further importunity on her part, she first succeeded in getting the consent—a very reluctant one I must say—of her own direct chief, and then my promise of co-operation—as far as I could go. Finally, through my mediation, she got that of our highest Chief, to whom I submitted the first letter you honoured me with. But, this consent, you will please bear in mind, was obtained solely under the express and unalterable condition that the new Society should be founded as a branch of the Universal Brotherhood and among its members, a few elect men would, if they chose to submit to our conditions, instead of dictating theirs—be allowed to begin the study of the occult sciences under the written directions of a *' Brother." But a '* hot-bed of magick " we never dreamt of. Such an organization as mapped out by Mr. Sinnett and yourself is unthinkable among Europeans ; and, it has become next to impossible even in India—unless you are prepared to climb to a height of 18,000 to 20,000 amidst the glaciers of the Himalayas. The greatest as well as the most promising of such schools in Europe, the last attempt in this direction, —failed most sig-nally some 20 years ago inLondon. It was the secret school for the practical teaching ofmagick founded under the name of a club by a dozen ofenthusiasts under the leadership of Lord Lytton's father. Hehad collected together for the purpose, the most ardent and enter-prising as well as some of the most advanced scholars in mes-merism and ** ceremonial magic,'* such as Eliphas Levi, Regazzoni, and the Kopt Zergvan—Bey. And yet in the pestilentLondon atmosphere the " Club *' came to an untimely end. I visited it about half-a-dozen times, and perceived from the first that there was and could be nothing in it. And this is also thereason why, the British T.S. does not progress one step practically. They are of the Universal Brotherhood but in name, andgravitate at best towards Quietism—that utter paralysis of theSoul. They are intensely selfish in their aspirations and will getbut the reward of their selfishness.
Nor did we begin the correspondence upon this subject. It was Mr. Sinnett who, of his own motion addressed to a" Brother " two long letters, even before Mad. B. had obtainedeither permission or promise from any of us to answer him, orknew to whom of us to deliver his letter. Her own chief havingrefused point blank to correspond, it was to me that she applied.Moved by regard for her, I consented even telling her she mightgive you all my Thibetan mystic name, and—I answered ourfriend's letter. Then came yours—as unexpectedly. You did noteven know my name ! But your first letter was so sincere, its spirit so promising, the possibilities it opened for doing generalgood seemed so great, that if, I did not shout Eureka after read-ing it, and thrown my Diogenes' lantern into the bushes at once,it was only because I knew too well human and—you must excuseme—Western nature. Unable, nevertheless, to undervalue theimportance of this letter I carried it to our venerable Chief. AllI could obtain from Him, though, was the permission to temporarily correspond, and let you speak your whole mind, beforegiving any definite promise. We are not Gods, and even they,our chiefs—they hope. Human nature is unfathomable, andyours is perhaps, more intensely so than any other man I knowof. Your last favour was certainly if not quite a world of revelation, at least, a very profitable addition to my store of observation of the Western character, especially that of the modern,highly intellectual Anglo-Saxon. But it would be a revelation,indeed, to Mad. B. who did not see it, (and for various reasonshad better not) for it might knock off much of her presumptionand faith in her own powers of observation. It might prove toher among other things that she was as much mistaken in rela-tion to Mr. Sinnett's attitude in this matter as your own ; and that I, who had never had the privilege of your personal acquaint- ance as she had, knew you far better than she did. I had positively foretold to her your letter. Rather than have no Society at all, she was willing to have it upon any terms at first, and then take her chances afterwards. I had warned her that you were not a man to submit to any conditions but your own ; or even take one step towards the foundation of an organization—however noble and great—unless you received first such proofs as we generally give but to those, who by a trial of years have proved themselves thoroughly trustworthy. She rebelled against the notion and assured that were I but to give you one unimpeachable test of occult powers you would be satisfied, whereas Mr. Sinnett never would. And now, that both of you have had such proofs what are the results? While Mr. Sinnett believes—and will never repent of it, you have allowed your mind to become gradually filled with odious doubts and most insulting suspicions. If you will kindly remember my first short note from Jhelum you will see to what I then referred in saying that you would find your mind poisoned. You misunderstood me then as you have ever since ; for in it, I did not refer to C. Olcott's letter in the Bombay Gazette but to your own state of mind. Was I wrong? You not only doubt the * 'broach phenomenon"—you positively disbelieve it. You say to Mad. B. —that she may be one of those who believe that bad means are justified by good ends and—instead of crushing her with all the scorn such an action is sure to awaken in a man of your high principles—you assure her of your unalterable friendship. Even your letter to me is full of the same suspicious spirit, and that which you would never forgive in yourself—the crime of deception—you try to make yourself believe you can forgive in another person. My dear Sir, these are strange contradictions ! Having favoured me with such a series of priceless moral reflexions, advice, and truly noble sentiments you may perhaps, allow me in my turn, to give you the ideas of an humble apostle of Truth, an obscure Hindu, upon that point. As man is a creature born with a free will and endowed with reason, whence spring all his notions of right and wrong, he does not perse represent any definite moral ideal. The conception of morality in general relates first of all to the object or motive, and only then to the means or modes of action. Hence, if we do not and would never call a moral man him, who following the rule of a famous religious schemer uses bad means for a good object, how much less would we call him moral who uses seemingly good and noble means to achieve a decidedly wicked or contemptible object? And according to your logic, and once that you confess to such suspicions. Mad. B. would have to be placed in the first of these categories, and I in the second. For, while giving her to a certain extent the benefit of the doubt, with myself you useno such superfluous precautions and, you accuse me unequivocallyof setting up a system of deceit. The argument used in myletter, in regard to ** the approbation of the Home Government"you term as " such very low motives " ; and you add to it the fol-lowing crushing and direct accusation : *' You do not want thisbranch (the Anglo-Indian) for work. . . . You merely wantit as a lure to your native brethren. You know it will be a sham,but it will look sufficiently like the real thing," etc., etc. This is a direct and positive accusation. I am shown guilty of the pursuit of a wicked, mean object through low and contemptiblemeans, i.e., false pretences…
In penning these accusations did you stop to think, that as theprojected organization had something grander, nobler and farmore important in view than the mere gratification of the desiresof one solitary person—however worthy—namely in case of successto promote the security and welfare of a tvhole conquered nation—it is just barely possible that that which to your individual pridemay appear a ** low motive " is after all but the anxious searchfor means which would be the salvation of a whole country everdistrusted and suspected, the protection by the conqueror of theconquered ! You pride yourself upon not being a *' patriot"—/ do not; for, in learning to love one's country one but learns tolove humanity the more. The lack of that you term " lowmotives " in 1857 caused my country-men to be blown by yoursfrom the mouths of their guns. Why then should I not fancythat a real philanthropist would regard the aspirations for a betterunderstanding between the Govt, and people of India as a mostcommendable instead of an ignoble one? "A fig " say you" for the knowledge and the philosophy on which it is based," if —*' it would not be of any good to mankind," would not ** enableme to be more useful to my generation," etc. etc. But when youare offered the means of doing such good you turn away in scornand taunt us with a ** lure " and a '* sham " ! Truly wonderfulare the contradictions contained in your remarkable letter. Andthen, you laugh so heartily at the idea of a ** reward " or the" approval " of your fellow-creatures. " The reward to whichI shall look will be," you say—** in earning my own selj-approval.'"'* Self-approval " which cares so little for the corroborative verdictof the better part of the world at large, to which the good andnoble deeds of one serve as high ideals and the most powerfulstimulants to emulation, is little else than proud and arrogantegotism. It is Himself against all criticism; " apres moi—le deluge " ! —exclaims the Frenchman with his usual flippancy." Before Jehovah wa^, I am " ! says Man—the ideal of everymodern intellectual Englishman. Gratified as I feel at the idea of being- the means of affording you so much merriment, namely in asking you to draft a general plan for the formation of the A.I. Branch, I yet am bound to say again that your laugh was premature in as much you once more misunderstood entirely my meaning. Had I asked for your help in the organization of a system for teaching the occult sciences, or a plan for a ** school of magick " the instance brought by you of an ignorant boy asked to work out '* an abstruse problem regarding the motion of a fluid inside another fluid " might be a happy one. As it is, your comparison falls short of the mark and the bit of irony hits no one ; for my mentioning the subject related merely to the general plan and outward administration of the projected Society and not in the least to its esoteric studies; to the Branch of the Universal Brotherhood not to the " School of Magick "—the formation of the former being the sine qua non for the latter. Most assuredly in such matters as this one—^the organization of an A.I. Branch, to be composed of Englishmen and meant to serve as a link between the British and the natives—(the condition being that they who want to share in the secret knowledge, the inheritance of the children of the soil, must be prepared to accord at least some privileges hitherto refused to these natives)—you English people are far more competent than we to draft a general plan. You know the conditions you would be likely to accept or reject as we might not. I asked you for a skeleton plan, and you imagined I clamoured for co-operation in the instructions to be given in spiritual sciences ! Most unfortunate qui pro quo—and yet Mr. Sinnett seems to have understood my wish at a glance.
Again you seem to show an unfamiliarity with the Hindu mind when you say ** not one in ten thousand native minds is as well pref>ared to realize and assimilate transcendental truths as mine." However much you may be right in thinking that '* amongst English men of Science there are not half a dozen even whose minds are more capable of receiving these rudiments (of occult knowledge) than mine " (yours)—you are mistaken as to the natives. The Hindu mind is pre-eminently open to the quick and clear perception of the most transcendental, the most abstruse metaphysical truths. Some of the most unlettered ones will seize at a glance that which would often escape the best Western metaphysician. You may be, and most assuredly are our superiors in every branch of physical knowledge ; in spiritual sciences we were, are and always will be your—Masters.
But let me ask you, what can I, a half civilized native, —think of the charity, modesty and kindness of one belonging to a superior race ; one, whom I know as a noble-minded, just, and kind-hearted man in most circumstances of his life, when, with an ill-disguised scorn he exclaims : "if you want men to rush on blind-fold, heed- less of ulterior results^—stick to your Olcotts—if you want menof a higher class, whose brains are to work effectually in yourcause, remember . . ." etc. My dear sir, we neither wantmen to rush on blind-fold, nor are we prepared to abandon triedfriends—who rather pass for fools, than reveal what they mayhave learnt under a solemn pledge of never revealing it unlesspermitted—even for the chance of getting men of the very highestclass, —nor are we especially anxious to have anyone work forus except with entire spvontaneity. We want true and unselfishhearts ; fearless and confiding souls, and are quite willing to leavethe men of the " higher class " and far higher intellects to gropetheir own way to the light. Such will only look upon us as subordinates.
I believe that these few quotations from your letter and the frankanswers they have called for, are sufficient to show how far weare from anything like an entente cordiale. You show a spirit offierce combativeness and a desire—pardon me—to fight shadowsevoked by your own imagination. I had the honour of receivingthree long letters from you even before I had barely time to answerin general terms your first one. I had never positively refusedto comply with your wishes, never had answered as yet one singlequestion of yours. How did you know what the Future held instore for you, had you but waited one week? You invite metoa conference only, as it would seem, that you may show methedefects and weaknesses in our modes of action, and the causes forour supposed failure to convert humanity from their evil ways.And in your letter you show plainly that you are the beginning,the middle and the end of the law to yourself. Then why troubleyourself to write to me at all.*' Even that, which you call a" Parthian arrow " was never meant as such. It is not I, who,unable to get the Absolute will depreciate or undervalue the rela-tive good. Your ** little birds " have, no doubt, since you sobelieve, done much good In their way and I certainly never dreamtof giving offence by my remark that the human race and its welfare, were at least as noble a study, and the latter as desirable anoccupation as ornithology. But, I am not quite sure that yourparting remark as to our not being invulnerable as a body is quitefree of that spirit which animated the retreating Parthians. Beit as it may, we are content to live as we do—unknown and un-disturbed by a civilization which rests so exclusively upon theintellect. Nor do we feel in any way concerned about the revivalof our ancient arts and high civilization, for these are as sure tocome back in their time, and in a higher form as the Plesiosaurusand the Megatherium in theirs. We have the weakness to believein ever-recurrent cycles and hope to quicken the resurrection of
what is past and gfone. We could not impede it even if we would. The ** new civilization " will be but the child of the old one, and we have but to leave the eternal law to take its own course to have our dead ones come out of their graves ; yet, we are certainly anxious to hasten the welcome event. Fear not ; although we do ** cling superstitiously to the relics of the Past" our knowledge will not pass away from the sight of man. It is the ** gift of the Gods " and the most precious relic of all. The keepers of the sacred Light did not safely cross so many ages but to find themselves wrecked on the rocks of modern scepticism. Our pilots are too experienced sailors to allow us to fear any such disaster. We will always find volunteers to replace the tired sentries, and the world, bad as it is in its present state of transitory period, can yet furnish us with a few men now and then. You ** do not pro- pose moving further in the matter" unless we make "some further sign " ? My dear sir, we have done our duty : we have resix>nded to your appeal, and now propose to take no further step. We, who have studied a little Kant's moral teachings, analyzed them somewhat carefully, have come to the conclusion that even this great thinker's views on that form of duty (das SoUen) which defines the method of moral action—notwithstanding his one-sided affirmation to the contrary—falls short of a full definition of an unconditional absolute principle of morality—as we understand it. And this Kantian note sounds throughout your letter. You so love mankind, you say, that were not your generation to benefit by it, you would reject *' Knowledge " itself. And yet, this philanthropic feeling does not even seem to inspire you with charity towards those you regard as of an inferior intelli- gence. Why? Simply because the philanthropy you Western thinkers boast of, having no character of universality ; i.e. never having been established on the firm footing of a moral, universal principle ; never having risen higher than theoretical talk ; and that chiefly among the ubiquitous protestant preachers, it is but a mere accidental manifestation but no recognised Law. The most superficial analysis will show, that, no more than any other empirical phenomenon in human nature, cannot be taken as an absolute standard of moral activity; i.e. one productive of efficient action. Since, in its empirical nature this kind of philanthropy is like love, but something accidental, exceptional, and like that has its selfish preferences and affinities ; it necessarily is unable to warm all mankind with its beneficent rays. This, I think is, the secret of the spiritual failure and unconscious egotism of this age. And you, otherwise a good and a wise man, being unconsciously to yourself the type of its spirit, are unable to understand our ideas upon the Society as a Universal Brotherhood, and hence—turn away your face from it.
Your conscience revolts you say to be made ** a stalking horse;the pupp>et of a score or more of hidden wire-pullers." Whatdo you know of us since you cannot see us ; what do you knowof our aims and objects; of us, of whom you cannot judge? Youask strange arguments. And do you really suppK>se you would** know" us, or penetrate any better our ** aims and objects"were you to see me personally? I am afraid, that with no pastexperience of this kind, even your natural powers of observation—however acute—^would have to be confessed more than useless.Why, my dear Sir, even our Baharoopias can prove a match anyday for the acutest political resident ; and never yet one wasdetected or even recognised ; and their mesmeric powers are notof the highest order. However suspicious you might ever feelabout the details of the ** broach " there is one prime feature inthe case which your astuteness has already told you can only beaccounted for on the theory of a stronger will influencing Mrs.Hume to think after that particular object and no other. Andif Mad. B., a sickly woman, must be credited with such p>owers,are you quite sure that you yourself would not also be madetosuccumb to a trained will, ten times stronger than hers? I couldcome to you to-morrow, and installing myself in your house—asinvited—^get an entire domination over your whole mind and bodyin 24 hours, and you never aware of it for one moment. I maybea good man, but so I may, for all you know, as easily be a wicked,plotting schemer, hating profoundly your white race which sub-jugated and daily humiliates mine, and—take revenge on you—one of the best representatives of that race. If the powers ofexoteric mesmerism alone were employed—a power acquired withequal ease by the bad as by the good man—even then you couldhardly escape the snares laid out for you were the man you invitedbut a good mesmeriser, for—you are a remarkably easy subject—from the physical stand-point. ** But my conscience myintuition ! " you may argue. Poor help in such a case as mine.Your intuition would make you feel but that which really was—for the time being ; and as to your conscience—you then acceptKant's definition of it? You, perhaps, believe with him thatunder all circumstances, and even with the full absence of definitereligious notions, and occasionally even with no firm notions aboutright and wrong at all, man has ever a sure guide in his own innermoral perceptions or—conscience ? The greatest of mistakes! With all the formidable importance of this moral factor, it has oneradical defect. Conscience as it was already remarked maybewell compared to that demon, whose dictates were so zealouslylistened to and so promptly obeyed by Socrates. Like that demon,conscience, may perchance, tell us what we must not do ; yet, itnever guides us as to what we ought to perform, nor gives any definite object to our activity. And—nothing can be more easily lulled to sleep and even completely paralyzed, as this same conscience by a trained will stronger than that of its possessor. Your conscience will never show you whether the mesmeriser is a true adept or a very clever juggler, if he once has passed your threshold and got control of the aura surrounding your person. You speak of abstaining from any but an innocent work like birdKrollecting, lest there be danger of creating another Frankenstein's monster. . . . Imagination as well as will creates. Suspicion is the most powerful provocative agent of imagination. . . . Beware ! You have already begotten in you the germ of a future hideous monster, and instead of the realization of your purest and highest ideals you may one day evoke a phantom, which, barring every passage of Light will leave you in worse darkness than before. And, will harass you to the end of your days.
Again expressing the hope that my candour may not give oifence, I am, dear Sir, as ever,
Your most obedient Servant,
KooT HooMi Lal Sing. A. O. Hume, Esq.
